Don't Forget To Miss Me

Daddy is off to Athens this afternoon. Nope, not Georgia. Greece! I can't believe that he's not taking me. Some crap about it being a pain to travel with an infant. Please, I was an infant last month. I'm now offically closer to seven months than six and that makes me a big girl. Heck, I'm even eating Stage 2 foods!

Who's that tickle monster making me laugh? Silly Daddy!

Kisses before you dash off.

Listen to me make some cool music. Band camp here I come!

No, Daddy. Your car can wait. You stay until I'm finished.


Okay, so you need to take lots of pictures so I can put my face in all of them and pretend I was in Greece with you. It'll be our little secret. Love you!

The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

Besides me, you ask? I'm talking about the coolest present I received recently. Mommy took awhile to set it up, but once she did I couldn't stop playing with it all day. What is it? A parent's torture device. Yep, a muscial table!

Slide the trombone and the table counts to ten. What fun!



Mommy put the legs on the table, so I have to stand to use it. Sneaky Mommy! Somehow I've learned how to balance myself while leaning against the table. When I forget to hold on I find myself on wobbly legs. But I don't fall down!


The greatest thing about this table is that it makes music and lights up when I move the pieces or push buttons. And, it never gets tired of singing my favorite song - the abc's. By the time Mommy has sung it to me five or six times I swear there are a whole lot less letters in the alphabet. Guess she won't be my pre-school teacher!

That afternoon Mommy was searching for some receipts and wanted to safely discard the ones with her credit card number. Since the shredder was downstairs she did the next best thing.

Human drooler and receipt destroyer at your service.



When Daddy came home he played with me at the muscial table. He then took two Motrin. Wonder if I had anything to do it his headache :)



Thursday morning Mommy gave me apples. They aren't so bad afterall. I'm even learning to open my mouth instead of her shoving that darned spoon between my pursed lips.


It's over. Smile!

Progress, Sort Of...

After yet another failure with bananas (my previously 'acceptable' food), Mommy scraped her pride off the floor and called Miss Brenda. She begged her to come over and try feeding me. Seems Mommy and Daddy think they're doing something wrong in the solids department.

Miss Brenda laughed a bit (at Mommy, not me) and gave her some tips and said she'd give it a try when she's over her cold. I swear that family must have a laughfest weekly over the silly things that happen in the Krempa-Burt household. I know I do!

Miss Brenda suggested waiting until I'm super hungry to feed me solids. The ol' starve 'em technique. So, this morning Mommy waited a good hour after I woke up before feeding me and then she started with bananas. I was so desperate I found myself unwillingly opening my precious mouth to the messy, gooey bananas. Three times, in fact. I think I ate one whole tablespoon before winning the battle of the bottle. Only to be surprised that the vitamin fairy did a switcheroo and put iron in it. Turned the milk a disgusting grey and with an even more disgusting taste. It was a rough morning, I tell ya. I went back down for a nap at 7:10am. Hope my mid-morning is more pleasant.

Adventures At Home

Today Mommy was feeling much better, but was still in recovery mode. Left to my own devices it became increasingly clear to both of us that I am getting good at scooting around. I'm starting to figure out the crawling thing, especially when my target is hot liquids or electronics.

I got HiB and Prevnar shots this morning and took them like a champ. Once I know I'm finished getting needles jabbed in my, as the nurse said "chunky", thighs then I stop crying.

We came home and both took two hour naps. Yay for naps!

Most of the last two days has been filled with me having to entertain myself. This has involved blowing raspberries all day long. Oh, and crossing yet another milestone. Mommy puts the Boppy behind me when I'm sitting by myself and she's popping into another room. Something about avoiding head injuries. I digress. Anywhosits, I fell backwards onto my Boppy. This time I managed to pull myself back up to a sitting position!

Here I am blowing raspberries.

I crack myself up!

Here I am midway back up to a sitting position.

I'm that good.

High 5 from Mommy. Weirdo!

Oh, Mommy talked to the doctor tonight and we agreed that grains suck. No more for a couple of weeks so I can focus on actually liking my solid foods experiences. I might be the first kid to go to kindergarten with a bottle for snacks. Yikes!

Daddy is taking the red eye back from Seattle and coming home for a quick shower before heading to the office for a full day of meetings. I went to bed extra early tonight in hopes that I'll be up and finished with my bottle when he comes home and we can sneak in some play time!

Curses

What was intended to be a fun weekend (despite Daddy dashing off to Seattle) turned ugly. Mommy knew it was coming, she just didn't know when and how bad. Mommy and Daddy both got sick this weekend. Yep, Daddy got sick twice in two weeks and Mommy got her first ailment.

Mommy was too tired to play with me, but she let me watch all sorts of tv while she snoozed on my playmat next to me. I swear, if I was of driving age I could have snuck out to NYC or AC and she wouldn't have noticed. I spent most of the day blowing raspberries and playing with my nuk. Oh, and learning how to make the gum ball machine work with my foot. Man, am I talented or what?

I hope they both feel better really soon. I don't want Daddy flying back home tomorrow night sick as can be. And he leaves for Greece next weekend so we need him all better now.

No pictures. Trust me, it's better this way.

Tomorrow I'm off for more shots....

Hello Out There

A quick 'hello' from boring land. For those who have been wondering why there has been a lack of blogging lately, it's because we've been anti-social these days. I am trying to postpone suffering through my first cold.

Here's how Friday went.

I woke up still sad that Daddy only waves to me. I'm willing to risk getting a few Daddy sick germs for some hugs and kisses. Mommy is such a spoil sport for putting the kabosh on any physical contact with the sick one. I hopped into my bath so I could get all clean for my lunch date with Miss Kathleen at the tea house. Then I took a nap to rest up and then snuck in some play time.

Before I forget, this picture was taken last night during 'pear' time. From this picture you can see how my finance-oriented parents view me.

Back to Friday's fun. After my nap I was raring to go. Play time was so much fun. Mommy tossed me on the big bed while she got ready for the day. But, she couldn't resist impromptu fun and soon joined in the festivities. Yay for fun!

Boy, I can't wait for some teeth so I stop looking so funny in pictures.

So much fun!

Smack down. Don't mess with a 15 pounder. I'm small, but tough!

I was snacking on another bottle when we got the call that Miss Kathleen was feeling under the weather. Super careful Mommy said, 'see ya next week when you're feeling better'. I am much more of a risk taker than Mommy. I hate to miss out on some fun, but since I can't drive I'm at worrywart's mercy. Bummer!

So, we hopped in the car (50 degrees outside, yay!) and headed to Mommy's office to pick up paperwork. Then we scooted across town to see Bridget and Danny's doggy and return some baby books to their Mommy. I really need a doggy. If you have a spare one hangin' around, could you send 'em over to my house? Don't call first- it will just confuse the situation. Doggies are much better as surprise presents!

We then headed to the coffee shop and to the pharmacy. Daddy is flying to Seattle in the morning and we want him to be feeling his best so the nice pharmacist picked out some medicine to bring home for Daddy.

Then we went home to roast some vegetables for dinner. I'm getting really good at helping in the kitchen. I discovered a cauliflower has similar qualities as a bowling ball, but not as heavy. Here I am trying to roll it off the countertop. Almost there.


We also made some phone calls. I love to talk on the phone!

The phone is a great way to keep in touch with loved ones. It's also a great teether.

Mommy was feeling a little cocky with the recent success with pears. She gave me apples with cherries. Didn't like it. Did she listen when I complained? Nope. My payback, you ask? Yep. Of course I did. I patiently waited twenty minutes for Mommy and Daddy to sit down for dinner and then I vomited all over the dining room table. When will Mommy ever learn?

Darn This Cold Weather

Since it's been about 12 degrees outside all week and we're in the middle of cold and flu season, Mommy has kept our social schedule so light that I've almost forgotten what the real world looks like.


Mommy has been keeping busy by taking lots of pictures of the two of us. I've learned that if I smile then she'll stop for awhile. This one bought me a whole 47 minutes without the darned flash in my eyes. If only she can figure out how to get a shot with my eyes open.




Gotta keep clean. Oh, and I just love water. When Mommy needs to burn some time before my bedtime bottle she hauls out the bathtub and we play with water. Way cool!


In celebration of MLK Day we visited with Daniel and Bridget. We had a great time, but alas Mommy forgot the camera so no pictures to share. While we were there I played with a musical puppy, a snapping alligator and Tori. I don't think I've shared my affection for Tori with you. Tori is a super cool dog that lets me do things like stick my whole hand in her mouth or my fingers up her nose without biting me. Life just doesn't get any better. The only downside of visiting with my friends is Mommy learned that other babies at this age are being taught to hold their bottles themselves. Seriously, what happened to Mommy catering to my every need?

Aside from running a few errands and the one social visit and starting to get in trouble, it's been so boring. Oh, and Daddy is sick as can be so I'm not allowed to hug him. This sucks!

We have been spending a lot of time with Mufasa, Daddy's kitty cat. I have a great belly laugh that I make everytime I see kitty cat in hopes of making her come closer. So far she likes to stay just beyond my reach. Can't wait until I can crawl and follow her around the house!

This morning Mommy typed up a really long work email and as she was finishing up I reached out and touched just the right key(s) and managed to erase the entire email. Mommy frantically tried every trick she knew to bring back the email's content with no luck. She called Daddy and he just laughed and said it was her own darned fault. I agree.

Ah, the email erasing power of this little hand. Don't mess with me!

I've been eating more this week and look a bit chunky. I hope this means I'm preparing to grow a bit or I'm going to bust out of my Bumbo. Just in case you haven't noticed, no one has combed my hair since California. Daddy loves my hair messy and Mommy has given up. Oh, dear.

To keep me entertained Mommy has been giving me pears. She's finally worn me down. Something about feeding babies something 37 times until it grows on us. Seems to have worked in this case. I actually like pears. When she snuck oatmeal in the pears? Not so much. Grains are gross.

Pears are actually getting to be quite tasty! Gotta love that my bib is as big as my torso. I still win though. I can make food glob onto the table, the floor and Mommy's clothes at every feeding.

Power of purple. Gosh, I'm cute!

Back to the whole 'feeding myself' thing. It took a few days and several feedings, but I'm starting to get the hang of holding my own bottle. When I feel like it, that is. The truly observant will notice that I am still wearing my Halloween outfit. Mommy is in denial that time is flying by and keeps me in clothes long past their shelf life. I think if she had her way I'd be the first college freshman to still take all meals from a bottle- in her lap.

Here I am holding my own bottle.

Spring, please come early so I can play outside and go for walks again.

Encyclopedia Brown For Hire?

It was one of those days. It started out great. Henry came over and we had a great time. We played and even watched a Baby Einstein video. At least he watched it while practicing his walking skills and I watched him having so much fun. Then I took a quick nap and Henry went on his way.

When I woke up Eva came over, so Mommy took me to Market Fair. That's when the day got a little hairy. Mommy and I were in search of tights. You see, I'm no longer allowed to wear socks when out and about because I kick them off and end up sockless and in trouble. We went to three stores before finding the perfect pair. Mommy gave the nice lady her credit card and said, 'No thanks, we don't need a bag. I'll give them to Samantha to hold.' Yep, you can see right here that what happened next was not my fault.

Zsuzsi's mom met us at the mall, but Mommy was taking a work related phone call at the moment. Zsuzsi's mom popped into Baby Gap while Mommy and I walked the mall to finish up the conversation. When Mommy got off the phone we found Zsuzsi's mom and Mommy went fishing in my stroller to show off my new tights. Only they weren't there anymore. You see, I've been practicing my pitching arm and at some point tossed the tights overboard. I couldn't remember where and Mommy was getting a bit pissy at this point. It probably didn't help that I kept laughing my Samantha Madison Burt trademarked 'heh heh heh' and Zsuzsi's mom pointed out how much I was enjoying our little Easter Egg Hunt.

We ended back at the store to purchase a second pair of the same tights. The salesperson tried really hard not to laugh at Mommy, but the effort was in vain. So, after purchasing two pairs of tights we went home with one really expensive pair, a pissy mommy and one happy baby.

Aren't my new tights cute?

Once home Mommy tried to cheer herself up by making chocolate cupcakes. She set me on the butcher block to help and I promptly ate the directions. Literally!

I then snuck both hands into the mixing bowl when she wasn't looking and tried creating art. It didn't go over so well. I had chocolate mix all over my hands, clothes and every surface within reach. The truly observant will catch the obscene amount of drool on my bib and understand why bibs are now a staple in my wardrobe.

I ended up on the changing table so Mommy could put me in chocolate-free clothes. No sooner did she get my socks off did I have some poopies. All over my pants, onesie, back and hair. Yep. Not sure how I managed to create such a mess, but I ended up right in the bathtub for quite some time.

At least one of us had fun today- and I'm glad it was me!

So, if you find yourself in Princeton, NJ and happen upon a pair of striped tights, please send me an email. I'd sure like to remove this from Mommy's 'I remember when...' files.

Snowy On The Outside, Toasty On The Inside

It is way too cold to be out and about on non-essential business. Mommy took me out briefly yesterday morning to the post office and to Target. Brrrr! Then it was back home for some great adventures.

Boy, do I have exciting news! I found a solid food that I like. Have you seen those yogurt melts for toddlers? Turns out that I just don't like things with the name 'baby' on it. I prefer grown-up foods like Gerber Graduates.

These yogurt melts are great! Mommy breaks them up into little pieces and we take a team approach to eating them. She helps me keep it in my mouth and I chomp my toothless gums until the food literally dissolves. We have a few funny moments as this food is quite sticky and ends up falling out of my mouth and ending up in the most peculiar places.

Yogurt melts are A-OK. Can you tell the piece is on my thumb headed for my belly?

Playing with my toy in my bumbo. I'm having a blast while Mommy struggles to shovel the driveway.

I've figured out my cool gumball machine toy. If I push on the lever, then the machine lights up and makes noise. And gumballs roll around and come out the bottom of the toy for me to play with. The funniest side effect is that Mommy comes rushing over and jumps up and down cheering for me because I pushed the lever. Every time I push the lever. Seriously, she acts like I just got elected Pre-School President.

Here I am in all my glory after pushing the lever and retrieving my gumballs.

Story time. I've heard this one so many times that I'll read it to myself, thank you.

Henry came over to visit and we had a blast with my stackable ring toy. We are such good sharers. You take the yellow ring and I'll take the orange one, if I can catch it!

Henry loved the ExerSaucer and the fish toy. The camera? Not so much. I hear ya', Henry!



Some more exciting times ahead! I tried pears for the first time and actually liked them and ate several bites. For me, this is huge news because I'm slowly getting used to eating solids.

Mommy has wisely avoided that turkey crap she tried exactly once. Just call me vegetarian Samantha until Mommy can find a better way to serve up meat.

Here's a face you don't see too often in the high chair. I'm smiling!

Quick Update to Daddy and Me Weekend

It seems that both Mommy and Daddy had cameras last weekend and I missed posting some great shots.

Here I am chilling on the butcher block with my fish. And, yes, I do respond to the sign for 'fish'.

Here is my version of 'Lawrence of Arabia', except for that whole dying thing.

Here's another because the linen napkin stayed on quite nicely. For those who remember, this is the napkin that I lifted from a visit with Miss Kathleen.

Before I forget, Daddy has decided that the whole family tree thing is getting confusing and we need to start calling people by Miss (really Ms, but we end up saying Miss) and Mr instead of Aunt and Uncle unless they are a blood relative. Hey, I totally get what's going on, but if it helps the old man out then I'm willing to go along with it.

A Huge Disappointment

Today was my six month check up with Dr. M. It started out okay and then went quickly due south. It seems that I am a disappoinment to my Mommy. The doctor said that I am totally normal. Yep, you heard it here first. I'm not a super baby with special hidden talents.

I am 15 pounds 5 ounces.
I've grown to be a whole 26 inches.
My head is 16.5 inches around.

So, my weight and height are at the perfectly normal 50% range and my head size is in the 25-50% range. Not something to jump up and down about, huh? I'm not big or small. I'm just average. Who wants to brag about a smallish head? Not Mommy for sure!

After all the stats, Mommy tried to put my diaper on me and I showed her my new trick of squirming. She almost let me fall right off the exam table when I flipped over but she caught me in the nick of time. Good thing, otherwise I would have ended up with an extended doctor's appointment.

We had a lengthy converstation about my aversion to rice cereal and solids in general. The doctor is on my side and said not to push me. I'll eat when I'm good and ready. In the meantime, he gave the go ahead to try lots of different foods so I can get an idea of what I'd eat if I wanted to eat. Let the tasting begin!

My tear duct issue is still rearing its ugly head and I ended up with my very first script for antibiotics to clear up the gunk that happens when Mommy doesn't do a good job of keeping my eye all clean.

I was totally fine with all this talking, but then the doctor wanted to touch me for the physcial exam. I thought I just wasn't sure about the other doctor and nurse, but it turns out that I dislike all doctors and nurses. I screamed bloody murder for the rest of the appointment until the doctor left the room. Mommy refused to dress me since I was headed to the injection room. Yep, my unloving Mommy hauled my naked self with a big booty grin on my face across the office. I'm not sure who was more horrified, the other parents or nurses that we marched past.

Mommy plopped me on the table for my shots and the screaming just burst right out of my body. You would have thought I was possessed by evil spirits. As soon as the shots were over Mommy scooped me up and I returned to my happy baby self.

I got the flu shot, DTaP and Rotavirus today and go back in two weeks for the other two (Hib and Prevnar- seems polio skips this round). In four weeks I get my second flu shot.

Instead of heading home for some rest, we had a home inspection this afternoon. Man, did I follow the inspector through the whole house and learned a whole bunch about home maintenance. I told the nice man that I might want to become their youngest employee. Finally we headed home in the late afternoon and I was super excited for an early bedtime. Night-night!

Daddy and Me Weekend, Day Three

I let Daddy get a little sleep last night, but he was still tired and hoping for some alone time today. Turns out I'm a high maintenance baby. Can you believe that Daddy doesn't think that I have a right to be walked all over the house for hours on end? Unbelievable! It seems I was a tiny bit in shock that Mommy had left me for so long that I had a minor panic attack and was afraid Daddy was going to ditch me as well. To ease my concerns, I had Daddy carry me around or play with me. All day.

Some of my favorite games to play with Daddy are the hokey pokey and rolling off Daddy, rolling back on Daddy. Mommy tries to imitate Daddy but just can't seem to get it quite right. He has the patented touch that isn't easily replicated.

When Mommy came home she decided to ruin my good mood and tone of the weekend with some nasty cereal. Check out my rebellious hair. Daddy and I worked on it all day to surprise Mommy when she came home.

Here I am, happy as a clam before eating any solids. Yep, I'm STANDING in my high chair.

Yuk! It's so gross my hair stands on end!

All in all it was a great weekend and I can't wait for Daddy and Me Weekend, Part 2!

Daddy And Me Weekend, Day Two

Happy Birthday to me! Can you believe six months have passed since I said, "Hello World!"?

Here I am chillin' with my red ring. I've got a great life!

Mommy called to wish me a happy birthday. Now that I'm so big, I don't need much help with the phone. Mommy now knows why other people can tell when I'm holding the phone. She says that I sound like a pervert breathing heavily on the phone. Hey, what can I tell you? I'm not old enough to talk yet!

Daddy and I both thought that a bath was in order so I could celebrate the day free from stink. I am absolutely fascinated by water. I don't understand why I can't catch it and play with it like I can my other toys. Daddy also holds the faucet over my head and I try to catch the water in my mouth. I'm getting pretty good at it, but haven't yet gotten a picture to share with you.

We made it two days without Mommy and we're doing great!

Daddy And Me Weekend, Day One

Bye-Bye, Mommy! Early this morning I casually waved to Mommy as she headed off to Boston for her annual trip to hang out with her college friends. Daddy took the whole day off work to play with me. Yippee!

We had such fun together. Mommies are always worried about safety, germs and all that jazz. Daddy and I just wanted to have some fun this weekend. Check out our adventures.

ExerSaucer time! This is particularly fun now that I know how each of the toys work. I can make lots of annoying sounds come out of this seemingly innocent toy.

Daddy is helping me practice my crawling. I think I've got great form. What do you think?

Diaper on the head!

Does it look like I miss Mommy? She'll be back in a few days, but for now I'm having a great time with Daddy!