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Sam's Story: Week 66 May 2, 2005
When Ger and I decided to become parents, there were 4 things I vowed never to do letst I slip into a cliche like a head trauma victim slipping into a coma:
- Own a minivan.
- Show off wallet-sized pictures of Sam to strangers.
- Do that little apirplane trick with the spoon to get her to eat.
- Lick my thumb and use it to clean something off her face.
But other than that, things are going great!
Sam has become quite an avid reader, and by "reader" I mean she likes to flip through books, point at the pictures, and then bite them. We still read to her on demand (that is, when she throws a book in our direction and yells "Doo!") plus just before naps and bedtime. But it was a happy day when we discovered that if we leave a pile of books on the floor, she'll often wander over, plop herself down, and start flipping through them. Sometimes the calm can last up to five minutes, which gives me enough time to lick my thumbs and clean her face off where the airplane missed the hangar door. Sam's library has been growing by a few books a month (books make excellent gifts), and is now over 50, including:
- 3 Little Monkeys
- Babie Fozzie is Afraid of the Dark
- Baby's First Word Book
- Bread Bread Bread
- Curious George and the Bunny
- Curious George's ABCs
- Curious George's Are You Curious?
- Curious George's Opposites
- Favorite Storytime Tales
- Garfield Big Fun, Little Fun
- Garfield's Favorites From A to Z
- Goodnight Moon
- Guess How Much I Love You
- Happy Birthday To You!
- Hop on Pop
- Horton Hears a Hoo
- I am a Baby
- I Love You, Little One
- Is Your Moma a Llama?
- Max the Market Mouse
- Mein Kampf
- Miss Spider's ABCs
- Mother Goose
- Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
- My First Time Coloring Book
- Night Noises
- Pat the Bunny Sleepy Bunny
- Peekaboo Baby
- Peter Rabit's Storytime Collection
- Sam's Pop-Up Schoolhouse
- Santa Visits the Big Blue House
- Sheep in a Jeep
- Sheep in a Shop
- Sheep on a Ship
- Sheep out to Eat
- Sneetches and Other Stories
- Stories That Never Grow Old
- The Berstein Bears Go To The Doctor
- The Crippled Lamb
- The Cuddly Beasties In & Out Book
- The Easter Story
- The Jungle Book
- The Tiny Seed
- The Velvateen Rabbit
- The Wednesday Surprise
- Toys
- 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
- Ulysses
- Walt Disney's Nursery Tales
- What Makes a Rainbow?
- Where is Baby's Belly Button?
- Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories
Pictures!
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Developmentally, there's nothing really earth-shattering to report. Sam keeps aping whatever we do, which makes me as self-conscious as I was that time I had to give that report in my high-school biology class and kept worrying that I'd say "orgasm" when I meant "organism" (didn't happen, though there was a mishap when I tried to say "pistil"). Yesterday I was cleaning some patio furniture while Sam was with me in the back yard. She watched me for a second, then grabbed a rag from the nearby table and started trying to wipe off the chair next to me. It was cute. Subsequent attempts get her to mow the yard were less successful and less cute.
Comments (9) |
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Samantha
Comments
Posted by shawn on May 3, 2005 5:08 AM:
Perhaps the next time Sam is in Tulsa, she would her Nana could take her to the special Joyce collection at the library at TU given her recent reading.
Posted by Jamie on May 3, 2005 8:39 AM:
Cool. Sam enjoys reading Joyce in his native tongue of gibberish.
Posted by Shawn on May 3, 2005 8:48 AM:
Apparently I am taking to writing like Joyce. The sentence should have read "she would like her Nana to take her to the..."
Posted by David on May 3, 2005 9:45 AM:
I don't recall ever coming across the pop-out version of Mein Kampf. Although I imaging there is a page where Hitler is wearing a dress and the devil shove a pineapple up his bum.
Posted by Todd on May 4, 2005 10:57 AM:
That's an awesome list! Emma's the same way with books. Wait 'til Sam starts MEMORIZING them and "reading" them back to you. It'll freak you out.
Don't forget the library! Emma and Marla went each week (pre-Henry) to keep the books we had in the house fresh. You can, in Orange County, check out FIFTY childrens books at a time.
Marla has an incredible spreadsheet of all the books checked out thus far and whether or not Emma liked them. I keep meaning to put it up, but I am, alas, too lazy.
I'll bet money that once Marla sees this post I'll be in trouble until I do. :)
Posted by Todd on May 4, 2005 10:59 AM:
Oh, and you own a mini-van? Good Lord, man! What is happening to all of my friends?
Frank Rogan said to me the other day that he wishes they had TWO mini-vans instead of a van and a car.
I immediately lost all respect for him.
Posted by Jamie on May 4, 2005 11:37 AM:
Yeah, I'm saving the library until Sam gets old enough not to completely demolish her books. Right now we mostly give her the ones with the thick cardboard pages, which she can manhandle and chew on all she likes.
The mini-van, I KNOW. Though in my partial defense, it's technically Geralyn's car. Van. Whatever. And it is really easy to get Sam situated with the sliding doors and the foldable seats in the back --AH! What am I doing?
To make up for it, the next car we buy will be a two-seater, convertable, and filled with broken glass and open jugs of Liquid Plumber.
Posted by Gary on May 11, 2005 10:57 AM:
Ulysees and Mein Kampf? What, no Tale of Two Citites? Just seeing if we were reading, huh? You guys have a mini-van now? Wow, I guess instead of asking how many horsepower in the motor or how fast it goes from 0 to 60, I'll have to ask about adjustable seating in back and if it has a DVD player so you can hear Barney or Dora over and over again :-)
Posted by Jamie on May 11, 2005 11:03 AM:
The minivan actually has decent pickup, though nothing like a sports car, I'm sure. The adjustable seating in the back rocks. I finally have something to haul stuff around in. We specifically stayed away from the DVD player, though. I'm sure Sam will watch enough TV/DVDs; no need to let her watch them in the car, too.