Friday, July 25, 2008

Samara at 18 Months

It is hard to believe my tiny baby is now moving closer to two years old than to one. If I think about it too much, I will start to cry, so instead I just try to focus on how amazing she is right now.

Sam has become so much fun. She says so many words, she is so alert and aware and incredibly affectionate. When she sees a baby she likes, she immediately wants to hug them. She always gives R and me tons of kisses and hugs. She loves to sit in laps and cuddle with her "ishy" and with us.

She needs to get a little better with the animals. At the moment she enjoys tackling the cat and pressing her whole body into him. Since he is 22 pounds, he can take it, but Rocky is not so fond of her. He snaps at her almost constantly and twice has caught his teeth on her and given her a little red mark. No, he would never bit her, but yes, it makes me nuts. I never wanted to be that person who considered kicking the animals to the curb when the babies came, but safety is more important than anything else and right now I am not sure both kids will be safe around our crazy pup. Still, Sam adores him and the thought of giving him up is too upsetting to even consider, so we are in search of some kind of solution.

Sam enjoys pulling up my shirt and kissing the "baby." This month she has really started to be obsessed with "Mommy" and "Daddy," always asking the other one where the other one is when she is only with one of us. In particular, she adores her daddy. When he comes home from work, she runs to the door screaming along with Rocky and Melvin. It is quite a greeting he gets. I am just trying to be understanding of this phase. I know she gets less of him so he is more novel and I also know that he is a much more energetic, fun parent right now. So I am trying to let it slide off my back as much as possible.

People keep telling me that girls love their daddies and boys love their mommies, but that is just way too Oedipal for me to think about. And besides, there are few things less sexy than a mama's boy or a daddy's girl--way too ooky on both counts. So I am hoping it all evens out in a few years.

She is incredibly verbal as always and loves to climb on anything and everything. She is very smart and often amazes us with her cognition. I find myself having almost adult-level conversations with her and she understands so much of what I say. It is completely mind-blowing that the tiny ball of mush I brought home 18 months ago is now a fully functional human being with wants, desires, thoughts and a sense of humor.

She is currently obsessed with the moon and can spot any cresecent shaped object within 20 feet, shouting, "Moo! Moo!" at everything from my friend's tattoo (which was a moon) to the eyebrows of one of the characters in her favorite book (Snow Family and it wasn't).

We are now at the point where she is going to have a sibling before we hit 19 months and again, if I think about it too much, I will just start to sob, so I am letting it go. It is what it is and this is the choice that we made, so I am just going to have to figure out how to have two kids and still pay as much attention to my adorable, amazing, hilarious little girl. I bet it won't be too hard, after all, this is the face I am looking at:


3 comments:

Gal on the Go said...

S - she's absolutely beautiful. When did she turn into a little girl???

Unknown said...

Oh . . . and she IS adorable! I love the headband. ;-)

Kristi said...

What a cutie! And I love the headband. I may have to get one of those for Isabella before taking her to get a haircut. Her hair is getting out of control.

I can't believe she's 18 months already.