Adventures With Sam

If you are a mom who works outside of the home you know how quickly maternity leave flies by.  One minute you are gazing into the eyes of your baby hoping the moment will last forever while the next you are headed back to work; leaving your child in the care of someone else for the first time.  Grace did just that on Monday.  While the memories of the day she was freed from Pleven are so vivid that it feels like only yesterday, the truth is, it has been 7 1/2 weeks!  As Grace returned to work, we gained an animated little munchkin to our clan.  Our evenings are now spent playing with Samantha.  She fits into our family like a missing puzzle piece and adores Madeleine and Audrey.  If she's not scooting or crawling toward them, she is gazing at them, memorizing their every move. 

Being a little sister, Audrey has never been able to help care for a little one.  I have enjoyed her enthusiasm for helping with Sam.

It came as no surprise that Madeleine fell into a motherly role

Enjoying a lovely Fall afternoon. 

On this day we discovered that Sam loves wagon rides.  As long as the wagon was in motion she was smiling.  Bumps produced belly laughs.

These two have a special bond; a special language that's all their own.

She loves Uncle Steve's goatee.  She loves for him to rub his chin in the palm of her hand.

This picture was taken after reading bed time stories.

Over the past 7 1/2 weeks Samantha has blossomed and developed a big personality.  She likes to make her presence known.  Grace drops her off shortly after the girls get out of school and they have to do homework shortly after that.  One afternoon I placed Samantha on the floor near Audrey so I could help her with her homework.  When I stepped away Samantha began to make loud "Sam Sounds" (I say that because she was neither crying nor yelling, rather making her presence known loudly in the way that Sam does).  I called Madeleine away from what she was doing to sit with Sam and she immediately quieted down.  She just did not want to be alone and she has learned that when she asks, someone will come rushing to her side.

Yesterday Audrey tried to get in the wagon with Samantha.  Sounds like fun, right? Wrong.  This produced crocodile tears.  Audrey got out and tried again later, making sure to keep her feet out of the way in case she stepped on Samantha's toes the first time.  This still produced tears.  Either Miss Sam did not want to share her precious wagon or she wasn't happy that her view of the world was blocked by Audrey.  Either way, she made it known that she was unhappy and that is a cause for celebration.

On one hand the past 7 1/2 weeks have gone quickly, on the other they have simply existed as if Samantha has always been here.  Simply put, she just fits.