Oh that hair!...the post dedicated to the cow lick

Since day one, Samantha has had a full head of hair. It's not a bad thing, in fact, we love it and Kristi takes advantage of it so she can put bows and barrettes in her hair. One thing that makes Samantha unique is that she has a permanent "cow lick". For those of you who don't know what a cow lick is...its hair that sticks up and will not go down.

At first, Kristi and I were a little self conscious of her protruding hair, but over time we grew to accept it. Initially, we tried to comb her hair down with water, but then that just left her hair looking greasy. After each bath, we would quickly rush to get her dressed, sit her up and comb her hair, but it was always too late, the cow lick came back.

A few weeks ago, I thought I had cracked the code. I realized that we combing her hair in the wrong direction and we were actually causing the cow lick. See, her hair wanted to naturally part forward, but we were combing it backwards. After trying to remedy the cow lick by following the natural part of her hair, it still would not fall down. I feared it was too late. Her hair may be permanently set to stay in the cow lick position. 12 weeks of combing against the way her hair parts might be too much to overcome.

In the end, I've decided that I'm ok with it. Her cowlick gives her character and makes Samantha unique. When we take her out with the cow lick, she still attracts lots of attention. I can't tell you how many people tell us how beautiful she is. Could it be the cow lick or her eyes???...only time will tell. Heck, we should all embrace the cow lick. Just yesterday, I went out shopping with Kristi and we were rushed, I had not showered. I had a series of cow licks, but I knew a hat could cover my cow lick. Driving through the shopping center, I decided to stop by my local hair cutting shop since they were not busy. I walked in, sat in the chair and removed my hat...oh no...my cow lick. At first, I was embarrassed and explained to the stylist that I had not showered yet today and I had not planned on coming in to get my haircut. She quickly calmed my fears and said, "Don't worry, we'll just wash your hair...in 20 minutes, you'll be fine." Everything was going to be ok. She was accepting of my cow lick. With that statement, I thought of Samantha and her cow lick. She will grow up to be proud of her cow lick.

Our message to all of you is: Don't worry about your cow lick. If you wake up in the morning and your hair is sticking up, it's ok...embrace it! Sometimes its just natural to have a cow lick.
Samantha does a pretty good job showing off her hair.

On a separate note, Samantha turned 12 weeks old on Thursday. Happy Birthday Samantha!

And then there were 4.......

Well...we just wrapped up the last of our visitors today, with the visit of Aunt Cori and Uncle Brian. We had a wonderful long weekend with them. After 11 weeks, everyone, who was going to visit, has flown down to spend some time with us. It has been a lot of excitement and we have enjoyed having everyone visit us. Now its back to normal, no more extra set of hands and free nights out for dinner. Thanks to everyone who made for your company and help. Now its back to just Kristi, Samantha, Bailey and me...

Cori and Brian arrived Thursday night, when Samantha was sleeping, but got to spend a lot of quality time with her on Friday and Saturday. Kristi took advantage of the free babysitting and went into work for a little while. I, unfortunately, also had to work all day. I was in the stores working, versus sitting behind my desk...its was pretty challenging and certainly makes me appreciate my day job. (here is a picture of me in my "working in the stores" clothes).

The weather was beautiful so we all got to spend a lot of time out in the sun. Overall, it was a great trip with lots of fun and laughs. Here are some pictures we took of the weekend (click here). Below is a clip that we took of Brian and Samantha:

Kristi still continues to work with Samantha on her stomach. Samantha is really getting strong. She's able to hold her head up on her own and look all around. She also loves laying on the floor. She's very active and has even started leaning to the side, trying to roll over.

Today, we went over to visit our friends Lauren & Kyle, who just had a new baby girl named Jane Ellen (congrats Lauren & Kyle!!!). While we were over at their house, I put Samantha on the floor to play and kick around. While she was laying there, she kept trying to eat her hands and at the same time kept lifting her legs up and then rolling to her left side. A couple of times she got about 85% of the way to rolling on her stomach. She's pretty advanced, and we are so proud of her! Today, she even said "Da". I'm taking credit for Dad, because I was playing with her and making her laugh at that time. Marking this one in history books...Samantha first spoke at 11 weeks...March 21st, 2010 at 4:34pm.

Hello Blog...It's Me...Nick...

Wow...it has been way too long since the last time I updated the blog. I apologize that it has been so long. Candidly, I wanted to spend all of my free time with Samantha (and Kristi), which in turn resulted in a neglected blog. It's a little bit selfish, but you'll understand once you see the updated pictures (click here)...she's really cute and so much fun to be around!

So much has happened over the last 3 weeks and Samantha has grown so much. Samantha has developed an awesome personality where she laughs and giggles all the time. We took her to her 2 month doctors appointment a few weeks ago and she has filled out nicely. He cheeks are chubby, but not too big. Samantha weighed just under 12 pounds...but now at almost 11 weeks, she's probably a little over 12 pounds.

Kristi went out and bought a bouncer seat (pictured to the right) for Samantha. This was the best investment we've made to date...although gripe water is a close second. This seat is a vibrating seat that we usually put Samantha in when we're eating or getting things done in the kitchen. Most of the time Samantha will sit there and laugh, kick and smile. A quick comment on gripe water...this stuff is amazing...and its just sugar water. If Samantha gets too fussy or if she gets the hiccups, we'll give her a little gripe water, and everything is ok. Crying, hiccups, burping, you name it can be cured by gripe water. It's 1oz for $10...but I'll never complain about the price.

Kristi still has not gone back to work full time yet. We've been slowly transitioning to bringing Samantha to her new babysitter for half a day one time per week. For those of you that did not know, we did end up finding a babysitter, here in the neighborhood...which is really convenient. Her name is Amy, although some have called her the "baby whisperer". We're really happy that we found her. Kristi will probably start going back to work in the next few weeks. While she is at home, she's definitely been utilizing her OT skills to keep Samantha on track developmentally. They play on the floor a lot and Samantha spends a lot of time on her stomach working her muscles. The other day, she actually rolled over from her stomach to her back, although we haven't been able to repeat it again. Take a look at the video below...Samantha is really doing great holding her head up!

At night and during the days, we've had mixed luck with Samantha sleeping in her crib. Most nights she's been going down to bed around 8pm and then she'll sleep until 5 or 530AM...not bad. Recently, whenever we put her in her crib, she'll cry herself to sleep for 10 minutes. It really breaks my heart to hear her cry, but I get that its necessary. I will tell you that its the longest 10 min to sit through. Kristi's really been working on putting her in her crib during the day for naps. We're getting better, but not at 100% yet.

Gram and Gramp Estes came in to visit us this past weekend (another reason why I didn't update the blog...I didn't want to be rude while they were here!). We had a wonderful 5 day trip and Samantha loved meeting her grandparents for the first time. Aunt Cori and Uncle Brian come in Thursday for a long weekend. We've been lucky to have so many visitors. Many people ask if we get tired of having so much company, but I can honestly say that we don't. It's really nice to have an extra set of hands to help out or have some new folks to chat with...or in my Dad's case...an extra set of hands to lay vinyl floors and work on projects around the house! Don't worry Brian...I still have plenty of projects for you to help out with.

Until next time...but not as long as the last time...I promise...