Music Bear

I am happy to report that Samantha is doing as well as we can expect her to be right now. She's happy, playful, and very adventurous. Her stitches should be coming out on Thursday, which will no doubt be traumatic, but it's another stop on the road to recovery.
Last night she tried her hand at running, which wasn't really a good idea because she's still working on walking. She was super giggly, and ended up wiping out when her feet were moving too fast for her body. All it took was her pacifier and a little cuddle with Music Bear to make her feel better.Music Bear was one of my favorite stuffed animals growing up. He used to have a music box in his back (hence the name) but it broke long ago. Now he has an empty zipper pouch in his back, but the name stuck. A few weeks ago Samantha saw him sitting on her dresser, looked at me, and reached for him. He's been her buddy ever since. She sleeps with him, holds him in the car, plays with him at home, and just loves him to death. Most mornings when we take her out of the crib she has a death grip on his hand so he doesn't get left behind. He made the trip with us to the ER on Saturday, and I think we have him to thank for her being a little bit calmer than she might have been without him. He looks a little old, which makes sense when you consider that he's probably been around for 25 years, but he's in great shape. I had hoped that she would pick a newer stuffed animal to be her favorite so I would have an easier time replacing it if anything happened to it, but it's kind of sweet to see her love something that I used to love when I was little. We're also working on transitioning to a sippy cup, which is messy, but necessary. I snapped this picture of her last Friday, watching Baby Einstein with her sippy cup after we got home from work/Grandma Shirley's. I wish I could lay on the floor and watch TV while somebody made me dinner.