Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance!

There’s something new taking over my life right now: singing and dancing! I just can’t get enough of it. Of course, I owe it all to The Fresh Beat Band. You see, it’s my favorite TV show, and because of my favorite character, Kiki, I now find myself torn between my old favorite color (Big Bird yellow) and Kiki’s favorite (pink). What’s a girl to do? Of course, if you hear Mommy tell it, then it’s more like, “What’s a mom to do?” I mean, is it my fault that she bought me all yellow shirts for the spring and summer? It’s my prerogative to change my mind, right?

Here I am all dressed up like Kiki! Now, I don’t usually need a reason to dress like her, but on this particular day I had one -- we were going to Sesame Place to see The Fresh Beat Band in concert! Mommy and Daddy knew I was excited, but when I started groovin’ to their music on the way to the park, well, they became excited too. Click here to see what I’m talking about!

We had great seats at the show. They were so close to the stage that Kiki even noticed that I was dressed just like her!

But I’m not only a Kiki fan. I have also become a fan of the Disney Princesses. Here I am dressed like Belle for a special Royal Wedding-themed day at dance class. And speaking of dance class...

This is the costume my creative movement class wore to the Big Show (that’s the tricky name our dance instructor came up with so that we wouldn’t become too nervous to perform at our recital). Nice try, Miss Tara. You may have fooled some of the other girls, but not me. This pose (which was my idea, by the way) was the closest anyone came to seeing me perform on the day of the Big Show.

My love of dance and pink came together beautifully when Mimi and Poppy presented me with this new bathing suit for Easter.

And once the first hot day arrived, I was eager to get into the suit and jump into the water in our backyard to do some dancing. Too bad Mommy and Daddy were the only ones there to see my dance moves. (Mommy’s note: We managed to sneak a little video of Samantha doing some of her moves. Click here to enjoy a few moments.)

Samantha’s Egg-cellent Easter!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter just like I did!

Mommy and Daddy helped me color Easter eggs! (I did as many yellow eggs as possible, of course!)

I added some fun stickers for a special touch. You can click here to see how much fun I had!

Then on Easter morning, I was thrilled to find that the Easter Bunny had left me so many great presents -- many of which were Big Bird-themed! Like this hat...

... and this book!

Once I was all dolled up for the day, we went to Aunt Tine and Uncle Jim’s house...

... where I took part in a great Easter Egg Hunt!

Daddy only helped me a little, I swear! :)

March Madness!

It’s been a whirlwind of a month, that’s for sure.

I’ve been busy practically every weekend, what with visiting Grandma after her knee-replacement surgery (she’s doing great!) and going to CT to see Mimi and Poppy (I like when Mimi rides in the backseat to keep me company!).

It was a lot of fun spending some time with Jack, Uncle Jim...

… and Aunt Tine!

Oh, and I’ve been spending lots of time pretending to be Kiki from The Fresh Beat Band! I love to dress like her and pretend to play my guitar! You know, I even write my own songs!

Oh, and Mommy took me for my first manicure! I wanted to do yellow, but she convinced me that pink would look great with my eyes...

... and then the manicurist surprised me by painting yellow flowers on some of my nails! (Later, Mommy realized this may not have been the best idea when I sucked the polish off two of my nails!)

I got a surprise in the mail from my friend Jillian: an art smock with pockets stuffed full of all sorts of cool art supplies!

Next, it was picture day at Little Ivy School. Mommy didn’t intend to dress me up in my Easter outfit. In fact, on Day One of picture day, she put me in a pretty pink flower dress. But things didn’t exactly go as planned. So, she had to scramble to find something for the second attempt. Unfortunately, this is the only picture you’ll be seeing from either attempt at Picture Day. I just wasn’t feeling the whole, "sit on a rock and say cheese" vibe that was going on in the photo studio.

Luckily, there was one photo-op that I was all in on: Big Bird’s Birthday Bash at Sesame Place! (This may look familiar to those of you who are regular readers of my blog. It’s hard to believe that it’s been a whole year since we went to the Big Guy’s last b-day party, right?!)

All the usual suspects were on hand to celebrate. Ernie...

Cookie…

my old friend, Elmo...

even Bert was there to give me a high-five!

Of course, nothing could compare to spending some quality time with my absolute favorite, Big Bird! (You’d think Mommy would have gotten the hang of the whole taking-a-picture-with-an-8-ft.-bird thing by now. But no!)

Luckily, this wasn’t Mr. B’s first trip to the rodeo. He knew exactly how to get into the picture!

Of course, I couldn’t resist sneaking a feel of his feathers!

See what I mean? It was a terrific month. After all, what girl doesn’t like spending time with all the people (and birds and monsters) she loves?

Oh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful...

... but that hasn’t stopped me from enjoying the past two months. (Yes, I realize it’s been a while since I’ve posted. I’d like to take responsibility, but it’s really Mommy’s fault, so please take it up with her!) Here are some pictures and captions to sum up what’s been happening with me since I last blogged.

Here we are on the way to the mall to see Santa. I had been talking about this visit for a month, explaining that while I had no intention of sitting on Santa’s lap, I would stand next to him and pose for a picture after telling him what I wanted for Christmas.

However, that plan went out the window once I got within 15 feet of the big red guy. Daddy tried to calm me down...

... but the best I could do was to wipe the tears from my eyes. I never did give him my Christmas list.

Can you believe this picture was taken less than five minutes later? Neither could Mommy and Daddy! Although there are no pictures, I do have a video from my first holiday show at Little Ivy. If you click here, you can watch me sing along with my class mates. I’m the reindeer in the first row on the floor, far right!

After a fun Christmas Eve at Aunt Tine and Uncle Jim’s, we spent Christmas Day at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. And the best part was that Mimi and Poppy came, too! It was the first time I’d spent a holiday with all of my grandparents.

I guess you can tell by this picture that I had a great time!

It wasn’t too long before I was experiencing my first snow storm of the season. Mommy couldn’t believe that Daddy let me out of the house looking like this, but I think I really rocked the look!

There was a lot of delicious baking during the holidays. Here I’m enjoying a home-baked chocolate chip cookie. Yum!!

This was taken during the second storm of the season. Or was it the third? Who can keep count!

All I know is that Daddy taught me how to make snow angels. And once I knew how, there was no stopping me! I must have made 20 angels in under 5 minutes!

And that brings us to this past weekend: My second dance class. Why am I talking about my second dance class you ask? Well, because I only lasted five minutes during my first one! But I’m proud to report that once Mommy promised to stand just outside the door for the entire 45 minutes, there was no stopping me. I jumped, I twirled, I even tapped! Don’t believe me? Check out this video by clicking here, and you can see me warming up for class. (They close the door after warm up, so this is the best Mommy could do. But trust me, I jumped, twirled and tapped my little heart out!)

Hooray For Me, I’m Finally Three!

It started like most mornings do in our house... early! I was up at 5:45 a.m. and ready to start the day. My third birthday, that is! But Mommy and Daddy made me wait a bit until they got some more rest. I guess that was okay. I knew they were really going to need it!

Our living room was turned into a Big Bird wonderland. This giant picture of BB was on one wall...

... and a giant Big Bird airwalker balloon was in front of the fireplace. It was the perfect photo-op for this birthday girl!

You mean I get presents, too? (The Big Birds were enough, but don’t tell Mommy and Daddy!)

When people ask me what my favorite gift was, I shout: The Big Bird balloon, no the Big Bird on the wall, no the Big Bird blanket. Oh, how can a girl decide? This is harder than Sophie’s Choice!

After the gifts were opened, Mommy dressed me in my birthday tutu (I picked it out because of the yellow flower on the front) and put on my mini tiara. I was ready to party!

Mommy and Daddy seemed surprised when I worked the room, playing the hostess with the mostess. But I really was in my element, surrounded by all the people that I love!

Grandpa was one of the few who managed to slow me down long enough for a photo. But that’s just because he’s had so much experience chasing after me to get a kiss!

Mommy didn’t seem very happy when I pulled off all the Big Bird cake toppers before she could get a good shot of my yellow birthday cake...

... but I didn’t really care. Because this day was all about me...

Samantha, who is finally three!