The Sam Update - Twenty Two Months Old

Now that I'm blogging the Sam Update instead of e-mailing it to all three million contacts in my gmail account, I feel entitled to start publishing it monthly again.

Sam turned 22 months old yesterday.  She can brush her own teeth, feed herself with adult-sized spoons and forks, and use a cell phone.  Her teeth are sometimes dirty, her clothes are always stained, and my old cell phone is now a ring-tone-playing musical instrument, but hey, it's progress.

A highlight of this past month was that Samantha got to meet both of her great-grandmothers.  In fact, she met them on the same day.  We drove up to Philadelphia where we spent a few hours with Adam's Grammy, and then we traveled just an hour or so north where we celebrated my Grandmere's 95^th birthday.  Sam quickly discovered Uncle Frank and Aunt Connie's piano, and Frank dubbed her the mad genius.



At day care they've been putting Sam's hair into ponytails, which turns me into jello every time I see it.



Day care isn't going so well, though.  With all of the chaos in Sam's life, she needs a lot of comfort and security.  She needs mommy.  She's never been so clingy and needy, and it's very hard to deal with.  Dropping her off at day care requires me to fake a cheerful and casual demeanor while she screams "maMA, maMA, maMA!" and reaches up to me with both hands and the saddest face you ever saw.  I kiss her and tell her I'll pick her up later.  I try to leave the room with confidence after they pry her off of me, but by the time I get down the hall I'm close to tears.  She seems to have a good time, though, and always says she wants to go back.  It's just the mommy-leaving part that bothers her.  It's been three weeks now and she shows no sign of getting over it.  I'm not sure if I should be worried, so of course, I'm worried.  I'm so stressed out that in the past week there have been three nights where I got less than five hours sleep.  Ah, parenthood...will the sleeplessness ever end?

The nice part about the neediness is that she is finally big enough to wrap both her arms and legs around my torso and lock on with a deathgrip.  It's the best feeling in the world, as long as I don't have to let her go.