Doodle Pro

Mantha got her first Magna Doodle last weekend. (Hers is actually a Doodle Pro, as if there were professional Magna Doodlers.) She played with one at the pediatrician's office and seemed to really like it, so I got it even though it said it was for ages 3 and up. This has become her favorite toy! She just draws and draws and draws. Most pictures require her to draw from all four sides of the Doodle screen. She loves to use the little magnet shapes (she protests if I take one away from her to put away), and she's even figured out how to slide the eraser on the bottom all by herself. Obviously, we're very proud.

Here's our little artist, taking her composition seriously.

Peek-a-boo

Samantha's teacher Anna told me a funny story: Samantha has a stuffed dalmation puppy named Skippy that is her best friend at school (kind of like Linus's security blanket). The other day she put Skippy in the play oven, closed the door, and said, "Inai, inai, ina ... " then opened the door and said, "Bah!" Those are the Japanese words for peek-a-boo, kind of like, "Hiding, hiding, hiding .... Here I am!"

At first I was mortified at the idea that she would try to cook Skippy in the oven (it could be in her genes -- her grandma did that with a REAL dog when she was a girl) but then I realized Samantha has no idea what an oven is. To her, it's just a place to hide something.

Doggies!

Mantha is obsessed -- OBSESSED -- with dogs. She can be bawling her eyes out, but if she spies a dog in the far distance, she'll compose herself and say in her soft little voice, "Doggy." When we go to the park, half the time is spent hunting for doggies. If she sees one, she'll chase it and hopefully give it a "nice-nice" pet. She has aquired several books about dogs, and the pages with her favorite pictures are all stuck together because she has kissed them so many times.

Making a Point

For a few months now, Samantha has been trying to make herself understood by pointing. If she's in the high chair and sees something she wants, she'll cock her head to one side, hunch up her shoulder and point. If she's standing on the ground and spies something up high, she'll point. If you're holding her and she wants to be carried into another room, she'll point in
the direction she wants you to go (sort of like a personal GPS).

Trying to figure out what she's pointing to is often an adventure in trial and error. I suspect she doesn't even know what she's pointing to half the time. She does love to point at the camera when we break it out.

Welcome to Samantha's World

Since her arrival last January, it's really been Samantha's world, and we're just living in it.

I've already missed more than a year, but I've recently been inspired to make a more permanent record of her growing up, mainly to share with her when she's older. In the meantime, perhaps some of the rest of us will be entertained. We've got more than 3,000 pictures of her on iPhoto (it must be the Japanese genes) but now that she's talking, I think some text is in order.