Monday, March 28, 2011

Shiny, Pretty Things

I probably should have used this post title for the previous post, about the gorgeous Mardi Gras beads we got in the mail.  And gauging from this first photo, I will say with much certainty that Sammi's feet are much like her mommy's...definitely not shiny, pretty things.  And yes, Miss Samantha's toenails are a bit too long, but she freaks if I try to clip them (fine with me doing her fingernails, and fine with Daddy doing her toes though!), and it's not until they start to curl slightly and dig into the soft flesh of her toes that we begin to realize the dire need to force her hand.  Uh, foot


I first painted Samantha's toenails when she was about 3 1/2.  Her poor little nails were so brittle, something I think is often found in people with Down syndrome, that I was afraid to do it before then.  They seem to have gotten a bit better as she's gotten older, and, oddly enough, her fingernails never had any issues.  She was resistant to the idea at first, but once they were done, loved the results and couldn't wait to show everyone.  "Look!  Toenails!!"  This may seem random, or it may be related, but Samantha doesn't like to have temporary tattoos or stickers on her.  I think any change to her body scares her a bit (boo boos are a taboo subject), and while I have never tried it, I'm fairly certain that carnival face-painting would go down very badly.  I'm really hoping she's open to the idea of getting her ears pierced when she's a bit older, but I'll leave that up to her. 

Samantha has selected Wet and Wild #207.  An excellent vintage. 


For those of you without the aid of a compact mirror and for those of you who do not have a natural inclination to read backwards, Sammi's and my shirts read, "I have a dream that one day we will be judged by the content of our character, not by the count of our chromosomes."  Wore those shirts all day, but seen only by the other patrons of IHOP at 7am, and who are we to compete with all-you-can-eat pancakes and those all-important first cups of coffee?  Just wearing them made us feel good, though, even if our message was not spread this time.

A side note here...Samantha is getting really good at brushing her teeth!  We have a battery-op toothbrush that she's even better with, but she doesn't always prefer to use it.  I just can't, for the life of me, figure out how to teach her to spit.  Please, please, I'm begging you, if any of you have any helpful hints, I'd welcome them with open arms!!  I am using a flouride children's toothpaste, although only a teeny, tiny bit on the brush, and she still insists on swallowing before leaning forward to pretend to spit.  "Pah!" she says.  "Look, Mommy, I did it!!"  Uh, okay, yeah, great job.  Not knowing how to spit on command never stopped her from expelling unwanted vegetables from her mouth at suppertime, though.  *sigh* 


And, now, may I present, the shiny pretty things!  :-)  I am a firm believer that pretty much all feet look good with a dab of pink paint, even when poorly applied.

13 comments:

Meriah said...

awwww, man! I love your shirts! Love your nails! Love the "vintage"! I can't wait to do nails with Moxie. One more thing to look forward to.
Can you tell me more about the shirts? Where did you get them? Or did you make them?

Becca said...

Quick note about the shirts (should have mentioned this in my post...): they were sent out by Diane Higbie for donations to Lera's fund a few months ago. I actually felt bad about the shirts, because I would have been happy to have just made the donation, but she was sending them anyway, and they were so doggone cute. :-) So excited that Lera's fully funded!!!

alicia said...

aww cant wait to have a girl to paint her nails! though i dont paint mine (i have the weird idea that it doesnt look good on mine :p)
about the spit, mmm Elias just learned watching daddy, he copy everything daddy does, but this was just a year ago, i think, when he was 5!
and Elias HATES carnival painting in his face, when he was younger he had a little batman in his face, and he didnt mind, but after 4 trying to getting something painted even i his hand is NOOOOOOOO
but he doesnt tell NO to his BFF when she drew on one hand a heart and the other a drawing of both :)

Tracy said...

Oh I've been away for too long! Trying to work full times days is hard! I've worked full time nights my whole life, so why is days so much harder? I dunno! I just caught up on your blog...sad I missed so much! I love Sammi's feet! And I love any pictures with your sweet girl, but the pictures with you and Sammi together...just beautiful!

Amy Flege said...

simply adorable and pretty lil feet!!!

Lori said...

Love the toes!! Makes me wish for warm weather all the more!!

Rochelle said...

Those are pretty shiny things! Adorable. Oh and fwiw, our dentist's son ate a whole tube of toothpaste and didn't get sick so he assures me a little bit of flouride won't hurt!
She needs an older brother to watch spit. LOL Alayna has it downpat. We could send Aidan over for a weekend or two. LOL~

Unknown said...

love the painted toes!! I tried to paint Maddies and it all just chipped off so hopefully fingers crossed with time...she iwll have pretty toes like Sammi!! I am LOVING the shirt!! great idea..smiles

tekeal said...

those toes look great!!

and sorry to disappoint anyone, but our livia has 3 older brothers and watches them well... but is still imitating the spit thing! help!!!!

Rob Monroe said...

Cute! Sounds like fun, too, so that's win-win!

Jen Currier said...

Those are some pretty adorable toes- even before the clipping and polish! Wish I had some advice about the spitting but I laughed out loud at how she could spit vegetables out at dinner time...perhaps vegetable flavored toothpaste?? LOL!

Cathleen said...

Lilly loves having pink fingernails and toenails. She's just started biting her nails so I'm not doing her fingers as often (how do I get her to stop?!) but her toes always match mine. We've found that it's much easier to cut her nails with scissor instead of a clipper, and we always do it right after bath - she actually really likes it and gets mad if we skip a nail (like if one is not long enough to cut I need to pretend to cut it). It's so funny how the girls are so similar but so different - Lilly's not a fan of stickers, but she loves makeup - and insists on putting it on every so often. She's done a real makeover twice at Disney World - one time she loved it, the other time she didn't - but that second time it was because halfway through I changed my mind and had them start over on her hair because I really wanted extensions on her... gosh Lilly lives such a silly life doesn't she? Anyways, as always I'm loving the pictures and reading more about Miss Samantha. 3 months until we're closer!

Anonymous said...

Samantha is so blessed!! Her toenails literally SMILE!!!