Sam: Four and a Half (54 Months)

Hey buddy,

Well, we made it halfway through year four! (Pat on the back). And it was a big month. We visited Hawaii. You started your third year of preschool. You visited family in Wisconsin. And you handled it all with your typical Sam grace. You continue to crack us up with your funny faces, astound us with your detailed drawings, and drive us crazy with your stubbornness. 

In Hawaii we were able to sneak away for a couple "dates," one night we watched the sunset together in Waikiki:

At another point, we searched for the perfect souvenir. We passed lots of stores and many stands before you finally settled on the "perfect" drum. It was half the price but double the fun. It continues to bring us joy as you don your tie-dye shirt, camo shorts, and lead us in drum circles and chants. :)

You are in this great stage where you say, "Mom, mom, take a picture of this!!" and then make funny faces and pose. I pretty much love it (other than finding 100 pics of the same face you've taken of yourself with the flip cam). You love to make forts and hideouts and secret spaces and offices out of rocks and sticks and things around the house. I find little stashes of Sam supplies all over the place: forgotten apples and glasses of water, piles of sticks or rocks, backpacks filled with tools and hinges and coins and rope. I wish I could get in your brain sometimes to figure out the use for each little item.

You continue to be my snuggle bug. You live for nighttime cuddles. There are still several nights a week that you find your way into our room in the early morning, make a little "snuggle nest" on the floor, and wake up with us when the light enters the room. Sometimes I don't even hear you come in, but find you when I swing my feet over the edge of the bed. Thankfully you sleep through baby cries and even the occasional foot stepping on your sleeping body!

This month you created the most intricate drawing of a plumbing system. There was a toilet and then three pages of piping and a long, complicated explanation of where the pee pees and poo poos go after we flush them away. Your Boppa was very much impressed and might just be so proud as to hang the drawings in his office (being a waste water treatment civil engineer, and all).

We are so thankful for you, your kind and sensitive heart, your hilarious sense of humor, your endless energy, your creative brain, and all your hugs and kisses. Thanks for being our big buddy, for making us laugh and for reminding us to slow down and take time for cuddles. For as long as you will ask, I will happily end my day with you. Love you bud.