About Samuel

Samuel is almost 4 years old.  He is such a fun and challenging little boy.  He likes to talk a lot.  He is really good at sentences but still struggles with his L sound.  So he says things like "wegs (legs)", "fawing (falling)", "I wike (like)", "siwwy (silly)" and other things.  He will grab books and sit down and look at the pictures.  He knows his colors and shapes and can count to 11 (random number) by himself, but with help he can get to 20.  Samuel also loves to dance and sing.  He dances a lot.  I will catch him randomly singing made up songs.

He is a great builder.  He loves to build with blocks and makes some pretty impressive structures.  Samuel uses both his right hand and his left hand to do things, though he favors his left hand.  Sometimes he will color or draw with both hands at the same time.  We have practiced some letters and he likes to mark them off once he has drawn them.  He doesn't always recognize them, so we are working on that. 

Samuel loves the outdoors.  Yesterday he told me, "I love nature mommy."  He does.  He loves plants and trees.  He is deathly afraid of animals on the loose.  I guess that means mostly dogs and cats that he sees around the neighborhood. 

He loves little toys.  If it is small he likes it.  He got the Angry Birds Star Wars At-At Attack for Christmas and loves that the figures you shoot are smaller than his hand.  He loves his trash pack toys. 

Samuel loves his big brother.  It bothers Joseph sometimes because Samuel wants to be on the top bunk with him.  Whatever Joseph has, Samuel wants it too.  We have duplicate toys because we know that if Joseph gets it, Samuel will want it as well.  He is getting super excited to turn 4. 

Samuel also likes to challenge what he is told.  We have mostly broken the spitting fit habit he had, but sometimes when he is super mad, he will drool in his mouth excessively and let a little bit wander dangerously close to outside of his mouth.  He needs naps, but if he has one, he won't sleep till late and will get out of bed a number of times.  I think he also has night terrors on occasion.  He will wake up crying, shaking, and sweating.  He will ask me to pray that he won't have any dreams. 

The other night he woke up scared.  We had prayed that he wouldn't have any dreams or good dreams if he did dream.  He said, "Heavenly Father didn't give me good dreams."  I explained that Heavenly Father woke him up from his bad dream so that it would stop.  We then sang some songs and I said another prayer with him for better dreams.  I also talked to him about thinking about things that made him happy as he fell asleep.  When he woke up the other night from a bad dream he said, "Heavenly Father woke me up." 

Some of his favorite foods are:
Spinach with white (ranch) dressing
Broccoli
Hot dogs
Bologna
Nuggets
Pistachios
Almonds
Pears
Red Apples
Green Apples
Red apples
Gum

His favorite color is bwack (black) and rainbow.

His favorite show is Funniest Home Videos and Shaun the Sheep.

He loves to play with little people (my old toys). 

We love Samuel.  It is hard to believe that my baby is going to be 4. 

Samuel quote

As we went over a hill that tickled our bellies:

"My stomach squeezed my heart."

Boys and Girls

Joseph is getting so big.  He is very social and in my opinion, a very cute kid.  It seems like some of the little girls have taken notice.  Joseph does not like to talk about this kind of thing because he does not want to be teased about it.  I debate about whether I should blog about it, but I want to remember what he said.  Hmmmm.  I will still think about it.  Meanwhile, I need to write what he said down somewhere so I won't forget it.  :)

Wherein I broke his heart...

I don't enjoy washing dishes, but I know I need to get them done.  Of course, Samuel has a built in radar that lets him know if I am out of sight, I am probably in the kitchen cleaning, so he hones in and wants to help.  He LOVES to wash dishes.  Washing dishes is a longer process with my little one, so sometimes I try to get it done when he is asleep or otherwise occupied.  Yesterday I put off washing dishes until I knew Joseph would be home so they could play together and I could get it done quickly.  Samuel suggested during the day that we needed to do it before Joseph got home because, "Joseph will say, "I want to help mommy," and I don't want him to help."  Well, I was feeling the same way.  So my sneaky ploy worked and I washed everything.  

At family home evening, it was late and we told the boys it was bed time after the snack.  Samuel said, "But we need to wash dishes."  I cringed inside because I knew he wanted to help, but I had done it on my own.  I told him that I had done them.  The look on his face broke my heart.  I felt so awful that I had done them without him.  He looked at me with hurt in his eyes and asked, "you already did them?"  I said yes and that we would have more to wash tomorrow and he could help me.  Damage done.  I think I broke his little heart.  :(  I had to distract him quickly so he wouldn't cry.  

In memory of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy

Friday started off as many other days do.  I woke up in the morning and got my boys fed and Joseph ready for school.  My Joseph who is 7 and such a wonderful, sensitive, thoughtful and creative boy.  We walked to the bus stop and Samuel and I gave him hugs and kisses before he got on.  I cleaned a little and got busy working around the house.  Around 11 in the morning, I jumped on the internet, checked my email and then went to MSN.  Their breaking report was about a school in Connecticut that had a gunman break in and shoot children and adults alike.  I was horrified.  I know that it could have happened anywhere, but I cried for everyone who sent their child to school that day, as I sent my Joseph to school, only to lose them because of one person's inability to see past himself.  I do feel bad for the shooter because he must have been a lost soul, but I truly feel the pain of the parents.  I am not a poet laureate, but I wrote a small poem in memory of all the people impacted by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting:

The silent footsteps tread across our grieving hearts,

The echoes of now silent laughter, tear our souls apart,

Arms yearn for more embraces, tears slide down crying eyes,

The hopes they said “I love you,” before their child died.

Memories of their smiles, the funny things they did,

Of assuring that the monsters did not live under their bed.

But a monster came to them, donned with a human mask,

A sad and tragic figure that ravaged any in his path.

 Now, there are no more tomorrows for the hearts so young and pure,

There are only empty todays for those left behind on the Earth,

On Friday, lots of children met the Maker of all mankind,

He met them, hugged them, soothed them, and promised life divine,

He also hugged the women that served His little ones,

And told them, “Well done my good and faithful, from your duty you did not shun.”

His comfort He will give us as our faith acts as our guide,

We love and pray and mourn with them and seek solace by their sides.

Will I tell Joseph about what happened?  If he hears about it I will.  I don't want him to be scared of going to school and I want to try to help him maintain his innocence for as long as I can.  

Samuel sings

Samuel can be found singing quite often.  I like to sing too and I don't always think about the fact that I am doing it.  One day I was singing some of "Little Talks" by the group Of Monsters and Men.  I was singing the chorus in the car and Samuel kept saying "Hut."  It took me awhile to realize that he was singing the part where they say "Hey."  For whatever reason he thought they say "hut" and that is what he sings when he hears the song on the radio.

At the dinner table the other night he randomly started to sing "I will wait, I will wait for you."  It is the chorus of the song by Mumford and Sons by the same title. 

I have sung the boys the Christmas song "Nuttin' for Christmas."  Samuel took the tune and changed the words to "I am getting lots of presents because I am such a good boy." 

He also likes to sing the Star Wars Darth Vader background music.  I don't know what it is called. 

When we listen to the radio, here are some of the songs that he wants me to stop on:

"Home" by Philip Phillips
"Just Dance" by Lady Gaga
"Some Nights" and "We are Young" by Fun.
"Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men
"Somebody that I used to Know" by Gotye
"Ho Hey" by the Lumineers who I have mistakenly called the Imagineers
"Gangham Style" by PSY
"We are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift
"I Will Wait" by Mumford and Sons

There are more songs, but these are some that I know he likes to listen too.  He makes up other songs that are his own tune.  I like that he likes to sing.  I have also randomly singing "Follow the Prophet" and "I am a Child of God."  He is such a cute boy.  :)

This is a test

Samuel likes to perform "science tests."  For example, he will drink from his cup and spit it back into the cup.  When we tell him not to, he says it is a science test.  He blows bubbles with his straw, it is a science test.  He unrolls the toilet paper, it is a science test.  He shakes a tree in the yard, it is a science test.  He needs a piece of candy because he needs to do a science test.  There are so many times when his science tests happen to be things that he knows he shouldn't be doing.  At least he is "applying" the scientific method.