The Real Reason People Read this Blog

Most people read this blog for one reason: Sam. For our many friends and family who live far away, here are some pictures of our cute little man. He's growing up so fast!We were so sad the other day when he finally starting saying "alligator" instead of "evigator." We miss all the old ways he used to pronounce words, like these ones, for example:

• wan-gun-gun (motorcycle)
• kun (car)
• snuggin (snuggle)
• teet (tweet)
  

We like to tease him and ask, "Sam, will you snuggin with me?" And he always says, "No Mom, snuggle."

He is growing so fast. Many of his new clothes he got for Christmas are already getting sort of small on him. His fat little brick feet are too big for his sandals and church shoes. He's tall enough to climb onto the counters and get into cupboards, or to reach all the cookies and muffins at work.
He loves to play pretend. His favorite things to be are race cars (specifically Lightening McQueen), a dog, a baby fish(when he's in the bath, I have to go "fishing" to get Sam out of the tub), and a bird. Sometimes when I wake him up in the middle of the night to use the potty, half asleep in his little tired voice, he says "tweet tweet." He also likes to get under the covers on "the big bed" and pretend to fly an airplane. His favorite destinations are to Grandma's house, Dad's work, and Paris.

And speaking of Paris, it's been so fun teaching him bits of French. Our neighbor across the hall is from France, and it melts her heart when Sam says "bonjour" or "au revoir" to her. His counting is great! And when he sees snails, he calls them escargots. And especially when he doesn't want something he'll say "non merci." So fun!

Here are some of his favorite things:

• Food: hotdogs and cheerios
• Blanket: his green blanket that is falling apart. The blue one my mom got him as a spare for her house is in second place
• Book: Winnie the Pooh
• Toys: his 3 favorite cars: Lightening McQueen, Doc, and Mr. The King
• Song: The Wise Man and the Foolish Man
• Game: running away from the invisible alligators and baseball
  

About a week and a half ago, the fire alarm went off at our apartment complex. We had already put Sam to bed, so we had to get him up, put on some warm clothes, and go outside. The fire trucks and fire fighters came, and Sam thought it was the coolest thing ever. He still randomly jabbers off about that whole night. I think he dreams about it too because that'll be the first thing he talks about when he wakes up.

I love his prayers. We get him up twice each night to use the potty, and every time we put him back down, we have to say a prayer. He prays for Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, the missionaries, the other missionary (we think that's his Uncle Jordan he's talking about), Tigger, Piglet, McQueen, fire fighters, airplanes, birds, rocks, his blankets... Sundays we usually get to church a little early so I can prepare stuff I need for singing time in Primary. Sam likes to get up to the podium in the primary room and give talks. They always start out "Brothers and sisters..." and end "In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." After sacrament meeting he often runs up to the stand and gives some more talks. Maybe he'll be weird like me and actually enjoy public speaking.

We love our little man! He's such a sweet and happy boy. It's so fun to watch is little mind at work. What a joy it is to have him in our family!