Sammy (Long edition)

Sammy's personality is rapidly emerging! He is such a character! He is very playful & loves to tease! He loves to come up & either tickle you or just dive right onto you. I see him all the time come up behind a sitting Joshua & throw his arms around Joshua’s neck. You do have to watch out because he can be rather rough & he loves to throw & bang things! We try to have balls readily available so that more dangerous items are not hurtled through the air. He can be rather persistent & knows how to get attention without saying a word. He’ll just come up & begin bopping you until you look at him & then he motions for you to come. He loves praise & definitely wants to know everyone is watching him & ready to clap. He has no problem blowing his own horn & starting the clapping himself either! At the same time he is also very affectionate & loves cuddling. He enjoys cuddling with his siblings every morning & again after nap. Since Joshua takes a long time to fully wake up Sammy has ample time to crawl & hug & bounce all over Joshua. He especially loves sitting on Joshua’s back just bouncing up & down with short pauses to hug Joshua. Most of the time Joshua doesn’t mind & they will begin to just sort of roll & wrestle around on the bed.

Sammy has mastered walking & progressed to running & climbing. Last month he decided a great way to get my attention was to climb onto the kitchen table. He is curious, fearless & not deterred by injury. Sometimes I wonder if he even feels pain! He enjoys playing with just about everything but seems to favor balls, cars, taking baths, & playing chase. His very favorite pastime is nursing & reading books. He loves the book “Where The Wild Things Are” and alternates between growling & pretending to be scared. He is interesting to me because as the 3rd child he seems to alternate between baby & big kid. He wants to at least attempt everything the big kids are doing & hates to be left behind. He wants to sit in their chairs, drink from open glasses, color, & glue & paste the same crafts. But when he gets frustrated or scared of being a big kid he runs back to me to nurse. In some ways he seems like such a paradox. My biggest challenge with him is supervising him & keeping him busy & safe. If he’s out of my sight he’s sure to be getting into some sort of mischief from unrolling the toilet paper to pushing the chairs around & opening all the kitchen drawers. Despite these challenges or perhaps because of them he is such a great joy! His laid back personality mixed with his cheerfulness is such a great addition to our family!