Our House: Sam's 1st Birthday

Today my little Sam turned one. I can hardly believe it. This past year has flown and we have been so lucky to have such a wonderful baby. He is affectionately known as the 'Whamers' around here. When he was first born Zach commented on the fact that all he could say was 'wha, wha, wha' and it kind of stuck along with Whamtastic, Sammers, and 'the grabber'.

I felt like he spent most of the summer attached to someone's back, and as long as they were moving he was happy to be there. He is curious and watches everything that you do. He loves to figure out how things work and he loves to imitate. He is pretty cheerful most of the time and loves to be around his brothers and sister. He has a special fondness for his big brother Thomas who he will often go up to and give a love to even when he's given everyone else the cold shoulder. He already has a strained relationship with Zach (mainly because he doesn't like to share with him) and I often hear Zach screaming because Sam is trying to bite him.

He is beginning to like playing with cars and trains and is very interested in things with wheels. He loves the vacuum cleaner and the laundry room. Laundry is a challenge with him around. He constantly stops the washing machine mid cycle and is always putting the dryer on, but he does try and fold the laundry. Maybe I am finally raising a child like me!

As birthdays go this one was pretty uneventful. We stayed around the house for the day and Sam took a long and early nap. That's probably how I would spend mine if I could. He then got to drive around in the car picking up Olivia's friends to take to dance and waited in the studio for an hour while they tapped away. He was a trooper. Once everyone was take home we met up with Spenser at the house and drove to Applebees. The kids said that he likes the fries there!

He enjoyed the food and the birthday sundae. Notice the nice line of 7 stitches that he acquired on Sunday. I guess you have to make that 1st birthday celebration eventful. Spenser had gone out and I was making dinner. I heard Sam charging over into the kitchen to come see me. He then somehow went over his hands and smashed his chin on the floor. I ran over to survey the damage and saw a nice little gap underneath his chin. Thomas helped get me a towel to catch the blood, while I called Spense to come home. He took Sam to the hospital, while I took the other 3 kids to Marti's so they didn't have to come and wait around at the hospital.

By the time I arrived he was already getting his numbing cream ready for some stitches. The nurse came in to swaddle him up and then they got going. He screamed pretty good and the Dr. was having a few problems. I think that knowing Spense was a dentist and our talking about how we wanted a good job on his face made her nervous. I just stood by and stroked his hair as he looked at me with some scared little eyes. I hoped that he might pass out, but he didn't, and we survived to tell the tale.