Ode to Sami

This is the Sam that we know & love:

I love seeing how far you've come developmentally, from a wee sprat of a baby to a big little boy.

I loved getting to know you through pictures when we were continents apart.

But I loved even more getting to meet you for the first time.

I love that God provided a special nanny for you when you were in Ethiopia.  She even cried when we took you away from her to bring you home.

I love how you've downed milk from the beginning and now insist on calling it "guk" even though I know you know how to say it correctly.

I love that you would be happy to eat bananas all day, every day (if i let you).

I love your giant brown eyes and am incredibly envious of your fabulous lashes.

I love all your facial expressions.

I love God's testimony of grace in your life regarding your seizures.  You've been seizure-free for over a year and off meds for months.  In fact, this picture was taken at the international hospital in Beijing the day of your first seizure.  Not even seizures could cramp your smily style.

I love it when you come in the room, look up at me, and say "Hi!"

I love that you think the Quaker Oats man is Uncle Chris.

I love your squishiness.

I love how your were a mad man on wheels in your "xue bu che" and made our toes thankful to be protected inside our house shoes.

I love your sweet, snuggly, sleepy self.

I love that you've already chipped your front tooth, even though you've had it less than a year.  Perhaps that's telling of what lies ahead for a rough & tumble kind of kid like you.

I love that you are a giant baby and would be pleased to be carried everywhere.  I even put you back in the Ergo a month or so ago and you thought that was pretty fab.

I love how you love your daddy.

I love how you open the fridge and announce to me that it's "peanut butter jelly time."

I love that you waited an entire year before learning to crawl.  Having one immobile child made the transition from zero to two children much easier.  And it preserved your babyness that much longer for me to enjoy.

I love watching you fishy second nature come out whenever we take you swimming (or give you a bath for that matter).

I love it when you find any excuse just to be snuggled, saying to me "Sit de mommy."



I love that you haven't figured out enough pronouns to know that while asking me to "carry you" is incredibly cute & endearing, it is utterly grammatically incorrect.

I love your fascination with backhoes, tractors, and all things wheel.

I love your laugh & and your smile.

I love your laugh when we play with balloons or throw blankets on your heard.

I love your incessant cries of "Yay!  I did it!"

I love seeing your connection with your brothers and how you want to do every single thing Micah does.

I love how you retrieve the syrup from the pantry as a not-so subtle request for pancakes.

I love that when you were first learning to talk, you would tell me your name was "I am Fam."  To this day, your nickname is still Fam.

I love when you declare to Micah "I like you!"

I love seeing the dare devil in you when you ride scooters in the cul-de-sac.

I love how you request to read "Most of All, Jesus Loves You" at least a dozen times per day.

I love how you're becoming so verbal, despite the fact that you have to duke it out with Micah to get a chance to speak.

I love your eye dimples.

Sam's stats:
(for all who care, including me who will promptly forget these numbers as soon as I type this)
height 34.75" (60%)
weight 29 lbs (72%)
head 48.2 cm (37%)

And Sam wanted to share a final word of thanks for all who love him:

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