sam day

Today is Sam Day at our house. Sam is now one year old. I think my sister L will be sad she can't tell people anymore that her nephew is zero. She got a kick out of that.

Last week J and I came across a journal that J's mom kept while J was a baby. She recorded all of the funny things that he said and did when he was little. We got such a kick out of reading those stories and anecdotes, I thought I better start to write down more things about Sam. So, here goes:

Sam's first word was "Hi!" He probably said it first at about 10 months. He says it all the time and does this little floppy wave. He also knows:

"Bye!" (with floppy wave again)
"Daaa" = Dad
"Mom?" (He always says this like it's a question, and the sides of his mouth always turn down when he says it, which reminds me of the muppet Sam the Eagle. Maybe we should have named our Sam after the muppet.).
"DAT!!!" = "THAT!"
"Dut!" = duck

He also knows the meaning of "no," "up," "outside," "smile," "more," "book," "hug," and "ear."

It's fun to see him learning and growing. He's not walking yet, but he cruises around a lot and likes to walk with help. We like him. And we're glad he's in our family.

Anyhow, here are some pictures of Sam opening presents this morning:

Once he saw what was inside, he looked at me with the expression, "Do you see this?" He hasn't quite picked up on the idea that presents contain fun things. I also think he might have wondered if I would get upset with him for ripping paper.

Thanks for the fun toys, SJ, N1, N2, and Grandma! (And thanks to others for the fun presents that aren't pictured here!)

There is a small zoo located near our house that used to be a private animal collection. My mother-in-law said that because of zoning reasons, the family needed to turn their private collection into a zoological park. We went there last weekend as part of Sam's birthday celebration.

This parrot in the bird show kept waving to the audience

This weekend we'll be having cake and ice cream to celebrate little Sammy, which means that his birthday celebrations are spreading onto three different days. Phew. I hope he doesn't expect a multi-day extravaganza each year.

Sam we like. Like we Sam. With or without green eggs and ham. Happy birthday, little buddy!