So Proud of Sam!

I have had several moments lately when I have been  proud of Sam and struck by how grown-up he is. He was such a help to me and Jeremy during our recent family trip to Arizona, and I noticed several times when he forewent his own interests in order to help keep Lucy happy and entertained. Lucy had several rounds of laughs on our trip, and I think they were mostly because Sam made her laugh.

I also have noticed how grown-up and skilled he has become with his piano practicing. He is good at exercising discipline in practicing, and he is starting to learn more complex songs. I actually took the picture of Sam at the piano (shown above) at a moment when I heard him playing some more complex music, and I realized that he was growing up. I tried to get a picture of him playing the piano, but he noticed what I was doing and turned to give the camera a sweet smile.

Sam also is aware of the importance of self-control, even if just in small increments sometimes. After our trip, he said, "I know I got to play the iPad a lot on this trip, so I'm going to not play the iPad for two straight days!" (He is allowed to play it every-other-day usually.) I'm glad he is aware of the importance of restraint.

Most recently, J and I have both been really proud of Sam's scholastic achievements. This week we got a letter in the mail, stating that Sam did exceptionally well on a standardized test called the CogAT. He tested in the 97th percentile for his grade and the 99th percentile for his age. As a result, Sam was invited to be transferred into the Discovery Program (the district's Highly Capable program) for advanced instruction, starting the next academic year. He will be in a self-contained classroom with other students in the same program, but at present we are pretty sure he will still attend his same elementary school. We are so proud of Sam!