Posts in Category: Sam
Sam is THREE!
“This is how daddy sleeps!”
We just got back from a wonderful camping birthday party! This has become a birthday tradition and it was so fun. Thankfully this time we weren’t accompanied by 30 drunk Marines listening to Metallica as we were last year … that was totally crazy! We were on Bellows AFS and had the best campsite on the planet. Spacious, raised, private, and mostly sheltered. Despite forecasted rain we had really great weather, especially today. Sammy’s hiking buddies joined us for the camp-out – Anneliese and her sister Calleigh (with mom and dad of course). It was their first family camping trip and they had a great time as well. I’ll post pictures as soon as I can later today… Dave did a wonderful job cooking and setting up camp and then taking it all down again. The kids had fun just playing in the sandy soil, hide and seek behind the trees, making bubbles and hanging out. We had Gramma with us as well making this really special. We were also joined by some special friends – long-time friends Mike and Angel and their son David and his friend Nick came for s’mores, and my friend Dana made her famous carrot cake (Sammy’s request) which was decorated by mom and me with some rather unconventional stuff (log cabin, snowman…Sam and I were hankering for winter!). After s’mores, the kids went to bed an the grown-ups had a nice time chatting in complete sentences by candlelight. Poor Sam has a cold and a persistent cough, but he did great sleeping through it all. I went to help him at one point with a sip of water and he said after a little bit “OK mommy, go back to your room, I’m going to sleep all by my SELF.” SO cute. I didn’t sleep a whole lot due to the coughing and rustling, Ben wriggling in my stomach, and Dave snoring (softly) just as everything settled down. Oh well – the smells and rituals of camping are irresistible and we had a fantastic time. We almost stayed another night but decided to plan a longer outing next time. Pictures are up – just click on the photo above. (Note: in the above picture mom had just asked him “How does daddy sleep?” and he made snoring noises 🙂 hee hee!)
Sammy’s first running shoes
Video: Sammy tests out his new running shoes
Sammy and I went for a little jog yesterday to test out some new running shoes. I really couldn’t resist getting these for him since he has been jogging the last couple weeks. I didn’t like the idea of rocks in his Crocs – that would be uncomfortable while jogging! I thought it was time to reward my little buddy for being such a good jogging partner. Yes, I’m aware that his interest may fade, and that I shouldn’t project what makes me happy onto him. He may not grow up liking to hike, either. The best I can do is include him, make it as fun as possible, and enjoy the time together while it lasts. He didn’t take to his running shoes the way he did to his hikers. It’s interesting to watch his personality develop – he’s at the same time loving and expressive as much as he is deliberately independent. So I know it doesn’t make sense to imbue anything he says or does with too much significance right now. He’s very amoeba-like . . . and I guess good parenting involves allowing him that room wherever possible. . .
a Pillbox reverse traverse | Sam’s observations
A picture from our hike today – we did the Pillbox trail in reverse, starting at the south end of the loop and coming back to the golf course trailhead. It was good to get that long walk on the road out of the way early. The hike up that steep trail at the end of Lanikai was difficult going up, but not as bad as coming down it. We were at the top in 30 minutes. From there to the third bunker it took 40 minutes, still carrying Sam. From there we walked (Sam on his own) to the first pillbox in 1 hr. Sam was slow today, checking stuff out all along the way, clearing the trail of rocks and standing on one leg “like a stilt.” It was cute, but not so cute in the strong winds up there. We had lunch then descended back to the truck where mom surprised us at the trailhead! We went to have some shave ice, and Sam stole much of mom’s cone.
Sam was very observant today on the hike. We talked about runways with a new bath toy (an aircraft carrier) last night. We saw a runway today from the hike (at Bellows) and I asked what it was – he said “a runway for planes landing”! He also loves a particular flower here – a plumeria? He picked one up yesterday on a walk to the playground and held onto it for 1/2 mi walk, saying repeatedly “it smells so sweet.” He held onto it on the hike for about the same distance while in the pack. We talked about birdies chirping in the trees – I asked where the birdies were and he said “in the trees,” and when I asked what they were doing he said “napping.”
Tonight he was very studious in his baff…he watched the water go down and stuffed a washcloth in the drain to see it stop up the water. Then he filled his big bucket up with water and put the washcloth in there and said “fishie in day-oh!” with a big smile. As the last of the water was draining out he said “it goes down a tunnel” (because he knows it’s a drain, I enjoyed this alternate take on what a drain looks like). Then he said – and I know you totally won’t believe me and think I may have heard something else – “water goes out ocean.” So I asked again – where does it go? And he said “to the ocean,” to which I asked “and how does it get there” and he replied “on a road.” During jammie time he continued to talk about this and said the water from the bath goes out “to the beach, to the water” and “comes down the rocks by the beach.” We talked about how rain fills up the lakes, then water comes into our house and goes back out to the ocean to come back down again in the rain. Lord knows if he has any idea what I’m saying…but you never know. I must have said once long ago that water goes out to the ocean from the bath. We also had fun with shapes on the hike – there are huge leaves with oval shapes in them and he noted that right away. I pointed out red hibiscus and he pointed out “yewow hibiscus” when we passed it. He is so full of wonder and absorbs so much information daily, it’s mind boggling. His mind must be really burgeoning with information. Mine would be totally and completely overloaded if I had to absorb that much stuff every day.
On a separate note, I made some sourdough demi-baguettes today which we ate for lunch (with peanut butter and honey – a favorite lunch request of some little buddy I know). They tasted good, rose well, had good hole structure and were soft and springy. They were lacking in oven spring (they should have had a better rise in the oven) but that could be due to lack of sufficient preheating – I only let the oven come to temperature rather than sit at temperature for 45 min or so (we needed to hit the trail). If the stone had been quite a bit hotter we may have gotten better oven spring. Next time.
humuhumunukunukuapua’a
Video: Sam dancing at the Farmers’ Market.
Pronounced: “hoo-moo-hoo-moo-noo-koo-noo-koo-ah-poo-ah-ah”
Mom, Sam and I had a great time out on a glass-bottom-boat trip where I finally learned how to say the name of the Hawaiian state fish. It means literally “fish with a snout like a pig” and is also called a triggerfish. The lady on board the boat has an education background and gave a lot of good kid-level information on geology and marine life. She did a great job helping us visualize the name of this fish and I finally learned it 🙂 Sam can even sort-of say it…if you know what he’s trying to say you can decode it! More pictures from the trip in the Album above.
Last night the three of us (mom, Sam and me – Dave was working late) went to the Farmer’s Market for dinner, music and some produce. It’s a really neat gathering of community folks, and you can eat really well…cheap! Like it 🙂 The video above is Sam dancing to the music, which was quite good. What we didn’t catch on film was a cool head-banger move that he did a bit later. I don’t know how he keeps his balance so well. It helps that his center of gravity is a bit lower!
Today he went to the dentist (or the so-called “big mouth doctor” because Sam learned long ago from Gramma how to make a “big mouth” and a “small mouth”). Our dentist is fantastic – he’s an adult dentist but has three little boys so he knows how to relate to them. Sam has a little spot on one tooth that I’ve been watching. It doesn’t look like a cavity and we’re not sure what it is. We’ll keep following it, and our dentist will do some checking around. I’ll take a picture of it for him so he can solicit well-informed feedback from his colleagues. Sam did a great job opening up and letting him check. He got sick of the whole thing at one point and put up a good protest (he’s quite “vigorous” in his disagreements, although he rarely does this). But he calmed down right away and we proceeded. Mom was a big help on this visit and we enjoyed some nice reading time in the waiting room. We celebrated his first dental appointment with a little lunch, and of course – since we all have a sweet tooth – the best cookie in town.
Sam tries to say “Bear”!
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Video: Sam tries to say “Bear”
Sam and I had a great time at the Kailua Beach tide pools for lunch today. I posted a whole bunch of new pictures – go to “Album” above and follow the link to the November album (2006-11). Enjoy the movie of Sam saying “bay-oo” as well!
I am SUCH a geek
Sam’s laugh and misc updates
This is Sam’s most-requested video, so I am posting it where it’s easy to find when you need a good laugh. The deck was finished yesterday, and Sam and I planted trees and flowers all afternoon. We planted a lemon and lime tree, four hibiscus, two jasmine, transplanted a tea leaf and planted a couple palms.
Sam’s new digz
In anticipation of summer fun camping, I couldn’t wait to put up Sam’s kid tent in the living room. We’re both enjoying it! He has all his books in there, and enjoys quiet time reading. He even has new “camp shoes” which he leaves outside the door of the tent 🙂 We had to get these camp shoes for all the fun water time on rocky shores that you’ve seen in other pictures.
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waist-deep snow and other fun
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it was GORGEOUS here this weekend! it was about 70 yesterday and felt like 80 today, no clouds…so we had a little wanderlust and went up to Hurricane Ridge for some snow play yesterday then out to Ft. Flagler today to check out the camping options. Great views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Whidbey, Port Townsend, the Cascades and Olympics. Here is a movie of what little time we spent at home. 15 months
a real firetruck!
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i went down to base today so i could swap cars and get my zippy little GTI back. sam and i have a couple road trips in mind while dave’s at sea… so my friend christine helped me swap the car seat into the GTI, which has LATCH and is supposed to be really easy. well that’s if you’ve done it before OR read the manual.
fascination with bellies
adventures in napping
froggie has…
sam has been doing some funny things since daddy left for sea a few days ago…he’s responding to “say ‘mama'” and “say ‘dada'”! so exciting 🙂 he’s also having fun with his froggie squeak toy…froggie has…
Sam’s crazy laugh, “Froggie” and other videos
This is a link to an absolutely hilarious video I had trouble finding because it was 6 months before my conversion to this blog engine. Caffrey is doing a high-five and Sam is watching and just about ready to fall out of his chair laughing! Mary – thank you for reminding us of this! http://www.kampkrug.com/video/Sams%20laugh.wmv
And another favorite – FROGGIE! http://www.kampkrug.com/video/froggie.wmv
Precious video of Sam opening his blocks from Gramma – 20 months old. http://www.kampkrug.com/video/2006-10-16%20new%20blocks.wmv