okay. so this is the courtyard behind the house. i think i figured out why the goose is mean. he is on the right. there is another goose that sits over in one place all the time (on the left), and the mean goose makes sure that we do not get close to the other goose. mom says maybe the other goose is his wife, and she is sitting on the babies to keep them warm. i think that is a little weird, but i guess it makes sense. if mom was sitting on me to keep me warm, i would like it if dad protected us.  

bathtime is over!!!

yesterday i took a bath. so i am having a great time playing with the duck and the shampoo bottles, when i decide to stand up and splash around a bit. i look down and see that there is a new brown toy down there that i had not noticed before. hooray! a new toy! so i start to grab for it and mom yells out, "sam, NO!" and then whisks me out of the tub real fast.

i learned two things:

1. playing with mysterious brown objects in the bathtub is a NO NO.

2. a good way to end bath time early is to try to play with the brown thing. i enjoy my baths for the time being, but i will remember this in case i get tired of baths some day.

a goose

a crazy thing happened yesterday! mom and i went outside in the big yard behind our house. i had never walked around near the pond and the pool before, and mom said we were going to look at the geese. i did not know what a geese was, but she seemed excited enough about it, so i was all for it as well. we walk to where a couple birds are, near the pond, and mom points and says, "look, sam, a goose!" turns out they are big gray birds, as tall as me, and with black necks and heads. they look nice enough, so i want to pet them! we walk closer to the nearest goose, and he makes a hissing noise like a cat! i think this makes mom nervous because she says, "hmm, sam i think the goose does not like us." well, i am not scared, so i walk a little closer. the goose makes the hissing noise again and walks in our direction! we take a few steps back, and mom says again that the goose does not like us. but maybe he is just trying to talk to us? so i walk closer to him again, and he hisses some more and walks close to us some more and starts putting his wings up in the air a little bit. we take a few steps back and the goose keeps coming! so we turn and walk away kind of fast, and mom holds my hand and tells me that the goose is mean, so we better not try to pet him anymore. why is he so angry? i just want to be friends.

a few of my favorite things

*one time mom put in a dvd with a bunch of farm animals. we danced! we sang! i even walked up and touched the tv. (the current fingerprint count on the tv now is up to i think 146,035.)


*i love the mouse and the keyboard and the power button on the computer. mom and dad really do not like it when i touch that power button, but i can't help it. mom says it is like i am an addict. what does that mean? anyway, it is a good, good time.

*aunt amber gave me two drumsticks. i like to stick the drumsticks through the holes in the wicker chair. the holes are getting bigger! if i keep on with such diligence, it will just be one big hole in no time.

*outside is so fun. i do not even care that mom has to rub some smelly weird stuff all over me every time we're outside. she will not let me get a tan, but that is okay. i like to throw the wood chips onto the slide. i like to yell at big kids when they go by. i even do not mind the rocks in my shoe. why do we ever have to go back inside?

*i like my new seat in the car. it has armrests and a cup holder, and it reclines. what more could i possibly hope for? (except to not have to ever ride in the car.)

*i like to toss things over my shoudlers. i just open up that drawer of dvds, and i get one in each hand, and i throw them backwards. my drawer-emptying speed is down to 3.8 seconds, and i plan to try to break the record today.

the angry face! do you like it? 

yay! basketball on tv at grandpa's! 

i found a blue one! 

easter and angry faces

so the other day, it was easter. mom says she does not know why it is on the day it's on, but it means that Jesus is alive. that seems like a fine reason to celebrate, although i do not understand how the eggs come into it all.....

but anyway, nany and mom and dad and i ride out to where my uncle and aunt and four cousins live. we get there, and two grandparents and two more great-grandparents (nany is also my great-grandma) are there too! so it's a big old housefull. and there are candy, and presents, and lotsa people who want to kiss me. aunt keri and mom mysteriously leave, then they tell us all to come out, and they hand us buckets, and there are lots and lots of colorful eggs laying around! i pick up a few, shake them, and run around. it is most definitely a good time! dad helps me by carrying the bucket, and of course mom takes pictures. i will try to add one to the blog soon.

in other news, my current favorite thing to do is make the angry face. that is what mom and dad call it. i am not really angry when i make the face; i just think it is fun to put my eyebrows down and yell. it certainly gets a reaction! once, i made the angry face and yelled at the lady who took the money and put the stuff in the bags at the food store, and she laughed and laughed and said that i had cussed her out. i think mom was embarrassed. but it was a good time, because i made the lady laugh.

also, and man, my fingers are starting to hurt! mom and i went down to see my grandpa who lives in the woods. well, in a house but in the woods. i learned that when they yell a lot at the tv, it is not because they are mad at me. it is because the people on tv are playing basketball. i think somehow they can hear mom and grandpa yelling, and it helps them play better?

sick sick sick

this week, green stuff is coming from my nose, and i am coughing a whole lot. sometimes i can not sleep because of the coughing and the snot. i rub my nose, because it is all itchy and liquidy, and long strings of snot go from my hand to my nose. this is not fun! everything makes me mad, and i just want mom or dad to hold me. does anyone else ever feel like this? i think it must have something to do with the snot.

i did not get to go play with the kids at church on tuesday while mom was at Bible study. she said she didn't want the other kids to get contaminated. is that what this snot is called? contaminated? well anyway, i kind of maybe like to play with the other kids now. it is actually not that bad. for a long time, i mostly just wanted one of the big people to hold me, while the other kids ran around and did stuff and cried and whatnot. but actually playing with the other kids can be fun. who knew? i still prefer my grandparents and nany, but i guess kids are alright. they are certainly better than being contaminated.

i love sharpies

so tonight i discovered the great fun of drawing on things that are not paper. usually mom and dad pay careful close attention to any access i have to pens and pencils and markers and so on. they make sure the lids are on tight if they are not watching me super close, and they make sure i only draw on paper when they are drawing with me. i have been wondering what it would be like to draw on other, more interesting things, but i have thus far not gotten to explore that option. well, except for that blissful day last week when i got to write on the laptop keys with the neat yellow marker.... anyhow, tonight the phone rang, and i was sitting on dad's lap, and he had to write down what the people on the phone were saying, and then, at last, he laid that wonderful, black, smelly sharpie down on the table. and guess what? the lid was not on it. so i seized the opportunity to claim that sharpie as my own! i decorated my shirt and also the palm of my left hand. now that is a good time. dad was not too happy about it, but i think he was secretly trying not to laugh.

in other news, the tooth count is up to seven. seven! at this rate, i will have at least thirty-nine pretty soon.

remote control!

it has been found! it was not in my nose, in case you are wondering. it was in the couch cushions.

i tried to suggest this to mom and dad, but they seem not to understand me when i talk. why is this? it seems clear enough to me, but mom and dad usually respond inappropriately. for example, when i say, "mom, i want to eat a piece of cake now," she will smile and say, "yeah!" real enthusiastically, as if she agrees. but then i will never get the cake. or i will ask a question like, "dad, why do my gums feel like someone is stabbing them with knives?" and he will say, "my goodness, that's very interesting!" where does a kid need to go to get some sympathy? it's as if he did not even hear me. or, i will say, "i am going to walk around and be silly now," and mom will say, "dagh dugh!"

i think maybe she thinks she is speaking my language, but i have no idea what "dagh dugh" means. any ideas?

the sun is shining

so mom says one good thing about this place we live is that it is really close to the park. (now, when you are riding to the park in the car, it does not seem all that close, really.) BUT, i think it is probably worth the trip. it was today, anway.

mom looks out the door and says, "sam, the sun is shining and it is not too cold! let's go to the park." so she gets my jacket, puts on my socks and shoes, and finally, we load up and head to the park. after a long time (three minutes?) we get there, and man, are there people all over the place! we head to the swings, and mom pushes me until i get tired of it. this takes a while, because i figure out it is fun to swing my legs and move my body in the swing, and it makes me go higher. mom says i am a genuis or naturally coordinated. then i walk around in the woodchips a little while and almost walk into another person's swing (gotta remember to look both ways in the woodchips). then mom pushes me around the park in my stroller. we look at a squirrel until it disappears up a tree, and mom shows me a magnolia tree. it is one of the only ones there that still has leaves on it. she even gave me a leaf to look at, until i stopped looking at it and started chewing on it. (why is this so wrong?) also, part of the sidewalk goes sort of close to the big road, and i see lots of cars zooming by. i like watching cars. someday i will drive one for real!

speaking of cars, i know just the one i want. we went to the car auction last week (which i do not necessarily recommend, as it is loud and smelly), and while mom and dad pick out a boring, old person car, i pick out a Jeep Renegade. it is red, it has no doors, it has a big old stick shifter, and man, is it a good time to drive. well, i did not actually drive it. i did get to stand up in the seat and move the steering wheel back and forth. mom says maybe when i am sixteen. when is that?!?

fun with nostrils

this week i discovered that my nostril is just the right size for sticking my finger in. actually, both nostrils are the perfect size. i could stick one in each if i wanted! right now i am content to just stick one in there. i have no interest in the sticky things inside the nostril. mostly they just irritate me and make a funny sound when i breathe. mom seems so suggest that this will change, and someday i might even like to eat the sticky clumps in there. why would i want to do that?!? anyway, sticking my finger in there is fun and interesting, because it's like my nostril was made for sticking my finger into it. like legos to a dad shoe, so are fingers to a nose hole.

the latest word on the remote control is that it is still myteriously absent. aunties rhonda and holly suggested the garbage, but we did not find it there. maybe it is in my nose.

good times!

so, my new pasttime is relocating items. i will take a random object from one place and put it somewhere else. like my shoe (only one of them. it is more fun when only one shoe is lost.) shoes are good in the hallway. or like my pacifier. it is good to put the pacifier in a small place, like the little drawer on my leapfrog table. or a pen. or my blocks. it is fun to relocate my legos to the inside of dad's shoe. or raisins. i got a good laugh when dad stepped on the raisins. as you may have guessed, the more important/necessary-for-day-to-day-life an object is, the more fun it is to relocate it. my latest triumph is the remote. it has been three days, and mom and dad still have not found it. i might make them happy and get it for them sometime, but you know, i am not quite sure i remember where i put it. oh well. next mission: the keys! mom is always losing keys, so she will probably think she lost them. good times!

the joy of mobility

so walking around will really wear a guy out.

i have been practicing a lot lately, and i am getting really good, if i do say so myself.
i can squat down and pick something up, then stand up again without even holding onto stuff! just now, for instance, i found a pack of raisins i had conveniently dropped earlier (on accident?....hmm, you decide) , bent down to get it, stood right back up, walked over to mom, handed her the raisins and said "good!" (good seems to be the only word she understands) so that she would open them for me. and she did. mmmm, raisins. we just might see those again later, but that is way off subject.
now that i am getting the hang of it, i can see that the possibilities may just be endless. in no time at all,
i will run
i will climb
i will more readily reach things i am not supposed to


gosh. just thinking of it makes me pretty happy. also tired.

so close yet so far

did you know that there is a piece of glass between you and the people in the tv?

tonight i get a big old handful of honey maid graham crackers out of the box. mom and dad laugh because i get about three big ones out and try eating them all at once. then dad takes away all but one little cracker. i decide that even though i only have one, i would like to share it with buddy, the elf in the tv. i put the cracker up there, but it just makes a tapping sound and bounces off again and again. poor buddy, behind the glass. i bet he is hungry. maybe if i put the cracker in the black box next to the tv, he can get it that way?

no fun

do you ever get so mad and irritated that you just want to yell and throw stuff? i think maybe i have anger issues related to the chronic pain of teeth breaking sloooooooowly through my gums. sue me.

then again, while i'm feeling like thrashing and screaming, maybe it is a good time to see how far those behaviors will get me. can i get my way by doing this? at what point does mom get tired of it and give in? how about dad? grandma? hmmmm.......

anyway, i hate elmo, and i hate cheese, and i hate eggs, and i hate my car seat, and i hate going to sleep, and i hate waking up. except when i like them. but then i gotta pretend like i hate them all still. must stay in character. it is all so complicated!

i'm a good driver! 

white snow = yummy 

home again i need a nap

gosh, i was in the car i think for about 5 million hours. i am not for sure, though. maybe more.

mom and dad and i went to colorado with a bunch of big kids and another guy that i like to think of as unky tim. he makes me laugh and gives me his reeses pieces and lets me drive the big van. that is a good time, when you can drive a van. i steered this way and that way, and all the kids laughed and maybe were a little scared, but i had it under control.

the snow was pretty and the drive was long and it was cold! i have already been to colorado, but it was last year when i was just a little baby, so i don't really remember it. mom packed me into my snow clothes, and we went outside for a little bit. i like the way the snow sounds crunchy under your feet out there and how steam comes out your mouth when you breath. mom even let me taste a little snow, and i know it was okay to eat because she said the white kind was the good stuff. (it was white.)

i also like when all the college kids pay attention to me and make faces and stuff. they are pretty cool, and it is fun to make them look goofy. elmo is my new best friend, and boy is he a good friend to have with you in the car! elmo is so giggly! i don't know if the college kids like him too much. i think maybe they are jealous, because they threatened to throw him out of the window a couple times. i held onto him, though. me and elmo gotta stick together.

i also got to see aunty rhonda, cause she came to visit while mom and dad were busy falling down the mountain. well, i think dad slid down on some sticks, and mom fell. she seems to be alright after all the falling. i don't know why anyone would want to fall down a mountain on purpose but maybe that is not how skiing is supposed to work. anyway, i hung out in the warm lodge with some of the big kids and rhonda, and we saw a guy dressed real funny and rhonda made me laugh and let me eat a grilled cheese. i hope i get to see her again soon, cause she feeds me good stuff and dances with me!

*yawn* i am tired after all that driving and riding and entertaining the big kids. more later.