addiction

it is not pretty, people. i have an addiction.

i like my Finding Nemo computer game and the Homestar Runner website more than i like my toys.

i wake up early and yell, "NEMO! NEMO! STAR!" to mom, in hopes that she will get up and turn on the computer.

i know how to click on the Firefox shortcut and find homestarrunner.com under daddy's bookmarks. nobody showed me how.

i would play/watch them all the time, if i could.

i am counting down the days until my Trogdor t-shirt will fit me.

too cool for my own good.

i wanted these really, really cool glasses, but mom said they were not worth ten dollars. i disagree.

but they taste so good.

this is how to pass the time in the car. people think it is funny.

good times

lacy and i build a snowman.

3 feet tall.

so today, we saw the doctor. do not worry; it was just a check-up to see if i am growing and can talk. good news! i am and can. i am three feet tall now. i think this is why people always ask mom if i am three years old. should i be two feet tall, since i am two? i like being tall, but i think mom and dad are too short for their ages.

mom has stopped keeping track of the words i say on the calendar, because she was running out of room. i have moved along to sentences, since the words themselves were not really as earth shattering anymore. still, they can not completely understand me. i find this frustrating, but they are getting better at it.

daddy is sick. he has to go to the bathroom a lot. good thing i wear diapers, so if i catch it i do not have to sit in the bathroom all day. unfortunately, they do not have anything for you to wear on your face and catch barf. maybe someday i will invent that!

i will put some pictures from the ski trip on here soon!

oh! i forgot to tell you

about riding the crocodile and falling asleep on the floor and the 3D movies. the bugs life 3D movie was scary. but the muppets and the mickey mouse one were really good! the things flew right out of the screen at us. they really did. oh! and the drumming acrobat guys let me play!

pictures probably tell the disney world story better.

mom had a thing about making me try on all the hats in the world.

oh man, this is the life!

so, i went to disney world. people ask if it is everything everyone says it is. let me tell you, it is the real deal. i got to ride the dumbo ride, and peter pan, and snow white, and tour the haunted mansion and take a trip through time and space and walk around in an aquarium... it is too much to even try to describe, really. it wore me out. i am still tired.
oh! here is a funny story. we are walking around in the japan store at epcot. i am kind of really tired of the stroller and being awake, and i am kind of being fussy. i can tell the girl at the counter really likes me, because she smiles really big and says, "Oh! please don't cry!" she has a funny accent and is pretty and smiles a lot, so i do not cry. dad buys pockys, and the day is suddenly brighter. wait, there was supposed to be a funny part! dad overheard two other japanese girls at the store talking. he says he knows about five words in japanese, and one of them is "ka-wa-i."
a girl pointed me out to the other girl and said that i was "ka-wa-i." this means cute.
i think we should live at disney world.

happy birthday to ME!

this is me at my grandma and papa's birthday party for me that we had on thanksgiving. i get to have another party tomorrow, but today is my real birthday. i know, it is confusing. i am not sure i understand it myself. i got a lot of books and a barn and some animals and a tractor so far! i bet i will get more presents tomorrow! anyhow, i am eating the cake that mom made. it is an inchworm, and i am eating its face. yum!

before and after

happy hairsgiving!

so! today is thanksgiving, and today is also haircut day!
i had never had a haircut before, and it was getting really really long. it would just flop back down when mom tried to give me a mohawk, and it kinda made my forehead itchy. anyway, mom says to me this morning, "sam, today you and daddy will get haircuts!" and i sit and eat breakfast and watch while dad gets his hairs cut. this way, i know what i am in for. when it is my turn, mom sits me in the sink and starts cutting away. "sam, be still!" she says, and since i assume this means "be as wiggly as possible," i do just that. dad is afraid mom will "stab me with the scissors." i do not like the sound of that, so i am glad when she gets the clippers and decides to cut it with those instead.

anyway, now my hairs are very short, but i look quite handsome, if i say so myself.

i commemorate the whole occasion by pooping in the bathtub during my post-haircut bath. but please do not tell dad, because he is in the shower right now as we speak.

plague of frogs

i had the most original costume at the fall festival at church. i also had a good time "rearranging" the candy in kids' bags.

on the lawnmower

riding on the lawnmower with my papa is a good time.

whoah, where has the month gone?

so, a lot has happened in this long while since i last updated.

i am still letting out a few words daily, to dazzle mom and dad. no fainting has occured yet, and i am thankful for that. the latest ones: chair, baby, teeth, mine (mom really likes this one!), and me. mom is writing them all on the calendar. i wonder how long she will be doing this. seems like there might not be enough room on the calendar, if she keeps it up forever. maybe just until i am 35.

speaking of 35, i will be 2 years old this saturday. when is saturday? i do not know for sure, but i think it must be soon!

so a couple weeks ago, mom and dad and some kids from the college went on a trip, and they left me at my grandma and papa's house! this was the first time i had been away from both of them at once for overnight, and i only cried just a little! mom said she only cried just a little too. i had the best time, going to deer camp for a cookout, and meeting new people, and playing with (screaming at) the dog and cat, and riding on the lawn mower. my only regret is that i did not get to see a lot of friends who were on the trip with mom and dad. i would like to therefore send a shout out to craig. "Sticks!!" he will know what that means.

speaking of sticks, i got to see jeremy and kathleen last weekend. kathleen filmed me on her camera while i sang Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star, and also while i danced around outside. i like to perform; what can i say?

and speaking of shout outs, it is my Pappy's birthday! Happy Birthday, Pappy!

my secret

so i know a lot of stuff. the thing is, i have been holding back for a long time now in the talking department. i am not really sure why, but it seemed like the thing to do. i talked a little bit a long time ago, and i even said my first word almost a year ago. (it was "good," and i was talking about my food, of course.) then i just kind of stopped, except for the occasional "Mama!" and "Daddeeee," used kind of non-specifically, and usually when i want something or am hurt. i used to repeat words and sounds that mom or dad tried to get me to say, but i felt that that was kind of cheating, because it was not really in context or my idea. but now, there are words and things that i really want to say. i do not know how many times i have almost let my secret slip and just started blurting out sentences. i am afraid that my mom and dad could not handle this, so i have to do it a little at a time. i would not want mom to pass out or anything, and judging by her reaction to the tricks i have been pulling out the past few days, that is definitely a valid concern.

the first one was actually an accident. we are sitting in McDonalds the other day, and i drop my french fry. before i know it is coming out, i hear myself say, "Uh oh!" and then i look up, and mom's eyes are open wide, and she is asking dad if he heard me. he says he did. for a minute i do not know whether to deny it or just go with it, but i eventually decide to go with it. "Uh oh!" i guess that is an appropriate way to start things off. no turning back now!

the next day, mom comes home with this little bag of beads that look very much like the ball in The Cat in the Hat. the one with the stripe and the star. anyway, i notice the similarity, and i point to the beads and say, "ball!" mom, of course, freaks out. "oh my gosh, jeff! did you hear that?" (jeff is my dad) "he said ball, because these look like the ball in his book!" well, at least she understands what i am talking about. but i need to take a few days off. this excitement can not be good for her.

this morning, i really really want mom to wake up, so i decide to pull out another trick. "E!"....... "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Mom wakes up and sees me pointing to an E on her shirt, and says, "Yes! that is right! E!" now i have known lots of my letters for a good couple months now and have been pointing them out on command. i just had not told anyone i know how to say them too. i pick up my book, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss, and before i can stop myself, i find myself pointing to the O and saying "Oooooo!" then i do "D" and "R," although "r" is sort of hard to say, and i can only really say "ah." we will work on that. but i thought that was enough for today.

mom seems to be doing okay. her color is back to normal.

The Merriest Go-Round and other fun things

so, a week or a few days ago, we go to the Arkansas/Oklahoma State Fair! i think they were confused about which state to have the fair in, so they just decided to make it both. i am not really sure, but that is beside the point. we ride rides, including the merry-go-round (twice!) and the train, and this crazy, convulsing horse. i like the horse at first, but then it gets carried away, and i leave. it is the best time ever. dad says this is excellent practice for disney world!

confession

so, when i get my hands on a sharpie, i can not control myself. i try! (a little)... but the marks they make are so bold and good... and all that stuff i see, is so bare... okay, well i guess i better tell the story. okay, stories.

so the other day we are at aunt margie's house. i play with the pool table for a while, then i almost pet the dog, but he is a little too scary. and then i turn the light on and off. and then i see the hallway and remember there are rooms down there for me to go look around in. i take a quick glance around, and nobody seems to mind much, so i head down the hall into margie and joe's room. there is lots of interesting stuff. and then, there on the desk, i spy it. a sharpie! this room, i decide, needs some decoration. you know the rest. i hear people heading down the hallway saying "where is sam?" at this point i realize maybe i should have thought this through a bit more. i make one last mark on the carpet, when margie comes in and her eyes get real wide. mom comes in right behind her. margie takes away the marker, and they look around a little. before long they discover all the marks. the dresser... the other dresser... a little on the floor and one mark on the wall... and the remote control... mom looks in my eyes and tells me that i am never, ever to draw on things with markers. i nod to show her that i understand. it is hard to look at mom when she talks to me like that, because it takes the fun right out of everything. mom tells margie she is really sorry, and margie says it is okay. mom's face is all red.

so that was kind of a big deal but not too bad. i tell myself i am done with sharpies, though, because i do not think mom was very happy about that whole incident.

the next morning, i wake up, and mom and dad are still asleep, so i decide to read a little bit. then i see it on top of the shelf. another sharpie. i look away, trying to focus on reading again. my eyes keep being drawn back to the marker, and before i even know what is happening, i am making a really detailed picture on the wall. i realize how much i have actually drawn and take the marker off. oh no! mom and dad told me i am only to ever draw on paper! i find a piece of paper and draw on it. the paper is too small. oh, but then i see my cat in the hat book! these books are made of paper, so surely they are okay to draw on. so i draw on another and another and another... then the marker slips off the book and starts to draw on the carpet. the mark on the carpet does not look quite right, so i try to make it look a little better. then i wonder if you can see the black marks on a black chair and decide to experiment a bit. (you can, by the way; it looks shiny) then i draw a little bit on the bed and the pillows. mom does not let me finish the design i start on her forehead, before she wakes up...

the mysterious box

so we are at the church yesterday, and i see this big box stuck to the wall. so i point at it and grunt and raise my eyebrows in such a way as to indicate i am asking a question, as this is how i get mom and dad to tell me the names for things.

"that is a water fountain, sam. do you want a drink?" asks my dad.

wow, i can get a drink from that box? neato! so i climb up the little stairs in front of it. dad pushes the button, and water shoots out! wow! this is the coolest thing ever. i put my face down there and cold water shoots into my mouth. this makes me laugh, and i forget that i am supposed to be drinking it. i have a good time getting my face wet for a minute. then i decide to actually drink some. then i just push the button and make the water shoot out for a while. i lose interest for a minute and run around and make noise. then i see the water fountain again and climb up there again and repeat steps one through three. then i play and run around some more, then play with the water fountain again. then mom and dad want to leave, but i have to play with the water again, just one more time!

i am considering giving up cups altogether as a means of drinking. no dishes to wash, no hassle of keeping track of a cup. and also a very cool toy. now i just need to get mom and dad on board with the idea of installing a water box at home....

pictures pictures!

what we have all been waiting for. these are some pictures from the last couple months. i had a pretty good summer.

action shot

as you can see, the ducks really like the bread that we throw. i only eat a piece myself occasionally now.