Sam is 1!

It's been birthday central over here. All of our kids were born in November and December. Kind of crazy.

I'll start with Sam's cause he was first at the beginning of November. We let him open his present the day before his birthday cause we were at John's parents house and weren't sure what kind of "party" Sam would be getting on his birthday because of Show Choir choreo. He loved his little train. One-year-old's are sure easy to please.

On his birthday, I must have gotten a wave of ambition (or guilt from being busy with Show Choir), so I found a printable banner and cupcake toppers and had some fun. No one was coming for the celebration, but it was still fun to make it special for Sam - even though he has no clue what a birthday is.

My parents did come over before bedtime to give Sam his present.

Here's a little Sam update:
- he is such a goof. He loves to laugh and has a super fun personality.
- he now walks - he took a few steps here and there when he was 12 months, but now at 13 months he is walking about 50% of the time.
- he is still nursing just for bedtime and naptime .....and whenever he wakes up at night. I tried weaning around Show Choir performance time, he was doing well, but then revolted. We'll try again sometime.....maybe after Christmas......
- he "says" - "hi Dad", "bye", "mom mom", "dad da", and signs "more" - he might be saying more things, but I'm always slow to agree that what he's saying are actual words. I'm a skeptic I guess.
- he does not like to sit still at church - or anywhere really. Sacrament meeting is in the challenging - how can we distract Sam for one hour - stage.
- Sam loves sweets. He can down a pack of fruit snacks in about 30 seconds. He must be my son.
- he can go down and up stairs with no problems. Yeah!
- he loves animals and likes to give Oma's dog kisses. Cute, but kind of gross.
- he loves to be outside and cries whenever he sees someone leave without him.
- he loves playing with cars and pushes them around making a noise.
- he has 7 teeth. 4 on top and 3 on the bottom. Not sure where the 4th bottom one is.....
- he loves his Dad and loves to greet him when he comes home from work.
- he has one 1-2 hour nap in the middle of the day and goes to bed between 7 and 8.
- he is very easy going and happy most of the time - unless he's tired, poopy, or hungry.

I sure love Sam and have been way more relaxed with child #4. I think the more kids you have, the more rules and expectations you throw out the window.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Sam! (over a month ago).