Sam Turns 3

All righty now...I'm going to take you back in time a bit. Like almost 4 months...September 14th to be exact. I am working on wrapping up all of my 2010 pictures and putting together a photo book for the year. So while I am at it, of course I feel I must add it all to the blog as well. Can't leave anything out, right? Even if it is 4 months old!

So, September 14th...yes, this day meant that Sam was having another birthday. Another year older, if you can believe that! I know I can't believe it myself! I can't believe my baby is 3! But this boy was SO excited to be 3, of course! He woke up that morning and we quickly got the birthday fun under way. Mickey Mouse pancakes to start the day!

And since Tyler is now in school (had only been in school for a week at this point), we realized that Tyler wouldn't be around during lunch time. So Sam and I headed downtown and met up with Garrett for birthday lunch. It was so strange to have it just be the 3 of us, I don't think we'd ever been anywhere just Mom, Dad, and Sam. So we missed Tyler, but also enjoyed some one on one with the birthday boy. The pick of the day was VooDoo BBQ and how can you go wrong with that? Their mac & cheese is some of the best ever and Sam was thrilled with it (as you can see evidence of it on his fingers and face)!

We let him open one present in the morning at breakfast which was a Lightning McQueen hat, which he wore ALL DAY LONG. Funny, though, I bought it from the Disney Store online and it fit so strange. It cracked me up, but he didn't care of course and wore it all day and still wears it all the time.

And for whatever reason, the 3 year old insisted on being a monkey for a while after he ate. :)

And then the evening was what we had all been waiting for. We ate at Chilis for dinner and headed home for cake and presents. I can't believe there are THREE candles on that cake now!

And we made all that fuss over the cake, but what was really important was the presents. Who needs cake?! So we quickly got to the presents and it was such a highlight of the day. Sam was just in heaven! He is absolutely obsessed with the movie Cars right now and all of the characters, so it was a very Cars-themed day! The highlight was a remote control Lightning McQueen from Grandma Andersen, that boy was thrilled!

He also got a Lightning MCQueen stunt track that he loved. Between that and the remote control car, he and Tyler were entertained for days.

Happy Birthday to my Sam! I love this boy more than I could ever put into words. What can I even say about my Sam? This boy has challenged me in a way I never saw coming. His personality can be so strong at times and his stubbornness has darn near put me over the edge at times. He is a completely different, individual, and unique personality from his brother. And that has been challenging, but that has been fun as well. As I have said with lots of the difficult phases, the good moments make up for the tough times in a heartbeat. And that is so my Sam...I have thoroughly enjoyed this year and that it has given me some much needed one on one time with him now that Tyler is in school. He is my little buddy and I can't imagine not having him with me wherever we go.

I know I'm so going to get 'mommy' on ya here, but he is just so so so cute sometimes I could just eat him up. He is the first to show up to kiss it better if he catches wind that you're hurt. He loves to sing and sing and sing. He sings in the car everywhere we go. He has recently decided that he's 'scared of the dark' (which I have to say, I'm not sure how scared of the dark he really is!) and I told him if he's scared, he can sing a song. So the last week, if I walk by the monitor after the boys are in bed, I will hear him belting out 'I am a Child of God', 'I Love to See the Temple', and 'My Heavenly Father Loves Me' at the top of his lungs. So, when I told him to sing a song, I wasn't necessarily meaning to sing at the top of his lungs! :) But it makes me smile every time.

A month before he turned 3, he was potty trained. I waited and waited on it because I feared some of the fights we'd have with it. But he was so ready and was SO easy. He was pretty much 100% potty trained, accident free after a day and made it through the night after about two weeks. It was a breeze! I kept saying I think this boy redeemed himself for some of the trouble he's caused me! He is ever so proud of his 'big boy' status and his Lightning McQueen underoos!

And of course, I could go on...this boy is one of a kind and he has my heart. I just wish he'd slow down the growing up thing just a little bit!

PS--just for documentation's sake..Sam's 3 year stats: 37.5 lbs (92%) & 39.5 inches tall (91%). Somehow he is looking to be a tall kid...definitely not following his brother's or mother's footsteps!