New Tricks

Posted on by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com
Sam is on the cusp of his first year birthday and I’m reminded what a very, very fun age this is.  He’s so engaged in the world and finding all sorts of new ways to explore it.  I can’t keep up with the new developments and adventures in his life, but I’ll try to write a few of them down.
His latest trick is that he’s going vertical.  Sammy is doing some independent standing for a few seconds at a time, but he doesn’t spend much time standing still.  He really loves climbing – including when I caught him yesterday on top of Clare’s mini-piano.  Yep, while I was loading the dishwasher Sam climbed entirely on top of a 2′ high piano.  Yikes!
Sammy does lots of babbling and singing, but his most consistent and recognizable word continues to be “dog.”  He also “woofs” at the dogs, and “meowed” at a cat in a book the other day.  He waves and says Hi and Bye, and signs Milk, All Done and Food.  He does say Mamama but only when he’s distressed about something.  When I ask him “say mama” he just giggles and hides his face.  He’s actually pretty shy about his talking – we hear more words when he thinks we’re not listening.  

He’s started giving us toys, putting them back on the shelves (hooray!), and putting toys into bins/drawers and other containers.  We spend a lot of time passing toys back and forth.  His favorite game right now is peekaboo.  He loves to cover himself with a piece of fabric and then giggles as he pulls it off his head.  On our drive to Bend last weekend he spent a good 20 minutes playing peekaboo with his reflection in the car mirror.  It may have been the cutest moment I’ve ever seen.

Our busy little dude has a sensitive side, and it sometimes takes us by surprise.  On Wednesday morning Sammy woke up while J and I were taking showers.  It was a few minutes before we could get to him, and when J got to Sam’s room the poor little guy was hysterically screaming.  J settled him down, but when Sam saw me he threw himself into my arms and clung to me for several minutes.  Now Sam has waited a few minutes for us to come and get him before, but for some reason on this morning he got scared about something and it left a mark.  We have to remember that our precious little guy has a special heart and it’s our job to protect it as he goes out into the world.

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