Thanks, Santa!

Happy Holidays

Let's catch up a bit from the last few weeks....

Samson had his 3 year check-up and he's now in the 80% percentile for height (39 inches) and 75% for weight (34 lbs). Dr. Dudley was very impressed with his verbal and math skills, which of course made us giddy with nerdly pride. Guess we can safely say that the preemie status has been put to rest.

We had our family photo shoot with Alison Eden in mid-November, and it's just incredible how much Samson has changed and yet still looks the same in the 2 years since our last professional portraits. I've uploaded the whole set of recent ones to our Picasa Web album, but I'll share a few favorites here.

With just 5 days left till Christmas, we're busy at home getting ready for our whirlwind tour to visit family over the holiday break. This year, we're heading down to San Antonio for Aunt Kelly's annual Xmas Eve party where we'll get to see lots of Mama's family and Samson will be spoiled rotten as the only child in the whole group of 15+ loved ones. Then it's back to Austin for waking up in our house for the Thomas & Friends extravaganza that Santa will bestow. After that, we're back in the car for the trip to Houston for more spoiling at Pawpaw & Grandma's house. Whew! That's a long while in the car, but since Mama finally gave in and bought a portable DVD player for the backseat, Samson has become a champion road tripper - 2 Thomas movies watched (with headphones on so grown-ups can chat freely) and we're there.

It has been a lot of fun this season sharing all of the holiday traditions and stories with Samson now that he is old enough to understand and participate in what's going on. He loves retrieving the daily treat from the Advent calendar and turning on the lights on the tree and decorations outside. He even got to meet Santa at a toy drive in Pawpaw's neighborhood. And it seems that we have at least 2-3 conversations each day about the actions and attitude required to remain on the nice list and stay off the naughty list. The only wish that he has for Xmas morning is to receive Emily and Molly and their respective coal tender cars... I must confess that Santa & his elves may have reserved just a few more engines and other Thomas paraphernalia for Samson than just those two items....

If you haven't kept up with our Twitter posting, you may be unaware that Samson has gone full on obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine (aka Thomas & Friends) since about the end of the summer. It began with reading the same two books over & over, which led to Mama recording the single weekly episode off PBS so that Samson could enjoy the characters on-screen, too. After that, the stockpiling of toys began, with Duplo sets for his birthday, and then going bonkers for the Take Along engines and playsets (which are more small, portable, and durable). Since then, Samson's daily routine involves waking up to play with his engines, coming home from school to play with his engines, and before bedtime - you guessed it - putting all the engines in a bucket to move from the living room to his bedroom where he has more tracks for playing with his engines. We've been amused and surprised at the level of adoration Samson has for these toys, and it definitely comes in handy when we need a carrot or stick for behavior modification.

Speaking of behavior modification.... we missed out on the Terrible Twos but we're making up for it by getting slammed with the Tyrannical Threes. Samson somehow recently learned (can I blame one of those bad seeds at preschool?) that there's really nothing stopping him from refusing any parental directive or request. We've had to adapt with an expert level of mind-games (aka cognitive behavioral tactics) to stave off wild-eyed tantrums that occur when Samson feels as though his will is being ignored. Samson insists on independence and wants to do things for himself, in his own way, and on his own time table. When transitions don't occur according to these preferences, the "I'm very displeased" jig is performed (imagine an angry leprechaun), complete with coordinated head, arm, and alternating foot hops accompanied by a piercing howl. Mama and Daddy must be very careful to hide our amusement at this passionate display. The top 5 situations (if not skillfully orchestrated) likely to lead to the angry leprechaun dance lately are:

• Requiring that a coat be worn before going out into cold weather
• Requiring that hands be washed prior to eating
• Requiring that PJs be removed and school clothes be put on in order to go to school
• Requiring that the evening TV watching session be ended and that bath-time begins
• Requiring that Samson get into his carseat without dilly-dallying

Could you say no to this face?

Thanksgiving Nap

After 2.5 days of being the little prince at PawPaw's house, Samson finally gives in to naptime. A chorus of snores fills the house after our 3rd turkey-based lunch of the long weekend, and Mama gets to read a trashy paperback - bliss!

Magic Dragons

Samson plays with his best buddy, Ashvant, at their school's Fall Festival. Amazingly, they both showed up in dragon costumes ;o) Okay, there were about 10 dragons at the event, but clearly, ours were the cutest.

Fall is finally here

And that means a trip to the pumpkin patch for pictures and picking out our jack-o-lantern prospects. This was the first year that Samson actually understood what was going on, but he was too excited to sit still for long. You can view the rest of the best pics online here.

Junior

Here's a classic mini-Brian picture.

A recent visit to Old MacDonald's

This establishment is right outside our neighborhood and is something we pass every time we return to our home. Since Samson has become big enough to venture throughout the gigantic playscape they have, we regularly hear his voice from the backseat saying, "Can we go play at Old MacDonald's today?"

I'm an astronaut!

Guitar Man

Morning on Mustang Island

Sent from my iPhone

Concentration

During Samson's outing with Daddy today, they made a stop at Baskin Robbins. He ate the whole thing, by himself. "No, I do it!"

Thanks for your support!

Here's a free photo someone snapped for us after the 5K charity walk on Saturday. Samson was a big trouper and did not complain about spending an hour in the BOB while we trudged up the hill to the Capitol and then back down again to Auditorium Shores in 90% humidity and 90+ degree heat. He was just excited to marvel at all of the construction cranes and police vehicles downtown.

It felt wonderful to finally participate in this annual rite of passage for families with preemies. We walked with hundreds of other individuals and groups who raised money for March of Dimes, many of whom were carrying memorial messages about babies in their families who didn't survive -- a sobering reminder of how very fortunate we've been....

So far, we've collected $755 for the March of Dimes! If you've not yet sent in a donation, there's still time to help us reach our $1,000 goal. Please visit our walk team page at marchforbabies.org/SamsonsLeftyMama for more information. Any support that you can provide will be greatly appreciated and put to very good use helping babies like Samson once was.

I love concrete trucks!

Getting a new driveway put in has been the source of much excitement this week. Besides watching the big cement mixer pour its contents, Samson enjoyed "driving" "his" Bobcat and even trying out for an apprentice position with Austin Concrete Construction.

Already Two and a Half?

Gosh, we had our heads down for what seemed like a minute and we're already into the middle of Samson's second year. Where did the time go?

Here are some recent big boy pics from one of those candid photo deals at school. If anyone wants to order them, go to iclicksmiles.com before 03/24/2009, and enter school "prodigy" and student "59179".


Life seems on fast forward since Mama went back to work outside the home in November. The weekday routine is something like this:

• wake up at 6a (or 5ish if Samson decides to be an early bird)
• set Samson up with a cereal bar & milk in front of Noggin so that Mama can take a shower; Daddy reads news on his phone and waits for his turn
  
• everyone gets ready for school & work, which generally includes chasing Samson around the house for every stage of the diaper-PJs-clothes-socks-shoes-hair transformation
• we all exit the house together, Mama to the car & office by 7:30, Daddy & Samson in the truck to school & work by 8
  
• Mama picks up Samson after 4:30
• supper & playtime from around 5:30-7:30
• Samson's bath at 7:30, in bed by 8:15
• Mama & Daddy unwind until nodding off by 10

Weekends are much the same, except Samson doesn't go to school, the grown-ups usually aren't at the office, and there is nap-time from noonish to 3ish. Friday evenings still usually mean dinner & playdate with the Turners. If we're lucky, PawPaw (& sometimes Grandma) may drive over from Houston for a visit on Saturday. Just about every other weekend, we also have cousin Emilie (& sometimes Tyler) come to hangout with Samson while Mama & Daddy have a date night. Throw in the random kid birthday party or trip out of town to visit relatives, and that's pretty much our life for the past 6 months.


In February, Samson started going to a new school that is much closer to where we live & work. Mama was nervous about how he'd handle the transition, but it was virtually seamless. He loves his new school, teachers, and friends, and most days, he is actually unhappy to leave when boring ol' Mama or Daddy come to take him home. Mama & Daddy love the new place, too, especially because Samson loves it, but also because:

• it's cut our daily drive-time down by 90 minutes, several toll roads, and otherwise needless excursions to Cedar Park
  
• we don't have to make lunch since they serve great meals, even offering a daily vegetarian option (due to lots of Hindus & Buddhists at school)
  
• the kid to teacher ratio is much lower than our other school
  
• most of the teachers & staff have worked there for more than 5 years and love working with these kids
  

Today, we're going to a toddler friend's 3rd b-day birthday at one of those bounce-house places, so Mama and Daddy will be sure to get a good workout chasing Samson around, preventing certain peril to life & limb. Samson has become quite the fearless jumper, something he tests many times each day on all the furniture he can manage to climb.