Happy Birthday Sam!

Happy 5th birthday to Sam! I was going to chronicle the rest of his day, but shortly after this picture was taken, he complained of a stomach ache, threw up and a couple hours later we took him to the ER for what we thought was appendicitis. Luckily it wasn't but it still wasn't the best birthday for the little guy.

Thought I should keep up the trend and record some things about our buddy.

• He is 45inches tall (90th percentile) and 45lbs (75th percentile).
• Sam still LOVES to be read to and is starting  to get interested in learning to read himself. While we still read lots of picture books, he is enjoying chapter books now and has really enjoyed "Captain Underpants", "Gooney Bird Greene", and a few of the Ramona and Beezus books.
• He doesn't understand his introverted brother and why anyone would EVER need time to themselves. If he could have it his way, he would never be alone.
• He doesn't like to color that much, but enjoys cutting, gluing, painting and writing his letters.
• Sam loves collecting things. He is always looking for cool rocks or trinkets or pamphlets or cards or really anything random that catches his fancy. While I am trying to let him be himself, it is SOOO hard for this "clutterphobic" momma to handle:)
• Board games and card games are all the rage now at the Duffy house. He loves Uno, Go Fish, Sneaky Snacky Squirrel, Candyland, Jenga, Hungry Hungry Hippo, Guess Who, etc. Most of the time he is fine losing, but we are still working on being a good sport. I can't wait for Ethan to be old enough to participate but for now, Sam enjoys having this special time with Aaron and I.
• While he is still not a kid that will sit and play by himself with toys a lot, he has really enjoyed building things with his daddy out of Tinkertoys and with the new building toy that he got from Bibi and Pops called Zoobs.
• Loud noises are still very scary for him and I would say his biggest fear. If you give him some preparation beforehand, he can deal with it a little better.
• His affectionate nature is catching! Ethan wouldn't hug or kiss half as much if he wasn't watching his brother do it all the time. He daily will tell Aaron and I out of the blue that he loves us or likes us, usually followed by a big hug or a rub on the back. Such a love bug!
• He is still the family "rooster", waking up most mornings by 6am. I think our extrovert is just too afraid of missing something to sleep in.
• He probably says "I'm hungry again" a million times a day which baffles me because he is so stinkin' skinny.
• Like most little boys, he is happiest when wrestling, watching cartoons, running outside with his puppy or talking about toots or poop. We are so incredibly grateful for this lively, healthy, silly, affectionate, sweet little boy.