Dear Sam-Sam

You said your first sentence! We were eating oatmeal on Saturday (Fending off the "I want to feed MYSELF!" phase is coming to a close, I'm afraid - but the mess wasn't too bad) and I said "Sammy, where are the doggies?" You looked around, a little perplexed, and said "oh, no! whe d doees?" (oh no! where are the doggies?) I was so thrilled! It just came out of nowhere. You have been much more vocal lately (we tease you that you sound like a Japanese used car salesman) but this was your first complete thought (Khai wagged his tail at this, by the way).

Working full-time during training has meant a lot of time away from you, and I really miss you. I've spent the last 2 weeks making mental (ok and actual) lists of things you do that I miss when I'm away. I thought we should share them.

Nothing is safe from you. I have found you gratuitously distributing doggie biscuits to your brothers, shackling furniture legs with daddy's handcuffs, powdering your nose with mommy's makeup, scribbling new designs on all the furniture and sampling the dish soap packets.

You don't walk at all anymore - you run. 0-60 in 4 seconds.

You love to give kisses, and oblige anyone who asks for one. You lean in with your mouth open wide and often give them a lick, too, just as a bonus. You kiss your stuffed animals and your books, and follow the dogs around trying to give them a smooch, too, though they rarely allow it.

Your speech is coming along amazingly - we're really going to have to watch what we say! I asked you once to say "thank you, mama", and from there on out thank you & you're welcome are always "day-doo, nuh-nuh" to anyone. "puh-puh" is good enough to be please, help, up, and open all in two syllables. You recently picked up an enthusiastic "day-ee-go!" - I guess we say "there you go!" a lot. You also put your palms up in a question and say "wi-go?" when I take your pacifier out after a nap - apparently the disappearing pacifier act where I pull it out, hide it behind me and say "where'd it go?" is pretty transparent.

You have been working at asking for things with words instead of whining (which mommy really appreciates!); you'll point at your cup and say "joooo?" for juice, and any kind of cereal or cracker is "cahcah" (as in spanish for poop). Often you'll start off with a whine and then I see a lightbulb go on and you ask for what you want instead.

Your father has already got you super excited about super heroes. You give us this quizzical look every time we tell you to say a name like Superman, Wolverine, or Captain America - they are all Batman ("at-ma!") to you. Although you did pick up Hulk ("hai-ka!") the other day - one syllable is doable, I guess. The second you wake up you ask for "at-ma" in any context - on tv via "super hero squad", on the computer via youtube's old X-men episodes, daddy's comic books or daddy's dolls...er, action figures. I may just cave and give you another super hero party this year.

You adore reading books with us. Your favorite is Gallop, where you get to see the animals move, Where the Wild Things Are (you like to roar menacingly with the wild things) and any book with tabs to pull or sound buttons to push.

You love keys! Any time you see a keyhole at a store or someone's house you beg me for a key to try it out in the lock. You spend about half an hour a day putting keys in their appropriate locks around the house.

You love the mini cooper. We taught you to say Jeeves (the car's name) and you go "Jeeeeeeth!" and get so excited anytime you see it in the garage. You love to "drive" it, and when we turn the car on later there's all sorts of turn signals and brights on.

You're such a big boy on the playground! You want to go down every slide and are very interested in the forbidden fireman's pole.

You love animals and always make the noises when you see them. You can imitate a dog, cat, owl, horse, cow, lion, tiger, bear (oh, my!), monkey, mouse, gorilla (complete with chest thumping), crab (you "snap" your hand open & closed), and of course a chipmunk.

We just adore you and are having so much fun with this stage. Thanks for being such a great little boy and making our life so full of happiness!!

love, mommy