A Special Sam Day

School started this week for both Olivia and Sam. Liv jumped right into a full day of second grade on Thursday. Sam is in a new school this year, a Montessori school. To integrate new students into the early primary class, students were scheduled for successively longer days. On Tuesday Sam was in class from 8:20 -10 AM. Today, Friday, we picked Sam up at 11:45.

It is a real treat to spend time with the kids one at a time. On Tuesday we took Olivia out to breakfast after dropping Sam off. Today we took Sam to McDonalds for lunch. Mickey D's is one of Sam's favorite places. His mom and sister prefer not to go there so Sam was really delighted to go . He can be a rather healthy eater and today was no exception. He chowed down on his chicken nugget Happy Meal including apple slices and a vanilla milkshake. He also ate a good chunk of my burger and fries. He was one happy little boy.

To round out our special time together, Papa suggested we stop at the hardware store. We needed to have a key made; Sam viewed it as a field trip. First stop was to try out all the Cub Cadet lawn mower tractors on display in the center of the store. Then he and Papa walked the aisles admiring various "guy things". Eventually, Sam found a bottom shelf display of lock mechanisms for doors. He sat on the floor and worked the metal pieces back and forth, marvelling at the smooth movement of all those parts. He didn't really understand how the mechanism worked but, in his mind, it was a thing of beauty.

Have I mentioned yet that Sam is 100% boy? He has an inate ability to do all manner of boy things without ever being shown how. He immediately knew how to drive his battery operated jeep. He pretends to drive his dad's lawn mower, complete with pedal action and shifting motions. He is constantly striking kung-fu poses, jumping and rolling, and trying to dismantle anything with screws. The rougher the play the better, as far as Sam is concerned. He is agile and fearless, almost reckless at times. He is one of those boys who will someday be found driving his mom's car because she left the keys in it......and he will probably be no more than 10. It tires me out just to watch him.

I don't know how the conversation got started today, but Sam declared that his parents were girlfriends. I explained that girlfriends meant they both had to be girls and since his dad was definitely a boy, a better description for his parents would be that they were a couple. Sam innocently asked, "A couple of what?" Tom thought that was pretty funny. Guess he thinks like a guy too.

One of Sam's favorite "quiet time" things is to have me draw on his back. He cuddles up to me and says, "Do it again!" He rarely can figure anything out but he is always delighted to try. It is my secret way of getting in a few hugs with an unsuspecting cutie.

How can anyone resist that smile.