Sam's Antics

I simply have too many stories about Sam not to tell them. Sometimes, I think this child lives simply to create inspiration for my blog. Never a dull moment.

Today, while vacuuming my bedroom floor (an experience that would normally be a VERY dull moment), Sam came up and told me that I had missed a Kix (in retelling this story, I have struggled all day to speak of Kix cereal in the singular... say the word... how does that work? a kick? a kix? a kixi?). He pointed to it and helped me guide the vacuum to pick up the stray cereal by shouting very loudly and pointing very dramatically. When the cereal was sucked up in to the neverneverland of sad Christmas is over pine needles, dust, and lots of other stray cereal, Sam looked at me, with sort of a crooked half smile, and said, "Good one, Mommy." Then, much to my surprise, because I had no earthly idea he knew how, he winked. I asked him...


"Sam, did you just wink at me?"


He did it again, smiled that same crooked smile and said in his deepest voice possible, "I did." He then batted his pretty little eyelashes over his pretty little eyes and turned back to his Clifford the big Red dog computer game.


Who taught my 4 year old how to wink? Better question, who taught my 4 year old the social cues of winking? No one in my family winks. No one. I think it's a terribly cheesy habit. I really, quite honestly laugh, sometimes out loud when people try to charm me with winks. So where is he picking this up? Sunday School?

Speaking of Sunday school, we've had a problem with Sam lately heckling the missionaries whenever they visit sharing time to speak with the children. Last time they were there, he innocently raised his hand, and then, when he was sure he had a captive audience, asked the missionaries what they would do if, while teaching, one of their shoes fell in the toilet. Just this past Sunday, he asked them, quite innocently again (I can't believe they dared call on him a second time) what they would do if someone came up and "tooted" in their face. Oh dear. I am so impressed with my son's reverence for the sacred calling of being a missionary. What is it with boys and 'potty' humor? toilets? tooting?


And now for the most exciting Sam story... a few days after Christmas, my sister and mother-in-law came over to visit. So that they wouldn't be subjected to the crack of dawn wake up routine of my children, we put the kids on the sofa bed in the playroom, and let the two of them sleep in the boys room where they could enjoy more privacy and and array of stuffed animals and matchbox cars stuck between their sheets. I'm not sure what possessed me to think the children would be able to go sleep in a room that was full of toys... brand new toys, received on Christmas just a few days before without incident. You want an incident? How about a Lego... the smallest of all Legos in existence (it was a little tiny Lego key, if your interested in knowing the details, from the princess Lego set.... Legos for girls, by the way... the best thing EVER for a little girl growing up in a house full of boys. The boys actually played with her for over an hour with HER toys. Jordan insisted he was just being magnanimous helping Lucy with her Lego set... but I know he actually enjoyed putting together that little makeup table) shoved so far up Sam's nose... we could barely see it.


I still get puzzled when I think of how it got up there. One would have to put it in their nose, and then intentionally push up... with finger fully extended. When Jordan realized what Sam had done, he jumped out of bed and ran to get us... I was totally amazed at Josh's surgical skills. After several failed attempts to get Sam to blow it out (he would suck air in through his nose before blowing it out... obviously not a good strategy!) Josh had Sam lay impressively still while he used tweezers to pull out the key. It took several tries. I could not believe how calm Sam was. Had it been Jordan... goodness gracious, we would have needed sedation. But then, Jordan NEVER would do something like stick a Lego up his nose in the first place. (As a side note, while all of this was going on, Jordan got very pale, and had to leave the room. Lucy on the other hand, was fascinated. She held the flashlight for her Daddy and constantly asked if she could try... funny the things you learn about your kids in a moment of crisis).


This is the second time we've had to retrieve an object from Sam's nose with tweezers. The first time it was a pea. Do I need to be concerned about this behavior? Or should I worry more about the bedroom eyes and the winking? Or the heckling? How he manages to pull all this off and still seem to be the most innocent and easy to love child is beyond me. I think I have a recipe for trouble.


Ummmm... if you got this far, you deserve a pat on the back cause that was a really long post. And now I'm making it longer.