Sweet Sammy is Three!

Our sweet little Sam turned three years old on Wednesday.  Hard to believe, yet easy, since we can't remember life without him.  Here's a bit of what he is doing:

Growth
Sammy went to the doctor on Monday and weighed 33.2 lbs and was 38.5 inches tall.  Not quite big enough for a booster seat in the car (dang!)  He wears size 8 shoes and 3T clothes.

Speech
Sambo says EVERYTHING.  We can understand most of what he says.  Some of his recent phrases are "ohmygosh!" and "or...something like that"  For example, Sam asked him what he had learned at Bible school and Sammy replied, "Oh, Jesus...or something like that"  He can also read a lot of words.  Recently he read "night" "Vikings" and "hockey" without any prompting.

Sports
Little Sam is the king of sports at our house.  He really doesn't play with toys or watch "kid TV"  He plays with hockey sticks, golf clubs, baseball bats, and footballs and watches Twins games, pre-season football, and golf tournaments.  He also likes SportsCenter.  One highlight of the summer was getting his own pair of "softball shoes"--a pair of soccer cleats that he wears to Daddy's softball games.  They are 3 sizes too big, but it does not matter to him!  During the Olympics Anne and Sammy watched a lot of running, and now they like to play "track and field".  Sam crouches down and says, "Mom, say 'Ready Set Go'".  I oblige, and he sprints down our hall as fast as he can.

Food
Sam is still our good eater.  He likes most things, but he really likes blueberries, peas, green beans, hot dogs, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Like his dad, he doesn't go nuts for the sweet stuff.  Unlike Anne, he prefers juice or water to milk (Anne should invest in her own cow she drinks so much milk)

Family
Samuel is very affectionate.  He likes to hug and kiss.  He wants Anne to be his buddy and he is gentle to Cal.  As much as he likes to hug, he does not like to snuggle.  He is very possessive of his bed!  If you try to lay with him, he'll put up with it for a minute, and then he'll say, "Go to your bed" or "Take Cal off my bed"  He still sleeps with his brown blanket and his Bear, and he sucks his left thumb.

All in all, Sammy is a happy and healthy 3-year-old boy.  We couldn't ask for much more than that!

Here are some photos from his party and his birthday golf outing with Daddy:

Licking the spatula of blueberry jam filling for his cake

Balloons on party day!

He would NOT be still--too much fun to be had

Lunching on hot dogs with a grumpy-looking fairy

Ready to open presents!

Giving his new bike a try--thanks, Nana!

Pancakes on his actual birthday

Three years old and ready to golf with Dad.  He's been waiting an entire year for this.

Family shot

The Summer List: Part 2

8 and 9. Como Zoo and Mattie and Henry
We combined two list items when we visited Como Zoo with our friends Karl and Christine and their kids, Mattie and Henry.  It was a beautiful day, we saw lots of animals, and 3 Westphalls rode the carousel before leaving.

10. Playdate with Elsa and Brahm

We went to Goodhue for a morning at the park with our pals Elsa and Brahm (note how all of our friends have one daughter and one son...no one is following us to "The Land of Three Kids" quite yet)  Anne and Sammy were happy to see their friends and to play at a new park.

11. Visit Nana's House
Nana lives in the backwoods in Wisconsin, and we have never taken the kids out to her house.  She always comes to us (which is nice; we have all the toys!)  So we met for lunch and some shopping in Durand, which is the closest town to Nana's place.  The kids played at a park and we got some ice cream.  Afterwards, we headed out to the "homestead".  But, by the time we got there, the kids were asleep and a storm was rolling in, so we just kept on driving towards home.  So, we kinda met this goal :)

12. County Fair
This goal was harder to accomplish, since the fair has set dates that we had to work with.  We got rained out once, but we got there on the second-to-last day.  The kids saw lots of livestock, including a GIANT bunny and more goats than I've ever seen in my life.  They also (again) rode the carousel, and Annie and I worked together to win a princess crown at one carnival game.  Cotton candy was obtained, which was the highlight of the night.

13. Fly kites
Anne had the idea to fly kites, so we set off on a recent windy day.  It went okay, but our cheap kites didn't hold up too well.  Live and learn.

Ready to fly

Anne's reaction when it didn't immediately take flight

My crabby companion

Watching Sambo run with the kite

14. Pioneer Trail
We have a nice paved bike trail not too far from our house.  Now that Anne can handle her bike (and I finally figured out how to install the training wheels) we set off.  Sam and Sam were on foot, Anne was on her bike, and I walked with Cal in the front pack.  It was pretty buggy down there, since it is near water, so we didn't last long.  I was impressed, though, with Anne.  She rode her bike for a solid half hour without complaining or asking for help.
Here's a video of her on her bike--this is next to our house.  Listen for Sambo at the end when he says, "Come on, girl, I know you can do it!"

Caly-Cal-Cal

We call him: Calvin, Cal, Calbert, Catbert, Calvinator, Calvino, California Raisin, California Roll, Cal-Pal, Calvie, (and sometimes Sambo) (I can't help it---it just comes out!  Until recently, all boys in this house were named Sam!)