sparrow journey: Happy Birthday to Sam!

Sam turns 11 years old today. His brothers had a long, hard night of labor and took their first breaths with a pink sunrise, but not Sam. His birth was like him--easy, fast, surprising. Seemed like one minute we are eating dinner and the next we are at the hospital. A few hours and he was put into my arms for the first time, without a cry or fuss, at 10:48 pm.

I get so nostalgic on the kids birthdays. I get out the scrapbooks and journals and baby books and read them voraciously. Usually I think of how much has changed. However, as I was reading this morning I was able to see how much, for Sam, has stayed the same. My letters to him at 9 months old talked about how he didn't just smile, he GRINNED. At 12 months? "you are so independent!" At 18 months, how much he loved everybody and would even extend his arms to strangers. at 2 and 3 years old-"you are filled with curiosity and impulsiveness. You seem to crave the dangerous and somehow have no fear!" How physical he was, a cuddler who only needed held a few moments to completely turn around a bad day.

All still true.

Also true? How messy of an eater he is. 75% of the Spray and Wash product purchased by our household goes to treat Sam's apparel. Caleb rarely gets anything but church clothes handed down to him, because Sam's shirts are food spattered and the jeans have grass stained holes where the knees used to be.

There is no such thing as a passing fancy for Sam. When he enjoys something, he gets totally into it. When he watched Disney's Peter Pan at 2, he became pirate obsessed for over 3 years. When I made him a red felt cape for Christmas he wore it everyday and made me promise to make him a bigger one "when I'm all of a growed-up man". See those dirty, red, chewed on strings around his neck in the photo above? They are in EVERY photo from 1999 to 2004. He is still this way. When he loves anything-from Napoleon to Nerf guns-he really loves it. There's no halfway with this kid. I love that.

He still loves and takes after, his Uncle Brian. Now Uncle Brian has a wife and two kids that Sam likes a lot, too. Especially that little girl who was smart enough to go and be born on HIS birthday, making a cousin the best gift he got on his 7th birthday... Happy 4th Birthday Caity!

If there's a brother dogpile, you can bet the ranch that Sam will end up on the top. You can bet your neighbor's ranch too, that when the other two are done "rasslin", Sam will still be coming back for more. We've searched desperately but haven't found the quit button on Sam.

The other constant? When Daddy is left in charge and has fun ideas involving electrical tape? Sam will be the first in line.

Since he started smiling at 2 months old, he's never quit. He is the grinniest fool you ever saw! Everything makes him laugh. This is why his Mama still calls him Samshine; his joy is like a warm light in this house, always on. You get so used to it that it's only the rare times, when he is absent or sick that you notice the sharp contrast.

Our family tradition includes opening one gift at breakfast. This book was a hit and we had to scooch it away from the sticky roll, (and spray the t-shirt with Shout), afterwards. It is 11:30 now and he is still reading, curled up on the couch. On your special day you also get to choose the days menu. You can see that this morning it was Cinnabon rolls, brought home from the mall last night in preparation. For lunch Sam wants cheese-filled tortellini with marinara sauce ("vegetable and chunk free, please!" yes sir) Dinner will be garlic shrimp scampi with foccacia bread. See how two out of 3 meals involve pasta? Another one of those things Sam intensely loves. Dessert was tough this year-Did he want key lime pie or molten lava cakes? Chocolate always tips the balance it's way. And another birthday tradition? The morning phone call from Grandma and Grampa. Each child knows to expect it. On their birthday that first phone ring has a grinning boy, jumping up with confidence "I'll get it. It's for me!"

Happy 11th Birthday to our passionate, happy, courageous middle child.