The Continuing Adventures of Samwow

If you follow me on Twitter, you've undoubtedly seen a photo, read a Tweet or caught a passing reference to 'Samwow.' Sometimes, however, 140 characters simply is not enough to convey his spastic awesomeness, hence today's post.

For those who aren't in the know, 'Samwow' is the nickname my wife and I have bestowed upon our youngest child Samuel. Named in honor of my Dad, this (hyper)active child was an unexpected but whole-heartedly welcomed addition to our family. We were adjusting nicely to being a family of four. We were even looking at trading in the minvian for a nice crossover SUV. Then -poof- there was Sam.

All three of my children entered this world in a somewhat dramatic fashion. My wife developed extreme preeclampsia with son #1 and I almost lost both wife and child in the delivery room. My wife was on bed rest for over two months and subject to a weekly battery of ultrasounds and non-stress tests with my daughter. And Samwow made the scene six weeks early and spent 10 days in the hospital. (If you're interested in reading about those challenging days, just surf through the archives of this blog... you'll find an interesting story or two.) So, for the most part, I entered into each stage of parenting with equal parts gratitude and post-traumatic stress.

Once the drama of Samwow's birth subsided and we knew he was out of the woods, I found that I was savoring being the parent of a newborn more than I ever thought I would. With huge dimples, a contagious grin and big blue eyes that can stop you in your tracks, I can't help but marvel at this kid. Maybe it's because he was such a surprise or maybe it's just because I'm older and have "been there, done that" a couple of times before, but I found parenting this child to be an absolute blast.

Then Samwow turned two...

I cant quite pinpoint exactly when he began acting like the Tazmanian Devil, but it seemed that my darling young cherub became a two-foot tall terrorist in the blink of an eye. It began innocently enough with Samwow climbing out of his crib. No big deal, right? All kids do this and after it started happening with some degree of regularity, we decided it was time for a 'big boy bed.' Out went the crib. In went the Little Tykes race car bed. He was thrilled and so were we... for about a week.

Sam slowly came to the realization that he missed the challenge of climbing out of his crib so he sought other objects he could wrap his prehensile toes around. Much to our chagrin, that challenge came in the form of the tall dresser in his room. Here's a collection of Samwow's greatest hits with said piece of furniture:

- removing the child locks from the drawers, tossing the contents of the drawers around his room and sitting in the top drawer

- removing the petroleum jelly container, opening it and finger painting on his wall in Vaseline

- removing a container of liquid vitamins, squeezing it so hard all of the contents spilled out (staining the carpet) while keeping the childproof cap in place

Neither of Samwow's siblings exhibited similar behaviors. They certainly didn't try wrapping their toes around the knobs of the kitchen drawers and climbing onto the counter (Samwow's latest trick.)

My two oldest, aged 10 & 7, are largely self-entertaining. Occasionally my wife and I will need to mediate a dispute, referee a shouting match or simply send each child to neutral corners until cooler heads prevail. They're not angels but they are awesome kids and make us proud (almost) every day. And although their toddler antics never rose to a Samwow caliber, each exhibited their own unique, wonderfully bizarre behaviors.

As any parent will readily attest, there's a natural give-and-take that emerges during your child's journey from toddler to tween. You give a bit of your sanity and you take comfort in the fact that you'll have great stories to use as blackmail and/or source of endless embarrassment and humiliation before their future spouse. 

Comments

[Jill @BabyRabies]

Oh, I curse the day we ever bought our son a dresser! Too funny. That's actually at the TOP of the priority list this weekend. We are moving that thing into the closet!