Adam Miller and Family

Sam was playing in the basement with his frie...

December 11, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam was playing in the basement with his friend John while I was upstairs with Jamie and Emma. I heard some noises and went downstairs with Emma only to find Sam surrounded by blood spatters and a bloody face. So there I was, holding Emma and pressing a paper towel against Sam's nose. Jamie came down and immediately went to clean the carpet in the basement while I waited for the bleeding to stop. Eventually the carpet got relatively clean and we mopped up the puddles of blood.

It looks like he just got a bloody nose, probably from his cold but perhaps from playing with John. Sam's now sitting quietly and watching a movie, seeming much better now.

After all that butcher's work I can only laugh at the things they don't tell you you'll do as a parent.

Jamie got Sam a little toy kitten as a belate...

December 03, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Jamie got Sam a little toy kitten as a belated birthday present. It "wakes up" when you pet it, opens its eyes and purrs. Sam has taken quite the liking to it, announcing to Jamie last night, "I don't want to play any violent games with my kitty. I only want to play loving games with it." It's nice to see that Sam has a softer side - usually it's all action and excitement for him.

Sam got a couple early reader books for his b...

November 27, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam got a couple early reader books for his birthday, given to him by grandma Judy. I decided to forgo the usual bednight reading time and instead have Sam read to me. He worked hard at it, but managed to read an entire book. He was really proud of himself, almost as much as we were of him.

We finished tucking him in and he grabbed the second book. As I headed down stairs, I could hear him slowly sounding out the words as he read to himself. What a great kid.

It's Sam's birthday today

November 26, 2004 by Adam in Sam

It's Sam's birthday today. Hard to believe that it was only six years ago when we brought the little critter home and our lives changed forever. He's been a great joy these last years, from his wacky sense of humor to his love for his family. Happy birthday kiddo.

We'll have family descending on our house starting around noon with the arrival of Jim and Judy. I think everyone else is arriving around 2 pm or so. It's day 2 of the four-day family and eating extravaganza.

I've been working on reading comprehension wi...

November 22, 2004 by Adam in Sam

I've been working on reading comprehension with Sam lately. Though he protests that he can't read, he's actually gotten pretty good with sounding out words and recognizing common ones. The trick is to have Sam-appropriate vocabulary. Last night it was "The orc ate the cat. The shark at the orc. Sam ate the shark." Good times.

I also had a lot of fun taking Sam to see The Incredibles yesterday. He has a really well-developed sense of humor so he not only understands my jokes but often comes up with some witty repartee as well.

Sam wacked his knee pretty hard the other night

November 18, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam wacked his knee pretty hard the other night. As usual, he's a real trooper when he first gets hurt. Of course, he's been using it as an excuse to avoid taking baths and doing exercise too. I suppose we can give him a couple more days grace before things return to normal.

In school news, Sam seems to enjoy the handwriting table. I wish I had more time to sit down and have reading lessons with him. With two kids, that and other things are a challenge. Hopefully his computer gaming skills will pan out.

Last night I was showing Sam the Google image search and he had a great time calling out things for me to search for. Eventually the requests got sillier and sillier until he called out "Search for poop!" I decided to call it a night.

Sam and I made up a couple fun little games t...

November 10, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam and I made up a couple fun little games the other night. The first one involved couch cushions being safe to walk on, while the rest of the floor was either lava or water, depending on Sam's mood. In any case, it got him exercising pretty well, throwing pillows about and jumping from one to the other.

I also got this funny motion-sensor lock from work (it was for laptops but was never used). I'd build a structure out of blocks, place two "jewels" inside, then put the lock on top of the whole thing. As a master thief, his job was to carefully remove blocks and extract the jewels without setting off the alarm. I think he played at that one for close to an hour last night.

I went to Sam's parent-teacher conference today

October 26, 2004 by Adam in Sam

I went to Sam's parent-teacher conference today. Well, to be honest I sat in the car with a sleeping Emma while Jamie went in to talk to the teacher. Evidently he's a bright funny kid who's doing quite well in school. He's made a couple good friends in school - Caden and Mattie. Caden is his "basketball coach" and Mattie and he take turns teaching the other how to be a boy or girl. I think "being a girl" involves jump rope, though I'm not quite sure what "being a boy" entails exactly.

Sam and I have been wrestling lately - the pr...

September 29, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam and I have been wrestling lately - the pro-wrestling sort of thing with fake moves and overly dramatic scenes. He was so distraught that he couldn't do it right before bed Monday that he cried and whined himself to sleep. Evidently he was so helpful around the house yesterday that he and I got some serious wrestling time after I came home. I was feeling lousy with headache and pulled neck muscle, but I managed to get into the spirit and soon we were both laughing and making dramatic grimaces.

Sam also went to the dentist yesterday. Perfect teeth. At least we know one aspect of our parenting skills are working out okay.

School is going well for Sam

September 14, 2004 by Adam in Sam

School is going well for Sam. He seems to enjoy going, probably because it's far more interesting than hanging out with us. He's made a friend called Caden that he plays with on the playground.

As parents, we're really happy that this transition has gone so smoothly. Whew.

Sam had his first day of school today

September 09, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam had his first day of school today. I didn't get a very coherent narrative from him, mostly just a collection of random stories. His teacher's name is Mrs. Staysack. They read a book called the Kissing Hands. He clapped until his hands hurt. He had homework that tested his reading, math, and other skills.

Jamie reported that there were two sets of twin girls in the class with him. It's also a pretty big class with 19 kids. So far he seems pretty excited about it. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

This picture, if you're curious, is of Sam's teacher who "seems nice" according to Sam.

Sam had a great time on our camping trip to T...

September 07, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam had a great time on our camping trip to Twin Lakes with the rest of my family, doing many things for the first time: camping, riding in a boat, fishing, roasting marshmellows, as well as being a "real fisherman". Now, the last item is important to him as he spent a bunch of time by the side of the lake catching tiny fish. We managed to bring one back preserved in alcohol.

Most of the time we spent outside exploring, checking out a nearby lake, and tossing rocks into the water. He had a really good time and was sad to leave.

Sam starts kindergarten in another week

September 01, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam starts kindergarten in another week. It's pretty amazing to contemplate, though I think he's fairly ready. The toughest part will be getting used to being around all those other kids. Sam seems to either get very shy or very wacky when around big groups of kids. Hopefully he figures out a happy medium.

Scholastically he should be fine. He can read all the letters, and has been practicing writing them as well. Most short words he can sound out with a little help. Plus all my Adventurer Bob story problems should help him with everything else.

It's been fun just hanging out with Sam this Summer. Last night before bedtime he was running back and forth in the yard. We made up an impromptu game where he'd rush at me and I'd find some unique way to dodge. After I leapt over him, hands on his head, we both collapsed on the grass laughing hysterically. Jamie just eyeballed us both and remarked, "I can't believe you just did that."

Sam seems to heal just as fast as he collects...

July 30, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam seems to heal just as fast as he collects scrapes and bruises. It seems hard to keep up with him these days, both mentally and physically. He's always scurrying off to work on some project or another. The stories he comes up with and wants me to play along with are fascinating at times. The other night we were woolly mammoths, brought back from the dead after being frozen in the ice for ages.

Only a couple more months until he starts kindergarden. Tomorrow he's going to visit his preschool teacher's farm, which is usually a fun adventure.

Sam's been feeling lousy for the last few days

July 22, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam's been feeling lousy for the last few days. He hurt the inside of his mouth last weekend while doing "cool moves" and bonking his face on the couch. Unfortunately it means that it's hard to eat solid food, brush his teeth, and the like.

We're keeping an eye on it, but hopefully it'll heal up by itself. He just seems so skinny that I worry when he doesn't eat much for a few days.

Sam and I occasionally have strange, funny co...

July 11, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam and I occasionally have strange, funny conversations. We were talking about a show where a little girl had to drive the dad's truck to go for help after he broke his legs. I was explaining how kids usually thought that having something happen to their parents was the worst thing that could happen.

"Well," said Sam. "I think ghosts are scarier." "Oh really?" I responded. "Would you rather have a ghost say Boo or have me dissolved in a vat of acid?" "I'd rather see you dissolved in acid," Sam replied.

After I complained, he told me "Well, I'd still have mom!" After I laughed even harder he added kindly, "Anyway, I'd take your brain and stick it in a robot body."

I came home yesterday to find Jamie and Sam p...

July 02, 2004 by Adam in Sam

I came home yesterday to find Jamie and Sam playing with Dominoes. Sam had made up a brand new game dubbed "Sam-inoes". It was actually pretty good and Sam and I played a few rounds, adding rules as we went. Jamie was extremely proud of him, having offered no help in his game-making endeavor.

He keeps getting taller every week. He can now walk around the shallow end of the pool with his head completely out of the water. It's always amazing to watch them sprout up so quickly.

Just recently, Sam has begun to really start ...

June 14, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Just recently, Sam has begun to really start reading and writing. Since Sam's getting ready to go to kindergarden and Emma's grown up a bit, we've been having more "teaching moments" with Sam throughout the day.

We'll be doing our usual "play pretend" sort of thing, when I'll face the intrepid hero with a puzzle of some sort. This might be counting to twenty (he'd always forget 13 and 15 previously), sounding out letters, and more recently starting to read and write a little.

Over the weekend we made adventure maps and I'd have him read the captions. He later made his own map by himself, writing down what his various symbols were. I think he'll be well prepared for school, just as long as they only expect him to spell things like "orc", "gold", and "pit".

I just got back from Sam's last day at preschool

June 04, 2004 by Adam in Sam

I just got back from Sam's last day at preschool. They had a graduation that nearly all the parents turned out for. Sam was his normal wacky self, interspersed with moments of genuine sweetness. Jamie and Emma showed up a little late, but Emma had a great time looking at all the kids. After that, it was off to the old Farrels for American food and ice cream.

Hard to believe that Sam's getting so grown up.

I did some favors for a friend of mine in Swe...

May 18, 2004 by Adam in Sam

I did some favors for a friend of mine in Sweden, helping ship him new batteries for his robot dog if you must know. In any case, he sent me a thank you note with $20 and a message to spend it on pizza or whatever Sam wants. I gave the bill to Sam and told him to give it to Jamie along with a message of what he wanted for dinner. He promptly ran upstairs and said to Jamie: "Cake."

In a few minutes, Emma and I went to Metropol to pick up some cake for Sam. Sure enough, that's what he ate for dinner.

Sam explained to me while he was brushing his...

May 10, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam explained to me while he was brushing his teeth that he only wanted to do four things: play pretend, watch t.v., eat, and play on the computer. Fortunately it was the same day we went for a walk by the river and he ran around until he was exhausted. There's hope for that boy yet.

Sam was really sweet the other night

May 03, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam was really sweet the other night. I explained how I had to go and brush my teeth and couldn't play just yet. After folding some clothes, I finally got there to find that he'd laid out my toothbrush and opened up the toothpaste for me.

I told him later that I thought it was really cool and he added, "I was going to put toothpaste on it too, but there was a horrible accident and I had to clean it up."

Though watching Emma is like watching a puppy...

April 27, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Though watching Emma is like watching a puppy furiously grow for the first few months, Sam does indeed continue to get bigger himself. His command of the English language is most remarkable, using all sorts of phrases and expressions in his daily conversations. Sam also tries quite hard to be funny and will often leave Jamie and I in stitches. In only a few short more months, he'll be off to kingergarden and the house will be a bit quieter during the day.

Sam continues to have a love of playing pretend. More often than I can count I've been pressed into the role of a starship captain or swashbuckler. The hammock in our back yard does double duty as a pirate ship and a space ship. Legos are occasionally played with as well, though not as much as of late. He's also fond of computer games and movies. Surprisingly enough, Sam and Emma get along pretty well and he'll often seek her out to play with her. Hopefully that'll continue in the future.

Sam made up a poem today: One, and two, and ...

April 04, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam made up a poem today:
One, and two, and three, and four,
Five, and six, and seven, and more.

Sam is quite enamored of Sadie these days

March 30, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam is quite enamored of Sadie these days. She was over last night for their semi-annual play time. She's been teaching him how to be "supa bad" and dance about the house. I think Sam like Sadie because she'll play games the way he wants to play, which is rare for an adult.

They also did their annual feign death play. Every year it seems that they pretend that one of them dies, but comes back to life. This year the twist was that Sadie died, but that Sam's magical tears brought her back. Unfortunately, those same tears kept Sam alive, and so he collapsed. Very dramatic.

Sam continues to learn and grow. He's getting more comfortable with reading and writing, though it still takes a fair bit of effort. I'm looking forward to the day when I can put a book in front of him and tell him to read it himself.

Sam's officially been accepted to Crest Drive...

March 16, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam's officially been accepted to Crest Drive for kindergarden. It's about a ten minute drive south of our house, a cute place nestled in the woods with a nearby stream.

A couple nights ago, we had a really hard tim...

March 02, 2004 by Adam in Sam

A couple nights ago, we had a really hard time getting both kids to bed, so I started the bedtime ritual early last night. I had him running up and down the hill in our front yard, getting him pretty tired. We then crammed both kids and Jamie in the bath before seven, where Sam pretended he had been transformed into a beast and only a mother's love could bring back his humanity. Eventually we got him dressed, bednight snacked, and to an early bedtime. I read a long comic book to him which he seemed to greatly enjoy. He was out like a light.

With all the press that Emma gets these days,...

February 18, 2004 by Adam in Sam

With all the press that Emma gets these days, I thought I'd drop a quick note about Sam. Quite subtly, he continues to pick up all sorts of funny words and phrases, trying them out in conversations with me. I forget that he's only five sometimes, so I'll talk to him like an adult. Only after he comes back with questions like "What does traipsing about mean?" do I realize his age.

It's also pretty clear that he really likes playing with me. Last weekend we were at a place with a fountain and he threw in a nickel. Later on he told me in confidence that he wished that he could play with me all the time. I love that boy.

Sam was exceptionally cool yesterday

February 09, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam was exceptionally cool yesterday. I was working on my computer when he kept coming down and asking questions like "What letter makes an 'uh' sound?" then scurrying back upstairs after I told him. We went back and forth like this a few times as he checked the shape of certain letters. I briefly heard screams of frustration as he messed up a letter and had to get help from Jamie. Finally, after much work I ended up with a piece of paper that reads "DAD I LOVE YOU FROM SAM".

It's hanging up in my office now, practically making me cry each time I see it.

Last night Sam and I were hanging out in the ...

January 15, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Last night Sam and I were hanging out in the play room, talking about math and my previous career as a teacher. Somehow he ended up running to fetch a paper and pen and we ended up doing math problems together. I'd draw a story problem about something and he'd end up figuring it out. We ended up doing addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and a couple measurement problems and riddles to boot.

Sam's favorite was the "Adventurer Bob" story problems. Questions would go something like this. "Adventurer Bob faces five orcs. He's a great shot with his bow, hitting every time, but can only take on two orcs at once with his sword." I'd then draw three arrows in his quiver. "Will Adventurer Bob make it?"

Another one involved Bob returning home with six gold coins to give to his three children, with the question of how many each child got. Sam loved it and I finally had to make him stop doing math.

Sam can be a really sweet kid sometimes

January 13, 2004 by Adam in Sam

Sam can be a really sweet kid sometimes. Last night, in an effort to get our address memorized, I suggested a little game. We'd coach him on it until he could repeat it. When it was time for dessert, we'd ask him and if he got it right he could eat it. If he got it wrong, we'd try again in ten minutes. Sam though it was a great idea and we spent a bunch of time preparing for the test.

He got it right the first time and asked if he could have one of his chocolate coins from Christmas. He decided to split it with us, then after some discussion ended up splitting it into three pieces. One I ate, one he ate, and another he saved for later.

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