Adam Miller and Family

For those of you who are following Sam's dent...

November 30, 2005 by Adam in Sam

For those of you who are following Sam's dental development, he's started getting his molars in. I haven't tried to take a picture yet, though it might be fun to attempt to stuff my camera in his mouth.

We got a new computer game that Sam really enjoys

November 22, 2005 by Adam in Sam

We got a new computer game that Sam really enjoys. The name is Fable, and one of the central ideas is that you can be either evil or good and your character changes depending on your actions. Initially he started good, but he's since gone back and is been somewhat more shady. He announced his morality as "evil in the sense of stealing things, not killing people", though that hasn't been always reflected in the game either. So far he's a little bad, but he still does good things from time to time as well.

He wanted to play so much, that he came up and asked for work so that he could earn thirty minutes of computer time. It's part of our new reward system, something like the third version that we've tried. I had him putting away dishes, cleaning the playroom, washing the bathroom, and vacuuming the floor. After all of that, he got his thirty minues of time.

"You've been really good, and now you can go be bad," I told him, referring to his approach to the game's morality. He thought it was pretty funny.

Sam got a new fish for his tank last week

November 09, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam got a new fish for his tank last week. It's an alge eating fish, promptly named "Croco" by Sam. It's been doing a great job eating the slime from the fish tank, with even Jamie mesmerized by the cleaning power of the little critter. I think she's secretly hoping to train an army of the little guys with special water helmets and turn them loose on our house, cleaning every surface as they go.

Sam's doing really well in school these days. He's gotten 100% on every spelling test and quickly picks up math as well. His reading still needs work, though he's so much better than he was at the start of the year. If he sets his mind to it, he can figure out most words. At this point, he just needs practice.

Sam was cracking me up last night

October 19, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam was cracking me up last night. We were playing Legos, and I pulled him away so that he could work on his spelling homework. He professed that he was hungry, so I made him some english muffins with butter. The catch was that he could only take a bite if he correctly spelled a word.

Well, soon enough he was really getting into the Pavlovian training thing. He was spelling "from" and "this" and taking bites proportional to the quality of his work. He made me toast up a second one so the fun could continue.

Years from now, when he's trying to figure out how to spell a word, he'll probably start drooling and think of english muffins.

On the way back from soccer practice, Sam ask...

October 05, 2005 by Adam in Sam

On the way back from soccer practice, Sam asked me what I'd rather be doing. After thinking about it for awhile, I told him that it would be nice to watch a show and eat a bowl of cereal. "Okay," he said. "You can do that for five minutes while I watch Emma." He then went on to explain that that was about as long as he could manage, but he wanted to be nice to me.

Sweet kid.

Sam had his first soccer game of the season today

September 26, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam had his first soccer game of the season today. He was his typical self, goofing off when he was on the sidelines, occasionally falling to the ground at seemingly random moments when he was in the game. Still, he also managed to score four goals and generally work well with the rest of his team.

Getting to the game was fairly exciting, way out in west Eugene. I had Emma as well, so I was hauling her, our gear, and trying to lead Sam to the particular field. Fortunately we ran into a few other parents who were equally lost. We banded together as an impromptu tribe for survival.

Few people know this, but our bathtub is a ti...

September 20, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Few people know this, but our bathtub is a time machine.

Many months ago, Sam made up a game where he'd dunk his head under the water, hold his breath as long as possible, and he'd show up in some other time. It's grown to the point where any time I say it's bath time, there's always the question "Can we play the time travel game?"

Initially it was the typical stuff, going to meet your parents as a kid, talking to your future self, and seeing what the computer games of 2050 were like. Since then, the bathtub has acquired new capabilities, such as the ability to travel through space, into people's imaginations, movies, and games, as well as sporting an assortment of weapons to deal with any possible threat. Emma is often the unwitting side-kick, going along on their sudsy ride.

Last night we went to the Farm at the End of the World, where he met farmer Bob and his cows, right before the Earth blew up.

We all went up to Sam's school yesterday evening

September 07, 2005 by Adam in Sam

We all went up to Sam's school yesterday evening. We met his teacher and found out which class he was going to be in. It looks like he'll be with his friends Gavin and Maddy, so hopefully today won't be a completely new experience. He also had soccer practice afterwards, which he picked up quite easily. This year we're going to work on having him kick the ball and then remain standing.

Sam's a little nervous about school starting today. Wednesdays only go until 1:30, so hopefully he'll be eased into the situation. Still, going for a full day is going to be a major change. I think we're going for school lunches on most days, for example. We've also told Emma about how Sam will start going to school soon. "I will miss him," she said sadly.

Sam has a fairly important evening tonight

September 06, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam has a fairly important evening tonight. At around four in the afternoon, we're heading up to his school for an ice cream social. Even more importantly, he finds out who his teacher is and which students will be in his class. They're having three combined first and second grade classes, so there's a one-in-three chance he'll be with his friend John.

After that is his first soccer practice. We had a BBQ at the Musgroves last night where a bunch of the soccer parents and kids were invited. Sam had a great time running around like a maniac for most of the time. Odds are he'll sleep very well at night from here on out.

Sam's been taking swimming lessons at Amazon park

August 18, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam's been taking swimming lessons at Amazon park. This time he's in the Flipper's class, which takes place in the big pool. Yesterday he went off the diving board all by himself, swimming to the side when he was done. At this point, he can basically swim from place to place, though his repertoire of techniques is fairly small. We're all very proud of him.

He's also got another loose tooth that's almost ready to go. Last night we estimated the value of his mouth at $18 for the going rate for teeth these days. Gotta milk the Tooth Fairy for as much as you can.

Sam's also been playing Sims 2 quite a bit lately. Before he was mostly into building and making people, but since his reading skills have improved, he can actually play the game a bit. Sure his Sims are miserable on occasion as Sam forgets to have them eat, sleep, or shower, but on the whole they're doing fairly good.

The funniest part was when he asked me "Dad, where's the button to make them have babies?" I didn't realize the birds and the bees talk would happen quite this way.

Sam has discovered a new game

August 14, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam has discovered a new game. Yesterday he drew a simple maze and I made car engine noises as I moved my finger through it. Soon enough the mazes became elaborate, with jumps, flames, and ice patches, and I was to drive my finger-based "car" through it successfully. He enjoys it immensely, though it does admittedly produce a ton of paper with his various scribbles.

Today he took another approach, turning it into a video game based around a warrior vampire, fighting for good. The puzzles and fights became more complex and he spent nearly an hour just drawing the guy's armor.

Strangely enough, he walked outside, blood dripping from his face, and announced that he'd gotten a nose bleed. We're used to them by now, so we promptly lept into clean-up action. I did have to point out the irony about the blood and the vampire thing. He only thought it was mildly amusing.

It looks like the loose tooth saga is over, f...

July 30, 2005 by Adam in Sam

It looks like the loose tooth saga is over, for now at least. Sam's second tooth has been dangling by a thread for a couple weeks now. Last night Jamie spent an hour with Sam as he fiddled with his tooth. Finally he just grabbed the thing and yanked. Now he's free of his tiny front teeth and the new ones are coming in, looking much bigger.

He also finished up with Wizard camp yesterday, playing a Quidditch match and getting his diploma. He very much liked the entire experience.

In this picture, you can see the lightning bolt tattoo on his forehead from the class, along with ice cream on his chin from our morning's trip to Lonepine Farms.

Sam's tooth finally came out

July 28, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam's tooth finally came out. Unfortunately it wasn't the loosest one. He was playing in the hose at camp today when he ran into the back of another kid. One of his front teeth popped out and was lost in the grass. Evidently it was fairly bloody, though it didn't hurt at all.

Now he's talking very strangely, which makes it easy to make fun of him. He doesn't want to touch his empty spot with his tongue or lips, so he's making a funny face all the time. Hopefully he'll get used to it in a day or two. I'd also bet that other tooth was out by the weekend.

Sam's first tooth is about to pop out

July 27, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam's first tooth is about to pop out. He's been wiggling it back and forth endlessly for the last couple days. Yesterday at Wizard's Camp he spent his swimming time with a friend who was giving pointers as to how to get it out.

Speaking of Wizard's Camp, Sam loves it. It's got a Harry Potter theme and the main teacher is a magician and actor in his own right. He's been doing tricks and getting everyone playing various Wizard themed games. Yesterday he got his broom and they were running it through an obstacle course. On Friday is a Quidditch match.

Yet another Sam tooth update

July 25, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Yet another Sam tooth update. The last posting's picture was taken a week or so ago (despite the posting date). This one was really taken yesterday, so you can start seeing the difference. If you look closely at the second front tooth, you can see a new one starting to poke out there too. As a side note, someone let me know that the previous picture of Sam's tooth grossed them out. Sam was duly impressed.

Sam starts wizard camp today. It's got Harry Potter themes and hopefully will be lots of fun for him. It'll be strange for Jamie to just have the one kid for most of the week. A preview for Fall when Sam goes to first grade, I suppose.

I wanted to do a quick post of Sam's teeth, s...

July 22, 2005 by Adam in Sam

I wanted to do a quick post of Sam's teeth, slowly popping in. It's been strangely fun to watch his two front teeth gradually sticking forward while the new ones pop in. I suspect it'll still be a few more weeks until anything comes out as they're not particularly loose.

Sam also got a postcard via "owl post" yesterday (that's what the stamp said anyway). He's going to Wizardry camp next week and they gave him a list of things to prepare for. One of them was to pick a wizard name, though I'm not sure we were particularly helpful. "Samuel Picklebottom" didn't get quite the reaction I'd have hoped for.

Sam's new teeth are slowly coming in

July 12, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam's new teeth are slowly coming in. Last night we were giving him a bath and I got to see one of his new teeth poking in behind his old ones. It looked quite odd.

This has been a summer of camps for Sam. He had his swimming lessons and his cartoon camp. He really liked both of them and probably kept him from being completely bored. Pretty soon he'll have Wizard's camp and then likely another round of swimming lessons. T-ball is over as well, so we're in a lull between the various activities.

He's also turning into an actual reader. Most of the early reader books are overly cute or silly, but I managed to find some ones that were actually funny. I left them by his bed after I got them at the library. The next day he reported that he read them both, all by himself.

Sam loves his sister

June 28, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam loves his sister. Jamie was telling me a story about how Sam took Emma into the living room and sat down with her. "Emma, I'm going to tell you a story about Princess Emma." He then went on to tell an elaborate tale about Princess Emma and her grand adventures.

Emma loves him as well. Whenever Sam gets upset, Emma becomes equally distraught and tries to give him hugs.

Today was Sam's last day of school

June 16, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Today was Sam's last day of school. He brought home all his journals and yearbooks, said goodbye to his teary-eyed teacher Mrs. Staysack, and started his Summer vacation. Hopefully the transition will go smoothly. I'm very proud of Sam and think his kindergarten year went extremely well. He's confident, made many friends, and did very well scholastically.

It was a treat reading through his journals. They'd say things like "I like to do my star chart so I can play with my dad". Though he sometimes wears me out, I love spending time with him and I'm glad he feels the same.

Jamie also got Sam a new fish tank, though it's currently without fish. They went with a pirate theme, complete with a skull at the bottom and a Jolly Roger as a backdrop. Quite cool.

Sam's T-ball continues

June 02, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam's T-ball continues. He seems to enjoy it, though for some reason he doesn't really talk about it much. We drive over to Adam's school, he plays, then we drive back with nary a word.

Summer break is sneaking right up on us too. We've got a variety of things lined up for Sam - a camp on cartooning and another called "Wizard's camp". Jamie's also working on various babysitting help to keep her going. This is the first of many Summer breaks and hopefully we can figure out how to do it well.

We had a brief break from evening sports afte...

May 20, 2005 by Adam in Sam

We had a brief break from evening sports after soccer ended. Now T-Ball begins.

Last night's practice went well. There seemed to be less running around than soccer, so Sam was much less exhausted. The focus seemed to be on following rules and getting the kids to line up and wait their turn to bat. Mostly I tried to protect Emma from the flying balls the kids were pitching.

Sam's doing pretty well these days. He's excited about the upcoming weekend with just me. Already he's been pouring through his pirate activity book, looking for eyepatches and hook hands to make.

Sam's done with soccer and T-Ball starts next...

May 15, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam's done with soccer and T-Ball starts next week. He's pretty much the same boy as ever, into Legos, computer games, and finding bugs in the garden.

He's been doing well making friends at school, which is promising. He had Gavin over last week and plays with a few more buddies from time to time.

It was really hard getting Sam motivated to g...

April 30, 2005 by Adam in Sam

It was really hard getting Sam motivated to go to his soccer game today. He's had a cough for the last week and keeps having to blow his nose. I gave him a snack right before he left and he just wanted to stay at home.

Still, we showed up and he went out to play. It turned out it was his best game yet. He managed to get his first goal and did a few good blocks as well. Towards the end he perked right up and was very excited about soccer again.

Virtually every night for the last couple wee...

April 26, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Virtually every night for the last couple weeks, Sam's been working on "his game". One of my hobbies is to create computer games, primarily using Neverwinter Nights. You can make dungeons, populate it with creatures, and test things out. Sam caught the bug and has been having a good time creating hordes of creatures to do battle with. I've had to help him with the tricky parts, but for the most part it's been his own thing. For someone who claims he can't read, he's done a pretty good job figuring out the fairly complicated toolset.

That's my boy.

Sam continues to do soccer, seeming to enjoy ...

April 08, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam continues to do soccer, seeming to enjoy running around getting muddy with his friends. After practice today we returned home with his friend John. They jabbered all the way back, all the way through dinner, and we finally set them in front of a Scooby Doo movie so that they might be quiet for a few minutes.

Sam seems to be doing well over all. He likes school, has quite a few friends, and enjoys a range of hobbies.

Sam had soccer practice again tonight

April 01, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam had soccer practice again tonight. This time the weather was clear and beautiful. They mowed the grass so the kids didn't constantly trip. Sam had a much better time, though perhaps Sam's coach was a little rough with him.

Okay, his coach didn't really take off his head. Sam and I were just looking at the pictures from tonight and he suggested a minor alteration in the image.

Sam's school is putting on a talent show and he's wondering just what exactly his talent is. He asked me to rattle off some suggestions and got excited when I mentioned "Science." That's my boy.

Update: Jamie showed this picture to Emma, who responded "Sammy head off! Sammy practice!".

Sam went to his first soccer practice today

March 30, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam went to his first soccer practice today. It was bitter cold and rained for part of it. The grass was pretty high and hard to kick through. Two kids fell down and got kicked, having to be sidelines. Sometime in the middle, Sam's nose started to bleed.

When we packed him into the car and headed home, I asked him how he liked it. "Good . . . even though I was miserable for part of it."

I captured a movie out of part of the action, using my low-quality but handy new camera.

Sam had an exciting day yesterday

March 17, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam had an exciting day yesterday. After school, his friend Caden came over and they played non-stop for three hours. Fortunately Caden's a good kid and they played really well together.

After that, grandma Sue came over to whisk him off to dinner and ice cream. He reported having a good time, then it was a quick bath and off to bed.

It looks like Sam's sick once again

March 10, 2005 by Adam in Sam

It looks like Sam's sick once again. Jamie's kept him out of school for the last few days. This morning before I left for work, he reported that he threw up. He's always seemed fairly chipper when I come up, but Jamie says that he saves up all his energy for me.

He's also really gotten into the idea of making his own computer game. I helped him make a simple Neverwinter Nights adventure, though he didn't think it was long enough. Now he wants to start again, using the archtypical village destroyed by orcs as the starting point of the adventure. That's my boy.

Sam's had a touch of the illness that's going...

March 03, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam's had a touch of the illness that's going through our family, though fortunately not too bad. He brought home an award from school as well, for academic excellence. This is the third in as many months, whatever that means. We already know he's nice and smart.

The afternoon started off a bit rough. He wanted to play with the hose outside and I gave strict instructions not to get anyone wet. Sure enough, Emma got a bit soggy so I sent him inside, quite unhappy. He perked up when we watched Hero together, though he didn't quite understand the Chinese-style ending full of sacrifice and honor.

We had some time tonight, just hanging out together. He opted to leap off the couch over and over. I love that kid.

Sam's creativity continues to amaze me

February 28, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam's creativity continues to amaze me. He developed this elaborate game involving drawing villages and armies, and then asking me questions about what I wanted do next. I'd tell him to build farms or defensive walls, then he'd scribble with his colored pencils. Finally there was a great clash with the enemy, usually resulting in eraser fuzz flying everywhere.

Sam's reading continues to improve as well. He can usually sound out most short words and easily read the book I picked for him last night. We have an arrangement where he reads a book and then I read a comic book to him. Pretty much everyone is satisfied.

This morning I took the kids to Costco

February 16, 2005 by Jamie in Sam

This morning I took the kids to Costco...not my favorite place to be with two youngsters, but a challenge I accepted considering the alternative, three hours in the basement! Emma did not want to sit down in the cart, unless it was while bouncing on the box of frozen sausage patties. Sam said, "Do you want to hear a story?" and proceeded to recite non-stop (and I am not exaggerating here) a story from his own imagination throughout the shopping trip, all the way home, while unpacking the groceries and doing laundry. Finally I had to insert my own "The End" when it was time for school! Now, Sam is at a friend's house and Emma is napping like Brant. Ah, blessed silence ;-)

Sam was playing somewhat rough with Graham ov...

January 31, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam was playing somewhat rough with Graham over the weekend, bonking his teeth fairly hard. It looks like it's significantly loosened one of them, joining two others that were a little bit wiggly. It's strange to think that he'll soon be joining the ranks of adulthood, at least where teeth are concerned.

It's amazing how self-sufficient Sam is, espe...

January 23, 2005 by Adam in Sam

It's amazing how self-sufficient Sam is, especially compared to Emma. I'll leave him to his own devices for long periods of time, not really worried that he'll get in too much trouble. A couple years ago, he couldn't play by himself for more than ten minutes. Now he goes long stretches, typically because we're busy with Emma.

That's not to say that he doesn't crave his "alone with dad" time. We have a star chart where he can complete tasks and get goodies. Without fail, his choice for a goodie is to spend time alone with me. As you might expect, it makes me feel pretty good as a dad.

Yesterday we went out the the park, having long chats and playing on the equipment. We have a good time together, appreciating each other's sense of humor. Good times.

Sam had a couple dreams he related to me yest...

January 06, 2005 by Adam in Sam

Sam had a couple dreams he related to me yesterday. In the first, the actress who plays Hermione in the Harry Potter books was in love with him. In the second, he and Emma were being chased by orcs. I think that boy has a rich fantasy life indeed.

Sam's been back to school the last couple days and seems to enjoy it. They had their first visit to the computer center. Sam announced that he had a password that he couldn't tell me, along with his own folder where he could put stuff.

Older Posts

Adam

Family

Features