Lovers and Haters

Four years old must be the age of extremes. They loooove things; they hate things. Happiness brings a "yessssssssss". Sam feels things so passionately these days.

Some examples:

• As I've mentioned before, he just can't get over how cute Nate is. Today we were in the car and I heard him say, "You're so cute. Nate, you're my best friend ever."
  
  
• Last week there was no school in observance of Emancipation Day. We stayed home so that Nate could nap and I could get some things done around the house. Sam and Levi had fun playing all morning, and when Levi and Nate were both down for a nap I told Sam I needed some quiet time. He responded, "But I need some Mommy time." So we sat and talked a little, and he told me about how he missed his friends from school. Then we started talking his friends pets, about dogs and cats, which resulted in going through my old photo album so that he could see pictures of my childhood pets and friends... I still got my quiet time, but I couldn't resist such a sweet request for "Mommy time", especially when I can see in the not-so-distant future that he won't want me around so much.

Sam hears these new words used, and is struggling to figure out what is appropriate. Sometimes he comes right out and asks:

• He told me today, "Geneva said 'I hate you' to someone." We talked about it, about why she said it (the person in question had hit her) and how that might have made him feel. I love that he talks to me about these things, and that I can be involved in the way he processes these experiences.
  
• He also tries words and phrases without asking first. One example: stinky-poop-butt. This one got the kibosh. No, I'm not in denial that I have a house-full of boys and that Nate will likely be saying phrases like this before he turns 2, but I'll control it as long as I can.
  

And then there are the times when he just takes an outside concept and logically and thoughtfully applies it to himself:

• Last week we went to Chi Alpha's water baptism. Before we went Sam asked, "Why does Daddy baptize people?" We've talked about this before, so I reminded him that it is the way people show that they love Jesus. His thoughtful response: "Well, I guess I should do that too, then."