Dear Sammy - 3 years update

Dear Sammy

You've turned 3 already! I haven't done an update in ages so here goes!

Your biggest milestone is that you've started preschool! You're currently in your 2nd week of preschool and you took to it like a fish to water.

Daddy sends you to preschool around 7.30-8am, while Mummy picks you up around 12.15 - 12.30pm. This routine works very well for us since that means that Gabriel and I can have a leisurely morning together. 

Each time I ask you what you did today at kindergarten, you would give me the same reply, "Fußball" (football). And I would try to engage you in a little conversation about whether you've made any new friends, or whether you like your new teachers and you would only give me monosyllabic answers of "yes" or "no". You're such a typical boy!!!

However, when we are hanging out together in the afternoon with Gabriel, you would chatter with me incessantly. You have a penchant for excavators (or "bagger" as you would say in German) and planes. You would spot a plane immediately in the huge skies and whenever you hear an excavator making a loud noise, you would ask me "hear that?"

Your list of vocabulary and words now is such a far cry compared to when you were two. Back then, Mummy was going crazy that you refused to talk, no matter how much we encouraged or "bribed" you to!

While Mummy is happy that you've officially begun your life as a preschooler, it was hard letting you go! Afterall, you've been my full-time baby for the past 3 years! Mummy has absolutely no regrets waiting out 3 years before enrolling you in school because those 3 years would never come back again!

Having you 24/7, spending every.single.morning.afternoon.and.evening with you. Planning things to do together, lazing on the bed in the mornings, letting you and Gabriel roam in the house with absolutely no agenda, but just enjoying our time together. These are memories that money can never buy. And I would do it again in an instant.

Mummy is quite thankful that Gabriel is only 15 months so that means I still have him at home with me for a good 1.5years more! *phew* 

You're completely toilet-trained in the day time. I can't remember when that happened, but it should have been around your 2.5 year mark. We're so proud of you that you hardly have any accidents and you don't need any help going to the toilet anymore! You still use diapers at night but that's all perfectly normal.

Oh you love buttons. You would always race me and Gabriel (in the stroller) to the lift while yelling "Sammy push Sammy push". Poor Gabriel is no match for your speed, but that day will most definitely come when you two "fight" to be the first to get to the buttons!

Whenever you hurt yourself, the first thing you'd want me or Daddy to do is to blow at your finger and pray that God will heal it. I don't even know how you realized that prayer helps to alleviate the pain, but once I forgot to pray for your finger and was about to leave when you reminded me to pray for you!

Our hope and wish for you is that you will know that God is always by your side and He's as close as a prayer away.

We see the hand of God's protection on you. Recently we went to the Oktoberfest in Stuttgart with some friends. Out of the blue, an ambulance drove through the crowd at high speed because of an emergency. I was trying to pay attention to you and your friend when both of you decided to run in separate directions. I couldn't see where your friend was going anymore, so I turned to look for him and in that very second, you disappeared from sight too.

In that spilt second, I realized you actually disappeared in the direction of the siren of the ambulance! My heart almost died before I saw you running back in my direction again. Only God knows how close you actually got to the ambulance but I know for sure that God's hand protected you from harm! And of course I was angry that the ambulance would rush through a crowd full of children to get to an emergency!

You're a true-blue independent soul. You're so confident playing on your own at the playground that you don't even need to be around your friends / me. On one hand, it drives me crazy because that means that you don't care about being lost in a crowd since you never bother to look for your parents but on the other hand, that also means that you're not afraid to be different. To stand alone.

We pray that God will be your rock and you will know that when you stand on God's side, nothing can stand against you. Rest in confidence that God loves you so much and He will always be fighting for you.

You have become such a great eater! 

Gone are the days when I had to crack my brains for recipes to conceal vegetables while trying to make the meal taste non-vegetably! These days, you would ask to eat our salad - complete with fresh leafy greens, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and even raw carrots. You snack on huge chunky pieces of raw carrots! YAY!

What a huge relief this has been to us! My boy has developed his taste buds for healthy vegetables! As much as you eat much more now, you don't overeat. You would say "Mummy, enough. I'm full." when I try to persuade you to eat more.

Your tactile abilities and motor skills still continue to astound us.

After riding your balancing bike for about a month, you started asking Mummy for a real bike. And judging from how you are able to ride your bike without putting your feet on the ground, Mummy knows that you're all-too-ready for the big boy's bike.




Your favourite phrase these days is "Mummy, I love you!" You say that ALL the time! You would be in the middle of a tantrum and Mummy would be trying everything to get you back on your balancing bike so we can make our way home. You would be all frustrated and sitting on the ground, but instead of engaging in some verbal fight, you would just say "Mummy, I love you!"

And I would say, "Yes, I love you too. But please get back on your bike." And you would cycle for a few more metres before the whole saga started ALL.OVER.AGAIN.

It's hard to be really angry at a kid who keeps telling you he loves you over and over again, isn't it? But trust me, it is possible!

One more thing before I end.

Before we started Kindy, we asked you why are you looking forward to Kindergarten.

You answered, "To read the Bible". 

And there and then, you totally melted our hearts.

You somehow realized that Sunday school is where you go to read the Bible and learn about Jesus. So you figured that Kindergarten is going to be similar to Sunday School - which it is, since this is a Catholic Kindergarten and they do tell you stories about Jesus too.

But your answer totally melted our hearts because we always thought that you enjoyed Sunday School for reasons such that you get to see your friends, or play with the toys etc.

But oh man, you actually enjoy Sunday School to read the Bible.

Such a humbling lesson for me. May the Lord continue to use you to teach me truths about Himself. Simple, enlightening, heart-warming truths.

It's all about God.

We love you son. So so much. Thank you for enriching our lives in ways we never thought was possible before we had you.

Mummy & Daddy

At cuddly and squishy at birth

All cheeky (and still chubby) at his first birthday

Getting his first bike at 2

Looking all grown up at almost 3 years