Lego luck and Sam is growing up

We've gotten lucky at a local thrift shop lately with finding a couple of good-sized buckets of Lego, including instructions. I bought them (at a minuscule fraction of the cost of new) to add the pretty substantial collection we enjoy at home already. Although I'm careful not to accumulate stuff in our tiny space, I don't think one could ever have too much Lego. Not this family, anyway. It's one thing we can always find a space for.

I am actually really fine with it taking over most of our living space most of the time. Lego creations lying about on the bookshelves and tables and the daily sound of a child rummaging through a bin for just the right piece are probably among those things I will miss dearly when my kids are grown.


I have never seen Lego transformers or purple Lego until we came across these recent sets, nor did we have any orange or lime green Lego (save a small handful of each). I'm pretty excited with the new range of colors we can work with now.


Sam has recently become interested in following the instruction book steps to build on his own, where up until now he has always left that part to Kale. With a little assistance and some minor frustrations and hold-ups, he's been able to construct more complex models than he is used to. Pretty exciting for him, one of many examples of how "big and grown up" he is getting these days (to use his own self-descriptive words).

Sam also felt "like a big grown up boy" when we were at the pool this week and he went into the male change room with his older brother and his friend (instead of in the family room with me), and was in charge of getting himself dried and dressed and remembering to pack his goggles and wet things with him on his way out.

He feels big when:

he chooses when and how to get his own hair cut (or not)...
he can lift the large milk jug and pour himself a drink without spilling (much)...
he can bang the hatchet through a piece of cedar to split us up some kindling...
he can use the special fine-point ink pens and a good-quality sketch pad to create art...
he can cross the street without assistance to visit our neighbor and...
when he gets up on her ride-on mower to help her with the lawn and she lets him do all the steering...


He even thinks he can feel an ever-so-slight wiggle in his left bottom tooth....