samuel turned eight

So much personality stuffed into one little kid.  Okay, maybe he's not so so so little anymore.  Just kind of little.  But he is still little enough that I wonder how his personality can be so big.  Maybe he was supposed to be two people.  Have you seen this kid move?  He is as fast as two people, too.  

This has been a great year for Samuel.  He has grown so much.  Not too much.  But so much.

 He is in the stage where posing for photos is full on awkward for him.  But real smiles.  Goofy smiles.  We get plenty of those.

 But mostly, in front of the camera, he is choosing to be serious.  "I don't like to smile," he says.  Karl got this fake million dollar bill at the hardware store.  Samuel was thrilled.  Maybe less thrilled when he realized it was fake.  

 This was earlier this week at the beach.  He ran up with a sea urchin in his hands.  Brave little kid.  Those things terrify most.  He was so careful to quickly return it to the water.  I hope he stays little enough that he will always be excited to run up to me and show me what he has discovered.  

Eight is kind of a big deal. I made a slideshow of some of his photos, but I made it too gigantor and it's taking forever to upload.  I'll try and share when it uploads in a billion years.

Happy birthday to one seriously -est kid.  Fastest, bravest, smartest, happiest, funniest, sweetest...