Baths, Toes and Good Conversation!

Tonight was bath night for Sam. He is so wriggly and crazy, I can't bathe him in a baby bathtub or the sink. So he has to get baths with one of the boys. They hold him in their lap while I bathe him. Tonight was Noah's turn (Wyatt and Noah beg to take baths with Sam). He was very smiley. It is somewhat unusual for Sam to be so smiley when I am not holding him or paying full attention to him. Often he stops smiling when I put the camera to my face. Partly because my face is out of sight and partly because of the flashy red light on my camera. But tonight he was loving his bath and his silly brothers. Held by Noah and entertained by Wyatt. He fits right in! Sam is not the easy going third child I was hoping for. Instead he is clingy. That is not bad, it is just Sam. He loves to be held all the time. It would drive me completely nuts except that he sleeps good at night and in his own room. At least I just have to hold him when he is awake. He likes to be in the middle of everything- not off to the side in a bouncy seat. He is a doer, not an observer. Recently he has learned to grab. He grabs at everything. I remember Wyatt at this stage. We called him 'Elasto-baby' after ElastiGirl in 'The Incredibles' because he seemed to get ahold of things that should have been way out of his reach. Mom says Sam just doesn't like being a baby. He is ready to move on. She might be right. He doesn't particularly like nursing, he is already getting everywhere by rolling (nearly crawling), he hates anything that reclines or restrains him (like bouncy seats, car seats, bumbos, saucers, swings, ya know- all that baby stuff!), he must stand when you hold him while seated and he would rather play with a metal utensil than any silly baby toy. Or maybe he is just more like Greg than the other boys. I thought I had my 'little Greg' with Wyatt, but Sam is Greg-er. He will be a lot of fun the older he gets. Wyatt is a hoot. He cracks us up all the time. Just watching him walk through the room is entertainment. Wyatt pretends his fingers and toes are little people and plays out funny little stories, he likes to experiement with different ways to walk and jump, he loves to comb his hair in new dos, etc. He has a great imagination and we get to see and hear it because he is constantly talking, making sound effects and moving. Like a little one man show.
Since I just spent so much time writing about Wyatt and Sam, I should say a few words about Noah. Noah is still my Mr. Responsible. He loves to help out around the house and with Sam. He likes to be real. He doesn't pretend and create little stories like Wyatt. His favorite cars to play with are the ones that you see on the road everyday. He never role plays with little lego people or objects- unless he is playing along with Wyatt. He likes to build with legos using the instructions and exactly the right pieces only. He enjoys good conversation and fine cusuine (really, he has excellent taste buds!). He would rather interact with the people around him than go off and make beleive. He is a good listener and a thinker- at least for a 7 year old boy! I just love how completely different Noah and Wyatt are. I can't wait to see how Sam operates!
Noah has just acquired the appetite that every mother-of-boys has warned me about. He eats all day long. It is amazing how much he can get into that skinny little body. I can't imagine how it will be when he is 13! I will be making lots of bean soup and oatmeal so I don't go broke!
It is late. Check out Flickr for more photos!