Today is my oldest son's 7th birthday.
That kind of blows my mind. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday I was in the hospital awaiting my scheduled C-section. Other days it seems like he should be in his twenties by now.
Samuel Walker Godfrey
January 20, 2003 @ 8:59 am
8 lbs. 10.75 oz. 21" long
Born at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
In honor of Sam's 7th birthday I decided to share 7 things that make him uniquely Sam:
1.
Sam's name meant a lot to me.
I chose the name Samuel after the bible passage in 1 Samuel 1:20, "So Hannah became pregnant, and in time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel saying, His name is Samuel because I asked the Lord for him."
Just as Hannah had been barren and heartbroken for a child, I too struggled with infertility. Both Sam's dad and I underwent testing. I had a surgery, suffered through 1 miscarriage, and many painful attempts with fertility drugs before we were blessed with the child I had so earnestly prayed for.
2.
Sam does everything his own way, in his own time, and with very little prompting from others.
Sam was developmentally behind his peers from the very beginning but he never seemed to notice or care. He sat up on his own at 8 months, crawled at 12 months and walked at 21 months. His first word was Dada and Slither
(his snakes that are his best buddies) and he didn't really talk much until after age 3 thanks to early intervention services through Infants and Toddlers and his many therapists.
Sam learning to crawl...backwards right under the chair. Oh well, gotta start somewhere!
Sammy on his last day of Infants & Toddlers playing on the therapy swing
In light of his delays Sam has had amazing advances that none of could have foreseen. He taught himself to read at age 2 and now at age 7 he reads on a 4th grade level. He has taught himself numerous foreign languages and can name close to 50 items, letters, and numbers in Spanish, French, Japanese, & Hebrew all from watching Baby Einstein, YouTube language lessons, and books. Sam also has developed a great love for computers and can surf the web like a pro. He even figured out how to disable the volume controls from the software inside the computer.
Sam and I, Thanksgiving 2009
He entertained our guests by showing them various videos on his computer
3.
Sam has an amazing musical talent
Starting around 12 months of age Sam began rhythmically tapping on items around him. He never really stopped after that. In the autism community this is referred to as 'stimming'. Stimming is a term used to describe a self stimulating behavior that typically helps calm or center the individual. The amazing thing about Sam is that he can replicate certain rhythms he hears immediately after hearing them.
Sammy in his Pre-K class 2007
His music teacher called me a couple months ago because she wanted me to hear him play a new song he had just learned on the xylophone. She sang the words to the song and Sam could be heard in the background tapping away on the correct notes as well as the correct rhythmn. His teacher told me that in 23 years of teaching music she had never had a student memorize a piece of music that quickly.
I was surprised at all. That's my Sam!
4.
Sam has a sense of humor and smile that will melt your heart
Sam has always loved having his picture taken. As a baby and toddler he would give me a big open-mouthed grin and never once got sick of me taking his picture.
6 months old
12 months old
After 18 months of age he stopped making good eye-contact but still flocked to the camera whenever I got it out. He began wanting me to take pictures of his favorite toys as he held them and then would become amazed at how he could look at the back of the digital camera and see the image.
18 months
Sam's current sense of humor stems mostly from re-telling knock-knock jokes he has learned online. I think that knock-knocks are especially easy for him to learn because they have a certain pattern, or rhythm to them.
At least once a day he will come up to me and say, 'Mommy.....Knock-knock' and I say 'Who's There?' to which he responds 'Banana' and I say 'Banana who?' and he goes into hysterics and completes the rest of the joke with the obvious ending, 'Orange you glad I didn't say banana?'
Lord, I love this kid!
5.
Sam has the patience of a gnat.
Thankfully I know perfectly well where this character trait came from. He is definitely a chip off the old block, the apple that fell not too far from the tree, and like Mother like son.
A year ago Sam started spontaneously saying 'Its good to be patient' whenever a request he makes is not met with immediate results. I am sure it was his Kindergarten teacher who taught him this script as a way to try to teach Sam patience and learning to wait for the things he wanted.
So far it seems to not be working too well.
6.
Sam loves to be on the go.
Every morning Sam wakes up and will say, 'Wanna go outside'. That is code for, 'This place is boring, we need to go somewhere and do something.' Thankfully Monday through Friday my answer is easy because he goes to school. However on the weekends, especially during the winter months when it is cold and trips to the playground are not possible Sam will begin his top list of possible places to visit. He always starts with my BFF 'Becky's house', then my other very good friend, 'Rosie's house', and if I still have not taken the bait he starts in on the stores he loves, 'Target, Sam's Club, and Grocery Store.' or other favorite places are "Jesus House" which is Sam's word for our church and "Daddy's House" which is a quarter mile from ours.
I have never had difficulty getting Sam
in to a new environment. As with most individuals with autism transitioning away from a favorite activity or location is the hard part.
Playing at "Jesus House" in the children's room.
7.
Sam has very discerning taste when it comes to food & drink
As a baby Sam ate everything that wasn't nailed down. He even ate dim sum in China Town once and loved the steamed bok choy. I think that was the last time he ate something green.
For the past few years Sam has dwindled his diet down to 3 items: Grilled cheese sandwiches, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, and chocolate chip cookies. Occasionally I can get Sam to eat a pretzel stick or some animal crackers, but for the most part he will only eat the old standbys.
Sam (2 1/2) and Noah (4 months) hanging out in the kitchen
Sam's favorite drink by far is lemonade. He drinks so much of it that I have begun making my own using real lemon juice, 1/2 sugar and 1/2 splenda in an effort to save his poor teeth which might otherwise rot right out of his mouth.
Happy Birthday Sweetie....Mommy loves you so much!
