Sawyer is Unstoppable! (and 8 months old)

Oh my goodness! Sawyer so looks like a little boy sometimes!

So much has happened in the last month! Just over a week ago Saywer really took off, on hands and knees/toes. He has a very unique style of crawling. Sometimes he practically hops across the floor like a little frog. The first time it was obvious to me that Sawyer had finally figured out that he was a crawler was when I gave him his first little taste of blueberries. I had just blended some up for him and I wondered if he would like them. I took him a taste on a spoon and he followed me back to the kitchen. Guess they weren't too bad!

We have been using a little bit of sign with Sawyer at feeding times. We think he has been giving some of them back to us. Lately we see attempts at "more" and "all done." He also passionately shakes his head "no" when you come at him with another bite of peas. We may never win that one! Sawyer has been working on feeding himself and creating work for me in the kitchen. He loves using his sippy for water. I think we will be transitioning off of the bottle very soon.


Sawyer has had fun meeting friends on the weekends although he may be a bit of a bully. Now that he can crawl he doesn't have any regard for personal space.

He had a raging diaper rash so he needed some air time, the hat was just for effect. It didn't matter how many times I moved Sawyer back he went right for Sydney every time!


An early Christmas present from Nana and PaPaw.


Merry Christmas!

Elf Yourself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Sawyer is 7 Months Old!

Sawyer sticks his tounge out like this all of the time. He thinks he is cute for some reason...


I mentioned "my 7 month old" to a couple of parents from my classroom the other day. "Oh no, it hasn't really been 7 months has it?" Hearing her say 7 months really made me pause a minute. Really, it has been 7 months, more than half a year. Then she mentioned that her son is turning 18 in just a few weeks and she is in shock over being a parent to two adult children. I did the math...in less than thirty-one seven month periods, I will be a mother to an ADULT CHILD! I am in shock as well. I know what my Mom is thinking..."Andrea, you are so neurotic, of course you would think of it this way."


Sawyer has learned to put himself to sleep by crying it out. There was a time when I thought this might be cruel but I truly believe that cry it out is the way to go in our situation. It was not as painful as I had prepared myself for. He cried for just under an hour the first night, five minutes the second night, and 15 minutes the third night. The real shocker is that I told them at day-care to let him cry for up to an hour to go to sleep. I thought the lead teacher might slap me she looked so stunned. But anyway, Sawyer hasn't cried at all to go to sleep at daycare! He is sleeping more and that means I sleep more, AND we are both very happy...

Making for great smiles like the ones in these pictures!



Go Panthers!



Anyway, as I was saying...

Halloween...Only Nearly 1 Month Late!

Sawyer is 6 Months Old!

I must be the worst blogger ever! I just can't find the time to keep up like I would like. Anyway, here is the update on our 6 month old. Sawyer has been spending lots of time backing himself into corners. He will get up on all fours and rock back and forth, eventually stretching his legs out behind him. Any second now he will learn to propel himself forward and strategically placing him on the floor won't help us anymore. I am terrified and filled with giddy anticipation at the same time.


He has also discovered some new veggies. He loves sweet potatoes but does not care for peas.




After our visit to the pumkin patch last week I plan to make pumkin puree and applesauce for Sawyer. I am excited to try my hand at making some babyfood. I will report back on my findings. I absolutely love "The Pioneer Woman" who Tricia introduced me to on her blog. She has a post about making pumkin puree that is supposed to lead to the best pumkin pies. That must mean Sawyer will love it too right? We shall see.

We have had a breakthrough...

...Well, actually two of them. Two adorable tiny little teeth...

Sawyer is 5 months old!

Wow! The past month has been quite a ride. It seems like Sawyer is doing something new every day. He started enjoying his jumperoo, trying to crawl, eating cereal, tailgating... I love to listen to him giggle and watch him push up to get a good look at what I am doing.

It seems that Sawyer sorta loves his cousin Leila. It is the sweetest thing to see him twisting himself around just to be able to watch her do anything. She loves him too, she says so all of the time. She always wants to help with him and keep him happy. Leila will be a wonderful big sister!

Uh, Mom, that first bite wasn't so good...

Is it possible that this cutie pie is half my genes?

Mobilization

Sawyer is discovering how he can get from one place to another. Poor thing is going to end up with a raw nose from pushing himself around on it! He really gets his legs going, pushing himself forward but he hasn't figured out the pick the face up off of the floor part.

Sawyer is 4 Months Old!

Sawyer is such a happy little man! Here he was playing on the floor just rolling and scooting around while I surfed the net. Every once in awhile I would snap a picture because I was so impressed by his ability to entertain himself and get around. How can you look at these pictures without smiling? Try it, I dare you...bet you can't.

Cutie Pie

Daycare

I am trying my best not to worry but I just hate dropping Sawyer off at daycare. Then I have to work at my stupid job all day while someone else who doesn't even love him gets his best hours. When I picked him up today after his first full day he seemed just fine. I picked him up off of the play gym he was playing with and stood chatting with the nursery "teacher." What does Sawyer do? He busts out giggling... more than once even. He thinks his "teacher" is hilarious. Who knew?

Flood Update

I have been meaning to get back to this for awhile to update you on the flooding situation and my classroom. A few weeks ago...yes, I said a few weeks ago.... I spent some time surveying the damage, sifting through some boxes and visiting the barren classroom. The best news I have to share is that the two goldfish have survived. They are like cats...although I am not sure how many lives they have to go yet. Probably not many considering we bought (rescued) them from the feeder tank at Petland. Goofy and Duck are have been through it all.



Here is the picture showing everything pulled from the classroom aside from the refridgerator and the fish tank shown above. The fish get a special location so the district staff can keep them plugged in!



Here is the bare classroom. I will be starting the year in an alternate location in the same building as the other Bridges classroom. In the end it will be nice to have everything all clean and new but I sure have a lot of anxiety right now about how the year will start off!

Sigh...

Sawyer is 3 Months Old!

Sawyer is 3 months old today. I have said it before and I will say it again, time is flying by. Three months ago I was at the hospital in the early stages of pushing this kid out. I had no idea what life had in store for me. Weeks of sleepless nights, difficulty nursing, recovering... three short months. A lump wells up in my throat every time I consider how profoundly Sawyer has filled my heart with love and joy. Nursing, which was painful and filled me with dread and anxiety at first, is now a precious time I get to spend with Sawyer every 2 to 4 hours. I can look down to my boy, curled close and see his loving blue eyes as he smiles up at me.

Anyway...enough sap!

Being Sawyer's 3 month birthday, today was the day for 3 month pictures! We thought with the the sweet, smiley disposition our boy normally demonstates this would be a pleasant, happy experience. Even Cassie couldn't get the kid to smile! I think he just turned out to be tired and hungry during our session. Poor planning on my part... :( Live and learn has become my new motto. I spent a good portion of the session doing this...



I know what you are thinking mom..."Why didn't you just feed that baby!" Well, I did and he still wasn't satisfied! I think we will also pass on the nudey pictures next time. He was not happy about being on display for all the world to see. However, we did get this adorable shot. He smiles like this all of the time with his little tongue poking out!

Could We be in Trouble?

I am terrified! Steve told me yesterday that when he went to get Sawyer up from a nap, he found him lying on his tummy. I didn't think much of it at the time and I certainly didn't expect he would do it again any time soon. Flash forward to 3:00 AM when I roll over to look at my little boy and find him on his tummy again! Time for the Angel Care monitor to be set up!






Here he is, working on those rolling skills.






Soon he will be unstoppable...




Uh oh...Stewie, is that you?

Life is full of Joy

The last week has been full of new discoveries with the little one. On Friday he rolled over from his stomach to his back without even realizing what he had done. He also let out a huge giggle while Steve brushed his hair and Erica and I crowded around him.

Here he is with Erica and Shelley, his honorary aunts.

Last night, he slept through the night from 11:00 to 5:30. When I heard him wiggling around I woke to notice the light coming in the window. I looked over and thanked him for letting me sleep all night he just gave me a huge grin. I could just burst with love for the little guy!



Has it really been only less than 3 months since Sawyer has rocked our world?

I can't believe how we love him more and more every day.





Until I get a big grin like this one and joy just fills me up.

July 4th

Steve and I took Sawyer down to visit with Nana and Papaw (spelling?) Smith in Washington. Sawyer experienced his first fireworks, he even looked at them a little before drifting off to sleep under his nursing cover.











Pat and Mary Alice are smitten with their grandson as you can see here...

Vacation!

It was so nice to be able to spend a whole week with my family down in Warsaw Missouri. Sawyer got tons of quality time with his grandparents and aunts and uncles.
Here he is with his Great-Grandma Karen.

And soaking up the attention from Aunts Cassie and Dani.

Sawyer spent mornings with pop-pop so I could sleep. The wii kept us entertained in the cabin with Tricia demonstrating her new found Guitar Hero skills. The guitar is getting a rest in the background of this pic. I tried my hand at wii baseball even though I am not a fan of video games. I have to admit...it was kinda fun...don't tell Steve!

Steve and I got the chance to tube behind the boat and eat great BBQ. What could be better? Well, doing all of that without class work hanging over our heads would have been nice. Steve and I spent a good portion of our vacation working on class which was interesting since wi-fi wasn't easy to find. We did some work at the Warsaw Public Library where the people were so friendly. Anyway, as you can see from the picures, we did find time for fun.

Clay and Steve enjoying the tube.
Clay practicing his moves...
Mom and I had the best time...

Well, maybe Mom had the best time of all. Isn't she beautiful?
Dani loves to ski, she makes it look easy to pop out of the water.

We visited Ha Ha Tonka State Park where we missed seeing the post office that was run by our relatives during their day. (Grandma, maybe you can share a few details about them in a comment?) It is just not easy touring state parks with small children. I think I need a temperature controlled, sun protected, insect repelling, off-roading, motorized stroller. Do they make those somewhere? I hope we will see more of the park when we visit another time. We did get a chance to see the castle ruins.



Here we all are. Poor Sawyer is trapped in the bubble in front. This is as close as I could get to the fancy stroller I have in my dreams.