Baby Story Time

Even at such a young age, Sawyer loves to have story time. He loves listening to the stories, and looking at the pictures. Last year around this time, when I was working as a nanny, I took Kaitlyn - who was then 7 months old - to the Seattle Public Library's Early Literacy Program. A few people looked at me like it was strange I was taking such a little thing to the library for a literacy program, but honestly, it is a terrific program that helps teach parents and caregivers specific age-appropriate things they can do to promote literacy early in life. It's a wonderful program!

The next "Baby Story Time" starts tomorrow (Thursday) at the Queen Anne Branch of the library. It is 4 weeks, Thursdays from 12-1pm (for babies 0-1 year). Sawyer is really excited to go (hopefully he won't sleep through it, I'm pretty sure at just 7 weeks he'll be one of the very youngest there!)

For any of you with little ones who live in the area and want to check it out, you can find more information here.

We hope to see you there!

Six is the Magic Number...

Yesterday marked 6 weeks since Sawyer was born. 6 is an exciting number to celebrate, as it is the time Mommy can start doing many of the things she's been craving to do, but that the Doc said are "no no's" until she had 6 weeks of recovery time. The Pediatrician also said that after 6 weeks, Sawyer can go swimming. We can hardly wait for a hot enough day to go to family swim time! The postpartum check up isn't until next week, but, hey, 6 weeks is 6 weeks. That said, this morning Mommy took Sawyer in the big bad Bob stroller and went running her favorite 3 mile trail around Greenlake! It was quite heavenly! Sawyer was sleeping in the stroller, so she even got to bust out her iPod and run to some of her favorite pump-me-up tunes.

Ah. Sawyer has done so much in 6 weeks. I think we tire him out just as much as he sometimes tires us out! We sure love our little boy.

Last night we got together with some friends at the beach for a BBQ, bonfire, and S'mores. It was a beautiful sunset at Golden Gardens and a great way to end a fine day and celebrate the 6 weeks we've had together as a little family by sharing some time with wonderful friends.

1 Month Old!

Yesterday, Sawyer had his 4 week check-up. In some ways, it doesn't seem possible that he's already a month old, yet in other ways, it feels like he's been with us for a long time and life couldn't get any better. We absolutely love our little guy, and are so thankful he is a part of our family!

Since birth, Sawyer has gained almost 3 lbs. He now weighs 8 lbs 10 oz. He's a great eater and loves to nurse. He is getting a little double chin, chubby little cheeks, and little creases in fun parts of his body. He's also grown 2 1/2 inches. AND he has started to lose his hair! He has a receding hairline, which if it continues, he is going to end up bald! For now, he looks like a cute mini old man. We are also happy to report that Sawyer is a pretty great sleeper. He wakes up once or twice a night. We usually go to bed around 11pm, he wakes up (actually, I'm not sure if he's really awake...he just makes a sucking noise like he's ready to eat), I lift him into our bed, feed him, change his diaper, then put him back in his bassinet and he's out until 3am. Then, he usually starts stirring around 5am, although half the time it's me who's antsy to grab him and put him in bed with us as the sun rises. Around 7am he starts really waking, and smiling at us. What a great way to start the day!

In other news, our babe now fits into his diapers. We are CD-ing it now! Every time I don't throw a diaper away, I feel good inside! And in the hot weather, the cute g diaper covers with a t-shirt double well as an outfit.

Happy 1 month Birthday to you, Sawyer!

Family time in Oregon

This past week we took Sawyer on his first road trip to Bend, Oregon, which is where Tysha's parents live. It is normally a 5.5-6 hour drive, and with our little guy we had envisioned it taking us at least 8 hours - BUT much to our pleasant surprise (actually, we're not too surprised, he's a newborn AND he's super easy-going) we only had to stop once (to feed him and ourselves) and we made it in 6.5 hours. Crying: 10 minutes. Playing with parents: 20 minutes. Sleeping: 5.5 hours. It was a breeze, and we were very thankful. We met up with 3 of Tysha's siblings in Bend, each of whom have had a baby boy in the past year. Sawyer met all of his boy cousins (on the Kemp side) on this trip! Jackson is 10.5 months, David is 8 months, Tyson is 5 months, and of course Sawyer is the youngest - now 1 month old!

We took Sawyer to his first live concert. It was a Reggae band playing at Bend's Munch n Music series. It was an absolutely perfect evening when we packed our picnic and sat on the grass at Drake Park enjoying the music. Brandon - Jamie's boyfriend (Tysha's 18 y/o sis) joined us and even offered to "babysit" so we could dance a little. What a super guy he is! So...we danced a little...and grooved a little (nothing like dancing in bare feet!)...

Sawyer eventually joined in with the dancing. I think he was the youngest in the crowd. Of course, much like the 4th of July Fireworks, he pretty much snoozed through the Reggae Concert, but we enjoyed it nonetheless!!!

Magical Drake Park at dusk. It's one of Tysha's very favorite parts of Bend. It's a park that lines the Deschutes River, and there is always something going on there.

One day the whole crew went on a hike along the Deschutes River. Here's baby Jackson with his Daddy, Jared. They are all smiles! It was an absolutely beautiful day.

And baby David with his Mommy, Jen. Our boys are such troopers! We put Sawyer in our Ergo and he quite enjoyed the hike as well. We are excited for when he is big enough to fit in the big boy backpack and we can go on longer adventures.

It is fun being part of a family that is so active and enjoys the outdoors. We hope to continue the tradition...

Jacob found this fun thing. It's not a dandelion but we're not sure what it is. It looks like a huge dandelion.

Oh, what fun times with our cute little nephews!

Nothing can beat those curious & trusting, happy eyes and big smiles.

Sawyer quite enjoyed being passed around by the family. Here he is with Grammy, enjoying the shade on a hot afternoon. (Notice his receding hairline - at the rate he is going, he may end up bald like his cousin Jackson!)

And here he is with his "Gigi" (Great-Grandmother), Iris. She sure enjoyed meeting her little "tiny mite". We are sad that her husband, Grandpa Millard, didn't get to meet Sawyer. He passed away 2 days after Sawyer was born. We did get to go and visit his grave, as we were unable to be at the funeral. It was sad and sweet. We know he is resting peacefully, and looking out for us. Who knows, maybe he's the one who got Sawyer to smile at 2 days old! Remembering a great life helps remind us to treasure each moment we have with our little son, and with our wonderful families and friends.

Here we are all together. Jared, Rachel, & Jackson. Jen & David. Jamie. David, Kelli, & Tyson. And of course us. Four boy cousins. It will be fun to watch them as they grow! We had a wonderful time in beautiful Central Oregon. What a treat to spend a few days with family!

Independence Day Weekend

We had such a great time celebrating the 4th of July...and a wonderful time spending time together on this 3 day weekend. Sawyer was Mr. Popular - being such a tiny, cute little patriotic guy, people couldn't help but want to cuddle with him. He made many new friends everywhere we went this weekend (including the entire retail staff at J. Crew!)

Family photo. We enjoyed a BBQ with neighbors and friends in our building.

Mmm. Apple pie made by Tysha and Sawyer. A la mode. It was delicious!

Sawyer slept through much of the noise and activity of the day... wearing his cute and festive pjs from Grammy Kemp.

We are lucky to have such a happy little guy! Below please enjoy some video footage of our 4th of July. We are fortunate to live right by Lake Union and have the best seats in the house - on our roof - to watch the fireworks show over the Lake. Enjoy! We hope you all had an equally relaxing and enjoyable weekend!

3 weeks old!

It's hard to believe that Sawyer will be 3 weeks old tonight! We have been having so much fun with him. Today after bath time, Mama did some crazy hair for Sawyer. She is already thinking ahead to Halloween (wouldn't he be an awesome little Rock Star?)

We can now report that Sawyer's scrawny little legs are starting to show signs of becoming roly poly. He even seems to be getting a little double chin! We just love baby rolls! Granted, he still has a ways to go...but he is nursing like crazy and sometimes he literally grows overnight. He can actually now fit into some of his newborn size clothing, instead of just swim in it. In other news: after hours, and I mean hours, of research, we had decided to use g diapers with cloth inserts - it's our little hat's off to the environmental/"green" movement. However, the smallest size starts at 8lbs, so we've had to use "fakies" (disposable diapers) until Sawyer fits into the g's. We are thinking he must be close to 7lbs now, so today Mama gave the g's a try. As you can see...still a bit too large. Perhaps we'll have to give it another week or two... :)

We are getting all geared up for Independence Day tomorrow (Tysha's favorite holiday!) Sawyer and Mama started working on an apple pie this afternoon. We are excited to celebrate tomorrow and to see Sawyer's reaction to the fireworks - will it startle him, will he dreamily sleep through it, or maybe not like it at all? We'll find out!