Lolly Pop, Lolly Pop...

Well...I swore sugar would not pass my son's lips until his 1st bite of Birthday Cake...BUT...

We were giving him a haircut, a "buzz" in fact. His second haircut. How do you get a 9.5 month old ball of energy to sit still for a haircut? We tried a carrot (he likes to gnaw on them, must feel good on his teething gums - he had 3 teeth pop through last week, and it looks like we'll get the next 3 this week). We tried a book (he LOVES looking at books). We ended up digging in Mama's purse for the dum dum the lady at the bank gave us. It was blue-raspberry. It worked for 2 minutes while I finished the buzzing. His hair was a couple of shades lighter (when will it stop?) He got his first blue tongue. He handed it over without any protest after 2 minutes. With his short, short hair, his eyes seem even BIGGER. We now call dum dums our "secret weapon". Wasn't too bad, was it?

In my defense, I was writing a grocery list the other day and decided to jot down everything Sawyer has tried/eats regularly. Here's the list:

applesauce whole milk yogurt "graduates" puffs graham crackers string cheese wheat toast (w/ butter) pears bananas brown rice cereal oatmeal multigrain cereal saltines cottage cheese nutrigrain bars peaches apricots blueberry sauce sweet potatoes mashed potatoes cauliflower carrots squash zucchini asparagus green beans sweet peas jamba juice (orange dream machine) and brazilian beans and rice.

Not bad for a 9.5 month old whose Mama prefers he doesn't eat baby food from a jar. I don't think you can call him a picky eater! And, since I serve him mostly organic, home-cooked food - I'm going to quit feeling guilty about the dum dum. Everyone needs some sort of "secret weapon" - don't they?

That said, anyone else have other ideas of what to use for wiggly little guys during home-haircuts?

Sneaky

This morning it was a little too quiet as I cleaned up after breakfast. I went into our room to find Sawyer knocking down our collection of guitars.

With a little help (from Mama, no less), he opened up one of the cases, and in no time was jammin'...that sneaky little Jack Johnson, Jr!!! (I joke that his hair resembles Mr. Sexy Plexy himself).

Like Father, Like Son. What else can I say? We have a sneaky and smart little music-lover in our home! I love it!

PS- BIG thanks to Aunt Rachel for making the groovy outfit. It's adorable!

UNcivilized

When I was a nanny for two little boys long ago (the eldest is now driving!), I remember one cute conversation I had with the 3-year-old, concerning his baby brother. (A little background: this boy LOVED the movie "Pocahontas" and frequently marched around the house singing "savages, savages!") This particular little boy looked at his brother, who was covered in food, sitting in his high chair - smiling like he was having the time of his life. "Tysha - don't you think he is completely UNcivilized?!!" I had to smile.

Fast forward about 12 years: Sawyer now likes to try to feed himself. When the spoon isn't doing him justice, he just tosses it overboard. Dig in! Watching him the other day I had a flashback to the above memory. I just LOVE UNcivilized little squirts! Sticky yogurt, graham crackers and all!!!

Especially for Sofie

I met Sofie about 4 years ago, at church. She had just moved up from Southern California. We were both nannies at the time, both about to enter Grad School, and both kinda disgusted with the dating scene. She asked if I wanted to have a play date. So, we met at the park with our 3-year-old charges and chased our little boys around the playground, and in between the slides, the monkey bars, and the sandbox, we discovered we had a lot in common. At the time, I had been praying for a friend. Most of my friends had recently been married and I felt kind of alone. I always tended to be friends with "the guys" but I really wanted to have a girl friend. Sofie was the answer to my prayers. We had great times together. We had a regular "date" at Greenlake: we'd meet at 10pm on Wednesday nights and walk around the lake, chatting about this and that - sometimes things of the moment, sometimes our ponderings about philosophy, psychology, and the bigger picture, and other times, about deep challenges and decisions we faced. During those years, we both ended up finding the love of our lives and getting married. Last summer, Sofie and her husband, Casey, moved to Indiana for an MBA program. I have missed her! And, she has missed "home". So...

Just for Sofie, I made some photocards. There are a set of 5 in each collection. One is scenes from the Oregon Coast, and the other are the great and green trees found on the Olympic Peninsula. So, a little of "home" for her. I hope you like them, Sof!

See that look of excitement on Sawyer's face? That's because, much to our luck, Sofie was in town visiting this week. She last saw Sawyer when he was about a week old, when all he did was snooze in her arms. Today we met with Sofie for lunch at Red Mill Burgers. Sawyer loved my friend! So, an added bonus for Sofie (we were going to mail her package) was to have her gift hand-delivered, with cuddles and smiles from Sawyer, to boot. :)

He even did his hair, just for the occasion. I did mine, too (it is a rare event!) We miss you, Sofie! We love you, Sofie! We hope you enjoy the cards, made Especially for You!!!

9 Months Old!

I am 9 months old.
I weigh 18 lbs 15 oz. (25%)
I am 26.75 inches tall (10%)
I am one healthy boy...crawlin', cruisin', and babblin' away...

Lately I love:
-Water. Always have. L-O-V-E bathtime, it's so much Splish Splash fun! Good thing Mama is already planning for lots of pool time this summer!
-Eating. No, not those organic purees my mom makes for me - well, sometimes - but I prefer BIG BOY food! Yes, finger foods are much more exciting! I drink like a champ from a cup (can you believe I got away with NO bottle - my mom got her wish for an "exclusively" breast fed baby, I've never even tried formula. From what I hear it's not as good as my mama's anyway...)
-Getting into everything I can. I've started climbing, too. Which makes life exciting for all of us, it really keeps all of us on our toes! I'm glad my mom and dad let me be a grand explorer, but watch out for when I might get into trouble a little bit over my head - they always bail me out!
-I am an outdoor guy. LOVE the outdoors. Walks, trips to the park. Checking the mail. all of it. But lately, my favorites are the view from the jogging stroller - what a nice, smooth ride. Swings at the park. And my most recent discovery - the sandbox. We got a bunch of buckets and shovels and it's so much fun. Mama has to remind me not to eat it, but besides that, it is a blast!
-My new cupboard in the kitchen. It makes cooking and baking with my parents that much more fun.
-Pounding. On anything. But especially the big windows in our living room.
-Books. My absolute favorites lately are: The Wheels on the Bus, Goodnight Gorilla, Where's Spot, Where is Baby's Mommy? and Five Little Ducks (I'm kinda literary guy. Mama finds me frequently standing on my tip toes to pull my favorite books off the shelf, sit down, and turning the pages. I also really like the books on my parent's bookshelf: Teachings of the Living Prophets & for some reason they always end up in my mouth :)
-Babbling. I say so many things now! I am going to be a talker, well, I already am I guess all of you just don't quite know my language yet. I say Mama all day, but also Dada, Baba, Nana, Tha Tha, etc. My Mom isn't always sure if I'm really saying her name - but who else am I talking about when I follow her into the kitchen singing "Ma ma, Ma ma"?
-I am on the verge of signing back to my parents. I occasionally sign "milk" and have thought about "good-bye". I am AWESOME at giving High Fives! You should ask me next time you see me!
-Playing, cuddling, snuggling, singing, etc. with Mama and Daddy, of course!

I'm not fond of:
-Naps. Well, let's just say I'm so active and so curious (my pediatrician says it's because I'm so smart and mobile) that slowing down to take a nap is the last thing I want to do! I want to be where the action is! Mama gets me to take two naps, most of the time - but when she lays down and takes a nap with me - I know I'm not missing out - I sleep sometimes over two hours. Otherwise, my naps are of the cat-nap-ish variety. I sleep really well at night - my record is 8:15am. I still sleep a lot in my parents bed. We all like it (luckily). Sadly, we know it will have to end eventually if/when my Mama and Daddy decide to add another to our family.
-Leaving Mama and Daddy. It's a bit of that stranger/separation anxiety that kicks in about this age. I'll get over it eventually (really, it's not that bad...)

News: A tiny bit of one tooth is finally appearing. It looks like about 5 might bust through all at once! So far, no complaints - but wish me luck - I've heard teething isn't usually much fun.

PS- don't you love my 'Babylegs'? Some people may think they are legwarmers...well...they're Babylegs! And they're not just for babies! If you're like me and hate to wear clothes, you should give them a try, too!

Cheap Thrills

I'll let this one speak for itself!

Teething Toy

Sawyer's favorite "teething toy" seems to be our coffee table. Come to think of it, he is quite the fan of wood in general - I keep wondering if different wooden objects have different "flavors"?

And then, he looks at me as if to say "Mama, why are you laughing at me? What? I'm just enjoying our pine coffee table - and you're looking at me like I'm strange or something? What? What? Go on and have your hot chocolate, I'll stick with my pine for now..." Perhaps he'll trade in the pine for something better once he gets some teeth - oak, perhaps?

Spring Cleaning = Sawyer's Cupboard

This morning, our play-date to go swimming was canceled and it was kinda gloomy outside, so Sawyer and I cranked up the ABBA (my inspirational music of late) - and got to work! It is pretty much Spring (right?), so I decided we should do a little Spring Cleaning.

I've been meaning to do it since Sawyer started crawling. I started back in January, by putting those little baby-proof hooks on all of the cupboards (kitchen, under the sink where we keep the garbage and recycling, and under the bathroom sink) - all of the cupboard doors, that is, except for one. And then, I quit. But, now that Sawyer stands and jiggles handles and has figured out how to open the cupboards (the ones with no hooks), I decided it was high time to finish and make him his own cupboard (we only have two...so we had to do some creative reorganization).

He can now feel free to open his cupboard and get into ANYTHING he wants to get his little hands (or mouth) on. Sawyer is quite pleased with his cupboard. Now, while I'm cooking or baking, he can play around and not just tug on my jeans, looking up at me with the "why can't I?" look he is so good at.

It always feels good to clean out the cupboards, wipe them out after a long winter, and get rid of anything that isn't used anymore or is taking up too much space. In many ways, I love our small space because it forces us to only hang on to the essentials, and to be well-organized. Or, at least, try to be :)

My next idea is to get some of these very cute wooden food toys from Melissa and Doug. (His birthday is coming up in a few months!) We can stack them in Sawyer's cupboard and he can "cook" right along with me! I have a hunch that they would be a good investment. If Sawyer (and his siblings that follow) is anything like my nanny kids, they had loads of fun with "food" and playing kitchen, restaurant etc., for years. To begin with, though, I have just saved a few cracker boxes, empty yogurt containers, etc. for him to play around with. What fun!

Into EVERYTHING!

Sawyer is into EVERYTHING these days - and I LOVE it!!! I follow him around constantly while he explores. It is so fun to see how interested and intrigued he is in the world around him. Good thing I put locks on the cupboards!

Oh - he heard me sneaking up behind him...

Ah, there were some giggles, right before he discovered the toilet paper roll around the corner (so much for the locks!).

Oh, the joys of having a mobile baby! He is so proud of himself as he stands up and scoots around getting into things. I guess it comes with his adventurous territory, (he is, afterall, named after the mighty and mischievous Tom Sawyer - how can he help it?). These days Sawyer is usually sporting a bruise or two from toppling over or being overly confident in his motor abilities. Tonight, for example, we were at our neighbor's home eating dinner when all of a sudden we look over and he has climbed up a make-shift ladder and looked like he was in gear to climb his own Mt. Everest. Jacob caught him just as he turned to hear us gasping and let go). He climbs, scoots, crawls, cruises, tugs, topples, and keeps on trying (mostly, successfully) to get into...EVERYTHING! We love our boy - 100%!