Monday, September 22, 2008

Crawling!



Sawyer became a crawler last Wednesday afternoon, so this weekend we were busy with a baby who was always on the move!



He's so proud of his accomplishment!



This weekend he continued to perfect the art of pulling himself up on the furniture. Here's his process to get up to the couch.








I'm almost up, mama!





And, he makes it!



We'll get some video of his crawling posted as soon as my literature review is complete! I need some additional motivation to get my writing done for class! :)

“Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat.”-Malcolm S. Forbes

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

A Boy and His Dog



For the most part Sawyer loves the hyper four legged creature that bounds around our house. Sabine, our dog, has adjusted very well to the new member of the family. She allows Sawyer to pull at her collar, grab an ear, and touch her paws.



She's often trying to wet his face with her kisses, which he's never quite too sure of, but he does love to watch her run around the house, in excitement, upon our return home.



He's begun to look for her when we ask him "Where's Sabine?" He'll move his head from side to side in an attempt to find her. When he does find her, a smile comes across his face!



“A boy can learn a lot from a dog: obedience, loyalty, and the importance of turning around three times before lying down.” -Robert Benchley

Saturday, September 13, 2008

The Farm

"I can see it. We're almost there!" Hearing those words brought excitement and relief. Riding in the car for four hours can seem endless as a kid. It was always a bit of a race to see who would be able to see it first, as it was the first thing that greeted us and the last thing we waved good-bye to through the van windows.

Grandma and Grandpa's tree could be seen before we could even find the barn and house. I have so many incredible memories from my time on their farm, as a kid. I can't help but feel a bit nostalgic today, as I know all my family is gathering for my grandparents' auction at the farm.


The Homestead
We gathered in this place as a family for Grandma's home cooked meals for many occasions. I remember Sunday dinners, Grandpa's birthday parties (his birthday is in the summer), Fourth of July picnics, and even the luncheons after my great-grandparents' funerals.

The Barn

There was always lots to do with my siblings and cousins during our visits. I loved watching Grandpa milk the cows. This was so interesting to me as a "city kid". I even remember the morning a brown spotted calf was born in the barn. I recall making lunch with Grandma and then driving in their Ford truck into the field to find Grandpa on the tractor, so he could have his lunch on the go. Some of the best days ended with lighting sparklers at dusk and toasting marshmallows in the fire pit under the moonlight.

The Road

At the end of each visit we'd drive away from the farm and look back on Grandma and Grandpa waving good-bye as we created a dusty cloud from driving on the gravel road. I would wait to see their tree before I turned around in my seat to make myself comfortable for the long drive home to the Twin Cities.

I may not have been able to be present at the family event today, but my thoughts and prayers were there all day.

“Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.” -Kevin Arnold

Thursday, September 11, 2008

The Sawyer Bounce

We were able to figure out how to use our camera with our Mac to get a video uploaded to our blog. It was really quite easy with our Mac, so this will be the first of many more to come!

Sawyer has always loved his exersaucer. Recently this is favorite thing to do, with daddy's encouragement, of course, in the exersaucer.



Tomorrow is a half-day due to the incoming hurricane. Who knew there were hurricane days? I'm use to snow days!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Why Buy Toys?



It seems no matter what toys are around Sawyer, he often prefers the "non-toys" around him. This night for bath time he was more interested in the few dirty dishes in the other side of the sink. Some of his other favorites are phones, remote controls, car keys, and spatulas.



Bath time remains a favorite activity. It'll be interesting to see what he thinks of the bath tub, when we make that move this weekend. The kitchen sinks seems to be shrinking on us and he's just getting a bit too mobile for the sink.

Sawyer continues to be such a curious baby. He loves to observe and just watch the world around him. If I only knew what he was thinking! I love this picture, since it captured that curious and happy look I often see during the day.



“Creative thinking may mean simply the realization that there's no particular virtue in doing things the way they always have been done.”
-Rudolf Flesch

Monday, September 8, 2008

ToothFULL Wonder

Sawyer's seventh tooth has cut through! Two weeks ago, when I picked him up from school, I noticed he had a runny nose. So, I wondered if he could be cutting another tooth. He has gotten a runny nose each time a tooth has cut through.

A few days later, tooth number seven could be seen and felt on the bottom. We have been fortunate that the only time he's had a fever was when he cut his first tooth in June. It'll be interesting to see when another tooth will pop up. Sawyer's been enjoying using his teeth to eat more and more finger foods, especially Cheerios. The boy would eat only Cheerios, if we let him.



Look at all those teeth. His top four teeth all cut through at the same time. I just love his laugh! He has quite the sense of humor, just like his daddy!



He's trying more and more to pull himself up on various toys or furniture around the house. One of his favorite spots at school is to pull himself up to the window ledge (the window ledges are lower than the average window) and look out the window to watch the "big" kids play on the playground.

All this trying to be mobile can be pretty frustrating at times though for Sawyer. Here he is showing some of that frustration!



And then a few seconds later, we're happy playing peek-a-boo over the couch, one of his favorite games right now.



As I post these pictures, I'm realizing how dirty he gets sometimes, already. He's also not a fan of having his nose wiped or face washed. He cries as if he's being tortured. He has almost perfected the art of avoiding the Kleenex by moving his head or using his hands to push it away. Quite amazing how quickly they learn these tricks!

“Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success.” -Bo Bennett

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Seven Months and Growing



Sawyer is seven months old today! It's hard to believe it was only seven months ago when we got to hold our little comet for the first time.

Every mom will tell you how much babies change in their first year, but I don't think I really believed it (like so many things I would often hear moms say!) until I began experiencing it with Sawyer. All I can say is I'm amazed every day by the growth he shows us.

Just last week, Sawyer began doing this from a sitting position. Throughout the week, he's been able to hold and rock in this crawl position for longer lengths of time. At the moment, he's been the most successful at pushing himself backwards, once he falls to his belly. Once he fell from his crawl position to his belly, he wasn't pushing himself back up to a crawl position.



Until, today....
Here he is about to push up to be crawl ready!



So, how much longer do we have to baby proof the house?!



Happy Seven Months, Sawyer! We can't wait to see what you'll learn to do next. We love you!

"Childhood is a journey....not a race!" -Author Unknown