The Best Thanksgiving Ever

That may be slightly misleading. We decided that since this was the first Thanksgiving for Sawyer, it would be fun to spend it with family rather than at home (which is our normal routine). We couldn't have been more wrong. Here is the basic run down of all the good times.

Good: Convincing your wife a weekend playing at a soccer tourney is a fair trade off for 24 hours of driving time to and from Missouri for Thanksgiving.

Bad: Bleacher Butt after 24 hours of said driving - 12 hours of which was with a sick kid.

Good: Turkey

Bad: Not getting a full night of sleep during the Thanksgiving break because of a sick child.

Good: Finding a Dr. that wasn't urgent care during the holiday weekend-who had an appointment.

Bad: Idiot pharmacist who didn't put any flavoring in medicine for a baby - that crap is hard enough to administer with flavoring - try doing it without for your own personal hell.

Good: Getting to spend time with family and friends who came from all over to enjoy each others company - and share in taking care of a sick little boy.

Bad: Waking up on the morning you are leaving to find that your car windows have been smashed in and stuff has been stolen - oh and to be the cherry on top - finding out that the windows can't be repaired until Monday morning.

Really Bad - having your dad offer to loan you his "Cargo Van" for the month and he will drive your nice car until you come back for Christmas.

Cup Drinking

Sawyer has taking to trying to drink out of an open top cup. He still isn't sure about it, but it really does provide tons of hilarity as he slams the drink back over and over again, and then sputters back up. He is very confused why we are laughing so hard, but he figures something must be funny so he just keeps doing it.

Light the Tree!

This turned into one of those nights that always sounds good, but in reality it becomes a giant pain in the butt. Sarah heard that they were going to be lighting the Macy's tree last night in Austin at the Domain. This is fairly close to our house so we figured "what the heck". Apparently lots of other people had this same idea, so just getting to the lighting ceremony meant waiting in a long line of cars, then parking about a mile away in a dirt lot. We were already "late" so we were rushing to get up to the tree. I think at this point Sawyer was wondering what the heck was going on because there were lots of people and cars around.


Here we are looking happy and excited to see the tree get lit up.


Unfortunately, this was about as close as we could get. To make this more fun, I started talking to this grandmother next to me and before I knew it she had convinced me to put her squirming grandson on my shoulders so he could see better. That really wasn't all that bad, because he was like 3 years old, but he didn't want to sit on some tall stranger's shoulders, not that I blame him. As luck may have it, he had an older sister who was a future Husky girl model. She had no problem sitting on some tall stranger's shoulders.


After about an hour of standing around, this picture pretty much sums up our feelings about the experience. We didn't even stick around to see the lighting, I heard that it happened about an hour after we left.

Traveling Dreams

Went to see Rick Steves at Bookpeople today. For those of you that don't know our obsession with Rick Steves, we arranged all of our European travel based on Rick Steves guidebooks and liberal use of the messageboards on RickSteves.com.

If you don't recognize Rick, you aren't watching enough public television. Rick has a 30 minute show that airs usually once a week highlighting area's of Europe and how to travel like a local. He is a little nerdy, but that is just fine with me.



Rick was at the BookPeople promoting his new TV special about his travels in Iran. He spoke for more than an hour about Europe and his general thoughts on the world. Here are a couple of interesting facts about Rick.

1. He thinks a good guide book is one that you rip apart and just use the parts you need.

2. He has spoken out about the legalization of the wacky tabacy.

3. He is a frequent blogger.

4. He is a Lutheran.

Nine Month Stats

It's hard to believe Sawyer is already nine months old! All went well at his well-check today. He weighed in at a healthy 23 lbs 11 oz and is 30 in long!

He's eating three meals a day and all from our plates, which has made things a bit easier when we go out to eat. Some of his favorites recently have been kiwi, any kind of beans, toast with jam, and peas! The boy loves his peas!



He also loves any of his cars, trucks, and planes; such a boy! We continue to be amazed by how much Sawyer changes and grow with each passing week. And to think in just three short months, we'll be celebrating his first birthday!

"Trucks and dirt and shades of blue, but little boys are angels too."
-Author Unknown

Patty Cake-Patty Cake

We've been playing patty cake with Sawyer for quite some time, but just this weekend he showed us that he could do the clapping all on his own!



He's such a play baby!! Peek-a-boo, mama!



And a curious baby!


What did you say, dada?

"A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine."
-Author Unknown

Futbol

Sawyer loves playing with his soccer ball. This morning, dadda and Sawyer were enjoying a little game of chase.



He's loves playing with his dadda...he's becoming quite the daddy's boy.

"A boy cannot begin playing ball too early. I might almost say that while he is still creeping on all fours he should have a bouncing rubber ball."
-Christy Mathewson

Outside Explorer

Sawyer loves being outside! The other morning we took his walker outside with us and he had a blast being able to move around the driveway.



It won't be long before he's moving all on his own outside!

"...in every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."-John Muir