Eight Months Old

On or around the 7th of every month, I put Sawyer in his brown rocking chair to snap some pictures. I'm using the pictures for his baby book (which I'm so behind on!) and to create a collage for his first birthday.



This month he barely sat still, so here's one of my favorites from the morning photo shoot, just before he fell into daddy's arms.



Twinkle twinkle, little boy, how you fill my heart with Joy.

On The Move

As previously promised, here is some video of Sawyer crawling and pulling himself up! He's getting faster every day.

We've had quite the last two weeks with a double ear infection, upset stomach from antibiotics, (which created quite the sore bottom!) and cutting tooth number eight!

Our recent sick doctor appointments gave us Sawyer's current weight stats. He's 22 lb and 10 oz! I may just run out of short sleeve tops for him.

He's growing out of his current supply, it's still not cool enough during the day for long sleeves, and the only clothing choice in the store at the moment is long sleeves. It could be an interesting problem.

It's hard to believe that Sawyer will be eight months on Tuesday! Where is the time going?!

We're looking forward to (hopefully!) a calmer week.

“Children are God's Apostles, sent forth, day by day, to preach of love, and hope, and peace” - James Russell Lowell

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

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

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

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!

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