The first weekend after Abby and Sawyer came home from Ohio, I took him to the Cal Academy for some penguin fun. I made sure we were there well before the rush so he’d have plenty of time on the glass. Here’s what happened:
All throughout our visit, he was far more interested in the signage than the actual animals the signs described. He’s definitely becoming more tactile too, and was absolutely fascinated with the machinery around the elevator up to the living roof:
We left the museum to walk over to Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park, and along the way discovered that Sawyer has a new thing for picking up sticks. He’s not even distracted by a parade of buses passing by within 50 feet of him:
I think he was also trying to figure out his shadow. Can you see how well he works with both hands? He’s been that way since birth.
Abby and I are slowly but surely weening him off of the binky, and he isn’t putting up too much of a fight. There are times where he knows he’s missing something, and if he sees one on the table he’ll let us know, but he only gets it when he goes down for a nap or the night. Not bad for just under 17 months.
Scott makes Sawyer work for his dinner. If you watch Sawyer’s eyes, they follow every move of his pizza which is making its way to the table.
Sawyer and I have tried to color once before. It was unsuccessful. This time went slightly better.
Last fall, San Francisco started an event called Sunday Streets. The city closed The Embarcadero to traffic so that runners, walkers, cyclists, rollerbladers, skateboarders, strollers, even grasshopperers can have free reign of one side of the street. It was such a big hit they decided to do it more often this year, and on different streets too, but still started the season on The Embarcadero from the ballpark to Fisherman’s Wharf.
The three of us were among of the first to hit the street, and Sawyer wasted no time grasshoppering his way up to the Ferry Building. Once there he became more interested in walking it:
I left the strap on to keep him close, but he quickly found a better use for it:
Though he preferred the traditional approach most:
We crossed the street to see balloons:
Then went to play in the grass:
He and I were so dizzy by the end of this, but he couldn’t get enough:
Such a handsome little guy:
Mom and Dad, do you recognize the hotel you stayed in?
Next, I threw Sawyer as high as I could:
Almost as high as the Bay Bridge!
He loved it, and I need to buy a new hat:
Next, Sawyer and I picked up sticks:
For some reason he thought I wanted to eat them:
Then he fed some of his crackers to the birds:
Point to the birdies (great picture, Abby):
Here’s the scene on our walk back home:
And a very happy Sawyer with his new balloon poodle, which he later deflated with his sharp little teeth:
This all happened in about an hour and a half. He had lunch at 11am, went down for a nap at 11:30, and slept until almost 3pm. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday in the city! Even better, in September they’re going to close the Great Highway along Ocean Beach.
Taco night. Enough said.
Still cute even covered in black beans.
This one is for Aunt Sarah! Look what Sawyer can do.
What a daredevil!
While we were in Ohio, Sawyer, Grandma Penny, and I drove to Spencerville to visit my grandma, aunt, and uncle. We had such a great day.
Great Grandma Doernberg is quite smitten with Sawyer I think.
Sawyer likes her wheels.
Uncle Michael came to visit us all too. He was a great camerman as always.
Before our visit with grandma, Sally made us a great lunch. Jack read Sawyer books and taught him about his truck.
He’s a natural.
It’s not the best or most entertaining video, but it does show how much Sawyer liked playing in COSI Kidspace. I know I have mentioned it before, but I really do need to buy a mount for the little video camera so that I can strap it to his head. Can you imagine how much fun it would be to see everything from his perspective?
Fortunately COSI had raincoats to protect little ones from the waterworks, and Abby wisely put one on him. I think I had to tear him away from water in order to leave that exhibit, but he really does love splashing around almost as much as he loves finding things with wheels:
I think he was a little overwhelmed with the size of the place and the sheer number of new things to see. I know it will quickly become one of his favorite places to visit, and I hope we can make it a tradition each time we return. Thanks again, Mom, for taking us to COSI, and thanks to Kevin for helping us keep an eye on him. Next time, we need to go with Sarah too!
It wasn’t that long ago that Sawyer met the real Brutus for the first time, and with our trip home coming so fast on the heels of that wonderful day I was very excited to show him my Dad’s miniature dancing Brutus. You can see he’s not quite sure what to think:
In fact, I think he much prefers the Old MacDonald song on the “Fisher Price Little People Animal Sounds Farm” (remember he’s been practicing his “E I E I Os” for a while now):
This was Sawyer’s first time seeing the tractor (the previous set of pictures were from later in the week). Notice that he dropped everything else he was playing with to run to it:
I want to thank my Dad again for cleaning it up and bringing it out, you definitely made his day. Just wait until his next visit when he’ll be able to reach the pedals!