Sawyer

It really is difficult to keep him out of the water. He doesn’t listen to reason or care for explanations, and not even 55° water is enough to dissuade him. He just wants to splash around and around, again and again.

Abby always sets up the blanket at the top of the hill, then Sawyer and I venture down to play in the waves. You can see him racing ahead of me at the beginning of this video. I’m not exaggerating, am I?

His shorts are completely soaked, and his sleeves aren’t far behind from far too many falls in the water, but none of that slows him down. You can see he’s still chomping at the bit to go back in. Look at the way he unlocks his shoulders when I lift him up. Sawyer, you little stinker!

Tired, cold, or both, he eventually conceded and let me carry him back up to the car. Pepa T would have been appalled at the all of the sand we tracked into the car.

I love living so close to Baker Beach. Sure, there’s only a handful of days in which it’s really worth going, but they more than make up for the rest. And there’s nothing like the setting, with the Golden Gate Bridge on one side and the vast Pacific Ocean on the other. What a treat!

That’s how he described it tonight over dinner, and that’s exactly what we did. It was a beautiful day today, even kind of warm too, so the three of us went to Baker Beach late this afternoon. Sawyer loves the water, will do anything to escape my grip when near it, tolerates the sand, hates to sit on the blanket, and likes to look for boats and airplanes. It’s a pretty big deal for him.

Beach! Ocean! Sawyer!

The waves were huge, easily six feet or more:

And it was high-tide so I really had to pay close attention:

He could play here all day long:

But it’s good to take breaks with Mama on the blanket:

I love the way he walks in the sand, and since it slows him way down, he’s relatively easy to catch. You can see how long he sits still, what was that all of two seconds?

Here he is with Abby walking back down to the water:

Abby captured an excellent video of me and him in the water, you’ll see just how crazy he really is. Look for that tomorrow. It’s a good one.

Monday mornings mean a trip across town to Mygym. It’s near my office, so Abby and Sawyer always drop me off on the way. For reasons not entirely clear to me now, I sat in the back seat with Sawyer. There’s not a whole lot of room for me back there, but it was fun to bond with my boy for a few extra minutes this morning.

Here we are enjoying the close quarters:

Half way up Geary Street this morning, while stopped at a light, Sawyer looked at a building beside us and said, “Octagons!” Except of course he pronounces it, “ockagons.” Sure enough, the building had five octagons on the front of it. I have never noticed it before, but he sure did.

Here’s a link to it on Google Maps. Can you believe this kid?

Abby had brunch in our old neighborhood with her friends from the playgroup, so Sawyer and I took the opportunity to get a free ride downtown to play.

We hopped out at Union Square, and then walked down Powell Street so he could watch the cable cars. He really liked the cable car turn around, and pleaded with me to go on one. I would have happily said yes had the line not been so long. Next time, Sawyer.

After that, he tolerated some shopping so I could buy a pair of much needed jeans. We then jumped on a street car for ride up Market Street to grab lunch at the Ferry Building. We scored a great table on the street so he could watch the street cars and motorcycles go by.

I got him some chicken fingers, normally his favorite, and some fries. He wouldn’t touch the chicken but devoured every last one of his fries:

This might be the first uneventful video ever posted here. He seemed set on spilling his honey mustard sauce all over him, constantly moving it closer and closer to the edge of the table, but somehow I escaped that fate. Maybe he’s growing up. Or maybe I just know his game too well.

After that, we walked behind the Ferry Building to see the boats. An older gentleman was playing his clarinet so I gave him a small donation and he played three songs for Sawyer, “Old MacDonald,” “Twinkle, Twinkle,” and “Frère Jacques.” I love giving him a chance to see and hear music being made up close, but he was more interested in the train ride I promised him.

So off we went to go underground for the final leg of our trip, just two quick stops on the Muni train to meet Abby at Town’s End. We played around out front while she finished up, and once in the car he completely passed out:

Unfortunately I woke him up when I got him out of the car, so I eventually had to lie down on the bed in his room to get him to go back to sleep. He woke me up a couple of times by snoring comically, no doubt in response to me snoring in my sleep. Eventually he fell asleep and slept for over three hours.

Believe it or not, this was the most relaxing weekend I’ve had in a long, long time. Exhausting, but well worth it. Thank you, Abby and Sawyer!

Sawyer hates loud noises in the kitchen, so he was beside himself when I was making milkshakes. First, he grabbed me around the legs and pulled me down to his level. Once there, he took my hand, pulled me out of the kitchen, and told me where to sit on the couch. Of course once he was calm I went right back to it. He wasn’t happy about that.

Thankfully I was quick, and had a glass ready for him when he came running for me. I started him with his favorite monkey straw, but the shake was too thick. Once in the living room, Abby and I ditched the straw and let him drink it straight from the glass, all by himself. He did well in the beginning:

Then, as always, he got ornery:

Thank you, Mema D!

On some days, it seems like Sawyer sings far more than he talks. Here he is belting out his favorite, “Old MacDonald,” with a little dancing by Abby (she’s not going to be happy I left that part in):

Now he knows his ABCs too:

It’s 9pm now, and he’s been in bed for the last hour or so, but he’s still singing away in his crib. I love you, Sawyer, but Dada is tired. IT’S TIME TO GO TO BED.

And he’s quite happy with that. Watch:

All I have to do is put one down the back of his pajamas and then wait for him to beg for more. I have no idea why he thinks this is so much fun, but he absolutely loves it.

By the way, when I went in the change him last night I found his pajamas unzipped to his knee. As far as I know there weren’t any cars in his crib, maybe he was just practicing for the next go-round of “cars in the jamas.” Wouldn’t put it past him.

At the end of January, the three of us made the drive across the Bay Bridge to Oakland for a “playgroup turns two” party hosted by one of the families. Sawyer wasted no time investigating all of the toys:

He really liked the train table, it was the perfect height for him:

Rockin’ the fireman’s hat backwards (that might have been my idea):

Wearing beads and playing with a puzzle:

You know he’s going to line up a few cars too:

Good looking haircut, kid:

Abby’s self-portrait:

Lightening McQueen helps him sit still for the group photo:

With his Mama and the other mommies:

I love this picture of Abby:

With his Dada:

It always seems like it should be closer than it actually is, but Oakland is really far away now, especially since we moved to the other side of San Francisco. I love going over the bridge, and I truly love seeing the city from the other side of the bay. Of course, the real highlight was seeing how much bigger, stronger, and cuter all of the kids had become.

I was very excited to see snow on the ground on the first part of our visit to MeMa and PePa D’s house. They have such a great hill for sledding. Although the first batch of snow was too light and fluffy, Sawyer absolutely loved being outside in it.

Here he is with MeMa getting ready for the snow:

Thankfully, the boots slow him down:

How does this work?

If you say so:

Riding along:

Headed for the trailer:

He must know there’s a race car inside:

Cold:

Abby’s favorite picture (and mine too):

Sawyer do it:

We had a ton of snow on the second part of our time in Bath, and this time is was perfect for sledding. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh so hard, and after every run he screamed, “Again, again, again!” Here he is with me:

And with Abby:

“Again, again, again!” Of course, the video from his best solo run was already posted way back in early January.

On our last day in Columbus, Abby, Sawyer, my mom, and I went to the Conservatory to see trains and Chihulys. As you might expect, Sawyer took to the trains right away. “Choo whoo”:

In a fitting tribute to Abby’s friend Fancy Nancy, who we planned to see there too, Sawyer was dressed in his sharpest outfit:

Abby titled this one, “Two works of art.” So perfect:

There was plenty of running with Nancy’s son, Noah:

And of course his ever present tongue:

Sawyer loved the gigantic fish in the rainforest:

Thankfully he didn’t eat any of the fish food (no doubt from hours of reading his Yummy Yucky book:

Leaving the conservatory was easy because Sawyer knew he would get to see the trains again. Look at that smile:

Mesmerized:

Lastly, his second favorite sign in the world (I’m pretty sure he likes stop signs best, even though he usually ignores them):

Nothing will top seeing a real freight train and railroad crossing “bing bing bing” one night on the way home from the zoo. Prior to that he’d always loved trains, but he wouldn’t stop talking about them once he saw how big and awesome they were in person. Not a weekend goes by that he doesn’t ask to go see more trains!