Sawyer had a corner in our old apartment that we affectionately called Sawyerland. He was never really able to explore it until right before moved, for one he wasn’t as mobile then and two it wasn’t as easily accessible. That all changed when we moved into our new apartment.
Abby is so unbelievably talented at arranging things to look right visually and work well functionally, and Sawyerland 2.0 has to be the happiest place I’ve ever seen:
Oh, and the Sawyer monsters (see parts one and two of that saga to refresh your memory) have finally arrived!
There are books and his favorite art cards in boxes on the ground (Sawyer pulls all of this stuff out first):
And more books on the bottom shelf:
And stuffed animals on the second shelf:
I think he likes it here:
He can sit and play for hours at a time:
Sawyer looks somewhat tame in these pictures, but that’s all a thing of the past. Every morning he goes in there and pulls almost everything off the shelves, spreads his art cards out, and drags out of the rest of toys too. And every night Abby and I put it all back together for him.
Thanks to Abby’s Uncle Mark and Aunt Kelly for Sawyer’s shirt, he looks so good in it. Very excited to have you out for a visit at the end of September!
Abby went to a baby shower for our former neighbor Christine today, so Sawyer and I spent the afternoon exploring our new neighborhood. After Sawyer’s delicious meal of Corn and Butternut squash, we set out to the Ferry Building to find something for me to eat. I lucked out with a panini made of tasty salted pig parts!
After that, Sawyer and I went down to sit in the shadow of Cupid’s Span, which is just a block away from our new apartment. Sawyer crawled all around the blanket and grass, and once he tired of that climbed all over me. He was very talkative too, alternating between saying “da-da-da” and his patented motorboat “br-br-brrrrrrrr,” which in the end had my shirt soaked from the non-stop slobbering.
Sawyer also made two friends while we were out, one was a pigeon and another was an almost two year old girl named Bella.
Here’s the pigeon taunting Sawyer:
I’m gonna git you, pigeon:
We laughed for almost an hour:
When he wasn’t distracted by something else:
He’s explaining something to me, only he knows what:
And then he went after the pigeon, not nearly quick enough, but he eventually made it to the end of the shady area before I tracked him down:
Here’s Bella and Sawyer. I wish I had taken a picture of their hug (she hugs everyone and everything her dad said) but all I have is one of Sawyer looking up at her father:
Br-br-brrrrrrrr:
Sawyer had a little trouble calming down after all the excitement at the park. He was exhausted and in need of a nap, but like always he wanted to eat first (apples and blueberries weren’t the answer). Abby was on her way home, so I had to improvise. My old trick was to put him in front of a mirror, which almost always takes his mind off of whatever is bothering him. Now I have a new trick, letting him stand in the window sill and watch the world go by beneath our window:
Over the weekend, I went to Ikea to pick up a few things for our new apartment. On my way past the children’s section, I saw a tunnel hanging from the ceiling. Of course I had to buy it.
When I got home and showed Abby, I noticed the label said 18 months and up. I mentioned that to my mom, but she said let him have it. Later that afternoon, I did:
I let him play with it a few more times over the weekend, putting Taddy Porter at one end to entice him through, which made him laugh out loud. I’m pretty sure he crawled through on his hands and knees tonight, but didn’t have the camera close by to capture it. I’ll have it ready next time.
Sawyer was sick over the weekend, but that hasn’t stopped him from trying to stand whenever possible. Tonight, after his bath and feeding, Abby put him in his crib. He immediately stood up and started to scream.
Abby picked him up, held him for a bit, calmed him down, then put him back in the crib. Again, he immediately stood up and started to scream.
We stayed downstairs for a little longer the second time, hoping he would grow tired and give up. He did not, tenacious little bugger that he is. Since Diana, Abby’s mother, thinks he never cries or causes any trouble, I grabbed the camera to give all of you a little taste of our last week with Sawyer:
He was so tired he didn’t know what to do with himself. Abby also thinks he’s not quite sure how to sit back down once standing, so that likely had something to do with it. As soon as I shut off the camera and laid him down, he feel right to sleep. What a relief!
To be fair, he gave me his cold from last week, and I’ve been down for the count, so it’s no wonder he was so unhappy. I think he’s just starting to feel better, but still lacks his full energy, hence the frustration.
On a related note, there was one night last week, some time around 2am if memory serves me well, that Sawyer was wide awake and completely uninterested in going back to sleep. Since it was dark, I figured he could play with his firebugs that his Grandparents Truitt bought for him — they blink when struck, and Sawyer loves to put them in his mouth. I think he enjoyed it:
He slept better last night than he has in a long time, as he was quickly falling back to sleep without any fuss. Hopefully tonight will be even more of a success. I’m starting to feel a little better myself, and really hoping that Abby makes it through unscathed. It hasn’t been a whole lot of fun around here.
Another visit to South Park and some fun on the swings. I think it will become very apparent why we sometimes call him Wiggles.
Last Friday I took Sawyer for a walk along Crissy Field, which was one of the earliest army bases on the West Coast. Today it is a place to ride bikes, walk, jog, and watch big dogs play in the bay beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. It was not an especially nice day, pretty windy and cool, but it was much quieter than the street construction outside of our apartment.
As I have described in earlier posts, summer in SF is the coldest time of the year. We may as well live in the southern hemisphere, because while it is summer everywhere else in the US, it is winter here. I did, however, get to try out Sawyer’s foot muff on his stroller, which is essentially a sleeping bag for him to curl up inside of while in his stroller. He was pretty darn cozy.
Hat by Abby
Watching the big dogs from afar.
It took me 30 years to see the GG Bridge. Sawyer is one lucky baby.
Half way through our walk, I pulled him out of the stroller and tried to take pictures of the two of us together. I held the camera away from us, as Scott and I have done since we moved in together in 1999. Scott told me about a quote he had once heard, it was something like “Good pictures are planned, great pictures just happen.” I think I got a few great ones.
This was a pretty amazing accident. I think Sawyer will love this one in years to come.
Toward the end, Sawyer got sleepy. I was jealous of how cozy he was as I was pretty chilled by the wind.
I was so happy that Scott finally got to visit us at swim class on Tuesday! Scott was able to get some video and pictures of Sawyer in action. Not only was Gabrielle in class, two new babies who Sawyer knew from our mom & baby groups unexpectedly joined too. Welcome Tommy and Abigail to the little swim group along with Gabrielle and Anastasia.
First the welcome song and splashing with Gabrielle. Then he swims to teacher Laura. Blowing on his face causes him to close his eyes and mouth so that he goes under without swallowing water. It is a reflex all babies have.
Going under again.
Kicking like a little fishie, well if little fishies had legs.
This past weekend, we left the city, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, and spent the day in Tiburon. Once we crossed the GGB, which was completely covered in fog, the sun was shining and it was 75°. We were told that Sam’s was the place to eat lunch, so we placed our name on the waiting list and walked around town. After returning too early for our table, we continued to walk. Upon returning a second time, we arrived to what we thought was “good timing” as we heard our name being called. Of course, that was the last and final call, and our table was given away.
Ironically enough, though, the table was given away to one of Sawyer’s swim class friends, Gabrielle. Her parents, Chris and Rose, invited us to join them so it all worked out, well, swimingly.
Very regularly Sawyer decides to tell me about how he is feeling after he eats. After I burp him, and he is still up near my shoulder, he loves to talk. I have wanted to capture this, but as soon as he sees the camera, he stops and tries to grab it. I was in luck this time, because I hid the camera behind him. This is why, however, you can only see him from the back or side most of the time.
Yes, avocado is the main event, but there are several other milestones in these three movies.
First, Abby acquired and I assembled each of the pieces to his high chair (thanks to everyone at Levi’s for this!). It’s pretty clear he likes being on our level, just look at that smile. Abby also put him in his new hard plastic bib (the other ones are so flimsy). With everything in place, he begins his first formal dinner at the table with his now standard rice cereal mix:
Next, the main event, which really needs no introduction or explanation:
Last, he’s really sitting up on his own for long stretches of time now. Yes, there’s almost always a pillow behind his head (we learned that lesson the hard way, so did he come to think of it). But look at how strong he is:
As my dad is fond of saying, “he’s a dude!”