Had I not been so preoccupied with Sawyer’s second birthday, our trip home on Saturday, and an especially difficult week of work, I would have done a post in honor of my Dad’s birthday. Sawyer and I called him this morning, mostly to talk about the garbage trucks outside and gassing up Sawyer’s new cars. It went well. I know my Dad loves every last second of those calls.
Two weeks ago, the three of us went to Golden Gate Park on a beautiful Sunday morning. If I recall correctly, it was “Operation wear out Sawyer,” since he had been cooped up all week and was bouncing off the walls. We walked a good 20 minutes to get to Stow Lake, and after looking at the boats and deciding there was no way we could keep him in one, walked over to the waterfall.
Along the way, Sawyer saw some ducks. He bent down and quacked quacked to them:
There’s a great pathway that runs across the base of the waterfall. Unfortunately the first time through Sawyer was intent of stepping in the water, not on the rocks. I had to hold him tightly:
See what I mean:
After that we climbed to the top of Strawberry Hill (as is to be expected now, he counted every step):
The view up there is amazing. Here’s the Financial District in the distance (click through to see them bigger on flickr):
The Golden Gate Bridge:
More FiDi, and Mount Diablo in the far distance (that’s a good 40 miles away):
Sawyer loved this trunk. He could have crawled inside, but wisely decided not to:
The Pacific Ocean:
Looking back down to Stow Lake:
More ocean, and a little bit of Outer Sunset too:
Looking back toward our neighborhood:
Lastly, the Marin headlands on the other side of the golden gate:
I have learned and continue to learn so much about being a father from my Dad. He always seems to know when to lean in and when to pull back, which is something I work on every day with Sawyer. I want him to be independent and strong, but willing and able to ask me for help when he needs it. So far so good.
That kind of relationship was the best gift my Dad gave to me, and I can only hope to share it with Sawyer too. So happy (belated by the time you read this, but still technically December 16) birthday, Dad!
Here is the video of Sawyer playing on the parachute. I think the little girl is trying to help him, but I’m not quite sure what she wants him to do. I’m pretty sure he is one of the youngest out there, but he doesn’t seem to mind at all
Sawyer is getting really good at using a straw. It is much easier, however, when the cup is full.
Soccer anyone?
Soccertots begins with Sawyer in about a month! I think he will be ready.
He’s got the whole world in his hands.
What’s next?
How many jumping balls can Sawyer carry?
Oops. I guess that was too many.
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.
Early Christmas morning in San Francisco, Sawyer chooses to play with the remote control then my phone rather than open presents. Of course, once we helped him open his presents he lost all interest in anything else:
Here’s his gift from Aunt Kelly and Uncle Mark (his one man marching band just got much more interesting):
Sawyer loved his new “Choo Choo” from me:
Here is Sawyer practicing with his “Shaka Shaka” (thanks Mark and Kelly!):
Later that day we went for a walk in city to see a new museum that just opened. Sawyer’s favorite part was showing off his new climbing skills on the steps out in front:
He also likes to climb things inside, like our coffee table, much to our dismay:
When we were in Columbus the week before Christmas, Sawyer entertained everyone at my Dad’s birthday dinner. He’s dancing for Sarah and Kevin when he looks to his left, and raising his arms for a touchdown when he looks to my Dad on his right. My mom has the camera while Abby and I try to feed him, but as you’ll soon see he had little interest in us. Too funny:
Last but not least, Sawyer and I celebrated “Dada Day 2008” on the day after Christmas. I had hoped to take him to the California Academy of Sciences, but I wasn’t the only one with that idea — there was a 90 minute wait to get in the door! Instead he and I walked over to one of the playgrounds in Golden Gate Park and played on the swings:
If you’re reading this in an email, you won’t see the videos so please click over to flickr or Sawyer’s website to see them.
Sunday was the second best day I have ever experienced in San Francisco (the best was the first day Abby and I explored the city and pretty much decided to move here when the opportunity presented itself, which it did six months later). Not only was the weather just as warm, and the skies just as clear, but Abby and I had Kevin and Sawyer to enjoy it with.
We did many different things on Sunday, all of which deserve their own post, but one of the highlights for me was seeing Kevin and Sawyer walk among the geese in Golden Gate Park. Sawyer was tired, and just waking up from an abbreviated nap in the buggy, but as always he instantly perked up when he saw Kevin. Of course, Kevin took him right at the geese:
Sawyer was ready to play:
Look at Sawyer’s smile:
Look at Kevin’s smile:
The geese largely ignored them, but Sawyer couldn’t get enough:
He was really ready to chase them around!
Thanks for coming to visit, Kevin. I think, no I know, you made a friend for life.
Saturday, we went to the beautiful De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park to see the Chihuly exhibit. No strollers were allowed in the exhibit, so it was a bit of a wiggly time. Sawyer seemed impressed at times, at other times he was more interested in our admittance stickers.
At one point, the sculptures are on a glass ceiling above us. This caught Sawyer’s attention…
…and mine.
What we were looking at.
The grand finale.
Sawyer was ready to crawl around at the end.
Last weekend was exceptionally warm and sunny, which almost never happens in San Francisco during the month of April. To celebrate, Abby and Sawyer took me to their new favorite spot in Golden Gate Park, the Botanical Garden, so we could soak up the good weather.
Sawyer was his usual rambunctious self, constantly flipping over so he could keep better track of everything going on around him, and urping up all of himself in the process. Luckily, Abby had an extra shirt in the diaper bag, which is how he ended up wearing this lovely ensemble:
Note the bucket cap features monkeys, salamanders, and various other jungle animals in a safari scene, the shirt has no less than eleven dinosaur species and erupting volcanoes in a prehistoric setting, and the shorts… well, the shorts are just plain awesome. And I have to admit that Abby’s old flannel blanket (she’s had it as long as I’ve known her, which is going on 17 years now) ties it all together perfectly.
I have no idea if Sawyer will appreciate this look when he’s older, or if he’ll rue the day we dressed him so ridiculously, but for now I toast his ability to pull it all off. He’s truly one-of-a-kind.
Sawyer and I are learning all the fun spots to visit in Golden Gate Park. We scope out the park during the week to find the best places to take Scott on the weekends. Today we visited the Botanical Gardens. Sawyer is inthralled at looking up at the leaves on the trees. It is so much fun to see the world through his eyes (when he isn’t napping). Watching his eyes soak it all in makes me appreciate all the contrasting shapes and movement in the wind even more than I did before.
As our family and friends are digging out from under 2 feet of snow, Sawyer and I are sending you a blue sky, 60 degree day in the park, and wishing you could all be here to enjoy it with us. It is just over a week, though, until Scott, Sawyer and I are back in Ohio. We can’t wait!
