Wordy Rappinghood

Oh, my gosh. Do we have a chatter box on our hands!

He probably says 15-20 words: Mama and Dada (though he uses them both for both of us; Cindy is Mama more often than not, but he calls both of us both names), Agua (means water), Cracker (though he rarely gets to eat them, not sure why he picked that up), and "Na," which means "More" (honestly can't tell if he's saying "more" or "mas"), Ducky, and Doggie. He can say "cupcake" and "cactus" (at least well enough that you can tell what he means). He can say "One" (in response to "How old are you?"). He says "gato" for cat. He can also say "Oma," "Wawa" (which is what we call Laurent), and "Tata" or "Chi" for Tante Chichi (which is what we call Celia).

He recognizes a LOT of words. We always call water "agua" with him (and he was AMAZED to find out that when it rains, there's agua on the ground), but this morning I was talking to Cindy and, in the middle of a sentence, I used the word "water" and he immediately started saying "agua, agua, agua."

Also: he knows some animal noises. He can make a cow noise, a donkey noise, and for Cosmo (or, now, for any dog), he "pants." It's funny, because we never taught him what Cosmo says--Cindy asked him one time, and he just started panting. Later he generalized that for any dog. Today, in about 3 tries, I taught him that Santa says "Ho, ho, ho." I'll try to get that on video for the holiday season.

Finally, two funny "Bear" stories. I was on a business trip the week before Big Game. On the morning of Big Game, Cindy brought Sawyer into our bed and we were all hanging out. I said, "Sawyer, say Go Bears!" And he let out a huge raspberry! Cindy cracked up; she had been trying to get him to do it all week, but it was the first time he had done it.

And when you say "What does a Bear say?" He waves a fist and tries to say "Grrrrrah!" (though it comes out "hiyah!").

Toddler in the house!

This video was taken 2 days before his first birthday.

He had started taking steps a few days earlier (in Tucson, visiting Oma & Opa, and Grandma & Grandpa K).

But once we got home he got really into walking. That week he started going confidently between me and Cindy, and by his birthday he could just get up and walk into the next room!

Now, of course, we're starting to wish we had babyproofed!

Bday pics!

We need to post some more photos later (and some videos -- he's walking around now!), but here are a couple of shots from his birthday party in Arizona and his party here (with the cake made by our awesome neighbor Lisa).

The great communicator

Sawyer's communication skills continue to improve.

This past week or so, he's gotten his third word: "Agua." Add that to "Dad" and "that" (which sounds like "dat," which sounds like "Dad," calling into question whether he really distinguishes between "that" and "dad" in the first place).

In addition, he's using sign more effectively. He had his first bite of pancake this weekend, and very clearly signed "more" as soon as he tasted it. Some other signs, like "all done" and "up" and "yum" all seem confusingly similar (some variety of shaking his hands around), but "more" is quite clear now.

So fun!

Mad skillz!

Sawyer's been demonstrating his mad skillz lately.

He's got a mean military crawl (his tummy never leaves the floor). He's just starting to master "How big is Sawyer?"

And, most importantly, he's learning to feed himself!

Almost 10 months!

Here are some pics to catch you up on what's been happening for the cutest little baby any of us have ever seen...

Going to Eli's house for some beers	Loving the wagon from the Druckers!
"I'll have an order of prunes...	...with a water chaser!"
Sawyer's a cool dude with his dad's sunglasses	and his very own incisors.
Screaming with our neighbor Daisy	Eating breakfast with Lola and Cooper
Watch out for those French girls! First you hold their hand...	Next thing you know, they're trying to kiss you!

First words!

Yesterday we had the Hope-Irwin girls over for dinner.

During dinner, Sawyer was sitting next to me. At one point, he leaned over to me, tapped me on the shoulder, looked into my eyes, and said "Dada. Dad."

It was so clear! Everyone saw it. Totally made me cry.

It's Howdy Doody Time!

Sawyer loves Traverse City cherries!

Hey Mrs. Serr...

I'm ready for my first paddle!

My first sleepover

Mom and I had our first sleepover at Aunt Judy and Uncle Fred's cabin.  I slept so well, I was a barrel of fun the next morning!

Playing in the sand

Check out this grain of sand...	no, this one right here!
How *you* doin'?	I love playing with Oma

Hanging out with Katie

Hanging with Katie	I love Katie!
These are my feet

Eight new photos!

I've got four teeth!	Ridin' on Dad's shoulder
Snacking on a nectarine with Mom	Hangin' with Grandma and Grandpa
Does he like to read...	...or does he simply devour books?
Practicing standing	Don't mess with Texas!

Prunes

He eats 'em. Plenty of 'em.

And when he does, it looks like this.

Taking it to the next level

Sawyer has been playing peekaboo for quite a while now. We put a cloth or towel over his face, and he then rips it off, we say "Peekaboo!" and he gets a big smile.

This morning in bed he took it to the next level.

He figured out that he could take our sheet and put it over his own head, wait a second, and then rip it off! He had a huge smile on his face every time he did it.

I'll try to get some video soon.

Some Hawaii photos

A little late in posting these, but here are some pictures of our trip to Kauai in May! We'll be going back every other year from now on, because my mom and dad are suckers and bought into a timeshare there!

Mom on the jungle hike	Dad took me in the keiki pool at the Lae Nani. I loved the feel of sand between my toes!
This is the waterfall and the pool at the Waiohai. I'll spend lots of time here growing up!	Dad wore me on the jungle hike. I didn't want to tell him, but he put me in the Ergo baby backwards!
There's nothing better than a nap on the beach with dad...	...followed by a snack with mom!
In the floatie in the pool	Oma and Opa babysat while Mom and Dad went out to eat!
It was fun to have cousins around to play with	I had a tearful goodbye with Oma and Opa in the airport.

More milestones!

We've got tons of pictures to upload later, but we wanted to put some stuff in the blog before we forgot:

1. Sawyer had his first solid food on Monday May 25th. It was just a little rice cereal, and he loved it (even had a second bowl). He never hesitated at all, and even tried to "help" feed himself!

2. He spent his first time alone with his new babysitter Maria on Friday. It made Cindy very sad to leave him even for a few hours (she consoled herself with some retail therapy). Her first day back at work is Monday.

3. Today, he had a very big day. First, Cindy made him his first "real" food -- steamed sweet potato (organic, naturally). She used the Beaba that her cousins gave her; it's a steamer and food processor in one. Sawyer loved the sweet potato. We thought we might at least see a funny face when he tasted it for the first time, but he went right for it. Seems we're going to have a big eater on our hands!

4. Finally: while we were feeding him, I noticed that his first tooth is poking through! I tried to get a picture, but it's too hard to get him to sit still and smile. Maybe that explains why, after sleeping all the way through the night before last, he woke up 3 times last night!

Quick update from Kauai

Sawyer had 2 big milestones yesterday in Kauai (his mom's birthday, incidentally).

First of all, he had his first ever back-to-front roll! It was considerably scarier than a front-to-back roll, and he was certainly surprised by the sudden chane in perspective.

Then, he had his second big accomplishment: his first trip into the ocean! We went to the keiki pool in Lydgate Park, which was perfect. We took turns floating him around, then sat him in the sand right where the waves were reaching. He loved it, right until a wave nearly as tall as he was hit him!

Rolls and Raspberries

Today Sawyer was lying on his tummy, and started fussing.  Dan said, "Well if you're unhappy this way, just roll over."  So he did.  Twice.  Burn!

Also: we now know Sawyer has inherited his dad's love of fart humor. Note his style: he takes his cue, looks into the camera, and lets loose. And he knows the secret: fart jokes just keep getting funnier the longer you do 'em.

(Click on that little triangle that looks like a "play" button to watch the video)

Test driving the highchair

Sawyer's not eating solids yet, but he got a preview of things to come. If only we would feed him something other than plastic toys...

Music Class

Ally Galloo Gallee... 

Whee!