Boy's Best Friend

Sawyer likes it because it tickles. We like it because it keeps him clean.

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!