Time with DaDa Dan

Every Wednesday evening, Dan takes the reins and gives me the night off. Sawyer and his Dad hang out, play, and step through his night time routine. I am grateful for the time away, using it to run, hike, hang out with friends. Last Wednesday, I was too tired to do much, so I just hung out and enjoyed watching the two spend the evening together. Here are some pics...

This is our little Sweet Potato Zorro (Oh yeah, he began eating sweet potatoes last week and carrots this week!)- Don't let his skeptical look fool you- he LOVES sweet potatoes and carrots, he is just not so sure about wearing veggie mustache.
And at the end of the evening Dan and Saw wind down with a book...

Proof Positive

I've been asked to show the goods- here it is!

A small piece of paper- somewhat anti-climatic, but I am very very happy that it is Phinished.

Stroller Baby!

We absolutely *love* our Bob stroller (Thanks Bob and Michelle/Poppa&Mimi!) and have been using it since Sawyer was just a week old. Until recently, however, he was too small to sit properly. Fortunately, this stroller can be rigged to hold a car seat, which has been an ideal way to stroll, run, and generally transport Sawyer over the last few months.

In the last week, Sawyer added another pound and what looks like an entire inch of growth in the last week and in doing so, he is finally ready to sit in his stroller without a car seat. Here he is!

Here is a pic I like of the two of us hanging out:

And now for some real entertainment... here is Sawyer enjoying his jungle gym bouncy thingamajig!

flying kid

Although I don't have to have Sawyer fly on my knees to get him to spend time on his belly anymore, he still likes to fly high. I couldn't decide which picture to post- so here is a little series from this afternoon.

Brains, yummy

Our darling boy is so sweet... or so we thought.... until Dan put him on his shoulders for his first shoulder ride...
...which started out great- then he got a taste for brains... yummy!

Eye Color

.... so he may not be a blue-eyed Smith after all....
What do you think?

Celebrations

My folks came out last week to visit Sawyer- we used the occasion to celebrate their 40th anniversary, my 35th birthday, and my Ph.D. Dan, Sawyer, and I took them out for some amazing Ethiopian food at one of our favorite restaurants, Ras Kassas.
Sawyer and Grandpa G checking out the grub!

Grandpa G (formerly known as O.T.)

With the generous help of my brother, Jurgen, we took them to Red Rocks in Morrison to see Prairie Home Companion under the stars. Garrison Keillor is touring the West on the Rhubarb Tour. It was an amazing night. Seeing Garrison Keillor create his magic was really special, especially having grown up with his captivating story telling.

Omi and Grandpa G enjoying an amazing picnic- complete with chocolate birthday cake!Garrison Keillor and the brilliant sound-effects guy, Fred Newman!Dan took this picture- after the sun set, an amazing red moon rose over Denver. The slow exposure and shaky hand made for a pretty cool pic!

It was also the first night that Sawyer had babysitters put him to bed. Chuck and Sarah fed him, changed him, and put him in bed. He loved their company and attention and we loved getting out for our special evening!

Sawyer's favorite things

Sawyer used to love the ceiling fan. He would say 'hi' to the ceiling fan throughout the day. When he was nursing, he would regularly turn to the fan to make sure it was still there, smile at it, and then get back to his meal.He still checks in on the ceiling fan regularly and sends his regards but now Sawyer has decided that the KitchenAid is his new best friend. His Grandpa G described it like when baby ducks imprint on the first thing they see... we put Sawyer was on the counter with the KitchenAid when he first came home and needed sunlight to help treat his jaundice.....

4 Month Stats

Sawyer braved the pediatrician's office today. Unfortunately, his normal nurse was being 'shadowed' by a nurse-in-training who definitely has yet to fine tune her shot giving skills. Nurse Kim has lightening fast hands and the newbie stretched out the torture a little longer than we preferred. Sawyer recovered pretty quickly from the trauma.

The stats:

Sawyer weights 15 lbs 7 oz putting him in the 70th percentile. He remains well proportioned - at 25 1/4 " tall he is in the 70th percentile for height as well. His head circumference is 16 3/4" which is the 60th percentile. All these numbers explain why he is already in clothes for 6-9 month old babies.

Big Week

Sawyer had a pretty big week. He has become addicted to rolling from back to belly. Although he can roll from belly to back, he tends to get stuck if his hands aren't in the right place. This means we have to help our frustrated wee-one finish his rolls pretty frequently.

A couple of nights ago he rolled over in his crib and woke up on his belly! Made my heart skip a beat and we promptly re-introduced the fantastic sleep-positioner Nana Smith gave us when he was born (thanks, Val!!!). With some luck, this will keep him on his back at night and keep me from engaging in paranoid baby checks through the night!Another big change in Sawyer's little world is that we finally rearranged the house so that he has his own room. The office got dismantled and redistributed around the house and the little guy now has new digs. I must say we are all sleeping better. He is beginning to stretch out his periods of sleep so that a good night looks something like sleep 7:30pm - 1:30am; nurse 1:30-1:50; sleep 2am-5:30am. We are working on 'helping' him learn to fall back to sleep when he wakes up- a delicate balance of letting him cry and work it out and comforting him when he needs it. The big change is that I am only nursing him before bed, once in the middle of night, and then in the early morning (he likes to start his days around 5:30am). We are getting a little more sleep, I think.

On an entirely different note- Sawyer loves the dog. Here he is with Dan in the backyard. You can see Dezi in the bottom right corner of the video for just a second- that is what/who he is laughing at.


Sawyer heads to the doctor this week for his 4 month shots. Check back soon for updates on his height and weight!!

This baby really likes to...

...EAT! Sawyer is loving the addition of rice cereal to his nightly routine. Yesterday I put him in his bouncer- turned around to prepare his food- and when I turned back, this is what I saw: A rice cereal connoisseur politely awaiting his meal.

4 Month Firsts

Sawyer has been very busy. This month he has packed on the pounds, found his toes (and put them in his mouth), added new sounds, learned to like 'tummy time', started rolling from belly to back, made strides toward rolling from back to belly, giggled and chuckled, and generally brought good cheer.

He is a pretty easy going kid these days. Traveling and trying new things seems to bring out the best in him. He was super flexible and agreeable when we went to Canada and our trip to Redstone was amazing in that despite the challenges of camping (including temperatures in the high 90s), he kept a pretty darn good outlook on things.

Last night, Sawyer ate his first solid food. While he will remain primarily breastfed for as long as I can manage it, he was introduced to rice cereal and took to it quickly. Here is a short video (we have a longer video of his very first bites, but it is too big to upload here :( )


Here are some snapshots of the event (Thanks for the elephant bib, Great Auntie Janet!):

First Camping Trip!

Sawyer went on his first real camping trip this weekend. A gaggle of amazing people gathered outside Redstone for a long weekend to celebrate Diane's birthday. Sawyer and I were on our own for the first two nights and Dan joined us for the last night. Here is a snap I took of the two of us the morning after our first night.