Christmas Day (xmas part 3)

After we opened gifts at our house and each had a morning nap, we went over to Becky's parents for Christmas day.

Sawyer enjoyed re-arranging his Grandma's winter village (aka 'Nancyville').

We exchanged gifts (including plenty of loot for the boy). We also ate a lot of food. (Becky's favorite: her mom's cinnamon buns)


Sawyer's grandparents gave him a train/airport set, which kept all of us entertained for a big chunk of the day. Becky set it up in the living room (more complicated than you would expect), and each of us played with it at some point.

A fun day spending time with family :)

Christmas morning (xmas part 2)

Sawyer was wide awake Christmas morning at 2am. Mostly because he started coming down with a cold the night before, so he didn't sleep well, but I also think he sensed something was up.

We held out as long as we could for Becky to come downstairs, and then opened presents in our living room at about 4.

He was very excited and loved everything. We need to teach him how to pick up the pace... :)

We played for about an hour, and then I went back to bed!

Christmas Eve (xmas part 1)

Becky, Sawyer and I spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house (joined by my cousin James). We ate a great lasagna dinner and exchanged gifts.

Nana and Papa gave Sawyer this fantastic sled (sadly, no snow outside). Sawyer had fun dragging stuffed animals around the house in it.
He also got a tee-ball set, which was a huge hit. Sawyer couldn't wait to use it (which of course is a bad idea inside. Nana played defense to protect her dining room.)
So, even though it was cold and dark, my dad and I took him outside to practice. (He actually had a pretty good swing).
Great time with everyone :)

Thanksgiving '08

Living close to our parents has lots of advantages (including free babysitting). One big plus is that we're able to all get together for Thanksgiving.


My parents hosted, and we were joined by Becky's parents and their friend Wayne.


The food was great (my mom brined a turkey) and there was lots of it (I had a piece of each of the 3 pies). Here's my dad expertly carving the bird.


Here's Sawyer giving a tour of the photos in the house. I'm pretty sure everyone had a great time. Thanks to my parents for hosting! :)

Chores with Papa

Sawyer spent the night before Thanksgiving at my parents' house. Papa made sure he earned his keep.

Election Night

My boss recommended I take a certification program in Chicago, and it happened to be for the first week in November. So, before I left town, I signed up through Obama's website for free tickets to the election night rally in Grant Park. I heard it was a long shot--something like a million requests for 50k tickets, but I was lucky enough to get a free ticket plus one for a guest.

I didn't know anyone in town to go with, so I gave away my ticket on Craigslist (some people were selling them for $500+). My Craigslist buddy (Shana, a schoolteacher from Lakeview) had to enter at the same time as me, so we met up in front of a bar nearby to walk to the park. We got lost, so we walked for an hour...

Once we arrived, we waited in lines to get through the multiple security checks (this took another hour.) Despite the wait, the crowd was enthusiastic.

Inside, the crowd was packed tight. The photo below shows the ticket-holder area--we were halfway to the stage on the right. We stood there for three hours watching CNN's coverage as the polls closed, an experience that was very much like watching TV while standing for three hours surrounded by 100k people. It was very exciting (big cheers at every state announced) but very tiring.

The photo below shows the people without tickets--they were mashed against the fences. I read the final estimate was 200k people total at the rally.
After it became clear that a winner had been decided (but before Obama spoke), we headed out. I'm just not used to being on my feet that long, I guess. Leaving our spot in the crowd took 20 minutes...

I was a disappointed that I couldn't make it the whole night, but I needed a break. I took the L back to my hotel. People on the street were cheering and honking horns. I got back to my room just in time to watch Obama's speech from my bed :-)

Halloween

Sawyer and I went trick-or-treating at a few houses in our neighborhood. At first, he just stood in shock at people's doors. By the end, he wasn't shy at all -- grabbing candy from the bowls and shouting 'Trick or Treat!'.

Jumping class

Sawyer and I have been going to a a gymnastics class once a week (we call it 'jumping class'). There's a lot of tumbling, climbing, balance beams and rings, but Sawyer's favorite are the trampolines.

Our last class is this weekend -- here's Sawyer practicing at home (on a much smaller trampoline) showing off what he's learned!

Wheeeeee

...eeeeeeeee...


...eeeeeeeeeee...

...eeeee!

(photos of one of the slides from our trip to Cox Farms fall festival)

Autumn

Sawyer was able to jump in his first leaf pile of the year, courtesy of my parents.

Update on Becky's school

Becky's been busy with grad school, so I asked her a few questions for the blog.

---

What classes are you taking right now?
Intro to computers, intro to organizational systems, and intro to networks which starts in a few weeks.

How do you like the classes?
They are challenging. It's a lot of information to take in at once, but it's interesting. It's good to learn new things.

So you just took a midterm in your computer class, how'd you do?
Got an A. (a 97%)

Any other tests coming up. How do you think you'll do?
My first one for organizational systems. I'm nervous.

Anything else you want to say about school?
I'm hoping I can keep my job and pay for it :-)

Visit to Massachusetts

This past weekend, Sawyer and I flew to Massachusetts to see my Aunt Janet and Uncle Jim while my grandmother was visiting them. We had a fun time, and were able to spend some time with my cousins Dennis, Tori, Greg, Mark, and their families. Pictures from the weekend below.

Playing with every toy in the house:

Racing with my cousin Dennis's daughter, Madison:

Dennis's youngest daughter, Cali, watched from the sidelines.

Enjoying lunch with Grammy:

Making a serious face while eating popsicles with my cousin Greg's daughter, Campbell (popsicles are serious business):

Also, because today is my Mom's birthday:

"What do you want?"

We're in the process of having our bathrooms re-tiled, so Sawyer and I spent last night and today at my parents' house (with my dad only; mom's out of town). Papa was an excellent host! Here's a photo of Sawyer helping Papa cook our breakfast.

At their house, Sawyer sleeps in a pack-and-play crib, but he's big enough to climb out of it now (which is why we switched to a big-boy bed at our house.)

When I put him down for an afternoon nap today, he wasn't tired. He was bumping around several times, so each time I heard him, I'd go upstairs to check on him. I'd open the door, and he'd do a guilty run to try to climb back in the crib -- He'd been playing with toys from the bookshelf. I'd put him in bed, and tell him to stay there. "Okay, daddy." This happened three or four times.

The last time I checked on him, I said, "I'll let you take some of these toys in bed with you. What do you want?"

"Company."

So, I stayed in the room with him, on the bed next to his. He stayed in his crib :-)

A birthday in the park

We celebrated Sawyer's birthday at a local park on Saturday. The main events were: eating barbeque sandwiches, playing a Sawyer-speak translation guessing game, riding on the park's choo-choo train and carousel, enjoying a homemade train cake, and finally, opening presents. A good time was had by all, especially the birthday boy. Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with us and also a special shout-out to Grandma and Nana for their contributions to the buffet. What do you think -- same time, same place next year?

Sawyer 2.0

Sawyer turned 2 today.

He woke up this morning after spending his first night sleeping in a big-boy bed (set up by Becky).

Then he went to school and had a party (with cupcakes made by me).

Happy birthday, Sawyer!

Breaking News (from Becky)

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you the following announcement... I got into grad school! Class starts next week. Wish me luck!

edit from Tim: details in the comments.

Clemyjontri Park

Last weekend, I took Sawyer to Clemyjontri Park, which is an enormous playground not far from our house. The majority of the playground equipment is built to accommodates children with disabilities, but the park is intended for use by all kids.

One of the activities is a large labyrinth -- here's a video of Sawyer working his way through it.



Music: Animal Collective

Ukulele recommendation

Since I know my sister's family might be in the market for new ukuleles, I thought now would be a good time to endorse Flea and Fluke ukuleles.

We have one, and it plays great (as good as the one that cost me twice as much).

They come in fun colors, and because they're made of plastic, they're durable enough to stand up to an occasional horsey ride.

Tour of Sprucewold Lodge

Last post about our trip! As I mentioned, we went to Boothbay and stayed in Sprucewold Lodge, which is an incredible log-cabin style lodge in a beautiful forest above the harbor. The building had a great classic look (the halls reminded us a little of The Shining), it was clean, the food was fantastic, and the staff was very helpful and friendly. We really had a fun time --

Here's Sawyer giving a tour of the lobby:

You'll notice the lobby features both an inside and an outside.

Also, they had funny hats in the dining area.
Which Sawyer refused to partake in.

Maine State Aquarium

While we were in Maine, we went to Boothbay Harbor to meet up with Becky's parents while they were staying there on vacation.

On Monday, we all went to visit the Maine State Aquarium. It's small, but just the right length for a toddler's attention span. Sawyer's favorite part (by far) was the 'Tidepool Touch Tank,' where a museum volunteer allows you to reach into a shallow tank and feel different animals; Sawyer wasn't gentle enough for creatures like starfish and crabs ("CAB CAB CAB!"), so we focused on more sturdy critters like oysters and clams.

Another tank had the biggest lobster ("LOPPER LOPPER LOPPER!") I've ever seen (at 23 pounds, it weighs as much as Sawyer.)

After Sawyer was good and wet from splashing in the tidepool tank, we went outside to watch the boats in the harbor. A very nice day!

Two puddles

We spent the last few days in Boothbay Harbor -- we stayed at the Sprucewold Lodge, which we enjoyed very much. I'll post more photos later (we're packing to head to the airport), but here's a quick video of Sawyer enjoying himself outside.

At camp

We've been up in Maine for the past week. Unfortunately, we've been having such a good time that we forgot to take many photos this year.

We were lucky to be joined for part of the week by our friends Dave, Carrie, and their dog Chase (click to read their report of the week). Sawyer and Chase got along well, and chewed on each other's toys. The rest of us spent our time sitting on the porch or going on frozen custard runs.

For the fourth we had lots of people around - there was swimming, play-doh time, fireworks, a campfire and of course another frozen custard run. We were glad the ginger custard was replaced with strawberry by the time we got there. Jon, Laura, Sophia, Riley and Sam joined us for the night. Laura brought amazing cookies for everyone to share (thanks, Laura!) and Sophia and Riley had an especially good time playing with Philip and Jennifer, our friends from Portland.

Can't wait to do it all again next year!

The most annoying sound in the world

Bonus points for anyone who knows what those are.

*edit: answer in comments.

Memorial Day Weekend

Over Memorial Day weekend, Becky and I went to New York to visit our friends Dave and Carrie. Sawyer stayed behind, and spent half the weekend with Nana and Papa, and the other half with Grandma and Grandpa. Everyone enjoyed their vacations!

Here are some highlights! Sawyer with Nana at Frying Pan Park:
Grandpa playing lifeguard:
Me canoing with Dave. If I look a little rough, it's because the night before was the coldest I've ever been! (camping tip: remember to pack a sleeping bag.)

Here's Dave's report on the weekend.