Political Involvement

Sawyer has not yet given his endorsement to a presidential candidate. However, I went to an Obama rally in Virginia yesterday and dragged Sawyer along because I thought he might enjoy seeing the crowds.

I picked him up from daycare (mid-nap!) at 1:30 and got to the venue at 2 for an event that was scheduled to start at 6. (There were predictions that 50k people might show up, and I wanted to make sure we could sit in the shade.) Because we arrived early, we were lucky to get box seating, which gave us plenty of room to move around.

It was a long and hot day, but Sawyer had a fun time clapping and cheering for the different speakers and musicians. He did a good job sitting and listening, but by the end, he ran out of steam. I had promised him we would leave if he got too tired or hot, so we stayed for about 15 minutes of Obama's speech and headed for the car.

Because we left early, we didn't have any problems with traffic. Still, Sawyer fell asleep before we left the parking lot.

Bicycle

Becky bought a bike trailer a couple weeks ago through Craigslist. It was an easy transaction, and we feel like we got a good deal. It sat in the closet because we needed bike helmets for everyone, it's been rainy, etc...

Sunday afternoon, while Sawyer and I were playing outside (his favorite place), I told him we'd go inside to get the bicycle in a little while. That was a bit of a mistake because:

1. Bicycle is one of his words, and hearing that he was going for a ride with one raised his excitement level to about 110%


2. My bike was upstairs, the trailer was disassembled in the closet and we'd never attached the two
3. I was supposed to be giving Becky a break, and I'd need help with all of the above

After we got Becky on board with the plan, I hauled all the equipment outside, and Becky was able to convince Sawyer to wear his helmet for the first time. When we'd try before, he was quick with an "all-done", but this time he was motivated.

At this point, Sawyer was jumping, shouting and trying to help (pump air, tighten nuts, whatever I had just finished doing.) It took a few minutes but we got the bicycle and the trailer ready. Getting them connected together was another story...

Of course, Sawyer was going crazy during this and trying to climb my bike (We said, "Daddy's bicycle, Sawyer's bicycle," which he repeated).

Eventually, we did all work together to get it assembled. We took a few slow loops in the parking lot and Sawyer enjoyed it, particularly speed bumps.

When we were done, Sawyer insisted on helping Becky push the bike back home.

Sawyer's numbering system

Said in a slow monotone, with fingers up:
"Two...Three...Seven...Mommy...Two..."

We're working on it.

It was a haircut kind of day

Sawyer went out to get his hair cut the other week and we took the opportunity to document the event for posterity. At the end, Sawyer got a lollipop and some fancy spiked-up hair from the hairdresser. Enjoy the video and 5 points to anyone who spots Tim. : )

Music: Sufjan Stevens

Edit by Tim: Here's me in the video.

Thank you, Teresa and Alan!

Dear Teresa and Alan,
Thank you very much for making another episode of Cousin TV for Sawyer! It was very thoughtful, and Sawyer loves watching you read and sing for him. He knows who you are and gets excited to see you.

Here he is watching the video at Nana and Papa's house:

Also, thank you for letting your monkey visit! The two of them have become good friends, and they are rarely apart. Here are photos of some of their recent adventures.

Sawyer and the monkey got messy one day, and had to take a bath:

Nana and the monkey played ring-around-the-rosey:
Sawyer and the monkey practiced holding an umbrella for all the rain we've been having!
Thank you again -- Sawyer loves his cousins!

Who's that?

Becky and I are working with Sawyer to learn the names of everyone in our house. We've had several conversations similar to this.

Us: Who's that? (pointing at Becky)
Sawyer: Daddy
Us: No... that's Mommy. Who's that? (pointing at me)
Sawyer: (Softer) Daddy...
Us: Yey! That's Daddy. Who are you? (pointing at Sawyer)
Sawyer: Me...

Becky says the one benefit is that when she does some bad habit in front of Sawyer, he'll say that he learned it from Daddy.

Fashion Statement

Several of the kids at Sawyer's daycare have earrings, so yesterday we took Sawyer to the mall and got his ear pierced.

You can see it a little better when you enlarge the picture.



Edit: Yes, this was a joke. I'm glad we fooled a few people for a moment.

View from the cart

Our Easter was low-key. The three of us went to church in the morning, the three of us took a nap in the afternoon, and the three of us went to the grocery store in the evening.

Here's Sawyer's commentary on the grocery store trip.



Music: Folk Implosion

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Here's Sawyer on St. Patrick's Day, showing off his special green cupcake (yum!) and his newly disfigured nose (boo!). In honor of the latter, we now have a new rule: No more boom-boom (which translates, as you may have guessed, to No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed).

edit from Tim: Here's a close up of the monkey-on-the-bed injury.

edit #2 from Tim: At least it wasn't as bad as our friends' son's injury! Get better soon, Jasper!

Sawyer's Favorite Words, Part 1

We're back!

And, Sawyer loves pizza.