*warning: this is kind of a long post and mostly for our records. I still haven't gotten around to doing a "baby book" for Sawyer, but I have tried hard to at least write things on our blog that I can use later to put one together. So if this doesn't interest you - just enjoy the photos!
With a lot of focus and attention on the discovery that Sawyer will have a baby
sister lately, I want to make sure not to forget to report on Sawyer's latest well-child check-up: 15 months! I can hardly believe that our baby boy is already 15 months old! He is getting to be such a "big boy" yet still, he is a baby. Sometimes I get a little teary, for a couple of reasons: first, we are so blessed to be able to have two children, and second, because sometimes I look at my son and think "he is still so little..." I hope he will enjoy the gift we are giving him in having a sibling to share his life with. We sure hope they will be buddies! From some reading I have done about having two children quite close together (two babies, really), it seems that one of the biggest problems is that parents generally expect the "older" one to grow up more quickly than is needed, forgetting that they are still quite little and need to grow up in their own time. So, my biggest concern is that because Sawyer will be the "big" brother, we will be tempted to treat or expect him to be more than he is at a younger age, than say, siblings who are 2-3 years apart. We will have to be careful there! But we are sure proud of the things Sawyer is learning and doing.
He loves:
Anything outdoors: camping, hiking, the park, the beach, rocks, dirt, and sand.
Reading: It's amazing such an active little boy will bring us an armful of books and say "books" "read" and sit on our laps for a very long time listening to stories and flipping through the pages of his favorite books. Current favorites are:
Hug (he asks for "Bobo" every day at nap time and bed time),
Where the Wild Things Are (he says "Max!" and "grrr". Maybe next year when he's 2 or so we'll let him see the movie - I hear they are making one and it should be out soon? We are a TV free family!)
Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? (he enjoys mimicking all the sounds Mr. Brown makes)
The Large and Growly Bear (he gets a kick out of the birds, bunnies, and moles), and
The Happy Man and His Dumptruck (loves to say "Whee!" when he the animals slide down the dumptruck).
Dancing/Making Music: he's got some moooves. he likes "car dancing" (Sof - you'd be proud!) He also loves playing drums and strumming Daddy's guitar. Of course, he loves it when Daddy strums the guitar even better ;) And he loves to hum and sing with Momma (even if she doesn't sing very well!)
Transitional Objects: well, that's what they are. or maybe it sounds better to say special friends/toys/things? He has taken a special liking to his nap/bedtime buddies: the little nutbrown hare, aka "
Bunny" and curious george (he calls george "
Jew"). And he loves his
Blankie.
Toys: Very into Lego/Duplo, Melissa & Doug wooden puzzles, wood blocks, cars, trains - anything with wheels. And lately discovering crayons and the creative. He also likes to "pretend" to cook. He recently got his own mini set of pots and pans.
Favorite Foods: Well...he LOVES blueberries, grapes, bananas, and begs all the time for apples. He really enjoys "exotic" foods and spicy doesn't seem to phase him (except once when we gave him what was supposed to be a 2-star Thai dish at a restaurant and his eyes pretty much popped out of his head - it was more like a 3 if you ask me!). He eats what we eat. It makes life simple. Of course he likes normal "kid food" like mac n cheese, pizza etc. So far, he is not a picky eater - and the only thing he spits out is eggs. Hmm.
Sleep: He takes just one nap a day now, usually about 2 hours. Also, a big breakthrough for us, is that he sleeps all the way through the night. It took a long time and a lot of patience in our night-time parenting to get there because he spent the first year of his life sleeping with us (which we all
loved!). But we knew it would take a little work to make the transition to his own bed. We do not believe in the Ferber or "cry it out" approach, so we spent a lot of time concocting a sleep plan (and highly recommend the book "
The No Cry Sleep Solution") to help him learn to fall asleep on his own, in his crib. Now we just do bath, pjs + lotion, books. While reading books he gets to drink some milk from his sippy cup. Then, fully awake, we put him in his crib and say "night night" and offer to pat his back for a minute. After that, we blow a kiss and say "I love you" and walk out. He doesn't make a peep. He lays there, occasionally sings to himself, and then falls asleep. He sleep from about 8:30pm-7:00am. And he doesn't cry when he wakes in the morning, he just says "Mama, Dada!" and is ready and happy to start a new day! It is so nice!
I think that about sums it up. Oh, he also loves to give hugs and kisses. He is a lot of fun and communicates very well. He signs some vital words that help eliminate frustration for him and for us (ie. "more" "all done" "help" etc.) and he says well over 30 words now. We have so much fun with our son!
Weight: 20 lbs 13 oz. (5-10% -- he's very active, what can we say? he is a great eater)
Head Circumference: 47.4cm (50-75% -- I said to the Doc, "I guess he has a big head" and she said, "no, actually, it's the perfect size for his very intelligent little brain!")
