Five on Friday, Week of March 25, 2011

It’s been a very busy week. We toured four preschools to find one for Sawyer to attend in the fall. We’ve been pleasantly surprised by how nice and fun some of them look, and we’ve also been proud that Sawyer has jumped right into playing and being involved with the other toddlers. We’re excited for him to start this new adventure, and it will be quite nice to have a few hours a week to run errands, go to doctor’s appointments, clean the house or just take a nap. Anyway, here’s what we’ve been loving about Sawyer this week (the real prize is at the end of this post) …


1. Going up and down stairs “by himself” We’ve been going, going, going this week. Sawyer prefers to walk everywhere, and Mama prefers to let him, when possible, because he’s heavy. This week, he has figured out how to hold on to the spindles of the bannister and walk up and down (with a little help). He’s a little bit better going down, but it’s amazing to see him master new skills.

2. Blowing kisses to a girl in store As we’ve always known, Sawyer is incredibly social and a bit of a flirt out in public. But he hit a new high this week. We’d gone shopping in this small boutique, and another mom and little girl were shopping. The girl was about 4 with curly blond hair and blue eyes. Very cute. And she followed us around the entire time. She’d touch Sawyer’s feet and giggle. Sawyer seemed a little shy around her; maybe he was playing hard to get? When they got ready to leave, she turned to look at him and waved. I asked Sawyer to wave goodbye to her, which he generally does. I looked down and was shocked to see he was blowing her kisses. I didn’t even know he knew how to do that! It was adorable. As we were leaving, another mom and cute girl came in. I told the sales clerk this was obviously the place for Sawyer to pick up cute chicks.

3. Printer tester, at your service I’ve been sharing stories of all these funny things Sawyer’s been doing this week with Ray, and he had one of his own. We have a sofa table behind our couch in the den. Because we both use our laptops so much in there, we have a printer on that table. Apparently, Sawyer has learned the button combination to push to get a test print. As Ray tells the story, Sawyer will hoist himself up on the couch, reach up on tiptoes, punch the buttons and laugh as the pages print out. “I don’t even know how to make a test print,” Ray says. Sawyer’s affinity for buttons and his ability to figure out how things work is going to be very amusing to watch and possibly get him into a lot of trouble.

4. Always kiss me goodnight Sawyer woke up in middle of the night Wednesday, which is thankfully becoming less frequent. Ray tried to settle him down and get him back to sleep to no avail. When I went in and picked him up, he instantly calmed down and laid his head on my shoulder. I sat down, and we rocked for a bit. I was so tired, and the rocking was making me sleepier. I leaned back and closed my eyes. Sawyer, who had been leaning on my chest, sat up suddenly. I opened my eyes to see what he was doing, and he was leaning toward me with his lips puckered up for a kiss. He’s been getting better about giving kisses when asked, but this week, he has initiated them more. It never fails to melt my heart.

5. On top of spaghetti This might be a time when a picture is worth a thousand words, and I need not write any. But I’ll set the scene. We had spaghetti for dinner Monday. It’s much easier to feed him when I use penne or corkscrew pasta, but I wanted spaghetti. I tried feeding him a few bites, and I could see it was going to take forever. So I decided to let him try feeding himself. I was prepared for a mess, but not quite this much of one. He looked so comical that even Ray had to snap a picture to show the ladies in his office. Doesn’t every kid need to have the super messy eating photo?