Seven on Sunday: April 3, 2011

I took the weekend off from schoolwork and chores for a visit from Grandmother, and I took advantage of an early bedtime instead of writing this list last night. But since it’s a few days late, I’ll throw in a couple extras …

1. Blowing kisses: In just two weeks since I saw his first “blown” kiss, Sawyer has perfected his technique. This week, he figured out how to make the kissing sound, and I bet he blew 50 kisses on Friday. To me, Grandmother, people in stores, himself in the mirror, to the TV and his toys. He sometimes does it after cycling through his “more” and “please” signs or after we’ve cheered some accomplishment. He’ll clap and then blow a kiss, like he’s thanking all his adoring fans.

2. The evil eye: Anyone who knows me knows my “look.” Often mean, sarcastic, questioning … I squint, cock my head and cut my eyes sideways. Sawyer is now doing it. Mostly when he’s mad about a toy being taken away. Oh, boy, I’m trouble if he’s already copying me.

3. Maybe naps aren’t so bad: Sawyer, through most of his short life, has fought naps pretty hard. Friday, he slept almost two hours in the car. Saturday, when I saw him yawn and asked if he wanted to take a nap, he held up his arms to me. He practically dove into the crib and didn’t even cry. He slept two hours, and I had to wake him before the babysitter got here. Ray noticed him falling asleep on the couch tonight and put him down without a fight. Maybe he’s finally learning to go with it.



4. Sock it to 'em: I like socks. I rarely go barefoot in the house. If I’m not wearing socks, I usually have on Crocs or slippers or some kind of footwear. Sawyer, on the other hand, prefers bare feet. It is hard enough to keep up with tiny baby socks. But when you have a boy who routinely removes them and flings them wherever he is, that makes it near impossible. I find socks in the kitchen, the hall, in the toy box, between the couch cushions and under the car seats. Wasn’t Tom Sawyer always barefoot, too?

5. Ring my bell: I bought Sawyer this toy with a winding ramp that you roll plastic balls down a few weeks ago at the consignment sale. He has played with it a lot, despite us “losing” all but a couple of the balls already. It has a tube in the middle of the ramp with a trap door at the bottom. You push a button, a bell rings and the door opens. But all of the accompanying balls were too big for the slot. When I was digging around under the bookcase for the balls, I found a foam ball that is/was a cat toy. It now belongs to Sawyer, who I showed how to drop it down the tube and ring the bell. It took about four times of saying, “Push the button,” before he was doing it on his own.

6. Sleep with the fishes: Part of my nightly routine is to check on Sawyer and cover him up. I believe (whether it’s true or not) based on my informal observation that he sleeps better/longer when he’s covered up, even if it’s not that cold. The positions he sleeps in crack me up. Most nights, he’s on his belly, head squished into a corner of the crib. The other night, he was snoozing flat on his back, which is quite rare. It was so odd-looking that I made sure he was breathing. He looked like a fish that had gone belly up.

7. Squealing: Having a son, I thought maybe I would be spared from that ridiculously high-pitched squealing that little girls do. Apparently not. Sawyer has always been enamored with the cats, but now when he sees them, he squeals loud enough and high enough that I feel sure the windows might break. It is ear-piercing to say the least. And God bless you if you’re holding him when it happens. My hearing will be shot before he turns 2 if he keeps this up!