Sawyer says, Christmas edition

Some of the funny things Sawyer has said or done over the Christmas holiday …

The light of the world
Sawyer's class learned a lot of Christmas songs to sing at a chapel service on the last day of class. And they've also been going to Godly Play and kids chapel service during school. Godly Play is a curriculum that the preschool and our church use for younger children. It presents Bible stories in a very   Montessori, learn-what-you-can-by-exploring-and-playing way.

One night around Christmas, I decided to light some candles while we were hanging out in the den. I wanted a cozy effect, and unfortunately our fireplaces are in the two rooms we spend the least amount of time in.

Sawyer asked me why I was lighting the candles, and I said because they're pretty and they smell good. He then asked if it was to celebrate Jesus' birthday (I assume he made the connection since we'd just lit candles on his birthday cake), and I said yes, it could be.

And then he looked at me all matter-of-factly and said, " 'Cause you know Jesus is the light of the world."

Postal appreciation
For the past couple months, our mail has been delivered shortly after Sawyer gets home from preschool. Often, the mail truck is still there when we pull in.

In fact, we had one incident where I grumbled about the mail truck parking in front of our house and blocking our parking. Clearly grumbling under my breath was loud enough for little ears to hear. As I was getting backpack and jacket and stuff out of the car, I didn't pay much attention to Sawyer standing by the mail truck. Until he started yelling … "Don't park in front of our house anymore!" Oh, boy, I really gotta watch what I mutter!

Anyway, we have an old-fashioned mail slot by our front door, so the mail is quite loud coming into the house. When Sawyer is nearby, he runs to the mail slot, opens it and yells, "THANK YOU!" to the letter carrier. I have to wonder what they think if they can hear him.

Christmas delicacies
Sawyer loves music, so we often listen to CDs or my iPod in the car. One day, we had on Christmas music and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" came on. I knew Sawyer was learning this song (complete with the gusto of an arm swing) at preschool, but I bet they weren't learning the second verse and I was interested to see his reaction.

Sure enough, after the song ended, a little voice came from the backseat: "Mom, what's piggy pudding?"

I laughed so hard I almost had to pull over.

So long, Mama
My mom came down for the city's annual Festival of Lights and holiday parade, partially because she loves Christmas activities and partially to take Sawyer to the parade because I was walking in it. (This was my last year at the News & Record so I had to wrangle one more giant parade balloon!)

After the Greensboro parade, Sawyer and Grandmother drove to Conover (which is near my hometown) to see another parade. My niece's dance troupe was performing in that one.

There were some tractors and farm equipment that rolled through the parade, and at the end of the parade route, the drivers pulled into a parking lot to see the rest of the show. The same parking lot my mom and Sawyer parked in. So the driveway was blocked when they were trying to leave.

My mom said she kept telling Sawyer (who probably kept asking why they weren't moving) that they were stuck and had to wait.

Finally, Sawyer weighed in, "We're trapped. I'll never see my mom again."

Pharmacy 101
Sawyer had a bit of a cold in early December with a horrible-sounding cough. One night after waking up from his nap, we were headed out to eat dinner. And he got on a coughing kick. Just couldn't stop hacking.

I asked if he was OK and he whimpered a little in the backseat. He suggested we give him some medicine, and I asked what kind he wanted.

"Coughing gone medicine," he said pitifully.

Another Christmas classic
Sawyer can be super silly. And he gets especially silly if he thinks it's going to make you laugh. So sometimes it's hard to tell if he's making an honest but funny mistake or if he's hamming up a mistake on purpose to get a reaction.

I still can't tell with the song he's been singing lately: "Walking in the winter with an o lamb."

It sounds like the case of mistaken lyrics for "Winter Wonderland" (and that's clearly the tune), but Sawyer gives you a sneaky look when he starts singing it. Like maybe he KNOWS it's wrong and ridiculous.