Wordless Wednesday: First Birthday Edition

 

 

I think this about says it all.

Happy Birthday, Sawyer.

Happy 1st Birthday, Baby Boy

Dear Sawyer,
Today you turn a year old.  My sweet, chunky, cuddly, smiling baby is already turning into a big boy.  I'd be lying if I said I'm not a little bit sad about that.  I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I want to freeze this moment, keep you just like this.

I love that you only have two teeth, one on top and one on bottom, and that you crinkle up your nose in a silly sort of smile to show them off.  I love that your hair is just starting to grow and that it's so light that you still look bald.  I love that your hands and face and clothes and hair are usually sporting remnants of whatever food you were testing out at the last meal.  I love that you play with my rings while you're nursing, curled up in my lap in your chair, and I love holding you after you've fallen asleep and watching your angel eyes flutter as you settle.

These baby moments are fleeting.

You keep showing me that you're growing up.  I am proud of you.  I really am, no matter how bittersweet it is to admit that you're not that tiny bundle I pulled up onto my chest and kissed for the first time a year ago.

At a year old, you're becoming a chatterbox just like your big sisters.  You are saying more and more words every day.
"All done.  Uh-oh.  Mama.  Dada.  Ball ball.  Cup.  Sista.  Weee!  Dancin'.  Pappaw.  Pop.  Up.  Minn-uh (for Minnie and Mickey).  Choo-choo.  Mmmm.  Dog.  Cat.  Thank you.  Hi.  Hey.  Bye bye.  Whassat (what's that)?  This.  Yay!  Oh.  Whoa.  Wow.  Duck.  Clap.  Baby."
There are more that don't spring to mind right now, and we are in awe when you attempt to repeat even the most difficult of words.  It's impressive.  You also do a mean quack and growl.

Last week, you took your first steps.  You walked to me, and I beamed because I knew you put forth a lot of effort to get to your Mommy.  I'm a little happy that you're still unsure about walking and refuse to do more than a couple of steps at a time.  For a little while, at least, I get to see your silly "gorilla crawl"--your on-all-fours mode of transportation.  You are so adept at it.  And I love to see your little booty stuck up in the air as you speed across the room.

You have a way of making everyone so happy.  We can't help but smile when you dance and clap and laugh.  You have always been so sweet, so calm, and so full of love.

When you were born, I was filled with such a sense of power and pride, and those feelings have not ended.  I am proud to be your Mommy.  I am amazed at how you made our family feel whole, like you were missing all along, the third sparkle in my eye.  You bring joy to us all, and you are loved beyond what you will ever be able to comprehend.

My Mommy's Boy. 
Happy birthday, love.
I hope your day and your life are filled with as much happiness as you bring to all of us.

Love,
Mom

Wordless Wednesday: Little Pig, Little Pig...

...LET ME IN!

(And another child of mine begins the incessant knocking and waiting at the bathroom door.  I'm destined to never potty alone.)

Sawyer's Nursery

The breaking news around this house is that not only does Sawyer have a nursery, but he actually does spend time in it!

Yes, he's almost ten months old and has a nursery for the first time.
And, yes, he only uses it for naps and for that time of evening between falling asleep and waking for his first nursing session, and then he bunks stretched out in our bed while we're nearly pushed out of it.

But it is being utilized and is super-cute, so I thought I'd share.  And as long as I'm sharing, you might as well know that this has become my favorite room in the house in which to relax.
Sans baby.
This is the room that houses THE chair, and this is the room that is more well-decorated than any other room in our house.  During my "me time," you might just find me with my feet propped up in THE chair, drink and snack nearby, reading by the soft lamplight.  Minus the kids, it's quite relaxing.

The nursery has been in the making for a while now.  It all started when Sawyer started rolling around and trying to sit up, and I no longer felt comfortable with him sleeping on my bed during naps without me in it.  Try as I might, my other kids just weren't going to let me take a nap each time Sawyer wanted to snooze.  He refused to sleep in the pack-n-play now that his beloved cradle insert was off-limits, so we needed a crib.  We bought a cheap (but lovely), in-store, flat-packed crib and chest of drawers from Babies 'R' Us, and we assembled the crib in about five minutes that night and put it by our bed.  Nap problem solved.

Our fourth bedroom was being trashed used as an upstairs playroom for the girls, complete with princesses and fairies all over the walls.  Honestly, they weren't playing in there much, but instead liked to throw all the toys in the floor and leave it wrecked for weeks on end.  Getting frustrated with that whole scenario, and also coming to the conclusions that (a) kids really don't need two playrooms and (b) Sawyer was starting to not sleep well in our room while we were still milling about before our bedtime, we decided it was time to convert our fourth bedroom into his nursery.

This was my first time decorating a boy nursery, and I honestly kind of gagged when I saw the offerings for decor.  Teddy bears?  Cars?  Or, Heaven forbid, Sports?  No, thanks.  I looked online and strolled around baby stores until I found my inspiration...monkeys.  And modern monkeys, at that!  (Do those exist?)  It was a set by Mod Pod called Pop Monkey, and it had all the soothing browns and greens I like.  Let's face it, it was ALL about what I would like, since half my day would presumably be spent nursing the baby in this room (and it is).

One decision made, it was on to the next one: paint.
Brown?  But not too brown?  Tan?  We settled on Behr Premium Plus in New Chestnut from Home Depot, and we chose eggshell finish with primer built into the paint.  Wouldn't you know it, it STILL took two coats to erase all evidence of princesses and fairies!

The bedding was ordered, the lamp grabbed from the store, brown light-dampening curtains were hung, THE chair scooted into place.  Things were coming together.

Then, weeks later, it was complete.

View of THE chair from the room, with blanket from bedding.

 

 

 

His crib (it has since been lowered for the wild man).

Made the decorations from unused bumper pads and cross stitching hoop clamps.

Dresser, lamp, ceiling mobile, TV where I watch The Golden Girls.

Monkey lamp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genius!  Toy baskets hidden under the bed.

Stuffed animal basket.  All my kids have one.

Monkey light switch cover.

LOVE this monkey mobile.

Even his drawers are organized!

This is probably the best nursery ever.  Just sayin'.  And the older he gets, the more Sawyer will enjoy it and actually sleep in it.  For now, it's really nice for me.

A Letter to My Son at 6 Months Old

**The main reason I started this blog a couple of months ago was so it could act as a written account of the lives of my children.  It's a baby book of sorts, and I hope that one day they can sit and read about the things they used to say and do and see pictures of their cuteness.  Most of all, I want them to know their mom loves them.
This is an entry for Sawyer to document his life at six months old.**

Dear Sawyer,

I knew as soon as I found out I was pregnant with you that you were a boy.  I'm not sure if it was a gut feeling, a mother's intuition, or just a sincere longing, but I knew.  We kept your pregnancy a secret for three months, and I spent hours of that time rubbing my belly and talking to the baby I knew would be my "Mommy's Boy."  In February 2010, we went for an ultrasound that confirmed what I already knew--you'd be our first boy.  While we were in the midwife's office, it started snowing.  Since it hardly ever snows here, I took it as a sign that something soft and pure, perfect and unique would soon be coming into our lives.  I knew I'd never forget that moment.

Your birth in July was so calm and full of so much love.  It's almost as if you didn't want to make much trouble for me, and I went through most of labor with only a bad tummyache and pushed you out within two minutes.  I reached down and delivered you myself, pulling you up onto my chest.  Perfection.


Going to be weighed. 8lbs 8 oz



My Old Soul, 1 Day Old

That's still your personality--calm, not wanting to make much of a fuss.

You began to nurse immediately, and you really haven't stopped since.  You turned six months old yesterday, and all 21 pounds of you has been grown only with breastfeeding.  I am proud of you for that.  I'm proud of both of us.  No bottles, no solid food, just Mommy.  You're bigger than lots of babies and have been wearing 9 month sized clothing for a month now.   You wear Blueberry cloth diapers on the largest setting and FuzziBunz in size medium.

Sweet boy, you have had us smiling from the beginning.  When you were first born, you whimpered like a puppy when you were sleeping, and we'd watch you and listen to you instead of sleeping ourselves.  At first, you would nap in a Pack-n-Play cradle and sleep at night with us.  You started rolling over from your back to your belly at about two months old, so the cradle had to go.  From then on, it was just our big bed for you, until a few days ago.  We decided that leaving you on the bed is now too dangerous because you're so roly-poly, so we bought you a crib and placed it beside our bed.  Now you nap there, and sleep at night in our bed with us.  I love cuddling with you all night.  You always want to be touching me in some way, whether it's nursing or curling up your feet and putting them on my leg.  And honestly?  I want that, too.

One day you'll have a room of your own, I promise.  But for now, I nurse you and rock you to sleep every single time.  I know that the time you'll allow me to do this is fleeting, and I love watching your still-baby-grey eyes getting heavy as you drift off, then gently placing you next to me to rest.

At half a year old, you already love to play.  Taggie blankets are a favorite, mostly because you love anything you can put in your mouth!  You love to chew on the one my friend Miranda made for you, as well as one shaped like a starfish that your sisters didn't enjoy and passed on to you.  We have to keep a supply of cold teethers ("colds," as your sisters call them) for you to gnaw on, too.  So far, no teeth.  And I'm pretty grateful for that.  So far, no sickness, either, unless you count the runny nose you had on Christmas, and I don't count that since it was gone in a day and didn't bother you.

As far as other toys, you've got a fascination with Tiggers (Is it the bold colors?  Or the tail?) and dressed as Tigger for Halloween, along with both of your sisters.

If it has lights and makes music, chances are it's a toy you love.  For Christmas, Santa brought you a tool bench that does both things; he must have known that our house is filled with princess toys and that you needed something a little more manly.  We had our first white Christmas in decades, and I just knew it was for you.  Again, it made me realize how pure and perfect you are, and as I'm writing this to mark six months of your life, I'm waiting for it to start snowing again.

We put you on a blanket in the floor with several toys, and immediately you flip onto your belly, where you raise yourself up high on your hands and look around.  You can flip back over to your back, but you hate to do it (too fast a motion, maybe) and will fuss until I turn you over or until you give up and just do it yourself.

You are the third baby to use the toy chair that you adore, even though it's lost lots of the toys through the years.  You're so curious about how everything works, and you love getting to stand up in it.

You're so curious about the world, in fact, that you have always wanted to face outward when in a baby carrier so you can see what's going on.

If I'm rocking you in a chair, you want to sit facing outward, as well.  The only time you want to be cradled like a baby is when you're nursing; otherwise, I think you are afraid you'll fall asleep and miss something.  And as for sitting?  You learned to do that on your own this week.  You can sit for about 30 seconds to a minute before toppling over and moving on to play some more.

You're growing up so fast.  Sometimes I swear it sounds like you're saying, "Yeah," and "Hey."  You can chatter away with everyone, and smile and laugh like you're following every conversation.  Peek-a-Boo makes you laugh because you giggle every time you get scared.  And then you try to scare people with your grunting and blowing raspberries!   I am usually covered in your slobbery kisses, drool, and spit-up, and I don't mind one bit.  Your sisters adore you and will sing to you and play games with you often.  Julia wants to take care of you and make you happy.  When you fuss, she says, "It's okay, Sawyer, I'm right here," and you calm down.  She reads you books and will sing your favorite song, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," which almost always makes you relaxed.  Brynn is only two, so she can't do as much for you, but she constantly brings me blankets that she says are yours and wants me to give them to you.  She'll rub your almost-bald head (which Julia says looks "just like a peach") and is very interested in what you're all about.
I've never met such a content baby.  And that's not just me being a proud mom--it's what everyone says.  Your grandparents are all especially smitten. You have everyone you meet wrapped around your chubby little finger and people comment to me often about how sweet and calm and happy you are.
And you ARE all those things.
People can pass you around and carry you like a sack of potatoes, and you just enjoy the ride.  And I enjoy that no matter how much fun you're having with someone else, you always look for me and give me a big slobbery grin when you realize I haven't gone anywhere.  I'm right there with you.  Always.

I know that people think babies can't do much in the first six months after being born, but they are wrong.

You're the first grandson and great-grandson in our huge family to carry on the family name.

You've helped my heart grow even bigger to make room for enough love for three kids, and each time I see you smile, it grows even more.

In six short months, you've managed to fill the hole of what was missing in our family and make us more complete.  We all love you more than we could have ever imagined, and we can feel your love for us.

Thank you for blessing us.

Love,

Mommy