Sawyer Turns One!

I'm still kind of in denial about this happening, but it did.  On December 1st my little man turned one!!

I think he still looks a lot like Ryley did at his age but he's got some Cash in there too. Here's a picture of Ryley at the same age.  (Sorry for the picture quality - it was 8 years ago!) 

They both have the same big, huge ,open-mouthed smile.  So funny!  Here's one of Cash at about the same age:

Cash looks so different than the other two boys but then something does look similar to Sawyer as well.  I can't put my finger on what it is though.  Cash was definitely chubbier than Sawyer is but I think the shape of their faces is similar?

I was in the midst of my assignment at the Nativity Exhibit that week and I felt bad that I didn't have time to go all out for his first birthday but Josh reminded me that he wouldn't remember it anyway. That actually didn't make me feel much better - especially since he's our last baby that will turn one!  I did manage to pull a little bit of a party together though. We didn't do anything fancy.  Just a small little family party.  We started by opening some presents. He got a little phone that beeps and talks.  (He loves to play with the phone or Daddy's iphone.)

I love this picture of him.  It's SO him.  He will often just stop and take in what's happening and then react to it - usually a little laugh or a big smile.  Josh was showing him how to open his present here.

His other present was a little toy vacuum.  The boys were very excited about opening it up for Sawyer.  Sawyer LOVES the real vacuum.  He gets so excited when I bring it out (which is quite often) and is not afraid of it in the least.  I usually have to carry him around with one arm and vacuum with the other because he's so into it.  The kids all picked out this present for him because he loves the real one so much!

 

After presents it was time for cake!  Here's his cake.  Nothing fancy, just a store bought cake, but I did write it on.

Daddy helped him blow out the candle.

 

I wasn't sure what he would do with the cake.  We'd never given him anything in a big chunk on a plate before.  He was a little tentative at first. . . but it didn't take long for him to get into it and make a big mess! 

I think he enjoyed himself!

After finishing our cake it was off to the bath while Mommy tried to clean up.  He heard me vacuuming and Daddy brought him downstairs to help out.

He was vacuuming right alongside me the whole time.  Pretty dang cute!

A few stats about this kid: 

He's not quite 20 lbs. yet, which means we can't officially turn his carseat forward facing yet.  Boo! (I think he's actually gained a pound or two throughout the rest of December so we did turn his carseat around.)  He's tall, but skinny.  He eats plenty but he does not stop moving unless he's asleep so I guess he's just burning lots of calories. 

He has six teeth (four on top and two on bottom).  They started coming in around 9 months, which is really early for my kids.  My other ones didn't get any until about 12 months so I was really surprised when I felt a tooth scraping on the bottom of his spoon one morning.  They all came in before he was one.  I think he's finally cutting another one.

Some of his nicknames:  SaSa (this is by far the #1 nickname), Sausalito, BabySan, Monkey, Sweet Monkey, Soy Sauce (the older kids call him this and I do NOT like it!  I'm trying to get them not to call him that but it's not working very well.)  He rarely gets called Sawyer, and I'm pretty sure he thinks his name is SaSa. 

He's finally sleeping through the night in his own bed.  It only took a year - sheesh!  He's napping better too.  Yay!

He is super smiley and will smile at everyone - from a distance though.  He does not like to be held by anyone other than Mom, Dad or Maddie.  He is getting better about it though and has recently let Granny and Grandma hold him a little.

He's been walking for about three months now (started about 10 1/2 - 11 months old).  He thinks he can run and tries to all of the time but he really can't.  It's pretty funny.  He's gets so excited and usually ends up falling but he gets right back up and tries to run again. 

He's still nursing.  I'm ready to be done but he's the baby and my last so I'm not really pushing it.  (He's actually taking whole milk now from a sippy cup, which is an improvement from refusing it altogether closer to his birthday.  He only nurses once or twice a day so I know we're nearing the end!)

He is super ticklish and easy to laugh/smile. 

Along with the vacuum, he loves loud noises.  He thinks screaming or yelling or trying to scare him is hilarious.  He does not like masks though. He also likes to scream and yell and will often copy me when I'm downstairs yelling at the kids upstairs. 

He doesn't really say anything yet.  He does make some noises that are always the same.  Like when he wants to touch something or get closer to it he says something like, "Is it?" or "What's that?" combined.  He also says, "Ma-ma" or "Ma" when he's hungry or sitting in his chair to eat.  It's not directed at me personally, just what he says when he's hungry.

He loves his diapey and binkie.  All my kids still have diapeys.

He wants to be out in the action and playing with all the kids.  He does not like to be alone.  He's not a sit and cuddle with you kind of kid.  He wants to be on the floor running around and wrestling!

He is persistent!  He does not give up on what he wants.  I'm sure this will be a good trait when he's older but right now it's trying my patience!!!

He has been really healthy and has only had one or two minor colds in his first year.  He just recently got his first ear infection but he was a champ and has taken his medicine really easily.  Woohoo!

He still has his blocked tear duct and I guess we'll have to take him to the ophthalmologist soon to get probed.  Not looking forward to it.  Hopefully it will just be a probe and not a surgery like Ryley.

He loves to be outside.  He gets so excited when we open the door and then gets really upset when we close it without letting him out to play.  We had lots of fun when we had some unseasonably warm weather a couple of weeks ago. 

He will come running to me with his arms outstretched and it just melts my heart.  He is so fun and has the entire family wrapped around his little finger!  We love him so much and we're so happy that he is part of our family!