You're so vain

I bet you think this blog is about you.

Sittin up

It seems like every day you're doing something new. A new sound, expression or gesture. Today, you sat yourself up. You were on your tummy and just pushed yourself up with your hands. Since when do you make these decisions all on your own?

Days like these remind me that having you around makes the most ordinary day super extraordinary. I had a lot of wins and a few losses this week at work, but nothing even gets close to seeing the joy in your eyes when you realized you could support yourself.

And it's only Saturday. Who knows what Sunday will hold. 

Roll out

You are on fire.
A few of your favorite things this month:
+ Playing with your feet
+ Rolling over and over and over again
+ Putting everything in your mouth
+ Your tongue flies in and out of your mouth - bllllurrrbbbbb.
+ Bouncing, always bouncing
+ Reaching for your favorite toys and people
+ You LOVE music, radio, ipod, daddy playing guitar, you just love it (naturally).

Speaking of rolling, I can barely keep you on your playmat anymore, you roll over and over, and before I know it, you're on the other side of the room. Such a busy body!

Dog Eat Dog

In the last few weeks, you've started reaching for things you think are rad. Toys you prefer, big noses (mom), but your favorite toy in the world? Yeah...it's in your blood.

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day was pretty fun. We've always dreamt of celebrating this day, for all that it means. Your daddy really didn't know what to expect, which made the day even more special. Your daddy, God love him, actually went to work on Father's Day morning. Which was a bummer, but it gave us a chance to go shopping for all of his favorite things. We picked up materials for an amazing chicken burrito night (Your daddy was Mexican in a previous life) - tapatio, tomato, peppers, onions, and of course some truck and tattoo mags to keep him company. We also got him a few big boy movies: I am #4, Battle LA, and The Mechanic. None of which I was particularly impressed with, but your daddy was entertained and that's all we needed.
You got your daddy a mug, which he LOVED. And for Father's day, your daddy was so moved, he actually wrote a blog post all for you. I'll post this in a bit when I can scan it in and type it up, but in the meantime, here are a few pics from your Daddy's first father's day (and your Grandpa's first Father's day as a Grandpa!).

His favorite things

You got him a mug. He cried (on the inside).

Testing it out

No question who your daddy is!

Grandpa loves ya

New hat!

Rawr

You used to drink milk.

Grandpa

Little guy, your grandpa loves you to pieces! This was my dad (and your Grandpa's) first fathers day as a Grandpa and boy did we all have a good one! More on that later. For now I wanted to show you just how much your Gpa adores you. He sends you (me) text messages every day telling you just how much he loves you. This is a shot of a text he sent today: the day after our wonderfully relaxing fathers day.

iFun

Guess what? Mama finally caved and converted to iPhone. And a dear friend even gave me her old phone for free! What I'm most excited about is that I can now finally take fun filter pics of you - and trust me, there are already a ton!

Here are a few of my favs recently:

Up in the Air

Before you came along, I was a bonafied Up in the Air business traveler, visiting San Francisco, Los Angeles, and various other less glamorous cities on a monthly, sometimes weekly basis. At that time, I held my MVP Premier airline status cards proudly, flashing it with an arrogant grin as I would waltz past the commoners and breeze through the VIP security line.  Travel was halted in December when I became too pregnant to fly, and by the time I returned to work in May, those bastard airlines had tossed me aside and revoked my status - on BOTH airlines! Devastated, I tell you. However, I'm back on the fast track to regaining my status with recent trips to LA and SF (and many more trips planned in the coming weeks).
What's surprising is my new outlook on business travel. Before you came along, I would make the most of this travel - often extending my trips for long weekends to see my good friends in these cities (of which I am lucky to have many). Now, I'm in and out - quick trips so I can get home to my sweet baby boy. Yesterday was a daytrip to SF for a meeting in the city, and as it turns out, one of my favorite SF events was happening this weekend: the North Beach Festival, and every one of my friends would likely be there (aside from the two who have newborns).

I considered staying the weekend for just one minute...until I quickly decided that nothing compares to you. I'm just not ready to give up my weekends with you, even for a free fun weekend in my favorite city with great friends. So after an outstanding brazilian steakhouse dinner at Espetus Churrascaria  (highly recommended for anyone who loves beef) with a few of my favorite people in the entire world,
I was anxious to get home...until I saw the madness at SFO.
United Airlines entire system was down and no flights were going out.

Hundreds upon hundreds of people were sitting inside and on the curb looking helpless and pissed. The scene was ridiculous.

Panic ensues. It's amazing how my seemingly much smaller brain (now, post-baby) jumped into creative problem solving mode. Hopped on the phone with w+k travel (best ever, by the way), and learned that there were no available flights out of SFO the rest of the night - everything was booked. We fought tooth and nail for a cab and sped to OAK on a hope and a prayer that we could snag the last 3 seats available on a Southwest flight. Just 5 minutes before the cutoff, and before we arrived at OAK, I got word that we were locked into the flight. Hallelujah! I did a very serious happy dance, cab driver was not impressed.
So bye bye palm trees...

and amazing food...

Hello, free in-flight cocktails (helped soften the blow just a bit):

And home at last!!
The thought of being away from you, stuck in SFO, literally made me sick to my stomach. But Thank God I was home by 12:30a and daddy pulled in the driveway with my baby shortly after that.
Eventually, I'll be able to leave you for longer periods of time. But for now, one day (or one night) is just about all this heart of mine can handle.

REWARD

Chatty

4 Months! (ok, 4.5 months)

Ok, I'm convinced that 4 months is the golden age. If I could freeze time, I would right now. You are so adorable, so fun, so easy (I know I'm jinxing myself right now).  So social, you just LOVE people and smile at just about everyone. It seems like just yesterday you were born. You have turned into quite the handsome, sweet, and vocal little dude. I wish I had more time to update this blog, but when I have to choose between seeing you or sitting in front of my computer, guess who wins?

You are the absolute light of our lives. What's new? 

Well, for one, your daddy has fallen head over heels in love with you, which is beyond adorable. Of course, he's always loved you, but I can tell that he has entered a new level of love, the one where he stares adoringly at you constantly. He was the first person to make you laugh and remains one of the only people who can consistently turn a cry into a laugh in 10 seconds. It's pretty impressive. You and your daddy obviously have a sweet bond just like I knew you would. It melts my heart the way you look at him, like he is your very best friend. 

Your daddy stays home with you on Mondays and the two of you have a pretty awesome time together. In fact, last Monday you and Daddy came to visit me at work and take me to lunch. It was heavenly!

So, here's the deal. I have your 4 month stats around here somewhere, I just can't find them. What I do remember is that you're in the 95th percentile for length: yeah, that's right, you're going to be a tall fella just like your daddy.

I'll insert your stats as soon as I can find em, but in the interest of time (which comes at a premium these days), here are your latest favorites:

+ Your first cold was pretty crappy; I can't say it was the absolute worst (only bc I imagine it will be really bad when you are miserable, and you were really only semi-miserable). Of course, your first cold 2 weeks into daycare, we knew this was coming. You were such a trooper and the only thing that would console you was mama - which of course I didn't mind AT ALL!  You gave mama the cold too, which was not awesome, but we made it through

+ You LOVE to jump, your little legs just won't sit still. We finally got you a little jumper and you love it beyond belief. 

+ Your voice continues to develop;  you scream while smiling, you have an adorable tiny "roar" sound, and you just love the sound of your own voice (just like your daddy; HA!)

+ You turn your head from side to side; this is only a big deal because you love having the option to see whatever you like, seems you like your freedom

+ You are absolutely in LOVE with your daddy, all he needs to do is walk into the room and you smile, he was the first to make you laugh and continues to be the primary source of your entertainment. It's the best

+ You also love your Grandpa; he picks you up Tuesdays and Fridays from daycare, and you just love the sound of his voice. The two of you are really the best of friends.

+ you have discovered your feet and any chance you get you are squeezing them and watching them splish splash in the tub; you love your Sizemore feets
+ You put everything in your mouth

Thanks for being my favorite thing in the world. You really do make my life a better place. Love you, dude.

At Aunt Tracy's Graduation

Bouncing!

Loving the mirror

Finally!

Love Grandpa!

Sherwood Cruise-in!

Family

Ask me what melts my heart, and I'll likely reply with a resounding "YOU", but in addition to just YOU, is watching you absolutely adore your Grandpa. You two are seriously the best of friends, he makes you smile to no end and tonight the two of you chatted for hours.
You love my daddy and this just melts my heart. I am so thankful that we all live so close. Family means the world to us, and I will continue to instill this value in you, as my daddy instilled it in me.

You win

#success (for now, I'll likely hate this later, but for now it's pretty cute)

since you've been gone...

My, my.
I now understand why my dear friend Nicole never has the time to update her baby blog. And given how busy you're becoming at 4 months old, I don't know how any mommy has the time to update more than once a month. Your 4 month update is coming tomorrow after your 2 weeks late docs appt, but for now, I thought I'd check in post-return-to-work-rapture....
The week prior to my May 17th return, I spent every single day soaking you up. You napped on me an impressive 3 times/day, we danced, sang, read books, and talked, a LOT. Mommy's well-intentioned boss even thought it might be fun to email mommy to try and chat before her first day back. Note to all bosses: Never dare cut a woman's maternity leave short; tears and panic will most certainly ensue.
Day 1 was difficult, but not the hardest (lucky for me, it was a Tuesday). With quite a bit of pharmaceutical help, mommy made it through day 1 without crying. Unfortunately we cannot say the same for every day thereafter. I cried in the car and during the day in the work bathroom (I've successfully perfected the "quiet cry", go me!). I spent the first two weeks brainstorming ways I could work from home, I had decided I simply couldn't do it - I couldn't be without you. By week 2 I slowly weaned myself off of the mama-don't-cry pills, and by end of the week, I was starting to realize maybe I can do this.
Fast forward to today. Sunday. While in a perfect world, we would have a million dollars and I would happily stay home with you (much to the surprise of all of my friends and family), going to work earns us the funds to provide you with a happy healthy home and it will setup our future just the way we imagined. Also, I'm incredibly lucky to have what I consider a dream job with amazingly smart people at the best ad agency in the world, so can't complain. Our future is full of promise. We will live in a modest but warm, comfy, and happy home (just like we do now), we will go on vacations, you will play sports, have braces and you will go to college. I've said it before: you are my reason, for everything. Going back to work was by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but in an odd way, having no choice actually made it easier. And now, a full 3 weeks in, we're doing OK. I only cry on the days it's really hard to leave you, and even then, your sweet daycare providers make it nice and easy. Enough about me…

YOU are LOVING daycare, which makes this all easier to swallow. We know your teacher, she's a friend of many friends, and her mother knows many of our friends mother's, so in a way they're a lot like family (just what I wanted). Forbes Daycare: Just Jonna and her mother watching maybe 10 kids, give or take a few depending on the day. You are the youngest baby at school, next youngest is about 10 months, and all other kiddos are 3-5 years old, and you all love each other. I drop you off in the morning, daddy picks you up (wish it was the other way around, but it's impossible for mommy to get off work before 6pm). When dropping you off, it's so cute to see how excited the other kids are to see you, often greeted with an exuberant "Sawyer's Here!", and you always smile and are happy to see Jonna and her Mother Sheryl (Cheryl?). These lovely ladies have given me the peace of mind I needed and I wouldn't rather have you anywhere else. They love you to pieces and take such good care of you. And you apparently love watching all the other kiddos play, you are a social little guy and being around all of this activity suits you quite well. By the end of the day, you are exhausted, normally asleep within 5 minutes of being in the car. While selfishly I wish I had more time with you in the evenings, I am content in knowing that you are so happy during the day and you're in the perfect environment for your personality, you social baby butterfly.
And luckily for us, you get a report card every day (read: poop and pee report). Here's an example from a few posts back:

Already an over-achiever

So, there you have it. We're settling into our routine, and as tough as it may be, it is for the best. Here's to you baby doll.

After school sleepytime

Also here's a quick video daddy filmed just days before mommy returned to work. I was a WRECK, but it got better.

What a stud

You are the best dressed baby boy on the block.