Sawyer is about two and a half now, so he's at a pretty fun age. He's at the point where he stops resembling a small child and starts to look and act more and more like a little person. It's pretty awesome.
In honor of Sawyer, I'm devoting this edition of Random Lists to listing some of the things he really likes at this point in this life.
1. His bike
In honor of Sawyer, I'm devoting this edition of Random Lists to listing some of the things he really likes at this point in this life.
1. His bike
Sawyer has been using his balance bike for about six months now, and its reaching a point now where I am seriously considering moving to a bike with pedals. He's basically mastered the art of the balance bike, as he can accelerate, coast, and turn with ease. He loves going to the top of the driveway of our complex and coasting down to go really fast. He also likes riding the bike over the "bumpy bumps" (potholes, curbs, branches - basically anything on the road). He is riding his bike to various places around the neighborhood, and he's fast enough that sometimes I have to jog to keep up with him.
2. The aquarium
2. The aquarium
Sawyer loves just about all sea animals, and while going to the beach every day and seeing dolphins, seals, and whales probably has something to do with it, I'm going to say the biggest influence is the aquarium. Last year we got season passes to the Monterey Bay Aquarium; since then we've taken Sawyer a handful of times and he loves it more and more each time. He loves picking out the sharks, watching the jellyfish and sea otters, and doing all the interactive kids stuff. As a result, we now have a kid whose favorite toy is a small orca and who has passed up cartoons to watch Shark Week.
3. Carbs
3. Carbs
Pancakes, toast, waffles, bagels, breads - you name it and he wants it. Sawyer is a slave to the almighty carbohydrate. Sure he'll eat other stuff, especially fruits and dairy, but if there's bread on the table, it's all the kid will eat. It's ridiculous.
4. Music
4. Music
He's a big fan of music in just about any form. He has certain songs that he loves (such as a certain Of Monsters and Men song that he made us listen to 9,000,000 times throughout most of last year), and if you play an instrument (like his uncle Jared does), then he will fall in love with you. Sometimes we like to play "family band," which is when Sawyer passes out instruments to everyone and we all play together.
5. His skateboard
5. His skateboard
He's not quite as good on the skateboard as he is on the bike (he's only just now getting to the point where he can push off and stand on it), but that doesn't mean that he doesn't love it any less. He'll play on one forever and try to emulate all of the cool tricks the older kids do. It's fun to watch.
6. Books
6. Books
Sawyer took a long time to get into reading books, but now he's here and loving it. He has a few favorites that he likes to be read to him over and over, and he's heard them so many times that he has them memorized and tried to "read" them to himself. He also really likes going to the library. We've started making a trip there every week or two to pick up new books. We've also done a lot of reading practice and he can now identify most of the letters that I point to.
7. Sports
7. Sports
Sawyer is fascinated by the idea of sports - he loves watching older kids play games like soccer and baseball and then trying to copy them at home or at the park. We went to the park the other day and Sawyer was excited to find that someone left a baseball on one of the baseball fields, so he pretended to throw the ball around and then run around the bases. To add to that, he got a mini basketball hoop and soccer goal for Christmas, so he is having a lot of fun practicing all of his new skills.
8. The beach
8. The beach
Sawyer loves playing on the beach and has little to no fear of the ocean, which means you have to keep a good eye on him or he's liable to just run out there. He likes when I hold him and then take him really far out into the water, and he likes throwing rocks into the ocean and looking for dolphins. But most of all, he LOVES watching surfers and trying to copy them on his little boogie board.
9. Taking selfies
9. Taking selfies
In reality, he likes using our phones whenever we'll allow him. I always said I would never be one of those parents that lets their kid use their smart phone, but there are a bunch of educational games he can play and sometimes he just talks SO much that you should all bite me and reserve your judgement. In addition to the kids games, he likes taking pictures on the phone. He hasn't really mastered smiling while taking his own photo, and he tends to take about 400 pictures in a row that all look the same.
10. Drawing
10. Drawing
Sawyer has become obsessed with drawing over the last few months. He loves drawing circles (about the only thing he knows how to draw at this point), but he also likes telling you what to draw and watching you draw it. He's also getting into tracing his hand, which is pretty darn cute to watch.