Happy Birthday Sawyer!

That's a lot of pictures for a year huh?!

Sawyer's ONE! Yikes. Let me say that again... Sawyer's ONE! It just doesn't seem real. At 9:57am this time last year I was in the hospital giving birth to him. No way. A whole year?!? It has been a great year, but a super fast year. It goes SO fast. My baby boy is not a baby anymore. Sad, I know. The cool thing about Sawyer is sometimes he made you forgot how hard having a baby actually was. He made it so easy for us. Always happy. Totally laid back. Breastfed, slept and remained happy in between. Everything you could ask for... and then some. In one short years time he has gone from being totally dependent on us and sleeping all the time, to scooting all around the house and "talking" up a storm! He has gone from 9 pounds 11 ounces, to around 20 pounds(exact weight to come next week after his appointment!) and from 0 teeth to 6 teeth(two more are about to break through!). He grew out of newborn clothes rather quickly(surprise, surprise!) and is now in 6-12 month clothes. And, his tiny little foot is all the way up to a size 3! Crazy huh?!? A lot has changed about him in a year, but one thing I'm pretty certain will never change is the fact that he is the happiest little guy you could wish for. So happy it's contagious. You can't help but catch the happy bug if you are around him! I'm pretty sure you would want to have a dozen children if you had just one Sawyer. Yep, he's pretty special! As you can imagine his likes far outweigh his dislikes...

What Sawyer Likes:
- Dancing - This is most certainly at the very top of his list. The child loves to dance. Anytime he hears music playing his body is moving. Super cute to watch! It makes him so happy!!
- Scooting - That's right. Sawyer took after his big brother and decided crawling wasn't for him either. What is it with these Ronn boys?!? I guess they just want to be different! Different sure is cute! To watch Sawyer scoot across the room on his bottom is about the funniest thing I have ever seen. I thought Hayden rolling was hilarious, but this scooting is even funnier. He is so fast and it is so cute! Keep scooting Sawyer, you crack me up!
- Attention - Just like the rest of us Ronn's, Sawyer loves to have undivided attention. And, don't let his sweet little personality fool you, when he wants something like attention he will do what it takes to get it! Yes, he has a voice as well as a scream, and he does use it. You wouldn't believe how loud someone so little and sweet can get when he needs to!
- Story time - He enjoys both "reading" and being read to which is so much fun. Most of his "reading" consists of actually teething on the books, but that's okay! He really loves when Hayden reads to him because he gets passed the book to munch on every couple of pages! Sweet of big brother right?!?
- Splashing - So fun! The bathroom would literally be covered from top to bottom in water if it was up to Sawyer. We have to do some serious splash monitoring during bath time! It gets crazy in there! Crazy fun, but crazy none the less!
- Pointing - At any and everything. And all.the.time. It is really cute because it is like he is showing you what he wants when he isn't quite sure how to say it yet. There is just something about that teeny little pointer finger going up in the air that is so cute! Love it!
- Hayden - Now this is the sweetest thing you have ever seen. They are best friends, and I hope it can always be that way for them. It is just so neat to watch them with each other. It is amazing how you can actually see love between them. No words have to be said and neither of them have to tell you. It is so obvious. I love how much fun they have with each other. Now with all that love and sweetness also comes the fighting, but you almost just forget about that completely because the good just far outweighs the bad. Like I said, sweetest.thing.ever.
- Loud toys - The louder the better. Why not?!? Everything around here is loud, might as well have loud toys too!:)
- Assisted walking - Not with a walker, with a human! He loves for you to hold his hands and let him walk around. He will scoot over to you and grab your fingers to pull up on and then take off. I'm sure it won't be long before he will be walking right by himself, but for now he's enjoying a little help!
- Sydney - Playing with her, hugging her, kissing her, and mostly... pulling her hair! We have to really watch when Sawyer decides he is ready for his Sydney time! She is really good about letting him do whatever, but when the hair pulling starts we quickly intervene. Can't let him hurt our little girl... or let her hurt him in defense!:) They have so much fun playing toys and chase together, I would hate for a little hair pulling to ruin their relationship!
- Music/Singing - We listen to music around here all day long and boy does Sawyer love it. It won't be long before he will be singing the words with us! He actually tries to now, but you most certainly can't make out what he is saying! He does however clap and dance along just fine! So cute!
- Animals - Everything about them. Petting them, admiring them, feeding them, listening to the noises they make, and even trying to imitate them. Hints why he had a barnyard bash for his first birthday!
- Opening and closing doors - I had to list this because he can spend 15 minutes at a time occupied by one silly door. He will just sit in front of it and open and close it over and over. So silly, but apparently so fun! Oh, and I can't forget the doorstops... he loves the doorstops. Loud yes, but entertaining and fun so definitely worth it!
- Talking - If there was a love category this would be there. I'm pretty sure he thinks we understand all of his gibberish! He does have quite a few words that we can understand with Da-da still being his favorite! He has finally decided he would let us hear him say Momma, but it is very rare that he busts it out. I guess I'm ok with that for the moment because I know it will get totally worn out here shortly!:) He attempts to copy almost anything we say(especially Hayden) and he and Hayden have their own little conversations all.day.long. So cute I might add!
- Giving out high fives - This is still pretty high on his like list, and I don't see it being moved anytime in the near future. It is just one of his favorite things to do. It is like an actual activity for him!
- Play time with Mommy and Daddy - Especially when we lift him up above our head! There is just something about being up high that gets him laughing and it is the cutest thing ever. He truly loves any type of playing we do with him, but this one just seems to be his favorite.
- Kisses - Open mouth ones that is. When you ask him to give you a kiss he just opens up his mouth, sticks out his tongue and dives for your mouth. So sweet, but so slobbery and messy! He is also a big fan of the eskimo kisses which are tons of fun! I love seeing that head going from side to side when he's ready for his eskimo kiss!

What Sawyer Dislikes:
- Leaving Mommy or Daddy - Very tip top of his list. Separation anxiety has kicked into gear and it is in full force. Just like his brother, he has the hardest time having to leave us. We really only leave him during church which should be tons of fun for him, but he spends the hour crying for the most part. The second he sees his classroom and knows we are going to leave him he starts crying. So sad. I know it will get better, but right now he is just having the hardest time with it. It is so bad sometimes he even cries when we try to let other people hold him. And I'm not talking strangers here... I'm talking people we see all the time. It is crazy and sweet all at the same time. He just needs his Mommy and Daddy right now!:)
- Teething - This is never going to leave his dislike list. He just has a hard time getting those teeth to break through and the poor child gets so many at once. Poor baby... it really bothers him. We keep lots of Motrin and Tylenol on hand in this household!
- Table Food - Well anything other than baby food actually. Crazy right?!? The child will not even eat a puff. I'm pretty sure we were buying puffs in bulk at this time with Hayden, and Sawyer will not even think about eating one. He actually gags himself if you even try to get him to try one. I'm gonna have to see what tips Dr. Papciak has for us at his one year check up next week. Surely he's got some kind of table food trick up his sleeve! At least I know he's getting nutrition through his baby food!

What Sawyer is not sure of:
- Being backwards in his car seat - I think he just doesn't understand why everyone else gets to face forward.:( It really isn't fair. It's just safe. I feel bad for him at times, but it is just the way it has to be for a little while longer. It isn't like he complains all the time or anything, but he does nearly break his neck trying to talk to one of us or Hayden. And to make it worse Hayden calls for him and talks to him nearly the entire time we are in the car to go somewhere. I can't wait until he is big enough to join the rest of us in the forward facing position. I'm sure he will be so much happier!
- Being told "No" - Sometimes when we tell him no he just stops whatever it is he is doing and moves on to something else, but there are other times that he just acts like he doesn't know what no means. Selective hearing already?!? Surely not. He definitely thinks when he shakes his head no to us when he is finished eating or doesn't want to do something we should stop immediately, so I'm pretty sure he knows exactly what it means. I'm thinking he just isn't sure if he always has to stop when he is told no. He'll be figuring that out soon enough I'm sure!:)

And now for some 1 year pictures.... YAY!!!

Farmer Sawyer!

Having such a good time!

Love it!

He had fun playing on this old tractor during our little photo shoot!

Can't you tell?!?

We kept hearing "Whoa!" Either he felt like he was
about to fall off, or he was thinking something
up there was pretty cool!:) Maybe a
little bit of both huh?!?

Like here... he might have been about to tumble!
Don't worry Gigi was right there to catch him!

And here... he thought whatever that thing is was the coolest thing ever!:)
After all, it did make one really cool noise when he banged on it!

The old tractor proved to be so much fun the
black from his hands got all over his face!
At least he was having a good
time right?!? Check out the
inside of his hand!

He was up to something here!

Like plotting how to get a grip on this water filled watering can!
Yes, water got all over the place after it tumbled! FUN!

Up close and personal!

It got a little hot and Sawyer started to lose his clothing...
How cute does he look on this huge tractor?!?

Eventually he was down to his boxers and birthday hat!:)

Sitting on planters...

Practicing standing...

And smiling for Momma!

We took a few pictures that day!

And when enough was enough he said
"It's my birthday and I'll cry
if I want to!"

But not before this sweet face got
captured on camera!

Sawyer's One Year collage!:)
Love you Sawyer!

Happy, Happy Birthday Sawyer! We love you so, so much! You are a very special little boy and we can't wait to watch you continue to grow. We are so blessed to have you in our lives and look forward to what the future holds for you!

Oh, and although we had his actual birthday party back on the 20th, we still just had to do something to celebrate on his actual birthday. Here's a little sneak peak at a few of the things our day entailed...

We started the day by sending Hayden off to his first day
of Pre-K 2... how sweet is Sawyer's goodbye kiss?!?
Don't worry, I will have a post about
Hayden's first day coming
up very soon!:)

Next up, Sawyer built a birthday bear!

Then it was time for story time!

We did lots and lots of playing at Imagine It!

And even met Governor Nathan Deal who shares
an August birthday with Sawyer!:)

We ate some birthday cookie cake of course!

A funny balloon making clown made Sawyer this birthday hat at dinner!

And we finished the big day with a birthday bath!:)

More pics and details from our day of fun to come shortly!:)