Masters Outfit

A buddy of mine picked up this onesie (sp?) from Augusta at The Masters this year for Sawyer.  Fits her perfect, just in time for the US Open.  She likes the collar popped.

Sunglasses & Pool Time

I stopped by a store in Little 5 Points yesterday and couldn't help but pick up a pair of sunglasses for Sawyer.  I think she pulls the look off quite well, don't you?

What's this thing?

Wow, I forgot that I was keeping a blog up to date. You know, the digital life really hasn't saved anybody any time. Can you imagine someone 20 years ago receiving the same volume of phone calls that they receive today via email. No way. There's just no way anyone could have been productive, let alone strategic or creative. Anyway, I digress. (Have you seen that commercial with that line?  Pretty good.)

Last weekend - or the weekend before - we took our first Sawyer-included road trip. And what a trip it was. Actually, that's hyperbole - it wasn't too rough. The trip up was the borderline uncomfortable one with Sawyer balling the last couple of hours....straight.  She was a champ on the way back.

Backtracking a little here to The Packing. We have a smaller SUV, but certainly still larger than the cars of yesteryear.  Anyway, I was packing this sucker up on the morning outing. Golf clubs - check, diaper bag - check, Toni's 3 bags for a 3 day-weekend - check....vibrating chair, BOB stroller, snap-n-go thingy, pack-n-play....nope, ain't gonna happen. Sawyer is going to have to learn to start traveling light soon because I don't want a Suburban. BP might depend on us new parents a little too much.

Here are some really cool photos from the weekend from a youngster who's picked up on the nurturing thing at age 7, almost 30 years sooner than the kid's dad. Aidan was a superstar.....

Toni and Mom look a little nervous, but the kid's got it....

He's got this down, right?  We need an extra on-call baby-sitter....

Hey!  That's my thing!  I'm pretty sure I'm the only guy that blows farting sounds on my child's stomach.  I invented that move!

Micah P. Hinson - Don't You Forget

Bath Time

Restraining Device

Toni was out of town and Sawyer was being a little cranky tonight.....

I'm only kidding, folks.

Lullabies

So, I got tired of listening to the "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" about 2 months ago.  I ended up buying some lullaby versions of some songs that I've listened to in the recent past.  They still kind of suck, but are heads and shoulders above the usual baby stuff.  Here's a sampling......

Radiohead - No Surprises (Lullaby)

AC/DC - Back In Black (Lullaby)

Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight (Lullaby)

Give Me Room

Here's a photo Toni took (notice the lack of focus) of Sawyer sleeping. Needless to say, I gave up the swaddling mess quite a while ago. This girl likes to spread out.

I'm glad she's sleeping in the crib. I can tell that Sawyer will be even more of a bed-hog than her brothers Ike and Blackjack.

Bob Dylan - Lay Lady Lay

The Birds and Bees

We're not the only ones raising a family at this house.  We've had this folk art birdhouse for over 5 years and it never attracted a bird.  Looks like our luck has turned.  It's tough to catch a photo....anytime I get close enough for a shot, they duck back in.  Looks like there are at least 3 chicks.  Grandma Russo says that it's a family of sparrows.

(Click on the photo to see the larger version and a glimpse at one of the chicks.)

Doc Watson - The Coo-Coo Bird

11 Pounds!

We took Sawyer to the Doc on Friday for her routine check-up.  She went from being in the 10th percentile to 50th percentile pretty quick.  Yeah, our kid's now average.  That's some serious weight gain there.

Manicure Time

This is an obligatory post, so I don't have too much of a gap in between posts.  I've been chastised in the past.

Here's Sawyer getting her nails done.  Apparently, she finds it as relaxing as her mother.

(No music on this one.  Not many results for "relax" or "nail" other than Kings of Leon's "Black Thumbnail", which just didn't feel right.)

2-Foot High Poop Machine

That was the nickname that my Pop gave my little brother when he was a baby. It's a pretty fitting moniker for our little one as well. This girl can create a movement that would rival Dr. King's.

Johnny Cash - Flushed From The Bathroom Of Your Heart

Multitasking Aunt

You have to admit this is pretty impressive. I mean, I can drink a beer while holding Sawyer, but that's about the extent of my multitasking repertoire. Here's aunt Lindsey - the maker of the bunny cap - taking care of business.

 (Well, I can do it with wine too. Well rounded, huh?)

Lucero - All Sewn Up

Little Bunny

Here are few shots from Sawyer last Easter Sunday.  The catchy cap was made by Sawyer's aunt Lindsey. Darn cute, if you ask me, although it took Sawyer some getting used to before she was comfortable with the latest fashions....

Dr. Dog - The Rabbit, the Bat, and the R

My Mom & Sawyer

My mother was here this weekend.  She was a trooper Friday and Saturday. I took the midnight to 1 am shift, then she took the rest. Toni, for once, got to sleep.  Or, at least she tried. Saturday night, the neighbors dog was barking. It was around 1 am. 2 am rolls around and Toni couldn't take it anymore.  She called the neighbor - who's a cop, by the way - and let her know, nicely, that she'd love to get some sleep. The neighbor was on duty and was surprised the dog was outside. Turns out her sister had her boyfriend over and they decided for some alone time. Yeah, not much of a story. It was good to have mom here, though.

Johnny Cash - Send a Picture of Mother (Live at Folsom Prison)

Lucero - Mom

Brothers

Couple photos of Sawyer's brothers.  Ain't nobody gonna be messing with her......

BlackJack

Ike

J.J. Cale - Don't Cry Sister

New Camera!

Now we're talking.  I received a new Canon DSLR for my birthday this week.  It's really crazy how much better the photos are.

Who Does Sawyer Look Like?

Ok, the great debate....who does Sawyer favor the most.  I'll let friends and family be the judge.

I'll go first.  I think I'm 3 days old in this photo.  Never since have I had as much hair.

Baby Cam

Next up is the mother of child, Mrs. Toni Glover (Ms. Rodd at the time).

Baby Toni

Now, for extra credit; which Office character does Tonia resemble in this photo?  (Sorry, Tonia)

(Answer: Jim)

My Morning Jacket - Look At You

Big Day Out

Sawyer got a taste of sports earlier in the week with Toni and Grandma Russo.  They went to Coach Tonia's soccer game.  Tonia, you might want to look into ways to drive attendance.

See The World

Sawyer is starting to focus.  Not great, mind you, but she's definitely aware that there's a world outside of peeing, pooping and burping. She's already more intelligent than some people I know.

Gomez - See The World

The Mississippi Grandparents

We had the pleasure of hosting the Mississippi grandparents a week or so ago.  (I know they're not going to like being called Mississippians, but I'm the writer of this sucker).   Here are some photos from the Sawyer-Sam-Debbie session......

In this one, Sam challenged Sawyer to a sleep-off....Sam's pulling ahead.

Debbie seems wide-awake.  Sawyer, not so much.  Take note, Sam.

(Oddly enough, this was an easy post to match to.  If you do a "mississippi" search in my iTunes library, you get a lot of songs.  Muddy Waters, R.L. Burnside, and others from the Delta pop up. Sawyer's going to be exposed to some music....definitely.)


Mavis Staples - Down in Mississippi
Bob Dylan - Mississippi

Blog Neglect, not Bottle Neglect

Keeping these things current is much more taxing than I would have expected.  So, I'll try for some multiple posts to make up for it.  It's really quantity over quality, right?

Uh oh, she's enjoying the bottle as much as her papa.  Double-fisting.....impressive.

Lucero - Kiss The Bottle

Weird Ears

When Sawyer was born I did the normal father stuff - immediately count the fingers, count the toes, give a cursory look over the rest of her to make sure she didn't have anything extra or was missing anything.  She checked out.  It wasn't until a week or so that I noticed that her ears were a little odd.  They weren't symmetrical.  Hardly a big deal, especially with a girl, unless she decides to go with the Sinead O'Connor look. Anyway, one had looked like it was folded, then ironed. The other; kind of pointy.  Here's the folded -ironed one.

I don't even think I ever mentioned noticing this until the other day when Toni was leaning over the sink while we were in the kitchen.  Her hair happened to be pulled back behind her ear - aha! the culprit. Here's essentially what I saw;

Maybe I'll take a photo of the Spock-like pointy ones on the left side of my two girls' heads later.

The Waterboys - And A Bang On The Ear

Photo Contest

Ok, who do you think takes better photos? Here's one I took.....

Here's one Toni took.....

Read this one quick because it might have to get pulled; Toni seems a little put off. I thought it was funny, but maybe it's the wine.

(And, for the record, this blog posts things in Pacific time - I'm not enjoying wine at work.)

Tom Waits - Old Shoes (And Picture Postcards)

Date Night

Too early?

So, Toni's been craving sushi and we really feel that Sawyer has started to blossom as a young woman. The amount of maturity she has been showing over the past couple of weeks has convinced us that she's old enough to watch the house for us while we're out for the night.

But, to be on the safe side, we've told Ike that he's in charge. We think they'll do just fine....

(By the way, is she flashing gang signs? Maybe we need to move to the suburbs.)

Bob Marley - Baby We Got a Date

Wake Up!

It's a rare thing to get a picture of Sawyer with her eyes open. Maybe I should start pulling the camera out around 3 am - she seems to be wide awake around that time. We, however, aren't cognizant enough nor in the picture taking mood at that hour. Here's a couple I was able to grab yesterday afternoon. We'll try to get more over the weekend. I'll take more if Toni allows me to buy that great Canon DSLR. So, family, if you want more shots you'll need to talk to the powers that be.

Arcade Fire - Wake Up

Rough Night

Last night was a tough one for all concerned. I'm thankful that it was a Saturday night. We assume it's constipation and/or gas, since she could be calmed lying on her stomach - only if we were holding her. Well, we knew what we were in for. Needless to say, the photo below was not from last night.

Lucero - Tonight Ain't Gonna Be Good

Funny Story

At least I think it's funny. Two nights ago was a pretty rough night. I finally got Sawyer to relax and put her down around 3 am. I'm sleeping upstairs and Toni's downstairs. She still needs to take it easy and climbing up the stairs a few times a day is against doctor's orders - even though I know she's probably not abiding while I'm gone during the day.

Anyway, 6 am rolls around and I wake up to sounds coming from the baby monitor. Now, Sawyer is 8 days old at this time and her vocabulary is limited to screams, cries and grunts. Even so, what I'm hearing from the monitor sounds very pronounced. Don't get me wrong, these weren't standard vocabulary words - more like "da da" and the like. However, they had a clear start and stop - she was trying to talk!

"Holy smokes, my baby's a genius", I'm thinking. I wake up immediately and go down the stairs. Toni's awake and in the living room. I said "Toni, you're not going to believe this, but Sawyer is trying to talk". She laughed at me and said that she was sound asleep. I went into the nursery and, sure enough, she was sleeping like a _____. (can't use the cliche here)

Turns out she might be a genius, but the indicators haven't shown themselves yet. Apparently, our baby monitor is on the same frequency as the parents across the street that have a 6 month old child.

I'll keep everyone apprised of future Einstein-like moments from the daughter and/or Moron-like moments from the father.

Morphine - You Speak My Language

Sawyer Doing What She Does Best

While she's pretty good at pooping and peeing, sleeping is a skill she's mastered...

She even sleeps in style. Check out the color coordination.

Uh oh, this is pretty close to thumbsucking. Where's the pacifier?

We actually don't know what color her eyes are.

R.E.M. - Daysleeper

Belle & Sebastian - Sleep The Clock Around