♥: 18 MONTHS and TROUBLE

Sawyer loves ice-cream. Once we were shopping at Wegmans and I put some ice-cream in the cart. Sawyer saw it and he wanted it right then! I tried to explain to him that I didn't have a spoon and we had to wait until we got home. Either he couldn't understand me or he didn't care, either way he was not happy. When we got home and I was unloading groceries, he went through my bags until he found the one with the ice-cream. And I gave him a bowl.

He usually gets what he wants because he is so persistent, and maybe as the third child he takes advantage of his worn-out/preoccupied parents and is able to get away with more. But I have decided to crack down on toddler crime! He won't get away with his hooligan ways much longer.

Sawyer does make a lot of trouble. However, analyzing his ways has led me believe that he's not a trouble maker, at least not purposely. He is just very curious and has to touch everything he is curious about. And he rarely sits still.

I'll use the example of about one ten minute period... I was making pizza with Bridger and Myra and Sawyer pushed a third chair over to the counter and started poking the dough too, so I moved him to the table where the only thing on it was a tape dispenser which he promptly took hold of and proceeded to empty, with great long movements. I moved him to the living room floor where he caught sight of a library book he wanted to look at and out of happenstance, ripped several pages out. As I was reassembling the pages, one of the kids opened our sliding glass door that leads onto our, at the time, unfinished deck, and Sawyer ran right out precariously close to the edge with no railing, I caught up with him in a seconds time (oh what fun and giggles for a toddler), but a second later could have been disastrous... And that is a fairly normal day with Sawyer, although now our deck is completed with railings.

He is near-constantly under my feet, or rather, hanging onto my legs with much begging/whining to be held. I wish him to go away, however if ever he does I am sure to regret my wish minutes later when I find that he has emptied and scattered a deck of Uno card all across the floor, or maybe unrolled the all toilet paper off the roll, or quite possibly has thrown tiny toy treasures into the toilet and is using his hand to stir up his concoction.

Emptying my cupboards and spice racks, typing/pounding on the computer keyboard, opening the fridge and freezer wide to peruse/dislodge the contents inside are just some of Sawyer's favorite hobbies.

A favorite game of his is trying to jump off things that are high: steps, couches, changing tables... He's going to break his noggin one day when I'm not watching.

Deft he may appear to be, but he falls off our tall kitchen chairs regularly. Bumps and bruises are a common result of being a toddler.

He would be a good eater if he could sit still long enough to eat.

He loves books. The trouble is that, in his wild eagerness to read, ripped pages is inevitable.

When constant supervision and attention is not possible he appears untamed, reckless, and terrible. It is at these times, maybe when I am busy with a project, cooking dinner or otherwise, that I call in Bruce. He and Sawyer have much in common, both like eating crayons, both try to eat out of my swept dirt piles, both occasionally escape home (child catchers and dog service departments beware ;))... these common interests make them great pals. Bruce tends to be more obedient than Sawyer and he is something like my baby sitter.

It is probably because of Sawyer that I have decided to throw away all my shoes that can't be run in. Because if I can't run in the pair, I usually end up kicking them off an chasing kids down barefoot instead. I tell you, put his trike and Sawyer together and he rides off with the wind and me at his heels, trying to make it to where I know not, outside of our own cul-de-sac.

Teasings, gigglings, and cute smirks make him most love-able though.