Sawyer: 3.5

Happy half birthday to our Soy Bean!!! He is becoming such a little man (not really little) and is so spunky and smart. One big thing that has changed since his third birthday is he has been promoted to "Big Brother" and boy has he deserved it. He is such an amazing big bro and loves "his baby" so much. I can honestly say, every day with him is an adventure and I love our daily chats and snuggles. He is such a Mommy's boy!

He started preschool in the spring and is thriving. They have moved him into the pre-k group which is still in the same room but with older kids. Can't wait to see what new things he learns. 

Sawyer Stats

Height: 3 ft. 3 in.

Weight: 40 lbs.

Sleeping: still naps and is a great sleeper. Takes 2-3 hr naps every afternoon and usually is in bed by 8 pm. Lately with mom on maternity leave he will sleep until 7 a.m. (this is sleeping in for him)

Potty Training: 100% potty training in day since November and night since around May.

Favorite Foods: hasn't changed much...Turkey dogs, chicken nuggets, turkey/cheese roll-ups, pizza, lucky charms (we do Mom's Best), fruit snacks and loves his unique mix of half orange/half apple juice and his milk!

Favorite Books: He has so many favorites it is hard to name...but a few are Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Big Whoop, Anything Pete the Cat and a new favorite is Spot

Favorite Songs: He is discovering so many new songs and his choice of favorites is pretty hilarious. His current favorites are: Watch Me Whip by Silento, Geronimo by Sheppard, Buddy Holly by Weezer, and Elastic Heart by Sia

Favorite Toys: Pretty much the same....Thomas the Train, anything sports related (hockey, football, baseball), Lego's and of course pool toys.

Favorite Shows: Miles from Tomorrowland, Micky Mouse Clubhouse, Jake and the Neverland Pirates. He also just started watching Reading Rainbow on Netflix and loves it.

Favorite Movies: Hasn't been watching movies as much but he recently discovered two movies he really likes; The Little Rascals and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!

Favorite Item of clothing: Loves his rain gear but if his new backpack counts, that would be a winner.

Favorite Activities: Still loves dance parties, going to the "baseball park" aka Dan Kinney, playing trains, reading books and playing the letter game on my phone. He is still playing hockey and is getting better every class. He loves to be in the kitchen with me and we have been cooking different things with me, recently we have done a cake and helping me make my first batch of kombucha.

picnic at school

built a robot

making a cake

amazing Big Brother

our little hockey star

Learn to Play Hockey Demo

Sawyer just recently completed his second Learn to Play Hockey session at Mediacom Ice Park.
At the completion of this last session, they had a special Demonstration Showcase for the players to show friends and family what they learned. This was one of those moments, as a parent, that I was filled with so much joy and pride for my son. He was the youngest, by far, and while he might have not been able to do the majority of the drills the other players did he never gave up and skated and played with such dedication. It was awesome! The head coach Al, even announced him and got the crowd cheering him on (you can sort of hear on the video). He joked he was almost like the little star of the show. When he asked Sawyer what he loves most about hockey, he responded, "I like shooting the puck into the goal." Love it!

getting instructions from the couches before the demo

Let's try to take a group photo....

nice stance

so far so good

starting to lose Sawyer's attention

Yep, there he goes (on the far left)

Coach Austin had to pick him up (he's in the back)

Follows Coach Austin every where!

Sawyer learns to skate

Daddy Sawyer bonding

Sawyer has been a hockey fan (especially the St. Louis Blues) since he was just a few months old. He would sit in his bumbo seat with daddy and watch the games. He went to his first Blues game (vs the Black Hawks) when he was just over one year old. His Grandpa Mike and Great Uncle Scott, and Great Grandpa Lloyd all played & coached hockey so it is just in his blood. He has had a hockey set since his first birthday and can tell you just about everything about the sport including his favorite player (TJ Oshie) and how they clean the ice (The Zamboni). We were able to take him to a Tampa Bay Lightening game when we were in Florida in October. We knew as soon as they would allow him, we would sign him up for skating. This past Saturday, Mediacom Ice Park had a free skate day and they asked me to bring him up to test him on whether he was ready to start classes this upcoming week. The reason? Technically, he is supposed to be 3 years old (he is just two months shy) and in order to start the class, they have to go on the ice with only a coach...no parents. He passed with flying colors. He grabbed the coaches hand and went out on the ice and had an amazing time, skating for about 40 minutes. She even let go a few times and he skated to her. I couldn't stop smiling and he couldn't either. Since he passed, his official classes start this Thursday night. This class is eight weeks and then we will hopefully graduated to the next level and then on to Learn to Play Hockey.

a couple months old watching a Blues game with daddy

First St. Louis Blues Game at 14 months

See already a part of the team!

Learning with Grandpa (a little over one year old)

First time on the ice at a little over one

Tampa Bay Lightening Game - Oct. 2014

Here are some of the pictures of his lessons Saturday, I got from the sidelines. He is a natural!

Coach Grandpa helping lace up his hockey skates

heading out with Coach Laura

walking around like he has been doing it his whole life.

hard to see but she isn't holding on and he is skating to her

Hamra Family Vacation // St. Petersburg, FL

John, Sawyer, and I took our first family vacation!!! About a month and half ago it hit me, we needed a vacation, just the three of us. This may be the last chance if and when we decide to expand our family and I don't want to miss out on that opportunity to give Sawyer an only-child style vacay :) Spoil him a little. So we booked a 6-day trip to St. Pete. We had such an awesome trip, we had no plans...just wanted to relax, swim, play and eat lots of good food. We ended up doing so many fun things and couldn't have planned it better myself. We got to meet up with family and I was even able to surprise John with family photos on the beach to document this first family trip...and it was on his birthday. We loved it so much we hope to bring Sawyer back again, maybe do an annual trip.
Here's how we spent our trip...

Thursday

Travel day, a flight delay but we got there to enjoy a beautiful sunset, play a little in the sand and have dinner at our resort (The Sirata Beach Resort).

Friday

Started the morning with breakfast at Paradise Grill on the beach of Passe-a-Grill the headed to spend the the day at Fort De Soto Park. The Park consists of 1,136 acres made up of five interconnected islands (keys) and lots of places to explore. We stayed at North Beach which was very quiet with beautiful white sand. On our way out we took a walk on the Pier. That night we ate at a very yummy restaurant called Snappers, we both had amazing seafood entrees and Sawyer got to try his first bite of Key Lime Pie!!

Saturday

Had breakfast at Guy Harvey's RumFish which has a huge aquarium right by your table! It was a little rainy so we drove to Clearwater (about 40 mins away) and visited the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home of Winter from Dolphin Tale and where they filmed the movie. While there we also got to take the boat to their second location and saw a few dolphins on the way. When we were leaving Sawyer fell asleep so we decided to drive to Tampa for a late lunch. I found a place called Columbia Cafe on the Tampa River Walk. John had an authentic Cuban and we both enjoyed made at the table White Wine Sangria. We hung out there for a while and watched the Dragon Boat races going on from the patio. Across the street was the Tampa Bay Lightening Arena, so John walked across the street to the ticket office to see if there was a hockey game that night...lucky enough, there was! So we bought tickets. While waiting for the game, Sawyer got to play in the river walk fountains. The game was a blast, so glad we decided to go.

Sunday

John's family who lives in Tampa organized a lovely brunch for us at their awesome ocean-view home. The kids played and we even got to celebrate John and Jayden's birthday with cake. After, we headed back to our beach to play in the sand and finished at our pool before Sawyer went down for a nap. That night, we met back up with John's cousins Sarah and Andrew and their little guy Ezra, for dinner at Gator's in Treasure Island. Sawyer even got to try gator bites, he wasn't a huge fan. Across the bay was a draw bridge and Sawyer was just fascinated!! It was a great night finished with a beautiful sunset!!

Monday

John's birthday!! We started the day with breakfast (at our now favorite place) Caddy's on the Beach in Treasure Island. It was also right on the beach but it was just such a cool atmosphere with really yummy food. Sawyer enjoyed chasing the birds on the beach while we waited for our food. We headed back to our hotel for a full beach day and some pool time too. That night we had our family photos at Treasure Island at twilight. Sawyer wasn't in the best mood but I think we were still able to get some good ones. I found Kristen Sloan online and fell in love with her family portrait work, her husband was also there as a second photographer. They are an amazing team, check out their worth HERE.
Can't to see them all! After photos, we grabbed dinner at Sea Hags and celebrated John's birthday.

Tuesday

It was our last day so we drove to Tampa for breakfast at Pinky's Diner (delicious greasy spoon with awesome coffee!) and a full day at the Tampa Lowry Zoo. I highly recommend this zoo, awesome exhibits and even rides for the kiddos. It was even voted #1 Zoo in the US by Parents & Child Magazine! They had two new baby elephants that were putting on quite the show playing in the water. They are also home to the only manatee hospital in the US. They had a sting ray area where Sawyer got to touch them, he thought that was super cool.
 After the zoo we headed to the airport to head home. We had a few more delays on the way home, so didn't get back home until close to 11:30 PM! 

Sawyer was an awesome traveler and can't stop talking about playing in the sand. He already wants to go back. 

To see all our pictures from out trip:

https://karitravels.shutterfly.com/3061

Here are a few of my favorites:

Arriving at the airport

watching movies on the plane

view from our room

First beach day at Fort De Soto

First bite of Key Lime Pie at Snappers

Boat ride to Clearwater Marine Aquarium 

playing in the fountains at Tampa River Walk

bounce house at the Amalie Arena

Ready for the Tampa Bay Lightening game,
you can tell Sawyer had a long day

Me, Carolyn (our hostess), Sarah, and Mary

kids playing at brunch

Andrew & Ezra, Larry, Jason, Jayden, John and Sawyer

Their beautiful deck overlooking the water

Dinner at Gator's with Sarah, Andrew and Ezra

chasing the birds

Looks comfy! 

Birthday Dinner for John 

Penguins at the zoo

Tall enough to ride by himself

petting the sting rays