Weekend away

Sawyer quietly turned 8 months last week. I forgot to remember. Last weekend he had his first overnight stay with his grandparents while Scott and I attended the Virginia Press Association awards in Norfolk. We were gone for a total of 48 hours. I barely missed him. Does that make me a crappy parent? I mean, I was anxious to get home, but I knew he was fine and that my parents were spoiling him to death. The worst part was realizing that he barely missed me. He didn't even smile or reach out his arms when I arrived. He just chomped on his nuk and stared at me with those big gray eyes. My parents spent the weekend watching baby tv, documenting his every escapade for the retelling, and moving large stacks of magazines. Did I mention that WSP has the same adoration for newsprint as his parents and grandparents? He bee-lines across the room for any magazine, newspaper, publication and immediately eats it. I had to scrape a kodak ad off the roof of his mouth on one occasion when I didn't move fast enough. All the electronic buttons within reach at my parent's house were also a thrill. If he had his way with them, my parents would never be able to turn their dvd player on again. Upon my return, my dad demonstrated how he could move his leg back and forth in front of the electronics to prevent Sawyer from reaching any of the buttons. Hmm. Sounds like fun. I, personally, have no aversion to the word "no." Sawyer also learned that its fun to dive back and forth between adults' arms - a game that I am sure we will play for hours on end when we travel to California. If they had a video camera, my dad said he would have shot footage of Sawyer walking around the room holding onto furniture. We're taking bets on when he starts really walking. My parents think it's going to be a month or two. I'm guessing he will be closer to a year. His hips still wobble like he's playing with a hula hoop. He also mastered eating Cheerios this weekend. I am always amazed how things like that happen overnight. We've put them in front of him for months but he always just dropped them on the floor. Now they actually make it into his mouth and he gums them before swallowing. No gagging. Next challenge - sippy cups. So far he just bites the nozzle a few times and cries. At the end of the weekend, my parents were amazed at how "quickly you forget" what it's like to have a baby in the house. They had both clearly bonded with their grandson, which was a joy for me to see. They said they would be happy to do it again – when Sawyer is 3.