Get Well Soon Nana!

Kyle's mom (Franny) had back surgery today. We have been told everything went very smoothly, and that although she is experiencing some pretty major post-op pain (as expected), she should recover well. We're all hoping that this is going to significantly improve her quality of life and enable her to pick up and chase after her grandkids (once they're mobile) with much more ease! Join us in thanking God for an uneventful surgery and pray that she gets well soon!

Get well soon Nana, we love you!

_____________

Sleep update: Owen is continuing to sleep very well at night and seems to go down better and better every day. He even seems to be getting the hang of naps...they're getting a little longer and more regular! Yea for the little guy!

Thank you, Dr. Ferber

So, in the saga titled "How to teach Owen how to sleep," we took a big leap last weekend and implemented the Ferber strategy of 1) a consistent bedtime routine, and 2) teaching Owen to fall asleep without the help of swings, swaddles, eating, being held/rocked to sleep, etc. (Yes, this means he cried, but it's not like Meet the Fockers. We go back in to reassure him and calm him--but not put him to sleep--in increasing intervals.) It was a HUGE success!

Ferber night #1: 2.5 hours to fall asleep, slept 4 hours
Ferber night #2: 1 hour to fall asleep, slept 9 hours (w/ no nighttime feedings)
Ferber night #3: 5 minutes to fall asleep, slept 10.5 hours! (w/ no nighttime feedings)
Ferber night #4: 30 minutes to fall asleep, slept 10 hours (w/ 1 nighttime feeding)
Last night (#5): 5 minutes to fall asleep, slept 10 hours (w/ 1 nighttime feeding)

Can you believe it? We're thinking the couple of nights w/ no nighttime feedings were helped out by the fact that the little guy was sooo exhausted. So, for the next while, I'm pretty happy with the way nights 4 and 5 went!

We're still struggling with naps. Ideally, for his age, Owen would take 3-4 naps a day (2 longer ones early in the day and 1-2 short ones later on in the day). He's able to put himself to sleep, but he can't seem to stay asleep. He's been pretty consistently going down in under 5 minutes, but only sleeping for 20.

Anyways, we're pretty excited. Having a nighttime routine (both at bedtime and in terms of being able to sort of predict how he'll sleep) is so great!

The little guy (or Stinker, as Kyle likes to call him) was really a trooper. He sort of moved beyond tired-fussy into tired-comotose for the first few days, so the weekend really wasn't as bad as we were prepared for!

At one point Owen fell asleep sitting up in his Bumbo chair. Poor guy. We had to pick him up (wake him up) and put him down in his crib.

Even a little sleep-deprived, we were able to coax some happy time out of him...how cute is this?

Midweek musings

1) It's facinating to watch a little brain and body develop on a daily, and sometimes hourly, basis. Every time we play Owen can grab the rings on Moosey's tail more consistently (and with more fingers). And if Moosey happens to "land" on Owen, he wraps his arms (and sometimes legs)around him and brings him up to his face (so he can suck on him), sort of like a full-body hug, but less coordinated.

2) It's really impressive when you can hear your child pass gass from a different room.

3) Play time with Daddy is rougher than play time with Mommy. Step one: Owen gets a pretty good grip on a little rattle that resembles a small colorful telephone receiver. Step two: Owen smacks himself in the head with it (those darn flailing arms)! Step three: Mommy comes in and asks why Daddy made Owen cry. (Not the first time he'll hurt himself while playing!)

4) Nostalgic mommy moment: It was really hard to pack up all of his itsy bitsy baby clothes last week. The pumpkin outfit he wore at the hospital for his first photo, his little blue "leisure suit" (light blue sweats), the zip-up onsie that said "baby" on it that I loved and Kyle hated (form over function), all the onesies that friends painted at my shower. I'm figuring out that this is going to last forever...that feeling of pride and excitement when he grows and develops, but always tempered by a little bit of sadness that he's not so little anymore. Other recent trade-ins: from sleeping on me (so sweet), to actually sleeping well; study and bird faces to smiles. Yay for pictures.

5) We've created a swing addict. Long story short, we had a hand-me-down swing that we didn't use much because if it did work to help calm Owen (which was rare) he would slump over in it because the chair didn't lean back enough. Then we tried cousin Bailey's swing over Christmas. Wow. So, we bought one--you know, the fancy, cradle-type ones that go side to side and front to back, has a moble, plays music, etc. Now we're hard-pressed to get him to sleep unless he's in the swing. Not exactly a sustainable strategy. We're doing some reading, but I think we may have to go cold turkey this weekend. Poor little guy. As Bee and Sido would say, once you've been to Paris (say Paree), it's hard to go back!

6) Owen has quite the little "back to sleep" bald spot. Like father like son. Sort of. :)

A few pictures

Owen helping Kyle study

Mommy must have said something funny.

Pooped out after a long battle with Moosey.

For your viewing pleasure

Video #1: Owen vs. the Green Clown

Video #2: Tummy Time at Nana's

We're back and bigger than ever!

Hey all you Owen-update-junkies (you know who you are)--we're back! I apologize for the delay in posting. As you can imagine, getting settled back in after our two-week trip has taken longer than expected! First, a run down of our wonderful trip to TX, then an update on the little guy.

CHRISTMAS

Owen's first Christmas was wonderful! Owen and I went to Austin a week before Kyle (who worked like a hospital troll while we were gone--boy did we miss him!). We spent time w/ my family and celebrated Owen's first first Christmas. As expected, Bee (my mom) couldn't get enough of her "grandboy" and this gave me a much needed break. But with almost comedic timing, Owen had a fit every time Bee took care of him while I showered or Sido came near. (It was nothing personal against them, but it did confirm Kyle's observation that Owen definitely knows who Momma is and he doesn't like other people pretending!) As long as I wasn't in the shower, he was great and tolerated lots of Christmas errands with Bee. (She got really good at imitating my "high mommy voice".

Grandstan (my dad) also got to babysit quite a bit. He perfected the front-facing hold/swing which we all had to learn, and managed to never change a diaper. And Uncle Alex (my brother), nervous at first, liked checking in on his little pal. He even showed some of his friends how to hold "the baby". We all had a great time laughing at some of Owen's new tricks (more on that in a minute).

Then Kyle got into town (not without first getting stranded in DC for a night) and we spent time in Meridian with Nana (his mom) and Luke (his brother), Melissa (Luke's wife) and Bailey (Owen's cousin--3.5 weeks older) for Owen's second first Christmas. This was the first time for the cousins to meet or us to meet Bailey, them to meet Owen. It was so special. Nana cried the first time she held both of them. And at first Owen couldn't stop staring at Luke (looks like Kyle but with much more hair)! It was so fun to have both of the babies together (in their matching Christmas jammies). They couldn't be more night and day. Beyond the obvious difference of being a girl, Bailey is seemingly always content. It's as if she's saying, "hey guys, I'm cool, don't worry about me!". She's the most chilled out baby I've ever met...a far cry from Owen. We hope they grow up to be great friends (and Owen one day sleeps as good as Bailey)!

Another really special thing was that Owen got to meet both of his living great-grandmothers (my dad's mom and Kyle's mom's mom). We got four-generation photos with both of them. He also met one of my aunts, two of his second cousins some dear friends: Stephanie (and her fiancee--congratulations!), Taylor and the Fosheas (welcome baby Emmy!).

We also got to spend a day at Camp Buckner (where Kyle, Luke and I were campers and on staff which is how Kyle and I met) for a counselor reunion and 20-year celebration. Last summer was the last year they'll be doing summer camp. We had fun reliving camp memories (so many to choose from) but it was sad to think that Owen and Bailey won't get to go there. Most of the former staff/campers are disappointed with the decision (and the reasoning behind it), but Kyle was good to remind me that God and his work are bigger than that place, no matter how special. So, Ooooooooweeeee and go go Comanches!

I can't write about Owen's first Christmas without mentioning a few favorite Christmas presents (in no particular order):

1. A very colorful Lamaz Moose that Owen loves
2. Lots of great books, but we have two favorites: "Owen and Mzee"...it's the true story of a 110 year old tortoise (Mzee) that adopted an orphaned baby hippo named Owen. Precious. And "First Bible Stories".
3. Two backpacks for Owen--one he fits in so we can take him hiking, and one he'll use (someday) that has farm animals and his name on it. Also precious.
4. All of our 9 "baby's first Christmas" ornaments. All special.
5. His first Christmas pjs (a Bee Christmas Eve tradition).
6. A really soft brown jacket with a hood and ears, yes, ears. Owen looks like a little ewok. More precious!

OWEN AT THREE MONTHS OLD (yesterday)

Owen seemed to turn a couple of corners while we were in TX. My dad said it was because he finally felt "at home". Perhaps nearing the three-month mark also contributed to it. I'm not going to argue about the why...

He is consistently sleeping during the night (meaning, no waking up and thinking its day and wanting to play). He even has a somewhat regular bedtime (although later than we would like) and waking-up time. (Now we're working on sleeping through the night (down with the 2 am feeding)! His naps are getting easier too. He still cries before sleep every time--I guess its his way of expending some energy. But in general he's a much happier baby. We used to have way more fussy time than happy time and its now completely the opposite, which is such a blessing! He's even liking, yes, liking his baths! He still looks at us with his most serious face, and he's not exactly splashing about or playing with his rubber ducky, but it does seem to calm him and we don't have to work to keep him from crying. Oh, he's also decided on a new favorite position...it used to be all cuddly all your shoulder, sort of hanging off your arm, but now he must face forward (what a particular little booger!).

He's so much more interactive now too...with us, and with his world (it's amazing how much he changes in just two weeks!). He continues to be enthralled with faces, particularly faces making noises. Sometimes it seems like he's actually trying to mimic the noises. And if you catch him in just the right mood, you can stick your tongue out and move it around and after a minute of watching he'll do the same! It's hysterical!

Until Christmas, I hadn't bothered with any real baby toys because he didn't seem to notice/care about them so we didn't travel with any. Then one night my mom hung a Christmas tree ornament (plush green clown) from his car seat bar and he went WILD. Eyes wide wide open. Arms and legs flailing. The car seat started rocking back and forth. It was a magical moment for little Owen. (Thank goodness we caught it on film.) He was swatting at that little clown and he knew that his movements were making it move (even if he wasn't sure if it was his arms or legs)! Then, the green clown got replaced by Moosey and we haven't looked back! (His intense look while he plays with Moosey does make it look they're fighting each other...like Owen thinks Moosey is trying to attack him from his suspended position!)

Our other fun new game is when I gently blow in his face (it sounds mean but he loves it). It takes his breath away (he does a little baby gasp) and then grins from ear to ear. This can be repeated every few seconds for minutes at a time. Blow, gasp, smile, repeat! (Also caught on camera.)

The other development to mention is physical. Owen went to TX with PJs that fit and returned with no PJs that fit. He's wearing some 6 and some 9 month clothes already! My mom gave him a onsie that says "well rounded" on it...how fitting! Oh, and did I mention the thumb sucking? Yes, we've moved from hands/knuckles to actually finding the thumb (and since he won't take a pacifier, I think this is great)!

Okay, I'll wrap this super-long post up with some favorite pictures from Christmas in TX. I'll probably post more later once we get the photos from other family members cameras. Combined, we probably took several hundred...can you blame us?

CHRISTMAS PHOTOS

Kyle, Owen, BB and Nana Franny

Owen being swung by Uncle Alex (check out the converse socks)

Nana with Bailey (left) and Owen (right) during boppy time

Owen in his "Sunday best" and me at big church Christmas Eve (it's hard to wear a turtle neck when you essentially have no neck, but we made it work)

Kyle w/ Owen and Luke w/ Bailey at Camp

Owen in his ewok jacket--our little bear!

My Granny w/ Owen and my dad (Granny was worried she wasn't holding him well enough, but he was zonked out and extremely comfortable like that!)

Bee holding her boy at the mall. He did so well on our Christmas shopping errands!

Grandstan w/ Owen at Whole Foods (where else?)