Scary Monkey, Gymboree, etc.

So, Owen's babbling is still non-specific, meaning he says mama and dada, but not as a name for us. He is, however, communicating w/ "Scary Monkey". Scary Monkey is a stuffed monkey I bought him at the beach that is wearing a cheesy "I love Holden Beach" t-shirt. It wasn't until we got him home that we realized that SM makes a horrible screeching sound when you squeeze his belly. No doubt it's supposed to sound like a monkey call, but it more closely resembles a cat being run over by a lawnmower or something equally disturbing. Kyle started it--let's get that straight from the beginning. Squeezing SM's belly to get a reaction out of Owen. First, shock. Eventually, kicking and smiling and squealing--sounding just like SM! Now, when we are in Owen's room, he reaches up to SM and squeals until we squeeze his belly (SM's, not Owen's).

All fun and games until last night when we were trying to wind Owen down for bed (a challenge in itself because it was the first night w/ no nursing! Yea!), but he kept squealing and looking for SM. Kyle couldn't stop laughing. Perhaps we can distract Owen w/ a bedtime story? Yes, unless it's Kyle's "dramatic reading" of the book "I love You Through and Through"...almost as scary as SM himself. So, our first evening w/ no nursing and Kyle's full involvement in the "bedtime routine" was very interesting...

Anyways, Owen finally went to sleep. SM may be finding his way back to the beach soon...

In other news, Owen has his first "gym membership"! We joined the Gymboree here. It's great. It's basically a 45 minute "class" once a week where he gets to crawl through tunnels and up big foam ramps and stairs, play under a giant parachute, play with bubbles, etc. All w/ this crazy teacher lady singing and banging a tambourine (it's like being in a musical you don't know the words to...but I bet we learn). It was hard to take pictures and participate too, but here he his braving the tunnel. In similar news, he is quite speedy making it up our stairs (w/ supervision). And if they were a little wider I think he could almost come down them...time will tell.

Here he is doing a little exploring outside. If I could just teach him to use a trowel. Next spring...
And "helping" me w/ the dishes. Dirty utensils are no match for him.
I think that's about it. Oh, he's got 2 more teeth. The other one on top has poked through and there is one on the bottom. We're busying ourselves this week preparing for his BIRTHDAY PARTY on Saturday. My mom is coming and it is supposed to be a beautiful day, so I'm excited. Until then...

Teeth, Grapes and Push Toys

So, just a little Owen update.

1) He is finally has his FIRST TOOTH! Friday morning he and I were playing and I spotted it--just a little millimeter of a white line peeking out from his gums, on the top! (Most babies get their first teeth a lot sooner...and they usually get the bottom first; but we know Owen likes to do things his own way on his terms, so we're not surprised!) Luckily, the other top tooth looks like it won't be far behind, so he won't be a "snaggle tooth" for long. I'll get a photo, asap.

He's been pretty fussy the last few days (b/c of his tooth?...we've been waiting to blame fussiness on teething for 11 months)...he's not sleeping well, and he's not eating well. Pretty much the only thing that he wanted today was grapes. The boy LOVES grapes; about as much as Kyle loves ice cream, which should put things in perspective for those of you who have been to our house after dinner...

"You looking at ME?"

"I LOVE my push toys! I LOVE being in the grass! I love everything!"
Owen's appetite for repetition is enormous when it comes to going up and down our little "hallway" with his push toys. (Uncle Alex asked if they were like an old person's walker...yes, but more colorful and you can ride them when you get older.) His waddle is not unlike my walk when I was 9 months pregnant with him...especially interesting from behind. Just another sign that walking for real won't be that far away...now when he crawls, he often does it on one knee and one foot--that definitely needs a name.

"A Bold Undertaking"

I mentioned in my last post that we had a crazy week last week...

But first, what you're really here for--an update on Owen. :)

He's doing great, of course! He continues to get easier and easier on the fussy scale, and more and more rambunctious, interactive, fun, etc. He's a sneaky little booger--getting into anything he can--opening the fridge (he gets mad at me when I close the door and he can't get in), trying to get in the toilet to splash his hands around (we now have to keep the lids down). He's definitely "cruising" around furniture and love to pull up on us, which makes walking difficult! Beyond the crawling and standing up (and letting go!), his seemingly favorite move is one we like to call the "sit n' spin". He sits and spins himself around by kicking/scooting his feet. Sometimes he actually uses the move w/ a purpose to face something he wants, but sometimes he just goes around and around and around...

He's enjoying his big boy finger foods and doesn't like to be fed anymore. He's also taken to trying to feed us--grapes are a favorite.

This probably won't sound like a big deal to anyone else, but he's just in the past week or two starting sleeping in a new position. For 10+ months he layed flat on his bag with his blanky on his face, arms up over his head. Truly hysterical. Now he's got a 2nd position: a funny little side position--almost pike-like, and sometimes his feet are in the bars of his crib. Either way--why are babies so stinking cute when they're asleep? Ooohhhhh, the nights of rocking him and rocking him and trying to get him to stop crying so we could all get some shut-eye! Seems like SO long ago (thank goodness)! There was that 3rd position today, but I'm hoping he'll outgrow it (see post below)...

I feel like toys are becoming a bigger part of his life--I guess becuase he is actually playing with them and sometimes even by himself. We have a few new balls and a couple of borrowed push toys that are a big hit right now! Our favorite non-toy entertainment is peekaboo (I never thought there would be so many ways to play this game, and that it would never cease to be fun for him) and clapping. Boy, do we love to clap! (Seriously though, it is amazing to know that he understands what we're saying/doing and he can follow a simple instruction!)

Okay, enough about Owen, right?

THE BEACH TRIP: A BOLD UNDERTAKING

So, my neighbor and good friend Ann realized that Kyle and her husband Terry would both be gone for several days last week and she had a hankering to get her two kids (David, 2.5yo, Lauren, 7mo) to the beach one last time for the summer...It didn't take much convincing. We started talking Monday and decided on Tuesday to leave that night w/ the kiddos asleep in the car.

We tried to do things to make the trip as easy for ourselves as possible...we had a house rented at Holden Beach (where we went in May), bought easy food; all things were going according to plan...

Until her SUV battery decided to die while we were driving through Greensboro. It was now or never w/ a very excited toddler who HAD to get to the beach...so we had to rent a mini-van (actually a blessing in disguise) at the nearby airport and transfer all the stuff and three kiddos (1 sleeping, 2 too-wired to sleep). Back on the road. Until I got pulled over for crossing the center line at 2:30 in the morning on a small neighborhood street at the beach while going approx. 20 miles an hour trying to find the beach house in the dark w/ poorly lit address numbers--4 houses from our destination. No ticket, but he wasn't very nice and he woke up all the babies w/ his loud speaker and flashlight. Ugh. I think we all got to bed about 4:30 and I know they got us up at 7:30. Let's go to the beach beach beach! (Did I mention that all of this was only barely pre-hurricane?)

The next two days were a blur--sunny beach time, nap times (for me, not for Ann since she has two--that makes you think doesn't it!), toddler discipline, "family" meals, lots of tag-teaming and fun mommy conversations at night (over a glass of wine). Owen is fascinated by David--who needs toys when you have at toddler to entertain you? David brought us make-believe coffee from the coffee shop. Owen demonstrated his ever-increasing maturity by studying the sand, but not putting it in his mouth! And Lauren, well, she's just an angel.

Seemed like some other things went "wrong" while we were there--but I can't remember them which means it was a good trip. Except one: Ann's wallet got left behind at an ice cream shop and they closed early and we couldn't get it back and then she got a call from one of her cards saying someone was using it. Not a fun way to end the trip. Oh, and she got pooped on in a major way on the way home, with no accessible change of clothes--so two things.

In the end, we got the mini-van returned, her cards cancelled and reordered, the poop cleaned off, and the kids had a wonderful time (heck, so did we!) and we didn't even get any rain until we got back home! Lots of work, but well worth it. Although next time we're bringing our hubbies!

David and Owen playing in a puddle on the beach at sunset. Good times. By the end of the evening Owen was COVERED in sand-mud (most of it put there by David). :)

His face doesn't look happy, but trust me, he was.

Ann and sweet Lauren.

Mother and son w/ bad beach hair.

So Pittiful, So sweet

I intend on blogging and posting pictures from our CRAZY last week (impromptu beach trip!) tonight when I've got a little more time...but in the meanwhile, I have to share a quick story.

I put Owen down for his morning nap. Twenty minutes later he woke up crying. I thought-- bummer! what a short nap! But I waited a minute and he sounded like he was putting himself back to sleep (a certain type of cry/wimper). A minute or two later he was quiet. Yea! I went upstairs to check on him and found him sitting up in his crib but slumped over completely-- head laying on his feet. Sacked out.

So pittiful, so sweet. I almost laughed out loud.

I scooted him over and layed him down and he didn't make a peep.

He can get from standing to sitting in his crib, but he can't yet get from sitting to laying down (without falling over), so he was sort of stuck, but soooo sleepy. Again, so pittiful, so sweet.