2 for 1 post

I have 3 things to say about this one: 1) Anyone remember the movie Parnethood w/ Steve Martin"? 2) This was unprompted--he decided to put the trashcan on his head and walk around all by himself. A new game (usually minus the crying). 3) Yes, the trashcan is clean.

This is what happens when Kyle is sweet to me and lets me sleep in or go back to sleep. Such a bad influence...

Happy (belated) Easter and Owen update

Happy Easter! We had a great day celebrating. We slept in (rather, Kyle let me sleep in--sweet guy), went to late church, took some pictures out in the SUN! and went to our annual Bible Study potluck dinner. Here are some photos.

It's getting harder and harder to get the little guy to 1) sit still for a photo, and 2) smile at the same time. You understand.

Nice slobbery Easter kiss for Momma. (Incidentally, I thought Owen looked so cute in his little sweater vest and shorts that I wanted to eat him--like a little blue Eater Peep.) And yes, there's a glimpse at my 22-week prego belly. Nice.

After a few photos it was lunch and nap time. After his nap (still in his sleep sack w/ blankie in tow--our little Silas) he got his Easter basket. Two little tubes filled with a variety of small plastic animals were/are a HUGE hit. The Nay and the Moo are definitely his favorite, but he has a sound/name for almost all of them. He likes taking them out of their new home (a plastic zip-lock) and putting them back in. Over and over again. He also got some of those little capsules that you soak in water and they "magically turn into" sponges in various animal shapes. Not such a big hit b/c he just wants to splash around in their water and isn't patient enough to wait the minute until they're done. Maybe next year.

Here we are back outside. He's in the middle of saying "a ball" which comes with very animated facial expressions like most of his words.

He's in the middle of saying something else here too...tree or bee or something. Here he is inspecting an egg that was hanging from a tree at Bible Study. They are (as are all things round-ish) "a ball".
Okay, totally unrelated to Easter. A few weeks ago we went out to eat at our favorite sushi/hibachi grille. Owen LOVED the chopsticks, both to drum on the table with before the food arrived and to poke all the food with (he was persistent in his attempt to try to eat by just stabbing what he wanted with one chopstick). He was a huge fan of the creamy sauce that came w/ my hibachi chicken dinner (but he wanted nothing to do w/ the chicken--he just dipped his chopstick in over and over again) and the (*cooked*) sushi! That night he was definitely in an adventurous mood (compared w/ the days when it seems like all he wants to eat are "nanas" and "rais" (raisins). Another new food thing...begging. It's unfortunatley really cute. After he's eaten, if we're still eating, he'll come over from playing, mouth agape, saying nothing, and just stand at your feet waiting for you to put something into his mouth. Even if it was something he didn't want to eat off of his own plate a few minutes ago. Like a little confused, but adorable puppy dog.

Other updates:

The weather has continued to be rainy a lot, but we've been trying to go to the park whenever we can. He's become quite the pro at getting up to and coming down the big kid slides all by himself. Sometimes it takes him a while because he gets distracted looked at all the big kids (people watcher like his Momma and Bee?).

One of my favorite parts of our day is when Kyle comes home (not for obvious reasons) but b/c we can see him drive up through the glass doors off the kitchen and all I have to do is point and say "Owen look" and he runs up to the door and starts stomping and yelling Dada Dada!...it's truly priceless.

He's consistently taking 1 nap, which is good, but its still a struggle to keep him "happy" during those late morning hours. Nighttime continues to be a breeze. And lately, Owen has started "helping" with the bedtime routine by telling us what's next. After his bath and saying goodnight to whichever parent is not putting him to bed, we go upstairs and he says "bank" and "boooootz" (blankie and books--it's reading time), and when we finish with that he says "tee" for brushing his teeth, then when we're done we go back into his room and he says "sohn" for songs and then its night night time. So sweet.

Speaking of happy...when he is, he is, and boy when he's not, he's really not. Kyle and I have been talking about this a lot recently. Our friends Katie/Joel put a post on their blog about their daughter Emmy (a few months younger than Owen) who is seriously testing limits and showing her little rebellious spirit. Owen shows his in a different way. We think overall (for his age of course) he's really good about responding to No. He understands what is off limits and doesn't generally test us/them. In fact, he walks around the house sometimes pointing to certain things and saying "No" because he knows there is a no-no associated with them (like the elliptical trainer, or our bookshelf--he can't pull the books off), etc. HOWEVER, (and it's a big one) he may not be a limit-tester (yet/now) but he is a SERIOUS fit-thrower/whiner. Boy howdie. It seems like a big part of my day with him these days is dealing with little tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants, whether its 1) to draw with a sharpie instead of a crayon, 2) to eat his weight in raisins right before dinner, 3) to take his ride-on fire-truck on an errand...you get the idea. I sure hope this is a phase. I'm praying that the more he is able to communicate (and understand us), the better he'll be able to cope w/ not getting what he wants all the time. It's a lesson we all have to learn I guess. (This hasn't been the case w/ "More" because now that he can clearly say it, he often gets frustrated that the need/want isn't always met right away or at all...like, hey--I told you what I wanted, what's the hold-up?). Same goes for "my".

And speaking of communication...again, we are parents in awe. Just how quickly he (they--we realize he's probably not a genius, but its still amazing) picks things up. The limiting factor is definitely his verbal ability to actually pronounce things. It seems there is NO limit to the amount of words he can absorb. Kyle or I can tell him a few times what something is and then later ask him where it is or to point it out in a book and he can do it. One of Kyle's pet teaching projects is to start working on the alphabet with him (ambitious, yes). He can recognize and say O, E, I, A and B. Preschool here we come! :) Kyle has also taught Owen how to do "nuckles" or "fist pump" to add to his repetoire of greetings (hug, kiss, high five, wave). How very urban hip of him.

Can't think of much else. Choochoos, animals and balls continue to be the favorites. And bowls. He loves to have everything in bowls--his snack, bath toys, rocks. He's happiest if he has a bowl to put things in. Go figure.

As Owen says..."Byeeeeeeeee". (This is now umprompted--we don't have to tell him to say bye bye anymore. Also, he likes to say it to things--like when I put a box of crackers back in the pantry, or when he flushes the toilet (not htat he's potty trained, he just likes to flush the toilet--he waves at the water and says byeeee.) Okay, enough rambling...byeeeeee.

SOLD!

We SOLD our house today! Wooohooo! Praise the Lord!!!

It's been quite a learning experience and lots of work, but everything really turned out well and we're super glad to not have to keep the house "perfect" and plan our weekends around showings. Hopefully we won't do this again for a while!

We will really miss this house--it's been a great home for us and we have sooooo many memories here--all of Owen's firsts. But, it's all a part of the plan, so we're thankful.

We close June 10th so most likely Owen and I will move to AUSTIN(!) the weekend before and Kyle will follow at the end of the month.

We'll keep you posted. :)

Beeeeeeeeeee!

My mom, Owen's Bee, came up this past week. She spent part of Monday and all day Tuesday w/ Owen and I and then all day Wednesday and Thursday and part of Friday w/ Owen all by herself so Kyle and I could get away for a couple of days. I think everyone had a great time and Owen definitely got some official grandma-spoilage out of the deal.

She bought him his first couple of trains (Thomas, Percy, etc.) with a little track that is a huge hit. He was already obsessed with them and loves playing with David's as well as watching train videos on the computer. (When he sees Kyle or I at the computer he comes in and says Choo Choo or Nay meaning he wants to watch a train or horse video.) Also, she took him to McDonald's for a soft-serve ice cream cone (his first), and no surprise this was a big hit too. Apparently there were quite a few spectators there...

They also spent a LOT of time outside and at the park--I'm so thankful she had him during fairly nice weather. Owen loves loves to go down the big boy slides all by himself now!

He can even swing in the big boy swings if we help. He also really likes to pick up rocks and put them in the bucket and them put them (or throw them) other places. (In hindsight, I think the rock-throwing at the waterfall on our hike may not have been the best idea.)

I am so thankful they had a good time since moving back means we'll have the opportunity for a lot more of these extended playdates w/ Bee. Oh, I didn't mention that he totally knows who she is and says her name (very long--Beeeeeee!) and points. So fun! Maybe it was learning her name that finally made him make the connection that I have a name too (other than Dadda), so he's FINALLY calling me Mama! It still doesn't come as easy as Dada, but he's getting there. :)

His talking is coming so far and seemingly so fast. More and more animal noises and now he can say "more" (as well as sign-it, he does it together) and a very clear "bye bye" and "nigh night", "baow" (ball) , "doh" (dog) ,and moon, also he knows that Christal and Phil's baby is "Nay Nay" (Nathan). I ask him to try to say something and he totally does. Words/phrases like "breakfast" and "I love you" are hard, but he's getting the sounds right even if there are consonants missing, etc. It's so amazing to literally almost be able to see the wheels in his head turning as he figures this stuff out. It's evident his comprehension is ahead of his ability to actually speak what he knows (which must be frustrating!) but it's still amazing! Oh, and he knows the letter "O" and points to it in things.

Anyways, Kyle is back to working days this week so we should have a pretty regular one...

I almost forgot--this may be one of the funniest videos we have of Owen to-date. We discovered a new "game" w/ Owen and he was quite proud of himself (as you can see). Oh, the little "hop" at the end is Owen jumping--which is a new favorite activity. If he actually does get off the ground he usually lands on his rear, so it's usually just a forceful deep-knee bend. :)

Oh, and (praise the Lord!) we have had a good 4-day stretch of good naps! (We've been struggling for a while w/ the transition from 2 naps to 1 in the afternoon.) Some days he'd just take one in the morning (bad) and other days I'd try to keep him up until after lunch and he would almost be in hysterics. Anyways, w/ some advice from the Bible Study girls/moms and Bee there to help, I think (cross my fingers) that Owen has settled into a 1-nap routine. He's going down after lunch around 1 and sleeping from 1.5 to 2 hours which is totally acceptable. So, yea!

March

Just a few photos from well, recently. We keep getting little spurts of spring which is nice but it definitely hasn't stuck yet.

Last week Kyle had a day off (actually he had quite a few, but we'll pay for it the next few weeks) so we went to Hanging Rock to hike around a bit. Owen weighs a lot more in The Backpack than the last time we went hiking with him, but he also cries a lot less, so it's a good trade-off! The highlight of the trip was Kyle letting him throw pebbles into the pond/waterful and getting to see real live Cows ("Moo") and a Horse ("Nay"). After seeing the Nay, Owen just repeated that over and over and over again, as if asking when are we going to see another?

My mom commented that this picture makes it look like Owen wears a curly kid toupe. I don't disagree...

Not sure what He and Lauren ("La") are looking at but I think this picture is funny--like they're some old couple just hanging out in the front lawn--the Mr. pushing the wheelbarrow around and the Mrs. wearing a moomoo. :)

He and David ("Day") having a good old time on the way to or from the park.

Owen LOVES to walk around in big shoes--he especially likes Kyle's big sheepskin slippers, but he'll try to walk in anything including my flip flops. He's at least figured out how to turn them the right way in order to get his feet in w/ them facing the right direction which means he doesn't get frustrated as easily. It's pretty funny to see/hear him scooting around the house like this.

SNOW DAY!

Monday was snow day here in Winston-Salem. A solid 4-6 inches of nice powder fell Sunday night--how's that for the beginning of March! Kyle was off on Monday which worked perfectly because it definitely took both of us to get/keep him "geared" in all his (borrowed) snow clothes and pick him up from face plants, pull the sled, and take pictures.



Here's our house.





Here are our dear friends David, Ann and Lauren. David--thanks for lending Owen your old snow shoes and letting us play with your sled!

Momma (or as Owen calls me still, Dadda) and Owen after our family walk to the park w/ him in his backpack. Yes, those are Kyle's mittens. Hey, they work.

Owen and the real Dadda after something fun.

One of Owen's favorite ways to play in the snow was to scoot down the hill in front of our house or on the side of the Ketch's house on his rear. Very cautious.

The Ketch's slide was a really big hit. We were out early enough that the snow on the street was still powdery too so the sled course went from the top of our hill, across the street, into the Ketch yard and down their side hill.

We ended up putting Owen's jacket over Kyle's mittens (pulled up to almost his shoulders) which meant he sort of resembled Ralphy's little brother. I'm not sure exactly what he was doing here but I know he kept trying to put his little mits in my face.

Dadda taught him how to suck on ice sickles. That'll definitely come in handy some day.

And now for the videos. This one is right after Owen did some rear-end scooting.

Here is Owen's first sled ride on the short course.

It really was a great day. The perfect way to (hopefully) end our seemingly endless winter here. There's still snow on the ground this morning but it should warm up some this weekend which we're looking forard to. All the while we hear its been nice and warm in Texas. Sounds wonderful...until you think about what that means for August!

First Big Boy Haircut

As I mentioned in the last past, we took Owen to get his first haircut by an actual barber. It was time, the fro/mane was out of control. His locks are still curly and in tact, just a little more manageable. He was such a trooper. Here he is on Kyle's lap holding his blanky with Mr. Greg snipping away.