Top Ten

Fun things Owen does (w/ my help) every day:

1) touch the big tree, then the little tree
2) read some books
3) play "ball"
4) sing some songs (all made up on the spot, rarely making any sense)
5) stand up using 1 hand to balance (sometimes letting go and sitting back down)
6) make sure all the cieling fans are still there (turn them on and off)
7) wave bye bye (on cue and just because)
8) clap and shake head "no"
9) squeal, giggle and talk as best I can
10) open the refrigerator door all by myself and wreak havoc...this is a new one

Puppy Tricks

It's been over 2 weeks since my last post, but it might as well have been months. It seems like Owen is changing so quickly these days. He's learning all sorts of new things (mostly "puppy tricks") and Kyle and I are really can't get enough play time with him (especially Kyle who isn't home all day). Kyle is very proud that he taught him how to do "high five". It's not totally consistent, but he's getting there. His bye bye wave (now outward facing) and fan recognition skills are still top-notch. He's also starting giving mommy "kisses" = his open mouth to my cheek. I'll take it!

Owen is finally standing up in his crib (hard to do in a sleep sack, but he finally figured it out)--this put a real cramp on his sleeping/napping because sitting/standing up in bed was so much fun! Luckily the novilty has warn off a little so his sleeping habits are mostly back to normal.

He's keeping me on my toes throughout the day-pulling books off bookshelves and trying to eat the paper before I can get to him; pushing furniture around--chairs, ottoman, laundry baskets, getting into cabinets, drawers; putting his fingers in anything that looks like a hole; pulling up on everything--his favorite is me I think. There is so much to explore!

Here's another of puppy trick Kyle taught him: mimmicking the "No" head motion (as seen below in this video). He seems to understand when we say No--at least it gets his attention and he stops whatever he's doing temporarily. The head shake is just a mimmick of the motion, but it's pretty funny. We think he likes the way it feels because sometimes he does it without prompting--will just start shaking fanatically.

His #1 favorite game these days is "playing ball". We had no idea a flat tennis ball could be so much fun! This goes hand-in-hand w/ his 2nd favorite game which he can play by himself--he "spikes" various toys to the ground--he particularly likes using his stacking rings. Throwing things on the ground (whether he's in a chair or on the ground) seems to have almost taken the place of putting things in his mouth in terms of frequency which is impressive.

In food news, Owen is taking well to his "sippy cup" and big people food which means we're in the weening process. It's a good thing and he and I are both adjusting well. :)

Owen had his first real (non-relative, paid) babysitter last weekend which was a treat for us. It was after he went to bed, but it was still a treat to get out of the house and go to a movie. At some point we'll get brave enough to leave him w/ a sitter while he's awake but we're not there yet...

Owen has had several opportunities to play w/ older kids recently and it is sooooooo fun to watch. He is enthralled. Our neighbor David (2.5) crawls/hops around him like a frog and Owen belly-laughs. We're really really really really excited (for many reasons) that our small group Bible study has decided to start meeting on Sunday afternoon/eveninings but partly because it means all the kids get to come and play--there are several toddlers and a few new babies younger than Owen, so it's perfect. Then we all eat together. We've only done it twice, but it's been awesome! We're really excited to see how this helps shape our group over the next year, and although we'll be extremely sad to leave it, we're hoping we can take what we're learning in this growing process and apply it to a small church/neighborhood group when we get to Austin.

TTFN.

Texas and back again

Whew, what a couple of weeks! Where to begin? Owen and I had a great trip to Austin. Even though we were there a week, it seemed busy! We got to see lots of family and friends. Owen had a great time playing w/ cousin Bailey (and all of her toys--new things!) and Aunt Melissa was kind enough to babysit him so I could get a message w/ my mom and my Auntie Joycie from Stratford--what a treat!

Here is AJ w/ Owen--her first time to meet him! (He might have been a little confused b/c she sounds exactly like my mom and looks an awful lot like her too!)Owen decided this trip that he really liked Sido (it was bound to happen)! He would flash him a huge smile every time he saw him, but then sometimes would sort of act bashful and hide. Sido let him play with his shiny gold watch, and sit on his lap. Owen returned the love by breaking a "4000 year-old Mayan relic" that Bee plans to super-glue back together. No one will ever know... Here they are in matching outfits! :)

Ice cream. It has to be the perfect (albeit temporary) solution for sore teething gums. Here is my dad (temporarily "Grandpa Stan") and his girlfriend Pam giving him a little sweet medicine. Owen figured out how to climb up a small step (you can sort of see it in the photo) at her house. Down is a different story--we're still working on that.
Oh, the pool. We played at the neatest central Austin municipal pool (and playground). They have a great little kiddie pool w/ a big fountain and a regular play/lap pool. Bee enjoyed taking him in both. You can't tell, but he is splashing up a storm in this photo. (I forgot his bathing suite so he's just in a diaper--something I'm sure the other patrons appreciated.)
Other Austin news. We got to see my dear friend Taylor (who is currently residing in New York--how did I not get a picture of her w/ Owen?-arg!). We also saw other Austin and San Antonio cousins. I also got to hang w/ my bro at his new place--I'm thinking future babysitting should happen at our house. Mel, Bailey, Owen and I visited Kyle's grandma BB--I'll post a picture when I get them from Mel. It was such a great to get to hang out at Luke and Mel's new house (which he built, which is awesome) and it's super-close to my Mom's (where we stayed). They have a playroom to die for! Our friends the Fosheas came over one evening (you remember them from our beach stories, no?) and we got a little taste (minus Kyle) of what life in Austin is going to be like once we move--the hanging out with our friends part. It was great. And the brownies were delicious.

Um, I cut my hair. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to share w/ you...Let's just say that it's a mom-do. I need a mini-van now (Noooooo!!!!!). Seriously, it's okay, but my pony-tail is retardedly short, so I'm already willing it to grow back. The grass is always greener.

Oh, this is huge: Bee taught Owen how to wave bye-bye! It's very Pavlov's dog. He scrunches up his hand (facing himself) when we say bye-bye and wave at him. (He just did his bye bye to a toy that says bye bye when it turns off--how cute!) Add this to FAN and we're well on our way! Oh, I don't think I blogged about that--Owen knows the word fan (as in ceiling fan). He can't say it (yet), but when we say "Owen, where's the fan?," he looks up at the ceiling and sometimes he even points. It's great!

Okay, I think that's it from Austin. After we had been there for a week, Kyle flew in. Yea Dada!!! Luke came with us and we drove to Meridian to see Nana! Since Franny is planning her move to Austin (yea!) it was time for Kyle to go back up some of his childhood things. We had a lot of work to do, but had such a fun time going through boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes (ad infinitum) of memorabilia, junk, and everything in between. While Kyle worked on that, Luke and I rearranged the furniture in just about every room. And I played the role of the "throw-that-away" drill Sargent. Tough love! Franny had a showing after we left and she said it went well. She's enjoying her "new house"...but she had better not get used to it!

Here is Kyle hanging out w/ Owen in his childhood backyard. Note the shirt--it was Kyle's. Very appropriate for our big boy. He was "little Kyle" to us all weekend--playing w/ Blue (Luke's dog), trying to get into every box we opened, eating Texas BBQ, staying up late!

And here is Owen playing w/ our his very own "Uncle Fun"...I actually intended on posting a hilarious little video we have of Luke feeding Owen paper (yes, paper--which he loves) from one of the memorabilia boxes, but it is too big a file. You'd think it would be my brother (the one w/out a child) doing this isntead of Kyle's brother who is a parent, but no...

Baby Danger Radar

I cannot Owen-proof fast enough. I have a list, and it seems Owen has one too...and his is one step ahead of mine. Perhaps for the past nine (immoble) months he's been taking mental notes about what looks fun, if he could just get there...now he can. It's like he has a radar that helps him narrow in on the most dangerous thing in the room (not even the most interesting, just the most dangerous) and that's what he goes for. He seems to know even before I say "No" and race after him, what he shouldn't be messing with. It's really pretty comical (and scary). He is soooo much faster than he was a week ago! Wish me luck as I try to keep up...

Owen and I leave for Austin on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, Kyle has to stay here and work until the next weekend, when he'll meet us in Meridian to see Nana. In the meantime, Owen and I have fun plans to see family/friends. I'm sure he'll show off his new crawling and big-boy eating skills, as well as get into some stuff he shouldn't...

Until then. :)

Order Shmorder

1) Roll tummy to back (anything to get off the tummy)
2) Repeat, repeat, repeat (months go by)
3) Put in a crawling position, figure out how to get off tummy--sit back
4) Finally crawl!
5) Realize this tummy thing is the way to FREEDOM!
6) Roll from back to tummy (usually the first to happen)...

So, after Owen's nap today, I found him in his crib in the crawling position which means he rolled off of his back (how he goes to sleep) onto his tummy! Yea Owen!!! He's a full-range roller now! When it rains it pours! And yes, we're baby-proofing this weekend!

HE DID IT!!!

Our lives will never be the same...He crawls!!! Owen LOVES to try to get Kyle's glasses--he's always grabbing for them (and often succeeding). We got it attention w/ an old pair of my glasses that could be destroyed if it came to it...he took the bate, and now he's a crawler! This video was taken on Sunday and its amazing how much progress he's made since then! He stays up on his knees longer and longer and truly doesn't stay in the same place for long anymore. We've got big baby-proofing plans for this weekend (yes, we probably should have already done that), but his new-found ability to open the cabinet where our china is provides an added incentive...

Oh, and not nearly as exciting as crawling, but we have a new game. We make a little tent (my head is the pole) under the sheets and just squeal and squeal and flap our arms and make the sheets move. Sometimes we bring in a little flashlight too. He loves it!

In less exciting news: Owen is in a new baby-class at church. I actually got him "promoted" last week because even though he hadn't done his big crawl (above), he was getting so close and definitely liked being on the floor trying to move, so how he's with the mobile babies! He stayed the whole time last Sunday--I think he was a lot more entertained--being able to watch the other crawlers and walkers, instead of being in the infant class. So, we're excited about that.

He continues to try new foods and is starting to show a preference for self-feeding over the baby foods (cereals, fruits/veggies). I'm guessing that his favorite is chicken and green beans and of course the magic Puffs. Such a mess. He's growing up so fast!!! Oh, oh!!! And he drank out of a sippy cup tonight! Yea!!! For a kiddo who would NEVER take a bottle, this is huge. It means weening is actually going to be possible! :)

And lastly, he went to his first big-kids pool today. We went w/ our neighbors and had a blast "wading" in the kiddy pool. I had major summer flashbacks, except I'm not the kid. Weird. Rollingwood anyone?

BIG Owen Update

BIG because Owen is big, not because the update is...The "little guy" is 9 months old today (happy birthday!) and he had a pediatrician appointment (no shots--yea!). Here are his stats: 29 3/4 in tall (90th %tile) and 24 lbs. 7.8 ounces (95th %tile). So, in case there was any doubt, he's big. The nurse initially told me 75th %tile in weight but that's b/c she plotted him on the 12 month old chart--so he's essentially the size of a pretty big 1 year old! He thinks b/c Kyle and I are "normal-sized people" that he'll taper off between 1-2 years old when he get more active. So, no worries. :)

Here he is enjoying our friend David's little pool. I had no idea a diaper could be that absorbant! I think it soaked up about half the water in the pool. He had such a good time splashing around. So much so, that it was hard to explain to David (2.5 years old) why he wasn't allowed to splash back!

Here he is getting into trouble (I think Kyle had a hand in this one). We've decided that if some kids are tornadoes (in terms of movement/destructive behavior) Owen is a glacier. He's slow-moving but can carve land masses he's so powerful!

Here we are just playing on a blanket outside. He's a big fan of pulling up on us. He can only get to about his knees, but that doesn't stop him from trying over and over and over again. In terms of general mobility--it seems like his skills evolve daily. I still wouldn't call him a crawler, but he's so close. He can definitely scoot himself backwards when he's on his tummy. I think it frustrates him. Like he means to move forwards, but just ends up somewhere else. Occationally he gets himself wedged under the ottoman or a bed or something--I'll look away for a second and then see just a little head/torso peaking out. It's like the furnature is trying to eat him. In terms of forward motion, it's pretty much limited to the length of his body plus his reach. He loves to go from sitting over his legs (dive-style)--he "crawls" out w/ his hands as far as he can w/out moving his bottom/legs and then pushes himself back up to sitting. Being about to get back to sitting is a huge improvement over the face-planting he was doing, so we're both happy about that. Also, he's starting to bounce (bend at the tummy) to music which is pretty hysterical.

Still talking up a storm. Oh, and of course peekaboo is a big hit, but now I think he's definitely figured out where we are so as soon as he spots us the first time, he's less interested (like he's figured us out and wants to move on to more interesting things). He's also figured out how to turn lights on/off (if we hold him up) and open several draws/cabinets places (DANGER!).

Kyle had to work a rediculous amount last weekend and we got a last-minute invite to spend some time w/ our dear friends Carey and Jason Brege at her familie's lake condo at Smith Mountain Lake, VA. We had a great time w/ them, her sister Martha and her dad, Mr. Dunlap. It was my first time to drive anywhere w/ Owen further than 30 minutes away to the airport, so I was a little anxious, but it all went well. It's about a 2-2.5 hour drive and I just waited until he was asleep and moved him to the car. It's easy to drive w/ him when he's asleep! I am so thankful for these little milestones that mean our world w/ Owen is expanding!

The hightlight of the trip (outside of time w/ friends) was definitely Owen's first boatride! Don't worry--we went very slow. Here we are (Jason driving), everyone else is in front of/facing us. I can only assume that Owen enjoyed it. He was his stoic self--just taking in the sights (like he usually is when we're outside). I think he liked the feeling of the wind in his face and the noise the splashing water made, but what do I know? He definitely took it all in.

That's it for now. Kyle works a bunch this weekend as well (July is a tougher than average month for him this year), so perhaps Owen and I will figure out something fun/creative to do...We'll let you know.