Transition

What's Owen so excited about?

Oh yes, his new bed! (!!!!!!!)

Wow, how did we not get a proper photo of the bed?

Also, yes that's some sort of powderpuff (?) pillowcase.  I don't know.

Also, no those are not his real sheets, and those curtains are going to change too.

HERE'S THE IMPORTANT PART:

He's sleeping like a champ in his bed.  I'm afraid to even say that for fear of jinxing it.

He has not climbed out.  Well, unless you count the fact that his wake-up time is now a whole hour earlier and he comes in to wake us up.  I'm hoping that he's just excited and will soon stay in bed if for no other reason than because he's really truly tired.  Otherwise, an intervention will be necessary.  We're not waking up at 6am every day.  Give me 6:30 or 7:00 at least!

It's bittersweet for Kraig and I.  We moved our first child out of his crib!  He's not a baby!  He's a big boy and oh my, that is the bitter part.  The sweet part is that he is unbelievably excited about this bed.  He loves it, he was ready for it, and he is growing up.  That feels good.

We're so proud of him and so glad he's doing well during this transition.

Two years and then some

It's been quite a while since I did an Owen update.  I think to do it, but then quickly become overwhelmed with all of the developments that have been happening over the last few (7-8?) months.  So I'll just try to hit some highlights and forgive myself for being a bad record-keeper.

Owen is an amazing communicator.  I (and most other folks that aren't with him on a daily basis) can understand what he is saying 97% of the time, the other 3% being when he is intentionally speaking jibberish for fun.  He speaks in clear sentences ("I want my water bottle." "Can we go to Starbucks?"  etc), follows instructions (when he wants to), and repeats what he hears.

He's counting.  He doesn't count things- at least not accurately most of the time- but he counts from 1-10 with no problem.  Scratch that- he counts from 1-11.  Anytime he sees numbers he starts counting.  He can identify the number 2 (only that one consistently) and we are starting to work (intentionally, since it's been in fun up to this point) on identifying more numbers, counting groups of objects, etc.

He correctly names some colors and asks for some of his favorite things based on their color (blue cup, white shirt, yellow diaper)

He'll read to himself, though he is not saying any decipherable words.  This is hilarious to hear.  He'll just pick up a book and start rambling.  It's the intonation that is right on.

He has some pretty good manners, thanks in no part to us. Ha!  We are pretty inconsistent with our own please's and thank you's (bad, bad parents) but it certainly makes us want to do better when Owen will give us a thank you with no prompt.  He also asks for permission to do things, i.e. "Can I?" or "Can I press button?"  He also offers things to us... sometimes.

Speaking of sharing, he is totally entering the phase where everything is his (mine! mine! mine!) and it's always his turn.  Oh, brother.  I know this is a totally normal stage of development as he discovers personal boundaries, but wow is it ever annoying.  I'm sorry- but it really is annoying.  Sigh.  We'll get through it.

He is quite proficient at using the iPad and iPod.  I know- worthless technology unsuitable for kids, blah blah blah, but let me say a few things that are totally redeeming this terrible habit.  First, he is able to find a menu (say, in his Thomas the Train app) and pick the menu selection that he desires.  Second, he is able to do puzzles.  Sure, they are 2-D puzzles but he is figuring out how to manipulate and connect puzzle pieces. This is remarkable, in my opinion.  Third, he is tuning his fine motor skills.  Of course, we prefer that he hone these skills on 3-dimensional objects but the technology is nice when we need quiet moments (i.e. restaurants, airplanes, etc.)  For a kid who doesn't get screen time on a regular basis (we have no TV) we feel okay with having this as a treat of sorts.

As far as gross and fine motor skills, he can run, kick a ball, throw overhand, scribble, pour contents of one container into another, build large towers and line up objects.

Socially, he loves the company of other children, imitates behaviors, and is very imaginative.  He is becoming very independent and likes to do things without help.

Physically, he is just a little guy (can you believe it?!)  He's 26.5 lbs (25th %ile) and 32.5 inches tall (10th %ile).  He is a pretty good eater as far as quantities, but pickiness changes day-to-day.  He is sleeping through the night consistently and napping in late morning everyday.

Other fun stuff:  He loves doing yoga poses.  I am not at all a yoga aficionado, but I do have a prenatal yoga DVD that I've done one time (psh, slacker) with him and he has a yoga book for children.  It's so funny to watch.

He has an amazing memory.  If you have kids of your own I think you know that these kiddos remember far more than we think they will.  It's interesting to think that as an adult he may recall some of his first memories as moments from this year (age 2-3).

He is such an amazing big brother.  I know his sibling isn't "here" yet, but he always asks about "her" (again, we don't know the gender yet) and will feel or kiss my belly without prompting.  He loves hearing her heartbeat.  He asks when she is coming out, and wants to know how big she is.  He also loves looking at photos of growing fetuses to check how big she is getting.   I think he'll be really excited to see photos of the baby at the ultrasound.  We have many talks about what it will be like to be a big brother and I think he is excited for his new role.  He knows that Kraig was a big brother, and also asked if I have a big brother (I do, of course).  I know there will be some bumps and some rivalry along the way but we are really excited to see him in this new role, too.

He is best friends with Sophie.  He says so himself :)  He loves to play ball with her and give her hugs.  He wants kisses (on his hand) from her every night before he goes to bed.  When we are out he wonders where Sophie is and wants to get home to her.  When she comes up to him to play he says "Sophie likes me!"  So sweet!

He is such a little lover.  He attaches to people quickly and has his favorites.  He loves "Papa Gordon" next door, Marissa at Kearney Plaza (yes, he says "Kearney Plaza"),  "Uncle Joe and Uncle Greg", Toria the neighbor girl, Baby Sam a couple of blocks away as well as his dad "Uncle Paul".  I could go on and on and on.  He is a little social butterfly.

He wants to go on airplanes all the time.  All. The. Time.  I don't know why he thinks we are always traveling!  I try to explain that we won't be going on an airplane for a very, very, very long time.  He doesn't care what I say :)

And, a word on potty-training.  Sigh.  I knew boys would be harder to train, but wow.  We've been talking about it for what, a year?  I can't say there hasn't been progress but he is totally not into going potty on the toilet.  I should say, he wants to when he decides he wants to, but that's usually when he doesn't actually have to go.  He's okay with trying #1 on the potty but definitely not #2.  DEFINITELY NOT.  Generally speaking, he doesn't want to wear big-boy undies and he begs for his diaper.  What a mess we have here. We're still trying and still wanting him to be daytime trained before Baby Tiny shows up (not that he cares what we want).  It's summer (ish) so hopefully we can get this taken care of ASAP, you know, without rushing him :) (If one more person tells me "it is still too early for potty training" I might scream.)


I'm sure I'm missing a lot of milestones but I think that's sufficient for now.

Bathtime Fun

He was so proud that he could lie back all by himself.  He can even roll over from front-to-back-to-front.  Big accomplishments for a little boy who has hated bath-time for 5 months.

Always wear clean underwear....

... in case you get in an accident.

We've all heard that saying, I'm sure.  Well I never really thought about it until today.  No, we were not in an accident, but Owen locked me out of the house.

Let's back up for a minute.

We live in a side-by-side duplex.  Our laundry room is private- we do not share it with our neighbor- yet we have to walk out our back door and down our sidewalk to get to the laundry room.  I like this set-up for a lot of reasons, but it does have some drawbacks.

Like, when I go to start Owen's diapers in the wash, and he locks me out of the house.

Kraig was at work, I had just finished taking Owen's dirty diaper off, and instead of putting a new one back on I decided to let him go without for a while.  We do that frequently since we're trying to potty train him and it's also not good for a baby to have a diaper on their bottom 24/7.  So, he's running around pants-less and I ran back to throw the diapers in.  I was "gone" for maybe 60 seconds.  When I was walking back down the 15 foot sidewalk to the back door I could still hear Owen at the door waiting for me.  I had shut it so that he didn't walk outside in the cold, but he was a little mad that I had left. I noticed that now he was just talking- not upset anymore.  Good, I thought.

So, I go to open the door and it won't budge.

Not good, I thought.

I thought he had locked the lock on the handle, since he isn't tall enough to reach the deadbolt (about 3 inches above the doorknob).  Well, after trying to get him to unlock it for a few minutes, I walked over to the window to see which one was locked.

The deadbolt.

Great- I didn't know how he had reached it to begin with, let alone if I'd be able to get him to reach for it again to unlock it.  Not that he was really understanding what I was saying anyway.  He thought it was funny that I was knocking on the door.  Awesome.

After trying again, as well as running through all the other options (of which there were none- we lock all the windows and doors, I didn't have keys or a phone) I went over to our next door neighbors' house to ask for help.

Though the situation was slightly comical up until this point, and I hadn't yet really worried about what might happen (our house is very baby proofed), when Donna opened the door I burst into tears.  I guess saying "Owen is locked in the house all alone" made it seem more real.  She and Gordon quickly got the number for my landlord and he said he'd be over in 15 minutes.  Crisis somewhat averted.  

We headed back to my house to talk to Owen in the window.  He thought it was hilarious.  He especially loves Donna and Gordon, so it was a real treat to see them.  

This is where the "underwear" comes in.

My kid was diaper-free in the window.  How embarrassing.  Not that D and G care, but it was still a little weird.  This, I thought, is why people tell you to wear clean underwear.  It's always good to be prepared for the strange scenarios that happen.  

After playing peekaboo, trying to keep Owen out of my plants in the window, and watching Owen decide that he wanted to finish his breakfast, Don showed up.  Whew.  Owen was no worse for the wear and actually just thought we were playing a funny game.  When I got back inside I asked Owen to lock the deadbolt- just to see if he really could reach it.  He sure could.

Oh snap.

Somedays I wonder if I'm cut out for all this!

Silly Baby

Owen has been extra funny lately.  I think he gets his sense of humor from his dad, and between the two of them I think I'll have a reason to laugh and smile everyday for the rest of my life.  They're always cracking me up.  Beside the jokes and silly faces, Owen has been acting in peculiar ways.  Take, for instance, this photo.

He grabbed a pair of my socks, crawled halfway under the bed, and said "Night night!" before laying there for about 5 minutes.

He's also taken to crawling around like a baby.  He doesn't really crawl anymore, folks, but when he wants to sneak by you or act silly, he takes to all fours.  Goofy.

Starbucks.... Oh Starbucks.  Owen started pointing to the Starbucks sign and saying "Dada" about 3 months ago.  As cute as that was, now he sees the logo and says "Starbucks- Huppy (coffee)".   He walks in and says "Soy?  Treat?"  The boy knows what he wants.  Of course, we let him have a little cup of soymilk as we sit and enjoy our own drinks.  He's able to drink from the cup without a straw now.

He looks pretty grown up sitting there in that leather chair with his Starbucks cup, doesn't he?  It makes me flash-forward to days in the (distant) future when he will sit with his daddy and enjoy a cup of coffee.  Thinking of him being that big makes me hyperventilate a little.  So for now, I'm soaking up this little two-and-a-half foot mancub snug in his froggy raincoat with his teeny little paws wrapped around the smallest cup they could give him.  That's our silly baby.