Return from Hiatus

Wow, time has just flown by. Being back at work is definitely keeping my busy, and with all the fun and travel for Lee Ann and Evan's wedding this fall, I've almost forgotten that I have a blog! Owen is in daycare now that Steve is back to school too. We have a wonderful lady named Patty who takes care of him and three little girls in her home. Owen just loves it there. Owen keeps growing and growing - he's got 11 teeth, lots of hair, weighs 23 lbs, and is closing in on three feet tall! He's talking up a storm, with a vocabulary of over two dozen words. He's so smart, he'll go over to his bookshelf and select the right book you ask him for, he helps mommy and daddy match up shoes when we go out, and he'll even get his own diaper and change mat out when it's time for a change!


Rather than trying to write a whole big update, I'll try to make a couple over the next few days. That will give me a chance to add lots of pictures too. :)



Coming up: Owen at the cottage this summer, Mommy's Try-a-Tri, and a great website! In the meantime, here are some pictures of Owen playing at his water table (his birthday present from mommy and daddy):

Auntie Lee Ann's Present, Part 2

http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/Cera5/?action=view&current=c75af411.flv

I turn the camera on, and we finally get some opening-action! :)

Auntie Lee Ann's Present, Part 1

http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/Cera5/?action=view&current=c958ead1.flv

Owen wanders around and doesn't open the gift before I accidentally turn the camera off. Stay tuned for Part 2, where I turn it back on!

Owen Open's Auntie Kristi's Present

http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/Cera5/?action=view&current=8551d449.flv

All the way from Thailand! Stay tuned, if I have time, I'll get them up tonight, but if not then soon - Owen wears Auntie Kristi's present in an upcoming video! :)

Owen Eats Cake!

http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/Cera5/?action=view&current=ae0f9af0.flv

Click to watch Owen eat his first piece of cake ever! He's actually pretty neat with it....

Photos from Owen's Party

Reflections on a Boy who is One

Dear Owen,

It was so crazy, in the days leading up to your first birthday, to think back to this time last year and how you weren't even here yet. We wanted you to delay your arrival for just a tiny bit, just until your Papa was done work for the summer, but we never dreamed you'd keep us waiting for two whole extra weeks. And when you finally did arrive, you came so quickly that we barely had time to get to the hospital. Papa and I spent more time at the hospital the day before you were born, being checked out, than we did when you were born. I will never forget the moment Sky told me to reach down and grab you - looking into your little eyes for the first time, finally getting to hold you, and having it dawn on me that you were finally here, forever. And feeling a mother's pride that you were cute, and didn't have a cone-head!

Every parent loves their baby, but I fell IN love with you. Your perfect, sweet little face, those tiny toes and fingers, your kissable little belly. It was almost surreal to take you home that morning, driving with you in the car seat that had been ready and waiting and empty for so long. Snuggling up with you in our bed at home, knowing that I was, now and forevermore, a mommy.

Right from the beginning, you made being first-time parents very easy on your Papa and me. You nursed well right after delivery, and like a champ ever since. I'm sorry we had to stop nursing when you were only 9 months old, but you were just way to eager to use those little teeth that had grown in! You gave us 3 and 4 hour stretches of sleep, even as a tiny little guy, and you were so alert during the day, you were so much fun to watch. I've always insisted that coming two weeks late, you've been trying to make up for it ever since. Curious little monkey, always looking around, holding your head up to see better when you were just days old.

When you woke up from a nap, you would stretch out with your arms above your head, and curl your hands into fists, with just your index fingers pointing up. We called it your "number one stretch". You were always so happy to have your diaper changed - even if you were fussing, just laying you on the change table would calm you down and get a smile from you. I know that everyone says a baby's first early smiles are just gas, but you smiled with your eyes too, tiny baby, and I knew you were smiling at me. You went through a phase of waking every hour on the hour through the night. That was hard on Mama, because Papa had gone back to work by then. But all those times we cuddled together in the night, I reminded myself that all too soon, you would be a big boy, and not want to sit and cuddle with me. All too soon, you'd be asking me to drop you off at the corner, so your friends wouldn't have to see you with me. So I treasure every time you curl up in my arms, and lay your head against my shoulder, and pat your hand against my cheek.

Most babies find the "d" sounds easier to make, and we thought "dada" would be first, but your first word was "mum". Even though I've since become "ma-ma" to you, hearing "mum" for the first time just melted my heart, and made me fall even deeper in love. Especially since it only seemed to come out when you were upset, and really needed me. You learned so many words, words came before moving - I think somehow you knew how much your mama loves words, and wanted to share that with me as soon as possible. Ball and dog, it's hard to say which one came next, but you definitely knew what they meant, and the best part of your day was if we happened to go out and see a dog WITH a ball. You would practically trip over the words as they came tumbling out of your mouth: "Ball! Dog! Ball! Dog, dog, dog-geee!" And you decided that your daddy was "Papa", not "Dada".

But movement came too, and at 8 months, you were up, walking along the furniture. Um, weren't you supposed to crawl first? But then a week later, you did. You were such a speedy little guy, slapping your hands down as you went, laughing at the noise it made. You loved it when we chased you around, and if you crawled around a piece of furniture, all we had to do was ask, "Where's Owen? Where's the baby?" and out you'd come, giggling and squealing. You found that you weren't as fast as you'd like on the hardwood and ceramic tile - the traction wasn't the same as on the carpet. So you adapted, crawling on your left knee, and pushing off with your right foot whenever you were on the hard surface floors. You wouldn't miss a beat switching between this and the regular crawl on carpet, and you were still so FAST! You didn't seem to have any interest in walking, even though you were very steady on your feet. Standing was fine for playing, you would even bend down, pick up a toy and stand back up with perfect balance, but walking was for suckers. Didn't we see how fast you were already?

After a few playdates with bigger kids, you began to seem more interested in walking, taking a hesitating step here and there before dropping to your knees to speed away on all fours. The day after you turned 11 months, you walked across the room, and never looked back. Walking (and running!) is now the way to go, but once in a while, you'll still drop and crawl, just to giggle at the noise you can make with your hands slapping the floor. You love to crawl under the glass end table, and giggle up at us while you bang on the glass - we don't really get the joke, but you sure think it's funny (you and mimes, I guess).

You love the water, and we learned very early on not to try to do bathtime before bedtime. It doesn't calm you down, no matter how much special "sleep encouraging" bath wash we use. You are so excited to splash around, soaking everything around you. We started swimming lessons at 3 months, and right away you loved to be "dunked", and you would move your arms and legs to "swim" after toys. Now that you're big enough, you love to sit on the edge, and throw yourself into my waiting arms to "jump" into the pool. (The odd time we've tried it standing up though, you've gotten distracted and wandered away, making me jump out of the pool to chase you!) You love, love, love to splash, and at times, I have to lift you right up out of the water in order to hear what the instructor is telling us. Getting you a water table to splash in for your birthday was a great idea - you stand and splash until there's only a tiny bit of water left, and grin as we begin to fill it again. I'm so glad you love the water, I hope you'll be a strong swimmer. I can't wait until we can teach you to waterski behind Grandpa's boat!

Your favourite game is anything that involves us chasing you, but peek-a-boo has always been a close second. You love to get the lid off the footrest/your toybox, and sit inside with all the toys - HUGE grins at that. You're starting to be a climber now, wanting to get up on anything and everything you can. You love your little deck swing, because you can get in and out of the chair yourself. And you love it when we take the cushion off "your" chair in the family room so you can climb up and sit in it like the big boy you are.

You're a great sleeper now, on some nights, I swear that you don't even move, you're so tired when you go to bed after an exciting day. And you're always so happy to wake up in the morning. Whether your dad or I come in to get you, we get a hug, and then you start asking for the other one of us: Papa? Mama? You keep talking, and now your favourite thing to do is to ask us, "What's that?" You'll point at anything new and ask, and sometimes you like to point at things you already know and ask, and giggle when we tell you that you know what it is! You tell people "bye bye" now when they leave, complete with little hand wave. You LOVE books, you'll grab a favourite and bring it over so that we'll lift you up for a snuggle and read it to you, patiently waiting to turn the pages for us, pointing things out to us when we ask where they are in the book. Mama is so happy that you love books, and hopes that you will always love them as much as she does.

You've become a great eater too, wanting to eat anything and everything that we do. You aren't very discriminating, you love Mama's lasagna, butter chicken, pizza, steak, anything we have you want a bite of. You loved your first taste of ice cream - your Papa just touched it to your lips, but you licked and licked them, saying "mmm! MMMM!" as your way of asking for more. And your first birthday cake was lots of fun, you were so excited, you didn't even bother trying to pick it up, happy to just bob your face down into it to take a bite. You love fruit, especially grapes, and your "astronaut corn", those freeze-dried niblets are your favourite snack. Watching you pick something up and put it in your mouth to feed yourself is just amazing. I could watch you all day.

You don't do your "number one stretch" anymore, but for months now, if we've asked you how old you were going to be, you would hold up those little pointer fingers. You also do it if we ask you, "Who's number one?" You love the attention it gets you, and will sometimes come up and just hold up that one finger for the reaction it gets. Your car seat is turned around now, facing the front, and you love to go for a drive, and watch everything go by out the window. You love big trucks and the construction equipment around our neighbourhood, and are so excited when one goes by on the street. (Not sure where this came from, it must be embedded in your Y chromosome.)

I've put away boxes and boxes of clothes you've outgrown, you just keep getting taller and taller. Looking back, it's hard to believe you were so tiny in your sleepers and newborn diapers. You look like a regular little boy when you wear shorts and t-shirts, especially when you wear a hat and sandals. But at night, in your jammies, stretched out in your crib, you look like my little baby again. I hope you get my height, but with your Papa's build. Your face is turning more into a little boy's face, losing its baby look, especially as you get more hair. It's so strange to see my own eyes looking back at me from your little face. Everything else about you is very much your Papa, but you have my eyes.

Someday you may have a sister, and if you do don't tell her this, but Mama always wanted a boy. Lots of boys. A bunch of boys. When the ultrasound technician told us you were a boy, I was so happy that strangers in the waiting room commented on how excited I looked when I came out. In a way, it's hard to imagine someday having another baby. How could they ever measure up to you? You've stolen my heart so completely, I didn't realize just how wonderful being a mom, being your Mama, would be. It's an enormous priviledge and an awesome responsibility to have you in my life. I want so many things for you, but most of all, I want you to grow up happy, knowing how much you are loved.

I feel a great amount of pressure to help you become a good man. A man with a sense of honour, and a sense of humour. A man of character, and charisma. A man of empathy and energy. A man who will be strong, sympathetic, and smart; brave, bold and beautiful. A man who is generous, and gracious. A man like your Papa, who will love and care for your family the way he does for us.

My heart breaks at the thought of all the things you will have to go through in life to become that man - not all of them will be good, of course, and even if I could shelter you from all the bad things in the world, I wouldn't. How else would you know how wonderful the good things are then? I know there are times when I will just die inside, when the little (and big!) disappointments in life come your way. Life isn't fair, but it is fun for the most part, and I hope that you will live not only the length of your life, but the width of it as well. Thank you for choosing me to be your mommy, and including me in the journey of your life. I love you, more than you will ever, ever know, until you have your own little boy one day.

With all my heart, Mama

Vampire Nubbins and Power Tools

Okay, still waiting on some pictures, I don't know if Steve's installed the camera software on the new laptop yet, and I know we don't have our email stuff transferred over yet, so I'm mostly still on the old computer these days so I can get email, but that means no pics. Sorry (for the run-on sentence as much as for the lack of cutie photos!)


Anyway, just another quick note to let everyonw know that Owen finally has two more teeth coming in. Those two front bottom guys must have been getting pretty lonely! He's getting his upper eye-teeth, the pointy vampire ones. Of course, they've only just broken through, so they're tiny little nubs right now, but I think the middle uppers better come in soon, otherwise he's going to look pretty funny!

And today our fence posts are being put in, so we'll be able to start building Owen's Fence. We figure that by next year, he'll probably be able to get the back screen door open by himself, and if he wanders in to the backyard, at least he'll stay put! :) It will also keep the next door neighbours' dogs out of our yard - they're not great at cleaning up after them, and let them run out without always watching to be sure they stay in their yard. So it will be nice to know they're not in ours anymore. And fence building means drilling, and nail gun use, both of which are lots of fun! Yay for power tools! Cheers!

Ball! Dog! Ball! Dog!

So, Owen is talking. And very nearly walking! And sleeping through the night, EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. He's the most amazing baby in the whole wide world. :)

He has a four-word vocabulary, of Mama, Dada, ball and dog. He actually says many more things, but those are the only four words we get in context every single time. We've also heard him say "ya", "no" and a few other choice words (yesterday we were in Rona, and he got excited about seeing another little baby, a girl. He smiled at her, and she giggled at him. Then he pointed at her and said "ho". Steve and I had a very serious talk with Uncle Jamie when we got home about what he's been teaching Owen!!) He's also becoming a very good mimic, so that sometimes if you say a word, he'll mimic the sounds, even if he doesn't get them quite right. A few times, I've been chatting with people and he's copied the sounds of a word they've said. They stop, look at him and ask, "did he just say (whatever they said)?" It really does sound like he's talking, but like I said, there's only the four words in context every time. In the meantime, he gets SO excited when he can tell us that he sees a ball or a dog, and you would not believe the commotion when he sees a dog WITH a ball.

He's so close to walking, he'll toddle along with you only holding on with one hand, and he's been cruising furniture for months now. He's very steady on his feet, standing to play with toys, and even squatting down to pick something up and then getting back upright without falling down/over. Baby gates were already up throughout the main floor, and last week I installed the one at the top of the stairs (involved a couple of two-by-fours, lots of drilling, plastic zip ties, and protective vinyl, but it's up, it's solid, and our lovely wooden posts will be undamaged when it comes down).

The sleeping is going so well. We put him to bed, sometimes we have to leave him to fuss a bit before he'll lie down even though he's tired, but once he lies down and snuggles his bears, he drifts off and then stays down for 11 hours or so. One night I went in to check on him, and I tripped on the rug. My stumbling must have woken him, because he sat up. I quickly ducked down where he couldn't see me, and he looked around a bit, grabbed his bear, lay back down, and talked himself back to sleep. So yay for Owen putting himself back to sleep if he does wake up in the night! I was hoping he'd be sleeping right through before I went back to work (and there were times when I seriously doubted that was going to happen!) so I'm very happy.

He gives "high five" now (multiple fives, he'll stand there and whack your hand all day if you let him) and if you say to him, "who's number one?" he'll hold up one finger for you. He's very good at letting us put sunscreen on him, and at wearing his sun hat, but he wants nothing to do with his sunglasses.

And best of all, Owen gives kisses! But his idea of a kiss is to blow a raspberry on your cheek. Or your arm. Or leg. Actually, he'll take any part of you he can reach if he's feeling affectionate. So they're quite slobbery, but they could not be any more adorable.

We're starting to think about the first birthday party. (I can't believe it!) I'm working on the invitations right now, but I get sad thinking that Auntie Kris and Uncle Ryan aren't going to be there. :( But we'll try to have fun anyway. And I will try to post more regularly, for those of you still trying to follow along at home. :P Cheers!

Eight, Nine, Ten

That was going to be the title of the post, referring to the 8K race I was training for, Owen turning 9 months old, and me being off work for 10 months. But then Owen got really sick, and I haven't updated in a while, and now he's nearly 10 months old! We also ran out of space on our old computer (7 year old laptop, lots of games and pictures, not a lot of harddrive room.) We finally bought our new computer on the weekend, and I'll be able to upload pics and, more importantly, videos again!

Owen had the flu, poor baby was throwing up and having very yucky diapers for nearly a week. Although, I have to say that he was very considerate, only throwing up on me, not on the carpet or in his crib. He would wait until I picked him up, and then BLEAH, all over Mommy. Even with all of that, I didn't get sick. Poor Papa did, but I was spared.

But, he's all better now, and back to his regular Cheeri-O self. He's crazy with the crawling, into everything, and he's FAST. Even with his crazy one-knee-one-foot crawl he does on the ceramic tile (doesn't get enough traction with two knees on the hard surface). I have to post these adorable pictures I got of him standing at the baby gate:

Owen got sick right before my big run, and I didn't run for nearly two weeks while waiting to be sure he was better. I did get back into workout mode the week before, and it was enough. I was very proud of myself, my goal was to finish in under an hour, and I did it in just under 55 minutes. My friend Kristyn ran her first race ever, she did the 3K, in about 22 minutes. AND she did it pushing her daughter Abby in the stroller the whole way! I run with Owen during the week, but he waited with Papa while I ran. I am so proud of Kristyn, she's only been running since November, and now she's talking about doing a 5K! Getting out there and just doing it is a big part of running - there's a huge mental aspect that you just have to get around, and she's totally done it. :)

And as for nine months old and ten months off work, well, they're not relevant anymore, so moving on to the next post! :)

30 is the new 20, right?

Well, I am now 30. My birthday over the weekend was a lovely, low-key affair. Given that three of my closest friends have just had babies, I opted out of the big party, since they couldn't really enjoy it with me. We may do something in a few months instead. But I still had a great day. I had three birthday wishes: a romantic dinner with Steve, to sleep in, and to go for a long run by myself. They all came true! So as far as I'm concerned, 30 is off to a perfect start. :)


The only real downer was not getting to celebrate my birthday with Kristi, for the first time in years! But Owen and I had a little party in her honour, and sent her some pictures to let her know we were thinking of her. Here they are:

Happy Birthday Auntie Kris!

Clapping hands for Auntie Kris:

HOORAY!

Okay, I'm done.

On the Move, New Baby Makes Three!

It's official, Owen started crawling on St. Patrick's Day. And is he ever getting speedy! He loves to move, he'll crawl over to something, pull himself up on it, and then walk along it. He's been walking along behind his little push-car for about a week longer than crawling, so it's nice he took the time to actually learn how to get from one standing-assistance thing to another.

Meanwhile, it makes him a whole lot of fun to try and change or dress, because now all he wants to do is go, go, go! Here's a picture of him walking with his car, it's harder to get a crawling picture, because when he sees the camera, he sits down on his bum to reach for it! I'll have one soon....

And the third in our trifecta of new little cousins arrived on the 22nd! Lucas John Weber arrived, weighing in at 7 pounds 5 ounces. Owen is so very excited that this baby was a boy, since he'll have a little buddy to play with! A photo of the lovely Lucas:

Very exciting stuff. Welcome Lucas, we're so glad you're here!

8 Months Old!

Wow, I can't believe that Owen is 8 months old now. He's getting so big! I was just thinking the other day about when we went to Mexico, and that he's twice as old now as he was then (he had his 4 month birthday on Auntie Kris and Uncle Ryan's wedding day). He does so much, he "talks" all the time, sits up, rolls, crawls backwards (honestly, he's THIS CLOSE to going forwards!) and loves to stand and play holding onto furniture. He only nurses 4 or so times in 24 hours now, he eats so much "real" food.

Of course, the last few days, he's been eating hardly any solids - we've both got a cold, only his is making him much more miserable. He's having trouble sleeping because he's so stuffed up he can barely breathe, and he doesn't want food, only Mama's milk. I think maybe food must taste extra-bland because he's so stuffy? In any case, he's been a cranky, snuggly guy the last few days. Last night he perked up enough after a two-hour nap (on my chest - he doesn't sleep long lying flat!) to play a little with Daddy and take some eight-month pictures:

Yep, even when he's not feeling the greatest, he tries to be our little Cheeri-O. What a sweetie.

To catch up on other fun news past, we went to visit Baby Lily this week, and Owen got to play with Ella. Rachelle looks great, and everything sounds like it's going very well, so yay! We also got to visit Baby Olivia at home last week, which was awesome. Mommy forgot her camera (of course!) for that visit, but here are a few pics of our visit at the Andersons:

Steve's uncle wasn't able to make it down last weekend for a visit afterall, so we're rescheduling for after March Break. I found an awesome dress to wear to Auntie Lee Ann's wedding in the fall, and we had a fun day shopping (but not a long enough visit!) And we had a great time at Kristyn and Mark's dinner party. Kristyn posted some pictures of Owen and Abby playing on her blog, I'll let everyone head over there for the story. :) Today is Steve's last day of school before March Break, tomorrow we're having a bunch of the mommies and babies over to play in the afternoon, and this weekend my parents are coming to visit. So, the fun continues!

March: In like a Lamb

March actually came in like a lion, weather-wise, but since Owen is sleeping like a lamb for naps and at night now, it's wonderful. This past Friday was a snow-day for Steve's school, so we had Papa home for an extra-long weekend, which was really nice. I got to sleep in, and he got up with Owen in the morning. (Owen wakes to nurse just after 6 am, but after feeding, we can get another hour of sleep out of him, so I got up with him at 6, put him back down, and then Steve got up with him just after 7, and fed him breakfast). When I did get up, the house was super quiet, which was strange, because it was nap time. Nap time has still been kind of a fussy period - Owen didn't want to just go into his crib, but he had started struggling when being rocked to sleep - not too easy! But sure enough, he was sleeping. I asked Steve how he got him down, and he told me that he just put Owen in his crib, piled in ALL his stuffed bears with him, turned on the music, and left. Owen fell asleep on his own!

Now, he's been doing that for bedtime for several weeks, so we knew he could do it, but he just would not do it for naps. Trust Papa to think of putting all his bears in there with him to keep him company! And it's been working for every nap since - when Owen is tired, we pop him in his crib, all his "friends" are in there, and sometimes he talks to them for a bit, sometimes he flings them around a bit, but he eventually falls asleep, no fussing at all! And best of all, he wakes up happy! Cooing, and talking to the bears, instead of crying and wailing, like he used to wake from naps! I'm so happy. Here is a picture from that first nap with the bears: (Steve had just put the bears in the crib with him, so Owen is the one who piled them up like this!)

What a cutie!
I also tried to get a picture of his teeth to show off, but you can really only see the larger one as kind of a bump in this shot:

And finally, I have another video to share, of Owen clapping his hands, and showing off his musical stylings! Enjoy!

The Pea is a She!

Apparently, while I was writing yesterday's post, the Pea finally decided to make an appearance! Yesterday, Olivia Allene was finally born, weighing 8 lbs, 12 ozs. (Yes, I DO remember when Owen wasTHAT size!) Auntie Erica is doing very well, and I think she and Olivia got to go home last night, which is much better than the 5 day hospital stay she had with Nathan. So now Owen has TWO new little girl cousins to admire! And lucky for him, they're cousins in name only, because I have a feeling these two little girls are going to be heartbreakers! :) Here's a picture of Olivia, and I added Lily's birth announcement to the post below. Cheers, and congrats to Auntie Erica, Uncle Marty and Nathan on their beautiful little princess!

A Round of Applause for Owen's New Cousin!

Edited Feb. 27: I've added Lily's birth announcement to the bottom of this post, for anyone who wants to see how lovely she is!

Owen has started clapping his hands! (I meant to mention that in the last post too...) He's been holding a toy in each hand (Peek-a-Blocks or Roll-a-Rounds work best) and banging them together for some time now, and LOVING the noise he could make. And a few days ago he finally got the hang of clapping just his hands. Now he does it all the time! And nothing delights him more than if he starts clapping, and then you join in. Now the clapping has joined screetching as his way of expressing excitement. And he's had lots to be excited about....

Auntie Rachelle had her baby! Her C-section was actually scheduled for today, but she had labour pains early Saturday morning, so Owen's newest cousin arrived a few days early. (And as far as I know Auntie Erica still hasn't had the Pea, poor girl, but that will happen any moment now!) Baby Lily Jade was 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and already has way more hair than Owen! (Big sister Ella was born with lots of hair too.) We got to have a quick visit at the hospital yesterday, and even snuck Owen in with us (the only kids that are supposed to visit are siblings). Rachelle looked great, she said that this recovery is already so much better than last time, so we're very glad about that.

Steve was very funny, he looked at Lily and sighed, Remember when Owen was that small? And I had to laugh, because at 8 lbs 8 ozs, Owen was never that small! Silly Papa. :) Owen wasn't too interested in Lily, although I think he was only pretending. When we first got there, he took a long look at her, and then gave his Uncle Steve a very worried look, with wrinkled forehead and all. I think it was a "Hey, she's cute, but oh yeah, Uncle Steve carries a gun. I'd better pretend that I don't like her AT ALL." I think he'd heard Uncle Steve's joke to Daddy about how now that he has two girls, he has to get a double-barrelled shot gun. Hee.

So, welcome Baby Lily! And Come On Pea!

Toof x2

Well, Owen's second tooth has finally broken through his gums, and the first one is now easily visible whenever he grins (although it's still quite small). He's also THIS CLOSE to crawling, rocking on all fours, pushing himself backwards very vigourously, and skootching (yes, it's a word, watch me conjugate it: I skootch, you skootch, he/she/one/it skootches...) around on his little bum. Skootching is when he almost gets up on all fours, and then plops back down on his bum, but in a different location, so he has moved a little. For a guy who's not quite mobile, he sure doesn't stay in one place anymore! :)

Birthdays, Be Mine, and Don't Forget to Floss!

Last weekend, Owen's Great Grandma Howard celebrated her 91st birthday! We all went to brunch at the Waterloo Inn, and Owen was a very well behaved little gentleman. For the occasion, he wore his suit (which he's only worn once before, to Auntie Kris and Uncle Ryan's reception, so I guess it's good it got worn again!) Owen did very well in his high chair, and even ate his lunch there at the head of the table:

Owen and Mama together (featuring Mama's new hair, which I got cut and highlighted the day before. I hadn't had my hair done since before Owen was born, so that was a treat!)
Owen is thinking, hey, I think that's a camera pointed at me!

That IS a camera! Give it here! I LOVE expensive electronic equipment. I promise to chew VERY carefully on it!

Hee. We had a fun brunch. Steve's Uncle Steve and his friend Tracy were there too, they're going to come down for another visit with Owen at the beginning of March, which is great.

Valentine's Day saw lots of surprises at our house. Owen and I spent the afternoon preparing a special dinner for Papa (stuffed shell pasta and a salad). When Papa came home, he had roses and a card for me, and he took Owen out to get what Owen had "left" in the car, a card and an "I love you" balloon for me. Owen had a card for Papa too, although he wasn't very good at giving the cards - he's still very big into paper, and would much rather chew on the card than hand it off. :)

Owen's first tooth is all the way through the gums, although it's still quite tiny. And it has a little buddy just starting to sprout next to it that I noticed today. Owen came with me to my dentist appointment yesterday afternoon, which was fun. All the girls in the office were very glad to meet him, and he was his usual charming self. I can proudly say that I am nearly 30, and have never had a cavity. The doctor gave me a toothbrush for Owen, and the hygienist actually gave me bubblegum flavoured dental floss for him - apparently, babies are prone to getting cavities between their little molars when they come in! She suggested that when Owen gets his back teeth, I sit on the couch with his head in my lap to floss him (she does this with her kids, and lets them watch TV while she does it). I am not the best at remembering to floss myself, so hopefully knowing that I have to care for Owen's teeth too will keep me on track!

Lots of excitement coming up the next while. Auntie Erica is THIS CLOSE to having the Pea, and Auntie Rachelle is less than a week away from her due date. This weekend, Auntie Lee Ann is coming to town to do some bridesmaid dress shopping, and we have a dinner party on Saturday night (yay!). The next weekend, Uncle Steve and Tracy are coming to visit, then the next weekend, my parents are coming to visit, and then it's March Break, and Steve will be off for a whole week! Then Auntie Jill will be having her baby, then my 30th birthday, and before you know it, it will be April and we'll be off to Barrie to celebrate Owen's Great Grandpa's 90th birthday with everyone. Crazy! I love it. :) Cheers!

It's a Toof!

Well, now I know why Owen has been such a drooly baby the last few days! And why he hasn't slept well the past two nights. He's got a tooth that is just about to break through! It's on the bottom, his front left. I can see two little bumps, and he's been very irritated by it today, gnawing on everything he can get his little hands on. (The strap of Mommy's diaper bag, Mommy's jeans, Mommy's finger.) I got my hair cut yesterday, so there's no more ponytail for him to snack on, much to his dismay.

He's been so into trying to pick up every tiny little thing fluff off the carpet and put it in his mouth (the bane of light-coloured carpet - I vaccum in the morning, and there's still fluff by evening!) so I bought him some little snacking puffs. They're Gerber Graduates, tiny star-shaped rice puffs (I got the sweet potato flavour). They just melt in your mouth, so even though they say they're for 12 months and up, Owen's doing just fine with them (I watch him very closely, but he drools so much, they're practically melted in his hand before they even get into his mouth!) Anyway, Steve's decided that since he's now eating "chewable" food, that's why this tooth decided to put in an appearance.

Of course, it's not a tooth yet, it's still just two little bumps - I can't feel it with my finger yet either. But it's there, just below the surface, and that means that someday soon, our little guy won't be giving me gummy grins anymore - he'll be sharing snaggletooth smiles! Sniff, he's growing up! :)

Howieland gets the Plague

Ugh, we have just had a bout of yucky sickness here in Howieland, and we're not sure where it came from. Owen and I travelled to Barrie last weekend for Owen's Grandma's and Great-Grandma's birthday celebration. We drove up Friday night, and he was an angel. I brought his lullaby CD, and left around bedtime. He slept for about an hour, woke up and "talked" to himself for a bit, and then fell asleep for the rest of the drive. He was a complete ham the entire time we were at Grandma and Grandpa's, playing, "talking", and being full of general cuteness. Sunday morning we were supposed to have a quick visit, maybe some cake, and then head home after lunch in time for Owen's first SuperBowl with Daddy (the Bears are Daddy's team. Yes, he's getting over their loss, thanks for the concern.)

Unfortunately, I woke up feeling just awful on Sunday. Just as I was about to wake my mom, she was already up and coming down the stairs, and I made it back to bed just in time. I ached all over, and my stomach couldn't keep anything down. Luckily Owen is really good with baby food and cereal now, so I nursed him a few times, but Grandma and Grandpa were able to handle everything else, including a short trip to Great-Grandma-and-Grandpa's place, so the birthday celebration went on without me. (Not that I cared, at that point. The high point of my day was eating an apple.) And Owen didn't seem to miss me that much, although he gave me a few looks like, Mama, get out of bed and play with me!

Monday I was feeling much better, and we were out of diapers, so even though there was a lot of blowing snow, Owen and I hit the road at naptime. He took a good nap, and then we stopped in Fergus when he woke up to have some lunch. I went to the McDonalds, because I know they have high chairs. I had some apple slices and a bottle of water, and Owen ate his green beans. And happily shared them through a big gummy grin with everyone who happened to walk by. That was our messiest meal ever - good thing they package the high chairs with wet naps!

Come Wednesday night, Steve came home from school not feeling at that great, and by dinner time, it was pretty clear that he had what I had had. (Which was weird, since it was so much later). I did my best to take care of him, including calling his vice-principal, taking dictation on some notes for a supply teacher, and delivering the notes before school the next day (with Owen, of course). He was feeling much better by end of day yesterday, and was back at work today.

And Owen? Not even a runny nose. He's been a drooly baby the last few days, but healthy as can be. So all in all, no complaints. And I was happy that I was at my parents' house when I was sick, but if Steve and I can arrange that kind of sickness and recovery time between each of us getting sick on all successive illnesses, then one of us will always be well to look after Owen! :)

Owen Update

Wow, my last post actually generated quite a bit of discussion among my mommy friends, in the computer and in real life. (I got several emails from people too). Nice to know I'm not the only one hearing this.

So, this is a post mainly for Auntie Kristi, who called last Friday (at 2 am her local time, no less!) but Owen and I were at a playdate with pretty much every other baby that we know (there were 8 babies total, 4 boys, 4 girls, over at Laura and Blake's house. It was so fun! Laura is the girl who is whipping us all into shape at StrollerFit, so she wanted a chance for us all to play together without her having to "boss" us.)

Anyway, we're very VERY sorry that we missed Auntie Kristi's call, especially since it sounds like she and Hunkie Unkie are having lots of fun adventures in Bangkok. We are having fewer adventures, but no less fun, so here is an Owen Update, on all the fun things he does now.

Hmm, number one is reach for anything and everything (he is beside me here in the office, happily emptying the paper recycling bin as I type.) He can have a million toys in front of him, but that is never as good as something that seems JUST OUT OF REACH... until he reaches it. He's also very big into other babies' toys. Even if he's just stolen someone's toy, he'll keep reaching for whatever else they get until he has everything. A few weeks ago we met to work out at Alaine and Madison's home (Alaine has lots of nice workout stuff in her basement, so it was a change of pace from the track) and had all the babies playing together on a mat. Owen was Mr. Grabby Hands until he had everything! And last week, we went to a Tupperware party at Kristyn and Abby's house, where Owen got to play with Abby and Lola. Lots of counter-swiping seemed to be going on there, which was fun, until Andrea got out a water bottle for Lola to play with. It was like a baby mosh pit, with EVERYONE diving for that bottle! We had to separate them. (Especially since the girls have hair, and Owen pulls hair.)

So, those are some early lessons we are working on. "Gentle", "Don't pull hair", "Hands to yourself, please" and "Not for babies!" "Give that to Mummy, please!" get said a lot. I'm glad he's working out how to reach for things, but I would really prefer that my son not be the group bully!

Owen has also figured out (somewhat) the basketball hoop he got for Christmas. It talks and lights up when you put something through the hoop, so he'll throw anything (soother, stuffed animal, any ball he can grab) through the hoop. But the sensor on it is quite near the top of the rim, so he also knows that if he grabs onto the rim, it will also go off. So sometimes, he's content to just grab it, and chew on the rim. (This is a very short hoop, if you haven't guessed!)

On the movement front, still no crawling yet, but we are very close. Owen has no trouble sitting up for long periods of time, and will throw himself forward in the direction of anything he wants. If he doesn't quite get there, he does pushups until he realizes that they aren't getting him anywhere, and then he'll either roll over to get something else, or, if there's nothing in sight, he'll fuss. He still hasn't gotten up on all fours yet, so we think crawling is still a little ways away. But he loves to stand now, too. He'll reach for your hands, and use them to pull himself up to standing. Once he's up, his balance is getting better, we can prop him against his exersaucer and he'll stand against the outside playing with all the toys. Until he sees something on the floor that catches his attention, and then plop, down he goes.

He's also reaching to be picked up now. He had been just raising his arms a bit, but now, if I walk over to him and ask him if he wants Mama to pick him up, he reaches for me, which is great. And I get the big gummy grin too, of course.

And he's really REALLY working his vocals. We seem to mostly be through his screetch-toad phase (hee, can you guess where that nickname came from, Auntie Erica?) and he is really babbling up a storm these days. He's working the da-da-da-da-da and ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya sounds. Occasionally we get a ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, and once in a blue moon, mum-mum-mum, (but mum-mum-mum and da-da-da-da are pretty indiscriminate). But if you ask him where Mummy/Mama or Daddy are, he'll look right at us. Actually, the other day, Steve was late coming home from work, and I said to Owen, "Where is Daddy? He's very late!" Owen looked right over at the door from the front hall to the living room, which is where he usually first sees Daddy when he comes home. Too cute!

Eating solids is going very well. Owen loves his rice cereal, and he's a pro at carrots and squash now. Cereal can be room temperature, but veggies have to be slightly warmed (my son, the connoisseur!) This week he's being introduced to sweet potato, and green beans. We have these great colourful bowls from IKEA that Aunt Tracey and Uncle Todd got Owen for Christmas, and Owen just gets so excited when he sees me take one out, because he knows it's time to eat!

So, some photos....

Helping Daddy play online poker (Owen looks worried, is Daddy bluffing?) :

Out in the snow with Mummy...

Having fun in the tubby:

Yum, enjoying some carrots:

And a general cuteness photo:

Good Baby?

Now that Owen has outgrown his bucket-style car seat, whenever Steve or I take him out, we carry him in the Baby Bjorn front-carrier. Owen loves it, he kicks his feet like crazy, waves his arms, and coos and laughs. Of course, this gets him a lot of attention, which makes him act even cuter, smiling at everyone.

One of the first things everyone asks me about him is, "Is he a good baby?". (Well, to be truthful, even though Owen wears a lot of blue, I often get asked whether "she" is a good baby. Why do the boys always get the long eyelashes??) What does that mean, exactly? All babies are good! Of course, I tell them yes. Next they want to know, "Does he sleep through the night?" Well, technically, sleeping for a 5-hour stretch is "sleeping through the night", according to the sleep books. But since Owen is up once or twice a night just to eat these days, that's what I say. He's just a little baby, and even though he's getting some solids now, he's still getting most of his nutrition from breast milk, and needs those feedings. And then they tell him, "You have to be a good boy, and let mommy get her sleep!" I've actually had this conversation several times, with different strangers. It's bizarre. Now that we've sorted out the night waking, Owen is sleeping 12-13 hours at night, in long stretches. Sure, a stretch of 12 unbroken hours of sleep for me would be nice, but this is definitely do-able, if not ideal.

But I wonder, what do these people think a "bad" baby is? I mean, even when Owen was waking up through the night every hour (or less!) and I was a crazy, baggy-eyed zombie, I still thought he was a good baby. It's not like he WANTED to wake up that much, or like he was plotting it. Babies are babies, they can't help what they do yet, so how can any baby be "bad"? Is that what happens to the poor little ones that are abused or hurt by their parents? Do those parents think they have a "bad" baby? Honestly, it's such a weird question for people to ask, "Is he a good baby?". He's a BABY, that IMPLIES that he's good. Babies are about as good as you can get.

Even if Owen had colic, cried for hours a day, fought sleep all the time, and woke up 10 times a night, he would still be good. I may not feel very "good" about how things were going, but that wouldn't mean HE wasn't good. How can there be good babies and bad babies? I know that not all babies are as easy going as Owen, but that can't make them "bad". They're just different. If he misses a nap or has a later feed, he gets cranky. He's not being bad, he's reacting to something Steve or I have let him down in. When he wasn't sleeping well, I was feeling so awful, because I just know it was my fault for going in so often the times he did wake up - I had "taught" him that (bad?) behaviour. He'd become a bad sleeper, but was still a good baby!

The thing that makes me wonder the most about people, is that a few times, I've been asked this question by other moms. Their kids are a little older, but still, did they think they had "bad" babies? Do people actually think they have "bad" babies? I'm just really puzzled by this. If Owen wasn't our Cheeri-O, would things be different? Would I think he was a bad baby? Does anyone else get this question? I'm curious now, and will have to ask my mom-friends. Cheers!

Happy New Year, Owen is 6 months old!

I haven't been able to update for a while, Steve updated our virus software, and it changed our computer settings and messed me up for logging into this page. But it's all sorted out now, yay! Glad so many people like the video of Owen NOT rolling, I still don't have any rolling on video, since he prefers to sit up these days, he's not spending much time rolling around. Instead, he's practicing launching himself forward from a sitting position. He's also gotten up on hands and knees a few times, but no rocking, so crawling is still a ways away.

We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas! Owen was very spoiled by all his loving grandparents, and we even got to see all of them on Christmas Day, which was great. Here are a few pics:

Owen with his Grandma and Grandpa Rastas:

Opening presents with Mommy and Daddy:

Under the tree at Nana Howard's house:

A few days before Christmas, we went over to Auntie Erica and Uncle Marty's to visit. Her family was visiting, so it was nice for them to get to play with Owen. And Nathan was too cute. He just wanted to hold Owen all the time: "Up Baby Owen. Up Baby Owen!" And he was very good at sharing his toys, even though I don't think he understood why Owen didn't want to play with all his fun stuff. Just you wait, Nate. Before you know it, you'll be upset because Owen (and not to mention the Pea!) will be all up in your stuff!

Big hug from Cousin Nathan:

Owen's cutie hat made for him with love by Auntie Erica!

What sweet boys! Heh, someday they'll be surly teenagers, and we'll show them these pictures and tell them how cute they were as babies. Hee.

New Years was lots of fun, Steve and Rachelle and Lance and Jill came over with their little ones. All the little ones settled down to sleep without any trouble, and we had lots of fun eating, chatting, playing Rummoli, and eating. (Did I mention the eating? We had so much yummy food, it was great!)

And now Owen is 6 months old. He's started eating cereal, which has been a huge hit from the start. He gobbled it up right from the beginning, eating every bite, nothing getting pushed back out! He's so excited to eat, he even grabs onto the spoon and helps guide it into his mouth. I think the next video we post will definitely have to be an Owen Eats video, but I think we'll wait until he's having something a little more colourful, like maybe carrots! (Which he'll get starting next week.)

Still no luck getting him to take a bottle, but we are having limited success with the sippy cups and, more recently, a sippy with a straw. He really likes to have water from his straw-cup, so that comes with us when we go out now.

Speaking of going out, Owen and I have lots on the go now that the New Year is here! On Mondays, we have his swimming lessons again. Tuesdays and Thursdays are Stroller Fit, we meet up with a group of other moms and babies, and one of the moms, who is a personal trainer, works us very VERY hard. (It's awesome!) Thursdays we also have BabyTime at the library (songs, playtime, and a story) and on Fridays, we're starting a new swimming class - it's water aerobics for mommy while Owen floats along next to me. I'm looking forward to it! Owen's gotten fairly regular in his napping, so although our days are full, he's still a very Cheeri-O. He loves going grocery shopping now too: he's outgrown his little bucket car seat, so instead of sitting in that while I shop, he rides in the front carrier. He loves being able to kick his feet, (and trying to grab things off of shelves if I get too close!) and he LOVES the attention he gets from everyone. We have a lot of fun. Daddy and Owen had lots of fun doing their Christmas shopping together over the holidays (and mommy enjoyed having some me time to herself!) Now Steve's back to work, and we're counting down to March Break.

In addition to all of that, we're still trying to run a few times a week. It's been six months, and while I feel pretty good about what I was able to accomplish before we went to Mexico, I still have a long way to go before I'll feel like I'm back to myself. I'm able to do about 4 km with Owen and the stroller, and just over 6 km regularly on my own. There is an 8 kms race (not that I "race", but it's nice to have a goal!) towards the end of February that I would like to do, but we'll see how often we can run over the next few weeks, and whether I'll be able to add 2 km of distance in 5 weeks. (I was running 8 kms a few times a week when I was at my running peak, so I know I can do it, it's just a matter of getting there.) At the very least, I'm looking forward to doing the ENDURrace this April: a 5 K run one weekend, and 8 the next. Back in 2004, it was my first race (although I only did the 5 K) and I haven't done it since. I think a few of the other StrollerFit mommies are interested, so I hope to have some partners to train with! So that's my New Year's resolution: to do the ENDURrace. If I make it, then maybe we'll aim for a 10 k after that. Wish me luck! :)