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! :)