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! :)

Just in Time for Christmas... Mombie!

Hmm, I thought I'd published this post, but obviously not! Suffice it to say, Owen is now sleeping really well, thanks to a little bit of fussing it out. Two nights of letting him fuss when he woke (unless it was time to eat) and he got it all figured out. The longest he ever fussed for was 20 minutes, and it was actually not that bad, because he never got to the screaming stage that he would escalate to the times Steve or I would go in and then try to settle him. But I'm posting this anyway, because wow, I need to remember this to hold over his head one day!

****************************
I am so beyond tired these days, I'm like the walking dead. Auntie Erica says I'm a "mombie", which fits just perfectly. Owen is not sleeping well. He falls asleep pretty well; he needs some intervention to get him down for naps, but he goes down fairly easily at night. But he does not stay asleep. Some nights, it's like he's awake every hour. I take 10 minutes or so to settle him back down (he still only wants to eat once in the night, the other times, he just needs a cuddle) and then he's back into a deep sleep. Which only lasts for another little bit of time!

The books I've been reading say that babies have a sleep cycle of about 40 minutes, where they start out sleeping lightly, then deeper, and then lightly again. It seems like every sleep cycle, Owen wakes up. I definitely think it's a sleep cycle thing, because even when he sleeps a little longer, it's increments of 45 minutes or so - he'll sleep for an hour and a half, and (rarely!) for three hours at a stretch.

This is very hard, not only because I'm not getting quality sleep, but because Owen slept so WELL when he was tiny - I feel like I must have done something to screw him up! Of course, between teeth pain, learning to sit up, rolling over, he's got a lot on the go right now, and that's enough to keep anyone awake at night.

The interrupted sleep doesn't seem to bother Owen at all - he often wakes up in the morning and just talks happily to himself until we go in to get him. He's in a good mood during the day between naps. He's still our Cheeri-O, which is great. And at least I get all those smiles and love from him when he's awake - it would be much harder to be a mombie during those first few weeks, before you get all those gummy grins and love back from the baby.

One of the strategies suggested by the (massive amounts!) of reading I've been doing on baby sleep suggests that if he's waking in a set pattern, to set an alarm, and go in and try to semi-rouse them before they would normally wake themselves, to break their pattern. I spent two awful nights doing just that (from the spare bedroom, poor Papa did not need to be woken up all night long!) but it seemed to cause more issues. To start, because Owen sometimes wakes up every 45 minutes, I was setting my alarm for only 1/2 hour, which was really tough on me. And then, because he sometimes sleeps for an hour and a half at a time before waking, I couldn't tell if he stayed asleep "longer" because I jiggled him around a little bit, or because he would have stayed asleep then anyway. And several times, I just woke him up by accident, and he was even MORE upset than when he wakes himself up. So, was I really doing anything, or would he have slept through those times and then woken up those other times anyway? I decided that I wasn't doing anything, and since I was a much better mommy for getting my sleep in 1.5 hour chunks than 1/2 hour chunks, I've just gone back to letting him wake me!

Today is Steve's last day of school before Christmas holidays, so soon I'll have some middle-of-the-night help, since he won't need to be up for work, which is nice. Things can't go on like they are, the walking dead is not an attractive look for Owen's first Christmas!

Owen...NOT rolling over

Ha! I've been trying to get video of Owen rolling over to post for Kristi and Ryan, since they're as good as in Bangkok now. (They're still in Ottawa, but since I'm not going to see them again before they go, they might as well be half a world away already!) Anyway, Owen is NOT cooperating, because he loves the camera too much to look away and roll. But the not rolling video is hilarious - my voice is SO high, because I'm trying to "sweet talk" him, I guess, and some of the looks he gives me are very funny. The quality isn't that great, because it's just taken with my digital camera. Let's see if I can get it posted for viewing....
Owen NOT Rolling
Enjoy!

Poor Baby

So, Owen is definitely teething. How do I know? Several nights of waking in the middle of the night, trying to nurse, and then screaming. Not able to nurse, not taking his soother, and screaming in pain until I can get a cold washcloth wrapped around my finger into his little mouth to rub those little gums. Poor, poor baby. The teething meltdowns only seem to happen in the middle of the night, or when he's really tired, which makes me think that most of the time the pain is not too bad, but it's too much to bear on top of other discomfort.

And speaking of discomfort, Owen's poor bottom is quite sore. He's got his first case of diaper rash, which we are treating with lots of cream, and open-air bummy time. (It's like tummy time, but without a diaper! Try it, it's fun. Minor prep required: lay down waterproof pad to protect your floor, cover pad with burp cloth for comfort, and voila, ready for bummy time! Luckily, Owen's still not much for rolling front-to-back, so he stays put on the pad.) Again, most of the time, it doesn't seem to bother him too much, unless he's tired, and then he just can't bear it. Poor baby.

And I can't even see a white bump yet, so who knows how long it will be until this tooth (teeth?) comes to town and solves the teething and runny bum troubles. So if you have a spare moment, think a kind thought for my poor, teething, red-bum boy.

Cruisin'

Well, Owen reached another milestone yesterday. After putting him in his fourth outfit for the day following three blowouts, I finally had to admit that he has outgrown his Swaddlers, and move him into the next size of diapers. He's in the Cruisers now, no more soft little baby diapers. :( And all those blowouts - I have a feeling he's started teething in earnest now, since a "runny bum" is one of the signs.

We weren't able to have our play date with Nathan last week, because the poor little guy has pinkeye. We hope he's better soon, because Owen misses him! We did get to play with Jack, Ella and Ailish, however, which was lots of fun. I should say, that we were able to lie on our tummy, and have Jack, Ella and Ailish play around us. Owen's not much for playing with yet these days, he's more with the "playing at". He's very good at getting sat upon, and likes to be petted. Glad to be doing our part to help his soon-to-be-big-sisters friends Ella and Ailish practice being "gentle" with babies. :) Of course, mommy forgot her camera, but here's a picture from the last time all these little guys got together:

Pretty cute, no?

In other news, Owen FINALLY started rolling over again yesterday. He did it several times while I was out of the room - I'd leave and he'd be on his back, and I'd come back in and he'd be on his front. I tried coaxing him, bribing him with toys just out of reach, nada. Then Steve came home, and coaxed him a little bit, and he did it with both of us watching. Yay!

And on the teething front, no little white bumps in the mouth yet, but we are chewing on absolutely anything and everything that we can get our little hands on. Including trying to eat the yellow bell on his exersaucer (which isn't really a saucer, but if I call it the "Intellitainer" like it says on the box, people are like, huh?) Here's a pic of Owen in it, see how big the bell is??? It's more like a bell pepper, but Owen loves to "bob" for it.

He loves to play in there, because he loves standing up. It was a gift from the River Sisters, Krista, Julie and Summer, my good friends from high school. And speaking of them, Krista just had another beautiful baby boy! Congratulations Krista! Lots of babies coming for Owen to practice HIS "gentle" skills on one day. (One day. No more babies in the works for us for the time being!) Cheers!

December Already???

Here's our happy little guy, playing with his toes. Diaper changes are an adventure these days, since Owen LOVES to grab his feet. And kick. Did I mention the kicking? He's a kicking fool! And he rolled over for the first time last week. We were at BabyTime at the library, and I didn't realize I'd put one of his toys down just out of his reach, until he rolled over to get it! That afternoon, he was rolling all over, back to front, back to front, and even back to front to back. But he stopped before Steve came home, he stopped, and he hasn't done it since! He goes halfway, onto his side, and then stops and grins at us. Silly boy.

He's also getting better at sitting on his own, he does the tripod sit very well, and if he's sitting with Steve or I, he'll pull himself up on us into a sitting position, but he still needs to work on balance.

He did much better with his shots at his four month appointment - he cried, but stopped as soon as I picked him up. He's almost 16 pounds, and 26 inches tall. What a guy!

Last weekend we had Auntie Kristi and Uncle Ryan's home reception. For the occasion, Owen wore his first suit:

Aren't my boys handsome? I love them! Owen also wanted to try his first rum & coke:Auntie Kris and Hunkie Unkie did their first dance...again!

And Owen got tired, so I just popped him into his sling, just like in Mexico. He fell asleep, and still gave Mama a chance to get out on the dance floor. (See him peeking out there?)

Now that all of Auntie Kristi and Uncle Ryan's wedding parties are over, it's time to start thinking about Christmas - yikes! November just flew by, good thing Owen and I have time for shopping during the day. We have an appointment this morning to get Christmas pictures taken. Not sure what he'll wear yet, I have a few cutie options. We got a few pics taken by the photographer at Movies for Mommies this week too. I put Owen in just a cloth diaper, and we put him on her bear rug - too cute! She also had a pair of angel wings - we'll have to see how those photos turn out.

Got to run - playdate this afternoon with Auntie Erica and Nathan, then this evening with Aunties Jill and Rachelle and Jack, Ailish, and Ella. Mama will remember her camera and try to get some more cutie pics. Cheers!

Hola Amigos!

Sorry for the delay in updates, but we've just returned from Auntie Kristi and Uncle Ryan's beautiful wedding in Mexico. Owen was an awesome traveller! He had no trouble with flying (a few issues on the flight home, but that was due to a wonky napping schedule more than anything). We roomed with Kristi's best friend Amie and her daughter Abbie, and the kids were great. The first night, they woke each other up LOT, but after that, they were fine.

I had a lot of fun with Amie and "the babies" were a huge hit wherever we went. Heh, the funniest was a group of Americans who had seen the four of us all over the resort. One day the guys stopped us to demand: "Where are your MEN???" (By this time, Amie and I had tired of the looks we were getting from people when we told them we weren't sisters, just friends, and had just started smiling and nodding when people assumed Owen and Abbie were cousins.)

Owen loved the pool, even though it was cooler than our swimming lessons pool at home, but wasn't too keen on the ocean. The sand was take it or leave it. The wedding was fabulous, and even the mystery monsoon that blew in just as we started walking down the aisle to the beachfront gazebo couldn't wreck things. The major deluge caused a mad scramble to the far side of the gazebo where the wind wasn't quite as strong. My brother got completely soaked trying to keep the rain off Amie and Abbie, and a lot of the ceremony pictures feature my arm as I tried to keep Kris' veil from whipping Ryan in the face.

The best part of all is that Ryan didn't even realize it was raining, and couldn't figure out what all the commotion was from the musical chairs going on behind them. He only had eyes for Kristi. That's a guy I KNOW will give my sister the happily ever after she deserves. Too many pictures to post, but here are two:




Please email me if you want to see more, I'll invite you to view our albums in our Yahoo Group. Cheers!

Hallowe'en Redux

Sorry for the delay in updates, but we've just returned from Auntie Kristi and Uncle Ryan's beautiful wedding in Mexico. More on that in another post - waiting to get some photos ready.

I didn't have a chance to post Owen's Hallowe'en picture before we left:


He was a slug - that's our nickname for him, when he falls asleep in your arms, it's like he doesn't have any bones, so we call it "Sluggin' Out". Of course, Old Navy doesn't carry slug costumes, so I had to get out my sewing machine. I'm very happy with how it turned out. And I'm so happy we got a sunny day right before Hallowe'en so I could take him to the pumpkin patch and get some pictures!

More on Mexico in just a sec...meanwhile, a few more October pictures:


Yes, he's sitting up! Well, it's actually more of a tripod-prop, but he can hold this position long enough to snap a few pictures before he topples over. Real sitting can't be far behind! :)



Wearing his cutie hat and sweater that our friend Laura made for him.



Mexican preview - a sample of the photos I was supposed to send along for Kris' island-themed bachelorette party in Ottawa that we weren't able to make.



Owen peeking at me through the mirror in TummyTime Turtle. He loves tummy time, and he loves that turtle!

Thanksgiving Photos

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving....

Owen in his Jolly Jumper (man, he LOVES that thing!)

Owen with his Grandpa, ready for a nap!

Owen with his Great Grandparents

Owen with Auntie Kristi and Hunkie Unkie Ryan

Owen with Uncle Geoff

(Um, a note to my family: I hope someone else has a picture of Owen with his Grandma on Thanksgiving, because I thought we got one, but we didn't!)

Three months old at Turkey Time!

Wow, I really am not that great at updating this site. So much has happened with our little Cheeri-O in the past few weeks! Of course, he's still getting bigger and bigger. We had a reunion with the other parents from our pre-natal class about a month ago, and although he was the youngest baby there, he was the second biggest! Of course, he had the second biggest birth weight too, so he had a head start. What cuties they all are, (although of course, the Cheeri-O is the cutest, if I do say so myself!) One of the other girls, Kristyn, also has a blog, so I'd been following along her story and seeing pictures of her petite princess, Abby. I LOVE Abby's hair, it's too cute! And Valerie and I have been seeing each other at Movies for Mommies, so I'd met Sadie a few times too, but it was nice to see everyone together, and meet Andrea's little Lola (also a doll! All these adorable little girls!)

We also found out that congratulations are in order for Owen's Aunties Erica, Rachelle, and Jill - he's going to have three new little cousins in February and March! We can't wait, it's so exciting! And his Auntie Lee Ann gets congratulations too - she and Uncle Evan will be tying the knot this time next year, and I'll have the honour of standing up with them as their Maid of Honour. And speaking of Maid of Honour, there's only a few weeks left until Auntie Kristi's wedding - our passports are finally here, and plans are in full swing for a shower and Buck & Doe party in Barrie, and we're all set for Mexico in November. Unfortunately, I'm not able to make the bachelorette party in Ottawa on the 28th, but a surprise package will be travelling to Ottawa with Amie for the girls to enjoy. :) Sorry Kris, I know you read this, so no hints!

We've started going to BabyTime at the library - we sing songs, play little games with the songs, and read a story. Owen seems to really like it. We also start swimming lessons next week, which should be lots of fun, since Owen loves his bath!

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving in Barrie, Owen did really well on the drive, needing just a quick stop for a diaper change each way. I hardly got any sleep while we were there, though, since we had him in the room with us - is he ever a loud sleeper! He "talks" in his sleep, which is too cute, but takes some getting used to. And we got some great pictures of him with his great-grandparents - I'll post once the camera batteries are charged.

And now Hallowe'en is coming, and of course, we've put lots of thought into Owen's first costume. There are lots of cute costumes for babies out there, but I decided to pull out my sewing machine and make his outfit. He's going to be a slug - that's our nickname for him, because when he falls asleep in your arms, it's like he suddenly doesn't have any bones anymore! We call it "Sluggin' Out". I've got some grey wool fleece, and some shiny blue material, and he's going to be in a modified hooded onesie, with shiny blue "slime trail" on his belly, and antenna eyes on the hood. I just have to attach the arms and feet to the onesie, and finish the hood, and then we're done! Of course I will have lots of pictures. I'm hoping to finish by the end of this week, and hoping for some nice weather next week, so I can take him out to the local pumpkin patch for some photos.

Guess that's all for now, except to mention that our guy is 25.5 inches tall, 15 pounds, and nearly outgrowing his "bucket" car seat. Sniff, he's getting to be so big! But then I put him in his jammies for bed, and put him to sleep in his crib, and think how tiny he looks in there. Sigh. This mommy-gig is just one big rollercoaster! The hormones just don't stop! :)

Evolution of a Nap

Auntie Kristi says I am giving her a very unrealistic vision of what parenthood is like - apparently, her coworkers don't think any baby could possibly be as good natured as our Cheeri-O. Owen does have his fussy moments, but they really don't last long, as long as you get him down for a nap, or fill his tummy, or change his bum. And so I give you, the evolution of a nap:

What the... I was just chewing on my fist, and Mom popped me into the swing! I'm so not even tired! Well, maybe my eyes are a little heavy...





I'm so not napping. I'm going to fight you, nap!





Wahhh! I'm so tired, why aren't I sleeping?





Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz





Hey, I feel much better now! Let's play!



What a guy, hmmmm? :)

A few more photos

I couldn't get all the pictures I wanted to in the previous post, so here are a few more: a general cuteness picture, napping with Mama and Papa pictures, Owen having a serious chat with his Auntie Lee Ann, and Owen in his Canada outfit from Auntie Kristi and Hunkie Unkie Ryan (he wore it to Poker night at Uncle Jamie's, because of the visor.) Enjoy!

Superstar!

First things first:





Some really cute pictures there, the Cheeri-O is such a smiley guy, I could snap pictures of him all day long.

So, the doctor's appointment went not too badly. Owen is 24.5 inches long, and 13 pounds, 9 ounces, putting him in the 95th percentile for height, and 90th percentile for weight. He's going to be a tall one! He HATED the shots. I don't think he even noticed the second one, he was screaming so much about the first. Poor little guy got his first band-aids, one on each chubby little thigh, because the injection sites bled a little. He had a pretty cranky evening, lots of sobbing and hiccups, but we dosed him with Infant Tylenol and he hic'd himself off to sleep. Thankfully, today he's back to his usual Cheeri-O self, and seems to have forgotten all about it. I just wish Steve and I could!

Speaking of sleep, Owen is sleeping in his crib in his own room now. I get weird looks from people when they look at me sympathetically and say, "oh, and is that hard on you? How are you handling that?" and I'm all "It's GREAT!" But really, Owen makes much more noise in his sleep now, and sometimes even wakes up, coos to himself a bit, and then drops back off - Steve and I have both been sleeping better with him in his own room. And since he's only up once in the night, getting up and going into his room for that middle of the night feed isn't so rough, especially since I get 6-7 hours of sleep before he wants to eat.

We were so proud of the little guy this weekend - we went to a party at our friends' house, it started in the late afternoon and went into the evening. We brought Owen's Pack n Play and set it up in one of the bedrooms so he could nap and even go down at his regular bedtime... and he did! When we finally came home that night about 11:30, he'd already gone down for the night, and he slept right through a diaper change and PJ change, and stayed down until 5 the next morning, when he woke for his usual early morning feed. What an angel!

Here's a question: do all babies LOVE to get their diaper changed, or is this just a weird Owen thing? Seriously, he can be crying, but you put him on the change table, and it's all smiles and giggles. Maybe it's the little nudist in him, but as soon as you start unsnapping his clothes, he gives you the biggest grin, and starts squealing away, he's so happy. It's so funny, and so adorable.

And he's finally noticed all his "friends" we painted in his room - he loves to be held up right next to the Sneetches and just stares and stares at them; sometimes he even reaches for them. The Hop on Pops above the change table get a lot of attention too, but the Sneetches are definitely his favourite. I can't wait until he starts trying to talk to them!

Finally, Owen is not only grabbing onto toys, but now he's bringing them to his mouth for chewing on. He loves his Rumble Bee (it's a bee that vibrates when you pull the tail) and spent the afternoon gnawing on its crinkly wings. (Whoever thought to put cellophane inside of kiddie toys was a genius - Owen loves his "crinkly" toys!) Another favourite that goes right into his mouth is Pokey Bear, and Mama's fingers are a close runner-up. Yes, it's so sweet when your son grabs onto your finger oh-so tight... and then tries to eat it! What's really funny is when he sometimes misses - there is no way he could pass the finger-to-the-nose test they give people who have been drinking, his hand-to-mouth coordination sometimes leaves a little to be desired. But he's getting it more often than not, and it's pretty cute! I'll try and post some pictures of him tasting his toys next time. Cheers!

Two Months Already!

I can't believe our Cheeri-O is two months old already! He's such a big guy. I know you all just come for the pictures, so first things first:






What a cutie pie, yes? And still good as gold. He's having a nap at the moment - he's on a rotating routine of approximately 3 hours. He wakes, eats, plays, naps, and then repeats every 3 hours or so until he's down for the night. He gave us a few cranky days when he was 6-7 weeks old, because up until then he was falling asleep as soon as he got tired. Now he needs a little help, but now that we've figured that out, we give him some "quiet time" and off he drifts. He's napping much better now too, giving me 45 minutes to over an hour with each nap, and only the occasional short cat-nap, which is nice. And he's gone from waking once-or-twice through the night to only waking once, so we've got high hopes for sleeping through the night by three months.

He's still in our room, but that may be changing shortly now that Steve is back to work - he needs his rest at night! Now that school has started again, we miss Papa during the day. We've started giving Owen a bottle (of expressed breastmilk) once every evening, so he and Papa can have some cuddle time. Last night was the first night they actually got cuddle time though, Owen's still learning to take a bottle, so the first few times were more like protest-time.

Owen has started grabbing toys, but it's still accidental - if there's one in reach when he's waving his hands, he'll grasp it by reflex, and then look surprised when he hits himself in the head with it. We only place soft, head-friendly toys in reach now. :) And he's really starting to get into tummy-time, lasting over 10 minutes on his own. (Tummy-time on mommy or papa's chest lasts much longer). And of course, he babbles non-stop, lots of coos and giggles. We went to Movies for Mommies at the Princess Twin yesterday, and he definitely did not get the lesson on not talking during the movie. He was gurgling away, and laughing like a loon. And staring around like crazy - he's really started to notice other babies, and can't get enough! We have our reunion with our pre-natal class next weekend, and I'm sure he's going to love it. (I also think that all the other babies who are going to be there are girls, which means my little flirt will be in fine form!)

We've also started running, with our awesome jogging stroller. I wait until he looks like he's ready for a nap, then pop him in and off we go - he sleeps the whole time. Right now, he's still lying flat in the jogger, but when he's older and can sit up, we'll do it when he's awake and can enjoy the scenery. I learned quickly during our walks though that he can only take so much staring at the sky before he gets bored and cranky. Love, love, LOVING my stroller.

Next week we're off to the doctor for his two-month shots. I'll get the official weigh-in then, but we're sure that he's closing in on 14 pounds. He's getting heavy in the car-seat bucket! He just keeps growing and growing, sigh. Lots of tiny clothes have already been put away for his little brother or sister one day. Sigh.

Back to School is Looming....

Owen was six weeks old yesterday. They say that if you can so anything for six weeks, it will become a habit, and you'll stick with it for life. Never worked for me with the gym, but I definitely feel like I have this whole mommy-thing under control at least.

We had our last official midwife appointment yesterday. Our last two appointments have been with Julie, because Sky is on vacation this month. (We have a social visit scheduled with her when she's back, so she can see how much Owen has grown!) I'm so sad to think that our time with all the midwives is over now - they've all been so wonderful, and Steve and I feel so lucky to have had the experience that we did with them. (Steve is a total advocate for midwifery care now! It's awesome to hear him.) I'm going to really miss Sky - but we're hoping to give Owen a little brother or sister when he's about two years old, so hopefully it won't be too long before we're making those long drives to St. Jacob's regularly again!

Anyway, Owen looked great at his final appointment. He weighed 12 lbs, 1 oz, so he's still growing like a little weed. He's more and more alert every day, and getting louder and more vocal with his cooing/talking/screetching. And I swear, that boy knows when someone is admiring him - he totally turns up the charm whenever anyone pays him the slightest compliment! He's a big flirt. He's started sucking his fists now when he's hungry, so grunting and snorting have been replaced by slurping as the cue that we'd better get him fed. I never thought it would happen, but I really can tell all the difference between his cries (not that there are many, there's the "I'm hungry", "I'm tired and need help falling asleep", and then there's the "I'm uncomfortable and/or hot - change my diaper, or take off my clothes", (in addition to being a flirt, he's a little nudist!)

We still haven't bothered with any sort of schedule, but our days have a routine to them with his eating and napping patterns. He's still a catnapper, but he is getting in one longer nap a day now. And he's still fantastic at night - goes down about 10, sleeps until 3:30-4, eats, and goes right back down until 7:30 or so. I'm not even napping in the day anymore. We go out and about and do our thing whether he's awake or asleep, and just transfer him from car seat to stroller to Baby Bjorn, or just carry him, depending on what suits his mood.

Of course, the real test will come in two weeks. That's when Steve goes back to school, and I'll be on my own during the day. Steve's managed to get in quite a bit of golf and poker this summer, so it's not like I haven't been on my own with Owen yet. We've been out and about just the two of us, and even survived a bit of a meltdown in Zellers together (his meltdown, I was fine). But it's just easier when Steve is around - when Owen decides he must eat NOW (and he is so like his mom in that way - I can go from zero to bitch in less than a second if I'm hungry and not getting fed!) I can always take him and find a quiet spot or go out to the Jeep and feed him, while Steve finishes up the shopping/paying our bill, whatever. Not that I'm adverse to breastfeeding in public, but the middle of the baby aisle in Zellers is not as comfortable as the Family Room at the other end of the mall. I at least require a place to sit, he's getting too heavy to walk and feed! :)

So, yes, in two weeks our summer "holidays" will be over, and I become a real stay-at-home mom all on my own for the next 10 months. I'm selfishly looking forward to having the little guy all to myself - Steve always wants to hold him and play with him too! But I'm hoping I don't have some sort of delayed post-partum depression, and suddenly lose it because I HAVE to do it all on my own. I know I can, I know I have, but maybe it's different day after day? All I know is, we're having tons of fun so far, and I can't imagine things really getting difficult. I'm sure everything will be fine. At six weeks in, I think we're both feeling pretty used to each other now, and we're all pretty confident that this new family structure is the best thing ever. But we sure will miss Papa when he goes back to work!

Time Flies...

And we really are having fun!

I can't believe that Owen is 5 weeks old already. I finally got around to writing down his birth story, it's in the post below this one. He is the best baby in the world. We're still getting lots of sleep, he's growing like a weed (his next appointment is just before he turns 6 weeks, and we think he's closing in on 12 pounds!; he was 11.5 two weeks ago...). He's such a happy little guy, Steve calls him our "Cheeri-O". He's changed so much in 5 short weeks. He's really filled out, with pudgy little legs, a grapefruit belly, and chubby cheeks! And he's totally smiling at us...



Actually, I have a better picture that shows his gummy grin, but I have to get it off the camera still, and since it's out of batteries at the moment, that will have to wait. But here are some other cutie pictures...






We're having so much fun, our little family. Owen's been to a wedding, to his great-grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary celebration, to his great aunt and uncle's house on the lake (where he went fishing, dipped his toes in the lake, and went for a ride in Grandpa's boat!) and to any number of other parties and outings. He's such an easy guy to get out and about with - only fusses when hungry, and that's a problem I can easily solve!

And Owen is so much fun these days! He's coo-ing, and really trying to "talk" to us, grinning away whenever we have a "conversation". He's really noticing things around him, and he's started hitting out at toys around him (not really in that grasping stage yet, but he'll knock Tummytime Turtle around something fierce!) And speaking of tummy-time, he loves it. He kicks his legs, and if you hold your hand against his feet, he'll scoot along his blanket, he kicks so hard! He also likes to practice "running" in his bouncy chair - just kick kick kick, one leg after the other. He's a busy little guy, arms and legs always moving, and he keeps up a running commentary while he's going.

Poor Steve is starting to think about school now, with only a few more weeks to go for his summer holiday. He's going to miss our little guy something awful when he has to go back. He's such a great dad - I fall in love with him all over again whenever I see him with Owen. I'm so lucky - he changes more than his fair share of diapers, loves to give Owen his bath, and is just as involved with Owen as I am. The only thing he can't do yet is feed him, but I've started pumping, and we're planning on celebrating Owen's six-week birthday with a bottle from Daddy. He's (Owen, not Daddy) nursing very well, so there shouldn't be much chance of "nipple-confusion" anymore. I think Steve's pretty excited.

In other news, my sister got engaged over the holiday weekend! Owen is very excited for Auntie Kris and Hunkie Unkie Ryan! They're planning a November wedding, somewhere warm and beachy - I believe the Mayan Riviera is the front-runner at the moment. As the Maid of Honour (I refuse to refer to myself as the Matron of honour - what an ugly word!) I will be there of course, and the little guy too, we're just hoping that somehow Steve will be able to get a couple of days off from school to join us. We're thinking of doing just a 4-day package wherever they go, so keep your fingers crossed. Unfortunately, teachers don't have holiday time or anything, and who knows if they'll grant him a few personal days for a sister-in-law's wedding. But please cross your fingers for us too, every bit helps! Here's a picture of the happy couple:



So, that's all the news for now. More pics and Owen stories as time (and the little guy!) permits. Cheers!