first birthday photos

To formally document Owen's first birthday, we jumped on the family photoshoot bandwagon, which seems to have all but replaced the old Olan Mills or JC Penney session of the child climbing on oversized blocks with the number of their new age on them. (We did get one in a rocking chair, at least!) We called my friend Lindsey who was 6+ months pregnant with her twins at the time, and she did a great job.  Owen decided to showcase his serious side, but I think he still looks pretty handsome.

The next step is to actually DO something with them now, so I'll at least put them here for a few of you to see!  And slowly but surely, they'll make it onto our living room wall and under the grandparents' Christmas trees.  For now, enjoy our little one-year-old digitally!

two months of mornings

After a little nudge from Grammie, we're back to the blog.  I need to push my overly-thorough tendencies to the side, remind myself what I often tell my employees..."done is better than perfect", and just put some pictures up here even if they are not accompanied by a lot of words. Hopefully a few people will still look at them!

Here is a little collection of morning photos from the past few months.  Owen always looks so cute first thing in the morning - with freshly combed hair and no food stains on his clothes yet - so I sometimes set all the bags down on our way to the car/daycare in the morning and snap a few pictures of him. It's fun to see them all together here and watch the progression of his mobility and hair growth! Taken on May 2, May 28, June 3, and July 15.

8-9 month update

At this point, it's becoming tough to remember what life was like without Owen in our family! We have finally gotten our routines pretty much down to a science, and Owen usually goes with the flow.  I pretty much manage the morning - nursing in bed, preparing his food for the day, getting him dressed,  and dropped him off at daycare or settled in with his nanny, and Kyle gets handles the afternoon responsibilities of pick-up, snack time and play.  

Both playtime and mealtime are highly interactive now! Owen actually plays with some of his toys in the manner they were designed for now, and also tries to make anything he can get his hands on into a toy.  He loves to make his little knit lion squeak, to bounce in both the door frame bouncer and his baby einstein bouncer, and to knock over towers of plastic cups and blocks.  He also loves physical play - riding on shoulders always guarantees a huge grin, and we can usually get some good giggles from tickling and tossing him into the air. 

 Our little shrimp got a good report at his nine month appointment, but he is continuing to drop in the percentiles.  This month he weighed 16 lbs, 12 oz (8th %) and was about 27 in long (7th %). The doctor didn't seem concerned - he told us it's about this time when they "start to fulfill their genetic potential" and advised that we should start to feed him some more protein-rich and fatty foods.  So, we've added yogurt, cheese, tastes of a lot of what we eat, sneak in some avocado, and my personal favorite - oatmeal, mashed bananas and peanut butter.  

 Looking back on my six month post, he hasn't really made too much progress in the mobility department!  He can manage a few crawling strides, then lunges at whatever it is he's going for.  He loves to stand now, especially leaning up against our ottoman/coffee table in the basement.  We have done a lot of practice standing up and sitting down.  He grabs onto my fingers and pulls himself up, and it has felt like he has been progressively using more of his own strength as the weeks have passed.  I think he also understands the phrases "stand up" and "sit down" which is pretty cool to see.

 He definitely understands the word "wave" - waving is his new favorite trick and the first thing I feel like we really taught him! It's the cutest little wave too - like the tour boat wave for those who know what that means.

 We are excited for spring to be here and looking forward to taking lots of walks and outings with our little man.  Can't believe he's well on his way to being one!! 

Owen for President!

Fast forward to 2056...

On the campaign trail! 

President Norton

Merry Christmas, Owen! (a little late)

This post is a long time coming, but worth doing even if late.

I really wanted to do something special for Owen on his first Christmas, and I knew it would probably be to knit him a Christmas stocking.  Knitting is the only craft that I really know how to do, although I hadn't done much of it since high school (nerd alert!).  My stocking, which Gramma Ryan knit for me, is one of my most treasured items.  I have such good memories of digging into it on Christmas mornings throughout the years, always finding a big stash of Hershey's kisses filling up the toe.  I loved the feel of the soft beard on Santa, and how my stocking matched my mom's - also knitted by Gramma.   Kyle has a similar stocking, which was also knit with love by one of several stand-in grandmothers he had, Lucille.  

Just a simple tradition, but a meaningful and memorable one that I wanted to extend for Owen.  

I knew I'd have some time on my hands right before Christmas, as I was scheduled to have surgery on my foot on December 13 and would be confined to the couch for several weeks.  So in November I set about re-teaching myself to knit.  I borrowed a few books from the library and warmed up with a few baby hats that ended up being great gifts for my nieces and nephew. I chose the pattern I wanted to follow for Owen's stocking - an intricate yet seemingly simple, and classic one. I took him to the yarn store (crutches and all!) with the help of Taylor, his nanny, and we chose a beautiful off-white yarn.  And I set off! 

And then I became pretty obsessed.  I worked on the stocking every spare minute I had - when I was supposedly "working from home," late at night after everyone else had gone to sleep ("I'll be up soon," I'd tell Kyle), even while sharing some Christmas night beers with my varied collection of semi-siblings.  

I didn't finish it in time for Christmas morning, but I did complete it while our tree was still standing.  Owen has loosened my perfectionist tendencies enough that I didn't let it bother me.  I hope he will appreciate it next year and for many Christmas mornings to come.  

I never understood how much love could go into making, filling, and hanging a stocking for your child or grandchild until now.  I know I'll tear up every year as Kyle and I sit back on the white couch, having gotten the tree up and the kids to bed and ourselves a glass of wine, gazing our little family's stockings hanging side by side and reflecting on the blessings of the year that has just passed and the many in our families' histories that came before.

for Gramma and Papa

Ever wish you could just stick your thumb in your mouth, cuddle up with your mama, and rest for a while? I know my Gram and Papa (Owen's greats!) feel this way right now, both under the weather, and I hope they will follow Owen's lead...find some comfort and lay low for a bit. We love you both and hope you feel better soon. And Papa, Owen says his thumb is chocolate today. ;-)

6-7 month update

It's probably obvious from my lack of posting lately how busy these 6th and 7th months have been.  We've been busy with work, holidays, and foot surgery for Katie, and Owen's just been busy growing. He's still pretty small on the percentile scale, but he looks just right to us and the doctor is happy. At six months, he weighed 15 lbs, 12.5 oz, putting him in the 17th%, and 25 3/4 inches long, in the 14th%.  His head continues to rank high at 44.5 cm circumference and 81% - full of brains! 

Speaking of brains, we have seen lots of progress in Owen's development these last two months.  He pays close attention to toys and items he sees us holding (to our chagrin, he already loves phone and computer screens) and has become very adept at grabbing things and passing them between his hands. He definitely has some favorite toys - he loves Sophie the giraffe, his little boom box as we call it, and a teddy bear that plays peek-a-boo with him.  He is so responsive to us now and can easily be cheered up by some goofy parental antics. We don't hear too much giggling yet, but it is a joyful sound, even if rare! One of Owen's favorite times of day is when Kyle gets home and takes him to the basement for some guitar music. 

He has had his first few bouts of illness recently.  He had a little stomach bug in November that cleared up within a few days, and currently has an ear infection and a nasty cold, with a fever on top. He has trouble sleeping because of his congestion and keeps tugging at his poor little infected ear.  We are giving him extra snuggles and praying he feels better soon! He got his first prescription..."the pink stuff" (amoxycillin) that I always hated as a kid! 

Sleep, in general, is going fine. At his six month appointment, our doctor said we should try to cut out his 4 AM feeding, and we agreed to give it until January or so until we got serious about it.  He must have understood the doctor though, because the next night and nearly every night since he has slept past 6 AM.  Bedtime has become more challenging, though - we know we need to establish a better routine and find just the right time, but I continue to nurse him almost to sleep until things normalize around the house a little bit (it's pretty exciting right now with Aunt Tera, Uncle Brett, cousin Daphne and doggie pal Gertie living with us temporarily). 

Owen is on the verge of crawling, which is why I had my foot surgery when I did! He can get himself up onto all fours and rock, but he hasn't quite coordinated moving his arms and legs yet.  He can also stand on his own for a few seconds, leaning against a low table or steady chair. 

Overall, he continues to get cuter and even more loveable!  That's not to say that we don't have plenty of challenging moments, but they are all worth it for one of his huge toothless grins.