Let it Snow!

After a crazy week, today's snow was actually a blessing. It allowed Owen and I to get comfortable and just relax at home. I thought they were only calling for a dusting, but we actually have had snow for most of the day.

The snow started to fall just after I left for work, and Pop called and decided to send me home. He was on 83 and there were multiple accidents. Although I knew the roads weren't that bad, Liz also had to get home safely, and so I complied and headed home. Really, I was very grateful for a break. The last few days have been crazy! Then Gymboree called and cancelled the classes today.

Last night our alarm system joined the telephones and went haywire. The home phone has been broken since the windstorm Monday. Last night the alarm system started going off at 3:30am, and then went off at 6am, this time waking Owen. After composing myself and realizing that we weren't being burglarized, I was able to get back to sleep but it made for a very long night.

Owen was able to catch up a little this morning by taking a 3 hour morning nap. Then after he ate his lunch, I brought in a plate full of snow. I wanted to go outside, but it really seemed silly for us to get all bundled up for 10 min outside. So I thought, we'll I'll bring the snow to him! He didn't know what to think of it. It was so cute. Once he touched it he thought it was funny.

I made two little snowballs, and we made a tiny snowman. It was fun to bring the snow to Owen. It's amazing to see the world through him. Everything is so exciting! He seemed proud of himself for trying something new.

As of 9pm tonight, it was STILL snowing... and it's progressed from just trees, grass and decks to the streets and driveways. I'm wishing Daddy were home to shovel... Hopefully, our Baltimore weather will melt this crazy snow storm tomorrow.

I'd like a potato

It's hard to believe it's only Tuesday! It's been such a busy week already! Grandma came down on Saturday so that Daddy and Mommy could do some Christmas shopping. Saturday we ventured out and got a few things, and then actually were able to celebrate our anniversary and have a very nice dinner while Grandma watched Owen.

Sunday, we hit the stores early, actually were able to park at the mall, and did a whole lot of shopping, it was great to have the time to think about gifts for everyone and execute. Owen has very little patience for browsing, so Grandma was a lifesaver for us. We even had a chance to have a nice lunch out too. Even though Owen is getting to be very good in a restaurant, it's still nice experience to dine without him occasionally rather than woof down my food.

Monday, Grandma woke up very ill, and Daddy had to fly out to California in the early afternoon. So Mommy went to work in the morning, and Owen and I ran errands and grocery shopped in the afternoon. Fortunately, Grandma was feeling a little better by the evening and much much better today. She watch Owen while I attended my settlement, and then headed home around lunch time. Aunt Liz came over and watched Owen in the afternoon while I went to work for a few hours. Like I said, it's hard to believe it's only Tuesday!!!

Tonight while cooking dinner, Owen ventured into the bread drawer his favorite place to pull things out of, and pulled out a few potatoes. He was rolling them around, and it typical Owen feeding behavior - yes, he ate the raw potato. Tomorrow when I make him a potato for dinner he won't touch it. But give him a raw one and straight in the mouth...

He was so chatty tonight too... He's really expressing himself a lot more with his voice. He truly sounds like he's making sentences, I just don't know what language. I'm understanding him better, but I wish I had a translator... It's very cute, he was doing this for several minutes, then the moment I turned on the camera he stopped, but here's a glimpse of his voice. Any ideas what he's saying???

Working for the Weekend...

Mommy has Owen earning his keep this week. Ms. Sandy is on vacation, so Mommy has to work a few extra hours this week, which means that some days Owen has to come with me. Today was the first day at work.

Owen hasn't spent a full morning at the office since he was just a few months old and would sleep in the swing... boy those were the days! Today he discovered filing cabinets, and more filing cabinets and the little alphabet cards on the drawers.

He checked the whole place out. He was very good and was very cooperative when the phone rang. He was such a good assistant! He even took a really good nap in the pack and play Mommy set up for him in the conference room.

After a long day at work, Owen and Mommy headed to Gymboree. He has so much fun there, I wish we could go more frequently.

After Gymboree and a great nap, we met Granny and Pop at the Country Club for dinner. Owen actually ordered off the kids menu again, devouring a grilled cheese and a few fries, and also some apple sauce. It's so nice that he's starting to be more interested in table foods. It's making him much more content in the restaurant high chairs.

After dinner we spent some time looking at the Christmas tree and watching the train. Owen has been very good with the tree and the train. He loves to watch it go around and round. It's just adorable!

Christmas Shopping and Merry-Go-Round

The last few days have been very busy. Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, we spent the decorating the house for Christmas. We even got the train under the tree along with Mommy's village. It only took two different trains but we got everything in working order, and it looks beautiful. Owen really likes to watch the train, and fortunately hasn't been too interested in it when we're not in the room. We decided to put the tree in the living room this year, so as to save Mommy's ornaments from Owen's favorite hobby - dropping on the hardwood floors.

Tonight we decided to work on a little more Christmas shopping and hit White Marsh Mall. To reward him for being so good while shopping and eating his dinner at the food court - Mommy took Owen on the Merry-Go-Round. He watched it the whole time during dinner and was so excited! He had a ball and giggled with excitement the whole time.

This week, Owen learned how to give a high 5! If you hold your hand up and say - Gimme 5 - he slaps your hand back. It's so cute! And he's so proud of himself!

Ms. Sandy is on vacation this week and next week, so Mommy has been filling in for her and tomorrow will be the first day that Owen will come in with me. I spent this evening packing up our "day care to go" - pack and play for nap, toys galore, food, sippy cups, etc. Everything we need for Owen to hopefully be happily content for the 4 or so hours we'll be there. Then if all goes well, we'll head off to Gymboree for the afternoon.

Our Christmas Tree

Well here's half of it anyway... We put it up today, and Owen has been very good about not touching it. It's a delicate balance, he wants to see it and we want to watch the train, but I don't want him hurting himself.

I carefully decorated putting all the breakable ornaments towards the top, but a good shake and many things would tumble down...

And after quite a fiasco with the original train we purchased which is meant for an engineer, not a toddler, we settled on a simple holiday train from Toy's R Us, and believe it or not it's perfect for around the tree.

Anyway, 'tis the season, and we are starting to get very excited about Owen's first real holiday season. There's so much fun to have through the eyes of a child!

Cousin Barney

Aunt Jess & Uncle Tom got a new cocker spaniel puppy named Barney. We took a trip today to see him, and he's SOO Cute!

Owen really liked his cage, but wasn't sure exactly what to think of Barney, sometimes he was laughing and smiling at the puppy, other times he just wasn't sure.

But we all know Barney is a cutie!

Ride the Horsey

Owen was so cute playing with this horse that Grandma had at her house. He was a little timid with it yesterday, but this morning, he quickly learned how to rock it back and forth, and thought it was really fun. It was so cute!

Hershey Park

Owen's first trip to the Christmas festivities at Hershey.

We got up early this morning and headed up to the outlets for a little shopping. Then we went on to Grandma's house to spend the night. We hit Hershey Sweet Lights after dinner. Owen is not a huge fan of traffic jams, but he was definitely interested in some of the light displays.

Then we were off to Chocolate World. It was so cold, so we only went to the entrance of Candy Lane to check out the lights. Owen was all bundled up, didn't even fight wearing his hat and gloves.

We did the "free" chocolate factory tour. They have revitalized it since the last time Daddy and I did it. It was complete with singing cows, that Owen thought were hysterical. He was completely enthralled and totally interested in the entire ride. I wish the line wouldn't have been so long or we would have done it again.

Then we bought some chocolate and headed back to Grandma's for bed. It was a really fun day, and just a glimpse of what it's going to be like as Owen continues to get interested in things. It's so fun being his Mommy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Owen's first Thanksgiving! He was totally excited about having the house full of people, he did NOT want to take a nap. He cried and cried which is so unusual for Owen. So, he was less than interested in napping and even could have cared less about the turkey, but he really liked having all the people here in the house. He is starting to realize he's frequently the center of attention, and people like to watch him, and he's starting to please them with his skills. He claps more and talks more when people are around. It's nice to see him coming out of his shell. Hopefully, that will mean he'll continue to get more comfortable in a crowd.

Oh, the things we have to be thankful for this year... Happy Thanksgiving Owen.

Beautiful November Days

Swings in November??? Wow, what gorgeous day it was today. Nearly 70 degrees! We took a nice long walk this morning, played on the swings, it was awesome!

Aunt Lizzie came over to watch Owen in the afternoon, she even fed him lunch! He ate great for her and was a very good boy. They also got outside and took a nice walk. So great to enjoy a nice warm day.

Tonight we went out to dinner, our traditional pre-Thanksgiving crabs. Daddy ate crabs with Pop, Alex, Aunt Jess & Uncle Tom, but Mommy, Aunt Liz, Granny and Owen decided to have regular food. Owen ate more at one meal than I have ever seen him eat before. He ate all his dinner, then ate nearly 1/2 a grilled cheese sandwich, and then tons of finger foods. His favorite though was a ring pop... yes, I'm not Mommy of the Year giving him sugar, but he loves just a few licks, and keeps him content. He was happy for almost 1 hr 45 min at dinner, it was AMAZING!

And he was so cute!

We have so much to be thankful for this year...

11 Months!

Wow! 11 months! It's hard to believe this chatty little boy used to be my cuddly little snuggle bug baby! He's getting to be very independent and doing things on his own. He's truly adorable and the best baby (I mean little boy) we could ever have asked for. What a cutie!

Today we had a really busy day, Mommy had to work in the morning, but in the afternoon, Laura, Derek and Nina came over. Owen and Nina had a ball, I was really surprised that Nina was OK with Owen's toys (Nina is almost 3). But they played great. Owen really thought she was cool, especially the duck game she brought over. It was nice to have dinner and the kids played in the family room while we enjoyed desert! HOW NICE!


We can't imagine life without you. Happy 11 month birthday Owen....

WE LOVE YOU!

Owen's First Haircut

Let's just say the video speaks for itself.



Boy, did that lady earn her tip!

The good new is, all fingers, ears and other body parts were safe from the scissors.

We even tried him sitting on my lap.

We're all happy with the finished product though, he looks adorable! Quite a blondie now that the very dark baby hair was cut away...

What a handsome, happy little boy!

Schantz Family On The Mend

We're finally all on the mend here. Phew! It's been a tough week, as if it wasn't bad enough that Owen was sick, Mommy & Daddy both got a touch of the bug this week too. Even Sam Dog seemed a little bothered by all the germs. But we are on the mend. Owen has been doing great the last 2 days, and a real trooper... And he's been catching up on his sleep, he's taken his share of 3 hour naps this week, lucky kid!

Owen also got tooth #6 today, it broke through last night. As if the poor little guy didn't have enough going on.

We're not quite ready to admit it yet, but Owen has started taking some steps on his own. Monday he was holding on to Daddy and when I came into the room and he let go and took about 4 steps towards me. Then tonight we were practicing, I'd stand him about 3 feet from me and he'd do about 2-3 steps before throwing himself into my arms. It's funny you can actually see him thinking, "must move leg now..." I'm not quite ready to call these his first steps, because he still is quite a wet noodle on his legs sometimes, but he's definitely getting stronger. I'm sure very soon we'll be marking the first steps milestone.

And here's another shout out to Hallmark and their adorable musical card collection. Great Aunt Denise and Great Mom-Mom sent Owen a really cute card, this one is more musical, so Owen rocked back and forth (his dancing). Not quite as good of a reaction as the dog card they sent Daddy, but he loved it none the less. Hey, what could be funnier than a barking card, right?

Honestly, it's just nice to see Owen's smile and personality back, after a really rough week...

Daddy's Birthday Weekend

Ugh, what a tough weekend we've had. It started out so nice. On Thursday afternoon, we went and visited Owen's school. He's going to begin pre-pre-school in February when Auntie Liz begins Law School full time. He looked so cute all dressed and ready to impress. The new school is so nice. It's being built now, and will be about 6 minutes from home in White Marsh. It's really going to be great for Owen. He'll go 2 or 3 days a week for 2-3 hours while Mommy works.

Thursday night after we dropped off Sam Dog at Aunt Jess & Uncle Tom's, we gave Daddy his birthday presents and cards. Mommy didn't wanted to give them to him, since we were leaving for Ocean City on Friday morning. Owen loved the presents, and the paper, but Great Mom-Mom sent Daddy a card that Owen thought was so hysterical. It was a Lassie card (musical hallmark card). When the card opened it barked. Owen quickly learned how it worked and just thought it was HYSTERICAL. Watch the video...

Owen also loved the wrapping paper. He helped Daddy open all the presents, climbed on the boxes and even pulled the paper back... He was practicing for his birthday and Christmas.

Then the "fun" began... We left for Ocean City on Friday morning, after Owen refused to eat breakfast. Since he's frequently finicky when he's teething, we didn't think too much of his not wanting to eat a single bite. He was an angel in the car. So good, he slept about 2 hours on the way there and loved watching the cars, as he's now facing forward in his Big Boy car seat, and can see much better. We got to the hotel and checked in. We decided to jump straight in the pool. Owen was so excited, he has missed swimming so much! Then we came back and gave Owen a nap.

He slept great, but when I opened the door to his room in the hotel I knew we were in trouble. It smelled so bad and I knew he had started back with diarrhea. So he had 2 explosions in about a 30 min period, we called the pediatrician, went to CVS got him Pedialite and Imodium and got him started, he was seeming a bit better and so we decided to go out to Lombardi's for pizza, which was just across the street. It was Troy's birthday, so we wanted him to have a nice dinner... We ordered, then Owen exploded again, naturally, just my luck they didn't have a changing table so Troy got our food to go and Owen and I went back to the hotel. We really weren't sure what to do, but decided it wouldn't make sense to drive back late at night, Owen would be better sleeping.

He made it through the night, but barely took any fluids. We were so worried, we called the pediatrician again and we decided to leave OC Saturday morning (were supposed to stay until Sun). We took him straight to St. Joe's and they discharged us about 3 hrs after being there, he was OK , just dehydrated and we have to get fluids in him. Last night we had to forcefully give Owen liquids because he refused everything we offered him - Pedialite, Gatorade, formula, juice, water, EVERYTHING!

Today, he woke, drank some fluids and ate some applesauce, drank some more fluids, and we thought we were in the clear... Then he puked all over Mommy, so we called St. Joe's again, they said bring him back. We did - they tried 4 times, FOUR TIMES, to get an IV in the poor little guy, he screamed his head off, they never did get the line in, because he was dehydrated and his veins weren't accessible. So after 5 hours they discharged us again. So basically we sat there for 5 hours for him to be a pin cushion to every nurse (even a doctor tried) with a needle and we're no better off. Although they at least did blood work to confirm it's a virus and just needs to work it's way out of his system, but that didn't sit well with me, since they still sent a sick boy home with nothing more than Gatorade. AGH! It's so frustrating.

After we got home tonight, he did seem a bit more willing to try some fluids. He drank about 2 1/2 sippy cups before bed tonight. That's more than we could have ever forced in him. He can be so stubborn - where does he get that from??? He also seemed much more energetic this evening and more like himself so that's also good. Hopefully, tomorrow he'll have more energy and come around more.

Tomorrow, we are hydrating again, he can have anything clear until about dinner time, then he can start with the BRAT (Banana's, Rice Cereal, Applesauce & Toast)... We all know Owen's displeasure in Banana's and Rice Cereal, but we'll see maybe he'll be hungry enough to try it. Tuesday afternoon he can start back on formula, assuming all goes well. I think tomorrow is going to be difficult, especially if he's feeling better and wanting food and formula. We'll see.

It's so so so difficult watching Owen be sick, and even worse watching him get stuck over and over again and be so upset and not even reap the benefits. He would have been feeling so much better if they could have given him the IV fluids. But, we're just glad he's home tonight and sleeping well, and hopefully will be better tomorrow, and all better by Tuesday. Hey, maybe we can go a day without going to the ER...

Clapping!

I can clap my hands!