Fast February!

What a quick month! February flew! And as always, it’s been an incredibly busy month. We’ve done a lot of fun activities, had some great weather, some snowy weather, and even got outside and enjoyed the playground, but Owen also battled more ear infections, RSV, and even a ruptured eardrum… and so we finally scheduled his surgery to have the ear tubes put in and his adenoids removed.

Owen continued his déjà vu repeat of last winter, starting with his first ear infection in January, and same as last year, he would end the antibiotic and 24 hours later…boom, another ear infection. Poor kid. He’s been a trooper, but the last ear infection he got this month, actually ruptured his one eardrum, so we moved forward and met with the ENT immediately. The ENT felt that Owen definitely would benefit from the tubes and also we did an x-ray while we were there, and his adenoids were huge, so they should also come out. And we actually scheduled the surgery for next week – March 4th. It’s happening so quickly, but that’s actually good because it will give him relief quickly. While he was sick, so much this month, we tried to do fun & unique things at home. One thing we did was have a carpet picnic for dinner - Owen thought I had lost my mind - he kept saying - Mommy, sit at table? - but after we got it all set up, he loved it watching TV and having a picnic and even pudding for dessert.

So how about some of the fun stuff we did this month… Probably one of the highlights of the month was Valentine’s day. We had such a nice day, after Daddy had been traveling all week, and Owen had been sick with RSV, it was nice to have him back home. Owen was so excited to see him! And we had a great Valentine’s day, Grandma Diane and her friend Sue came down and brought Sam Dog back home too. We had a nice lunch, and Owen was so funny running around and showing off to them. He’s been getting much more social in a group of people, and much less shy, so it’s a nice welcome change, as opposed to him being scared and shy when people come over. Owen also had fun exchanging presents. He thought it was his birthday again, because we had cake and presents… Very cute! Owen got a really nice Fisher-Price DVD player. It’s something he will love taking out with us when we go out to dinner, or when we travel. He loved it immediately! We had a nice Valentine’s dinner, and Owen was so good, it was a blast!

We also had our first family movie night, a tradition I hope continues for years to come. Now that we have our movie theater room set up again, it was very exciting to introduce Owen to full-length movies. We had watched a Bugs Life when Troy was away, but we watched Madagascar 2 and Cars downstairs in the movie room. Owen just loves to watch movies down there, and he knows it’s special, and he’s very attentive and watches almost the whole thing. So cute! Nice that he’s starting to enjoy the same things we love. Other movie’s we watched this month were Wall-E , Nemo, and the Incredibles. I need to join a movie club to purchase some of these! Fortunately some of these we own already, I bought him the Bugs Life movie – which he has watched probably 20 times (he calls it a Bug Movie, and requests it daily).

The other thing that was really fun this month was playing Hungry Hungry Hippos. One of the many trips we made to Target to pick up prescriptions, I picked up the game. I was quite surprised at how poorly the game is manufactured nowadays… Even though it’s a $17 game it is really cheap and the marbles are plastic… but that didn’t seem to bother Owen. He loved it, and keeps asking to play the hippo game. Unlike some of the other games that we have bought, this one he really understood the concept and even cheated to win… too funny.

His new big phrases, are – “Where are you? Mommy, Where are You?” He repeats that over and over and over, till he finds me. “What’s that Mommy, What’s that for Mommy?” Repetitive questions about everything, even things he knows the answers to. “Is that funny?” He wants to make you laugh, so if he does something or says something funny, he’ll ask you… basically saying – hey, why didn’t you laugh? "Watch this, Mommy" - he'll say this probably 100 times per day, usually it's before he does something, sometimes it's when he wants to have me see something on TV, or outside. It's funny and very cute... and he says it constantly.

But generally, you can’t help but laugh at some of the things Owen does… like he enjoys to wear his pajamas…and his snow boots. Or when he makes up the silliest games, but just has a ball occupying himself with it. It’s so funny and enjoyable to watch him. In fact, given that he was sick almost this entire month, you’d never really know it. He’s a trooper!

Owen was also picked as Star Student at School. It was very exciting for Owen, he brought home a bag with a little stuffed monkey, called Mr. Monkey, and a notebook. Every few weeks, a new child is selected as Star Student, and they bring home Mr. Monkey for an adventure. Then Mom and Dad help write up what Mr. Monkey did, and take pictures. The school then reads what Mr. Monkey's adventure was to the class. Owen was so excited, and couldn't wait to get Mr. Monkey out and show him around. He is going to be devistated to return him.

We also had some really nice days, where the temperatures were warm and we took Owen to the playground. We haven’t been since probably October, but it was so amazing to see his excitement and increased independence. Last fall he made me do everything with him, and he just got out of the car and ran into the playground. He had a ball! It makes me very excited for spring to come, so that we can get outside and explore and have lots of fun!

It was a very busy, on the go month, with so many doctor visits and battling illnesses. I’m so grateful for all the fun times we have, even when we are so busy… But I’m hopeful that March will have fewer germs for us, and more outside time. Come on Spring, we’re ready!

A Month of Smiles

Owen is just one of those kids, who constantly has a smile on his face, is happy go lucky, and overall so pleasant. What a great little boy we have! His smile is contagious and his laugh has a way of making everything OK. I'll do anything to hear that chuckle. Even when he didn't feel well this month, he was rarely unhappy, he is just a wonderful happy little kid, I consider myself blessed every day.


Wow, January seemed to fly by. I can’t believe how busy we are! I thought things would slow down now that the holidays and birthday hoopla have passed, but we seem to be busy as usual. Although a few bad weather days and some colds and stuff actually gave us some relaxing home bound days.


Owen is quite a character! He's very dramatic and will tell a story and be so serious, and two minutes later he's very silly. One day he took off his clothes to help with the dishes, and then ran around the house without any clothes on, helping clean and vacuum, and just did not want to get dressed. One night, we were getting him into his jammies, he decided he wanted his shoes back on and so he ran around with just a t-shirt on, and shoes and socks, with his tools, fixing things. He just cracks me up!

Overall, we had a very successful month though. We accomplished quite a few projects on our house, including stairs to the back yard, making it much easier to take out Sam dog, and also completed our home theatre room again. It’s so nice to have it back and use able, we have missed it so much! Owen even really likes the room. I can’t wait to let him watch his first real movie (we’re going to watch – Disney Cars soon). But he sure has been interested in watching the football games.

Owen also had a terrific month at school. He transitioned to the 2 year old classroom, like it was no big deal. In fact, he’s doing better in this classroom than ever before! His new teachers are awesome, we both LOVE them, and they are always so excited to see Owen come through the door. He loves the increased activity and there is more of an emphasis on academics too. It’s been a great transition, and we’re really thrilled with the way things are going at school.


He loved watching the last few Ravens Games, that ended up being on when he wasn’t napping (most of the regular season, Owen napped through the game). But the playoffs were more conducive to Owen watching the game, and we had fun with it too, having Robyn, Jaime & Sofia over, has been a lot of fun! Owen also started wearing his Jersey again. He had worn it for the first few games in September, but then when he had to start wearing a shirt underneath he didn’t want to wear it. But recently, he wants to do everything just like us, so if Mommy and Daddy were wearing their Jersey, Owen also wants to “wear Ravens”. Very cute! And he looks adorable in the jersey too… He was funny running around arms up in the air yelling touchdown, go RAVENS, and defense! My favorite little Ravens fan!


He’s also been so funny this month. As his communication skills continue to increase, he’s putting together more complex sentences and thoughts. But it also means that he can say things that crack me up! He sings songs, and just has a way of making people laugh. He’s really hysterical!

About 2 weeks ago, Owen also came down with a really nasty cold, that turned into a terrible sinus infection, then a double ear infection, then a very nasty cough, and pink eye… Charming! The funny thing was, that I didn’t even see it coming. We were having a great weekend, Owen was happy as can be, and we were preparing to have the Alvarezes over for the Ravens football game against Pittsburgh. We put Owen down for his nap, and he woke up about 90 minutes later just screaming! Very unlike Owen. So I went in, thinking he had a bad dream but to my surprise he had a fever and a runny nose, and was just very unhappy. We had to call the Alvarezes to cancel, and then missed a lot of the game anyway, dealing with Owen who was quite unhappy. I took him to the doctors the next morning, and sure enough, both ears. Got him started on antibiotics, then the pink eye started. Fortunately the doctor didn’t make us come back in, she just prescribed eye drops (not easy to administer to a fighting 2 year old), but that helped. He’s feeling much better, back to his old self. Hopefully we’re over this and not in the same boat as last year with the re-occurring ear infections. And also fortunately this time, he never really lost his appetite, he kept eating fairly well the entire time, which probably helped him get over it faster. But he did manage to pass it on to Daddy, and then to Mommy, so we’ve all suffered from the germ festival this month.


One day when he was sick, we spent nearly an entire day playing “puppy”. Owen had a book about a dog that still had ribbon attached to it. We opened the book, and started reading. About half way through the book, he handed me one end of the long ribbon and said – mommy you be the puppy. And he chased me around the house woofing and galloping the whole time. He still will play the game, he seems to not get tired of it!


He also loves to race. When he’s driving or walking he’ll say FREEZE and hold out his arms and stop dead in his tracks. Then he’ll say – Ready Set Go! And take off. It’s really funny.

When Owen was sick, we did get our first snowfall. I didn’t let Owen go out and play in the snow. He kept calling it “sugar”. I thought that was adorable, but once I explained it was snow, then he wanted to go outside and play in it. With the ear infections and cough, I just couldn’t let him do it. So we had a snow day inside, played in the moon sand, and did some art projects. He just loves to do art projects and is actually very good, and very patient when it comes to painting and gluing and cutting things. I’m still amazed that he can cut with scissors.


Another skill that he picked up this month was stringing beads. At Grandma’s house over thanksgiving he was able to pick up the beads and hand them to me, and I would string them on a string. So I bought him some of his own beads and some gimp, and thought we could make necklaces or key chains. But to my surprise, he wanted to string the beads himself! And because of the gimp, and his excellent fine motor skills he can string the beads. I’m amazed by this ability, if you watch him do it, you wouldn’t believe he’s only 2 years old. It’s amazing!


Owen is increasing his vocabulary daily, and loves to ask questions and questions like – What’s that Mommy, what’s that for, where are we going? It’s exhausting but adorable at the same time. He also loves to talk on the phone, he will chat up a storm, even on his play phone, talking complete conversations, even pausing for “grandma” to respond to him, or who ever he’s called. He also has a much better memory. Like we took him bowling a few weeks ago for the first time, he had a blast, loved it. And then we didn’t talk about it for a few days, and then he said, Mommy, let’s go duck bowling. Very cute!

The potty success tapered off a little when Owen was sick, but he’s started sitting on it again and he’s trying. We’re not forcing the issue at all, but he does love the rewards! And he loves to flush it from the potty down the big toilet. It’s too funny! He says – Bye Bye PEE PEE, every time he hears the toilet flush.


Phew, what a very busy, fun, and productive month.

Proud Mommy

So my new years resolution was to blog less frequently, more like monthly updates, rather than the very time consuming posts I've been doing lately. But I can't help but be a proud Mommy today. Owen has started taking an interest in the potty lately - many thanks to Sofia who is really working on potty training, and she was over last night. Owen went and got his potty, and wanted to sit on it. Nothing happened, but I was proud of him for trying. Today we tried a few times, and after nap, he was successful. We were so proud! He cheered, and clapped his hands, and was so very proud! Not saying that we're really pushing the potty training, but we're a step closer to understanding the whole process.

In other news, it's been a busy new year so far. Owen's begrudgingly giving up sweets, but eating meals much better. In fact he's now weighing over 2 pounds more than he did just 2 weeks ago at his check up. We're quite happy with the progress.

He's also a chatter box, putting very impressive thoughts and complete sentences together. He's transitioned very very well to his new classroom. He loves the new teachers, and I think the new challenges that the new classroom offers.

And he's finally found a desire to really be a Ravens fan. He's had absolutely no interest in wearing his jersey this year. He has a few t-shirts he'll wear, but he hasn't shown interest in wearing the real jersey. Thursday after nap, he pulled it out of his drawer and said - Owen wear Ravens? Of course I let him wear it. He wanted to wear his old jersey from last year to school on Friday. And Saturday morning, I was going to put the same jersey on him, but he said - No, Like Mommy's (I was wearing my jersey). Very cute. Robyn, Jaime and Sofia came over to watch the game, and every time we would cheer, Owen would throw his hands up in the air and jump and yell "SCORE"... Very cute. My little Raven fan...

Overall, we've had an excellent start to 2009, and we sure hope the rest of the year is as wonderful and productive as these first 2 weeks have been.

Happy New Year & GOOD LUCK RAVENS!

New Year's Eve

Finally, a relaxing day... After a lot of running around for the last 10 days, Owen finally had an entire day where he didn't have to leave the house. Daddy ran some errands, but Owen and I stayed home all day. It was quite nice. We played with his new Geotrax train & airport set, and his kitchen set, and all the new games and trains and toys. It was so relaxing and much needed after running around like crazy for the past week!

I'm also happy to report that Owen is virtually sugar free, and is eating much better at meals... Our new techniques are working so far, and we just have to keep things on the right track now. We even had a very successful dinner out last night! I can't remember the last time Owen actually ate a meal at a restaurant... Baby steps...

It's hard to believe another year is coming to a close! Owen has accomplished so many milestones and is just a wonderful little boy, and we are so blessed to have him in our lives. Yes, a toddler can make you absolutely crazy sometimes, but then they just turn around and give you a kiss and you just melt right back.

As an entire family, we've done so much in this year too! We sold our old house, bought and built a new house, lived for over 9 weeks in an apartment, unpacked and settled into our new home, Daddy got a promotion and started his new job. It's been a very busy year, one that is definitely bittersweet to see end, but exciting to see what 2009 will bring.

Happy New Year!

2 Year Old Doctors Visit

Today was Owen's 2 year old doctor check up. I've been dreading this appointment for weeks, because I knew he needed to get the flu shot, and I also knew they would have to draw blood. But it wasn't nearly as bad as I had thought it might be. Owen is now weighing about 26 lbs (slightly lower than expected due to a food strike over the weekend), but still about the 25%, and he's 35 1/4 inches tall - 70%.

He did remarkably well during the visit, and was quite good. It was probably his best doctor's visit to date, and we got through it fairly quickly. The blood draw was tough, and they didn't get quite enough, so we'll have to see if they are able to get all the information they needed or if we have to go through that again.

As for the Diego Power Wheel... he's very interested in it, and will push it all over the family room, but hasn't gotten on it yet. He'll even push it and press the power button... he'll get there eventually...

Oh, and day 4 of the sugar restriction, has made him eat much better. He ate a very good lunch, and dinner. Hmm... apparently if you don't give him sugar he actually will eat!

Weekend in Hershey

It's been a weekend on the go again... After a busy and exciting Christmas Day, Owen slept in until 10am on Friday. Despite the fact that we needed to get up early to head up to Hershey. We decided to let him sleep in and got on the road a bit late, but we make it...


Owen has become quite tolerant of road trips, now that the DVD player is permanently installed in the car, so it was a relaxing ride up to Hershey. Grandma was very excited to see us, and Owen had fun showing her how he can ride the turtle all around the hardwoods.

After Owen had his nap, we played and had dinner. Owen has been holding out for cake and cookies, so he's been on a bit of a food strike these last few days, just waiting for the treats to be served. But we're working on breaking this bad habit, and getting him back to more regular meals.


Saturday morning, it was really foggy, but we headed up to Allentown for Uncle Henry's memorial service. Owen was again, very good in the car, and just patiently watched his movies and had snacks. We got to the church about 35 minutes early, which gave us plenty of time to let Owen run around in the preschool. He had a blast playing and when it was time for the church service to begin, Owen wanted nothing to do with the church, he wanted to go back down and play. We made it through about 30 minutes of the service, before Owen had really had enough, so Mommy & Owen headed back down to the preschool to play some more. Then we headed to the banquet hall, for the luncheon. At the luncheon, Owen was very funny, entertaining our entire table running around and giggling. I know he was tired, but he was finding energy somewhere, and was very adorable. It was quite an impressive service with more than 125 people there to pay their respects. Uncle Henry will obviously be missed by so many people.


We headed back to Hershey in the afternoon, thinking Owen might sleep in the car on the way home.... not exactly, but he was very good. He had over 4 hours in the car that day, but was an angel. I couldn't have been more proud of what a good little boy he was.


Mommy & Daddy went and did a little shopping at the outlets when Owen took a nap at Grandma's. Grandma attempted to feed our little sugar king dinner, but he wanted nothing to do with it. Mommy & Daddy picked up carryout for dinner, and Owen sat down on Mommy's lap and started digging into her spaghetti! He's never taken any interest in it, but he just started eating and kept eating. Too funny!


Today it was so warm outside, Owen, Daddy & Grandma took a walk around the house (several times), Owen pulling a little blue wagon. He had such a great time getting outside, especially since it has been so chilly earlier in the week. We headed back home late morning, and got home just in time for Owen's nap. When he woke, the Ravens game was on, so we did another carpet picnic in the family room. He had a blast playing with his Christmas toys, and we all enjoyed watching the Ravens win to make the playoffs.

Christmas Night

After everyone headed out, we all had a little lunch, and then Owen reluctantly went down for a nap. Poor kid just wanted to play with his toys, but he needed a bit of a nap. We headed to see Mommy's extended family who were all at Aunt Barb's house. Justin and Sam had exciting news to share for Christmas, they are expecting a baby in July! Very exciting to have a cousin close to Owen's age... The grandparents to be were just elated! Congrats Justin & Sam!

Then we headed to Granny & Pop's house for more presents and dinner. It was such a great evening, and Owen was a trooper! Despite the short nap, he had a blast, immediately grabbing Uncle Alex, and demanding heading downstairs...

He had a blast playing Uncle Alex's drums.

Aunt Lizzie & Uncle Tom got sunglasses - their future's so bright!

Everyone had such a great evening. For Mommy especially, it was really nice to have Christmas dinner at Granny & Pop's, after the last few years it was so nice to have Granny in the spirit of Christmas, and enjoying everything. Such a Christmas to remember.

Christmas Morning Photos 2008

Christmas Morning

What fun we had this morning. Owen woke up about 8:20am, and was coming down the stairs when Granny, Pop, and Aunt Lizzie arrived. I was a little worried about how we would keep Owen from playing with the toys and opening presents, but it ended up working out perfectly! He was very excited to see them, bouncing up and down!

Then he saw the presents! He was so excited and started playing immediately with the kitchen set. I think the most difficult part of Christmas morning was getting him interested in the next present. He would have been quite content to get one gift a day for the next few weeks, because he wanted to open everything! Sometimes we were able to distract him, but being 2 years old, he had a mind of his own. It was quite funny to see how he processed everything, some things had to go into the other room instantly, and other things could be put aside for later.

It took the better part of 3 hours to open all the presents, we even took a break to have breakfast! But it was well worth it. Owen had many moments where he was having a blast and loving all the attention, and other moments where he was hungry and needed some food. We tried to balance everything for him, but it's tough being a 2 year old!

After presents, we trickled down to the basement, other's napped... Daddy was challenging everyone in Ping Pong, and Owen was being chased around by Uncle Alex. I think this was my highlight of the morning, because Owen was having so much fun. He just followed Uncle Alex around all morning. It was adorable, and Owen had a BLAST!

The trampoline was the gift that Santa had the most difficulty assembling, and was the gift everyone wanted to see Owen play with. However, when you want a 2 year old to do something, they will do the exact opposite. And therefore, if we showed him the trampoline, he wanted something else. It wasn't until everyone had left that Owen finally saw that it might be fun, and has been bouncing ever since. It's adorable!

Christmas Eve

Today was nice and relaxing, exactly what we needed! Mommy & Daddy didn't have to work, Owen didn't have school, so we just had some fun, and started mentally preparing for some very busy days ahead.

We did go to church this evening, and Owen was very good, but boy was he a ball of energy. Could that be because he was juggling a cup of juice, a candy cane, a lolly pop, and a bag of M&Ms? Hmm, no wonder why he wouldn't sit still.

After church, we got home and put Owen in his PJs, and started getting ready for Santa. Owen was running around like crazy, and positively adorable. It was hard to get him to settle down and get ready for books. He didn't really grasp what was going to happen tomorrow, but he just kept saying Presents! Santa!

Today, I asked him if he was ready for Santa. He would say "Yes". Then I'd say what is Santa going to bring you. He answered "presents". I asked him then what kind of presents. He would answer "two please". He's going to be shocked tomorrow when he sees so many presents under the tree...

We did leave cookies and milk for Santa. Although, Owen was quite tempted to eat them...

Merry Christmas!

Getting Ready for Christmas

Owen helped me make some home made bags today for some gifts. Very fun. He's so very excited about arts and crafts and has such a good attention span when we do these projects!

He even helped me cook dinner tonight, stirring everything, and pouring in the ingredients. He's very interested and content when he's helping me out.

What a cutie!

Birthday & Christmas at the Farm

It's been a very busy weekend, after the party on Friday, we cleaned up, so that we could be ready to head over to visit Grandpa and Grandma Bev. We celebrated Owen's birthday on Saturday and then Sunday morning celebrated Christmas.

Owen just sees presents now and assumes they are for him, and he should be able to 0pen them immediately. We're trying to teach him to be patient and he has to wait till everyone is ready to open, but it's a tough concept for a 2 year old.

Owen got a bunch of really nice birthday presents, he particularly loved a garage for his match box cars. They also gave him a really cool set of squishy cars that bounce and crash into each other. Very neat.

He enjoyed yet another birthday cake, especially the chocolate cake and mousse that were inside. Delicious! Owen is going to be in shock after Christmas, when the supply of cake, cookies, cupcakes and other "special treats" diminish. In fact, he's holding out for the sweets now. Tonight when I fed him dinner, he said, "NO Dinner... CAKE!" We're creating a sugar monster!

Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast and then we celebrated Christmas. Owen could hardly wait to tear in. Grandpa and Grandma Bev gave him some really neat puzzles, some clothes, a scooter, playdoh and tools, and an awesome mountain railroad.

It was such a nice weekend, but exhausting as always, we are always so busy chasing Owen around their house, and the dogs never sit down the whole time we're there, but it was a lot of fun...