Resistance is Futile!

Yet again, we have a 2-year-old. Owen is a handful. He LOVES LOVES LOVES all things Thomas the tank engine so for his birthday we went all Thomas - cake, tablecloth, plates, a take along play set, several trains, pajamas, and a book and talking Thomas toy from friends. And when I say he "loves" Thomas, I really mean he is completely obsessed - he knows all the different trains' names, he loves the shows and asks to watch them all day. Now that he has the trains, he carries them everywhere he goes. From the moment he started taking an interest in Thomas I swore I wouldn't buy in to all the paraphernalia, but I just couldn't resist. I have never seen him so attached to anything. Here are the pictures from the party, with more details at the end for those who care to know.



Owen is awesome. He is still small - 1st percentile for weight! - but sturdy. He goes and goes and goes all day (except for his daily 3-hour nap) and is usually in a great mood. He loves Zoe and the kitty and playing outside. He talks all the time and is a great communicator. We love having him around.

He definitely has me wrapped around his finger and probably gets away with more than he should. But he's my baby. He loves giving hugs, kisses, high-fives, and fist bumps. He's a great eater and would drink his weight in juice every day if I let him. He loves nursery and playing with his friends. He is turning into such a big kid. We love you Owen!

This Guy

Owen

Buddy

Mr. Budders

Buster

No matter what we call him, this guy is trouble. Fortunately, we love trouble. He is always smiling and always on the go. He is one tough kid, but also a snuggler. He loves to hug and give kisses. He's also really polite and started telling us "thank you" without being prompted. He insists on walking down the stairs and feeding himself. He loves fruit and juice. He loves telling us "no." He is definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Monkeying Around

For Owen's actual birthday we had a few neighbors/ friends over for cake. It was a quick "party" as our guests had meetings to get to and one-year-olds don't care all that much. I wanted to have it outside and had a vision of our backyard decked out in streamers and balloons, then reality hit - I couldn't get the decorations in the colors I wanted and it was so windy we couldn't go outside anyway. Oh well. Such is life.

We had a great time eating a super cute monkey cake, which I served with banana split ice cream.

For those of you interested, here is what Owen is like:

He is super tiny - the 1st percentile for weight and only the 25th for height. What he lacks in stature, however, he makes up for in tenacity. We most often compare him to a bulldozer or a wrecking ball. He just plows through everything and picks himself up as soon as he is down. The week after his birthday he started making a conscious effort to walk - instead of just a few steps here and there. I use the term "walk" loosely as it is more of a stagger. It's pretty funny/ unnerving to watch as it seems like he could fall at any moment.

He is super snuggly, but his definition of a snuggle is head butting. That kid has a majorly hard head. He is always into something and we can't leave him alone for a second. He eats EVERYTHING, even things he's not supposed to. He loves grapes and bananas and loudly exclaims "NANA" whenever he sees a banana. He can sign "more" and possibly "done" but we'll never know since, when given the choice, he always wants more. We usually just get tired of feeding him after a while.

Owen loves to clap his hands, shake his head, and laugh. He HATES being on his back and so diaper changes are still an adventure/ nightmare. He takes a pacifier for naps and bedtime and he loves to cuddle up with a blanket. We have one that we usually use, but he's not too picky.

Owen is still always happy (unless he's hungry). Now that he's one, though, he's decided to take life a bit more seriously:

We have never seen THIS face before (or since)

You're #1!

It's Owen's birthday! Can you believe it? We sure can't. His entrance into this world was dramatic (and fairly traumatic) and he has kept us on our toes ever since.

He loves to smile, laugh and eat. He is the biggest wiggle worm and is constantly on the go. He has been walking a lot the past few days, which makes him very proud of himself. He loves to snuggle (head butt) and give kisses (open-mouthed head butts). He eats EVERYTHING, even the things he's not supposed to. He is a button pusher - literally and otherwise. He is a screamer - for fun and otherwise (like when food is not in his mouth). We just absolutely, all-around adore our Buddy! Happy Birthday!

Owen + Patio + Shovel =

As stated earlier, we spend a lot of time outside. Owen even loves to be outside and makes a break for it any time a door is open. Seriously. He will sit in the grass and chew on shovels to his endless delight.

The last two weeks hasn't been just fun and games for this guy, though. He's had two bottom front teeth break through, he started babbling - dadada, nanana, yayaya, and the occasional mamama - he can push himself into a sitting position and he is starting to pull himself to stand. Then we'll really be in for it!

We {HEART}.... Tennis Balls

Enough said.

Dear Owen,

You are 6 months old today. Half-Year Birthday to You! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. You have brought so much to our family in such a short amount of time it's hard to remember our lives without you. If someone had told me that a baby could be as happy as you are ALL the time I would have thought they were nuts. You always have a smile for everyone. We call you Buddy and it fits so well because it is so easy to love you.

You are my happy, calm little man. You are our number 1 thumb sucker. You are always willing to eat, despite your sensitive little tummy (I've sworn off beans and green sauce for you - now that is love). You have yet to come close to sleeping through the night, though your beaming smile at 3 am almost makes it worth it. Almost. You love to play on your tummy and roll around. In the last month you have discovered your feet and I adore watching you play with them.


I have a feeling that you will be mobile before I'm ready for you to be. You already move around quite a bit. You're also not shy about shoving things in your mouth, so the next few months should be an adventure all around.

Daddy teases me that I have a crush on you, but it's true - you're just too handsome for your own good. We just can't figure out who you look like. We also can't figure out how your face can be so square and yet so round at the same time.

I am looking forward to the upcoming months and years with you in our family. You're definitely a keeper!

Love,
Mommy

P.S. I totally dare you to stop smiling.

A Laughing Matter

First of all, don't forget to visit Brooke Snow Photography to give us a chance at winning a photo shoot with her. The contest ends tomorrow!

Despite his many many many smiles, Owen doesn't laugh too often. Not a good belly laugh anyway. It's usually a shriek/giggle but that's about it. So It's nice to have this effect on him every once in a while:

Of course the one time someone rings our doorbell in weeks is while I've got the camera on. Here is Part 2:

Just Think of it as White Drool

How He Rolls

Owen started rolling over about two weeks ago. It only took him days to master it and now he does it all day. The second I put him down he rolls over, then continues to roll until he can't roll no more. It makes diaper changes interesting.

Here's another milestone from the last couple weeks - he laughs. For as smiley as he is, he doesn't laugh much, and I would describe it as more of a shriek than anything, but of course it's dang cute.

Making It Official

Owen's blessing (nearly 2 weeks ago) was wonderful. Thank you to everyone who could come (or those who wanted to be there but couldn't). It was nice to have some friendly faces in our ward. Here are some pictures:

The Dudes (minus James' boss)

The Chicas

And while we're talking about blessings, let me demonstrate what a blessing in our life Owen is:

This kid ALWAYS has a smile for us. Whether he is watching Zoe play, just waking up from his nap, or getting a 3 am diaper change. He is just a happy, calm little guy - which is a nice change around here. Not that Zoe isn't happy. She is, usually. But "calm" will never never be used to describe her. Bless her heart.