16 Month Update

Every day Owen comes home with new skills and words. It's amazing to see how much he changes every day. Owen attacks each day with so much enthusiasm and excitement that it's hard to keep up with him. There are some big wheels turning in his little head and it's fun to watch him figure things out ... even the things we'd rather he didn't figure out.

At 16 months Owen:

• Has molars coming in. One has popped out on the left side. Many more to come.
• Climbs onto chairs, and then onto the table. As cute as this is, we'd rather he didn't know how to climb on top of the table.
• Has a litany of words, including; Up, Down, Help, Momma, Dadda, Daddy (we think this is the same as Dadda - but could be completely different), bbbrrrooomm (truck sound), All done, More, No and Banana.
• Most anmial sounds are a low grunt. Recently he has started to softly "mmmmooo" and we taught him to howl like a wolf.
• Insists on the "no jackets in the house" rule. We were not aware of this rule until Owen pointed it out.
• Eats most of his food. Sometimes all of it.
• Loves cheese, ketchup, anything with spaghetti sauce, bananas, apples, grapes, pears, noodles, pizza - especially Tombstone with little sausages, applesauce, chili, yogurt, bread and teddy grams.
• Loves to color
• Plays with his trucks and tractors
• Runs everywhere
• Looks at books by himself
• Tells us if he is not interested in a particular book by shoving it away.
• Refuses to cuddle for more than 3 seconds
• Loves to wrestle with daddy
• Does not understand the concept of sleeping in on the weekend
• Still does two naps at home and one nap at daycare, but the second nap at home is becoming more difficult.
• Tolerates the snow.
• Has fun helping Daddy shovel the driveway.
• Dusts in the kitchen with a towel. He has even dusted his refrigerator magnets.
• Loves his Little Tots slide
• Can stack all 12 stacking cups - and then knock them over
• Takes a bath twice a week.
• Brushes his own teeth
• Brings Mommy and Daddy their shoes.
• Leaves little hand prints on every window
• Has a sleep schedule that requires we go to Saturday afternoon church
• Now thinks the naughty hallway is fun
• Waves goodbye as one parent drives away to work
• Loves watching trucks drive by the house.
• Doesn't seem to care about the Christmas tree or the lights outside
• Can climb up and down stairs

Owen has really been hitting the weight room hard this winter.

A few more years and he may look like this ...

Owen loves to put his hat on. He has yet to put it on correctly.

Owen is beginning to pitch in around the house. Although it's quite unnerving watching him swing the broom around, it is nice to know he's trying to help.

Over the course of one week Owen picked up two "BooBoo Reports" at school. One of the teachers thought we may need to get him a helmet if this continues.

Owen loves to run up and down the hallway. He has important business to attend to in every room. He never walks, just runs.


No use crying over spilt milk ... or poured milk in this case.

" I don't have time for spoons ... I'm a growing boy."

Thanksgiving

Owen was excited to celebrate his second Thanksgiving. He had so much fun that he decided to stay at Grandma's house for a few extra days ... without the parents. It was nice to get away from Mommy and Daddy for a while. Owen really needed the vacation.

While Owen was vacationing at Grandma-Camp, Mommy and Daddy were able to complete some big projects around the house. It's amazing how much of a productivity-killer Owen has become.

Owen had lots of fun watching the grown-ups play. He spent most of the time making sure everyone was playing nice and not pulling hair.

Owen was excited to find out he will have a third aunt in a few months. "Soon-to-be Aunt" Gena was proudly sporting an engagement ring from Uncle Bryan. The competition for "Favorite Aunt" will really heat up this summer!



Four cousins each had mini-cousins during the same year.

Todd/Owen ... Bill/Billy ... Sara/Sydney... Nick/Owen

Bedtime Routine

Owen has a fairly structured bedtime routine. Just before 7:00 we ask Owen if he would like to go upstairs and brush his teeth. The answer is always a rigorous "NO". But as soon as the gate at the bottom of the stairs is opened he runs as fast as he can in a somewhat straight line to the stairway. He is so excited to crawl up the stairs that sometimes we have to go up two or three times before he's ready to run to the bathroom to begin brushing his teeth.

Owen has quickly mastered the art of teeth brushing. Although we question how much brushing really goes on ... just where does all that toothpaste go?

After Owen is done "brushing" his teeth we take over and finish the job.

Although it's not a normal part of bedtime, Mommy often uses this time to give Owen a trim.

Mommy nixed the idea of a mohawk. Daddy and Owen are still appealing the decision.

Uncle Brandon's Wedding

A few weeks ago we traveled all the way to Winona, MN for Uncle Brandon and (now) Aunt Jamine's wedding. Normally a family gathering which demands a 4 hour drive to get to would result in more than 2 pictures ... normally.

Owen insisted that the third pew from the back is the "Best Seat In The House".


Owen spent some quality time with his second-cousin Cooper. Owen couldn't understand why Cooper didn't get up to play with him. Doesn't everyone walk??

Owen was so excited to show Mommy all that the Plainfield Parks System had to offer during a break from the ride home.

Halloween

This weekend we attended a Halloween party. It was Owen's first Halloween party and the first time he stayed up until 9:00. Way past curfew!!



Owen dressed as a lion. He only managed to keep the head piece on for about 10 seconds. Mommy dressed as Einstein and won first place in the costume contest. We hope her eyebrows will grow back by Christmas. Daddy originally planned on dressing as the golfer Jack Nicklaus. Turns out he's still alive, so instead of finding a new costume he was dressed as golfer Ben Hogan.

The tail is used to swat insects off the lions back in the wild.

For Owen, it's just to make him look cute.

Owen was very upset with Mommy. Not only was she trying to tie the headpiece on, she wouldn't let him have any beer.

Owen earned third prize for his pumpkin interpretation of Kanye West entitled, "Orange Digger"

Another Installment In The Never-Ending Series, "Owen Visits A Farm"

Owen had another visit to a farm this past weekend. This was a short and precarious visit for the little explorer. Not one to normally cause mischief, Owen's wandering apparently irked a few of the farm's residents ...

Owen has never been sure what to think about cats. But he was feeling adventurous and decided to make contact with his new "friend".

Suddenly! Owen was surrounded by a small army of cats.

Convinced it was an ambush, Owen made a break for it.

Luckily he learned how to run last week.

Desperate, Owen attempted to climb a fence and escape. But it was useless, his 2'1 frame could not scale the wall.

Realizing he had nowhere to run, Owen turned to look at his aggressors. It was only then that he realized the folly of his fears ...

... how can you be scared of this face?

Owen also operated his first tricycle. He couldn't reach the peddles and every time he pushed with his feet his heels hit the rear tires. But that wasn't enough to stop Owen from inching across the sidewalk.





Owen attended a wedding. Here he is showing off his first tie to Grandma. Because we were pressed for time, Owen was only able to master the "Half Windsor" and not the "Windsor" knot.


On a final stop before heading home, Owen helped Great-Grandpa celebrate his 80th birthday at the Fox & Hound in Hubertus, WI

Leaves ... everywhere

The annual agonizing leaf clearing has begun! Last year Owen just sat in his car seat and slept while Mommy and Daddy raked and raked and raked. This year he got in on the action. Although we didn't let him run the leaf blower, there was still plenty for him to do.

After surveying the field, Owen felt he was up to the challenge.

With speed and agility, Owen made quick work of the leaves. He did leave a few ... but since he's only 1 year old we let it slide.

As fatigue set in, Owen began to have issues with the equipment.

The lawn was no match for Owen.

Forget raking - lets just play in the leaf pile.

Who needs swim lessons when you have a leaf pile?

Is anyone getting any work done around here??

As Owen struggled to free his car from the leaf pile, we realized that this image will probably repeat itself once Owen has a real car in 16 years. Make sure the AAA membership is up to date.

Why wouldn't you put the basket on your head?

Future site of Owen's swing set.

We didn't even get to this side of the house ...

To The Pumpkin Patch!!!

Last weekend we made our first trip to a pumpkin farm. It was just outside of town and Owen seemed to really enjoy himself. There was a animal petting area (all the animals were sleeping) a lot of pumpkins, watermelons, gourds and other pumpkin farm things.

Owen took charge right away. Nothing was going to stop him from finding the "good" pumpkins.

Owen insisted that dressing like a Pumpkin would allow him to blend in to the surroundings and sneak up on the perfect pumpkin. We just nodded our heads and let him think whatever he wanted.

Hips parallel to the ground, head up, feet square to the pumpkin ... do we have a future Olympic weightlifter in our presence??

Riding back to the Jeep - Owen was happy with the results. A job well done.

14 Month Update

At 14 months Owen...

• has found a new gear in his walking. He is no Jamaican runner Usain Bolt, but he is proficient and on the verge of running all the time.
• throwing balls. If you chase him, he will run with the ball and will do an over-the-head throw when you get close.
• can go down the toddler slides by himself. He also upgraded to the real swings. He still loves the park and goes during daycare. Daycare told us that when Owen was trying to climb out of the crawl tunnel at the park, he wasn't sure he could do it himself. Little Evy was behind Owen waiting for him to decide what to do. Owen held onto one of Evy's pig tails to steady himself and then climbed down. Evy looked worried the whole time, but Owen did not pull anything (not sure if that qualifies him as a gentleman).
• still loves paging through books and pointing at Bob the Builder a lot
• can turn the toy truck he is pushing before it crashes into the wall - most of the time
• sits in a forward facing car seat
• still loves his Push Around Buggie, but his legs are getting a little too long
• loves his rocking horse. He isn't big enough to get on it himself, but he can "rock" when he gets on it.
• loves his sandbox. He can take the cover off and can put it back on. He would spend hours out there
• loves the outdoors. After a big digger at the park, he has rebounded and has mastered the uneven terrain of the woods and grass. Lately he has realized that he can not only step on the twigs, but pick them up too. He tries to "reattach" the twigs to the tree. Very cute! He is very random with his walking outside. We expect him to follow us, but he likes to randomly stop and change direction a lot.
• has mastered the temper tantrum. Anything taken away from him or refused results in high pitched screams, arching of his back, rolling around on the floor, running to you when you walk away only to push you away a moment later
• is very vocal in a caveman sort of way. The daycare teachers describe him as "enthusiastic" and "animated".
• can feed himself with a fork and spoon. He can stab with the fork but needs assistance with scooping. He hasn't figured out the purpose of the plate yet, other than something to wear like a hat.
• is a messy eater. After a slight lull the last few months in the level of mess after dinner, things have picked up again.
• still loves raspberries and Colby cheese
• has a long attention span. He seams to have a "mission" he is working on everyday - most of the time it is top secret as the rest of the household does not know what Owen is doing other than it is important.
• loves adult items with long handles. He tries to help us rake and sweep - unsuccessfully, but don't tell Owen that - he will scream at you.
• loves the front closet and will stand there for hours picking through shoes. When we put his coat on, he will go there to find and bring us his shoes.

Weekend Update

Owen has come a long way with hats. A few months ago he hated them - now he tries to put them on (keyword: "tries")

The NEW Zoo is much different on the "non-free admissions" day. We were able to actually feed the giraffes! The giraffe lost interest as soon as the food was gone - kind of like Owen. Owen spent most of the day walking and pointing at anything that moved ... animals, plants, kids, shadows, Mommy, etc.

Owen's first experience with a bubbler. We don't plan on exposing him to drinking fountains.

Owen still likes the cement animals. Feel free to compare to the last visit to the zoo in June.