Cold

Last week was near record low temperatures in the Green Bay area. It was so cold school was cancelled for Thursday and Friday. Owen and Mommy spent the days leisurely wondering about the house and had a lot of things to worry about:

Should we get out of our PJ's?
Is it nap time yet?
When are my 'stories' on?
What game should we play now?
It sure looks cold out, glad we're in here.
Why doesn't Daddy clear the driveway?
Should we have pancakes or oatmeal for breakfast?
Do you think Daddy will bring us food home?

Don't worry, Daddy made it to work just fine ... both days.

Hard At Work

Owen has been hard at work over the past few weeks. Here are some highlights:

Owen is quickly becoming a great asset around the house. Here he is, 'Johnny on the spot' with the materials Daddy needs for the job.

Just like a prisoner forced to build their own prison cells, Owen helped Daddy reinforce the cabinet door locks. If Owen figures this out he may not help out any more.

It takes a little elbow grease to tighten the screws.


Things that don't mix well: sharp screwdriver, power tool, inflatable tub and an infant. Where are the parents anyway?

Owen plays with PlayDoh almost everyday. Here he is showing Mommy how to make a random shaped blob.

For weeks Owen admired all of the pretty ornaments on the Christmas tree. He especially enjoyed looking at the 1999 Rose Bowl ornament. He just can't understand why Uncle Brandon would think it was his.

Sometimes Mommy and Daddy just don't get it. Owen has to carefully and slowly explain things to them. He has found it useful to use hand gestures to get his point across.

Owen has an important job to do when ever a cake is made. Unfortunately nothing is left for Daddy by the time Owen and Mommy are done.

I'm saving that bit on my nose for later.

This would be a lot easier to eat if it were on a spoon ...

When the family came over for Christmas, Uncle Bryan insisted on having a picture taken in front of the Bruce Springsteen poster. He reluctantly allowed Owen and "Soon-to-be" Aunt Gena to tag along.

Owen loves to eat apples whole. A large one can take him 15 minutes to finish. Eventually he'll figure out when to stop eating and toss the core in the trash.

Still enthralled by the clips. Owen can spend an eternity playing with his booster seat.

This Tonka truck can easily handle the 26.2 pound load of Owen.

Swim lessons have now started. Every Wednesday Daddy and Owen jump in the pool and bravely wander around the water singing songs and trying not to get cold.

What do you mean there isn't any chocolate on this thing.

That's Why It Smells Like Carmex In Here!

Today we found Owen in our bathroom drawer. He found a tube of Carmex. Harmless enough - right? Well Owen not only showed us that he has now figured out how to take caps off, but he also showed us how Carmex can be a great hair gel - helps to wooo the ladies. Woo away Owen; woo away. We also learned that it only take two rounds of California Baby Organic Shampoo to remove Carmex residue from baby boy's hair.

17 Month Update

17 months old already! Owen is growing up so fast we can't keep up. We should really talk to him about that.

At 17 months Owen;

LOVES playing with buckles. He can spend an hour playing with the buckles on his Fisher Price Healthy Care Booster Seat . He has yet to figure out how to unbuckle, however.

Eats whole apples

Can climb onto his horse by himself

Loves drinking juice from Mommy's new Jack LaLanne’s Classic Power Juicer.

Gets excited when he hears a truck or tractor outside.

Realizes the house has a basement. He wants to go and explore all the time.

Is developing habits. If he sees a drawer open that is normally closed, he'll go over and close it.

Loves going to the hardware store with Daddy.

Can follow directions. If we ask him to go into the other room, pick up a book and bring him back to us. He can also retrieve puzzle pieces and bring them to us.

Loves to play with water. We often fill the bathroom sink and let him push toys around in the water. He uses a little Snoopy step stool and can just barely see over the edge. It's really cute until we realize he's full of water. We decided to be creative and let him play with a larger tub of water on the kitchen floor. The towels we laid out were no match for Owen when he picked up the 5 gallon tub and dumped all the water out.

Still hits occasionally, but now he immediately stops and gives us a kiss on the cheak after doing it. Sometimes he kisses us even if it was a light punch that we didn't even feel.

Enjoys dancing and knows when to 'fall down' during "Ring Around The Rosey"

Pulls and pushes us in the direction he wants us to go.

Still doesn't understand cuddle time.

Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas! We decided we should update the blog with Owen's Christmas Activities. Being his second Christmas, he acted all pro - unwrapping gifts and helping decorate. Although Owen was excited to do everything and could say Ho Ho Ho when he saw Santa, he didn't quite understand the purpose for all the commotion. There were five holiday parties with one 3-day strech of constant unwrapping. We were getting worried that Owen would start to expect a wrapped gift every where he goes.

Christmas Eve this year was very different from last year. Owen partook in a lot of new family Chirstmas traditions.

"Shut the door Daddy - It is getting cold in here!"

First-off was hanging Santa's Key. Mommy was distraught that our house did not have a fireplace for Santa to come down. When Mommy consulted her students - they reminded her that they never really cared how Santa got in their house just as long as the presents showed up. Others said that Owen won't pay attention to that many details. Well Mommy and Daddy comprimised - instead of a $3000 fireplace, Daddy bought a $10 Santa Key (during our vacation in Spring Green). Some may call that the cheap way out, others might call it fiscally responsible.

Owen left Santa milk and cookies as well as carrots for the reindeer. At Daycare Owen made special reindeer food (oatmeal and glitter) and sprinkled it outside to make sure Santa stopped. Owen really wanted Daddy to eat the carrot. He must've known that Daddy did most of the physical lifting of the gifts.

Then it was off to bed to wait for Santa to come. Owen's face says - I don't know what happening tomorrow but it sounds good.

Since Owen was no longer a "Christmas Rookie" he felt is was neccessary to critique Daddy's tree decorating. Owen is looking forward to traveling to the tree farm outside of town next year to pick up tree. Daddy hasn't had any help for several years. The last helper Daddy had refused to get out of the Jeep on account of "a chill in the air".

Cousins' Mya, Billy and Owen pose for a pre-gift opening photo. For the next two hours paper was flying, kids went missing, balls were thrown, boxes were discarded, tape was cut and dreams came true and the trio attacked the mountain of gifts.

Uncle Bill and Owen - a rare shot. Owen didn't know Bill could read.

Being at home for two weeks is a long time. Owen had to take a few minutes to reminise about his old school pal, Brody.

Stress levels were rising as Owen tried to remember the physics lesson he received from Uncle Brandon ... now what was the speed equation again?

Owen really enjoys playing with his new 6-in 1 Tent and Tunnel Play Zone by Toyco. Of course it's all fun and games until Daddy gets stuck halfway through the tube.