Where's Owen?

Owen loves to play the "Where's Owen?" game. Basically it entails either myself or Owen throwing a blanket over his head, followed by me saying, "Where's Owen?...Where did Owen go?" And then he'll reveal himself and giggle uncontrollably. Then we repeat this about 20 times. I didn't know that he would take the hide and seek game to the next level. Miles called me outside to come find Owen.

Can you find him?

What about now?
He is hilarious...and crazy. Miles had to help him climb back out.

I love that he's also starting to become so verbal. Recently we were playing this game and in the middle of it (maybe the 10th time with the blanket over his head) I didn't do my part and ask where he was since I was distracted for a second. He said, "Mama! Where O-nee go?" It was so dang cute. He doesn't say his name very often...like at all. I loved that he called himself O-nee and his cute little plea for me to continue the game. I sure love this boy!

First at-home haircut

After deciding that Owen's hair was seriously shag-a-licious and in serious need of a haircut, I realized that if I were to actually keep up on keeping it nice regularly, I would be taking him in for a haircut about every 6 weeks. While it doesn't cost much, it also seems like a lot to maintain. So I thought it would be beneficial for me to learn how to do it myself.

I found a pretty good tutorial on pinterest and it gave me the confidence I needed to do the first cut. The problem is, it gave me enough confidence to think I'd be ok at it, but sadly...I was not.

Here are the before and after pictures.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Owen was a champ. He sat and watched TV while eating a sucker and didn't seem to mind at all until I got to the front/top. I think I started blocking his view and he might have been feeling done at that point. Either way, he gets an A in my book for being such a good guinea pig.

One thing I hate about it (besides my terrible hack job) is that he looks so much older now. I am constantly getting comments about how grown up he looks and that he looks like such a little boy. I really did love his long, wispy, hair and might just let it grow out again. Although I know it won't keep him my baby forever. :(

Nielsen's Grove

One day our playgroup went to Nielsen's Grove Park. It's a great park, and Owen loves it. It has swings, a great climbing/sliding area, and best of all - a duck pond. Here is a random picture from last year when we went and there were baby ducklings. They were so cute. We have actually been this year too when there were ducklings, but I didn't get a picture.

I was also trying out my new lens since I had just bought a 50mm for my camera. I was happy that without any training and just on the automatic setting, the pictures were already better.

Owen loves to throw food to the ducks. Here he was especially happy with his throw...or maybe that the ducks ate it? Either way, it's cute.

The other thing Owen loves to do is to chase the poor ducks all around the park.

He would go so far as to chase them into the bushes of sticks.

And here he is attempting to touch one of the ducks. I love the progression of the pictures and finally the duck flying away.

It was another fun day at the park, and I just thought Owen's love of ducks. :)

How NOT to potty train your toddler

Today, I learned how *not* to potty train my toddler.

I was in the bathroom and Owen kept saying, "Paw-ee!" I asked if he wanted to sit on the potty and he said yes. So I thought, "Sure, why not?" and took off his pants and diaper and sat him on the potty. It was so cute I had to take a picture.

Not surprisingly, he didn't actually go. He talked about poo-poo and the "paw-ee" but there was nothing in the toilet. That's ok, I didn't expect anything and I was just letting him get used to it since he was showing an interest. In fact, he had such an interest, that he would cry every time I attempted to get him down and take him out of the bathroom. So we continued the charade for a little while longer.

Well, later, I was in our other bathroom and he again requested to sit on the potty. This time I didn't have time to take off his diaper and everything so I just sat him on the seat and he seemed happy enough with that. I ran out of the room to do something real quick and I heard a noise. I figured he had just hopped down off the potty. Uh...I was wrong...and of course I had to take a picture. :)

Owen wasn't too sure about it, and eventually started to fuss. I got a towel and immediately took him to the bath. I figured I messed up any hope of future potty training, but sure enough, later that night he was asking to sit on the potty again. I think before this goes any further though, we need to invest in a small potty or a toilet ring.

To Grandmother's House We Go!

On Saturday, Miles said he wanted to go out and visit his Grandparents in Tooele on Sunday. I thought that sounded great, and after one quick call to Grandma Wright, it was settled - we were going!

Side note:

Saturday we had to put the car seat back in the car. We decided to go ahead and finally put it forward facing. Shortly after I had Owen, there were new recommendations that came out stating babies and toddlers should stay facing backwards until a minimum of two years. I vacillated about what to do, but decided that if experts were saying that was the safest way for my child to be in my car, then that was what I would do. It wasn't easy. From the time Owen was six weeks old, he hated riding in the car. Sometimes our trips would be good, relaxing and tear-free. Other times they were nightmares filled with crying, screaming, throwing, tantruming and general mayhem. But we stuck to it. I wasn't even sure that turning him around would change anything anyway. However, since Owen will be two in a month, we decided to go ahead with the change.

Here's my big boy in his seat facing forward:

And as far as the trip went, he was awake the whole time both there and back, and did exceptionally well. There were some minor whines and requests, but generally he seems to be a much happier toddler. He loves looking out the window and commenting on all the cars and trucks he can see. I hope this continues and he's not just faking us out. This would actually make me consider taking a road trip that is longer than an hour and a half.

Ok, back to our visit with Grandma and Grandpa. When we arrived, Grandma immediately brought out a bin full of toys and books that she had just for Owen. It was so sweet because she mentioned she had gone to DI the day before to get some "boy toys" for him since she had gotten rid of all her toys when they thought they were moving. She did such a good job picking them out. There was a ball, a big race car that would rev up and race off, a tractor with sounds and lights that also moved on its own, other cars and trucks, and a small airplane. She couldn't have done a better job of picking out all things Owen loves. Owen was especially in *love* with the airplane and ran around making plane noises while "flying" it in the air.

After a little bit, we put Owen down for his nap and had some time to visit with Grandma and Grandpa, eat a delicious, tender, roast-beef dinner, and catch up on all of the family news.

Once Owen was up, it was back to playing. He threw the ball at Grandpa, and Grandpa would moan and groan and act like he got hurt. Owen thought it hilarious. Here is a play-by-play look at how it went:
And here's a few more, just cause it was so dang cute.After Owen was done abusing Grandpa; Grandma, Miles and I went outside to let him run around for a bit and play with a fun bubble blower Grandma bought for him. Owen was in heaven with all the space to run and play. It was pretty windy (as evidenced by Owen's hair all over the place).

And here are some of my favorite pictures from outside:

We eventually went back inside, ate some dessert, and visited some more. Owen found all of Grandma and Grandpa's bears and brought each one upstairs into the sitting room. Miles swung Owen around while I chatted with Aunt Darlene on the phone. Then we eventually said goodbye just before 8PM.

It was SO much fun to see them and spend some quality one-on-one time with them. We love Grandma and Grandpa Wright and are so grateful for the opportunities we have to be with them. They were so great with Owen and he adores them. It was a wonderful trip, and I'm glad that Miles suggested it. You never know how long you will have grandparents (which is all too real for me since both of my sets of grandparents are gone), and how long Owen will have great-grandparents. But we certainly hope that it will be for a long, long, long time!

Oh Baby! (10 weeks)

I have been so MIA in the blogging world. I guess pregnancy (along with some apathy) will do that to you. But I thought I should make an effort since I'm not feeling super tired or sick, and push past my laziness to write about my first doctor's appointment with my regular doctor and other pregnancy related things.

I went in last week when I was exactly 10 weeks. I got to hear the heartbeat again which is always so great and a nice reassurance. Really, it wasn't super eventful. Good blood pressure, good heartbeat, got a blood draw and urine sample taken. That was about it. Mostly I was just excited to go in and feel like I'm moving forward on this journey. Oh, the one exciting thing was that I asked when I could find out the sex of the baby. She said 15 weeks. I was really excited because I thought it was later than that. She said when I go to make the appointment they will tell me I have to be between 16-18, but that it's fine at 15. YAY! Only five (well, four from now) weeks until I get to find out if we are having a boy or girl. :)

Now for a quick log of pregnancy symptoms and experiences. I really can't complain. Ok, I *can* complain, but I shouldn't. I often want to, but then I realize that there are so many people out there that have it 10x and 100x worse than I do. Starting at about 5 weeks, I had to go to the bathroom a LOT at night. Sometimes up to four times per night. This was both exhausting (having interrupted sleep) and annoying. It's decreased some, but I'm usually up at least once per night. And the most annoying part is that lately, if I wake up after 2 AM, I'm usually guaranteed to stay awake for at least 1-2 hours. I don't know where this insomnia is coming from, but it can happily leave. I've also had some itchiness like I did last time. Miles would also complain about this since I ask him for a back scratch every night.

As far as nausea, it didn't kick in until about 8 weeks. I was surprised when it hadn't started and thought that maybe I'd just skip by it this time. Then it kicked in full force. I was pretty much a blob laying on the couch for a while. The first day (and worst day) I decided to be mom of the year and let Owen watch far too much TV so I could rest on the couch. However, it didn't work out so hot for me. Once he realized I was there, he wanted to lay next to me. So I had to lay uncomfortably to accomodate him. But the worst part was that his sweet cheerio breath just made me want to vomit. Then he finally moved away and I started to doze off. Suddenly, I was startled awake by the ever so wonderful feeling of a remote control being chucked at my head. After getting over this rude awakening, I dozed off again, only to be abruptly awoken by Owen sitting on my head and shortly thereafter kneeing me in the stomach. Ah...the joys of being sick with a toddler in the house.

Ok, but really, I can't complain. I just wanted to remember that miserable (yet amusing) day. For the most part, the last 3+ weeks have been ok. I've definitely had some nausea that comes on and off, but it doesn't usually last all day, and I'm not throwing up. At all. So that's good. I have tried taking two different medications. The first (Phenergan) just made me super tired. The other (Zofran) helped some, but gives me a killer headache. Boo. One thing that sucks is that for most women, they feel nauseous, but force themselves to eat and then they feel better. No. For me, I feel ok and then I eat (cause I'm starving) and then I feel nauseous. It doesn't matter if I eat small or big or healthy or crappy. I almost always feel sick after I eat. Again...it doesn't last forever, and at least I can keep food down. So I'll stop complaining.

That's about it. I'm really glad I made some freezer meals in advance of getting pregnant. It's been super nice to just pull something out for dinner and not have to make much (or anything) to go with it. I wish I'd done more. I'll have to do it in preparation for the baby coming too.

Oh, one other thing. They say you gain weight faster/get bigger with your second pregnancy. I was hoping that didn't have to be true. Sadly, it is. I don't feel like I'm eating more than usual, but sadly have already put on a few lbs. With Owen I didn't start showing until around 16 weeks, and didn't gain any weight at all for at least the first trimester. This one is a different story. I definitely feel "thick." It's ok. I honestly hate it when women complain about being fat when they're pregnant (read: pet peeve). Hello...you're carrying a baby and creating a life! Get over it! So yeah...maybe I'll be bigger this time around, but I vow to still feel beautiful. :)

Sorry this is a boring back to blogging post. Again, mostly just wanted to get some stuff recorded and stop being so lazy. :) Maybe I'll try working on some other posts too...maybe.