Wednesday, May 02, 2012

730 days * 104 weeks * 24 months * 2 YEARS!

Wow. I really cannot believe my little boy is already two years old. The time has flown by so quickly. There are times I feel ok about it because I absolutely adore him and I have so much fun with him. I love each stage of development and watching him learn and grow. I love seeing his little mind absorb everything around him as he makes new discoveries and accomplishments. However, I don't like thinking about the time continuing to go by and to think that suddenly he will be a grown boy man. I hate that my Baby Center emails have now gone from calling him a toddler to a preschooler. Please. Let's not push it. He's still my baby. :)

Here are his most recent stats:

Head: 19 in (35th percentile)
Height: 35.5 in (75th percentile)
Weight: 26 lb 4 oz (30th percentile)

He is sleeping really well these days. He typically goes down for a nap between 1 and 2 and will most often sleep for about two hours. Sometimes he extends his naps to 3 or more hours, but 2 is fairly typical. With summer coming upon us and extended daylight hours, his bedtime is sometimes pushed a little later. If we are out having fun or busy, there are days he doesn't get to bed until 9PM or later. But I would say 8-8:30PM is pretty average. At night he sleeps about 12 hours, but sometimes as long as 14. Although I'm not really sure he's sleeping the whole time. There have been nights that I hear him awake in his crib in the middle of the night sometimes for up to two hours. I think on nights when he does that, he tends to sleep in a little later in the morning. But hey, I'm not complaining when I get to sleep until 10! :)

The other thing Owen has been doing in his sleep lately that just about gives me a heart attack, is sleeping with his head covered by the blankets. The first night I saw his face covered I freaked out, yanked them off of him, and checked to make sure he was still breathing. Now I take pictures first and then move the blankets. ;)



Eating is still a struggle. I seriously never know what he will or will not eat. Some days he eats like a ravenous beast. Most days, he pecks and eats like a bird. His current favorites right now are: Turkey pepperoni (peppa), peanut butter, sharp cheddar cheese, fruit (blueberries, grapes, watermelon, oranges, etc.) dried fruit (fruit leather or raisins by the cup full), German pancakes, yogurt, cereals with milk, sweet n salty granola bars, chips (of any kind), french fries, sweets (of any kind), ice (uh huh...very filling and nutrient-rich) and of course mint (as seen by the multiple tic-tacs he got a hold of before I noticed).

Here he is playing his new "game" he likes of putting food on the table (or floor - ew) and eating it without using his hands. This night it was a dinner consisting mainly of ice.

As you can see, it's hard to get him to eat healthy. Sometimes he chows on black beans and will eat other random things like carrots and celery, but just as often he ends up chucking them off his tray. Oh wait...he throws anything and everything off his tray. Yes. My child is a food thrower and has been ever since he was able to do it. This is one behavior that Drives. Me. Nuts. It usually only happens when he's done eating and playing around, but if I'm not quick enough to notice, food goes flying. That and since he's such a poor eater, I like to give him as much time as possible to eat what on his plate.

Generally, he does like to eat apples, but prefers to eat them whole and carry them around with him.

Once again, his language is exploding. I often wonder where he learned a word or phrase. I think he's starting to be a sponge and just pick up whatever he hears around him. One of my favorite things he's been saying lately is, "I be back, a minute," before he runs off to get something. I obviously tell him "I'll be back in just a minute" very often.

For a while he kept saying, "Yeah. I know," to almost everything we'd say to him. It was funny when he would say it after we would tell him we loved him because it was reminiscent of my childhood when my Mom told me she loved me and I said, "I know, everybody does." :) We couldn't figure out where he got this from and then Miles realized it was probably from when we would comfort him when he was crying or upset and say, "Yeah...I know...."

Speaking of crying...here is a shot of Owen's first fat lip. He got it when he pulled a baby monitor down off a shelf, onto his face. There was a lot of blood and tears, but he was pretty ok once he was able to calm down.

Other fun things he says: Wook Mom!; Theeee end! (very emphatically after finishing a book); "Come on, Goose" (said to his toys - something we say to him a lot); "Hi, baby!" or "Hi, Goose!" (after one of us says it to him).

Honestly, he's talking up a storm and saying so much these days. But these are just some of the silly things I've recorded. Although I don't think a day goes by when I'm not laughing at something he's said or done.

He can count pretty reliably up to six. He can count to ten infrequently. He often will start counting and then go back to one. And by count, I mean recite the numbers...he jumps around when trying to actually count objects and will double or triple count them.


Owen found a balloon and Dada was teaching him how to blow it up.

Owen will often get a worried look on his face when he sees something isn't right or is broken and say, "Oh no! It's boi-kin." Then he usually wants us to "fix it." He does this with his food too when he's pulled bread apart and is trying to put it back together.


He loves to climb into empty boxes.



He uses everything as a slide - his chair, the couch, the love sac, our bodies...everything.

Owen loves to play outside. He could swing for hours...

...or just spend time picking up sticks and rocks, or looking at ants on the ground.

He loves to help with the laundry and throw it into the washer.

He's also pretty obsessed with climbing into the dryer and likes me to close the door on him and peek his head out.


Owen knows how to say all the animal names as well as their sounds. He also knows some obscure animals that I am surprised he remembers. My favorite animal sounds he's learned in the last couple months are a goat (meh), an owl (hoo, hoo), a donkey (ee-aw, ee-aw), and a rhinoceros (blowing in and out with his nose - in one of our books, Moo, Ba, La La La, "The rhinoceros snorts and snuffs...." I would make a snorting and sniffling noise so he knew what it was. Now that is apparently what they do).


He found this "leash" I've never used in one of the drawers and wanted to wear it. He thought it was pretty fun, so long as I didn't prohibit him from moving.

He is once again very into reading. Almost every morning, we get up and read books right away. Sometimes he likes me to read to him for up to an hour in the morning. He will also bring me books and ask me to read it to him. I love when I'm sitting on the floor and he just backs his little bum up to sit on my lap. Sometimes he gets obsessed with a particular book and will ask me to read it, "Again! Again! Again!" until I decide I've had enough of it. I also, often find him quietly reading (looking at books) in his room.

As I said in his birthday party post, he loves airplanes, helicopters, trucks and tractors (he often refers to most of these as dump trucks), and cars. Whenever he hears the garbage truck outside or an airplane, he will gasp, acknowledge it by name, and run to the window to see if he can see it.

Here is a picture of him opening up a couple of presents I saved for his actual birthday since we celebrated with family early. You can see how happy he was to get another plane and helicopter.

Owen likes to play games where he hides objects (often his cars) and says, "Where?" while throwing his hands up in the air. Then he says, "Hi-ning" (hiding) and will reveal them by pulling off a blanket or lifting the flap on the arm of the couch or wherever they may be.


He loves to line up his cars, trucks and toys, and stack things.


Another game he likes to play is to crawl between my legs when I'm doing dishes or standing somewhere. He sticks his head through and likes it when I squeeze my legs around him. He also will climb up and over Dada's leg and through the hole in his legs when he is sitting down with his ankle on his knee. Miles said one day Owen did this for about 15-20 min straight.

Here he is in his first mini "fort." He thought it was pretty cool.

Loves to say things with a "k" sound, like truck (kuck), yuck, etc. And often when it has that sound, he will add a few kuh's to the end. "Kuck, kuh, kuh" with a very gutteral sounding k. Time to learn German?

Here is Owen doing his impersonation of the "naked cowboy" as seen in NYC. I think Owen makes a cuter cowboy if you ask me...

Speaking of naked...here he is attempting undress himself to be "nay, nay" by taking his shirt off down over his body.

And finally, a picture of him on his actual birthday as a TWO year old. Sigh...the time really is going by too fast.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Tulip Festival

I recently bought a membership to Thanksgiving Point. I was really excited to first take advantage of going to the Tulip Festival they have each year. I haven't been since I went with my Mom two years ago, just before Owen was born.

This year, some of the in-laws were in town, so I was able to go with family again. It was also nice since tulips are Mom Wright's favorite flower! :) Marci stayed home to watch Owen while I went with Mom and Megan. It was a beautiful day and I'm so glad we went!

Here are some of the MANY tulips we saw:



This was a random bunch of daffodils amidst all the tulips, so I thought I'd get a shot since they are one of my favorite flowers.


 Gorgeous landscaping!



And lastly were the man-made waterfalls, which also added a lot to the beauty of the day. 


I love going and enjoying nature. It was nice to go with some women who appreciated it, rather than drag Miles along. I can't wait to go again next year!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Owen's 2nd Birthday Party

The birthday boy with his Dada before heading to church. I loved that they were wearing matching red, white and blue ties. Oh, and poor Goose had a big fat lip that he'd gotten the day before by pulling the baby monitor down off a shelf onto his face. It was pretty sad. :(

Since most of Miles' family was in town for graduations, we decided to celebrate Owen's birthday a week early so that we could have more family there. It was really nice to have Grandma and Grandpa Wright, Aunt Megan, Uncle Mitchell, Aunt Marci as well as Uncle Matt, Aunt Kerry and cousins Hadley and Elena all there to celebrate with us.



I decided to do an "airplane" themed party since this boy *loves* all things transportation, but especially planes. I cut out a banner and clouds, and Miles drew airplanes and cut those out for decorations.

I wanted to make an airplane shaped cake, but with all the graduation festivities and family gatherings, I decided to decrease my stress level and just make a landing strip. I think it turned out quite cute. And, most importantly, it tasted good since I used the chocolate chip bundt cake recipe with cream cheese frosting. Yum!



We started with dinner. I made Peanut Ginger Chicken over Coconut Rice topped with Mango Salsa. Kerry made a delicious julienne chopped Asian salad to go with it, and we drank sparkling prickly passion lemonade. It was an awesome meal if I do say so myself. :)

After dinner, we opened presents. When I brought them out and asked Owen if he wanted to open presents, he started jumping up and down on the couch shouting, "Presents! Presents! Presents!" It was super cute.


We went pretty simple with presents, but ALL of them were a hit. He got a drawing pad and washable (thank you, Crayola) crayons from the Wickman family. He is always requesting "colors" when he sees anything you can write with. He also got a rev-up monster truck that is magnetic and can climb up the fridge or metal doors, as well as a train track set from me and Miles. Both sets of grandparents gave him money for his savings account, and I believe Grandma Van de Wetering is working on a quiet book (post to come when that arrives).

After presents, we did cake and ice cream. Owen was so excited when he saw the plane and helicopter on the cake. Miles and Mitchell were trying to get the candles lit, but were struggling because our air conditioning was blowing them out and it wasn't turning off fast enough. Owen was crying the whole time because he just wanted the toys. They were finally able to get them lit and we sang and brought the cake over to Owen. He reached right past the candles for the plane, and knocked the flames out with this sleeve. So much for actually blowing them out. Oh well. Also, Owen didn't seem that into the cake. He was more interested in the ice cream, but mostly he just wanted to play with his "pwane" and "copter."


Oh, and I also made these cute little airplanes as favors, but had hidden them in the cupboard so Owen wouldn't see them. Unfortunately, that meant I completely forgot to even bring them out. Oops!



The party was a lot of fun and like I said, it was so great to celebrate with family. We know that won't always be an option as most family members live far away and others are likely moving away from this area. Thank you to everyone who was there to help celebrate Owen's birthday with us!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Oh Baby! (15 weeks)

Miles, Owen and I went in for our early gender check ultrasound and doctor's appointment today. People have been asking me if I want a boy or a girl. When I was pregnant with Owen, I really wanted a girl, and sadly (to be completely honest) I was a bit disappointed when I heard we were having a boy. Over time that changed and I was about to accept and anticipate the arrival of my sweet, baby boy. I of course, love him more than anything in this world and would not be the same without him. I am SO grateful to have had him first and learn about and love little boy behaviors.

This time, however, has been different.

What are little boys made of?
Slugs and snails
And puppy-dogs' tails,
That's what little boys are made of.

I think it would be so wonderful to have another boy so that Owen could have a brother close to him in age. Also, Miles is the second son, of a second son, of a second son, of a second son, of a second son. Did you catch that?! Yeah...he's the fifth in the line of "second sons." This does not mean the second born, but merely the second son of a family. I think that it would be awesome to have a second son to continue the line.

What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice
And everything nice,
That's what little girls are made of.

A girl, would be wonderful. Pink frills, lace, bows, glitter, and dresses. So. Much. Fun. On my families side, there are four grandsons and only two granddaughters. My nieces, Hadley and Elena have been dying for a girl cousin. And on Miles's side, there are no granddaughters - only three grandsons. I know the ladies are itching to buy girly things. And since we don't know how many children we'll be able to have (financially and literally with our fertility treatment), it would be nice to have at least one of each.

So this time, I went in with no expectations or desires or concerns. I knew that I would be 100% happy with whatever the outcome.

Which brings me to the question...

BOY...

or

GIRL...
We'll let Owen tell you...


IT'S A GIRL!!!

And we couldn't be more thrilled. :)
Here is one of the ultrasound pictures. I was having a hard time taking good pictures of them and our scanner isn't working. Once we get that taken care of I'll post more including her profile and alien face. :)
Oh yes, and here's a picture of the awesome sperm and egg cookies I made as well. :P