Smart Kid

We went to Ikea today and stopped to get some lunch. I was showing Owen the picture of the available kids' meals and asked him which one he wanted. I described each and told him to point to the one he wanted.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "I want that one." This was the picture he pointed to...

Midnight Moments

I just got home from my book club and went downstairs to check on Owen before heading to bed. I saw his closet door was open, and being slightly freakish about it, I had to close it. I think the noise woke him because I heard a little sound. When I walked over to his crib, I could see that he was awake. I gently stroked his hand and said, "Good night, baby boy." He quietly whispered, "Tickle me..." and unzipped the top of his jammies so I could tickle his chest and tummy. I tickled him for a minute, zipped him up, stroked his face and said, "Good night." He quickly wrapped his arms around my hand and forearm, and turned to the side hugging me tightly. Then he said, "You're stuck. You have to wait for Daddy to come help you." I said, "I don't think Daddy will come help me." He said, "Yes he will!" And I slipped out of his grasp. I again said, "I love you, sweet boy. Good night," and started to walk away. He called, "Mommy...tickle me." And as requested, I gave him a few more tickles. As I was finally able to get closer to leaving his room, he said, "Mommy..." and I again returned to see what he needed. He whispered something that I couldn't hear. I asked him what he said. In a quiet, sly, whispered voice I heard, "Can you put the iPad in my bed?" I gave a muffled laugh and said, "Can I put the iPad in your bed?!...No." And he started to giggle. As I walked out of the room, I heard, "Can you put the iPad in my bed?" followed by little giggles, repeated about five times.

Sweet midnight moments I don't want to forget...

(Picture taken a different night of my sleeping boy)

Insanity

About a month ago I decided to commit to doing the Insanity 60 day challenge. I figured that I could do anything for 60 days, right? Well, it's been tough! The first day I did a Fit Test to see where I was at with some of the basic exercises that are done in the program. I thought I was going to die. Seriously. I could hardly do some of the moves and kind of wanted to throw up when it was done. Let's just say I was starting from lower than ground zero in terms of exercise. But my coach and friend, Megan Potter, told me to go for it and she thought I could do it.

So here I am. Three and a half weeks into it. I definitely still struggle doing some of the moves (mostly the ones involving push-ups) but already I have seen huge improvements. My form is far better, my stamina is greater, and I don't want to die. Well, at least most days I don't. ;)

The hard part for me is that my patellar tendonitis from my high school volleyball days is acting up. I woke up today with a very achey knee. But I'm still pushing through. I try to listen to my body and go a little easier on moves that would further aggravate my knee, but I'm not giving up.

And you know, even if I don't lose a ton of weight at the end of this, I know that I'm doing something that is good for my body. And while there are days I'd happily pass on my workout, I always feel proud of myself and good about a finished workout.

Sometimes Owen likes to do exercises with me. I love it when he validates me by saying, "It's really hard!" Yes, bud...it is.

But truly, the best thing about doing this. Is the instructor, Shaun T. I was talking to Kerry (who has done the Insanity workouts before) and said, "Sometimes, Shaun T really reminds me of Kyle." She immediately agreed. She said she was so happy that I said that because she had thought the same thing and wondered if it was crazy. We both noticed that his mannerisms and the way he talks is reminiscent of our brother. Kerry said, "I like it when I do Insanity because when I see him I think, 'Hi Kykie!'" After we discussed this, the next day when I was working out I got a little emotional. It was as though it made it that much more real to me that he was like Kyle. It definitely makes it more enjoyable to feel as though I am working out with my long lost brother. :)

Here is a picture of Owen doing some exercises with me:

And one of me dripping after a workout. Insanity causes a serious sweat!

Here's to another 6 weeks of INSANITY!

3rd Birthday(s)

That's right. BirthdayS. Since we had so many family members in town at the same time, I thought that I would just do a family party for Owen. However, when I told him his birthday was coming up he said, "My friends are coming!" I said, "Oh really? Who is coming?" He said, "Sophia, and Tucker, and Lightening McQueen!" Hmm...well, I didn't think I could get Lightening to show up, but I figured I could fulfill his wish for a friend party as well. I also asked him what kind of party he wanted. He said, "A tiger cake!" I was pretty sure this came from watching a number of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood episodes and seeing Daniel Tiger have a birthday and a tiger cake. But over a month's time, his answer never wavered. So a tiger party it was.

We celebrated his family party a little early. We tried to arrange it so both sets of Owen's grandparents would be there, but couldn't quite get it to work. However, we were able to have Grandma and Grandpa Van de Wetering, Aunt Kerry, cousins Hadley and Elena, Aunt Megan and Uncle Mitchell. It was great to have so much family in town.

I went downstairs to get Owen once everyone had arrived. I told him that it was time to come upstairs for breakfast and that we had a surprise for him. I hadn't mentioned anything about celebrating his birthday and he said, "You do?! What is it? It's my tiger cake!!!"

This was his happy face at seeing his guess was correct. So glad I could make his wish come true. :)

We started by having a delicious brunch of spinach and bacon quiche, fruit, orange rolls, and juice.

Following breakfast, we opened presents.

Another pig book from his Mama. I liked this one for his birthday because it was about a pig who got a surprise birthday party at the end.

He also got a wheelbarrow with garden tools and a dry erase/chalkboard easel from us.

A train set from Auntie Kimmie:

A mama/baby animal matching set from Grammy and Grandpa:

The Velveteen Rabbit book and a stuffed rabbit to match from Auntie Kerry, Hadley and Elena:

And then we ended with what?...A TIGER CAKE!

We sang to Owen and he tried to blow out the candle. He must have been aiming his breath wrong because it wasn't working. The all of a sudden, after about four blows, he sucked in and the candle went out. It was hilarious and so cute! 

Then, while we were getting plates and ice cream, Owen decided to dig right into his cake by giving it a big LICK. Awesome. :P

A cut out with a big lick on the side. :)

And a couple of pictures of Elsie with Auntie Kerry and Uncle Mitchell, just to prove she was there. ;)

I think Owen really enjoyed his family tiger party.

Next up was his friend Tiger party. I decided to save most tiger-themed activities for he and his friends. (Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of pictures from this party. It was kind of overwhelming to have our first large event hosting a group of kids and their parents, while coordinating activities for the party. So sadly, pictures took a back seat.)

The friends (and parents) in attendance were: Sophia & Audrey (Haley & Braden) Molyneux, Tucker & Calvin (Holly & Curt) Smith, Chandler & Preston (Adri) Nye, Lucas & Sabrina (Debbie) Montero, Felix (Kelli & Kyle) Murray, and Griffin (Jacklyn & Tyler) Fellows.

After most friends had arrived, we started with Pin the Tail on the Tiger. Look at Miles' awesome art skills!

After "pinning" their tail, each child received a tiger tail of their own that we tucked into the backs of their pants.

Once each child had gone and received their tail, they were sent outside for a game of "Catch a Tiger by its Tail." We had the kids run around the backyard and chase each other and try to yank the other kids' tails. I was slightly worried about the potential of tears when children temporarily lost their tails, but for the most part it went really well. I think the kids enjoyed running around and were distracted when after losing their own tail, they were quickly told to run after other children and get theirs. Chandler was the biggest and oldest child there and was hilarious as he just bolted from one end of the yard to the other to avoid losing his tail. The kids must have liked it though because they asked to play again.

After running them ragged, we sat down for lunch. I attempted to do "themed" food to the best of my ability, but opted to round it out with a good 'ole non-theme-related pizza. :) Otherwise, we had Cheetos for "tiger tails," a "forest" of veggies, tiger-faced mandarin cups, and chocolate-dipped "tiger tails."

Following lunch we opened presents. Owen loved them all! There seemed to be a car/truck theme going on with presents. Owen was in heaven. He also got his very first board game - The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel, as well as play dough, sidewalk chalk, and a butterfly net.

Again, lacking in pictures. So here are a couple of he and Elsie playing with a parking garage car set and a dump truck.

We ended with a tiger pinata. Here is a picture of it:

 

And all the goodies inside (minus the candy):

We went youngest to oldest. I learned from this experience, that the kids probably could have beat on it for hours and probably wouldn't have made a dent. Next time I'd give them each a little more time (or a second turn) to work at it. After all the kids went without any damage done, we moved on to the adults. Holly went first and knocked a couple things out, then Adri went and pounded it so hard it broke off the hanger! (Don't mess with her!) ;) So since it was no longer easy to swing at it, Miles went primal on us and tore it open. It was pretty funny, and the kids were really excited when everything came raining out of it.

And Elsie was a huge fan of the tiger balloons. Something for everyone to enjoy!

I think it went well. It was a little crazy organizing and keeping everything flowing quickly. But I think everyone had fun. Here are a few "after-party" pictures of Owen with his tiger mask and tail.

Catch a tiger by his tail...