Oops, I Crapped My Pants

When is letter/number recognition supposed to start?

There is a big, wooden 'O' above Owen's changing table.  He often points at it and makes a "give it to me" noise.  Tonight, he sat up - looked at it - and said "Ohhh."

"HOLY CRAP!" I said.  "Yay, Bubba!  That's an O!"

Fast forward 5 minutes where we were playing with his number puzzle on the floor.  He points at the zero and says, "Oh."  Then, he picks up the 2, and says "Twoooo."

I didn't say anything, I just crapped my pants. 

I tried other numbers, but right now he's firm on zero and two.  He can pick them out of a line up and even when I shuffle them.  Big day!!!

68-94-64

The title of this post is not the dimensions of a large woman (Baby Got WAYYY Back) or my old high school locker combination. Any guesses to what it might be? Ok, I’ll tell you…

Those are the growth percentiles Owen was measuring at his 18 month checkup on Friday. Owen is a big, big boy.

• Weight: 27 pounds, 5.5 ounces (68%)
• Height: 2 feet, 10 inches (94%)
• Head: 48.3 centimeters (64%)

The doctor said Owen is as tall as the average 27 month old! He was wearing a size 3T shirt, which I guess proves the charts must be correct. Steve and I are both hoping he passes the 6-foot mark when he is grown. The doctor said we can’t be sure until he is older, but he’s definitely trending tall!

Owen also had his final vaccine until he is 4 years old. The only shots he will get now is the flu shot once a year. To celebrate the final needle, Owen tough-guyed it hardcore. No tears, not even a whimper. Such a big boy!

What else did the doctor say?

• He can keep eating baby food vegetables (the only veggies Owen will eat) until he is two years old, but keep trying to get him to eat the big-kid kind.
• He can also keep his nightly bottle of milk until he is two, but to also try and get him drinking it out of a different kind of cup. Apparently Owen is only getting 1/3 the amount of milk he is supposed to be getting because he refuses to drink it out of anything but the bottle, and I refuse to give him more than one bottle a day. It’s cheesy yogurt time!!!
• We can start having him sit on the potty if he gets interested in watching us on the potty. So far, we haven’t progressed passed the pictures I posted a few days ago.
• We can give him a gummy vitamin if we think he’s not eating enough fruits and veggies. I’m torn on this one, I may buy some and just try it out.

Check off the 18th Month appointment – we’ll see them again at 24!

First Sleepover Makes Owen Jump UP!

This week, I spent my first night(s) away from Owen. It wasn't too bad - especially since Dad was in charge and I knew Owen was in good hands. But, it did make me laugh the first night as I was walking around the hotel room, I found myself tip-toeing around in the same way I do at home after Owen goes to bed.

I was able to spend some quality time with my niece, Audrey. She is SO cute and SO happy! What a seriously happy baby! She is all smiles and giggles. And Michael and Kelly were nice enough to cook me a yummy birthday dinner of Cheesy Chowder and Sprinkle Cake even though they were in the middle of a busy workweek. I was so happy to get to spend those two evenings with them!

Work was work. I’m glad I went and I made some new connections which is always good. Steve helped me pass the time by emailing me pictures of Owen during their adventures. Most of them just made me smile. However, I opened this video right before a lecture started and it actually made me tear up. I have to explain a couple things before you watch it: This is the theme song from the show, Imagination Movers on the Disney Channel. This is probably Owen’s second favorite show next to Sesame Street. And, Steve took this video on his phone which creates video files in a format that can’t be used anywhere but our Blackberries. I tried to find a program to convert the file to an mpeg format, but the stupid program puts a watermark on it unless I buy the full program. So, ignore the message that keeps popping up throughout the video.

Anyway, we always dance to this song with Owen – this was the first time I’ve seen him do all the “moves” on his own!  If the video doesn't work, you can see it here.  I know it's not really cry material, but imagine watching it when you are hundreds of miles away and really missing him!



And here Owen giving me a live performance of the same dance after I got home.  I'm not sure who taught him the "raise the roof" move, but the butt wiggle about halfway through is my favorite.  We used the real video camera for this, so the picture is much better.  Again, if it doesn't open, click here.

Beautiful Mommy

Recently, a woman I know told me a story about her 8 year old son that melted my heart.  He came home from school and asked her about a dance at school.  She said she asked him the week before if he wanted to go and he said, 'no' so she threw the information away.  A small disagreement followed with him denying he didn't want to go and she insisting that he had said no.  As she got more fed up with the argument she noticed that he was getting quieter and quieter and finally she asked him what he wanted.  He said, "Would you like to go to the dance with me tonight, as my date?"  She melted and of course, went to the dance with him.

Today Owen and I went to the park with Katie, Eden and the boys.  When we were done, I was loading Owen into the car when I heard two older boys walking behind us.  They must have been about 7 years old or so...One of them said to the other, "You like pretty girls."  The other's response was, "Nooooo!  The only pretty girl I like is my mom."  I looked at Owen and told him, "You better think I'm pretty when you are old enough to know what pretty is!"

I think my biggest fear is that Owen will grow up and want nothing to do with me.  He doesn't have to think I'm pretty, but hopefully he'll always enjoy my company!  But I am secretly hoping I get to be his date to an Elementary School dance.  :)

Took this photo tonight.  Maybe this will be his outfit for Prom:

Here Comes The Sun

Last Sunday, the weather was gorgeous. It’s been a long, wet and cloudy winter so a few days of sun and sixty degrees was too important not to let go to waste. Steve was at work and we had just done the zoo a few days earlier and I decided we needed a little Puget Sound action, so we hit the boardwalk down in Redondo. This time, I didn’t bring the stroller and figured I’d let Owen walk as much or as little as he wanted down the boardwalk. Since the boardwalk is fenced on both sides, Owen can only go up or back (easier for me to keep him where I want him to go!)

Owen was a champ! He RAN the entire length of the boardwalk which is ½ mile! Then he ran about ¾ of the way back until he decided he wanted to be carried the rest of the way. I knew he was tired because THAT had never happened before! But, since Owen likes to run a little forward and then a little backward, if you count all the backtracking he did – he definitely ran a full mile himself. We stopped at the playground for another 30 or so minutes before we had enough and called it a day. Owen had a great time…This walk is under the flight path, so we get to watch airplanes – the road next to the boardwalk is big for cruisers so every 5 or so minutes there would be a motorcycle which is another favorite – and between those things, we got to pet the majority of the dogs (aka: “woofs”) who passed by. The walkers on the route thought Owen was adorable (of course.) The only negative thing I can say is Owen favored the traffic side of the boardwalk where only a guardrail separates him from the cars and that made me extremely nervous, but all-in-all, a great day!

Some pics are below – these were taken on my cell phone so the quality isn’t great but you get the idea! The first is of Owen running down the boardwalk and the second is him looking down at the beach and really wishing I would let him down there.

Bath Time Fun

It's hard to keep a blog and a Facebook account. I don't want to repeat myself in either one, but since I'm using this blog as a pseudo baby book - I guess I have to duplicate the really good stuff. I took these photos of Bubba in the bath tub the other day and they turned out better than I expected.  They are some of my favorite pictures of him to date...

On The Verge

All my friends have said that their children experienced a major language explosion at 18 months. I think Owen is right on the verge of his own…

Lately he’s been trying to say more sounds “Mooo” for cow and “Baa-ah-ah” for sheep. But he’s also signing and speaking more instead of whining when he wants something. It seems like he understands that talking will get him further than whining and he’s trying harder to tell us what he’s thinking. Another thing I’ve noticed is he is getting very good at understanding what we are saying. Simple instructions like, “Go get bunny” result in him running for bunny even if it’s in the other room. Today I said, “Let’s get in the car!” and he ran for the garage door. And finally, he’s starting to expand the meaning of words he knows to related things even if the word is wrong. Example, he says “daa” for “down” but now he’s using “daa” for “up” as well.

Steve took an adorable video of Owen playing outside in our backyard with Charlie the other day. It’s too long to post, although Owen’s favorite thing to do right now is to watch the video on the camcorder (he sits in your lap while you hold the camcorder) and when it’s over, he signs “more” over and over again. The video is 5 minutes long so it can kill quite a bit of time! Anyway, Owen is playing with Charlie and he’s trying to say “CHARLIE!” but it comes out like “Daaaa-SHEEEE!” So cute. And the other day Nana played catch with Owen and counted to three before he through the ball. Now, every time he throws the ball, he counts to three. It sounds like, “doo, doo, DEEYOOUUUU!” We took a video to remember this time because I think it’s only a short while before he perfects more and more of these words that only we understand. Part of me can’t wait until he’s talking more and part of me doesn’t want to let go of the “Owenese” that I’m becoming so fluent in.

Here he is, counting to "three."

Happy Half Birthday, Owen!

Owen officially turned a year and a half on the 24th of February.  To celebrate, we got out the big boy potty to let him get comfortable with it before we start potty training.  Our doctor told us that in Europe, they start potty training at 12 months...he recommended thinking about it at 18 months.  My maternal instinct says Owen isn't even close to being ready yet...Take a look at the pictures and decide for yourself!

Mr. Bear seems to get the concept a little better than Owen...

To be continued....

Friendly Skies

More pictures from the airplane park.

Owen's Words - 17 Months

From 17 Month Words

He's mugging for the camera, but you get the idea.  The day after I took this video, he started saying "Hi" on command.  It's on the list for the next video!

What's That Smell?

Not to keep whining about my cold, but...

I have let Owen walk around with a poopy diaper for who knows how long on multiple occasions over the past week.  When O has a load in his drawers, you can smell it from across the street.  It's so bad, that I no longer throw his poopy diapers in the Diaper Dekor because nothing can contain the stink.  All poopy diapers go in a trash bag in the garage.  But lately, I have completely lost my sense of smell (and taste, but smell is what is important here.)  Our house could smell like a garbage dump and I would have no idea.

Today, I took O out on some errands and stopped to gas up my car.  The pump fell out of the gas tank and spilled gas all over the ground.  I carefully picked up the pump and put it back and then smelled my hands, assuming they would reek of gas.  Nope, smelled fine.  I got in the car and thought it would reek of gas from standing in the gas puddle and possibly splashing onto my pants.  Nope, smelled fine.  I went about my merry way and even got a snack that I shared with Owen.

Not until later did I realize, if I can't smell Owen's atomic poopy diapers - why would I think I could smell gas fumes?  Is it possible to give your child brain damage from driving him around with gas soaked  clothing?  What about sharing a cookie and touching it with gas covered hands?  Crap, no wonder he was so mellow tonight.

The Best Things In Life Are Free

I think the whole Santoki family has been in a funk for about 2 weeks now.  And not the funkadelic kind of funk...more like sick, tired and cabin-fevered.  Owen had a yucky cold for about a week and the day he got over it, he passed it to us (not the kind of sharing we like to encourage.)  I think this is the first cold we've inherited from Owen (I could be wrong, but I think so.)

Anyway, we've been stuck at home because of sickness as well as rain.  I used to love the rain, but that was when I could curl up on the couch and watch movies all day/night.  Now, with a toddler who needs to roam and romp, the rain can get very frustrating.  So when the clouds broke the other day - even though I wasn't feeling well - I thought, "Let's just go for a walk.  I can wear my pajamas and you can look at airplanes."  As I looked at the clock, I realized it was close to quittin' time at the elementary school up the street.  So we hurried up the road to try and spot a bus or two (or as Owen calls them, 'Bees'.)

Sure enough, there were two 'short-busses' already parked in front of the school.  Owen was so excited to get such a close look at some bees.  His favorite part were the tires.  And then, the big bees arrived one after another.  Owen was in BEE HEAVEN.  He ran up and down the loading area looking at each one, then got to watch all the little kids as they lined up for each bee and were guided in by some of the older children.  Actually, there was kind of a sad moment when Owen took a liking to one of these guides.  She was a lovely 5th grader wearing a bright yellow reflective vest.  Owen looked at her like she was an angel.  She looked at Owen like he was in the way.  He kept saying "Hiiiieeeee!" and she ignored him.  Poor Owen.  Aside from that little downer, the rest was awesome and free entertainment.  Gotta love it.

Today, we spent another full day indoors and as usual I was scrambling to find something entertaining and out of the box for him to do.  I remembered that we had a Mr. Potato Head in the garage that our neighbors had given to us long ago and I had put it in a holding area until I was sure he wouldn't eat the pieces.  I brought Sir P.Head inside and Owen loved it.  I don't think he "gets" it, but he loved putting the pieces in and was actually pretty good at it!  He was very anti-feet, however, and very pro-ears.  But then...he found...the glasses!  He wanted MPH to wear them, he wanted to wear them, he wanted Mama to wear them, but in the end, he really wanted Ernie to wear them.  I took a 5 minute video of him putting the glasses on Ernie, taking them off, putting them on, taking them off.  So cute and again, free!

Sickie McSickerton

It sucks when your kid gets sick.  It sucks for them double because they can't take anything!  It has been 48 hours of mucus at our house.  Today, I actually found Owen wiping his own nose after he sneezed with a tissue he found on the floor.  Poor Bubba.  So since we were housebound for the 2nd day in a row, I decided to take a photo diary of our day.  Here it is.  You'll notice it involves a lot of cushions - for climbing and for resting.  Pacifier and "upstairs bunny" are not optional on sick days.  Since he doesn't have a comfort food yet, Mom allows unlimited Elmo...hence the far-off gaze in most of the pics.  But how else do you get a toddler to rest???

Park n' Fly

Steve discovered a park to take Owen to watch airplanes - directly under the flight path, about a mile away from the runway.  I have a feeling we will be spending a LOT of time here this spring/summer. 

Pictures always seem to make the planes look like they are farther away.  I wish I could take a picture that showed how close (and loud) these things really are.  But for now, a quick shot from my cell phone is the best I can do.

(In case you are wondering what O is doing in this pic - he was waving to the airplane.  We like to wave.)

Stick A Fork In It - He's Done

Since I feel like all I do is complain about Owen's recent initiation into the Terrible Twos, I was a little worried about Steve going back to work and leaving us alone to fight it out ‘mano-a-mano.’ But, I had a little chat with myself and decided I needed to be a little more understanding that Owen is going through a normal developmental phase and I needed to take it all a little less personally. And…we had a great Mommy and Me day today!

We made one small trip to Target to buy me some shoes and Owen some plastic plates. Shopping carts are currently one of our major “issues” so it was a daunting task but it turned out ok. Then we just played and played at home (it was pouring rain today.) We played trucks, we played chase, we played tickle-fight, we played on the couch cushions on the floor, we read books, we watched Elmo, we played in the bath and we only had one minor meltdown. But, it was right before dinner and I’m cranky when I’m hungry too. All in all, a great day.

So in the spirit of new development milestones, good and bad, Owen has starting doing two new noteworthy things. One is using “Mama” and “Dada” to call for us when we aren’t there. He’s been saying them for awhile – then he started saying them when he saw pictures of us – but now he’ll be in another room and I’ll hear “Mama!” when he wants me to come in. It’s the best feeling! Yesterday, he woke up from his nap and I heard him calling me over the monitor. So cute.

The other milestone is he’s getting more proficient at using a fork and spoon. He used to get about 10% of what he aimed for on the fork. Now he’s running at about 50/60%. I took a few pictures of him practicing with his Annie’s Bunny & Cheese. Enjoy!

Lunar Lunacy

Owen and I have been going through a rough patch lately.  The days have been more challenging than usual: he is moody, easily frustrated, lots of tantrums and alternates from not wanting anything to do with me to not wanting anything but me.  The most frustrating part is that the majority of his crankiness seems to be directed only at me. 

The first few days, I thought he might be getting sick.  Ok, kind of hoped he was getting sick.  But a few days passed and nothing but a few sneezes here and there.  My next thought was, maybe there is something in the heavens happening that is causing everyone to be a little off?  For me, this week has been filled with little, unusual annoyances.  My drawer in my kitchen broke; my keycard for work fell off halfway through a long lunch break walk and I had to retrace my steps to find it; my dog escaped from the yard twice; I had a horrible headache that wouldn't go away even after lots of drugs; I vacuumed my floor and some kind of crayon shavings were ground into the carpet by the vacuum.  All normal, minor annoyances but when they come in rapid succession you tend to take notice. 

So, I Googled 2010 eclipses and lo and behold...According to NASA, there was a Annular Solar Eclipse on January 15th!  So do I believe that eclipses could be the cause of all these issues?  Well, astrovip.com points out that eclipses cause mood changes and imbalance in people.  And if astrovip.com says so, I believe it.

There is one other possibility for Owen's mood.  It's hard for me to even bring it up as an option because I'm not ready for it.  Not yet.  But it's quite possible that Owen is entering the "terrible twos."  But Owen isn't even a year and a half yet!  How could he be in the terrible twos already?  Because he's gifted.  Just kidding. Here is a good description I found of the terrible twos:

Two-year-olds have long been saddled with a bad reputation. Alternately clingy, whiny, negative, fearful, and loud, their unpredictable behavior is epic, and it's often been written off as the "Terrible Twos." But just what does this dreaded moniker mean?

The Terrible Twos are often characterized by oppositional behavior, mood changes, and temper tantrums. "No" becomes a favorite word. All are considered normal parts of child development, say the authors of "What to Expect: The Toddler Years." This is in part due to the fact that a toddler's ability to communicate hasn't caught up with his desire to communicate, hence his frustration and challenging behavior.

 

Like other childhood phases, the age range is fluid. The Terrible Twos can begin shortly after your child's first birthday or not until they are closer to age 3.

 

*Sigh* Say it ain't true.  I'm still going to stick to my eclipse theory for another week or so.  In the meantime, enjoy this helpful "Terrible Twos Countdown Calculator" I found online.  Never in a million years would I recommend this tool to anyone I know.  How is this helping me in the slightest?!?!

Thou Shalt Not Brag About Your Own Kid

Warning: if you brag about your kid, you pay the price.  The day after I posted Ferber Rocks and bragged about Owen sleeping so well, we had a rough night.  Lesson learned.  Lesson learned.

Ferber Rocks

Ok, this is going to sound like I'm bragging - and I am...but Ferber rocks.  Tonight was the 2nd time I had a friend over during Owen's bedtime and both times I got major props for how easy Owen goes to bed.  Both friends were shocked after I walked downstairs after being up there for 5 minutes.  I  absolutely hated letting him cry it out when he was 10 months old, but it has been the best thing for all of us...and I'm so proud of Owen!  Now if I could just get him to sleep somewhere other than his crib...but that's another story.

Blood, Sweat and Tears (without the blood or the tears)

This morning, my friend Allison invited Owen and me to a playdate at The Bouncy Place.  I was a little nervous because Owen is still fairly young for these kinds of places.  It’s easy to assume he can do the same types of things that 2 and 3 year olds can do because he looks like a 2 year old. But when it comes to confidence, coordination and ‘survival of the fittest’ as is often the case when a bunch of kids are together, he is certainly still a 16 month old. But, I knew that I could go on the bouncy toys with him and I could help as much or as little as needed.

The playdate was at 10am. Owen woke up at 9:45am (and so did I). I momentarily considered not going for 2 reasons: It was so late and I had some major stomach issues happening that I can only assume were from some poor choices I had made for dinner the night before. But, not going would mean that I would have to deal with the mommy guilt later, so we threw on our clothes – foregoing the shower (this will become important later in the story) – had breakfast in the car and got to The Bouncy Place at 10:15am.

**A notable moment happened while I was paying our entrance fee, but is not pertinent to the story…I had my wallet open on the counter and my driver’s license was facing up and Owen pointed to it and said, “MAMA!” Heart melting moment.**

We walked through the big doors into the bounce room. I had pictured this place with a couple trampoline-type bouncy things. This room had about 15 different structures – some just bouncers, some obstacle courses, some slides and some that were combinations of all 3.

My fears of Owen getting pushed around by older kids never really happened. Mainly because this place was so huge, there were never more than 2 or 3 kids on one structure at once, but also because Owen didn’t spend much time on the bouncers. I tried to take him on a couple but he didn’t really get what they were or why they were fun and I think it annoyed him a little to be so off balance when he walked over the air. Owen did love running around the warehouse and screaming his “happy scream.” There was a huge inflated semi-truck (see Transporter picture below) that he loved looking at, but not playing in.

As a last resort, I took him up one of the slides (see Adrenaline slide above.) In order to get to the top of the slide, you have to climb up the “bouncy ladder.” Imagine a cross between a rock wall and a ladder but if they were made of balloons and they shifted under your feet when you stepped on the foot holds AND there are other kids bouncing on the structure so it’s like an earthquake at the same time. Difficult enough if you are climbing alone – extra difficult when you have to carry your 27 pound kid up with you. Luckily they have ropes strung along the side so you can use your one free arm to help pull yourself up.

We slide down together. Owen signs “more.” We climb up and slide down again. Owen signs “more.” Repeat. Repeat. Take a break and watch the semi-truck for awhile. Slide. Slide. Slide. Break. Slide. Slide. Break. Slide. Break. We hear the “closing time!” call. Thank god.

It was about halfway through the sliding sessions that I realized I not only should have taken a shower, I should have applied extra deodorant, taken a whole bottle of Tums and maybe did some stretching prior to this playdate. It wasn’t pretty. All the moms with 2 and 3 year olds were chatting outside the bouncy houses while their children played together alone. I was the only mom being an “active participant.” Although, I looked around and there were quite a few DADS participating. I think next time, this might be a great place for Steve to take Owen!

Twenty-Ten

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010!

I think it was a Frazier episode I saw once that basically said, "if you have a nice bottle of wine - it's not meant to be saved and never enjoyed, drink it and enjoy it."  My mom gave us this bottle of wine for our 5th wedding anniversary in September.  I had been saving it for a celebratory dinner of some kind, but when you have a small child - those dinners are hard to come by.  I decided that the eve of 2010 was as good of a reason as any to crack it open and enjoy it.

One Papa Murphy pizza and the movie, "The Hangover" later, the bottle was empty and we were ringing in 2010.  Brunellos are....so....good.  A belated thank you to my mom, but thank you!

On to the next obvious question: what is my new year resolution?  I've thought of many, but one weighs heavier on my mind.  And since this is a blog mainly about Owen, it is fitting that it is about him.

To be the person Owen thinks I am.

I probably won't be that person 100% of the time in 2010, but it's a good goal.

Happy New Year, Everyone!