Thanksgiving Day (Observed)

Today was the day we celebrated Thanksgiving. It was at Nana’s house (of course) and it was all the usual suspects who live local. Mom, Dad, Owen and Nana – Debi, Madeline, Megan and Grace.

Owen, Steve and I were all in the final stages of a cold and Nana was just starting one. So we were all a little under the weather, but luckily nobody was in the worst of it. Turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes were definitely what the doctor ordered. Plus, Nana did all the work (as usual) so the rest of us got totally spoiled (as usual.)

One of my biggest frustrations with Owen is that he refuses to eat mashed potatoes. This is NOT my child. I mean, he will gobble up the nastiest baby food (spinach and potatoes) but will not even entertain the idea of mashed potatoes and gravy. This logic is beyond me. So we all enjoyed a yummy thanksgiving dinner and Owen ate…pretty much…nothing. His loss! He did sit in his chair for the duration of dessert. We discovered “man cookies” (gingerbread men) and crème brulee (which he refused to try until I told him it was ice cream and then he ate half my bowl.)

The coolest (non culinary) part of the night was watching Owen and Grace play together. They really interacted and played with each other versus just playing near each other. They read books, played piano, played with Owen’s trains and trucks and finished the night with Steve chasing them both around the house and jumping out of corners to scare them. They were like two peas all night.

And now I get to look forward to the best part of the day after Thanksgiving…leftovers!

Holiday Event 1 of 5 - Merry Marching Tunes For Tots

Last year, I posted my Christmas activity to-do list and it kept me honest about sticking to it. Now that the tree is up and the stockings are hung, it’s time to revisit the “list” and broadcast to the world (or the 3 family members who read this blog) what I intend to do with Owen this year in the name of all that is Santa.

Last weekend we attended our annual holiday concert with Lisa and Linda. You will remember from last year’s post that the concert did not go as well as I had hoped (Owen was a heckler!) This year was much more enjoyable!

First, we had a few more attendees than last year. It was Dad and Mom and Owen along with Nana, Kelly & Finn, and Joe & Nancy. So much more fun with friends! It was a little crazy looking at Finn knowing that he is at the age now that Owen was when we went last year. These years are flying by. *sniff*

Second, Owen was a little more interested than last year – but barely. He still doesn’t enjoy lively banter between Lisa and Linda and I can’t say that I blame him. These women are a little hard to listen to for much longer than the 45 minute show…But anytime there was singing or music, Owen was all in. He even did some of the movements this time around which was neat to see. I did bribe him with a lollipop in order for him to sit still a little longer which I am not ashamed about. Owen also had fun playing the instruments in the lobby they have available for the kids while last year all he wanted to do was play with the elevator buttons.

Third, it was at the Tacoma Philharmonic this year so we didn’t get the prestige of Benaroya but it was a much easier venue to get to. PLUS, we got the bonus of a homemade lunch cooked for us after the show by Kelly which was worth the price of admission right there.

All in all, a great first holiday activity and kickoff to the season!

So here is my pledge for December. The following activities will be done and pictures will be taken as documentation (you just have to take my word on the Lisa and Linda dealio.) You will notice that last year, we did four holiday activities. This year I’m raising the bar to FIVE. Oh yeah baby, this year is going to be crazy festive.

1. Lisa and Linda: Merry Marching Tunes For Tots at Tacoma Philharmonic. DONE, CHECK, CROSSOUT, FINISHED.
2. Visit Santa and get a picture.
3. Zoo Lights at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.
4. Snowflake Lane at Bellevue Square.
5. Fantasy Lights at Spanaway Park.

Updates and photos to follow!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is a faux Thanksgiving for our family since we will be celebrating at Nana's house on Sunday when the whole family can be together (Dada is working today.)  So here is a picture of Owen watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade during his favorite part - the Sesame Street float.  Thanks to Uncle Michael for reminding me that it was on!

The reason Owen is in his diaper is because one of his new favorite books is titled, "No David!" and one of the pages is of David running down the street naked.  Owen took of his pajamas this morning and said, "Come back here, David!" (the words on the naked page) with a mischievous grin.  He then attempted to remove his diaper, which I was able to talk him out of.  So...we watched the parade in our diaper.  Who cares?!  It's Thanksgiving!

After the parade, Nana is coming up to make us homemade macaroni and cheese which is very nice because Owen has been sick all week and now I'm feeling the bug.  Ask me how I manage to get my mom to cook for me on Thanksgiving part I and Thanksgiving part II?  Don't know...but I like it!

Cold & More Cold

It snowed this week! I can't remember the last time it has snowed in November in Seattle...but we got about 4-5 inches on the ground and it has been so cold, it has lasted for days.

So what does a young boy do during the first snowfall of the year? Stay indoors because he has a bad cold. Poor Bubba. I even bought him snow boots last week just in case…darn it!

Nana has accused me a few times of being "mean" to Owen because I won't buy him popsicles for his cold. I just feel like the enjoyment won’t be equal to the mess that they make. So tonight I gave into the guilt and gave him an ice cream cone. Misery loves messiness, apparently.
 

Fall Gardening

Only kidding.  I don't garden anymore.  But Owen and I had a great day playing outside in the yard today.

The Halloween Express - Toot! Toot!

Happy Halloween!

Today was such a fun day! I have to say, two years old is a super fun age. Everything is new and exciting and because he has no expectations – he is totally looking to us for guidance on what to do.

The only sad part about today was that Dada had to leave for work before Owen woke up. So we are happy that he was a part of the pre-Halloween festivities, but sad that he missed the big day. Mama was emailing him cell phone pics to keep him updated.

Owen has never really had candy before so it was hard to explain trick-or-treating to him. He has had lollipops before (whenever he gets his hair cut) and he points them out when he spots them at the store. So I told him that after nap, we were going to get lollipops. He seemed pleased!

After Owen’s nap, we got up and put on his costume. Owen had seen the costume when we bought it – but had no idea what it was or what it was for, so we put it away until today. Since we are now calling 2010 “The Year Of The Train” it fits that Owen dressed as a train engineer. I am also still trying to keep with the “nothing on head or face” rule that when followed, avoids a lot of complaining and ensures that other people will be able to identify his costume if all head garments are ripped off.  However, this year, Owen is starting to understand the "you do this first and then you get this" concept.  Some people would call that bribing, but I call it “advanced logic for two-year-olds.”  Anyway, I told him that his hat was a lollipop hat and he couldn't get lollipops unless he was wearing it.  Guess who kept his hat on all evening?  Do I feel guilty?  Nope.

Nana arrived right after he got dressed and we were out the door to Kent Station for our first real trick-or-treating adventure (technically, he trick-or-treated last year at one house – Great Aunt Debi’s – but I’m not really counting it because he didn’t understand and he didn’t eat any candy.) We did a practice run at the house first...I had bought lollipops just to make double sure he ended up with a few by the end of the night. He is also in a major doorbell phase, so the combination of doorbell and lollipop was a win-win. He rang the bell, Nana answered, he said “trick-or-treat” and then Nana showed him the bowl full of lollipops. He was so confused, but was so happy with how things were turning out. He picked out his favorite and then we tried it again. He rang the bell, Nana answered, he said “trick-or-treat,” Nana showed him the bowl and he exchanged his first lollipop for the 2nd. I asked my mom when the candy grubbing stage starts when kids just start shoving as much candy as they can grab into their bags. She thinks age four. I’m hoping that I can teach Owen enough manners that he will at least say “thank you” after each shove.

We arrived at Kent Station and started walking around the grounds. I had never done one of these public trick-or-treat events before, so I was a little confused as to whether you were supposed to go into each store or if there were people outside giving out candy. I think it was both, but we really didn’t need much candy – I just wanted Owen to see some kids dressed up. We found a nice young lady dressed as Minnie Mouse and he attempted his first official trick-or-treat. He walked up to her among a handful of other kids and said “trick-or-treat” very quietly and she happily gave him a couple gold chocolate coins. We also stood there and waited until he said “thank you” and because it took him a little while (he was so interested in watching the other kids get their candy and was taking it all in) so by the time he said it, she wasn’t paying attention anymore. But, I was still proud of him. As soon as we walked away, he looked in his bag and said, “Lollipop?” Like, “Come on Mom – you promised lollipops!”

We saw an employee dressed up like a mouse (who Owen high-fived) and another like a pirate with a real cat wearing batwings on his shoulder (which Owen got to pet.) There were other very elaborate costumes, but it was hard to tell if they were employees or just regular people. We walked around a bit more and then headed to Sees Candy to see what they had as far as free candy goes and….they were out (probably because of all those candy grubbers!) But Nana bought Owen a special vanilla lollipop to fulfill his lolli wish.

 Since he got what he came for and the rest of the candy seemed kind of lame and unnecessary, we walked over to the train platform to try and fulfill Owen’s 2nd Halloween wish – trains. Plus, he was dressed as an engineer – we HAD to go watch trains! As it turned out, it ended up being a photo op only because we waited about a half hour and no trains came by. But the pictures were worth it. On the way back to the car, we heard two trains go by (of course.) Poor Owen. Oh well.

After the train station, we headed home for dinner and neighborhood trick-or-treating. Owen and I went to three neighborhood houses. He was so excited just to ring the bells. The neighbors all said Owen looked super cute. He got so much candy from just 3 houses – this candy thing is making me nervous!

We came home and handed out candy to a handful of kids who came by. I bought 10 pounds of candy this year – I ate 5 pounds myself before Halloween – gave away about ¼ pound – and now I have 4 ¾ pounds left. Shoot.

Owen came home and ate two more lollipops (yes, he double fisted them.) The official lollipop count for today is 4. One before we left the house, one at Kent Station and two after we came home. After dinner, he had his first chocolate candy (a KitKat bar) and now we know that Owen likes chocolate!

Here is a little video of Owen after dinner and after all the candy. I just read an article in Parents Magazine titled, “Myths Even Doctors Believe.” One of the myths was that sugar makes kids hyper. They say, that usually when kids get hyper after having a lot of sugar – it’s actually because of the fun activities going on that gets them excited versus any effects of the sugar. You be the judge.



Halloween Eve

It’s October 30th and we’re gearing up for the Halloween festivities. Nana came over to help carve pumpkins and she brought cookies for Owen to decorate. Owen was excited to wear his eye protection. Decorating pumpkins is serious business. Just kidding, but it made for a cute photo-op!

 Owen started out a little slow – he didn’t quite see the fun in pumpkin guts. But once I gave him a special spoon shaped like a shovel and put a few scoops in the bowl, he got into it. He wanted to scoop pumpkin seeds out and then back into the pumpkins. He was very tidy about it too! Any seeds that spilled over onto the floor, he meticulously picked up and put back into the bowl.

While Dada was carving, Nana took Owen into the dining room to decorate cookies. He did such a good job! He was very careful with the knife spreading the icing and then he LOVED the shaking of the sprinkles. Dada actually had a great idea for the next time we use sprinkles – tape all the holes except for one so they come out much slower. Brilliant!

I was ready to let him go to town with eating the icing, the sprinkles, the cookies – whatever he wanted to do. He tasted everything, but he wasn’t too excited about taking more than one bite of each. You would think that maybe he doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, not true. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s recap.

I did the obligatory seed roast and we found out that Owen loves him some pumpkin seeds. They are kind of a weird texture, but he can’t get enough. Must be because they are just “salt vessels” which is why I like them. Anything covered in butter and salt isn’t that bad.

Ok, I think we're ready…until tomorrow!

It's Playtime!



Someone got his very own playset!  Owen is the proud owner of a pretty awesome playset put together bolt by bolt by Dada.  I was shocked at how well he climbed up the ladder – I thought that was going to be too tough for him, but he did it with no problem.  Everyone come over and play with us!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is on television, so that must mean it’s October. Time for the annual trip to the pumpkin patch!

This is our 3rd year visiting Carpinito Brothers. I suppose it is a good time for a “then and now” photo journey. Comparing Owen’s first visit to this year’s, it looks like he’s starting to enjoy himself a bit more.

This year was a little less exciting than usual, mainly due to the heavy rain that has been coming down for the previous week. It was a beautiful day today, so we decided to make the most of it and pick out our Halloween pumpkins. However, as soon as Owen got near the u-pick area, his foot stepped down into a 6 inch deep pile of mud and completely covered his shoe. That was it for me, we were picking out our pumpkins from the parking lot. So, no cute pictures of Owen running through the fields of pumpkins this year.

We did do the obligatory tractor ride which is Owen’s favorite anyway. A funny moment happened while we were riding…I was sitting in the front with Owen and we were watching the huge tractor wheels rolling through the mud. I think I may have said something like, “Pee-yew! It smells like poo-poo (fertilizer)!” Owen locked on to the poo-poo statement and looked down at the mud in amazement. The next day, I asked Owen, “Did we ride a tractor yesterday???” And he answered, “Yeah! Bubba ride tractor! Bubba ride tractor in poo-poo!” Oops. My bad. But he is getting really good at recalling previous activities and using his words to remember and describe them!

After the tractor ride, we picked out some pumpkins and got out of the mud-fest. We still have yet to do a corn maze, but maybe next year!

The Little Gym - Beasts

I’ve been procrastinating writing this post because I feel like I need to put a ton of pictures up in order to give you a visual idea of what Owen’s gym class is like. Making pictures look good on the blog is kind of hard. But here goes nothing.

Owen is LOVING The Little Gym. I’m so glad we decided to enroll him and my only regret is that we didn’t do it sooner. But it seems to be the perfect blend of play and structure for him.

The “structure” is really suggested structure. The instruction is to let your child roam and do whatever he/she wants to do and when they decide to join the group activities – really praise them for it. Otherwise, don’t worry if they are running like a banshee through the gym during group activities.

The first few weeks, Owen never joined group. But he always watched with interest. Lately, he has been joining more and more. Each week, he joins in a little bit more. This particular week, he joined the morning group activity (sticks) for the first time ever.

One of his favorite parts is putting things away, which I think is a major step in the “structure” arena since putting fun toys away was really hard for him in the beginning. Now he knows, when he puts the “shakers” away, it means it’s time to run around. When he puts the “balls” away, it means it’s time for bubbles. When he sits down and sings the goodbye song, it means it’s time for stamps on your hands and feet. He’s really grasping the transition piece of the class and the fact that the last 15 minutes of class are always the same activities, it gives him some expectations and anticipation as to what is going to come next.

Another first today, Owen was the class demonstrator for last week's "skill of the week."  It was backward rolls and Owen had been practicing at home.  He normally tries to stay fairly far away from the teacher (Miss Shannon) because I think he's worried she is going to make him do something he doesn't want to do.  However, this week - he was playing on the ramp when she came over and asked if he wanted to do the roll.  He let her spot him and he did it perfectly - including putting his hands in the right position by his head which shocked Miss Shannon.  He was SO proud of himself and while I was behind the kids shooting pictures - he finished his roll and stood up to applause and immediately searched the room for me.  He was saying, "Mama?  Mama?"  I said, "Good job, Bubba!" and when he saw that I had seen his big stunt, he beamed and immediately sat down with Miss Shannon to do it again.  My heart just swelled seeing how the first thing he thought of after his big proud moment was me and making sure I saw it.  Usually, I feel like I'm his puppeteer and he can't wait until I just leave him alone. 

Finally, I always talk about how tall Owen is. Here is a fairly good visual of what I’m talking about. Owen’s class is for kids 19 months to 2 ½ years old.  I swear he's not in the wrong class!

I'll end the post with the same song that we sing at the end of class right before stamp time.  It's pretty catchy! 

Bye Bye Beasties, we'll see you soon

we'll see you soon, we'll see you soon

Bye Bye Beasties, we'll see you soon

Bye Bye Beasties

Bye Bye Beasties

Bye Bye Beasties

Bye Bye Beasties

It's time to go on home!

Eating Bugs

How do you get a kid to eat mac and cheese after he's decided he doesn't like it anymore?  Make it with bug shaped pasta.

Emergency Vehiclepalooza

Yesterday we went to Gig Harbor to attend some sort of Emergency Vehiclepalooza.  I'm not sure what the occasion was, but it was boy heaven.  It was actually a great event - the people who ran it were so friendly and they really encouraged kids to get in, on and all over the different vehicles.  Owen got to sit in an ambulance, fire truck, police car, ATV and motorcycle (we skipped the bomb unit truck.)  They also had bouncy houses which were staffed and no "big kids" were allowed in at the same time as "little kids."  It really seemed kid focused and well run.  Owen's favorites were probably the motorcycle and ambulance.  He got in the back of the ambulance and wouldn't get out - he even asked to be seatbelted into the worker's bench!  It was a perfect day for Owen!

We Can Never Get Rid Of Our Dog