Wordless Wednesdays

I read in another blog recently that a new trend for bloggers is something called Wordless Wednesdays. The way we'd describe this in the biz lingo would be: All graphics. No copy.

So you wouldn't say things like how Owen went to school today in underwear for the first time and used the potty at school all on his own. Nope, you'd leave that out.

Instead, you'd post a noteworthy photo or video and let the images do the talking. Well here you go,,,

Snowmageddon!

Our biggest snowfall in decades!  We measured our deck and it was about 5.5 inches.  Not a lot for most, but enough to do some snow tubing down our driveway (thanks to Dad for thinking ahead and picking them up at Fred Meyer yesterday on his way home from work) and making our first family snowman.  Here are some videos of the kids on the tubes.  Adam was his usual daredevil self "Baby Margera" or "Little Bam" as I like to call him) and preferred going down the full length of the driveway.  More...More...More.  Owen liked to ride solo and preferred the half pipe...Or half driveway.

Adam and Steve -- riding the big tube straight into the rose bushes across the street. Poor tube had a short lifespan. Luckily, Steve bought two!



Owen -- It's incredibly difficult to shoot footage while assisting a toddler. As usual, I sacrifice quality for just being able to document the event. Had to get the first major snow play complete with bibs and waterproof mittens on tape even if I had to do it one handed and between my legs.

Titled: A Dancing Smiley Face

By Owen. Age 3 1/2.

Fashion Forward

Adam has recently started taking a liking to hats and shoes.  If there is a hat or a shoe anywhere near him, he wants to be wearing them.  I took a picture of the outfit he put together tonight. 

I picked out the shirt...he chose all the accessories. 

Adam's First Steps!

I don't post very often anymore, but when I do...It's usually important!  Congrats to Adam on a very special achievement tonight!

Baby Skillz

Having a 2nd child is very different.  You are in some ways, much more prepared but the toddler throws all these new curve balls that make it seem like you are a new parent all over again.  For instance, there is no such thing as "baby proofing" the 2nd time around.  When Owen was a baby, this house was completely sterile and I could leave him in the living room for 5 minutes without worrying about what he might be getting into.  Adam, on the other hand, ate his first peanut butter filled cracker tonight.  No, he's not supposed to have throat hole sized crackers and peanuts are supposed to be avoided until at least a year.  But Owen left a bowl of them within Adam's reach and...Oops.

In some ways, I feel like Adam isn't getting as much educational stimulation as Owen got at this age.  We were constantly teaching Owen words, sign language, games, etc.  Right now...Adam isn't signing as much as Owen was and we assume it's because we just haven't spent enough time teaching him.  However, in the motor skills department, Adam is a madman.  He definitely has a combination of toys and opportunities that Owen never had which allows him to push his limits on a daily basis.  One example was a few weeks ago when I was giving the boys a bath, I took Adam out in order to finish up Owen and when my back was to him for 5 seconds, he had climbed up on Owen's stool...onto the toilet lid...and had one leg on the back of the toilet tank ready to climb as high as possible.

He has been walking behind push toys for over a month now...never seeming to be out of control of them.  He can even push them up to a wall and then get them turned back around to push the other way. 

Today, he figured out how to use the Thomas ride on toy.  He has been sitting on it while we push him...Riding with Owen while Owen controls it.  But today, he figured out the button to power it himself.  I can't believe some of the stuff he is able to do at only 9 and 10 months old.  As Steve said, "this one is going to wreck the car."

Owenisms

Ok, I need to start a list of the funny stuff Owen has been saying lately.  It's been cracking me up on a daily basis, but then I forget what he said a minute later.  So here are some of the zingers lately.  I'll try to update as I can!

• I always sing "B is for Bunny" before bed.  I do (in this order) B is for Bunny, D is for Daddy, O is for Owen, A is for Adam, C is for Charlie.  I purposely leave out Pearl because her name is only one syllable and Mama because I want to save time and leaving me out doesn't make me feel guilty.  Tonight, Owen said "Oh! You forgot Mama.  Sing Mama."  Made me feel so good!
• Putting on my sunglasses he proclaims, "I'm Dr. Bubba."  If he ever becomes a doctor, I will be calling him Dr. Bubba.  I might anyway.
• He knows that after he goes to bed, Mama and Dada eat dinner.  After book and song, he usually asks for things and I say I have to go because my tummy hurts because I'm hungry.  Tonight, the conversation went like this:  "Mama, stay with me for 5 more minutes."  "I can't Bubs, my tummy hurts."  "Because you want breakfast?"  "Yes, I'm going to go eat dinner."  "Ok Mama, don't forget your beer." (This one is a little embarrassing.)

I think I'm going to start a separate list of funny ways he pronounces certain things so I don't forget.  I feel bad, but we never correct him because we know how short lived these pronunciations are and we miss them when they are gone!

• Next to each other and/or together:  "next-to-buh-gether"
• Brachiosaurus:  "Broccoliosaurus" (this Dino has a very strong neck and likes to eat broccoli.)

Smiley Faces & Spider Webs

Are Owen's favorite things to draw right now...

Adam's 9 Month Video - A Twofer

Happy Birthday Adam!

I will post my usual numbers on his shirt photo and recap of the month, but today we took a video of his new "trick."  It looks like he is clapping at the end, but he's really asking for "more." Two skills in one short video! 

Magic Trees & Snowy Magic Trees

I steamed a while family size bag of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots tonight to try and give Adam some soft cooked carrots to try as finger food.  As usual, they came out tough and rubbery (why can't I cook soft carrots?!?!?)  So I was about to throw away the entire bag when I decided to plop a piece of broccoli in front of Owen just to watch his usual rejection.  To my surprise and delight, he ate the whole thing and asked for another one.  He ate about four pieces when I decided to try the cauliflower...I told him broccoli was a magic tree and these white ones were snowy magic trees, also called "cauliflower."  Fast forward to I now have an empty bag of broccoli and cauliflower. 

Yipeee!

Baby Signs

Here we are, a week away from Adam turning 9 months and he has officially started signing.  We really haven't been working much on this with him so I give him all the credit for this one!

Is Adam pushing this fire truck toy all over the living room by himself?  Uh, yeah he is!

Official First Day Of Preschool

Owen is officially a preschooler!  Today was kind of traumatic, I'm not going to lie.  Lots of crying before we even left for school...I sort of knew that last week's accidental dry run would have set the anxiety wheels in motion, but I suppose it's to be expected.

Once we got there, he actually did better than I thought.  He was very nervous, but he was holding it together.  Steve and I stayed for a while and he was engaging in some of the toys and activities but you could tell by his face he was on edge.  Then, one of his classmates lost it big time.  His mom left and the little boy started screaming like she was leaving him forever.  This really unnerved Owen so when we left, he lost it too.  I felt so sorry for him and it was so hard to leave him there knowing that he didn't know the teachers at all (they weren't with him during the orientation last week.)  I must have made Steve reassure me that we were doing the right thing at least 100 times.  We stayed outside the classroom listening to him cry for about 10 minutes (along with the mom of the other screaming child) but then we were scared he might come out into the hall to get his bunny which was in his backpack in the hall cubbies for just such an emergency, so we left.  I cried all the way home. 

About 5 minutes after we got home, my phone rang and it was his teacher...my heart dropped thinking that she was calling me to say that he hadn't calmed down and we should probably come pick him up.  But, she was calling to say he was doing fine!  She said he was really upset for a while, but asked the adults to leave him alone and so they did.  She said as soon as they gave him some space, he calmed right down and started joining the rest of the kids.  I was so relieved!

When we arrived to pick him up, we peeked in the window and he was doing fine on some task with the teachers, but when he looked up and saw us outside the window he lost it.  My instincts are telling me that the teachers may have told him after he saw us that he could come out when he finished whatever he was doing and that's why he lost it.  I tried to ask him, but he couldn't tell me what exactly happened in those moments.

Anyway, I was feeling pretty defeated at that point, but when we walked outside 3 of his classmates were playing in a small tree in the front of the school.  Owen suddenly became happy again and wanted to join his friends so we did that for a while in order to cap the day off with something positive.  After his friends left, we stayed for a bit and played some more on the school grounds.  I was able to ask him questions about school while he was distracted by the tree so this is what I learned about his first day of school:

• He got sad.
• Some boy name Jack kicked him.
• He had crackers for snack.
• He made a placemat with pictures...there were no pictures of Charlie on his placemat but there were pictures of Mom, Dad, Bubba and Adam.
• He played outside in the sand.
• His favorite person to play with was Sam.
• The teacher got Bunny out of his backpack for him when he was sad, but he told her he didn't want it.

After our little play session, we headed out of the parking lot and he was happy as a clam.  He even started singing "open shut them" and when I sang along, he corrected me on how his teacher sings it.  So I'm taking the fact that he seemed to enjoy some of the memories of school and wanted to continue playing with his friends as a good sign that he really did have fun there.  I am going to blame the crying on some massive separation anxiety which I will grant him because A: I've never left him anywhere like that before and B: I had it too.

I didn't get any "here we are before our first day of school" pictures because there was far too many tears, but Steve was able to get a cell phone photo of Owen after school (after our play session) when he wanted to wear his new backpack and go look at police cars.  How cool is it that the preschool is located at City Hall where there is a parking lot for police cars?  He kind of appreciates it now...I'm sure once he stops crying at school he is going to LOVE it.

Sniff.

Big Boy Bed x Two

The bedtime stories continue...Owen's bedding arrived yesterday and it is so cute.  However, once I had his bed all made up with the expensive (but made reasonable by a generous discount thanks to Steve's cousin) quilt and shams...I realized that until Owen is basically potty trained, I would probably not be using it.  It's easy to wash sheets and a blanket -- I really don't want to try and wash the quilt on a weekly basis.  So the quilt is safely stored in the closet for a few more months.

And tonight, Adam went to bed in his crib for the first time in his life.  He has been sleeping in the pack and play but tonight seemed like as good of night as any to make the switch.  There were no peeps going down...I'm hoping the night ends as good as it began!

And I have been wanting a picture of Owen in his big boy bed.  I was actually going to try and take a picture of both boys in each of their "new" beds, but I chickened out with Adam.  This one of Owen turned out a little blurrier than I wanted (well, the blanket is in focus!) but it's still cute...Using his pillows and cuddling Bunny.  He still hasn't figure out how to sleep under a blanket!
 

The View From Up Here

Adam has figured out how to pull himself up on things. And by "things" I mean "everything." The couch, the coffee table, the jumparoo, toys, my leg, the dog, drawer handles, just a wall like Spider Man...He's super proud of himself too.

Number Two

I'm trying to figure out how to start this post.  I wanted to say "Owen is not a big fan of books."  But that isn't true because he LOVES his bedtime stories.  He will read 900 books before bed if we let him.  But he refuses to read a book during the day.  I don't know why?  Sometimes I wonder if he thinks a book means it's bedtime?  Or he just prefers his toys when he's downstairs where they all are (he has no toys in his room.)  I don't know.  But today, he found a book and immediately wanted to read it.  The first one ever that I can remember he's wanted to read during the day.  Guess which one it was?

Accidental First Day Of Preschool

Owen had an accidental first day of preschool today.  I was told that today was orientation and that "you will accompany your child to meet new friends and have some fun."  So I told Owen that today we were going to his new school and that I would stay with him but next week, he would go by himself (just like Caillou!) 

So we arrived and after about 2 minutes of playing with some fun new toys, the teacher came over and said "so when you think your child is ready, go ahead and follow me to the parent room where we will go over the information for the year."  Uh...ok?  So I told Owen I was going away for a second and he acted like he could care less.

TWO HOURS LATER we returned to our children.  There were no tears, but a little bit of whining and mouthiness...probably because he was mad at me for leaving him for so long!  The teacher said he did great.  Owen told me, "I pretended to cry but the lady told me 'Your Mommy is in her classroom and she'll be back soon!'"  But then proceeded to tell me how he didn't want to come back to school.  Hopefully he'll change his mind next week for the official first day of school.

Here are the unofficial first art projects of preschool.  A ladybug and two bees.  But one of the bees has a smiley face on it.  He's been practicing these a lot and he's getting pretty darn good (I think!) 

Big Boy Bed

This morning when I was thinking about our "to do" list for the day, I told Steve that he might want to disassemble Owen's crib to make room for the new mattress and box springs that were being delivered today.  When I saw him with the screwdriver, I immediately had this realization that last night was the last time Owen would ever sleep in a crib!  Yes, I know I purchased the mattress on Saturday and arranged for delivery today so in theory, I knew that Sunday night would be the last time -- but for some reason, it didn't "click" last night and now I regret not having more of a ceremonial goodbye.  I have a hard time letting go to things that I associate with Owen being my "little boy" so when I have to, I like to send them off with a tip of my imaginary cap.  The poor crib was in pieces before I realized what was really happening so I was a little unnerved facing the rest of the day.

Owen left with Steve to go bike riding with Michael and Audrey, so I was able to welcome the new bed into our home when it arrived.  However, I had to run out to buy bedding so I missed Owen's introduction.  I hear from Steve that he was VERY excited when he saw it, which was a major relief for me because I had a slight fear that he would cry for his crib once he saw it wasn't a "bonk-bed" (bunk bed) like he wanted.  For now, it's just a box spring and mattress on the floor of his room until I'm confident in his ability not to fall out.  And just a fitted sheet with his usual crib accessories until he learns how to sleep under a blanket (and it cools down enough to NEED a blanket!)

When I got home, he told me that a big boy bed was upstairs in his room and he held my hand and led me up the stairs to look at it.  The test drives this afternoon were all about how high you can jump on a big boy bed.  Also making me a little nervous for this evening.  But he was extremely happy and never once mentioned the crib.

This evening, I had talked up how excited I was to be able to read his bedtime book in HIS bed (he has been liking reading books in our bed and the guest bed instead of his rocking chair, so I thought this was a perfect transition for when we move the rocker into Adam's room.)  When we headed up to his room, he hopped right into his bed and pulled out one of his favorite stories, No, David! and proceeded to read it to Bunny while I took a couple ceremonial photos.  Then I gave him a few "pointers."

Me: If you fall out of bed tonight, just get back up into bed, okay? 

O: Okay.

Me: I put a lock on the inside of your door, see?  BUT, when it's morning and it's time to get up, it will be gone and you can come wake me up!  Okay?

O:  But I don't WANT a lock on my door.  The lock is on the knob and I can't open it.

Me:  I know, but it's only on there at night when it's not time to come out.  In the morning, when it's time to come out it will be off the knob and you can open the door and come wake me up!

O:  In the morning it will be off?

Me:  Yep!

O:  Okay.

Then I snuggled in next to him and read him his book, sang him his song and turned off the lights.  He was super snuggly and sweet and didn't bat an eye when I closed the door.  I heard footsteps in his room from downstairs and over the monitor, I heard him playing with his white noise.  But after about 5 minutes, I pretended like I forgot something in his room and quietly opened the door and he was lying in his bed staring at the ceiling.  There hasn't been a peep since. 

Again, another huge transition that I worry and worry about and he handles it like a pro.  I'm still a little nervous to see what happens tonight if he wakes up disoriented or does fall out, but it seems like it's going to be a pretty quick learning curve.

Another milestone in the books.  Another day I'm so proud of my Bubbie.

Addicted To Carmex

I'm a Carmex Addict.  Today, Owen got a hold of one of my tins...Oops.

Eight Months Old

Adam turned eight whole months old today!  Well, actually, two days ago.  Sometimes it's hard to get a picture on the actual exact day...but we're within 48 hours, so I think we're good.  I posted the picture at the bottom of this post on my Facebook page because he's smiling, but the picture to the left is really my favorite.  Adam smiles so much, those are the photos I usually share - but he is also quietly sweet so much and that is hard to capture in a photo.  But the photo to the left seemed to capture it really well.  Just content, sweet and cute.

Adam is 8 months going on about 5 years...He wants to do everything he's not technically ready to do yet.  He'd prefer to eat lasagna over pureed apples...He would rather play with Owen's toys than his...He would rather run than crawl...He wants what he wants when he wants it! 

He is teething like crazy and it seems to bother him a lot more than it bothered Owen.  Tylenol has become his best friend.  His bottom front tooth came in about a week ago and you can see the white of one of his top teeth coming in too.  I can only assume that since one of each (top and bottom) is coming in, the matching two aren't far behind.  That has been causing him to be pretty darn fussy during the day and waking up at least twice a night. 

He is crawling like a madman, but isn't pulling his tummy up off the floor.  I think he looks like one of those baby turtles that are making a mad dash to the ocean...he's all elbows and knees!  But even doing an army crawl, he is really fast.  It only takes him a second to get from one room to the other.
Since he's mobile, he's into everything he can reach.  Trying to get behind the TV is a favorite game.  It used to be his brother's favorite game too!  The only thing that can keep him sitting in the same spot for very long is a bath...he loves his baths.  Loves to splash, splash, splash...and suck on washcloths.

He loves his Mama...I can't be in the room without him trying to get to me.  He actually only says "ma-ma-ma-ma" when I'm around but it's the noise he makes only when he wants something.  I'm not counting it as "mama" yet until he says it only about me and when asked! 

He is eating all the food Nana has been making for him.  He's tried peas, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, pears, apples, peaches, spinach & sweet potatoes, green beans & onion and he eats at least 2-3 servings of this "baby food" every day.  He has also had a few Baby Mum Mum crackers but those have been a little problematic.  He's gagged a couple times and they are really messy.  His favorite though, is oatmeal cereal.  He loves it and gets annoyed when we mix it with anything.  But his absolute favorite is adult food.  He has eaten hot dog buns, Kentucky Fried Chicken (chicken and mashed potatoes/gravy) and lasagna.  If you give him a tiny bite of anything you are eating, he starts bouncing up and down and begging for more.  If he could just chew and not gag, we'd be just giving him everything we ate!

The other day, we gave him a sippy cup full of water and in no time, he was drinking out of it.  He drank at least half of the water we gave him.  This was pretty cool because it took Owen a long time to figure out how to drink from a sippy.  Hopefully Adam's transition will be much faster!

And sleeping is going well.  He is going down between 7:30 and 8pm and on a normal/good night, waking up around 3am for a bottle then returning to sleep until 8am.  I bounce him on the ball and sing "You Are My Sunshine" until his eyes get heavy and then put him in his crib.  No crying at all!  Oh, bootcamp...You are so worth it.   On a good day, he takes two 1.5 - 2 hour naps during the day.  On an off day, he takes 3 shorter naps.  These days are split pretty even right now but nighttime has remained pretty consistent.

Other than that, he's just the sweetest little boy.  He definitely is in love with his big brother. Lucky for him (and us) Owen loves him just as much.  He is starting to annoy Owen a tad now that he can crawl over to whatever Owen is playing with and try to grab it, but overall Owen is just sugar sweet to Adam.  Owen insists on being the one to open the door when Adam wakes up and it melts my heart to hear "Good Morning, Mister!" coming out of Owen's mouth.  He also showers Adam with hugs all day long and loves to make him laugh.  It's so great to see that they enjoy each other.

Happy 8th Month Birthday Adam - We love you!