First X-Rays At The Dentist!

I Did It!

Adam's 2nd Word..."Cheese!"

I Told Him He Needed A Model With More Headroom

Badass Bath

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.