You gotta love the Little Einsteins for teaching Owen about Saturn! I was reading a magazine while he was running around playing with his water table…and I kept hearing something that sounded like “Saturn” and I couldn’t figure out why he was saying it…until I saw what he was holding (as you will see in the videos). What a smart kid!
And then later that afternoon, he wanted to go inside after playing…and was getting a little whiny (but still dang cute):
And more whining…
This guinea pig has been in Owen’s preschool/playroom at the community center forever, and he’s never really taken much of an interest…and I’m not even sure I’ve told him it’s a guinea pig (although I probably have). So today, he just started saying PIGGY!
Let’s just say Owen doesn’t like getting sand in his shoes…and we will no longer be wearing Tevas to the park.
After his nap, Owen kept saying “Park park park” (though it sounds more like pawk or puck) so I took that to mean he wanted to go to the park. He didn’t want his snack. So we went, and he had a great time running around for about 20 minutes, then he came over to me and said “home…snack”—the first time he’s ever really asked for something like that (aside from the park earlier). I know it’s not much, but it’s a start…and I love it.
The view from the top:
We’re just going with a longer-wear contact in the hopes that it will bother me less…and also using OTC eye drops when they become irritated. He said I didn’t need bifocal contacts (because I can see just fine with my glasses) and that I MIGHT get a bit better vision with astigmatism lenses, but they are much less comfortable. That, and contacts are never as good as glasses at correcting astigmatism. And if I need to start using drops 4-5-6 times a day, then we could look at prescription drops.
So for now, I’m wearing contacts, but only about 6-7 hours a day, taking a day off a time or two a week and just wearing glasses, and hoping my eyes change for the better with time (which he said is still possible).
The view from the bottom:
Watching one of his new favorite shows…and giggling like he always does!
Apparently my eyes went to shit overnight. Or if not overnight, then certainly within about a week or so.
Everything was fine at my last appointment (November) and up until about two months ago I never gave my vision a second thought. Then one weekend we were driving home on the highway and I noticed that some signs—that I’d normally have no problem reading—were blurry! I attributed it to dirty contacts and overtired eyes (not having gotten much sleep the previous two nights), so I just changed contacts when we got home and didn’t think much else about it.
Except that I started noticing my eyes getting dry or feeling like the contacts were dirty (and sometimes even painful)—after only maybe 5-7 hours of wear—with new to almost-new contacts…in other words, totally not normal. But I suffered through it for a while because I just hadn’t had eye/contact problems before and thought it was a passing thing.
But when a new pair of contacts bothered me after only a few hours of wear, I knew it was time to get checked out. A quick exam showed that my cornea had changed shape slightly, though that shouldn’t have caused the problems. I learned, however, that all contacts are different shapes and styles and what might have worked for me for two or four or eight years might suddenly sit the wrong way or rub a certain part of my eye (making it painful and impossible to wear comfortably) so maybe the cornea was the problem. So I got a pair of trial lenses (which felt better immediately) and made an appointment for a recheck in a week.
And they worked pretty well for a few days…until I noticed that my close vision was blurry. It was at night, so I thought maybe my eyes were just tired. But day after day it was the same, at all hours. WHAT? So I told the doc I had good news (the contacts felt fine) and bad news (now my vision was blurry).
Come to find out, he says I’m headed for bifocals and contacts may or may not help (I think he said they work for 60% of people)…but I’m not quite ready for those. So he gave me a different trial pair that would help more with my close up vision, though distances would be just a bit blurrier (but that my dominant eye would make up for it). Fine. And I left excited. Except my close vision is still blurry—and now, in addition, I get random blurry spots that move around. Which is very disturbing and annoying.
I do NOT want to wear glasses full time so I think we might have to try bifocal contacts (which are, of course, more expensive). At least I’ll get a trial pair of those as well to see if they work (before I have to buy a full set). I’ll get more info Monday when I go in for my second recheck.
Getting old sure sucks.
We went to the park with Gramma Jean and showed her how much Owen liked the slide!
Playing with ants!
Then we came home and Owen and Gramma were reading a new book—and Owen was telling us a big story!
Then we went out for pizza—and Owen sat in a booster for the first time! And he did great! And ate two pieces of pizza!
Then, Tom and I went to Costco…to pick up the huge bear I saw earlier and had decided not to get…but Tom wanted to get it.
Owen wasn’t too sure about it at first…but now he loves it!
Crescendo => From shenndo (Little Einsteins)
Flute
Hiccup
Knight
Nap
Noise
Peach
Peas
Pepper
Pillow
Rice
Sign
Sleep
Slipper
Spaghetti
Submarine => sa-ween
Tasha From => Backyardigans
Tickle
Tracks
Tyrone => From Backyardigans
Zip
Owen peed on the potty chair tonight! Totally unexpected! We went to change him into his night diaper and he was dry. So my mom (Gramma Jean!) said “Let’s put him on the potty.”
And we did.
And encouraged him.
And waited.
And after a few minutes we pulled him off since it seemed like nothing was happening…but there was a full potty!! Oh my god—we screamed and clapped and practically threw a party!! He seemed happy, but I’m not sure if he really even knows what he did (other than from us making a fuss over it) because he was watching TV while he was on the chair and he seemed way more concerned with that than with what he was/wasn’t doing on the potty.
Oh, I know it could just be a fluke and nothing else might happen for a long time…but I have to be prepared either way.
What a way to celebrate his 27-month birthday. 🙂
Guess what? This is the first time I have forgot it was Owen’s “monthly birthday” (even though my phone reminded me this morning) but luckily I snapped two photos after his bathtime haircut from Gramma Jean…and one of them was suitable.
Owen put his own shoes on for the first time today!
They were Crocs, so it was pretty easy…but the second one was a bit of a challenge that required me to lend a helping hand to steady him while he slipped his foot in.
I just opened the insurance statement from my ER visit for my cut finger. Once again, I am amazed at what the hospital bills and what little (comparatively) insurance pays and the hospital accepts.
They billed $805.07 and insurance paid $201.61. My responsibility is $25 (which I haven’t been billed for yet).
Yep, this is why people without insurance don’t go to the ER.
https://www.hudson2001.com/blogs/index.php/store/
An Amazon store, that is—linked above or next to the other blogs (at the end) labeled Store. It’s all of the products we really like or use all the time…from diaper pail refills to Crocs to cookbooks. So, please please use the links, as it puts a few bucks back in our pockets! 🙂
Owen hasn’t really taken to using a fork (and we’ve tried a handful of times), so this morning when he didn’t want to finish his fruit (but would eat it off my fork) I decided it was time to try again.
I proceeded to make a big game of STAB! STAB! STABBING! each piece, and he loved it! He ate the rest of his fruit—via fork stabbing!—in about two minutes. YAY!
Hopefully it will continue and not just be a one-time thing. 🙂
We wanted to get all four little ones together for a photo…my mom and I were both snapping away at the same time. I put all mine (I think it was 129 or so!) into a slideshow because it’s funny to watch the whole thing in one shot. I think there are maybe two decent ones overall where everyone is looking at the camera!
We were headed to Bay City for our Easter lunch, with the plan that Owen would nap on the way there. He was falling asleep on the couch before we left, but was wide awake once we got him in the car. After about 45 minutes, this is what happened… I alternate between thinking “poor kid” and “oh my gosh that’s too cute.”
A fun new word! (You might have to turn the volume up and listen closely.)
It was a perfect 70-degree day with a nice breeze…so we were off to the park! Owen had a blast running and running—and finally decided he liked the slides (instead of just the one at home) so he had fun with those, as well.
We just had our first 3-minute naptime meltdown because he wanted more “backgens” (Backyardigans).
Yes, three minutes.
Yes, the first one.
Yes, I know I’m lucky. 😮
Today I am wearing a shirt from high school. 😮 It’s just a big comfy pullover hoodie. The funny thing is that a mom in our play group asked “What is VENEZIA?” (written across the chest) and I was like “Something from the 90s!” and we both laughed. I said I think it was a clothing brand…??
But really. High school. Which was 20 years ago. 😮
It looks practically brand new though.
Honest.
Oh, and here’s the proof:
Treasure
Radio
Lamp
Slide
Piece(s)
Wolf
Bounce
Jelly beans => jehbbehns
Mickey mouse => Mickey Mouf
Eating
Happy
I had a few duplicates on my list…so now, with his numbers and the letters of the alphabet, we’re at 205 words. I’m sure he has more, but I don’t remember to write them all down.
Since we will be out of town with family on Easter Sunday, we decided to have our (very first!) egg hunt this weekend when Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob were here. Of course it was really cold, so the outside hunt turned into the living room hunt. These videos are waaaay long, but it’s mostly for all of the grandparents. 🙂
Easter Egg Hunt in the Living Room (9m04s)
He ended up liking the plastic eggs more than the hunt OR the goodies in the eggs.
Giving Owen His First Bike (6m42s)
He loved looking at and playing with the bike the best…but wasn’t too terribly sure about actually getting on and using it.
As we’ve discovered, when Owen sees himself in the camera (being recorded) he starts making funny faces. You can really see this here, as I start recording from a bit of a distance. He sees it and notices it, but the antics don’t REALLY start until the camera gets right in his face.
