“Christmas” Morning

We had “Christmas” this morning (since Owen won’t know the difference) so Santa could give him the train table…and he LOVED it! (We were sure he would, but you just never know.)

He is also really into opening presents now, and thinks every wrapped present is his. Soooo cute!

Also, Owen is now in 5T pants. Some 4Ts still fit, but they’re a little tight in the butt and thigh area.

Lastly, we got a decent family photo in the first session of 20 pics! (And of course, Owen looks the best!)

And with his stocking!

Owen’s Personalized Train

So back in Michigan, I took advantage of a deal (Groupon or Living Social or something) for wall art for Owen’s room. They had lots of cool stuff, but since they were a fairly new company, they were offering personalization services for free—so I took advantage and had them design Owen’s name into a train. They actually emailed me three samples, I combined them into something else, and that’s what I ordered. We knew we’d wait until we were moved into the next house before we put it up…and it happened to be our old house in North Carolina. We had originally planned to put it in his bedroom, but there just wasn’t room once we got everything set up…so we decided to put it in his playroom…and he LOVES it. When he saw it, he was so excited—saying CABOOSE! CABOOSE! and then saying the letters of his name!

Grammas and Presents

Well, a Gramma and a Grauntie. 🙂

Owen gets very excited about presents, and he had a pile from both Gramma Jean and Grauntie Marge! Grauntie Marge helped show Owen how to open presents, and now he’s really good at it!

And the cutest thing is that after he rips off a piece, he hands it to you. 🙂

And of course there were lots of Thank You kisses…

Owen vs. The Sprinkler

Aunt Rose bought him this cool water toy awhile back, but we left it in the package so it would be a special treat once we moved. Well, he keeps seeing it and getting super excited..so we finally got it out…and it kinda freaked him out. 🙂 He wasn’t too sure what to think of it…and he’s still not sure but he did have some fun with it.

Going Away Picnic

We wanted to have a picnic like last year…perfect weather, fun for Owen in the pool, a bunch of friends over, some good food, and a new family photo. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate…and neither did Owen. We got a decent photo out of the 25 attempts…

But it doesn’t even come close to the apparently once-in-a-lifetime shot we got last year (one of two attempts).

But he was super cute the morning of the picnic when he discovered he could climb up onto the bay window ledge in the living room. What fun!

And he loved Gramma Jean’s mower…when it was turned off. She turned it on to give him a ride and it was “NOISY!”

Then Tom helped him pick a flower for me—my first flower! Sigh. :heart:

And last but not least…Gramma Jean got Owen a pop-up tube/tent contraption…which he LOVED. I’m not sure where it’s going to fit in either house, but we’ll have to find a place.

Busy, busy day!

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!

Early Easter Fun

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.

New Bike Helmet

We decided we wanted to get Owen a balance bike, but since he was still a little young (and the weather isn’t really outside weather on his birthday), we waited…and lucked into an online sale…so it became an Easter present! Tom put it together last weekend, and then we waited for the helmet to arrive. The first one we ordered didn’t fit (although though the measurements were correct, his head is extra round at the temples so it just didn’t work), so we had to reorder a YOUTH helmet, which came today.

We were worried he might not like it at all—as generally speaking he doesn’t like hats and tries to pull them off—but as soon as he saw it, he grabbed it and tried to put it on his head. 🙂

Then was a little impatient when Tom took it to try and adjust it to better fit him.

Then he was trying to snap the pieces together.

Just hanging out, watching Little Einsteins.

Sitting ever-so-patiently while Tom fiddled with the sizing. No squawking. No wiggling. Nothing. Hopefully it goes that well when it comes time to really wear it.

And hopefully he actually LIKES the bike, as so far we’ve not had too good a record with sit-on-type toys.

Birthday Party!

I was really excited about decorating Owen’s cake as a baseball—I baked part in a round Pyrex bowl and did a flat bottom layer. That part went fine. The frustrating part came when I tried to decorate it—the tiny tube of “cake decorating gel” I bought was basically useless—it was too sticky and didn’t come out of the tube evenly, making the lines and intricate designs of the stitching impossible. So I was bummed.

The sadly decorated cakes.

Owen noticed the gifts on the table and wanted to sit in the chair, so we put him up there and Gramma Marsha gave him a car from one of the bags so then he played with that and the peeked into a bag and found another car. So he was playing with both of them…and making car noises! (He had never done that before!)

Making car noises.

Then I decided to give him one of my gifts—a box of 10 Matchbox cars—and this is him seeing them in the box and signing “more!”

Signing "more" when he saw the box of cars!

Taking a break from playing with his cars.

Awwwwwww!

He loves having Happy Birthday sung to him!

He loves when we sing to him!

Enjoying the cake!

Working the fork!

Everyone who was at the party!

Group shot!

His new thing.

He loooooooves this bucket now. I keep all his balls in it, and he’ll come down from his nap, toss out every single ball, then hop in and just sit there, or watch TV from there. Thanks, Grandma Marsha!

He also likes getting pulled around the floor in it…and then Tom picked him up and carried him around, then gave him a bumpy ride!

Owen’s new (old) friend!

Grandpa Mike and Grannie Lin bought Owen this stuffed bear for his first birthday. He didn’t really think much of it at the time, so we just set it on the fireplace ledge next to another bear of his. And it just sat there. Until last night, when he went and sat on it, then dragged it out and set it on the couch where he kept laying on it and playing with it.

This is why I keep the camera close at hand. 🙂

Three firsts today!

1) We took him to the Grayling fish hatchery with Gramma Jean and Grandpa David. He was still a bit too young—maybe next year will be better!

2) Tom took him wading in the AuSable River—we were impressed that he didn’t mind the chilly water…although the current intrigued him.

3) Grauntie Marge brought over a watercolor paint book!

1st Birthday Party!

What a day! We had a houseful of family to celebrate Owen’s first birthday…

He wasn’t too sure about the cake but quickly got into it (while still holding his balloons). And I was expecting him to get VERY messy, but it wasn’t bad at all. YAY OWEN! GOOD BOY!

And things continued to go pretty well through the bath…

And the meltdown happened when we tried to get a group photo…

But all in all it was a great day…and here’s just a little 9-minute snippet of the festivities:

Don’t miss this video!

Or should I say THESE videos…

December 5, 2009

December 25, 2009

Grandpa Mike and Grandma Linda brought Owen his first sled! He loved being pulled around inside the house!

December 26, 2009

In the middle of Owen’s first sledding experience. The actual sledding videos are jiggly and headache-inducing to watch, so this is what you get!

Fun with chopsticks!

Grandma Linda got Owen his own chopsticks for Christmas…and he LOVES them. As soon as you get them out, he smiles and laughs—and he loves it when you click them together. He will even take pieces of food from you!

Chopsticks2
Chopsticks3

I dropped a puff (hey, give me a break—I was using my left hand because I had the camera in the other hand!) and he tried to give it back to me (the chopsticks)!

Chopsticks1

Christmas in Grayling

We went up to Grayling for the long holiday weekend. We went over to Kalkaska on Christmas Eve Day to have our Christmas with Marsha and Rob and then Christmas Day we exchanged gifts with Marge, then my dad and Linda came over for lunch and Owen time. Here are some of the best shots:

Grandpa Mike brought over a sled for Owen, in which he THOROUGHLY enjoyed being pulled around the house!

We were able to finally take him sledding outside later in the weekend. Cousins Isabelle and Gabrielle were there to help! Here are some of the best shots:

It was great being able to have the entire family together again (the last time was actually just in July, when we all vacationed together in Kentucky). Here’s the annual group shot and the Christmas shirt photo with a new inductee: