First very minor injury!

Owen was a poor little traumatized boy this afternoon… He was standing at the entertainment center like he does all the time, except the door was open today, so he was playing with that—when he suddenly let out this loud and frantic cry. OMG! I couldn’t see exactly what was going on (he was blocking my view) so I went over and…one of his little fingers was pinched in between the open door and shelf!

:'(

Poor kid…but he was mostly over it within two minutes, but I sucked up the additional cuddle time he gave me while watching Sesame Street and recuperating!

Chicken Fried Rice & SOOOO BIG

I was eating chicken fried rice for lunch, and I figured I might as well give some pieces to Owen, since it was rice (which I know he likes somewhat—well, at least he’s eaten it before) and soft veggies. And he LOVED it. He ate the rice, zucchini, fried egg, green beans, carrots—and he even ate a few tiny pieces of chicken! 88|

Unfortunately, however, he must have gotten a piece that he either didn’t like or that made him gag…because half his lunch came back up. 🙁

But at least now we know he can/will eat real food! YAY OWEN!

I have also been trying to teach him how to raise his arms when I ask how big he is…so here is today’s attempt:

Dog food & a parenting YUCK night.

Owen is fast. Which is why the new gate normally stays closed:

But sometimes I leave it open so he can crawl up the step and into the kitchen. So tonight, he actually bypassed the water bowl and headed straight for the island…which is where the dog food is. He was fishing in the bowl, which made Maggie come running because she thought she was getting something good. It was funny because she saw him in her bowl, and suddenly she wanted to eat her food! I actually called Tom to tell him, and while I was talking to him, I saw a piece of food go in Owen’s mouth. Stinker! I wasn’t terribly worried, but I did try to get it out—to no avail. So Owen has officially eaten his first (and certainly not last) piece of dog food! He seemed no worse for the wear and I laughed about it.

Fast forward to dinner, when he becomes Mr. Crankpot. I am sure it has to do with him teething right now…but he’s fine ALL DAY and only turns cranky in the high chair. So he’s either becoming a fussy eater (some nights I’ve had to open three or four different jars of food to find something he’ll eat) or there’s something about eating while teething that’s the problem. Regardless, he’s just been off kilter for a few days—but he always ends up eating his normal amount (it just might take longer…and more patience).

So tonight I tried homemade carrots and that was a no-go for the second time. Then he finished the Zuchinni and Squash Stage 3 jar we started at lunch. Then I tried to give him some itsy bitsy noodles with some butter, and he ate a few small bites but he didn’t like that (although he has been okay with those same noodles mixed IN something). All this was interspersed with puffs, cheerios, freeze-dried corn, and veggie straws—all typical meal snacks. He still needed to eat more, though, so I got out some green veggies.

And he was eating just fine.

And we were almost done.

When he started coughing.

Which turned into almost choking.

I was just starting to get him out of the high chair when he started vomiting. There was nothing I could really do except let it happen. Yuck. The only good thing was that it stopped the choking. But it was all over everything: him, his clothes (jeans, onesie, and socks), the high chair (tray, seat, and foot ledge), me (jeans and shirt—he missed my shoes), the dining room chair cover—and as I learned later while cleaning it up…there was spatter in the entryway to the kitchen, the wall behind where I had been sitting, the floor under the high chair (and the inside underneath of the high chair…and the dog. Yes, the dog. And it was all green.

And speaking of the dog, yes, she cleaned it up. I didn’t want her to, but I was too busy taking care of and cleaning up Owen to worry about her. So I got him in his PJs and he was no worse for the wear. He was sitting, playing, and watching Sesame Street while I went to clean up the dining room. Egads, what a mess.

Definitely a parenting YUCK day.

A big day for the little man!

Owen’s been a little cranky during meals over the past two days, but I didn’t think much of it. Today, Tom was sitting there with us and said “He’s got a tooth!” I had totally missed it! He’s getting his top right front tooth! :>> So now he’s getting teething tablets and Tylenol and Motrin.

Then, the biggie… HE MADE IT UP THE STEP! Just one day after he managed to stand up on his own!

And then later in the day…

Hoo boy, we have our work cut out for us tomorrow getting the rest of the first floor baby-proofed…and my days at home just became A LOT harder.

And…he’s up!

This morning I enjoyed watching Owen get to a standing position FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, ON HIS OWN! (Well, with the help of a bucket of toys for support!) And I got it on film. Tape. Flip. Video. Whatever. :))

Now I just have to edit the video down to 10 minutes (the limit on YouTube) or split it into two videos. I was going to do a “10 Minutes in the Life of Owen” but then he was so cute I just kept going, and ended at 12…which was, as I said, over the limit.

Stay tuned for the video. 🙂

PART 1

PART 2

(The part with the actual standing, if you want to skip ahead!)

Carousel & Second Haircut

Since we were up north for Thanksgiving, Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike said they wanted to take Owen to the carousel at the Grand Traverse Mall. So off we went!

Grandpa took him first, and Owen didn’t think too much of it. But he was cute. We have video from it, but it’s enough to make you nauseous so I won’t post it here… you’ll have to suffice with the pictures I took on Owen’s second ride, with mom and dad (specifically to try and get some good pictures):

Dad and Owen on the carousel

After the carousel, we decided to walk around the mall a little, and one of the first places we passed was Mastercuts…so I decided it was fate (we had been saying for a few weeks he needed another cut) so in we went! He did a pretty good job—again, no crying! And again a little fidgety (he constantly wanted to see what was going on behind him) but overall he was very good! And now look how dapper he is again!

Post second haircut

Visit with the cousins!

We decided it was time to go visit Lisa and Timmy and the kids, since we’ve been here a year, only live 1.5 hours away, and haven’t been there yet. We timed it for Owen’s nap times, and it worked perfectly.

We got there around noon, and they prepared a great lunch for us. Owen ate his normal baby food, but since we had a bunch of kid-friendly foods available, we gave him banana pieces (which we know he likes), then tried strawberry (which wasn’t too bad), bread (which he’s had before), and cheese (which he liked). He didn’t want a lot of any of the new foods, but at least he tried them and didn’t spit them out!

Owen was the youngest of the four—I think they’re five, two, and 17 months. The funny thing is that Owen is bigger than the 17-month old! Lisa says she’s 22#, but she felt A LOT lighter to me! :)) Here is the proof of the size difference (and you wonder why people think we have a toddler!):

And boy did Owen have fun with the cousins. (Technically I think they’re second cousins? My cousins’ kids?) Anyway, they were all banging on a plastic bin and talking and since he can’t talk, he was just screeching and having a blast making noise with them. And then Nick leaned over and gave him a kiss. Soooo cute!

And then Nick gave Owen a little rough-and-tumble-yet-gentle take-down from behind, and it was sooooo adorable, and Owen loved it. This was the best pic from the bunch:

We had a really good time, and we loved having Owen be able to play with (and just be around) kids of different ages. We hope to get together more often in the future so they kids will know each other…

To his knees!

Owen can now pull himself up to his knees. He really wants to get up the step into the kitchen, but for now that still stops him. But he hangs out there a lot!

He will also pull himself up to his activity table and the doors on the entertainment center.

Oh, and just now, apparently he also pulls himself up to his diaper pail and is pulling out his bottom clothes drawer.

STINKER!

Owen’s 9-month appointment…and first blood.

Height: 30½” (95th percentile)
Head: 26″ (95th percentile)
Weight: 22lbs. 10oz. (50–75th percentile)

Overall, she said he looks great and I’m doing everything right. Phew!

She was impressed by his sleeping—she could NOT believe that not only did he sleep through the night, but that he slept from (generally) 6pm–6am. She was even more amazed when I told her that the previous night he slept from 4:30pm–6:30am. I told her we do whatever we can to keep his sleep schedule status quo with no disruptions like being away from home, staying out late at someone else’s house, etc. She said that sleeping that long (through the night) is fairly unusual, but that it’s great—and to keep doing whatever we’re doing because he has great sleep habits and it’s a great thing to start this young! So, YAY us! 😀

He didn’t love getting his ears or chest checked, but he did just fine.

I asked about the H1N1 and the generic flu shot, and they will have them in the office, they are just out of both right now. The nurse said she wouldn’t be in a rush to get the H1N1 since he’s not in daycare and we don’t generally come into contact with a lot of people, but she would highly recommend the normal flu shot. The nurse said the media is making it seem much crazier than it really is—the few cases they’ve actually seen are not that bad. That said, the doctor said if we wanted the H1N1 it would be okay, but also highly recommended the normal flu shot. So I have to call next week to see if they have them in and decide if we want him to get one or both shots.

Right before we left, he had to get a blood test—just a finger prick (he didn’t even make a peep!)—and she put a band-aid on it and said to leave it for at least 10 minutes. I put his mitten on and things were fine. We stopped to see dad at his office then went home, and since it had been much longer than 10 minutes, I took the mitten off. I was doing things around the living room for maybe (MAYBE!) five minutes, when I look over and see something dark on Owen’s lip, and I thought it was some fuzz off the floor or something (even though Tom vacuums every morning) so I come closer and—OMIGOD—it’s blood. BLOOD! 88| It took me a good two L—O—N—G seconds before I realized nothing serious was happening and it was just his finger bleeding.

But OMIGOD—his finger was bleeding…all over. Swear to god it was gushing. It was all over his pants and his face and in his hair—so the band-aid had obviously been off for a bit. So I grab a wipe to try to clean him up and stop the bleeding, and I see him drooling and don’t think much but then it hits me that it is A LOT of drool (it seemed like a bucketful) and I realize that OMIGOD the band-aid is in his mouth! 88| 88| Bad mom, bad mom, bad mom!

So I fish the band-aid out of his mouth while I’m still trying to clean him up and stop the bleeding, and I leave him for like 10 seconds to see if there’s a bandaid in the bathroom and there isn’t, so I grab a tissue and come back and there is blood all over again! From just a tiny finger prick! That had stopped bleeding IN THE OFFICE! Egads. So I pick him up, holding his finger in a tissue and trying to keep his finger out of his mouth, go upstairs to get a band-aid, sit him on the floor, clean him up again, and put on TWO band-aids. By the time Tom got home for lunch 10 minutes later, the band-aid was off again, although thankfully not in his mouth and not bleeding anymore.

So, then I changed him into his fourth outfit of the day. (The first one was soiled by the coffee spill/crawl. The second one was soiled from spit up. The third one from blood.) After lunch, it was outfit #5 after more spit up.

What a day!

Stomach to sitting!

So, now that Owen can crawl (he’s getting pretty good!), I wondered what the next achievement would be. As I watched him play on his stomach and roll around, I decided it would probably be moving from his stomach (or crawling) to a sitting position. Well, within a few hours, he did it! I watched him on his stomach, playing with a toy, to pushing up on his arms, and then voilà! He was sitting up straight! YAY OWEN!

First Cheerio!

We were at our twice-monthly moms’ group and the babes were all rolling around, taking each others’ toys, and it was just so. damn. cute. Of course, while we are there, it’s usually snack or feeding time, so we had our puffs out. Another mom had Cheerios. I’ve been wanting to try Cheerios, but I really didn’t want to buy a whole box because I probably wouldn’t eat them if Owen didn’t like them. And I’ve been hesitating on “real” food like that because he really doesn’t like textures much, and he’s just now mastering the really airy, melt-in-your-mouth puffs.

So I gave him a Cheerio. Broken in half, but still a Cheerio. And he opened his mouth readily, took the Cheerio, munched for a few seconds, then opened his mouth for more! YAY OWEN! Then I set him on the floor, and moments later, he was at the feet of the mom (with the Cheerios) who had happened to drop some on the floor…hence Owen crawling over there. 🙂 So cute! 😀 So he reached for one! I grabbed it, broke it in half again, and he eagerly ate both pieces! So it looks like we may be able to go up to Cheerios! Maybe after we finish our bottle of puffs!

First Night Teething

We did give him Motrin before he went to bed (about 6:15). All went well, and I finally fell asleep about 9:30 (I had a case of acid reflux), only to be woken up by him screaming at 10:20. But just as suddenly he was quiet again, so I fell back to sleep, only to be woken up at 10:40 by him screeching again. 🙁

I managed to drag myself out of bed (I felt even worse now), gave him some teething tablets, then listened to him for another half hour or so, waiting to hear if his screeching got worse (or better), knowing I couldn’t give him any more Motrin until at least 2am. He finally fell asleep about 11:30, and did sleep through until 6:15 (yay!). Unfortunately, I still slept like crap the rest of the night—plus Tom’s alarm went off at 4am—so I am exhausted this morning.

A TOOTH!

So Owen has been somewhat cranky over the past few days, but we really didn’t think too much of it. People said he might be teething, but we’ve been thinking that for weeks, if not months—with no teeth ever appearing.

So for the past week or so, he has NOT been a good eater like he usually is—you know, where I basically shovel in food as fast as I can and he eats three whole jars of food per meal. Lately, it’s been maybe one jar or four bites from three different jars—not even really liking or wanting his favorite yogurt. 88| So we thought something might be up.

And then yesterday evening we noticed a rash! We googled and thought it was probably just a heat rash, as we’d had him in his chicken costume for a bit and it was probably too warm. It also might have been a contact type of rash, since he had the costume on for a few minutes without any barrier like a onesie (and it’s not washable, so we didn’t wash it after we got it). So we just thought we’d keep an eye on it and if it was worse (or no better) in a day or so, we’d call the doc. Again, someone suggested teething (apparently some crazy things can happen when teething starts) and we just said YEAH, WHATEVER, because so far there has been no teething.

So this morning he ate a good breakfast (which he hasn’t been lately). And then he wasn’t eating his lunch and he was fussy and screeching a bit and I happened to look in his mouth while he was screeching and I swear I saw something different! A little white spot! So I stuck my finger in and sure enough! A tooth is starting to come through! OWEN’S FIRST TOOTH! :>>

So I got out the teething tablets and those seemed to help quite a bit. I also gave him a frozen strawberry to chew on. He seems to be doing well, but I think we need some Motrin for the next few nights…

So much for [new] homemade food.

Since Owen loves sweet potatoes and eats the ones I make for him, I decided it was time to try some other foods (that other moms and websites have recommended). So I got dried peas and dried black beans, as well as pears and apples (both of which I know he likes).

I spent all afternoon (well, about two hours) peeling and chopping and cooking and blending…and the little stinker didn’t like ANY of it! I couldn’t even get more than one bite down—and some of the bites came back out. 🙁 And some of the bites made him gag! Hoo boy. It has to be a texture/consistency thing for the most part, since I already know he likes peas, apples, and pears—but I know he will eat mashed banana and thick oatmeal, so I’m flummoxed as to why he didn’t like any of the new home-cooked things I gave him.

So it all went in the freezer and we’ll try again in a few weeks.

That said, I just remembered I also did squash with a very thin consistency (that we haven’t tried yet because it was still too hot), so we’ll see if he likes that.

What a stinker!

First teething biscuit!

We’ve had them in the cupboard for quite some time—“just in case”—and Tom decided to give him one at lunch today—not because he was teething and needed it, but just for the hell of it. 🙂 (Tom was home for Owen’s lunch because I was at the vet’s office with Maggie and Bella.)

He didn’t take pictures of this momentous occasion :>> so I let him have the biscuit again later:

Tom said Owen loved it at lunch (liking it more than his puffs, even!), but for me he just kinda made a half-hearted attempt at it and wanted his puffs instead!

First professional photo shoot!

So today was Owen’s first professional photo shoot. Corinna (of Corinna’s Camera) came to our house, which was great! I thought it would go smashingly, since Owen had JUST gotten up 15 minutes before AND had finished a 6oz bottle! And it was a nice temperature and the sun was out! Perfect, right?

Ha.

My normally happy and smiley and laughing baby? Not so much today. He was ALL about the serious today and he really didn’t like all the outfit changes. 😐

Speaking of the outfit changes, here’s what we did:

  1. Maroon thermal long-sleeved onesie, khakis.
  2. Added jean jacket.
  3. Chicken costume with real pumpkins.
  4. Dark blue cable-knit sweater, khakis.
  5. Light blue short-sleeve collared onesie, khakis.
  6. Added helmet.

Don’t get me wrong—he was REALLY good overall…no crying, staying seated (even on a REALLY springy seat), no falling over…but we just had a hell of a time getting him to look at the camera and smile or laugh. We REALLY could have used Tom here, since he can ALWAYS get him to laugh…but unfortunately he couldn’t leave work. 🙁

And then…the animals. Maggie wanted to be right there, of course, but refused to sit sill for a picture. So I’d put her outside. Then the cats would be strolling through and Owen would turn to look at them. Then I’d try to use Maggie to get Owen to look or smile. If we ever do this again, ALL the animals will get locked up. I honestly didn’t even think about it since they usually keep to themselves…but apparently NOT when someone new is in the house! Oh well.

Corinna assured me we got some great shots…but it will be at least three weeks before I get to see them since she is going out of town. This is the hard part—as after my own photo shoots, I get to look at the photos immediately!

In the meantime, though, I will continue to work on editing her website—I’ve already done a quick overview for her (15 bullet points of mistakes, site errors, and/or things that I would change) and she really liked it, so now I have to do a full page-by-page edit.

I will post a link to the gallery when Owen’s pics are uploaded. For now, I’ve just linked to her website. I would highly recommend her—very professional, personable, and great with kids!

Eight months old & First Haircut!

Eight months! EIGHT! He cannot be that old—he’s our baby! But look at that long hair! We can’t have that…

So we went to get his hair cut!! Partially because it was really too long, partially to fix our shoddy razor job from a while back, and partially because we have a photo session with a professional photographer next week!!!

He did really, REALLY well—even though he slid off the slippery wooden seat a few times and even though he was really squirmy (he LOVES to look at anything going on around/behind him, so getting him to look straight ahead was a bit of a challenge), the stylist never got frustrated and kept talking to him and trying to direct his attention elsewhere. I had imagined being there FOREVER, but we were done in probably 15 minutes!

And here we are back home, with a cute new ‘do! Unfortunately, the bangs are a little crooked, but that was the hardest part to cut with him being wiggly.

Such a little man! He does NOT look like an 8-month old baby!

Stomach sleeping!

Over the past few days, Owen has started flipping over on his stomach in his crib (in the mornings) or the pack-and-play (during naps). He doesn’t much like it and gets really cranky when it happens. What’s ironic is that he already knows how to roll from his stomach -> back but he seems to forget it once he gets there. :))

Last night, though, he flipped over in the time it took for me to put him down, walk to the bedroom to get the monitor, and turn it on! Stinker! So I went back in and flipped him back over. He squirmed around like normal, and somewhere around 7:30-8 he must have flipped again because he heard the noise! At about 8pm, when he just couldn’t get settled, we debated leaving him to cry it out so he learns to fall asleep that way (without our intervention) but he just seemed soooo tired (he is normally asleep by that time, and here he was still flailing about) so Tom eventually went in and flipped him over, and Owen was out about three minutes later. Poor kid.

This morning at 5:30 sharp he was squawking in there so we looked at the monitor and—yep—on his stomach! Tom let him be for a bit, but then got him up so I could sleep. For his first nap, he was on his stomach pretty quick, and I just left him. He finally fell asleep face down—which was definitely freaky to see (and I made sure he was still breathing!)—especially since he had that silly burp cloth under his face!

Of course it doesn’t look comfortable, but I just let him be—going over every little bit to make sure he was still breathing!

Pureed carrots! Sippy cup!

I made some pureed carrots awhile back and he wanted nothing (NOTHING!) to do with them—and we even tried two separate nights. |-| So I froze them.

Tonight we tried again. And he ate them! YAY! Well, most of them anyway. Then we tried a banana—even less mashed than normal—and he ate some of that. Then since he really hadn’t eaten THAT much (like he normally does) I broke out the dried yogurt that he likes to finish him off. 🙂

He’s so cute. When he doesn’t want something anymore, he purses his lips and you can’t get ANYTHING in there. He also sometimes just shakes/rolls his head back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I swear the first time he did it I thought he was having a seizure. :))

Oh, he also drinks (well, kinda drinks) from a sippy cup! We started it a few days ago and he barely wanted anything to do with it…so in just a few short days, he’s already getting better! He can’t hold it and drink by himself yet, but he can pick it up and stick the handles in his mouth! If you hold it for him, he will drink a little bit. And now he even stops eating to make a fuss and reach for the cup telling you he wants a drink! Of course, some of it dribbles down his face, but for the most part he IS drinking. To make sure, I keep track of how much I put in and how much is gone. It might only be an ounce or so, but it’s a start! YAY OWEN!

More food firsts!

Today was Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal (Stage 2), Strawberry Banana YoBaby yogurt, “homemade” pureed sweet potatoes, and Sweet Potato Puffs!!! 88|

I know that’s a lot of new things for one day (since you’re only supposed to do one new food every 3-4 days, so you can rule foods out in case there are allergies or rashes, etc.) but he hasn’t had ANY food issues so far, so I chanced it. (Hopefully it won’t come back to bite me in the butt.)

I was really excited that he ate the sweet potatoes—because I made a HUGE batch probably two weeks ago because he looooooves the jarred version…and then he didn’t want anything to do with the ones I made. :crazy: So this time I only prepared one potato and he loved it. YAY! Now it’s back to Kroger to get more! 🙂

The puffs are interesting. Although they are meant to melt in your mouth almost instantly, he will gag if you give him a whole one. But if you break it up into pieces, he will eat them! You might have to push the piece back in his mouth, but he eats it and opens his mouth for more! That said, he’s NOT quite ready for them yet—they are supposed to be using their pincer grasp (thumb and forefinger) and he’s almost there, but not quite.

Real food? Meh.

And by real food, I mean stuff like REAL sweet potatoes and REAL baby carrots and REAL bananas. Steamed and blended or just mashed.

The verdict? Not so much on anything except the bananas.

He can eat a whole banana in one sitting (plus oatmeal) but he hasn’t been too keen on the carrots or the sweet potato, which is ironic because he LOVES sweet potatoes out of the jar.

We’ve tried different consistencies and he will eat maybe the equivalent of half a jar and then that’s it—he wants something else (he loves the grain/yogurt mixture). We’ve tried the veggies when he’s starving and when he’s just hungry and he just. isn’t. thrilled. So we end up reverting back to the jarred food and Maggie gets a fresh veggie treat (so she’s happy).

It’s frustrating because I really wanted to make his own food (definitely cheaper) but he’s just not having it. So we’ll just keep trying.

For research purposes, we did try the teeny tiniest sliver of banana, which he promptly put in his mouth…then started gagging…so he’s not quite ready for pieces (although he does eat it pretty roughly mashed now, as opposed to the pseudo-soup he required before).

First pool & first hair cut!

Since our trip to the lake didn’t work out quite like we had hoped, I thought I would like to try the pool. A mom friend has easy access to a country club pool and invited us, so it was perfect.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go well. Whether he didn’t like his sunglasses or it was too warm in the sun or he was hungry or he was tired…he just cried and cried every time I barely put his feet in the water. Of course, the other two babies were having a ball! We’re invited to try again if the weather holds.

Then we decided it was time for a mini non-professional hair cut. The hair over his ears was sooooo long we’ve started calling him Hippie. 🙂 It also gets in the way when we take off his helmet (we pull hair a lot of the time). 🙁 Anyway, I’ve been wanting to take him for a professional cut, but Tom just wanted to trim it himself. I thought I could do it with a pair of scissors, but of course he wouldn’t sit still and I was terrified of stabbing him with the scissors…so I gave in.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go well. He didn’t want to sit still and the loud sound of the razor didn’t help. So there was lots of crying…which stopped as soon as the razor stopped (which you can see in the video). Stinker.