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Category Archives: Owen

First pool & first hair cut!

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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.

Somewhat Cranky Day

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The problem with having a really good [natured] baby is that when crankiness sets in for undetermined reasons, it gets frustrating REALLY fast. 🙁

The morning went well, and Owen took an nap from about 8:30-9:30. Then he ate a bit and we went on a few errands. He was cranky when we got home, and I just assumed he was hungry (it WAS lunch time). Halfway through the peas, he got really cranky and was pushing the spoon away and crying. I mean CRYING. Hmmm, okay. He obviously didn’t want that.

Turns out he was tired! Who knew? Especially since he had already had a nap that morning (and he’s been taking fewer and shorter naps). So he slept for about an hour. When he got up I tried food again.

Ha.

This time we finished the peas and barely started the peaches when he was instantly cranky again…and after some trial and error, it turned out he wanted milk. Hoo boy. 🙁

He didn’t eat much so we tried his favorite bouncy chair. Nope. Still cranky. Another nap? Oh no, screaming. Sitting and playing? Nothing doing. So we sat on the couch and watched Sesame Street and he was calm and quiet (well, sucking on his burp cloth and thumb) for quite some time. Then he “agreed” to sit and play for a bit…and now he’s getting cranky, but I think it’s tired…so nap time is coming soon.

What a day. He’s so good overall that I really just have to take a breath when we have these cranky times…because they are so very few and far between.

Food, food, and more food!

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We were just feeding him real food at dinnertime, but I have started on a 3x a day plan!

When he gets up, he gets oatmeal and bananas (a mixture of Oatmeal & Banana dry mix, prepared + jarred bananas) or a Stage 2 jar of something like Oatmeal, Bananas & Peaches. For lunch he will usually eat one or two containers of Stage 1 veggies (he likes them all now!) or an equivalent amount of veggies + oatmeal or yogurt (mixed from a dried powder) or possibly just one jar of Stage 2 something-or-other. Dinner is about the same. He can plow through the Stage 1 (really runny stuff) in nothing flat, so we started him on some Stage 2 stuff—but that is thicker and he doesn’t seem to eat as much of it (but then, he also doesn’t eat it as eagerly).

Of course, in the middle of all those is some formula…but he actually seems to like the food better at some times. Like today I knew he was hungry and tried to feed him a bottle and he didn’t want any. But I sat him in the high chair and fed him real food? And he ate a huge amount! I always just start with one container/jar of something, I guess “just in case” he doesn’t eat that much…but he always does. So then I run and get a second jar. And then when he finishes that, I make some oatmeal or yogurt.

I really enjoy feeding him because he is soooo eager! It’s so cute to see him just open his mouth like “I’m ready—where’s the food? C’mon, people!” He’s like a little bird! Sometimes, he can eat it faster than I can spoon it in! And such huge bites! Just amazing!

Sitting and surprising dad!

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So for the past few days, Owen has been sitting SO well on his own that I can leave him sit and play without sitting behind him. His balance is much better and he can right himself if he starts to tip! YAY! That said, he still tips over once in a great while, or if he’s really reaching for a toy.

So tonight Owen was sitting on the floor playing and I was getting stuff ready for dinner. Tom came home and was talking to me in the kitchen. He made some comment about Owen sleeping and I said “No, he’s playing in there!” And he rushed over and was SO surprised! Apparently I had forgotten to tell him that Owen was sitting on his own now (well, sitting for long periods and playing on his own).

Tom was SOOOO excited! He just stood there and watched him, smiling. 🙂

Good times, good times.

P.S. And the napping hasn’t resolved itself yet. Naps are still all over the place, and run anywhere from 30 minutes to 2½ hours.

Naps

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So his nap schedule seems to be changing.

At first I thought we were just trying to overcome missing a nap a few days in a row (we’ve happened to be in the car around his nap time so he falls asleep—but have to wake him up to take him out of the new car seat)…but he seems to be less tired throughout the day.

Take today, for instance. He was up about 6:30am and didn’t take a nap before his 9:45 appointment. Normally he naps around 7:30 or 8 (at the latest) but today he was having NONE of it.

As a sidenote, I had to go shower and thought maybe he would fall asleep if he didn’t see or hear me. I was only upstairs for like 10 minutes TOPS and when I came down, I heard frantic crying. His “I’m very unhappy” cry. Sobbing almost. I couldn’t figure out what would be wrong—he had just eaten, been changed, and should be tired. I went over to him and—OH MY!—he had rolled over onto his stomach and was just laying there, face-plant style. He obviously couldn’t roll himself back over, so was crying in frustration. Poor little guy was sobbing crocodile tears. I picked him up and within a minute (heck, probably 30 seconds) he was just fine, smiling and laughing. Stinker.

So anyway, he certainly wasn’t about to nap, so I thought we’d leave for the appointment early and if he fell asleep in the car, I’d just drive around for a bit so he could at least get a 30-40 minute nap. Well, he fell asleep for about 15 minutes. Argh!! I had an errand to run after the appointment, and he didn’t fall asleep in the stroller, but did for about five minutes on the way home. So I brought him inside and put him down and…STILL NOT SLEEPING. Although he rolled over onto his stomach again and started crying again.

So he hasn’t really napped since he got up this morning. At 6:30. And it’s noon. Yikes. (Cat naps don’t count.) He normally naps every 2-3 hours.

My boy is growing up!!!

— time lapse —

So right after I posted this, he fell asleep. And he’s still sleeping. Which means he’s been sleeping for about 2 hours and 41 minutes. Yikes. I wonder if he will nap again today or just go to bed at his normal 6:30ish time?

Helmet Check-Up

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Good news! The specialist said Owen is doing AMAZING and he will probably be mostly done with the helmet in a total of 2½ months instead of the typical 3-4 months! I say “mostly done” because he would probably still have to wear it at night—just to make sure it doesn’t become flat again since he’s still sleeping on his back for the most part.

Our next appointment in two weeks is back in Livonia because they want another scan to see (technically and precisely) just how much his head has changed.

YAY OWEN!

Was today the day he decided he liked real food?

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So as we do most every night, we sat down to (try and) feed Owen. He’s been liking the mashed bananas, and we’ve been mixing it with Oatmeal & Banana cereal…but he’s still not been thrilled with eating it. Meaning, he will eat some, but he’s not really that into it and it’s somewhat of a challenge to get him to eat. We’ve just been assuming all along that he’s just not quite ready for “real” food. I mean, we’ve been trying for 2+ months now—everything from cereal to veggies—and he hasn’t been thrilled with anything.

So tonight we sat down with his normal small portion of cereal and banana (completely guesstimating at around 2-3 Tbs.), and Tom was feeding him while I was prepping dinner. It seemed to be going well (from all the “Good boys” I was hearing), so I poked my head in and saw that Owen was HUNGRILY eating. Opening his mouth eagerly and practically slurping down the food! He was also enjoying looking at and playing with dad’s watch while he was eating—so we thought maybe we found the trick to get him to eat.

But his eating was unlike anything we’ve yet experienced. He quickly finished off what little we had prepared, so I quickly got out some sweet potatoes (something he certainly hasn’t loved previously) and he ate the entire jar!!! 88| No prodding, no tricking him into opening his mouth, nothing. Just one spoonful after another, pretty much as fast as I could shovel it in.

WHAT?!

After finishing the jar, he STILL seemed to be hungry, so Tom made some more cereal (a smaller batch, but still). He snarfed that. I made ANOTHER bit of cereal. Gone.

WHAT?!?!?! 88|

He still seemed hungry, but by this time we were actually getting a little worried. Was all this going to come right back up? He had never eaten that much in one sitting before. Hell, it was probably the amount he normally ate over 3-4 feedings! Why was he suddenly so ravenous? Did he just suddenly start liking/wanting food today? Or was it a total fluke?

I got out a container of carrots. He seemed to be getting fussy, but we knew he was getting tired…but his cry sounded like his hungry cry! But we were sure he HAD to be full—so we thought maybe his cry was an “I’m too full” cry—but we all know if he doesn’t want to eat, he will make it impossible to feed him. So I fed him more carrots. It was becoming a bit harder to feed him (because he was crying/cranky) but every time I got some in his mouth he calmed down—and the carrots didn’t come back up.

Egads.

We just decided to stop and gave him a bath and got him ready for bed. We wondered how much of his bedtime bottle he would eat—after having eaten all that food…and he ate 6oz!!! Just about what he would eat on a normal night. Holy wah.

We can’t wait to see if we now have a good eater on our hands, or if this was a one-time thing.

Stay tuned.

Banana!

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We’ve been avoiding giving Owen fruit, because he hasn’t been eating his vegetables—and it’s common practice to always give veggies first, because once they taste the sweet fruit, it’s much harder to get them to eat their veggies. But we’ve wanted to give him fruit! (I even wanted to let him taste a dill pickle, but Tom said no!)

So Gramma Jean had some banana in her cereal that she didn’t want, and of course Owen was eyeing it (which he does with most food we eat) so she mashed up two tiny cubes and gave it to him (with my okay, of course!) and…he LOVED it! We ended up giving him maybe two small slices in total. And kept our fingers crossed that it didn’t ruin him for veggies!

A boat for the boy…and a trip to the lake!

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Since we were up in Grayling, Gramma Marsha came over to visit. She also brought Owen a gift—a blow up boat, complete with leg holes and a horn! It was perfect, as we were planning (hoping!) to take him to the lake (for his first big water experience) that weekend.

What was funny, though, was me reading the box: “For ages 6 months to 12 months. Up to 20 pounds.” 88| That meant we had better use it that weekend, otherwise he would be too big! (Yes, he is only six months old…but remember, he weighs as much as a 12-month old so he was already at the max weight!)

So just in case the beach thing didn’t work out, we had a photo op at home beforehand:

So then it was off to Houghton Lake to see Rose and Jim at their cottage. They have lake access just down the street, so we all walked down there, cameras and towels and boat in hand, boy in the stroller, hoping for it to go well.

Things started off well, but then he wasn’t anywhere near the water yet.

Unfortunately, it was windy, which made the water a bit choppy.

And the water was cold, so it took about five seconds to register that he didn’t like it so we pulled him out.

But we still wanted to try the boat. And this picture pretty much sums up his entire first lake experience:

So much for my grand visions of a nice and warm day, with the sun having warmed the first two inches of CALM lake water, with us sitting next to the boy IN the water, watching him play and kick. |-|

Then it was off for a pontoon ride around the lake. Rose and Jim didn’t have a baby life jacket but they did have a kinda small one—which Owen didn’t really like, either (but then, he was hungry—so once the bottle was finished, he was much happier). That said, his helmet was really in the way:

…so we eventually took it off—and once the helmet was off and he relaxed a bit, things were better:

…and he eventually fell asleep! 🙂

Size 3T jammies!

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So when Gramma Jean was here earlier this summer, we hit some neighborhood garage sales. One item she bought was this pair of Cars pajamas. She bought them for Robert (another grandson) who LOVES the movie Cars. The PJs were size 3T. However, they had obviously been washed and worn and had probably shrunk somewhat over time. Mom looked at them and thought “You know, they look like they would fit Owen.”

Nah. No way. I mean, he was (only) five months at the time. Fitting into 3T jammies? Get real. I said we could still give them to Robert. And then we forgot to pack them on our Kentucky trip. So when we got home, we put them on Owen for a laugh…except we really weren’t laughing.

They fit. THEY FIT! The size 3T (meaning 3-year-old toddler) fit him! The legs were a bit too long, but not by that much. And the top fit perfectly.

Oh my.

But sooooooo cute.

Helmet Check-Up

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Our specialist asked if Owen had a growth spurt in the past two weeks and I said no, not that I’ve noticed, why? He said because his head has shown a DRASTIC change in the two short weeks he’s had the helmet. He still has a long way to go, of course, but there are definite bumps on his head that weren’t there before—meaning the skull is reshaping. YAY OWEN!

Waiting for the appointment:

Facebook Updates

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  • Jennifer Hudson enjoyed the grilled pizza: turkey, shallots, garlic, parmesan, provolone, mozzarella, and Alfredo sauce. Mmmmmmmmm!
  • Jennifer Hudson says there goes this pair of pants. Thanks, kid.
  • Jennifer Hudson hates it when she’s smarter than a word game. Bookworm on the iphone doesn’t think rut, goes, or squaw are words. Seriously?
  • Jennifer Hudson says the dog is shaking like a leaf so there must be another storm coming.
  • Jennifer Hudson just got home from another successful (and fun!) mom’s group!
  • Jennifer Hudson is really fed up with the NC Employment Security Commission right now.
  • Jennifer Hudson wonders what the NC Employment Security Commission is trying to tell her…the website has been wonky all day, meaning I cannot file my weekly certification.
  • Jennifer Hudson just put the boy to bed and is watching him play with his feet on the camera.
  • Jennifer Hudson feels like she’s back in North Carolina. It’s 70% humidity and already like 86 degrees, with a high of 94 expected. YUCK.
  • Jennifer Hudson is watching a guy at the grocery store twist off each apple stem before he puts them in his bag. Freak.
  • Jennifer Hudson is watching an old Gilroy Garlic Festival Garlic Cook Off on Food Network.
  • Jennifer Hudson just discovered last night’s hamburgers in the microwave. >:XX
  • Jennifer Hudson is thrilled the boy slept through the night again…it’s happening more often than not these days!
  • Jennifer Hudson just made what she hopes is THE most delicious garlic bread, EVER. Stay tuned. —time lapse— Well…it WAS yummy but not as wonderful as I’d hoped! That said, I think I need to bake it at a higher temp so it gets more bubbly/melty (I just guessed and didn’t refer back to the recipe). But I made extra so we have some in the freezer to try again. I would definitely make it again, though!
  • Jennifer Hudson really really really really really REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY misses her Jacksonville friends. I had a dream about them last night, where we had to say goodbye again, and I woke up with tears in my eyes. Sniff.

Kohl’s Expedition

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So I innocently went to Kohl’s today. I had a $15 credit and thought I would pick up a new outfit for the boy. I hoped I could get something on sale.

Little did I know.

Every section had sale racks. Anything from 40 to 80% off!! The women’s section was first, so I picked out a few things (that I hoped would work—it’s too hard to try them on when schlepping the boy around). Then it was off to the baby section where—OH MY—I went a little crazy. But everything was 60-70-80% off! How could you not? It was funny because that section was filled with grandmas, and I could overhear some of them saying “This kid doesn’t need any more clothes! But it’s all so cheap! And so cute! I have GOT to get out of here!” 😀

On the way to the check-out I passed through the men’s section and quickly grabbed a few things for Tom, too. I could have EASILY spent another hour or so there looking at everything else (not just clothes). I may just have to go back!

I did opt to open a Kohl’s charge card to save an additional 20% on top of all my sale stuff—so I really did get some good deals! Plus they gave me a coupon for 15%, which I might take advantage of this weekend (so Tom can get a few more things).

So now I have to actually, seriously sit down and look at it all to make sure the ages/sizes/fits will be right. But the boy will surely be well-clothed for at least the next six months (it’s all summer-type stuff).

Yuck!

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So Tom, wonderful husband that he is, tries to take morning duty when he can, to let me sleep.

Even, surprisingly, with his painful back issues this week.

So this morning about 4:30 the boy wanted to eat, and I was going to get up, but Tom said he would. I asked if he was SURE and he said yes—and, well, I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I rolled over and didn’t think twice about it.

I heard Tom come back to bed, and then I fell asleep and the next thing I know it’s 7:15! Unfortunately, I woke up with a headache (as I did throughout the night—no idea why) and I checked the monitor and the boy was up but not squawking, so I took a few minutes to wake up, then went in there.

Of course, I got the wonderfully heart-melting morning smiles, picked him up, and went downstairs. I noticed that his onesie wasn’t quite snapped all the way (which is fine) and that his diaper seemed to be a bit askew—so I looked closer and—OH MY GOD.

Tom apparently didn’t quite get the diaper on right in the morning—one side tab was completely not latched so the diaper kind of just gravitated to one side…and of course the boy happened to poop, leaving me with poop-covered jammies, a mess in the crib, poop up my arm (from carrying him, that I hadn’t noticed until just then), and a dirty baby.

Sigh.

A questioning phone call to Tom was made, where he admitted he couldn’t see too well in the dark plus he was a little loopy on drugs. I told him he should be able to change a diaper in the dark, but I could understand the drugs thing.

Hoo boy. Our first real poop kinda-accident.

I guess I get morning duty until Tom is off the drugs. 🙂

Side sleeping!

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So we checked the monitor (as we always do) before going to bed ourselves, and this is what we saw! Oh my gosh! Too cute!

We then watched him for probably 20 minutes, and his little hands moved (opened and closed), his feet wiggled, his mouth opened and closed (and it looked like he was sucking a non-existent pacifier)…but he never rolled onto his back.

Such a little gem. 🙂

Owen in his crib…trying to go to sleep!

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This was taken a few nights ago, but it could realistically be ANY night. :))

It’s pretty long (about 6:20), but I just wanted to give you an idea of what he does every night. He generally always starts with kicking the musical aquarium (turning it on/off/on/off/on ad nauseum, which you can actually see in the very first seconds of the video), then he starts moving and rotating, starting the 180, he grabs the burp cloth, he wiggles, he kicks, he continues the 180, he kicks, he rolls on his side, he pauses, he sucks the burp cloth, he completes the 180 and moves on to a 360, he whips the burp cloth over his face, etc… Eventually, he passes out (although I didn’t catch that this time)—sometimes it’s in five minutes, sometimes it’s 20. But it’s always cute and fun to watch!

Helmet Check-Up

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So I had to take Owen in for a sorta emergency (not really EMERGENCY) helmet adjustment appointment today. Over the weekend, when we took the helmet off, we noticed that he had two huge red spots behind his ears—and one of them even had a sore starting (with what looked like a pimple on it!). 88| Poor guy, it must really have been sore and irritating—he has always kinda reaching up and trying to scratch at his face/ear, but we assumed it was just because it was something he wasn’t used to touching his face. Tom tried to use the dremel to pare it down, but of course we didn’t want to do to much in case we ruined the helmet (and had to buy another one).

I called first thing in the morning and they got us in that afternoon (unfortunately, I had to miss a mom’s group meeting) and made the necessary adjustments (they use some type of tool to grind away the foam core) and told us NO MORE DREMEL! We didn’t hurt it, but they said if there are issues like that again, just leave the helmet off until we can get in to see them. Then they made some adjustments to other parts of the helmet (above his brow line, and gluing a side piece in) and that was it.

We have our regular check-up next week, which we may be able to postpone if there are no spots that need attention and if he seems to be doing okay.

Outdoor photo session!

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It was really nice out this afternoon, so we decided to try and take some photos outside.

Ha.

Ha ha.

HAHAHAHAHA!

It truly felt like an exercise in futility. He refused to sit up at all, he wouldn’t even sit well propping him up, the camera was giving me troubles (not focusing), he was more interesting in watching the kids next door in the pool, his eyes would close during the shot, or you couldn’t frame the shot so that Tom or I weren’t in it…so it was frustrating.

After all that, we had a whopping 203 photos (taken in about 15 minutes) and guess how many remain after the deletion round? 10. And how many good ones? Maybe two. Guess how many great ones? Zero.

Here are the two good ones (and I don’t even think they’re that good):

Oh well. Tomorrow I get to try again since it’s his 6-month birthday!

Green beans!

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So for breakfast today we let Owen try green beans. At first, he had the same reaction he always does—you know the face—but then most of them stayed down. He actually ended up eating about half the small jar! We were excited! Maybe we had finally found the food that would get him to eat.

Alas, it was short-lived.

We tried more beans for lunch…and he didn’t want anything to do with them. So now we get to figure out if it’s the food or if he just doesn’t like two meals of real food or if it’s something else entirely.

Hoo boy.

One week later…

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We are thrilled—we can already see a major improvement in the boy’s head shape! After just 7 days! YAY!! (But he’s still going to have to wear it for quite awhile, though—if he stops, it could just as easily go flat again.)

We didn’t take specific pictures, but these are two we had—you can sort of see the change.

High chair!

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Tonight we decided to try having Owen sit in the high chair (for the first time!) while we ate dinner—then figured as long as he was there, we’d try some real food again, letting him play in it if he wanted. He had carrots (again) and broccoli (new). He definitely didn’t like the broccoli:

—and (again) wasn’t thrilled with the carrots. He didn’t really even want to play in the food much—go figure, he puts everything in his mouth except for the things we WANT him to put in his mouth! But, he still opens his mouth when he sees the spoon coming, so he wants to eat…we just have to find something he likes! He was cute playing with the spoon, though:

Of course, bath time immediately followed dinner!