Waiting and watching.
Owen, upon seeing Katie playing with the steering wheel: Katie, that is NOT a toy.
Category Archives: Owen
Mom, can I pick up Charlie?
Sure.
Getting ready to run the ravine
This isn’t the best video but it makes me laugh. Owen wanted to run again, but he had to “exercise” (stretch) first. He obviously got the idea from somewhere I have no idea about. 🙂
And his cheering section—she’d clap wildly while saying “Run Owen!”
Me and the Monkeys
Well, that was some excitement.
Owen locked Katie in his bedroom (technically accidentally but kind of on purpose because he was playing) and—SURPRISE!!—we don’t have a key to open it. None of the generic tools I found were working, our landlord didn’t have a key either, none of the neighbors we knew were home, and the hinges and knob screws were on the inside of the door (so I couldn’t remove them). Oh, and Tom is 1000 miles away.
Cue subdued panic for about 30 minutes while I texted Tom, texted the landlord, visited the neighbors, hunted for the tools, etc.
I finally jimmied it open…and now his knob is reversed, too. Is 9:30 too early for a drink?
Oh! The best part? All Owen was concerned with (if we didn’t get the door open) was he wouldn’t be able to sleep in his bed tonight.
Sibling Roughhousing
Outside time
Pool time!
Two at the mirror…and the TV.
I think he’s teaching himself to read.
Because we certainly aren’t doing much with him—he rarely wants to read books with us anymore and I don’t see him ever reading books…but the other night, I opened a sight words app on the iPad just to see if he knew any…and he BLEW through most of them with ease:
run up can she the you he red go my this like
look and said move to come is play will big
on funny little ran good of are three down not
one have away at saw yellow here
So then I opened another sight words app that actually had sentences…and he got most of them right, too. Sentences like:
Do you want to play with me?
I saw Santa Claus.
The girl gave the kitten a hug.
I know how to cut paper.
I don’t like to drink milk.
My toy is here.
The rabbit will eat the grass.
What shall we eat this morning?
My dog ran away.
Of course he had a few stumbles on some words, but overall he impressed the shit out of me. (The app gives grade levels for the sight words/sentences and there were a variety of K-third grade level.)
How is he doing this? He mostly plays games on the iPad but we do make him do ABCMouse—so is the 15 minutes a day he’s been doing that responsible?! We’re just flummoxed.
July pictures are online.
I’m a bit behind this month, but here they are: July 2014 Pictures at Shutterfly
Hugs, just because.
I made Owen upset.
Owen ate a cheeseburger!
Bun and all! That Tom grilled! We’re thrilled!!
Afternoon attempt at monthly shot
And also her first single pony tail!
I thought getting Owen involved might help. Not so much, though it’s cute.
Owenisms 51 & Kateisms 8
Owen: 2-4-6-8
Me: What comes next?
Owen: 10?
Me: Yes. Where did you learn that?
Owen: In two school!
Friends are coming to stay for a few days. The daughter is about Owen’s age and he’s REALLY been looking forward to it.
Owen: It’s Tuesday! Emily’s coming today!
Me: Yes. Please pick up these toys.
Owen: Katie, please pick up the toys. Emily doesn’t like a messy room.
Owen: Mom, I wish we had gramma’s ingredients for lunch.
Me: What are her ingredients?
Owen: Square crackers with cheese melted on them. [Triscuits and creamy havarti cheese.]
Owen: Mom, TJ is big enough.
Me: What do you mean big enough?
Owen: He’s like parents.
***
At the pool playing with the rings with other kids around.
Katie: [Throws a ring] Go get it Owee! [Throws a ring] Go get it daddy! [Throws a ring] Go get it boy.
Katie hasn’t been able to open her bedroom door yet. This morning I walked down the hall to check on the kids since it was later than normal.
Katie: [From behind her door] Can Katie come out please?
We were driving to the pool (about 150 yards away) and on a whim I put Katie in my lap—she usually (obviously) sits in her rear-facing car seat.
Katie, as we’re driving down the road and she’s looking out the front: WHOAAAA! This is crazy!
School Supply Shopping
So, what does a kindergartner need to start school? Here’s Owen’s list. I know you’re wondering about the boys list vs girls list and it took me a minute to find it—but the only difference is that boys have top bring gallon bags and the girls have to bring quart bags.
It didn’t look too bad, but from experience (when I worked retail) I always heard parents bitching about how specific the lists were—like if it said “3 red, 3 blue, 3 green pocket folders with clips” you had better bring in those exact colors. If it was Crayola crayons it had better be Crayola and not some off brand. So I’m wondering what things on the list are exact and which are likely just general suggestions. I can’t imagine for KINDERGARTEN it matters that much. The open house isn’t until August 28 (five days before school starts) so I’d rather not have to wait until them to ask the teachers (though I could).
The things I most wondered about are:
(3) Clorox Wipes, Disinfect, Bleach-Free, Lemon Scent, 35ct — Lemon scent? Really?
(4) Dry Erase Markers Chisel Tip Low Odor Black — I’m hoping these come in a four-pack.
(12) Glue Stick, washable, .77oz — I assume .77oz is a popular size but I also assume any washable glue sticks are fine.
So, this morning it was time. And it was somewhat painful.
I literally stood in front of the disinfectant wipes for 10 minutes debating wipes. As you can see, they requested “3 Clorox Wipes, Disinfect, Bleach-Free, Lemon Scent, 35ct.” Do I get the three pack off brand with two lemon scent and one fresh scent 35ct for $4.24? The three off brand lemon scent singles 35ct for about $8? The brand name Clorox lemon scent 75ct buy 3 get 1 free for $12? Or just send in Kirkland wipes I’ve already bought? I opted for the $4.24 set. And don’t get me started on glue sticks.
It took me almost two hours to find and decide on a list of 11 things—and that included two stores because one store (Target, where I started) didn’t have everything (though some of that time was just from being in brand new stores where I didn’t know where anything was).
But now he’s ready! 🙂
Taking the police car out for a scary spin
The hilly lots/roads really REALLY suck.
We started in the backyard but it’s SO steep that it really taxed the car battery—and it’s SO narrow that it really taxed Owen’s driving skills. And consequently my patience. 😐
So we headed to the front.
But if they’re not actively moving forward they’re rolling backward and even on the low speed they can get going pretty fast downhill. I don’t trust him not to go off the sidewalk (even accidentally) and hit a car or mailbox so I let him go downhill on the side of the street but it was still nerve wracking and I walked in front of the car the whole way.
Heading up on the sidewalk.
Heading down in the street.
It looks less intense than it really is:
Heading up the somewhat flat sidewalk along the main drag.
I’m not sure if we’ll be keeping the car or getting rid of it. I had high hopes of being able to use it here but it’s just SO SO STEEP. So of course I’m feeling super guilty about it again. 🙁
Night Swim 2
Tom took Owen down for the night swim again.
Ice cream time!
🙂
Last day swimming with friends
We’ve been going to the pool every afternoon with our guests. Today was the first day I remembered my camera. Owen and Katie have both gotten MUCH more comfortable in the pool…
Katie had borrowed another girl’s toys but the girl eventually wanted them back. This is what happened.
Ruth and TJ taught Owen how to blow in one end of the noodle to spit water out the other end.
Katie likes to float on a noodle now, too.
And try to climb up on it.
I wanted Owen to show me a big jump like he’s been doing but I just got this little one.
Katie has started saying “Oh yeah! Oh yeah!” (from Despicable Me) and she was doing it in the pool.
A day out with friends!
My friend Ruth (that I met in Jacksonville through the mommy group) lives about 1:30 away from us now (they moved to Maryland a few months before we moved). Her son was attending a baseball camp close by so they were staying here. Yesterday I watched her younger daughter and today she was going to take Owen with them, but she convinced me to go and bring the kids. It was exhausting, but fun…we hit two parks and had a picnic lunch at a library.
Owen wasn’t sure about the ropes—he definitely isn’t a climber like Emily—but he eventually climbed up a little ways.
Playing in the water feature at the library. She needed a change of clothes when she was done (which I had been prepared for!).
Park #2
Making friends!
Owen’s first overnight friend…almost.
Owen was super excited to have his friend Emily sleep in his room…
Unfortunately, she changed her mind about two minutes after we tucked them in and turned out the lights. 🙁
Lunch buddies!
Someone’s first tooth came out!
We’ve been waiting and waiting and wanting to pull it out because it was SO loose but he wouldn’t let us get near it. It was so loose we were afraid he was going to swallow it. But this morning eating a donut I saw him stop chewing, stop and think for a second, then reach in his mouth.
TA DA!
And not a great picture but you can see the hole better. 🙂
Checking it out in the mirror.
Watching the sunrise
Katie was up at 5:52, crying—we’ve turned her lock around so she can’t get out and wander…but the flip side is she cries because she can’t get out. YOU CAN’T WIN. She came back to my bed and laid quietly with me for about 20 minutes before I gave up and took a shower…at which point she went and woke Owen up. STINKER!
We came downstairs and Owen noticed the sun was coming up…and he wanted to watch it…and wanted Katie to come out, too. 🙂
Owen’s nirvana
After running our errands, we surprised the kids by taking them to the Lego store at the mall. They were both excited! There was lots of Star Wars stuff around so Katie kept screeching “YODA! YODA!”
We were willing to buy him a huge $80 set (that was on clearance) but he chose a little $10 set instead. 🙂
Then we stopped at the play area on the way back.
Someone picked out his new backpack!
Loose tooth update
It’s REALLY loose now but he won’t let us try to pull it. We’ve been able to see the replacement tooth for awhile now…
A new bubble machine!
Gramma Jean got this for the kids to use when we were in Michigan but we never had time for it…so it came home with us. We finally got it out today (the kids were driving me crazy so we had to get out of the house)! And of course they loved it!
She loves climbing up in the chairs.
Getting another ninja!
Ever since Owen got the little toy ninja at the grocery store the other day, he’s been talking pretty much non-stop about getting another ninja. First he wanted a blue one then it was definitely a green one—and I told him that he couldn’t pick the color and he’d have to be happy with whatever one he got. He wanted to go get one RIGHT NOW…multiple times a day. I told him that the next time we went to that store, he could take his money and get one. Well, of course, he then asked multiple times a day if we were going to that store.
Well, this afternoon was finally the time. He got dressed with me only asking once (rare), picked a quarter out of his bank, and put it safely in his shorts pocket. On the way to the store, he asked “How do I get the toy?” I said it was in a machine that he had to put the money in. He wasn’t sure about that and I said I’d show him when we got there. When we entered the store he was SUPER excited—but he knew he had to wait until AFTER the shopping was done and we had checked out (the machines are right at checkout). He even said a few times “I’m being good and waiting!” 🙂
Then out of nowhere he says “I know how the machine works! You put the coin in the slot and turn the handle and make sure your hand is underneath it to catch it!” Of course he was 100% right—we must have gotten him something in the past but hell if I can remember what or when it was but of course he remembers!
So we shopped…and then it was time.
And he got the green one! YIPPEE!
You would NOT believe the excitement over a 25-cent piece of plastic. 🙂