So, in addition to the Daddy Dolls, I also got Owen a personalized book called Daddy’s Deployed. Of course I had it for two months before I could even bear to read it myself…and then I made Tom read it to Owen the first time because I knew I wouldn’t be able to get through it without crying (I was sitting behind Owen so he couldn’t see me). Owen did pretty well during the story, but did get a little teary and sad. Especially on the page where we’re all saying goodbye to daddy with sad faces. 🙁
But he asked to read it again the next night…and it was up to me. I steeled myself and got through it…even with Owen being sad again.
He’s also been sad on and off throughout the day for a few days now…back to saying how much he misses his daddy. 🙁 Thankfully it’s not as bad as its been in the past…but I’m keeping my fingers crossed anyway.
So then this afternoon Tom overheard Owen playing:
Owen: When daddy is deployed we are going to send him letters and packages and call and Skype and he will love it!
Tonight’s project was trying to get him to float better. He could do it a little bit during the completion of his jump…but I wanted him to do it longer. It took quite a while—and daddy finally getting in the pool—before it actually happened.
But first, the prerequisite underwater shot…
A cool shot that looks like ice…
And cool new underwater blowing bubbles shots…
Attempting to float but really just jumping at me…
A cool faux-hawk…
Making mama happy…
Floating!
And on video!
When it was almost time to go in:
Me: Daddy, I think it’s time for I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M. Owen, do you know what that spells?
Owen: I got no idea.
Tom: What does I-C-E sound like?
Owen: Ice!
Me: Yes, so ICE-C?
Owen: Cake!
Me & Tom: [Laughing] Nooo.
Me: ICE-C-R?
Owen: Cracker?
Me & Tom: [Laughing] Nooo.
Tom: ICE CREAM! Doesn’t that sound good?
Owen: Ah, no thanks.
So, let’s just say there was a MAJOR poop incident tonight that should NOT have happened because he’s old enough and smart enough to know better. As he was in the bath and we were talking about it and discussing future punishments if it happened again…it went like this:
Me: If this happens again, we will take away your Legos for a week.
Owen: And if you take them away again…it would be…subtraction.
I was stunned into momentarily silence because that was NOT what I was expecting him to say but he WAS technically right. Stinker. I tried to keep from laughing but I did chuckle.
Me: You’re absolutely right. That would be subtraction.
Owen: 🙂
At dinner, I asked Owen what his favorite part of yesterday was. He tells me when he was in the other room playing with R2D2. No, we tell him, that was just a little while ago before dinner. We tell him yesterday was the party—and ask again what his favorite part of the day was. He stops and thinks.
Owen: The big white slide that goes around to the water.
Us: ??? [Thinking…]
Me: Owen, that was the water slide on vacation two weeks ago.
We explain that yesterday was the big party when Miss Virginia was here and he played with the kids and in the pool and had cake and ice cream.
Me: Owen, what did you like best about yesterday?
Owen: Playing in the pool.
Today was the big day of our Deckwarming party (and Tom’s going away party) as well as a mini celebration of Katie’s first birthday (technically her third first birthday as we already celebrated in Michigan, then she had her actual birthday on the 10th, and then today’s gathering). It was a long, hot, tiring—yet fun—day.
Party-prep is so much work—it never seems like stuff will take that long…but it always does. I was VERY thankful to have hired Virginia to come watch the kids while we did the prep because then I didn’t have to listen to Katie screaming because I wasn’t paying attention to her…and I was actually able to get stuff done! I loved what Virginia posted on Facebook—it’s classic Owen:
As usual, we had too much food (or maybe just not enough people?!) but then, I’m a Len and we apparently don’t know how to cook for less than 40 people (or are paranoid about not having enough food regardless of the number of people). 🙂 But everything was delicious.
The weather actually held out—it was touch and go for awhile with intermittent thunderstorms pretty much all morning and early afternoon—but it cleared up about 4 and was sunny and gorgeous (though the humidity was right at about 99%).
We had a good blend of old (Mitchells and Trimbles) and new friends (from my mommy group) and the kids had a blast in the playroom and in the pool.
Then it was time for the birthday cake. I had wanted to do something special for Katie so she didn’t fall into that “second kid gets squat compared to the first kid” thing PLUS after Owen’s Lego cake debacle I had decided I was never attempting to bake a cake again…so I asked our friend Ursula to make a cake. She has recently started making and decorating cakes and she’s ABSOLUTELY AMAZING (as opposed to my first attempt—see above Lego debacle post). Here’s the picture I sent her (that I found on Pinterest) along with her version on the right (I asked for the 1 on top instead of the ladybug and only two layers):
Also a big thanks to mommy-group friend Jacqueline who helped with my last-minute ice cream request (Doh! How could we have forgotten ice cream on our three trips to town?!) and pre-party kitchen cleanup (she arrived during the last 15-minute rush to get everything done, saw I was a bit overwhelmed, and jumped in to wash the sink full of dishes).
Some of the kids playing dress up:
Having a blast in the pool:
Wandering:
She made such a mess that we had to hose off the deck (thanks, Roger!) and give her a quick bath in the sink with Dawn detergent (I hadn’t planned ahead to have baby soap downstairs). Here she is somewhat cleaned up, back with Virginia again.
Since Owen was having so much fun in the pool and with the kids, we let him stay up late. This is about 9:30 right before he finally went to bed.
Thanks to everyone who shared the day with me and Tom!! And you can tell we’re all getting older…everyone had gone home by 10:15!! 🙂
Me: If you’d like, your milk is in the fridge.
Owen: [Thumbs up.]
Owen: Mama, you watch your TV. I’m going to go play with my Legos.
Owen: Mama, can I have my dessert? I was a good boy sleeping long.
Me: No. You haven’t even had breakfast yet.
Owen: OH DANGIT! It took me awhile to figure out what he meant because he was up at 7. But then he hopped into bed and cuddled with me while I slept to 7:30. 🙂
Owen: Mama, I need a new B.
Me: Why?
Owen: Because I lost my next one for good.
Owen: Holding up a Lego trident.Mom, what’s this gold thing? Before I can answer—
Owen: It’s a trident. Who’s the underwater king?
Me: King Neptune.
Owen: Mom, thanks for saying King Neptune.
As I’m lifting Katie up onto the couch…
Owen: I want to hold my sister.
Me: Okay, on your lap?
Owen: NO!
Me: ???
Owen: I’m done [with dinner].
Tom: Let me stick a fork in you.
Owen: No! I don’t want to get little holes because I don’t like it and I’d be sad.
Trying to put his scabbard in his underwear and finding it difficult.
Owen: Mama! I need pants!
So I had been DREADING this talk. We all know how much Owen loves his daddy and misses him when he’s just at work for the day…
We ordered the Sesame Street Deployment video (Elmo’s daddy goes away to help people, Elmo’s mommy stays home) and watched it ahead of time—and I couldn’t make it through without crying (but then, the last month is the most emotional for me).
So at breakfast, we finally told Owen about Tom leaving and Owen’s immediate response was “But I don’t want you to go. I will miss you.” Tom assured him that he would miss him, too. We told him it was like when daddy had to go to school before and was gone for a lot of days, but this time he was going farther away and wouldn’t be able to come home on the weekends. Owen told Tom that he would go to school, too. 🙂
Then we showed him the Sesame Street video…and he seems okay so far. It just seemed like any other Sesame Street episode to him. But now out of nowhere he’ll say “Elmo’s mommy stays home.” And I reassure him yes, Elmo’s mommy stays home—just like I will be here with him and Katie. I also repeat “Grown ups come back” (which is from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood when Daniel Tiger doesn’t want his parents to go out for the night—the babysitter tells him that grown ups always come back).
I’m sure there will be worse times…but for now—when I’M still fragile—I’ll take his nonchalance.
This is Owen’s new response to just about everything…even when he sometimes knows the answer.
Me: Owen, do you know how to unzip Maggie’s crate?
Owen: I got no idea.
Me: Who gave you those Legos?
Owen: I got no idea.
Me: Owen, where’s your B?
Owen: I got no idea.
Me: What did I just tell you?
Owen: I got no idea.
Owen: It says pbskids.com.
Grandma Jean: Do you know what that is?
Owen: I got no idea.
Me: Owen, if you’re a good boy tonight and don’t cry when Katie cries and you’re quiet and stay in bed, we’ll give you a Lego tomorrow. Okay?
Owen: Shakes head in agreement.
Me: What did I say?
Owen: I got no idea.
Owen: [Playing on the iPad.] I spelled cake!
Me: How do you spell it?
Owen: I got no idea.
Owen: What do you want for a treat tonight?
Owen: I got no idea.
In the past month or two, Owen has taken to whole chicken butt thing (Guess what? Chicken butt!) but also morphs it into chicken —from chicken Katie to chicken table. He finds it HILARIOUS, as most young kids would. But this morning he went to another level.
Owen was using one of Katie’s blocks as a pretend camera and then wanted us to use it taking pictures of him. So I asked if I could use my real camera. YES! So I’d say “1-2-3-Pose!” and he’d pose. These are the best two.
We took Owen over to Traverse City to one of the museums because they were having a Lego Carnival! When we asked him what he saw, he said “LEGO HEADS!”
A carnival sounds quite a but more exciting than it really was—basically just a few rooms of big pre-constructed Lego buildings and then a play area—but he enjoyed it. The hardest part for him was not being able to touch the minifigs that were with the buildings…especially the one that had fallen over. 🙂
But then there was the big Lego tunnel with daddy…
And then he got to the big Lego building area…and his running commentary was about like this: “Awesome. Awesome. This is amazing. Lets get going. Holy mackerel. Wow!”
Yes, I realize that the last picture should be the first picture, but I didn’t feel like redoing the whole collage.
And his final product!!
Then it was off to build cars! We got the base ready for him and then he did the rest. Daddy also built one!
Then it was time to send them down the slide to see if they survived (both did!).
Then he just wanted to play with his cars.
Then it was back to the Lego building tables to rearrange his car pieces.
Then we told him it was almost time to go and asked how many more minutes he wanted to stay. We never know what we’re going to get when we ask him open-ended questions (How many M&Ms do you want? is a typical one) so we all had a big laugh when he said “Five hours.” I don’t think he knows time that well yet but who knows. So we said 15 minutes and set a timer and when it went off, he just asked to run his cars down the ramp one more time so we did:
Then it was off to lunch at North Peak Brewery. Owen decided he wanted to eat outside and us three adults all looked at each other like “Ugh—it’s too warm” but we did it anyway…and it ended up to be REALLY nice as it was mostly overcast and there was a nice breeze! Owen passed the time putting together a new Lego set that Grandma Marsha had bought him for being such a good boy! (I helped him but he did most of it!)
On the way home, we were thinking about stopping for ice cream but thought we could go either way…so we let Owen be the deciding factor.
Tom: Owen, would you like a treat?
Owen: No thanks.
Me: Don’t you want to know what it is?
Owen: Okay.
Me: Ice cream.
Owen: No thanks. Legos were my treat. [Remember, Grandma Marsha bought him the Legos earlier as a treat.]
This isn’t normal for a 4yo, right? To give up ice cream?! He constantly surprises us. 🙂
Tom took Owen to stay at Grandma Marsha’s overnight and they went to the Kaliseum. Why does Kalkaska have something like this and Jacksonville doesn’t?!
Owen was having fun playing with the other kids and then even went down this big waterside by himself!! Twice!!
He had a blast there! He called it a hotel, though… 🙂
They all went to Big Boy for dinner, where Owen ordered his own hot dog dinner!
During dinner…
Owen: Guess what?
Uncle Rob: What?
Owen: Not you, I am asking your mother!
And then had ice cream back at Grandma’s.
And Uncle Rob tried to sleep with Owen, but Owen told him “No, Uncle Rob, this bed is my size.” 🙂
On the way home Owen asked to go to the park so after a pit stop to drop me and Katie off, they went back to town.
“Here I am!”
Then he approached a boy who was playing on the bouncy alligator…so they bounced together for awhile.
And then made fast friends with a little girl… She apparently gave him a Twizzler and while he did try it, he also tried to give it back to her when he didn’t want it anymore! (We’re still working on that.)
He has SO much fun with other kids…it’s awesome to watch!
Since we typically miss the Christmas get-together, we got everyone together for dinner in Bay City!
Owen did okay getting back in the car again but Katie was. not. thrilled. and let us know. 🙁 However, during one moment in which Katie was momentarily quiet, we heard Owen pope up: “Good job, Katie. You’re being patient.” 🙂
Everyone adored Katie and most of them said she was a mini Jenny (we still don’t see it).
A birthday balloon for Katie from Grauntie Rose:
On the move…
Rocks taste good:
First beer!
Owen LOVED playing with Jessica and Alex…but obviously liked Jess just a little more!
With cousin Aubrey, who is six months older—can you believe it?
The gaggle of young cousins:
Nick (almost 9), Gracie (almost 7), Aubrey (almost 5), and Owen (4).
And the same group two years ago (April 2011). Nick (almost 7), Gracie (almost 5), Aubrey (almost 3), and Owen (just turned 2). Owen outweighs Aubrey by at least 12# and is about 5# less than the 5yo.
An attempt at a family photo:
Timmy did the grilling!
With Aunt Lori:
And Gramma Jean:
The whole family (minus Greg, Aunt Sue, and Uncle Marv…plus friends Chris and Pete):
Katie in a fancy dress… Lisa brought a few bins of 3T clothes for me to sort through for Katie—a bunch of which were winter clothes and fancy dresses (which we don’t need) but this dress was SO cute I had to put her in it just for a few pictures. She loved it!
Owen had SOOO much fun he didn’t want to leave, but we had to drive back to Grayling… The big test was to see how the kids did sleeping in the car and being taken directly into bed…which they both passed with flying colors!
Amazingly we started off on schedule—and if you want to be technical about it, we were actually seven minutes early. And we didn’t think of anything we forgot…
The barrette lasted a whole hour—which doesn’t seem like much but her previous record was about three seconds.
Things went pretty well until Katie got a little screechy. But Owen was SO awesome—he’d start talking to her, singing the ABCs, playing peek-a-boo (which usually resulted in giggles), and clapping (at which point she’d clap in return). But then it turned into hunger screeches meaning she wanted her bottle—which sounds easy…but isn’t. She can physically hold the bottle—but can’t understand she has to tip it (she wants it to work like a straw cup). We tried putting her formula in the straw cup…and then she doesn’t really want it. And even though it’s attached to a strap so it can’t end up on the floor…it ends up hanging or upside down…dripping milk. Sigh. At this age, Owen was definitely holding his own bottle—great for road trips.
So I tried giving her a no-spill snack cup…which lasted all of five minutes until she a) figured out how to hold one flap open and tip most of it out and then b) got the entire lid off! Joy.
No-spill snack cup: 0
Katie: 1
So we figured our good little eater would snarf down some mac and cheese for lunch. Nah. Not interested today. REALLY?! Also not really interested in any of our foods, including one of her favorite baby foods. GRRR.
The good thing about lunch is that the owner—after chatting with Tom—comped our meal as a thank you for his service. So a nice shout out to Prissy Polly’s BBQ in Kernersville, NC.
Neither kid napped well. Katie got maybe an hour each before and after lunch and Owen got maybe an hour total with his catnaps.
Then there was a sibling sharing game, played with the lid to the snack container. Owen would hand it to Katie, she’d hand it back, lather rinse repeat. Owen kept saying “We’re sharing! We’re talking turns!” 🙂 He’s such an awesome big brother.
When we finally got to the hotel, Owen helped daddy with the cart (it was too bright for a good picture!).
And Maggie’s bag…which was about half his size.
Katie was having a blast crawling/zooming across the bed. Of course as soon as I tried to record her, she stopped.
Then she learned how to get off the bed. Just like that. (Just like she learned how to slide off the couch.) She’s a smart cookie.
Then it was off to dinner. We ate at the hotel just to make life easy. Katie ate seasoned curly fries, regular fries, and beef brisket (in addition to her cheese slices, green beans, and yogurt). Yes, BBQ beef brisket. Owen? The triple-decker PB&J and yogurt we packed from home.
Then it was FINALLY time for the pool—Owen had been asking most of the day but had really started asking when we got to the hotel. He was VERY excited!
Catching a ride and kicking it with daddy…
Watching daddy and Owen in the pool:
Then I took Katie outside for a stroll since it was REALLY warm in the pool area.
It took a minute to get a smile.
Then it was back to the pool, where daddy nommed some Katie toes.
I love when I get an unexpected shot. 🙂
Back at the room, we turned our backs for a minute…and this happened.
Yes, she opened the drawer AND got in by herself. And she was SO proud! Of course, she got out by herself, too.
Unfortunately, there were a few tiny snafus.
I thought I did really well by packing overnight bags so we didn’t have to haul everyone’s suitcases in…but I apparently forgot obvious stuff like jammies and Katie didn’t have her burp cloth.
I rolled the stroller through something in the hotel (they had some construction areas) and tracked it all over our carpet. It looked like putty, and thankfully it was still wet enough to easily wipe up.
Owen picked a scab and bled all over the white sheets. I had no band-aids…either on me or in our med bag. Tom had to get one from the front desk.
I haven’t had reflux in a month…so of course tonight was the night. And I forgot to take my nightly meds before putting Katie to bed, and I really didn’t want to get up because it took her 25 minutes of SCREAMING to fall asleep and hell if I was going to be the one to wake her up.
Also, the room next door has a bird and a yapping dog. Luckily it didn’t wake Katie up…but it woke me up about 10:30, and them continued to bark randomly until the owners SLAMMED back into their room around midnight.
Oh, we also got the last non-smoking room and it’s…not great. The bathroom smells, the bathroom counter is chipping, the toilet runs, and the sliding bathroom door (handicap accessible) is off the track so it can’t close. But we got a military discount!
Owen has a Lego sticker book that includes, among other things, Harry Potter characters. No matter what I tell him—or how many times I tell him—he still says Death Eaters eat bad food. 🙂
Owen: Mama, we need the go go pillow.
Me: The what?
Owen: The go go pillow.
Me: What’s the go go pillow?
Owen: You put the iPad in it.
AHA! The lightbulb goes off. It’s from a commercial during one of his cartoons.
The shows for younger kids save the cartoons for the end of the show…which is when we always stop the recording. But the cartoons for older kids have a break in the middle…which we don’t always catch. Which means he sees the commercials.
Then I remembered he’s also asked for some make-your-own ice cream thing. I couldn’t remember what it was called so I just asked him.
Me: Owen, what was the ice cream thing you saw on TV?
Owen: What thing?
Me: The one you shake.
Owen: Ice cream magic—ice cube, bowls, flavors.
Owen: Mama, say hi to the Lego boxer.
Me: Hi boxer!
Owen: He can’t say hi because he’s a Lego and Legos can’t talk.
Me: Owen, can I have a hug?
Owen: Of course!
Me: Mmm…you’re delicious!
Owen: No, I’m Owen!
Owen: Mama, there’s a bugga bugga!
Me: We don’t need to worry about him. He’s tiny.
Owen: Can I talk to him?
Me: Sure.
Owen: Hi bugga bugga! Hi little fella!Pause. Mama! He can’t hear me! Maybe I’m too big.
Me: You’re right. Maybe he’s too far away. Owen keeps playing with his cars.
Owen: Mama! The bugga bugga is gone!
Me: Yep, he must have flown away.
Owen: Maybe he went back to his family!
Getting into the car at Sam’s Club.
Owen: Mama, where’s the pretending owl?
Me: The what?
Owen: The pretending owl.
Me: Owl? Oh! That’s at Lowes.
Owen: Mama, close your eyes and think of something happy.
Me: Okay. I close my eyes.
Owen: What makes you happy?
Me: Campfires.
Owen: Ahhh!
Me: Close your eyes and think of something happy. Owen closes his eyes.
Me: What makes you happy?
Owen: Playing…with Katie!
Shopping at Sam’s Club.
Owen, from out of nowhere: Mom, who’s Sam?
Me: Um. The dog next door?
Owen: No. Who’s Sam? Sam’s Club. Who’s Sam?
At dinner, we were regaled with stories about the Cheerios monster who was coming to steal Owen’s pretend Cheerios. And the ninjas were coming to help out and we had to let them in (which actually required us to open the front door).
Owen: Mama, I have a surprise for you.
Me: A surprise?
Owen: Yes. He shows me his newest potty reward—a Lego minifigure bat.
Me: Oh! A bat!
Owen: Not just any bat…a VAMPIRE bat!
Owen was rubbing his eyes close to his old nap time.
Me: Owen, are you tired?
Owen: No, I’m just checking if something is wrong with them. They’re okay.
Owen: Daddy, it’s almost time for me to brush my teeth and go to bed.
Tom: Yes it is.
Owen: How about you watch football and I’ll play with my trains. That’s a good deal.
Tom: Why yes, it is a good deal.
Today we went to a friend’s birthday party (the husband of one of the mommy group moms) and they had borrowed a huge inflatable water slide. Owen just wanted to splash in the water…but eventually started going down the slide. And then we couldn’t get him off! He was SO happy! And it was great to watch!
When it was time to go, we asked him how many more times he wanted to go down the slide and he stopped and was really putting some thought into it. His answer? TEN! 🙂
Then on the way home he kept asking about the water slide and saying he wanted to go back to it. I’m sure he’ll get to go on it again since we have play dates at the house that owns it. 🙂
Yep. I’m now that mom. Tonight’s bath was a dip in the pool. (Well, technically more than just a dip.) 🙂
Every time he says “Watch me mom! Watch me!” I think of all the hundreds of times I said the same thing about cartwheels (or thousands of times if you believe what my dad says).
