O's First Day of School

Another first happened today!

Owen had his first day of school!

We chose to send Owen to Mother's Day Out two days a week this year at the local First Baptist Church. I'm excited to see how much he'll learn and grow this year. The program includes music, Spanish and all sorts of fun activities!

The morning started with breakfast with the grandparents and "a little bit of Arthur" (his fav tv show of the moment).

Then Daddy and I took our buddy to school complete with nap mat, pack-ack, and lunch box. Oh, the cuteness!!!! We didn't have the picture perfect hand-off this morning, but it is my prayer this gets easier and easier.

He is growing leaps and bounds every day. This summer it has been so fun to watch him become a stronger swimmer, explore the yard and play pretend, meet new friends on the playground and play together, learn tons of new words and phrases. What doin', mama?

Don't get me wrong, I am a little apprehensive. But I am confident that God is our protector and comforter and he will be there for all of us as our little buddy continues to grow. Let the school adventure begin!

Amazement and Sadness

Owen is awesome. Every day he amazes me. About two weeks or so ago he started talking in sentences. It just clicked he got it. Now, don't get me wrong, he mostly still sounds like Yoda, but he's awesome.

His first sentence was "I see a plane!" when we went to the DFW Airport Park where you can watch the planes take off and land. SOOOOOO COOOL!!!!

Steps where we were so scared before that he'd trip or fall, he's walking right on by with not a care. Drinking out of a big boy cup, oh yeah, no sweat...except for the fact he might knock it over or dump it on you.

Sadness has ensued because pants once too big are too small. His baby fat has all but disappeared. He talks in sentences. He eats sauteed onions and broccoli on his own. Owen is awesome, but he's not a baby anymore.

Our Elmo/Curious George, plane-loving, car-racing, sentence-slinging toddler is here for the long haul.

Tangled.

Remember that story of Rapunzel with the long flowing gold hair.

Well, we weren't that bad. But we were getting there. 

See, Mr O turned 20 months yesterday, and his poor, beautiful, gold hair kept getting tangled and matted when he slept. So Joe and I decided to put our big parent pants on and get our baby boy a haircut.

We loaded up and headed to Joe's local hair cutters and asked them to please take care of our baby boy.

See...we're all smiles here. Poor kid doesn't know what's about to happen.

We decided to take the easier approach and let Owen sit on Daddy's lap. Daddy got a spiffy leopard cape and Owen got his very own. Cue the 'less-than-thrilled' emotions. Our hairdresser told O she was going to just spray down his hair a bit, and the boy froze, turned into Daddy and started to tear up.

A lolly pop!!! Get this kid a lolly pop stat!!!!!

Whehehww!

Still uncertain what was happening to his sad little self, Owen did quite good and set mostly still for the lady with just a few tears still in his eyes.

Then. The. Clippers.

You know that slow-motion in horror films where the poor sap knows he's going down and cries and screams in agony. It was kinda like that. It was the saddest, biggest pout-laden, tear-jerking reaction you could have gotten from a little guy.  He burrowed into Joe as much as he could.

All in all, I'd have to call him a champ. He did good for not really knowing what was happening. And gosh, as if it was possible, he got even more handsome!

(Please note the snot and tears and mess we've created.)

Happy Birthday, Owen. We are glad we can always provide you with trauma and a lolly pop. -- Your parents.

O's First Real Trick or Treat

I have to say, this Halloween thing is a blast...even with your own kids!

I love Halloween. I think it's a great holiday to dress up, eat fun sweats, laugh about the scary things in life and actually say hello to your neighbors. Think what you might, but that's what I THINK!

This year's Halloween fell on a Monday night. Lame! Especially since Daddy Joe has to go to class. Well, we did the pumpkin patch thing and we were given a puppy costume that I embelished a little and that was that. No high stress there. But I was totally bummed that Joe wouldn't be able to go trick or treat with us. So, I made plans for O and I to go trick or treat with Aunt Jenni and our friends the Harkins in there neighborhood in Frisco.

We headed over a little before 5pm in hopes to catch Joe before he went to class (also in Frisco), but we missed him. So we were bummed, but started getting dudded up anyways. Well guess what! Joe turned in his homework and told the teacher he'd be back in a bit (advantages of grad school!), and he found us to go trick or treating!

WE HAD A BLAST! Owen loved it. He and his more experienced buddy Austin headed up to each door (Owen even knocked a few times), held out his tiny hand for candy and dropped it in his bucket! Cutest kid on the planet!

I loved sharing this bit of fun with our boy and can't wait for next year!

And We're Walking

For a little more than a month, Owen has been taking independent steps and cruising around the furniture. 

But while we were on vacation, we got to hang with some friends and their 13mo baby girl showed O what to do! Here's a bit of Owen walking across the room!

Owen's Firsts - 4

Oh, dear! It's begun!

Today Owen turned over from his back to his tummy! The kid is going mobile!

This was after he was pushing and inching his way off the changing pad! Guess we'll have to keep our eyes on this little guy a little bit more! =)

I'm sure I'll be posting about his crawling and walking within the week, so stay tuned!

Also, a little fun fact about the kid lately, as you can see from the picture above. He loves his blankees! I likes to snuggle them up close and eat them! And he's soooo stinkin' cute when he does!

Owen's Firsts - 3

Tummy Time!

During our daily sessions of Tummy Time, Owen has officially turned from his tummy to his back this week -- several times in a row, mind you.

Yes, that's right, not only is he handsome, he is a mover! =)

Way to go Owie-bear!

Owen's Firsts - 2

Owen's 2-Week Doctor's Appointment

You would think something so benign would be uneventful, right? Well, not around here.

Of course we were still worried about Owen's biliruben levels, so Joe planned to meet us at home and we'd take our little family on up to Las Colinas MC for the 6th time since his discharge the Friday before.

I started gathering Mr. Owen's things and got a call from Joe. The truck was dead. It was raining, and Daddy Joe was not a happy camper. Knowing he could do nothing to prevent the situation, I said no worries and would get our little boy there.

I proceeded to get the pupster outside when I noticed that the world was preparing to end!!! The sky was black, thunder was rolling in and bolts of lightening could be seen in the distance. WHAT!!!

This was the first time I have driven in like three weeks, with MY BABY, IN A STORM, and I have to leave my fuzz-butt puppy outside. THEN, I would have to go rescue my husband.

HOLD IT TOGETHER!!

I was totally nervous driving, but we made it right as the first big drops were beginning to fall. We rushed in, signed in and sat down.

Then the power goes out. WHAT???

However, it was just a flicker, but really, my nerves did not need this.

We then got to see our awesome pedi, Dr. Conoley. Said Owen was looking good, she wasn't worried about his levels as much any more, just to keep an eye on them. Little dude was back up to 9 lbs 2 oz, almost his birth weight and had grown 3/4 of an inch! We are in the 50% for everything right now. And I couldn't be happier with my 'average joe' after a bit of a scary start!

We then decided to nurse at the dr's office since it was still monsooning and little dude was screaming bloody murder. By the time we were done, almost all the lights were off in the office and the nurse had kinda forgotten us. We had to have the doors unlocked to leave. Wouldn't that have been neat!

So, (big deep breath), we made it. Our first official check-up was a success. Joe got a jump from work, made it home to rescue the pupster and all was well.

Now all I ask is that this is not a theme for this child. I am not a fan of the dramatic in real life. Next time, let's just saunter out into the sunshine for a wonderful check-up and get an ice cream on the way home! =)

Owen's Firsts - 1

Today, Owen lost his umbilical cord. Hooray O'Bear!!

Today, we almost all tossed our cookies as a result.

You see, we didn't know quite where or when it fell off. We knew it had to be somewhere. And, as I was sunning my poor, sweet boy in the window, Ryker was a little too interested in something else.

Today, Ryker found the umbilical cord. He started a-licking, I started a-gagging! However, in quick diplomatic fashion, I scooped it up off the floor before it could go anywhere else, threw it away and died laughing.

Oh, to have a baby and a RykerDog. What craziness we have to look forward to.

On Owen's 8th day, we're still working on feeding between son and mama, waiting on better news for his jaundice and still trying to find the balance between sanity, sleep and love. My mom has been an awesome help. Joe has been a great hubby. Ryker has been an great big brother (besides the above weirdness). And our family and friends have showered us with prayer and encouragement.

Owen, we may not be there yet, but I think we are off to a good start!