Mr. Sporty
Hiking and Snacking on the Licorice Fern Trail
Hiking and Snacking on the Licorice Fern Trail
Mother's Day at the Arboreteum
Demolishing all of John's attempts to build a castle
Getting Ready for Beach Day at School
Just a few highlights
You may all be feeling the warmth of a million beaming smiles as the weather in Seattle has been amazing - sunny, warm, breezy at just the right moments. Owen has been getting out quite a bit in his new bike trailer, hanging at the beach, and generally being a happy almost two year old (which means mostly happy with a lot of crumpling to the floor, pounding fists, and shouting no.) Here are a few highlights...
Mother's Day at the Arboreteum
Demolishing all of John's attempts to build a castle
Mother's Day at the Arboreteum
Demolishing all of John's attempts to build a castle
&*$#(#@!!!
I was trying to post an adorable video of Owen after telling my sister all about it, but for some reason it won't load. So frustrating! Here is a pic of Owen on his "first and last" time on a trampoline, according to John. I'll keep trying with the video!!
Smoothies!
A quick post while I have John's computer, which has some space on the hard drive for pictures. I made Owen a smoothie the other day and after one sip, he set his cup down and ran over to give me a hug. When he reached the bottom, he turned his cup upside down and cried. Now, nearly every time he gets up from his nap, he points to the kitchen and demands "me-me." Not sure how it translates, but I do love the hugs.
My Very Own Mother...
has taken to threatening me for not posting anything recently. We have maxed our hard drive with pictures of the sweet boy, so I can't download new pics (but there are 258 waiting on the camera!) In the meantime, she will just have to relish this picture of her two favorite people.
Full Body Experience
The other day I saw popcorn kernels for 99 cents at the grocery store, so I bought a big bag thinking I could do something fun with them for Owen. I poured them in a big tub today and threw in some spoons and pots, thinking he would enjoy all the mixing and stirring and pouring. I turned my head for a second and Owen climbed right in, so happy to feel the kernels between his toes. He stayed in there for 45 minutes and got out only because it was time for lunch.
Given his love of small spaces, I should have predicted he would feel nice and cozy in his popcorn box.
Given his love of small spaces, I should have predicted he would feel nice and cozy in his popcorn box.
Buds
On another sunny and warm Seattle day, Owen and I met Koen and Shelley for a little walk near Lake Washington. The loop is only a mile long and with lots of ponds and mulch pits, we figured we would have lots to entice the boys onward to complete our trek. The sunshine must have filled the boys with love of nature and each other because they kept stopping to hug each other and roll around in the grass. Forty five minutes later, we were only a quarter of the way around and Owen fell into an irresistable pit of mud and gunk and other unidentifiable wet, slimy stuff. I carried my soggy boy back to the car and Shelley promised Koen a visit to the fountain in the parking lot to make up for the shortened trip. Ring, ring went my phone as Owen and I were speeding home to get him into dry clothes, "Koen fell in the fountain and is soaking wet!" Good thing for all of us it was a sunny day.
Oldies but Goodies
I took these during the snow storm that hit Seattle right before the holidays. This was the storm prior to the snowmaggedon you may have heard about on the news. John and I felt a bit sad to have missed such a historical Seattle episode, but hearing friends' tales of being snowbound for days with toddlers gave us an even greater appreciation for the Houston humidity we were enjoying.
PS The pink beauty is our neighbor, Lili, who christened Owen, "The O's" which has stuck. Her family graciously left their christmas lights up in one window for Owen, he adored them so much and still demands that John pull back the curtains at dinner so he can admire them.
PS The pink beauty is our neighbor, Lili, who christened Owen, "The O's" which has stuck. Her family graciously left their christmas lights up in one window for Owen, he adored them so much and still demands that John pull back the curtains at dinner so he can admire them.
California Dreamin' on Such a Winter's Day
It has been so embarrassingly long since I have posted that I won't even insult you with lame excuses...we are experiencing a winter heat wave in Seattle, meaning no rain and temps in the 40s and 50s. Owen and I have been spending a lot of time at the beach lately as if we lived in warm sunny California, but when you are as deprived of Vitamin D as we are, you take what you can get. Yesterday we had a lovely morning in Edmonds at the ferry terminal (who would have thought lovely morning and ferry terminal could go together) with our dearest friends Shelley and Koen. It was truly a toddler fantasy land - we saw ferries docking, fire engines boarding the ferry, cranes and bulldozers working on the terminal, and perhaps the best sight ever - a TRAIN carrying PLANES! The boys were near hysteria.
Contender for Best Picture
The funniest part may be how hard John and I are laughing, but can you see his new little cha-cha-cha stepping? Hilarious. And the jumping part? Too much.
Tis the Season
It felt down right Christmas-y this weekend with temperatures dropping to the twenties and an inch of snow on the ground. We even had a little boy who woke up way too early in the morning, as if anticipating many presents under the tree. (If you have been a long time Owenjoe reader, you have no doubt figured out that Owen is an early riser and perhaps think we should just get over it and stop complaining, but we are talking 4 am people, 4 am on the weekend!!) We took the boy out for a few holiday festivities, including visiting reindeer, playing in the snow, and being mesmerized by Santa's train. It was hard to figure out if Owen liked the train, he would get so excited that he was borderline crying every time it came by.
In other news, Owen got his first haircut today! I didn't bother to take the camera because I figured I would be busy pinning him down, but apparently cartoons and sour apple suckers are his weakness. Gone is the Van Halen mullet and we now have a very sophisticated looking little guy.
In other news, Owen got his first haircut today! I didn't bother to take the camera because I figured I would be busy pinning him down, but apparently cartoons and sour apple suckers are his weakness. Gone is the Van Halen mullet and we now have a very sophisticated looking little guy.
Maybe next year..
Thanksgiving was a bit of a bust for us this year. In summary, we all had a virus that mutated a few times with varying symptoms that is still keeping us coughing and feverish, Owen had bleeding, oozing diaper rash, we had to call poison control after he sucked down a good dose of diaper cream, and he also got a bloody, fat lip after a nasty fall. The meal itself was a blast at our good friends' home - 8 adults, 7 kids ranging in age from 6 weeks to 8 years. Our little 2 year old host, Koen, clutched his stuffed frog close to his chest the entire time - we think he was a bit shell-shocked. And even though we kept Owen up way past his bedtime, he let us sleep until 6:30, and for that we were thankful. We did manage to make a few treks to the beach and some nature areas to let our little naturalist run wild.
Pre-Thanksgiving Thankfulness
Right before Thanksgiving, John's parents came for a short visit. Sadly, our little family of three got sick and then sent the germs on to Houston. Sorry for that! John and I missed a date night, but I had my eyebrows waxed and took lots of naps - nearly as wonderful.
Owen is obviously getting some important fashion and grooming advice from his grandma here..
Nicely dressed and coiffed, he reads with grandpa
Owen is obviously getting some important fashion and grooming advice from his grandma here..
Nicely dressed and coiffed, he reads with grandpa
Idle Threats
A few days ago, I received a strongly worded email suggesting that if I did not post pictures of Owen from Halloween, someone might actually interfere with Owen's sleep habits in retribution. I know that by responding to such threats, I am only encouraging such sleep-saboteurs to continue to resort to such cruel methods in order to get what they want. But, I have a trick up my sleeve. Below, you will indeed see pictures of Owen in his "Ballard Fisherman" costume, AND you will also see a picture of a certain someone taken very early in the morning sans makeup and hairbrushing. So, ha!
Trading one crazy hat for another
This is what you do to your little boy who wakes up waaaaay to early after daylight savings.
Trading one crazy hat for another
An Apple A Day
I swear, every day I promise myself that I will write a blog post during Owen's nap and everyday the lure of reading jezebel.com or flipping through the celeb slide show on People or watching Gossip Girl online wins out. I know, it sounds like a hard life, but if you know how much I would NEVER have done those things prior to Owen's birth, you can appreciate what a grind it must be.
Anyway, here are a few pics and captions to share what has been happening in our world lately.
Owen's new favorite food is an apple. Not applesauce or apple chunks or a slice of apple. He wants to eat the entire apple. And over the course of an hour or so, he will - along with carpet fuzz and dust and whatever else he rolls it in.
Our very own Adam...
So there is a show on Discovery called "The Deadliest Catch" about deep sea fishing and many of the boats call our very own Ballard home. Since they are roughing it in the seas with crashing waves and thrashing rain, they need heavy duty rain gear to keep them warm and dry - as does our little Seattle romper, Owen. So, we got him his very own Grunden coveralls just like the Deadliest Catch guys. They make rides down the slide much slicker and faster.
This is a special dedication to my family who likes to remind me of mornings when I was a wee toddler and woke up with nothing but a scowl on my face and not a kind word for a one of them. Without speaking, I hauled my grumpy self and my blanket to the heat register under the kitchen counter and sat there, sucking my thumb, probably with a wad of gum stuck in my hair from falling asleep with it in my mouth the night before. Finally, the heat breathed some life into my bones and I found it somewhere within myself to demand a bowl of cereal.
Everyone loves a basket full of warm, fresh-scented laundry
Anyway, here are a few pics and captions to share what has been happening in our world lately.
Owen's new favorite food is an apple. Not applesauce or apple chunks or a slice of apple. He wants to eat the entire apple. And over the course of an hour or so, he will - along with carpet fuzz and dust and whatever else he rolls it in.
Our very own Adam...
So there is a show on Discovery called "The Deadliest Catch" about deep sea fishing and many of the boats call our very own Ballard home. Since they are roughing it in the seas with crashing waves and thrashing rain, they need heavy duty rain gear to keep them warm and dry - as does our little Seattle romper, Owen. So, we got him his very own Grunden coveralls just like the Deadliest Catch guys. They make rides down the slide much slicker and faster.
This is a special dedication to my family who likes to remind me of mornings when I was a wee toddler and woke up with nothing but a scowl on my face and not a kind word for a one of them. Without speaking, I hauled my grumpy self and my blanket to the heat register under the kitchen counter and sat there, sucking my thumb, probably with a wad of gum stuck in my hair from falling asleep with it in my mouth the night before. Finally, the heat breathed some life into my bones and I found it somewhere within myself to demand a bowl of cereal.
Everyone loves a basket full of warm, fresh-scented laundry
A Day at the Farm
This past Saturday a friend told me about a few King County farms that were hosting Harvest Celebrations and inviting us city folk out to the fields for tractor pulls, corn mazes, and pumpkin picking. John and I picked a farm that boasted of goats for our dear boy and planned to meet up with our friends to celebrate in the harvest together. They, however, chose a different farm and in the spirit of good friends, we decided to follow their lead. But in a Laverne and Shirley (or maybe Lucille and Ethel) twist, they also changed their minds. So, we ended up at their farm and they went to ours. We should have followed our instincts, however, as we never even got out of the car at that crazy farm. The vibe we got was not of waving fields of corn or hillocks of pumpkins but some strange cult that would no doubt entrap us all and make us churn butter and brush dingy sheep wearing odd costumes.
After an epic meltdown (on my part, not Owen's) we walked along the Sammamish River and then found a third farm, The Long 47. We ate kettle korn, pet the pygmy goats, took Owen through the bean maze, and realized that we were definitely a family as this kind of event would never have appealed to us before Owen but was perfectly enjoyable for us now.
After an epic meltdown (on my part, not Owen's) we walked along the Sammamish River and then found a third farm, The Long 47. We ate kettle korn, pet the pygmy goats, took Owen through the bean maze, and realized that we were definitely a family as this kind of event would never have appealed to us before Owen but was perfectly enjoyable for us now.
Highlights Reel
So, I am way behind on keeping Owen's reading public up to speed on all his developments. But, cast no aspersions on me, the poor mother, who is suffering from terrible insomnia, and raising a spitfire of a boy who wakes up at 5am and now only takes one 1 hour nap. Yes, you read correctly..5 am..one 60 minute nap. That means that the boy and I are fortunate enough to have approximately 13 hours of together time everyday. This does not leave much time for the blog. So, here is a highlights reel to show what we have been up to lately. You will see pics from..
* John's parent's visit - we had a lovely time visiting and taking advantage of such willing babysitters. I had a massage, John and I went on a date, and Owen ate up all the attention.
* Ken's visit - John's great friend from college, who now lives in Sweden, spent the week with us before he and John jetted of to San Fran for the wedding of their other good friend, Landon. Poor Ken may have been is worse shape than us since he was jet-lagged and Owen-lagged.
* My mom's 18 hour visit - My mom and Nelson stopped in for a night on their way back from Canada. They came at just the right moment, as Owen and I had had two days on our own without John and were a bit desperate for a break.
* Some other Owen highlights - Owen is now saying "nana" for banana or any fruit in general, "ba" for ball, "bu" for book, and "mampa" for the entity that is his mama and papa.
* John and I both had hamburgers this past Saturday. Yes, hamburgers (John even had bacon.) The first in oh, say, 10 years. I am seeing an acupuncturist/chinese herbalist for the insomnia, who explained to me that, after growing and nursing a child, my heart is deficient and is incapable of providing a comfortable home for my blood or life spirit to rest in each night. He went on to say that what I need most to heal my heart are 1)acupuncture, 2)tuning fork treatments, 3) Flowery Knotweed, and 4) a big fat steak twice a week to begin. So, I did it. Did I sleep? No, but I already have my next medicinal burger place staked (ha ha) out.
* Owen may or may not be the victim of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (not the be confused with hoof and mouth.) But this is much better than a twisted bowel, which is what the doctor was worried he had. How do we know it's not? Oh, because we had to take him to Children's Hospital where they strapped his head, body, and legs down to a board (John had to restrain his arms), rotated him sideways, pulled a tunnel-like camera over his body, and asked me to get him to drink a barium shake out of a straw while he was suspended in this position and cryong hysterically. Needless to say, he FLIPPED out and John and I, well, I don't know what we were, we still haven't quite recovered. It was the longest 30 minutes of my life. But, his little bowel is just where it needs to be, thank goodness.
How Greenbeans Are Like Babies...
So, I just spent the last 20 minutes writing a humorous, though poignant meditation (I can say that because you will never know that it was maybe just mildly interesting) on how the growing of green beans is similar to that of raising Owen and with one swift key stroke, the whole thing disappeared. I'm sure there is another analogy to draw there, but I am too distraught to find it. Sigh. Anyway, we are coming off of three weeks of visitors and I will put pics up from those adventures, but here are some of Owen in the garden and today's harvest of greenbeans (we had just as many from yesterday!)
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