Owen at Eleven Months!!!

Boy has this been one busy month for Owen!  I have a ton to write about for his 11 month update and I'm kicking myself now for not writing it before the 8th especially because most of the big things I have to write about happened just in the last week or so!

Owen's teeth count is now up to six!  I guess he'd gotten one about every other week.  He seems to be a slow teether since his gum will be pretty puffy and white for close to two weeks before the tooth comes through.  So far it's the four middle teeth plus one extra tooth on his bottom right and one to the left on top.  And, just for the record, they are sharp!  I accidentally got my finger stuck in his mouth today and I thought he was going to bite it off!

Owen has been sleeping really good lately.  The last couple nights he's been doing 10 ounce bottles at bedtime which is fine with me if it means he sleeps the entire night!  I need to start doing a better job of reading books at bedtime 'cause I think he'd like it and it would give us good Mommy-Owen bonding.  He also still loves his fuzzy blankets and especially loves playing peek-a-boo with me as part of our bedtime routine.  One other cool thing is Owen doesn't scream much at all when he wakes in the morning.  He will actually lay and play for awhile before I need to rescue him!

 

Owen's appetite has grown and taste buds are fast at work.  He had a really big growth spurt the end of last week (you'll read the results of it soon enough) and seemed to be a bottomless pit but has backed off slightly this week even though keeping an open mind with textures.  Owen is really enjoying trying new things like hot dogs, shredded chicken, apples and other things that land on his tray.  Although we still can't get him to eat scrambled eggs... Bottles are still very important but he's giving us a break and doing most of the holding :)

Also along the lines of feeding, I am beginning to work on baby sign language with Owen as I did with Megan.  Right now we are just doing "more" during meals.  Most of the time he will just clap but I can see his mind at work knowing that he needs to do something in particular with his fingertips... It will happen soon!

Sometime towards the end of March Owen started letting go of things and had an interest in "sharing".  Just like his sister he started in the bathroom transferring bath toys from one bucket to another and then into the tub.  He's been handing things off ever since.  It seems everything he touches he wants to share with someone else - everything from balls, balloon, food, toys, suckey, spoon...you name it!  I hope you always love sharing, Owen!

So one of my most humbling Mommy-moments came in the past couple weeks when I realized my little Owen was a typical boy.  I for some reason thought he would be different and maybe it's because Megan was such an active girl.  Owen's mobility, strength and curiosity have joined forces and given Wiggle Butt a whole new meaning.  This kid will go into the kitchen and pull down the oven door, then open up the cupboard and put all the mixing bowls into the oven, then try to open up the dishwasher.  If the oven door would be closed he could get the dishwasher open all the way and stand on the door to get higher to see what's on the counter....  Yes, he discovered that he could also use the step stool to get his head counter height as well but really likes it when Mommy holds him so he can pull open the microwave door.  Oh, and the garbage can is still a big hit.  The kitchen is basically one big play zone for Owen...

 

But unfortunately that doesn't mean the rest of the house is a sanctuary... Owen's been caught swinging from the bathroom sink at my parents' place, splashing his hand in the toilet, doing the stairs on his own, climbing up on Megan's bed and rocking chair, eyeing up the washing machine.  Since he knows how to start going down the big stairs by himself he also thinks he knows exactly how to get down from our bed... Oh, and his new obsession when I'm holding him is the light switches.  He could turn them off and on all day long it seems.

Maybe the biggest result of Owen's last growth spurt is that he is now officially a walker.  Since right after Megan's birthday he had been taking one or two stumbling steps, letting go from some furniture to kind of walk with some forward falling momentum into our arms.  But something just clicked (again with the curiosity-mobility combo) and he can't get enough of trying out his new found ability.  Owen has no problem standing on his own for long periods of time now and then taking steps towards whatever catches his eye.  He's even walking past stationary objects that could be used as walking aides to reach something else.  Prior to all this he was perfectly content just walking holding onto furniture and crawling when he needed to.  Or else he would just turn kitchen chairs into his walkers...  I have a feeling Owen will be running soon too and it's going to get even more interesting from here on out!

I get a kick out of one of Owen's ways of communicating with me.  He can't talk yet but he seems to treat me like his puppet.  If he wants me to pick him up he will crawl over to me, stand up and pull down really hard on the front of my shirt so I bend over to pick him up.  If I am sitting down he will do the same except pull up on the top of my shirt.  When I am standing holding him Owen will push away from me if he wants down but if he wants to move somewhere his entire body and arms point in that direction.  I guess this kid knows what he wants!  Owen likes to have fun with me too and when I'm sitting on the floor he pushes against my chest with all his might to push me over.  Boy does that bring some smiles.  He also likes to pull my hair... that does not make Mommy happy....

Other random updates on Owen...  Since his growth spurt we have moved him into size 4 diapers and almost his entire wardrobe has been purged from 12 month clothes and replaced with 18 month.  John has switched Owen's car seat to be forward facing and I will be switching the seat in my car shortly as well.  Owen has become pretty good at the kazoo and loves playing his egg shakers too.  Owen babbles a lot.  I can't wait until we can differentiate some of the babbles and hear first words!  Along with babbling he will also take my cell phone and put it to his ear and "talk".

It's such a joy seeing all of these changes in Owen.  We're glad his mobility has increased even if it means we need to watch him more.  We love watching his personality unfold to be this creative, fun-loving, energetic little boy that God wired him to be.  We look forward to so many adventures outside this summer (if it ever does come, that is)!!!

 

 

 This is John helping Owen practice his walking technique.  We worked and worked with him on Monday night.  It was so much fun now that Owen actually has a passion to walk and let us practice wit him.