Owen at 18 Months!

Our Owen is now a whole year and a half old!  It is so incredible how he has changed in so many ways since hitting that big milestone.  John was able to take Owen to his 18 month checkup and it appears everything is going great!  Owen definitely shot up since his one-year checkup and is very tall for his age.  He also thinned out quite a bit - probably from all of the running he's doing!

Height - 35 1/2 inches - 99%

Weight - 27lbs 8oz - 87%

Head Circ - 19 1/4 inches - 99%

Owen surely is no longer a baby but instead really likes playing and trying to keep up with the "big kids".  It is fun to watch him trot after Megan and Alexa and laugh as he plays with them.  He is doing a great job at the church nursery too and loves playing with the kids and teachers there.  No problem leaving us either!  One of the funniest things Owen plays is "Fetch".  Thanks to Megan and Grandpa Gennrich's Puppy School, Owen now will fetch things on command.  Complete with the panting, picking object up with his mouth and retrieving it to us.  Good boy!

Now that Owen's growing up it's becoming more evident that we need to make time for one-on-one time.  John gets some quality time with him on Thursdays when Megan is at Preschool.  I started taking Owen to the Fireflies Sunday School program Megan was in last year.  Owen can go to this class for 2 years and he is already off to a good start and we have a fun time in class.  He is already catching on to the action prayer they at snack time - even though we do the "Hands Up High" prayer at home there is something different about seeing other kids do it too.
 
Owen is very aware of his actions and cause and effect.  He really likes to drop toys from his high chair on purpose and say "uh-oh" as he lets go.  He also thinks it's very fun to shut doors - no matter what kind.  Puzzles and shapes are very fun for Owen.  He likes the chunky puzzles and is pretty good at them but he actually likes a toy cookie jar where he puts different shapes through holds in the sides.  I'm very impressed that he can tell all of those shapes apart already!  Owen has taken a recent fancy to markers.  He loves pulling off the covers and scribbling on paper.  Let those creative juices flow!

Our most major accomplishment since Owen turned 18 months is getting rid of his pacifier.  That is the same age Megan was when we banished it from her.  I think it's the perfect age because they are very aware of themselves but still haven't had the pacifier too long.  The night of Owen's 18 month birthday I took him into the kitchen and snipped off the tip of his pacifier in front of him.  He helped me throw that away and then do the same to another small piece I cut off.  He wasn't ready to give up the entire thing quite yet but instead just walked around with the strap attached to his PJs and said "Uh-oh... uh-oh".  I let him sleep with the "broken" suckey that night - and yes, he had to cry himself to sleep.  The next day he still had the "broken" suckey but he kind of ignored it.  And that was it - he was off it!  He cried himself to bed about three nights but has been fine since.  On occasion if he gets cranky or tired he will start digging in my pants pockets probably looking for the suckey but quickly remembers there's not one in there!

Unfortunately, Owen came down with a bad virus last month.  It possibly was hand, foot and mouth disease.  He was a little warm a couple days and didn't have much appetite.  Then he got a bad spotty rash over his whole body.  You can still see some of the bumps but they don't bother him anymore.  What I found out during this is he really likes to be massaged with lotion - especially on his legs.  Poor guy - I just hate it when little kids get sick.

Owen is getting good at saying people and objects.  He is constantly pointing to things wanting us to tell him what or who they are.  Too bad he doesn't really say Daddy or Grandma yet but they will come.  He likes to say Mama, Papa, Abby, Keeper, Bella, Lily and so many other words I can't even remember right now.  He still hasn't put anything together yet but I'm hopeful it will come soon.

Now on to some pictures.  Here are a few I snapped of him during the Fall Cousin photo shoot:

 

 

 

Getting ready for Ethan and Alexa's b-day party - someone wants to sign the card!

Having fun with the party favor from Lily's b-day party - Owen, what funny lips you have!

Thanks for the suckers, Auntie Kristin.  I wouldn't trust Owen with a full sucker to himself so I convinced Megan to share.  He is not wanting to give it back!

Finally, what a fun picture!  You can see how Owen's hair is growing, proof that he has a sweet tooth and a fantastic smile!  He wasn't too sure about the ice cream cone at first but I think he enjoyed it.  Of course Megan never thinks he deserves full treats and was very eager to finish his at this point.

Halloween Fun!

What can I say... my kids loved Halloween this year!  And John and I had a fun time with them too!  

First, thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Lewis for taking the kids to Jim's Apple Barn to pick out these gigantic pumpkins!  We carved them a week before Halloween and the kids loved seeing them lit up in the dark.  John and I basically did all the work.  Megan suggested I carve Mickey Mouse for Owen's pumpkin.  I told Megan that she should have John carve a unicorn for her but I guess he thought that was too challenging or something...  I do love the glaring eyes and little horns on John's jack-o-lantern!  Megan didn't do a whole lot of participation in the whole carving process.  John even had her try to separate seeds but she quickly lost focus.  Owen, on the other hand, wanted to be part of everything!  He literally climbed up on the table just so he could see what I was doing to the inside of the pumpkin!

 

 

I am so glad that John was able to take Megan to her Fall Party at Preschool.  Their theme was Pumpkins and there were different stations setup around the room for kids to participate in.  Megan came home with lots of treats, presents and smiles from her party!

Of course Trick-or-Treating was a blast too!  Megan was a Care Bear this year.  I was able to find one second-hand and it fit her perfectly!  She kept telling people she was going to be "a Care Bear first, then Cinderella, then Red Riding Hood".  But in the end she was just a cute little Care Bear - Cheer Bear if it makes any difference.  We put warm clothes underneath her costume and she was ready to go!  Her little hood had a Care Bear face on it but Megan kept trying to pull it back.  I told her that she had to keep it up or other people wouldn't know what her costume.  That backfired on me because the minute after I said that some one said, "Hey, Care Bear!"  And Megan caught on to that too....  Our townhouse neighborhood is definitely the best place for kids to trick-or-treat.  We hit so many houses in a short amount of time!  We had the stroller along for Owen to ride in.  But Owen actually ended walking the majority of the neighborhood since Megan started monopolizing the stroller.  Some things will never change.  

Owen loved every minute of his first real trick-or-treating experience.  He was a stunt car driver this year which was perfect for him since he loves everything with wheels.  He caught on quickly by watching Megan and the other kids that you need to run to the doors with your bucket, ring the doorbell and wait for the person to put something in the bucket.  A couple times the bucket got heavy and Owen gave it to me to hold.  Then he would run to the door without the bucket and I could sense the panic set in as he realized someone was coming with candy and he didn't have a bucket in his hand!  Megan didn't like it too much either when he tried to grab hers!  I was so proud of my little guy for making it to every house.  And he has had a sweet tooth ever since!

 

 

One hour, 30+ houses and three pounds of candy later... What a haul!

I'm thinking Owen really enjoyed his Trick-or-Treating experience because for the next week whenever he would see his little orange bucket he would run to the door and point.  He also loved pointing to his jack-o-lanterns for the week after Halloween as well!

October Wrap-Up!

I am going to write about Halloween shortly and I've already shown you the couple of fall photo shoots we did in October as well as the Monster Dash, but here are a photos from the rest of the month...

The first weekend of the month meant going to Home Depot's Kids Workshop!  October's activity was building a rescue airplane.  And Home Depot also had an EP Fire Truck outside for the kids to climb into.  I think both kids and Daddy had fun!

 

 

John and I didn't make it out of town this year for a night away but we did do a fun stay-cation.  We took off the Friday of MEA and just ran a lot of errands.  It was fabulous just to have the day together, go to a movie, eat out twice and do some shopping!

My aunt Yvonne hosted an "apple peeling" party at her new Arlington house.  Owen kept himself busy washing cucumbers in the kitchen sink.  Below you see the rest of the gang hard at work!  When Megan found out that we were going to Yvonne's house and that there would be cats there, she made sure she packed some yarn because that's what cats like to play with after all!  Too bad these cats were pretty shy and she could only leave the balls of yarn for them to play with later... Great to see Yvonne's new place and see family!

  

Monster Dash - My First 5K!

You may recall but John ran his first 5K last October in Team Ortho's Monster Dash.  This year he convinced me to run the race with him.  I didn't train much but with John's help I made it through!  The race itself was the weekend before Halloween, October 26th.  John found this crazy "Good Guy" costume at a thrift store and wore his blonde wig from last year.  I kept it simple and just wore a tutu skirt over yoga pants.

The day of the race was pretty nice but there was definitely a chill in the air.  We were able to carpool to the race with John's parents who had also entered the Monster Dash.  Even though John is conditioned to run this distance he still wanted to run with me at my pace.  I could not have done it without him that's for sure!  We started off jogging and he kept telling me to slow down, keep breathing and, most importantly, keep moving!  John actually only let me walk a total of 3 minutes of the 39 minutes it took us to complete!  A 5K is equal to 3.1 miles and he let me walk a minute or so after every mile.  The thing that helped pass the time was also what made the race harder.... all of the people!  There were lots of people in costume to look at but they also got in our way since we started at the very end and had to pass a ton of walkers.

Here are a few pictures of our bunch after we finished!  I was sure glad it was over but glad I pushed myself to finish!  Next time I will train a bit before running :) 

 

 

Cousins!

I love all of the fall leaves in John's parents' yard and I try to take pictures of our kids there every October.  This year I tried to do something a little different and get some pictures of all the cousins together.  Let me tell you.... easier said than done!  Maybe we shouldn't have done it right after lunch or right around naptime but it was interesting to say the least.  Alexa and Megan only wanted to play sword fighting with the sticks.  Ethan and Lily were deathly afraid of the leaves and of their mommies putting them down.  Owen was a happy camper just along for the ride.  Looking through all my pictures is hilarious to watch all of the screaming baby faces but here are the ones I thought turned out the best.  Maybe we will have better luck next fall!  What a cute bunch though and you can sure tell they are cousins!

 

 

 

 

 

Rachel-Nate Engagement

A month ago I had the honor of taking Rachel and Nate's engagement photos.  Rachel loves the fall colors and we wanted to make sure we had a nice day for some outside shots.  I can't exactly remember where we went... I think a combination of Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet but we definitely covered a lot of bases!  What a photogenic couple and we had tons of fun!  These are some of my favorites.  Enjoy!