Owen at Six Months

Wow, what a difference another month makes.... rather, what a difference six months makes!  It is just amazing how much a baby learns and grows in six months.  Owen is such a little cutie and a blessing to our lives.  It's hard to believe that he's so big already and before we know it he will be walking and talking!

Owen rocked his six month checkup and stats are below.  Still right in line with those of the last time he was in to be measured.  He sure is a tall kid!  I feel like he eats so much but he is also soo active that everything must just wear right off!!

Height - 28 inches - 92%

Weight - 19lbs 2oz - 78%

Head Circ - 17 5/8 - 87%

 

You'll notice that a lot of the six month pictures I have posted below are of Owen sitting up.  Owen is officially a sitter!!  He's been doing it well for a few weeks now and it is nice to be able to put him on the floor to play without having to worry about him falling over - at least right away.  I don't like to leave him like that for too long in case he gets tired but each time it seems to be a little longer than the last.  Since he can sit so well I have also started to give Owen and Megan baths together in the big tub.  They both like to play and as long as Megan isn't splashing tooo much he does a really good job.

Another benefit to Owen sitting up is that now we can put him in the exersaucer!  We actually have one in our own house this go-round and love it!  Owen is much more in content in it than his older sister ever was.  The minute we put him in it he just goes nuts with excitement and also shows us all the spring in his legs!  He can look up at the TV or turn around - definitely makes for a happy little guy!

Owen is doing excellent with his solid foods too.  We give him solids three times a day and he will eat about four tablespoons of cereal and just about that same amount of fruit and/or veggies at each sitting.  I typically will give him some cereal and fruit/veggies together and when that's gone as much fruit/veggies as he will take.  He got upgraded to the state 2 baby food since he's a sitter but that won't last long!  Favorite flavors are still pears and peas but we have tried and liked almost everything out there so far except some of the "meals".  He also likes yogurt!

Besides being spoon fed Owen has really done a good job of starting to feed himself.  Puffs and Mum-Mums are quickly becoming staples in his diet.  My little secret with Owen is if he's fussing too bad in his high chair because he's hungry, I can just dump some puffs out on the tray and he'll go after them trying to feed himself.  I'm surprised with how many actually make it into his mouth and now on the floor or side of the chair.  I still get some weird looks from him since he's still not completely used to the texture but overall he does great!

Bottles have really started to cut back.  The most I can usually get him to drink at a time is about four ounces.  That is more than fine with me and we just make sure to put a little formula in his cereal to ensure he gets the extra vitamins.

Now onto my favorite topic - sleep...  Getting Owen to sleep at bedtime is no problem.  His internal clock is so good.  He knows dinner is at six and right around 7:15-7:30 he gets fussy for bedtime.  We change into jammies and then it's about a four ounce bottle and he is out.  He likes to sleep on his left side covered with a blanket or two.  As he sleeps he scoots upwards to the head of the crib.  The sleeping through the night is what we need to work on.  I always try to do what I can to avoid a bottle but it's almost nightly that he will need a feeding.  I don't know if he's just that hungry or what but I would love if he would start sleeping till morning again.  Typically it's a bottle at 2 and then back to sleep until morning.

Owen is getting so mobile with rolling to wherever he wants.  He just gets more fun as time goes on.  And is he ever so smiley!!  I just love his little toothless smile and his bright blue eyes!  I love the fact that he loves his mommy so much.  If I come home from work and don't go right to him I get in big trouble - I get a fussy baby!  Owen also loves to make eye contact with his daddy.  They can lock eyes for minutes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday (or Saturday) Funnies: Mid-November Wrap-Up

Here I go again with a whole collection of funnies to share because I didn't get around to it last week.  Most of them are from the week before but still some cute stories here.  I hope you enjoy them as we are enjoying the nice warm Florida Keys weather!

At cousin Alexa's 3rd  birthday party we asked Megan how old Alexa was now.  We got a couple different answers:  A couple times she replied with "Two and a half" and another time with "Two months"!

We dropped Megan off at childcare the Sunday before last and Miss Barb had a funny story to share with us.  Megan had been coughing a bit with her hand by her mouth.  When Miss Barb reached Megan to ask if she was ok, Megan told her that she had something in her mouth.  Miss Barb got a little nervous but calmly asked what exactly was in her mouth.  What was Megan's response?  "A cough!"

The Wednesday night before last the kids and I stayed at my parents' place for dinner.  While we waited for dinner to be ready I wanted to go play piano with Megan.  There was a piano book on the holder but it wasn't staying open for me.  My solution would have been to put another piano book on top of the page that kept flopping shut but Megan's mind had another idea.  She hopped off the bench and ran into my mom's office.  I thought she had bored with the piano and had moved on but I was quickly reminded how Megan's mind works.  She returned with a big clip, like a chip clip bag, but one of those that narrows at the tip.  She proudly gave it to me and said, "Here Mommy... a tweezers!"  I could use this to clip the pages together and keep the book open!

A couple shorter ones:

• I told Megan that she had a new baby cousin, Lily.  She was so concerned about her and kept asking if baby Lily was crying!  I guess she learned from her brother that crying is one thing babies do well!
• Megan's new nickname for Owen is "Wiggle Butt"!
• We know when Megan likes the taste of something when we get our new favorite expression of "Deeeeeee-licious"!

And most recently:

I was driving the kids to John's parents' place last Monday morning.  As you might remember this was the morning of winter's first snow here in Minnesota.  I was tempted to call the trip off several times and go back home due to many white-outs that I kept getting especially going around the curves.  It all turned out fine in the end but I let out quite a few deep sighs when I couldn't see anything.  Megan asked me what was wrong.  I told her that I couldn't see the roads or the cars.  She was so sweet and said, "But Mommy, I can see them!"  I was glad to have my little backseat driver helping me navigate :)

During that same trip I told Megan that her and Owen were the best little kids I could ever ask for.  Her reply?  "Well, who were you asking?"

And finally, my ultimate favorite of the week...  Megan's hair is finally long enough to get back in a ponytail.  John put it back on Thursday but it needed fixing when I got home from work.  I put it in and told her it looked beautiful.  She wanted to look at herself in a mirror so I was happy to show her.  Megan loved it - especially because she now looks like Daisy Duck!!!  What a clever connection she had made.  I think this might be a good way to get her to let me put her hair back.  I will just have to ask if I can put the Daisy in!

Baby, Oh Baby!

We knew that new baby cousins were on their way but didn't expect them this early!  In the last two weeks, Megan and Owen got two new baby cousins, both several weeks earlier than anticipated.

Lily Helen was born to Michael and Becca on Tuesday, October 30th.  She was six weeks premature weighing just 4 pounds 11 ounces and was 17.5 inches long.  Becca had been pains and she had been given medication to treat a kidney infection when actually she was in labor.  Her water broke at home but she thought she had just wet herself because of the extra water she'd been drinking and the meds she'd been taking.  When the pains got worse they rushed to Fairview Southdale and were told that Becca was 7cm dilated and was having the baby that night.  It took just three pushes and Lily was out.

Lily will probably have to be in the hospital a total of three weeks before she can go home.  John and I went to visit last Thursday night and already she weighed 5 pounds 1 ounce.  She can now breath without oxygen, the feeding tube is in her nose in the picture below but Becca is having success nursing, next is to get her body temperatures regulated so she can go to her own room and then probably get ready to come back home.  There was a little physical therapy to be done with her feet since one foot was lodged in Becca's rib cage the entire time but already the nurses were impressed at how well that had been helping!

What a little cutie!!!

 

 

  

Ethan Patrick was born to Kristin and Patrick on Friday, November 9th.  He was three weeks early and weighed in six pounds 15 ounces via emergency c-section.  Kristin seemed to have a pretty rough pregnancy this go-round so I'm sure she's happy her baby is now in her arms!  Several weeks ago she was put on bed rest because of high blood pressure and was also on some medication to keep it low.  The doctors didn't want her to wait any more so they scheduled her to be induced last Friday.  While starting the induction process they tried to lower her blood pressure which in turn lowered the placenta's pressure throwing Ethan all out of wack.  The doctors couldn't stabilize things and ended up taking the baby right away.  Ethan is doing fine except his blood sugar keeps dropping.  Kristin nurses and then tops him off with some formula but even that isn't working as desired.  He'll be in the level 2 nursery at St. Francis in Shakopee for a little while yet and hopefully gets better soon!

John and I stopped in to visit Kristin, Patrick and Ethan on Friday night and I'm so glad I got to hold our new nephew.  I forget how tiny babies are and it almost felt like I was holding a little cloud.  So precious!

Alexa has only seen Ethan once or twice so far but once he's home I'm sure he'll get plenty of love!  Despite the fact that Ethan has dark, dark hair and brown eyes, I think he resembles his big sister!  What a handsome little guy!

 

 

 

Trick-or-Treat!

I figured that since Thanksgiving is right around the corner I'd better wrap up Halloween first!  You saw our family picture I'm sure but here is how Halloween itself went.

This year Megan was a dragon and Owen was a bumble bee.  I was able to find Owen's costume at a garage sale this summer while still on maternity leave and it was a perfect fit for him and his little round head! Several weeks before Halloween I asked Megan what she wanted to be and there was no hesitation as she consistently answered "dinosaur" each and every time.  Well, I searched everywhere online and craigslist but could not find a dinosaur costume I liked.  I asked her why she wanted to be a dinosaur and she said, "because I want a tail and I want to scare people!"  Somehow my mom and I were able to convince Megan that a dragon would be a good idea and I remembered I saw some online at Old Navy.  When Megan and I went there to try on the costume she was so excited and just kept saying "I have a tail! I have a tail!"  The costume was a keeper and I really only paid $9 for it after the sales!  Plus, it is super warm for trick-or-treating and hopefully Owen will be as excited to wear it in two years as Megan was this year!

John was bummed that he had to work on Halloween this year since it fell on a Wednesday of all days.  With that said, my parents were more than happy to give me a hand taking the kids out - we especially wanted to visit Daddy at work and then go to Grandma and Grandpa Lewis!  

Here they are!  Ready to go see Daddy!!!

 

Daddy was so surprised to see us!!  And he loved showing off his little bumble bee and dragon!

 

 

We had to keep moving since the clock was ticking and off to Grandma and Grandpa Lewis's house it was! We were happy to see that cousin Alexa was there - she was going trick-or-treating with Auntie Dawn since her mommy didn't feel well.  I was happy to get a super cute cousin picture.  I said that Owen should have been a handsome prince or brave knight and we would have had all the characters for a perfect princess story with a beautiful princess and fire breathing dragon!!

 

We didn't stay too long there either since we wanted to get home in time for trick-or-treating in our townhouse neighborhood.  I think we got back home around 7:15 and were out trick-or-treating around 7:30.  It was actually a fairly comfortable night and we loaded Megan up in the stroller and off we went.  My dad never really took us trick-or-treating when we were kids so he was happy to push the stroller and watch  Megan have some fun.

One of the best parts about living where we do is that all the houses are so close together so it makes trick-or-treating so easy.  It would have been a little easier if Megan would have walked between the houses since almost half of them had lights on, but she instead wanted to go back in the stroller after almost every house!  

She did such a good job.  Most of the places she said "Trick-or-Treat" when prompted but towards the end she just defaulted to "Happy Halloween".  Either way, she still filled up her little pumpkin bucket about 3/4 of the way to the top!  It is funny how different people are in how much candy they give out.  I think a kid Megan's age would have a hard time since at one house she might get up to 8 fun sized candy bars but the next place if she would happen to accidentally grab two bite size candies they would tell her to watch it!  But she still had a blast and said thank you to everyone - even all the people that thought our cute dragon was a little boy!

Turn This Bath Around

Our little Owen has become such a great sitter in just the last few weeks.  So I decided it was time to turn his bathtub around and let him sit up in during his bath instead of being confined to the infant sling.  Owen couldn't be happier with that move!  He loves to bat at his little toys and, of course, get Mom wet with big splashes!  And now that I don't have to keep a constant hand on him I was free to take a few fun pictures of our little guy enjoying the water!  He sure knows when it's bath time and almost calms the instant the water is turned on.  Plus, I think Owen was due for a few more naked pictures anyways!

Oh, and big sister Megan likes her baths too but cannot wait until her and Owen can share the tub!!!

Monster Dash 2012

As you know John has been working hard to get in shape and lose weight.  He has been following the Couch to 5K program on his iPhone and the Saturday before Halloween he ran his first 5K!  He had just gotten to the 5K mark in the program and this race was a true test of everything he'd been working on.  The run he participated in was called the Monster Dash and the best part about it is that everyone runs in costume!  Its path circles Lake Harriet so it made for a nice run on a nice fall morning.  

Other members of John's family have run in the past but this year it was himself, his mom and his dad.  John's dad walked the entire course pushing Megan in the stroller and his mom did a walk/job combo.  Megan proudly wore her dragon costume and thought it was so cool to see hundreds of other people wearing costumes too - some dogs even dressed up!  

 

I think Valerie was a runner...

 

We originally wanted John to be the track guy from the SNL skit What up With Dat but in the end I think he looks more like Richard Simmons.  Either way, the wig looked cool and the track suit was great for running in.

 

Ok, so not everyone dressed up...

 

Megan was carbing up before the race.  Pretzels, cereal bar and peanut butte sandwich...

 

In the swarm of hundreds and hundreds of participants, I missed John and Valerie starting off.  We were also watching for John's blonde wig, but you know how many other runners were also wearing big blonde wigs?  It took close to 10 minutes for all of the runners to pass the starting line and then Megan and Grandpa were off!

 

Pictures from the finish line!  John did AWESOME!  He actually ran the entire time - even without his iPhone music that never kicked in :(  He surprised me big time when he crossed the finish line at about 33 minutes!

 

Valerie came in at about 50 minutes.

 

Everyone got cool medals (or trophies as Megan would call them) along with a power snack.

 

This is how Megan crossed the finish line.  I guess she fell asleep at the two mile mark.  I think everyone had a great time and at least she stayed warm in her fleece dragon costume!

Friday Funnies - October Wrap-Up

I haven't done the funnies for a few weeks so here are a few quick things that came to mind when putting this update together.

I rode in the back seat with the kids a couple times recently while Megan played games on my phone.  I tried to look over her shoulder to watch what she was doing.  Megan must not have liked it much because she said, "Mom, look at the trees."  She wanted me to look out the window and leave her alone.

We pulled into my parents' driveway one morning and the lawn was covered with fallen leaves.  Megan was amazed and quickly asked, "Is Papa going to move the leaves?"

Leaving my parents' that night they both waved to us from the driveway as we drove away.  Megan must have had a good time playing with them because she said, "Now Grandma and Grandpa are going to go play blocks!"

Megan wanted to bake a cake a couple weeks ago since she remembered Alexa's birthday is coming up.  We got everything mixed up (from scratch of course) and baked while Owen napped with only one minor incident.  As I was taking the butter out of the microwave the bowl slipped out of my hands and I spilled the melted butter on my clothes and rug.  Megan was so sweet as she just said, "It's ok, Mommy.  I make messes all the time!"  What a sweetheart!

Megan had been on a banana bread kick the past week or so.  I'd take a loaf of frozen bread and cut one slice off and then cut that into cubes for a healthy snack.  Well, we ran out and she wanted banana bread real bad one night before bed.  Here was Megan rummaging through the kitchen pulling out bowls and spoons at 9:30 that night saying, "Mommy, make banana bread right now."  She even had a little foot stomp in there.  Boy, was I in trouble for not having any banana bread on hand for her!

Megan:  Mommy, no sing... You'll wake Owen.
Why in the world is she so concerned lately with this?  Pretty sure that the screaming she did minutes after she told me this would have a greater chance of waking him than my singing!

I was filling up Megan's water cup in the bathroom sink before bed one night.  I only put a little in but Megan wanted it taller, taller, taller!

I was making deviled eggs for a work potluck on Tuesday night multi-tasking with making dinner.  I had all the eggs peeled and on a tray.  I told Megan to help me finish up dinner and she thought we should use the eggs to make waffles so she pulled the tray off the counter and eggs went everywhere.  Meanwhile, I had told Megan and John to watch Owen, who was sitting unharnessed in his car seat, while I was working on dinner.  Well, they didn't and before I knew it I not only had eggs all over the floor but a little guy rolling around on the hardwood floor!

While trick-or-treating, my dad wanted to carry Megan's candy bucket since it was getting so heavy.  I think Megan was onto his alterior motive because she got a little anxious every time he touched it.  One time when he gave the bucket back to her she had to say, "Grandpa, put the candy back!"  Yup, he had snuck a few Snickers bars into his pocket and got BUSTED!!

My parents were awesome to watch our kids again last night and they had tons of fun.  But as they were leaving there were plenty of kisses being blown back and forth between Megan and her grandparents.  Megan blew a kiss and Grandpa caught it in his hat.  Megan went over to the hat, looked inside, picked up the imaginary kiss and threw it on the floor!  What love!!  Don't worry, she gave him one of her imaginary snakes in return.

Just so Megan isn't the only one making the funnies this week, we have a couple of Owen pictures to share.  Of course we had to let him try out parts of our Halloween costumes before we could wear them!

 

Happy Halloween!

I realize I am several weeks behind on posts, but wanted to get a quick family Halloween picture up before heading off to bed tonight!  Details to come soon!

Megan at 2 1/2 Years

I forgot to include this picture of Megan in her 2 1/2 year photo post so I thought I would include it with her update.  We used the "turn and smile" technique for this picture.  Actually a bit of an accident that it turned out as well as it did.  The only problem is that it really makes me miss the nice fall weather that we only had for a couple weeks!  

I could probably go on and on about the things Megan has been doing and learned over the past six months since my last update on her.  I'll try to keep it brief and I'm also sure there are things I've forgotten.  She is such a busy little girl!

Megan's favorite sayings:
Whew, that was a close one
I'm so happy to see you (to her stuffed animals, of course)
Daddy will fix it
No problem
You're welcome
Mommy, you potty break!
Mmm, delicious!
No, meself!
What doo-ning, Mommy?
What are we doing today? / Who are we seeing today?

Here's the rest:
-Megan doesn't like to walk much.  Instead she likes to do a "run, hop, march" sequence and thinks we should join in too.  We don't mind too much except when she likes to do this same sequence coming back from communion since we sit in the very back corner and by that time all eyes are on us!
-Megan loves to help with projects.  I told John I won best parent of the week because last Saturday we did four projects getting ready for Cat's bridal shower.  She helped me put spices in snack baggies, make tortilla bowls, wrap a present and make a card.  Even getting ready for the shower she was asking if she could help and was sooo thankfulwhen someone gave her a job to do.  It's hard to do projects with a little baby in the house but I need to make a conscious effort to include Megan on whatever I'm doing because she is a good helper.
-Megan tries to find Twinkle, Twinkle in the hymnals at church each Sunday.  At least she understands that those are the music books.  When we try to follow along with the readings in the Bibles, she makes us put them away and open up the hymnals!
-Megan's imagination is through the roof lately.  She is finally loving to play with dollies and stuffed animals.  She likes to feed them and burp them. 
-Megan's basically told us that she is done with naps.  If we say she has to take a nap, she'll tell us that she already took one today or she only "naps" once a day, meaning bedtime.  Even bedtimes are tough because John will carry her upstairs but she'll be saying, "No nap, no nightnight".  About half of the time we'll make her nap, it just depends on how cranky she is around 1 or 2 in the afternoon.
-I recently updated on potty training and nothing has really changed.  One day I set the potty timer and told her it was time for her potty break.  She looked at me and told me it was time for my potty break!  I thought I had a breakthrough one day last week when I had to use the bathroom but she actually wanted to go herself and insisted on taking off her pants, pulling off diaper, climbing onto the potty all by herself.  That only lasted a couple times though, but she'll let us know when she's ready.
-This girl has the memory of an elephant.  She never forgets... Anything!
-Megan's hair continues to get thicker and longer but you wouldn't know that it's growing.  It actually doesn't go down any further down her back but simply keeps curling on itself and gets more poofy.  When it's wet we comb it straight and it reaches a little onto her back.  She doesn't like anyone messing with her hair.  It gets pretty wild in the morning since some is curly and some is straight.  But if I try to comb or brush it out of the say she says, "No brusha me hair!"
-I'm estimating that Megan weighs about 32 pounds right now.  She seems to be getting a lot taller too but not any leaner.  She is not overweight but I like how her arms and legs have the perfect amount of "meat" on them.
-I think Megan's gained more just recently since she's started eating more and having a little more adventurous taste buds.  It's cute how she associates different foods with the different houses she goes to.  When she goes to my parents she knows that her and Grandma make oatmeal in the morning and often have soup for lunch.  When she is at John's parents she expects eggs and toast for breakfaste and then pizza for lunch.  At home she just flings open the refrigerator door and helps herself.  She will grab apples out of the drawer, reach and point to yogurt on the top shelf and sometimes is able to reach her milk or juice cup if she stands tippy toe.
-Megan's going through a little phase right now where she is afraid of the dark and doesn't like to sleep in her own bed for the entire night.  Even though we have an awesome nightlight in her room that can be set to different colors and also leave the door open she still will end up in our bed occasionally.
-Megan's vocabulary increases daily and she is constantly perfecting words that were once tough for her.  Right now she is really focusing on the "l" sound like in alligator, blocks, follow.  I think it's hilarious when she tries out a tough new word and just muddles through it because it's long and hard.  But when I guess what she really said she is all smiles.  For instance, when I guessed that she was trying to say "burp cloth" a couple nights ago and then "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" last week. 
-There are certain words that are so cute with her mispronounciations that I never want them to change such as doof = move, Mimick = Gennrich, Looloose = Lewis,
-Megan loves when we do things as a family and wants everyone to always be there.  I think she just wants everyone to have fun and not miss out on anything.  Plus, it's more fun with more people.  When we tell her that we're headed somewhere, we always get, "Mommy? Daddy? Megan? Owen too?
-There's a quote that you can always tell a German but you can't tell them much.  I think the same applies with Megan because she is sure stubborn like her Mommy.  I like that personality trait and we are just learning to work with it.  It's not always easy since she has it in her mind exactly how things need to go and it's hard to change those thoughts.
-Lately Megan has started tattling and lying a little.  It's mostly when bedtime comes.  She'll ask John if she can watch one more Mickey.  He'll say no so she'll come to me.  I will also say no and tell her I agree with Daddy.  She'll go back to John saying, "Mommy said 'yes' Mickey"!
-Another form of Megan's imagination... Lately, Megan's had imaginary cookies.  When we're driving or just playing at home, she'll pinch her thumb and index finger together and give us all cookies to eat!  Best zero-calorie treat yet!  I think there are imaginary snakes sometimes too...

Friday Funnies - Short & Sweet

Megan was helping me make the fancy taco shells for Cat's bridal shower last Saturday.  I wanted her simply to wet the flour tortillas but she followed my lead and started shaping them around the upside-down muffin tins and then started salting them...
Megan:  Mommy, enough salt?
Me:  Yes, whoa, that's enough!
Megan:  Ok, thank you! (and proceeds to keep salting!)

On the drive to Grandma & Grandpa Lewis's house on Monday morning...
Megan:  I eat my toast so Keeper can't get it!  Keeper also ate my goldfish!

Megan understands hide-and-seek but never has enough patience to actually hide long enough for us to find her.  She had always been pretty good with the counting until the other night...
Megan:  1,2,3!  Ready or not, here I come!
Mommy:  At least count to 10!
Megan:  10!  Ready or not, here I come!

Mommy:  Megan, are you a silly girl?
Megan:  No, I'm Megan!

Megan:  Mommy, I want ice cream.
Mommy:  You may have ice cream as long as you also have apple crisp.
Megan:  No, I don't like that.  I just like ice cream!

John:  Megan, what's your name?
Megan:  Megan!
John:  Who's this?
Megan:  My brudder, Owen!
John:  What's Daddy's real name?
Megan: ... John!
John:  What's Mommy's real name?
Megan:  Hun!  Mom, you're Hun, right?

And to top all of this off, Megan has started playing a little game in the car lately where she laughs histerically at Owen, trying to get the little guy to laugh.  It's so cute when it's successful because they both have great laughs.