The Festivities Begin... Owen Learns Birthdays are Fun

Owen turns one on Sunday. And guess what? We can't believe he's already one. In fact the past year is such a blur that we forget what he was like three months ago much less six months ago. Just like little kids around Christmas we couldn't wait to get to the presents and lo and behold what arrives today but three boxes for the munchkin including the above pictured tot mobile. Owen's pretty excited to have his own little push toy. Especially one that has buttons to make it play music. Stay tuned for more birthday fun!

Mopping up Stella

Mops come in handy when you have kids. And ours is periodically about after cleaning up Owen's latest entropy expedition. The other day he decided he needed to mop Stella up. Our poor dog was only trying to get at the food Owen flung off his high chair and instead she was chased around the kitchen by a mop wielding munchkin.

Charming the pants off the ladies and pretty much anyone who's conscious

Any of you who've had the opportunity to meet Owen know that he's a big flirt. We walked by our bank today - didn't even go in - and all the tellers were at the window smiling and waving as Owen rolls by in his stroller. Unlike other kids Owen doesn't recline while riding in his SUV stroller. He sits straight up gripping the sides and watching the world intently as it rolls by. And he must be doing some other charming thing because everyone who walks by gives me this big grin like he just made their day. But back to those ladies. Pictured above are two of my friends from college, Shannon and Kathryn hanging out with Owen. Shannon is still smiling despite having just snatched Owen away from her shelf of wine glasses that he was intent on destroying while we visited.

Slides & Stairs

Owen loves to go down the slide, any slide will do of course and nothing is going to stop him from getting there as my friend Kellan learned the other day while hanging out with Owen and I at a busy Boston playground. With kids of all sizes running everywhere Owen ever determined to enter the fray wasted no time in locating the nearest set of stairs on the play structure and heading up them. Kellan was brave enough to go along with Owen into the bustle of kids as he made his way towards a slide. Here's Owen & Kellan on the play structure.

Building Beds...

My friend Kathryn wrote a few weeks ago to tell me she was coming to visit and to get a "project" ready. When she arrived we almost immediately set out to buy the materials needed to build raised beds for this year's garden. After a few hours of digging and raking we leveled off an old garden patch in the backyard. Kathryn is pictured here standing behind our work.



Next came the container construction. After torturing the guy at the lumber yard for 5 12' boards of fir (the fir boards were at the bottom of a very tall stack of spruce which he had to move by hand), we coaxed my landlord into handsawing one of the boards into 3' pieces. Then we drilled them together, putting stakes in each of the corners to hold the box in the ground.



Next came the filling. We started with a solid layer of last year's leaves which were convienently still frozen in the compost pile. We followed them with several inches of compost - all hand shoveled into the beds. Owen was in heaven thinking we had just created two enormous dirt boxes just for him.


Here he is moving the dirt around with his hands. He was so excited that he kept putting his hands near his mouth giving himself a cute little soul patch. Needless to say baths have become a mandatory end of the day activity at our house.

Owen's First Sushi Experience

Sticky rice really is sticky as Owen discovered during his first sushi experience. We tried to capture him holding the nori roll, but he tore it apart before we could turn the camera on. He loves seaweed and even more he loves to make a mess.

The Grin

Lately Owen has started to smile like this. Whenever he does it we crack up, only further encouraging the scrunching of the eyes and the broadening of the grin. I captured Owen giving the grin while laughing as he was chasing after me and the camera.

Clean Gums

I bought Owen a toothbrush about a month ago and he's now an avid tooth brusher. Well, gum brusher. Every morning while I'm brushing my teeth Owen stands next to me rubbing his toothbrush along his gums, sometimes offering it up to me in case my teeth some extra scrubbing. He knows the drill with the toothbrush as well. He shakes his head at me if I don't give him some toothpaste or if I don't rinse it under the tap. Here he is wandering around the house with his toothbrush.

Sarge & The O

Owen and his buddy Sargent (Sarge) are pictured here trying to get outside. We take care of Sargent on Wed. and Owen goes over to his house on Friday's. They play pretty well together. Sarge has taught Owen how to eat and Owen is encouraging Sarge to crawl and walk earlier than he would have otherwise.

The weather until yesterday has been beautiful. We've spent hours at the park going down slides, playing in the sand box, playing with rocks and swinging on the swings. The nice thing about outdoor time is how much it wipes Owen out by the end of the day. At 7:30 he's usually ready for bed. Then again so are we!

Family Portrait

Here we are having nearly survived the first year. (Owen's birthday is April 30th). Brian suggested that we throw a party to celebrate making it through the first year of parenthood rather than a birthday bash for Owen who won't remember a thing anyways. But then he changed his mind and decided we really need the picture of Owen's face in the cake. So we'll be sheetcakin' it up at somepoint...

Bald is Beautiful

Owen with his uncle Don at Great Grandpa's 90th Birthday party. Owen spent most of his Florida trip interacting with other people which he loves. Thus the return to Vermont has been quite a shock for both him and us. Where'd all those people go? And what about those great circles in Grandma Jean's house to crawl around and play chase? In desperation today I took him out in the snow - yes it's snowing here. And he was actually taking an interest in the white stuff for the first time. He even walked in it a little bit.

Sharing...

Owen's a social little guy once he gets his bearings. In fact he often enjoys being the life of the party if given the opportunity. And with all the attention he receives, it could make him a bit selfish, but turns out he likes to share. Pictured here he's showing Great-grandma Millie a coaster. And just now he was handing me his wooden car.

At 90 Still Playing in the Sand

Our trip to Florida was scheduled to celebrate my grandfather's 90th birthday. Still in excellent health, he had no trouble playing in the sand with Owen. My grandmother also made it out for a day at the beach and really enjoyed watching Owen play in the sand.

No Fear

Waves tumbling onto shore, foamy white caps in the Gulf of Mexico - this would make some folks a bit timid. Not Owen, he crab walked right into the water, retreating we think only because of the chill hitting his lower half. Given some warmer temperatures we're pretty sure he would have spent the entire day on the water's edge.

Shovels & Sand

Our trip to Florida was slated to be a shovel, sand and beach extravaganza, but the weather forced a change of plans. We did however venture out to the beach on a couple of occassions - in our sweaters and long sleeve shirts... Owen learned how to weild a shovel for the first time, scooping up sand and flinging it into the wind. He also perfected the art of castle destruction. He's our pale godzilla.