Painting just like Papa

It's a challenge to keep Owen out of Brian's studio while he's trying to paint, so we bought him some finger paints of his own. Instead of using his fingers, however, Owen insisted on one of his Papa's paint brushes. Check out more Owen photos here.

Football Fanatic

Owen loves to throw, here he's playing catch with his Grandpa Marv - throwing the football and then refusing to catch it.

Valentine's Day = Snow

After last year's no snow winter the Valentine's Day Blizzard was a welcome suprise even if it meant digging out our cars and front door from under a 4 ft wide and 5ft tall wall of snow. On the left you will see that the snow more than covers half the first floor of our house. On the right, Owen looks out our picture window at a wall of snow. Check out more snow photos here.

Owen's New Boots

Owen is starting to like shoes and has also grown out of his existing pairs or worn the tread off of them. So we picked up this pair of boots the other day. Owen loves them - although he would have preferred them in red. He kept grabbing for the red mary janes and a larger pair of red boots when we were at the store. Here he is showing off his new boots before taking off across the parking lot.

Going for a Hike

Owen's been hiking since month 2 of his life. Mostly with us carrying him in a backpack or a frontpack, but lately he's been interested in walking on his own. Here are a couple of photos of him with his hiking stick - a trick he learned from Grandma Jean and Grandpa Keith.

Bling, Bling!

First it started with my hair ties... Owen would take them off my wrist or find them in the bathroom and wear them around as bracelets. Then I came home with some costume jewelry from my sewing class - the neckless you see pictured here. First Owen only twirled it around, but eventually he put it on. Not everyday is a bling, bling day (Brian's term for shiny accessories), but some days Owen likes to dress up to go out and play.

Our New House

One of the upstairs bedrooms...

The view into the living room...

Our cool new kitchen...

The outside...

We started looking again for a house to buy a few weeks ago. This was the second house we looked at. Before leaving that day we put a bid on it and they accepted the next day. We still have a ways to go, but everything is looking good. So hopefully by mid-September we'll be new home owners and no long rent payers! Yahoo!

Two cars are sometimes better than one

A few days before his birthday in April, two giant boxes arrived containing two very similar push cars as you can see above. They both have buttons that can be pushed to make noise. At first we were a bit overwhelmed, it wasn't yet nice enough to spend every waking moment out doors and our apt is really small etc. But then we realized that these would be the perfect play toys for days when Sargent comes over to play. That day has finally arrived and our lives as babysitters for two one year olds just got a whole lot easier.

Mama's Little Reader

On our way back from the library last week Owen asked for one of his books (pointing and grunting). So I passed it back. As we came up the hill into the driveway, Brian spotted us and rushed to grab the camera to check out Owen's new reading spot.

Ball? Did you say ball?

Owen loves, I mean loves balls. Doesn't matter the shape or the size, he's fascinated by them. Here he is at the beach with some other kid's football. Not an uncommon occurance. A few weeks ago he and I were just about ready to leave the beach. Owen was tired and rubbing his eyes. Then along came a family with a huge football - professional size. Owen spotted it from half way across the beach and made a beeline for it. Once near the father he pointed and grunted until the football was tossed his direction. Much to my amazement he spent the next fifteen minutes tossing it to the little boy.

Mr. Muscles

With all his running, throwing, climbing and general mischief, it's no wonder Owen has muscles. Here he is strutting it up at the local beach.

High Chair Acrobatics

Trying to get Owen to sit and eat in his high chair is nearly impossible these days. Like getting Owen to sit and do much of anything these days. Here he's standing as he stuffs his favorite snack in his mouth - Pirate Booty.

A Rare Moment with Owen

Naps these days are sometimes a trying experience unless we wheel Owen around in his chariot. Here he's passed out peacefully under a large tree in our yard.

Papa & Owen

Since Owen spends most of his time at the table standing in his high chair rather than sitting, he usually ends up in our laps. Here he is with Brian.

The Garden: Early July

A little slow on the photo update, but here's a picture of the garden from early July. At this point the peas are past their prime and the tomatoes are above the stakes you see in the background. Owen loved the peas. He and I would sit on the edge of the bed picking pea pods and popping them into our mouth.

Owen's Words

During the past couple of weeks actual words have been tumbling out of Owen's mouth. Here's a list of some of the one's we've caught:
Stella
Dog
Ball
Book - Sounds more like ook but is only heard during our reading sessions.
Tractor - Owen rode one for the first time today, and we're told he liked it so much that he cried when it was time to stop riding on it.
Good Throw or Good
Wow! - Usually comes after a good series of throwing and catching
Papa - He's said dada forever and about everything, but this week he started referring to Brian as Papa
Ma - That's me1

There is also a lot of pointing and whining or grunting etc. He also intersperses the pointing with the sign language sign for nursing and holds his hand in the direction of what he wants. Yesterday that happened to be a very pregnant friend of ours who is expecting her own little boy any day now.

Morning Entertainment

Earlier this week, our landlords replaced our pothole ridden asphalt driveway with crushed slate stone. (When it gets potholes you just rake it even again...) At 7:30am 2 huge dump trucks arrived along with a mini CAT scoop. Owen was entralled. So we put his high chair in front of the window so he could watch the machine dig up the driveway while eating his breakfast. If only every morning provided such interesting entertainment.

Owen & Linda

Linda Goes Back to Work

and Owen wears Brian out. More specifically wears him down to the point where he allows Owen to destroy an entire box of tissue while he lies comatose on the floor. Did I mention we wanted the rain to GO AWAY!

Rain, Rain Go Away

So May is the new November here in Vermont. Novembers are known for their dreary, cloudy skies, cold weather and rain. And the past two Mays have been the same way. Fortunately, these details have not deterred Owen's efforts to have fun. With rain comes puddles and Owen loves to walk through them, stomp in them etc.

Goofing Around with Grandpa Marvin

Here's Owen sitting on his Grandpa's lap probably after a long stretch of dancing which is all Owen wanted to do while his grandparent's were visiting. Apparently Marvin has the moves that Owen likes.

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles

This needs no explanation, let your imagination run wild.

Sleeping Through the Night

Christina, my longtime friend from high school came up to visit in May. She has dogs one of whom was a tireless fetcher. While visiting Christina spent hours playing fetch with Owen and he slept through the night twice while she was visiting! We're trying to convince her to come back so we can repeat the sleeping feat!

Rubber Boot Love

I think since the day Owen started distinguishing between objects he has had a fascination with rubber boots. Especially the colorful ones little kids wear. At the library this winter he would crawl over to them and try to chew on them or grab them. For his birthday his Aunt Sherry and Uncle Don sent him his very own pair. And while they are still a bit big Owen has insisted on wearing at least one of them around the house.

The Wind Up

One of my favorite memories of my friend Mike is playing frisbee golf in the woods in the snow with him, my friend Jess and his friend Rich. Instead of baskets we aimed for trees and then ran through the snow to pick up our frisbees. Fast forward 4 years Mike and Danielle's going away party. It's drizzling cold rain and folks are outside tossing around frisbee. Owen insists on being in Mike's arms as he catches and throws the frisbee to others. This picture last month is a testament to the fact that while Owen did wear Mike's arm out, he did learn something. Check out that wind up!