Rainy Day Craft

Once again it is raining and has been all day. We originally had planned to go to playgroup this morning but the electrician got here very late from traffic caused by a wreck. As I could not leave them here, we hunkered down in the house and enjoyed some more solo time. This will all shock you, so sit down…..Owen did not play with any cars all morning!!!! I know, right? He didn’t play with any yesterday afternoon either. Has he gotten bored of them or just want to play with his other toys for once.

Our morning consisted of a lot of stickers, coloring, reading (he loves when we get new library books), puzzles, then downstairs to play trains, little people and lots of jungle gym on Mom (which I started) – I was lifting him up and sort of twirling him around. It was lots of fun.

He also enjoyed watching the electricians work. He’d run over to the door and talk about them going up the ladder and what the worker men were doing, installing a fan. I am also proud to say that minus the cartoon in the morning he always watches while I brush my teeth and hair, etc. we watched zero TV. We are not much on the TV use anyways but when you are home all day it is tempting.

I also decided to finally do a craft at home with Owen. He actually enjoys doing crafts but I am honestly not good at planning them so we always do them at Wee Play. But the work was done for me, I missed a class and the teacher gave me the craft from that day to do at home. It was two dinosaurs that we got to glue lots of different items on. Owen was very excited to do a craft at home, and we sat there for quite awhile putting each piece on and him talking about the colors and textures. It was fun I must say. The cutest part was the macaroni, he called them “manaroone” and collected them all out of the pile and then sprinkled them on the dinosaur. He was very patient while they waited on the counter drying. And when he got them back to play, we bounded them around the room and made the roar. I also have to include Owen did not like when the glue got all over his hands. It would show them to me and say “hands all sticky” and wait for me to wipe them off…a wet paper towel came in handy. It was a fun rainy day at home.

Dinosaur Craft

Lots to Glue

Little Worker

Gathering Manaroones

The Finished Products

“DINOSAURS!!!”

Playing with Dinosuar Craft

Gloomy Afternoon

As I said it has rained all day and when Owen woke from his nap it was still sprinkling a little so I asked if he wanted to go to the Redskins store, his response “FOOTBALL”. So off we went to the mall to return some items. The whole there he talked about the redskins and football. On the walk there I told him he could pick one thing out, so when we walked in the store he immediately grabbed this Redskins monkey, showed it to me and said “I want please”. I showed him how the hands velcro together and he put it over his head; it draped over his belly all the way down to his knees. We were at the mall for about another 45 minutes and he kept that monkey hanging there the whole time, while we walked around, ate our pretzels, rode the train, even raced on the track at Dick’s. We got some smiles.

When we got home, our Doggie Dooley system had arrived. It is a compost system for dog poo. As with any box Owen wanted to be involved in opening it. I explained to him what it was and then we read about it works. He really just wanted to play with the rake. He raked the floor nice and clean.  Then after dinner and after I had come back from walking the pups, Owen decided to come and talk about the “bin” again. He then proceeded to quickly run and get his water, open the lid, turn his drink over and announce “fill bin with water” as the water slowly dripped out. Well yes, you do fill it up with some water….once again he did listen to me while I was reading the instructions and he was raking the floor. It was a very fun and humorous gloomy afternoon.

I also have to include that if you don’t have an AquaDoodle for your kid, get one!!!! Sylvia gave one to Owen for his birthday today, and he loves loves loves it. After dinner he played with it for close to an hour (with a couple distractions here and there). The great thing is it is reusable. Thanks Sylvia!

Wearing Redskins Monkey

Monkey Smiles

Showing Daddy How he Rakes

Back to Monkey Snuggles

Two Monkey’s Climbing

Glancing Outside

Filling up the Doggie Dooley

He Does Listen!

I forgot to include this and just had to share because it made me giggle. This morning while we were getting ready to go to Sylvia’s house, Owen was very ready and I still had a couple things I needed to gather. Well he grabbed his shoes and started to whine. Then out of nowhere looked at me and said “No whining, use your words.” I giggled and said that was right. He then told me “Go to Sylvia’s please.”

What We’ve Been Up To

I know I haven’t posted anything in a couple days, but honestly we just have not done anything overly exciting or different. We have had a very laid back week so far. I have enjoyed the time with just Owen and I and not having to run around places, but I will say I was a little needy of some adult conversation yesterday, 9 hours without talking to another adult was pretty long.

Here is a synopsis of our week so far, of course along with the normal car playing, animals, puzzles, stickers, outside in sand and playground, etc.

Monday: Laid back morning, absolutely beautiful weather so lots of play outside. Normal grocery shopping. Lots of snuggles as we missed eachother over the weekend. He took a super nap of 3.5 hours!!!! So of course I grabbed a little nap myself. Our afternoon was as normal, playing together and Owen playing alone.

Tuesday: Same as Monday but we headed over to Cascades Library to pick up new books and for storytime, Owen absolutely loves this storytime and so do I, she does an amazing job. Our friends Elizabeth and Tyler met us there. She got there a little late and it was surprisingly crowded and she couldn’t get the twin stroller in so I took Tyler to sit with us. Both Owen and Tyler sat on my lap, too cute. And Owen looked over to him and said “Hi Tyler” probably about 8 times. Such good boys, sat nicely and paid attention. Then they came over for some playtime and lunch (Elizabeth is on her own with three children all week). I can’t explain in words how excited Owen was to have Tyler over. There was lots of squeals and laughs from both. And Owen was a very good host and gave Tyler, Connor and Hayden all a car to play with when they came in. Sadly though I did not get a stellar nap like before, only 45 minutes and a very tired and angry child. So we took a stroller walk with the dogs (hoping for a catnap) and a trip to Target (still hoping for a catnap), he was fine on both, very much enjoyed snuggling with his blankie but no luck on the catnap. We were all very tired when bedtime came.

Wednesday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHESTER! Same as all the other days except we started the morning out with singing Happy Birthday to Chester, Owen was very cute and sang the whole song. Then we took the pups on their hike, where I decided to treat them with a little longer one so I carried Owen in the backpack for the first part and then he walked the rest. It was gorgeous out….seriously feels like Fall already. LOVE IT!

Cute moment: because it is so much chillier out in the woods, I put jeans on Owen. He was so excited and kept grabbing them, ran around the top floor sayings “jeans, jeans” and then when we started to head down the stairs, he demanded “no jeans, take off”. He kept pulling at the bottoms, I guess we are going to have a learning curve with pants this year (last year it was long sleeve shirts). So he won and wore shorts and a sweatshirt.

After we returned he played while I made treats for the pups. And the normal along with another wonderful nap. He actually woke up after 3 hours and wanted to stay in there for close to 30 minutes. I sat in the chair and him still in the crib and we played with stuffed animals, tossing blankies and pretending to be asleep. I love that he loves his bed (most of the time). Also very happy he slept well because Omer worked late tonight and always makes the afternoon more pleasant.

In the afternoon, it was so nice out we hung outside until it started to rain. Cute moment: I decided while he played in the sandbox I would fill up the bird feeders. Well I should have seen it coming but he wanted to help; he likes to help with lots of chores. I would fill up the bucket and he would carefully carry to a bird feeder being mindful not to spill and we’d fill it up. The only problem was when we were done, he was not. He kept telling me “Owen help feed birds” over and over. I guess I needed to leave a little birdseed in his bucket for him to play with, that’s all he wanted.

Thursday: Rainy morning so chill time inside and then off to get his hair cut. It has needed it for awhile but I like it a little shaggy, fun to stroke. He did great there, I think he has gotten used to it. We then headed over for our Thursday playgroup which actually everyone was busy but me and host Jane and Sylvia. We had a great time catching up. I really wish I had my camera with me.

Sylvia loves sunglasses, and Owen found a pair, put them on and walked around with the biggest smile. He also had a blast pushing and filling up her grocery cart, and playing with her animal house and of course cars. We had a couple moments of wanting things and little tantrums but after the second time he was fine and shared very well. It was also very adorable when Sylvia was sitting on her little couch and Owen came and sat next to her and they gave each other big smiles. Oh the moments missed. I also have to include at one point Owen walked over to Sylvia bent down and snuggled her side with his head while saying “snuggles, weeeee”. This is exactly what he does to Chloe.

That pretty much brings us to now, no real plans for the afternoon. Might make a run to Redskins store to make returns, I know so exciting. And tomorrow I am hoping the electrician installs the fan quick enough so I can make it to playgroup.

As I know many of you (including Omer) really want pictures along with this very lengthy post, so before nap I snapped a couple. We were having a lot of fun, bouncing on our butts on the couch and play sleeping. When Chloe came in and laid in front of the couch, Owen immediately got down and said “Sitting with Chloe”, snuggled her lots and then announced “Get cars for Chloe”. He ran back and forth and delivered some cars to her tail while he ran his around the table. He loves his furry sister.

Playing Cars with Chloe

Picture of the New Hairdo

Weekend Away

Both Omer and I were in our friends wedding this weekend so we got a weekend away at Briar Patch. We left Friday afternoon and returned Sunday morning. I will say it is was nice to have some time alone with Omer and getting a little break, but I missed Owen a lot. Amazing how that is.

Grandma came to stay with Owen and the pups, and from the report they had a great time until Sunday. I think it was too long for Owen without both parents. She did say that he asked about me many times throughout the day, but seemed okay with her response.

On Friday and Saturday that had a normal, fun day. I sent them to Frying Pan Farm on Saturday morning, and they had a wonderful time. First time for my mom, and she was surprised at how great the place was. They looked at all the farm animals and there was even a horse show which they stayed and watched for a long time. They also played at the playground where Owen climbed the rock wall all himself. And Grandma got to experience first hand just how quick Owen is.

On Sunday, he woke up super early, but even with that they seemed to have a pretty good time. Of course he had to take a little catnap in the car. We happened to come home right when they were pulling in so Owen got to wake up to me. He gave a huge smile and when we got inside just laid on me and kept looking up with a huge smile. I can’t explain how excited he was to see Mommy and Daddy home again. It was so very sweet.

Grandma also found Owen a bug set, which I have been looking for over a month now. It was perfect and he was very excited. He knows most of the bugs names and got to learn some new ones. I do have to tell you though there is a roach one and it sitting next to our shoe bin, I went around the bar area and saw it sitting on the floor and took a little jump back. It looked so real!

The wedding was absolutely wonderful and it was great to hang out with friends and get to relax some. It was gorgeous out there and so very much fun. I do have to share that I balled at one point. I got a little choked up when Michele danced with her dad, but broke down when Jason danced with his mom. I was managing it until Omer said “Are you thinking about when you will dance with Owen?”. My response, “I am now!!!”….along with a lot of tears. In my defense I was missing him at this point, which didn’t help. But man I am going to be a mess at his wedding.

Thanks again to Grandma, and Owen has mentioned her several times again. He even asked “Grandma read book” when I was reading one of the books to him last night. I guess she read it better than me.

Belly Play

After a very rough evening (lots of wake ups), we decided to skip the excitement of playgroup and run an errand (which of course led to a quick morning nap) and get some stuff ready for our departure this afternoon. (I should be packing right now instead of posting.)

But even with a tired mom and son, we had a wonderful morning. And for some reason he played a lot on his belly, so I had to snapped some pictures of the cuteness. Also I have to report, he finally rode his tricycle which he has had since his birthday. He likes to push it around but didn’t want to get on. Well this morning, he got on and I pushed him around; it was cute.

Laying With Cars

Laying in Dirt Picking Through Bird Seed

“Ooh!”

He was taking the bird seed and “feeding” it to the chalk drawn dragonfly.

Then it was inside for lunch. He took his drink, sat on the sofa and waited for lunch. I just thought he looked comfy and cute.

Then some stuffed animal play. He took them off the sofa and piled them up and then dove in for snuggles.

“This one is Chloe.”

Then he put all the animals back on the sofa, climbed up and dove in for more snuggles.

Lots of Snuggles

Wonderful Friends

When I had Owen I was a little worried that I would be lonely, staying at home can be tedious (and so much fun), but none of my friends have children except Kelly and Kim. And well Kelly now lives in Seattle and Kim in Burke. But through the Mom’s Group I have met some wonderful women and have developed great friendships. I can’t put in words how these women and now friends have helped me. And of course Owen has made friends as well.

Well two of these ladies are Beth and Lauren, I really enjoy their company and we are similar in many ways and our kids love to play together (most of the time). Owen asks to play with both Christina and Luke here and there through the week.

This morning, I had the luxury of dropping Owen off for them to watch him while I went with the bride to get mani and pedi’s. This is really the first time I have left him with a nonfamily member in the daytime, and oddly enough I was a little worried. Not sure why, I have left him for extended periods of time. He did great, he didn’t even care that I left. When I returned I came outside (they spent the whole time out there) and said hi and he just glanced up and said “hi mommy” and went back to listen to the book.

From the report, Lauren and Beth said he was great and he drove his cars around outside and on the steps (shocker!), played in the sand box and knocked down castles, and read books altogether. Sounds like a common outdoor time. As it was getting close to lunch, we had to head out but of course Owen had no desire to leave. But once I finally got him to he waved excitedly out the window to Luke in his driveway saying “Bye Luke”. At lunch he sat and told me about all the stuff they did, read above, he said the same stuff. And he also told me “I played with Christina and I played with Luke.” Too cute!!!

And thank you, thank you, thank you ladies, I had a wonderul time too and have pretty toes and hands.

Here are stolen pictures from Beth’s Blog.

Owen and Christina in Sandbox (Christina wouldn’t smile because she kept saying they were busy.)

Christina and Luke eating Donuts

Storytime with Lauren

When Two Worlds Collide

….it’s a lot of fun!

Owen loves to play on the black sofa (if you couldn’t tell). He plays with his animals on there and of course his cars, but today he decided to play with both and was very excited of his creation. He made the animals drive the trucks and talked about all the moves he was making.

“Giraffe up there with dinosaurs.”

Animals Driving Trucks (notice the walrus in the car transporter)

Owen Thinking of his Next Move

“Cat in Mouth” (When will this oral obsession stop?!?!)

Exploring Dinosaur – “Dinosaur head, ears are circle, and eyes.”

I bought him some lacing beads a while ago but they have been upstairs, so I finally brought them down and he had a blast stringing them. I tell him all the time good job when he does something, and he will also tell himself this when he’s proud.

“Pull it Through”

“Good Job!”

Fixing them so they are all standing up.

“It’s Amazing” (He has picked this up from a song we listen to during the day, he loves it and now says the phrase.)

Afternoon with Friends

Owen usually sees his friends Christina and Luke at Wee Play on Tuesday’s but class is out right now, so I thought we’d have them over for some play time. Owen was beside himself when Luke arrived. He ran around his loop many, many times and kept bringing the fridge letters to tell them the letter and the sound it makes. And of course he was happy when Christina arrived, he talks about her a lot, I think he has a crush. It was wonderful to chat with friends while Owen played with his buddies.

Owen Driving Luke in the Bus

Owen and Luke in the Fort (Owen loves when kids are in here with him.)

Owen Stroking Christina’s Hair (She was not too impressed by this. He also tried to tickle her.)

Christina in the Window

Owen and Luke Swinging (Beth strapping Christina in swing)

Lauren and Luke Playing Soccer

Owen Watering

Luke Mowing

Luke Chasing Owen with Mower

Baby #2 Picture

For all those that don’t already know (which I think everyone does), I figured I’d make it official – I’m pregnant. If you couldn’t tell from the previous pictures of the slightly growing belly. I am 12 weeks with a due date of March 2.

We had our 12 week sonogram this morning to test for abnormalities, and very relieved to say that the radiologist said everything looked great. They have to wait for the blood work but more than likely I can breathe a little easier.

As Omer of course also wanted to see Baby #2, we decided that all three of us would go. I figured if Owen didn’t want to sit in there then Omer would just leave and play in the waiting room. But I was pleasantly surprised, Owen did wonderful and made all of us laugh a little. When I first got on the table, he was a little concerned and then I told him to sit in his chair (which he loves to do) and he sat back, ate his snack, and watched the screen, with of course playing with cars and animals here and there. It lasted for about 45 minutes and we didn’t have any major problems. Always nice!

I tell him that I have a baby in my belly and that we were going to the doctor to see it on the TV. He was curious and did say baby a couple times, but had much more fun telling us what he thought it looked like. Baby #2 was a whale, dolphin, shark, truck, crab, car, etc. I could see some of what he said.

We didn’t get this sonogram done last time as it wasn’t offered, but I was surprised at how much it looked like a baby and watching it move its hands around was super exciting.

Here is the first official picture of Baby #2 on the blog (you can click on the picture to view it bigger).