Firefighter Owen

My mom’s group hosted a tour of one of Reston’s fire stations today. Owen was of course beyond excited. His good friend Matthew was also there and they had a blast. If Matthew was not around Owen would come and ask me “Where did Matthew go?” Happy to say that Matthew asked for Owen several times too. On the way there Owen told me “Owen and Matthew are going to spray the hoses.” Well obviously they didn’t get to do that, but they enjoyed many other activities.

I think one of Owen’s favorite things was watching the firefighter put on his gear. He talked about this once we got home.

Firefighter Owen

Trying to keep his hat on.

They got to sit in the fire truck. Owen sat in that seat the whole time.

But the next highlight was Owen and Matthew running around in circles.

When we got home, I had to nurse Aiden and Owen was playing like normal and then he announce to me “I am going to dress like a firefighter! I need shoes, a hat, gloves and a coat.” So he went around finding these items. It was so fun to watch him transform. Then once I was done, he gave me a hat and gloves too and we got our hoses and played firefighters. It was a blast!

Owen the Firefighter

Spraying the Horse

Hard at Work

Then I went to make lunch, and Aiden was in the swing and this is what I heard. “Aiden firefighters have one shoe and two shoe. Left shoe, right shoe. They have buttons.” I had to check it out.

Back to make lunch and I hear Owen cracking up laughing, of course I had to check it out once again. He was standing so that the swing would hit him and obviously he thought it was funny.

Me and the Boys

Aiden had a little moment of happy time so I brought him downstairs so he could “play” (aka look outside, he loves to)and we could all be together as a family. Owen wanted to show me what him and Daddy had been doing – making play-doh eggs- and talk about his new crayons.

Family Visit

My dad and stepmom came for a visit and to meet Aiden today. It was great to see them and catch up. And they always bring great classic gifts (the Chinese yo-yo previously mentioned was from them). This time was a windmill. Owen loved it. Had all of us blowing it to make it go and then the top fell off and it was all over. The windmill met ts match and Owen broke it for good after tormenting it for a little. Boys!

Grandfather and Aiden”

Owen and I were “reading” his coloring book they brought him.

We were counting the cars.

Ribbon Dancing

Owen found his Chinese yo-yo and after using correctly for a little bit he decided to dance around with it. It reminded Omer and I of rhythmic gymnastics. Enjoy!

Week in Review

Well becoming harder for me to post because just don’t have much free time. Aiden has become pretty fussy and needy in the past week. He sometimes will cry while I try to feed him, so not sure what the problem is. And he is super gassy, once again not sure what the problem is. I have become a baby-wearer not by desire but by need. It is the only way I can calm Aiden down and still manage and play with Owen. For the most part we have had a pretty good week; here are some snippets…from what I can remember.

Monday: See post on the gym.

Tuesday: I took the kids to the library for the first time with two. It went really well. Aiden slept in the carrier the whole time and Owen behaved and stayed with me to help pick out books. Owen loved storytime as usual. We had a nice morning.

In the afternoon, Aiden actually had was happy so I thought I would give him some tummy time. I stepped away and when I cam back he was on his back. No way, I thought. So I put him back on his tummy and watched he roll over to his back. I could not believe it. Way too early. Omer didn’t believe me so when he got home, Aiden did it again. I tried to get video the other day but of course he wouldn’t do it and Owen likes to take the video camera. I will try again soon.

I could get lost in his eyes.

Mid-roll

He made to his back.

Lifting his Head

Wednesday: Went to playgroup and had a blast. Owen always loves to see his friends. In the afternoon, I decided to try to get creative and Owen and I turned a box into an airplane. I cut out wings, a tail-fin and  a window. We colored the outside and even the inside. Owen was very happy with his airplane but told me not to take any pictures. This is the only one I was able to snag.

Thursday: With Aiden just fussy and Owen acting up a bit at music class I decided to skip it. I was just not interested in havng to monitor Owen and soothe Aiden at the same time. We stayed home the whole day and Owen and I had a wonderful time, even with the fussiness and constant Aiden wearing. He was very helpful. He carried down his sheets and put them in the wash for me. He also helped me make his bed, which consisted in him returning his music box and stuffed animals to his bed. We also sorted his closet. I have to note that Owen is finally sleeping under his cover. For the past week he has started to ask me to cover him with his blankie and pick a stuffed animal to snuggle with. Not sure where this came from, but it is so cute. So when we were making his bed I started to talk about how he could sleep under his cover, he went right under while I finished making his bed. He wanted to at nap and bedtime. I have always wondered when he would finally do this, and he looks like such a grown boy now in bed. It is fun getting to tuck him in.

I bought Owen a new bike hoping that a different style than his current one would allow him to learn to ride one. I decided that we would put it together this morning. With Aiden still in baby carrier, Owen and I built his bike. He was helpful and cute. He took it upon himself to unwrap the bubble wrap off every piece and put it back in the box. And he got his tools and would get the same as I had and help me. We banged hammers together, we screwed, and we used the wrench. It was very happy with his new bike and we took it for a spin in the basement. Later in the evening he rode it with Daddy and actually peddled a little.

The New Bike

Ringing the Bell

Then in the afternoon, Aiden actually had a little happy period so I had him exploring on the floor when I turned around to find Owen laying next to him saying hi. Owen really is trying to be a good brother and helper, he has moments of jealousy and still does not like when I have to feed, but it seems like he just doesn’t like when Aiden cries (which is often). When Aiden is happy, Owen wants to be around him.

“Hi Aiden”

He likes to try to give him his suckie.

My Two Boys

 I had given Aiden a panda to play with and explained to Owen that babies like black and white items. Well of course Owen wanted the panda but he traded it with the dog which he told Aiden “This dog is black, white AND red.”

Enjoying his new toy

Owen then went to watch the birds play in the rain. We talked about the birds a lot.

Bouncy Gym

Well today I finally made it to Jumping Jacks with two kids. It went much better than expected, but only because Lauren and Theresa joined us. There is no way I could have done that on my own; Luke saved me. Owen pretty much stayed with Luke the whole time and they did the bouncy course together. So I did not have to climb the ladder with baby in carrier. Owen has never done the course without someone with him. But he did it all himself, I only had to get on their once in the very beginning. He had a blast and talked about the gym, Luke and Evan the rest of the day. And once again thank you Lauren (and Luke) for helping me handle Owen. And sorry for a lot of blurry pictures, but camera was on the wrong setting and had no clue until half way through. But I had to include some of the blurry fun.

Driving Cars

In the Bouncy Room with Luke

On the Slide with Luke

Climbing the Big Ladder

Going Down the Slide with the McDermotts

Me and Aiden waiting at the bottom

Bouncy FUN!!!

Going Through Tunnels

He would only slide down backwards, Luke joined him.

Running Back to the Beginning

More Ladder Climbing (sorry I was proud)

The boys enjoyed playing at the bottom of the slide, rolling, climbing, just being boys.

Down the Slide Action

One Month Old

Not quite yet but Aiden is almost one month old. I am posting early because we had his one month appointment on Friday. Doctor said he looks perfect and is growing nicely. He hasn’t started to make coo noises but should soon. We also got the go ahead to start giving him real tummy time (not just on us). Love how he is 50% across the board.

Weight: 9 lbs 8 oz (50%)
Height: 21.5 inches (50%)
Head: 14 3/4 inches (50%)

One Month Old (and yes he has a case of baby acne)

“I’m not a crook!”

First Tummy Time – Not a Fan

Eating the Blanket

Please Help, Mommy

WooHoo, on My Back

The Babysitter

Chloe is very protective of our kids, always has been. She did this with Owen and she is doing it with Aiden. If I leave Aiden in a room alone, she will come and lay near him until I come back. She did this with Owen too, along with staying near people she didn’t know as well when they held him and laying in his room at night with some of our babysitters. I love that she is so protective.

While I read bedtime stories to Owen, Chloe stayed with Aiden while he slept.

Chloe watched Aiden while he swung.

Fashion Statement

 I won a wonderful lot on Ebay and Owen enjoyed looking through it after nap. He insisted on wearing a Cars muscle tee along with keeping his dinosaur PJ pants on. Very happening outfit! He becomes quite funny when the camera comes out. He will scream “no camera, no picture” and then start laughing.

I also have to share that Owen gathered all his crocodiles and named them Mommy, Daddy, Owen and Aiden It was nice to have him include his brother. He still lashes put at Aiden sometimes so t is nice when he’s being nice toward him.

Aiden slept pretty much the entire time in the Moby Wrap. Had to hold the camera out but I got some cute pictures.

Mother of Two Fears

I have some simple “fears” now that I have two kids. They are not really fears per se but more scared to conquer some tasks that used to be easy and simple. Here are some that are top of my list:
1- Walking the dogs
2- Going to the grocery store or errand
3- Going to Jumping Jacks Gym (somewhere Owen asks to go often)
4- Going to the playground alone
5- Doing bedtime duty alone

Well I have faced some of these and will face the others soon. On Wednesday, Owen took a horrible nap and it was beautiful outside so it was perfect scenario to walk the dogs. Owen happily rode in the stroller and Aiden happily slept in the bjorn, and the dogs were happy to get a walk by me. It went fine minus coming across two off leash dogs coming after my dogs. Not fun to handle but all was well.

We are going to Jumping Jacks on Monday; still not sure how this will work because Owen wants someone to come/help him through the bouncey course. Luckily I have several friends coming along so hopefully we can all help eachother.

As for the others, as soon as Aiden has more of a routine I will tackle errands with two, but right now I just know I will go and Aiden will want to feed. With the weather getting nicer, I will tackle the playground. I imagine it won’t be too bad, just carry Aiden in one of the three baby carriers I have now. As for bedtime, I will have to face this in the next month as Omer will be taking a business trip soon. This shall be interesting because right now Aiden cluster feeds a lot at that time when Owen wants bath and books for bedtime.