Current favorite Owen word:



Doodle! Doodle! (With urgent pleading to be put in high chair)

photo courtesy kejadlen, creative commons

Day for the record book...

Woke up a little after 7am!
Did not stand up screaming when I left the room after putting down for nap! Just laid there!

My little guy is growing up...and letting us sleep a lot more. At least this week :) Now, if we don't get enough sleep it's our own fault because we went to bed too late.

Owen is doing really, really well this week interacting with other kids. We've consistently encouraged him for a while now to say hi, hug, or kiss another child, rather than pull their hair. (I know the kissing thing isn't probably the best public health move, but we started saying that without thinking and now it kind of stuck...and it *is* better than hair-pulling!). It's so cute to watch him; he'll start to head over to pull someone's hair and all of a sudden something will flash across his expression and he'll stop himself and start waving 'hi' instead. I of course smother him with praise when that happens. We've had a few remaining hair-pulling episodes, but now they are reserved for moments when another kid takes a toy Owen's playing with or cuts in front of him in a line, etc. So, at least it's happening a little more rationally than it used to. He's still as bad as ever with the playgroup kids, though, so we're holding off on having large groups in our own house for now.

I can hardly believe my (not-so-little) newborn is now a (not-so-big) toddler. I think he's around 23.5lbs now. He started out at 9lbs 10oz! That's like...95%ile down to <50th! He sure likes to eat, so I guess that's just how he's programmed!

Back from our 2nd storytime! Great time again!! Owen liked the part where they hand out cookies the best ;) He listened to 1 or 2 of the stories, but he is not the biggest bibliophile in the world.

Ok, Reuel and I are both starting to get scared. What sort of little monster is lurking behind the cute son facade? Here are the recent pieces of data that have been accumulating...

*when Reuel was trying to get Owen to stop playing with tools so that we could get him down for a nap a couple of days ago, Owen put the wrench in the toolbox and shut the lid. Then, he wandered all the way across the other room to find the hammer that he remembered he had played with earlier in the morning, brought it back to the box, put it in and tried to shut the lid. The handle was sticking out so the lid wouldn't shut and Owen would not be at peace until that handle was inside the box and he could shut that lid exactly right, all the way. As soon as it was shut, he walked away happily to get ready for his nap.

*yesterday Owen had broccoli and green beans for part of his supper. I was picking them up off his high chair tray and offering them to him. When I would put them back on the tray (after they were refused of course), Owen would sort them out so that all the green beans were in one pile and all the broccoli in another pile.

*there are so many ROUTINES throughout our day. You can't pass the garage without cranking the handle on the snowblower. Then we check on the rabbit, and Owen goes and points at the rabbit's food bucket. When we play in the front seat, we turn on the hazard lights, and then the headlights. A trip to the basement includes pointing out the nail where daddy's goggles normally hang, a stop at the dryer to open the door, etc. etc.

Maybe it's all just normal developmental stuff, but he seems to crave order. How did he get me for a mother??? It must be Reuel's genes. 'Maybe he's going to be an engineer,' Reuel informed me with pity in his eyes last night. Two of them in the house? Surely God would not give me more than I can bear...

Snack time! Owen and Reuel are out and about and I am home alone! Woohoo! Owen was up a third of last night because he has a very persistent and worsening nighttime cough. Poor little fella. We took him in to urgent care today (instead of church...bummer) and the suggestion was that he likely has a sinus infection and he got pink antibiotics...which he loves. He gets so excited about 'meh-eh' (medicine).

After Owen's nap Owen and daddy had snacks...and what a remarkably healthy snack day! Grapes for Owen and freshly baked butternut squash for Dad. Owen did not want Daddy's snack, not a bit. Then, Owen and Reuel retired to the basement for 'projects', consisting of banging a hammer on a piece of 2x4 and putting screws in and out of holes. Oh my, this is Owen utopia. Owen has really taken a strong interest in 'too' (tools) of late, and throws big tantrums if you step one step too close to him while he's attempting to fix something, try to take a too-dangerous tool from him, or decide that it's time to move on to another activity...wow. In general, the more he loves something, the farther I have to be from him...physically that is. He pushes me away and wants me to stand at least 5 or 6 feet away. He'll also try to push me to position me exactly where he wants me to be in the room, or grab my hand and try to put it on something he wants me to pick up or make work (like the computer mouse). Controlling little stinker! He definitely wants to be the alpha dog around here (and is scarily good at figuring out how to get himself in that position too!). I am slowly learning how to bypass tantrums while still maintaining my alpha-mommy position, but I am definitely in the remedial track.

Tomorrow night I'm going out with a friend! Hopefully I'll get enough sleep tonight to be able to enjoy it :) There are some new pics (including below) up at the link on the right.

I was so proud of my little man today! What a guy. The storytime we signed up for started at the library today and Owen looooved it. And didn't pull another child's hair once! He would NOT sit on my lap (like most of the other kids did) and instead he stood up right in front of the librarian the whole time, studying her every move. He was 'talking' often when she pointed out a picture on the page, and would go up and touch the pictures that he liked the best. He was also grabbing the stuffed animals first--the bells, the beanbags, whatever it was--he was all over it! He really liked the 'shake your beanbag' song and shook with gusto. He was also quite fascinated at another mom's 7 week old sleeping in her carseat and I was sure he was going to wake her up going up to her and saying 'Baby! BAby! BABY!' over and over. It was a definite hit.

I am ashamed to say that my son knows a Dunkin' Donuts shop on sight. I'm somewhat ashamed because that means we've taken our 17 month old to a donut shop more than once, but I'm more ashamed because when we moved here I was such a snob about the New Englander's love for 'Dunkins' and now our son will be one of them (and we're getting dangerously close ourselves). Perhaps there was never much hope when there are three separate shops in a 1-2 mile stretch on the main road right outside our house. We had a little time before our library meeting this morning and it was Owen's morning snacktime so we stopped in for a munchkin for Owen and a small decaf for me. As we were pulling in the parking lot Owen suddenly started saying, 'No-nuh, No-nuh, No-nuh!' rather emphatically and it finally hit me that he was saying 'donut'. Umm, bad I know. It might make more sense if I explain that the way we got him to stop nursing in the morning a couple of months ago was to whisk him out of bed and straight into the car for a family breakfast at Dunkin Donuts...he was distracted enough by the change of routine (and the sugar and sausage croissants) that he didn't throw a tantrum all morning about wanting to nurse. It worked well...but left him with a particular love for the donut hole.

Prelude to Halloween. We received an adorable chick costume in the mail from the Matthews. Owen is willing to put it on, but keeping it on is another story. We haven't done a real dress up with the tights and all, but here's a sneak peek ;)

Today...

...raking leaves with us using his kid-sized rake and loving it, doing 'projects' in the basement with daddy (putting screws into holes in a 2x4 that Reuel drilled for him), wanting to be outside ALL day, putting the empty toilet paper tube up to his mouth and amplifying his 'Doo Doo Dooooo!', acting really shy around strangers for the first times-starting to bury his face in our clothes when people try to talk to him.

It's been a bipolar week; high highs, low lows :) The lows are mostly that I had to cancel the playgroup at my house because Owen is hurting the other children too much. I can't leave when it gets to be too much, and I think he is even feistier when he's in his own house. It really made me mad that his hair-pulling/aggression drove me that far. I keep wondering if it's gotten so bad because I've been trying too hard to stop it (but pray tell what else should one do...let other children get mauled?) or if he has some behavior disorder or what. VERY frustrating. He will not play for one second...he is only focused on hurting this particular group of kids in this setting; it's an association now. Of course, every other day this week he's been on decent--not perfect--behavior with other kids. But they are mostly kids older than he is. He really wants to victimize the weak of the world, which is just the trait I was hoping for in my son...and have no idea how to redirect right now :( I'm praying for wisdom and that it's a phase.

The rest of the week he's been a gem, and ever cuter. He's in his crib for a nap right now and I can hear him on the monitor happily shouting, 'Doo doo! Doo doo! Doo doo!' No idea if that means anything other than he's happy. Other loveable moments this week...the way his sticks his bum out and ooches backwards into my lap while holding a book and wanting me to read it to him...the way he rolls over in surrender giggling before I'm anywhere near him when I say, 'I'm gonna get you!' and make indications that I'm going to start tickling him...the way he babbles incessantly and provides audio accompaniment at every moment of the day except when he's sleeping (way more than other kids from what I can tell)...the way he just wants to cuddle, hug, kiss me after I get him out of his crib...the way he runs for the front door if he hears the wind rattle it saying , 'Dada! Dada! Dada!'...the way he signs 'please' and 'more' with big puppy dog eyes because he has finally learned that he'll get what he wants if he does that instead of whining...the way he says, 'Boo!' everytime he sees a pumpkin or jackolantern (yesterday in the grocery store he smiled big and said, 'Boo! Boo! Boo!' and I followed his eyes to see the pages from a coloring competition-three jackolanterns hung on the wall)...the times he is oh so proud of himself for being grown up-finding an airplane in the sky by himself, riding his car, using a spoon (he's very good at it I must say!). Ok, that was a good exercise to remember all the good Owen times. I've nearly forgotten about Owen the bully :)

We had a three day weekend with all three of us together...it was fabulous. Aside from Owen and Reuel nursing the first head cold of winter. Reuel and I both think that Owen has changed leaps and bounds practically overnight. He is so grown up all of a sudden! It is adorable and scary how fast it is happening.

Owen's constant stream of gibber-babble shows glimpses of actual words here and there. Today he definitely added 'all done', 'tractor', 'door' to his list. Lots of words can be deduced from context but don't sound just a whole lot like the actual word. He still points to things all the time and wants us to say their names out loud. But then today he got a very excited look in his eye, ran over to the door, started tapping on it and proudly announced, 'Door!' The cutest part of everything is seeing how proud he is when he accomplishes something.

We popped over to the mall to run an errand and Owen insisted on carrying the bag with our purchase. It was almost as tall as he was so he had to hold his arm up really high to not trip over it. He would NOT part with it. He was so pleased at carrying it around.

Owen and daddy spent a lot of the morning outside together while daddy primed and painted some windowsills. Owen, who is almost universally restless indoors, is happy as a clam to be outside with daddy, where there's not a toy in sight. He did play with lots of the tools that reuel wasn't using though. Later he was pretending to paint the windows inside the house.

Another day on the front lines in The Napping Wars of 07/08. Put him down too late...cranky toddler can't get to sleep. Put him down too early...mad toddler gets really mad and stays awake, never lies down once he is tired, passes his sleepy window, gets really cranky and can't get to sleep. The problem is that the window in which he'll fall asleep is about 20 minutes. That may sound like a big enough window, but it is deceptively easy to misjudge. Today was a case of too early. He stayed up there for 1h and 5min and then he was way past ripe, so I went up and helped him get to sleep, and he only slept for 40 minutes. The following day is the bad one when this kind of thing happens, and tomorrow we're going to help out some friends and are hoping he'll take his nap at their house. Ooh, fun ;)

Today was pretty fun. This morning we met friends at the indoor playground and we were the only ones there! It was great. Usually Owen is either getting trampled by big kids or I'm getting trampled trying to protect him, so it was great. The little man was excited about everything, but the winner was the ball pit. He discovered that he could sit on the edge of the pit (about 18" above the pit) and throw himself in belly flop posture onto the balls. The other mom was incredulous (as was I). It looked like it wouldn't be all that comfortable to land with some acceleration face first on hard plastic balls, but Owen couldn't get enough. He just kept asking me to help him climb back up and he'd get a wicked grin on his face and do it again. I had a flash forward wondering how I am going to tell him he can't play football someday.

In other news, two potty-training readiness moments today. First, Owen could not get out of his soiled diaper fast enough. I hadn't noticed the event, and Owen came over to me whining and pulling on his diaper, then flopped on the floor in front of me (translation: change me!). Second, yesterday I bought him a small stool for helping him reach the sink in the bathroom. He was happily standing on it as I undressed him for his bath. Oh look! Owen peed all over the little piggy on the stool. 'No, no Owen! In the potty!' says mommy. I popped him in the bath and cleaned up. Today, I undressed him near the tub as usual. While I'm prepping the bath, I hear, 'Dat! Dat!' (translate: That! That!) and look over to see him standing on the stool having peed all over it again and pointing at the puddle. No! No! say I, then pop him in the tub and clean up. After the bath we put on pjs and then Owen runs over to the trash before I can stop him, pulls out the pile of tissues I'd used to clean up and starts wiping down the stool with them. This is all very fun for him. So, all that to say that I think he's getting interested ;)

Yay! Owen made it through the nursery again today! And he didn't even cry when I picked him up! But boy did he cry when we pulled into the church's parking lot before I dropped him off this morning. I couldn't believe that he recognized the parking lot before we even set foot in the church...I consistently underestimate his toddler superpowers. The workers had a time of it keeping him from pulling all the other kids' hair again. I feel so bad about it but don't really know what to do; should I not bring him? I think it's really good for him to have to learn to control himself, but the other kids must get sore scalps. They had two comments for me when I picked him up: 1. He's a very smart little guy! and 2. He loves music doesn't he? I am thrilled he is learning to enjoy himself there.

We sang happy birthday to daddy this morning and on the way home in the car Owen was singing, 'Hap Dada.'

He's obsessed with flushing the potty (and playing with the toilet brushes...YUCK!!!!! I think I'm going to throw them out and switch to the disposable ones because I can't take the possibility of him getting into that again).

Owen's loving to tickle mommy, especially my tummy. He yanks my shirt til he can find my (way too flabby thanks to him) bellybutton and tickles me.

Loves to look out the window and try to find 'amals' (animals) ever since seeing a cat and a squirrel out the window earlier in the week. Also gets soooo excited if he locates an airplane overhead and points it out to me.

Owen and I hung out at the mall this morning. He was only a fan of the play area for about 3 minutes, and then I was not quick enough and he pulled out a handful of hair from a ~9 month old. :O So we left and walked around other places.

Accomplishments of recent days...

Learning to gag himself by sticking his fingers down his throat. This is not an accomplishment that mom is fond of, but Owen thinks he is quite cool. I am currently going with ignore-the-behavior on this one, because I think giving it attention will make it all the more fun to do at this point.

Pop mini snickers bar into mouth and chew, chew, chew for so long that mom forgets he was working on it. About 10 minutes later, come over to mom, open mouth and spit out pile of perfectly sucked-clean pile of peanut chunks.

Love affair with the out of doors continues and grows. We bought snow pants this morning (I was told they sell out fast) because Owen and I are NOT going to survive indoors from November to May.

Made it through the church service in the nursery on Sunday! Woohoo!

Loves the massage chair at Brookstone at the mall, with all of the buttons on the controller. There are two side by side so we have free mommy/son massages and get lots of laughs from the passers-by. It's a tough life.

Mimics a whole lot of words, but they are still pretty indistinct. It's so funny when he hears a word that's a bit long and overwhelming. Like umbrella, or abracadabra. He'll make the first sound, and then intentionally make up a bunch of jibberish syllables just to make it so that he's saying a long word. Umbrella might be 'ublahbamama' or 'umemebabo' you never know.

Aha! A clear pattern has emerged. Owen plays excellently with older children, even just 6 months older. A child of his own age or younger is another story...out comes the terrorist. It's like he wants to exert power over anyone he perceives as weaker than him. Is that normal human nature stuff, or is that the sign of some insecurity in him or what?? Fascinating, and troublesome! Today we had mild success in replacing grabbing and hitting with hugs when we played with Nicolas. But I think it only worked b/c we were at the park and there was lots of space and chance for Owen to do his own thing. Crowd him in a room with other little kids and watch out!!

Owen made it through 2 hours in the nursery today!! One of the workers even said she had him laughing when she blew bubbles!! Of course, when I got downstairs to pick him up he was a teary mess, but only at the end apparently. W.O.W. In hindsight it didn't take all that long, but judging by last week's screaming and just as bad when I dropped him off today I would not have guessed this week would go so well. Of course, the pause in the separation anxiety was replaced by the nursery workers getting a firsthand experience of the bold side of Owen...when I picked him up the worker said: 'So...we learned something new about Owen today. He's a hair puller!' Uh, yeah. Working on that. No idea what to do. Ups and downs!

Today.

Not so cute...
1. Hair-pulling, face-grabbing and all-around bullying, selfish behavior in every playgroup we attend is really, really disturbing. I have thus far tried distraction, removal from situation, time-outs in playpen, firm 'no' until blue in the face, and even resorted to hand-slapping to see if it would work (that received laughter). I am fearing that he's spoiled beyond repair judging by the severity of his bad behavior! I am not afraid of limits, I just don't know how to make a consequence to breaking them that effects change in behavior at this point. Sigh.

2. Temporary hatred of the bath. How can a child really love his bath in general and then go through these strange ~1 week periods where he gets it in his head that taking a bath is akin to being boiled alive. I don't get it!

Cute...
1. Loves watching himself in home videos. What a narcissist! And I mean loooooves to watch them, and would do so all day.

2. Is in a phase where he's so excited about being able to understand what I say and then act it out...even when it's not to his benefit (he's not really thinking ahead yet...). For instance, when I say we need to change his diaper he runs to get a diaper and then plops down on the floor with his legs in the air. When I say he needs a time out he runs over to the playpen. When I say it's naptime he runs over to the basement door (we take a walk in the basement before naps)...and then of course, fights the nap tooth and nail once I actually go to put him in the crib.

3. so cuddly right now! wants to hug and cuddle after naps, and pretty much any other time! it has definitely not always been that way!

Well that's enough for today. There's so much but I'll never keep up with this if I make it burden some by trying to remember everything.