I captured a sort-of 1 hour nap today (while subconsciously listening to the sounds of Owen not napping over the monitor), and got something like 5 hours of sleep last night (though not in a row). I feel like a million bucks! So, I feel like trying to scour memories of recent days from my brain and record them.

Today we took Asher to the pediatrician for a checkup at 5 weeks. 'Perfect!' was Dr. Hoder's diagnosis. Owen was extremely excited about this visit (because it wasn't for him), mostly because of having read 'Berenstain Bears Go to the Doctor' about 5 gazillion times recently. In the car on the way to the office he was talking about looking at Asher's eyes and nose and ears with a special little light over and over. And lo and behold, Dr. Hoder offered to let Owen hold the special little light and change it from white to green...Owen was in heaven. Asher, on the other hand, got the 2nd installment of a hepatitis vaccine, and was none too pleased. Believe it or not, he reacted worse to that shot than Owen ever did; I was surprised. He can get *really* mad if he wants to, and screams so hard that he loses his voice in the middle of each jagged cry. And he turns purple. The nurse felt terrible, and one would think that a pediatric nurse was used to these things! It's funny that Asher is overall much less fussy than Owen was but when he does have a temper flare, it is out of nowhere and very dramatic!

The big news of the visit was that Asher weighed in at 12 lbs 10 oz. Yes, that's right. He's gained 4 pounds in 5 weeks. Yikes!! I knew he had grown, but that's absurd. Owen grew similarly crazy fast, but I thought Asher would be a bit more conservative, having started out a pound smaller and all :P I was assured that it is no problem for him to be so big, but I am of course stressed that some sort of seeds of childhood obesity or later diabetes are being sown. I do feel that there's a point in his meals where he could probably be done, but I offer him more and he takes more. But I do this for good reason, because it seems to help him go the full 3/3.5 hrs between meals. Harumph. Maybe they're right and it's just how he's programmed to grow; after all Owen is a relative peanut now and he was a mammoth baby months 0-6. The one difference is that Owen was 95th%ile in all categories...head, length, weight. Asher is 50th% in head and length, 95th in weight!

Owen has been doing overall really well with the adjustment to Asher, lessening his whining significantly, and we start to see hints of an ability to get through a disappointment without resorting to an inconsolable tantrum. However, bedtime has become a bear. Owen absolutely hates being confined to his crib, but he is completely uninterested in trying out the big boy bed also in his room. So we have a whole lot of crying about getting in the crib, and then sometimes over an hour of fussing/moaning/tantruming about going to bed once he's in. Ah, not fun. We have (had) a firm policy of not returning to his room after bedtime for most of his first 2 years, and it served us well, but now he is creative enough to get us back in sometimes. This does lead to some cute moments too. Tonight I just watched/listened over the monitor to Reuel going in after hearing Owen complain that his shirt was 'sorta wet' and 'needs to put in washin' machine!' Owen was very happy to get Daddy to go in and change it for him, then he laid down and asked to be sung 'Morning is Broken' and 'Yellow Submarine'. Reuel apparently sang him versions of these songs on the one weekend I was out of town and he was hitting a dry well trying to think of toddler tunes when they had bedtimes together for a couple nights. Owen has never asked me for these songs, just Reuel, and Reuel never sings them with the same lyrics twice as far as I can tell.

A few phrases from recently...

'Mmm! Putatoes wif stwahbewwies in dem!' in reference to mashed redskin potatoes donated post-Asher by a wonderful friend.

'You wearing your comfy pants today!' in reference to sweatpants fished out of the back of the drawer for a rainy 60's August day.

'You don't like dat man (or replace man with many other nouns)! He scawes you!' while holding hands over ears (the universal Owen sign for not liking something). Owen always says 'you' when he means 'I' or 'me'.

Oh, so many more, but can't think of them.

Owen's absolute favorite thing to do right now is to help give Asher a bath. It's a wonder Asher hasn't drowned or gotten an eye infection from Owen dripping bathwater in his face as he tries to wash his hair (he absolutely can't resist attempting to wash his hair, even when we restrict it to a parent job). Very cute.

Owen has gone through a phase recently where he is extremely standoffish and retreats to the far corners of the house, (or the room if we're out) whenever a non-family member comes over or has a conversation with us. Then, he warms up within about 10 minutes. Just in the last couple of days he seems to be experimenting with friendliness and is being warmer right away. Today Mrs. Eleanor came to lunch with us at Lincoln Lab and Owen was happy to hold her hand (and was fascinated with the bandaid on her hand) and then during lunch he would reach over and just gently touch her arm and look at her. Funny! Even funnier, he is experimenting with showing other kids affection. At church on Sunday I was volunteering in the toddler nursery and Owen was there with me. Toward the end of the session I caught him over at the snack table standing with his hands gently on another ~18 month old's shoulders, Owen's face right at his cheek, and he was planting the most gentle, intimate little kisses on his cheek. These were no dive-and-peck kisses. They were slow and unashamed. It was absolutely shocking on the one hand (not only to me, but poor little Boaz looked like a deer in headlights!) and beautiful and adorable on the other. After seeing how this scene was going to pan out (Owen was apparently the alpha-toddler in this duo, Boaz was just biding his time til the smooch session ended, and Owen was in no hurry) I told Owen gently that he first needs to ask other kids if they want to be touched. But it seems like a crime to put a damper on such innocent affection (especially after the months of hair-pulling...I am all for kissing!!).

To end, we are still enjoying a freezer full of great food from Mommo and friends. Here's some not-edge-of-your-seat footage (but there are some good Owen laughs at the end) of Owen and Reuel enjoying some of it:
http://vimeo.com/6351364