Halloween pix

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyswint/2009_10_31#

Halloween afternoon = 
Wonderful visit with Niels!  Owen thinks Niels is as fun as big people get!
Beef stew baked in pumpkins and apple crisp for dinner!
Owen discovers leaf piles without prompting!  (Mommy, I'm laying in that leaf hammock!)
A cowboy and his horse discover the joy of begging for candy door-to-door!

Oh, and Owen decides it's fun to pluck poisonous berries off of a bush in the yard, eat some, and bring a pile to mommy to eat!  Parents are shocked and ashamed!  Child has never even come remotely close to such behavior before!  Child is OK, that's the important thing!

The Zombie-Makers

Happy Halloween from our little monsters!

Notable Owens

"Mrs. Ruth is a fun lady! She likes to play games with you! She doesn't have a hairy beard on her face." [Ruth is my *fantastic* group leader at the church program we attend midweek. This morning we were at a brunch with her where we had the kids with us and she gave it her all entertaining and engaging Owen and some other kids while most of us were busy with our younger ones. It was absolutely wonderful and made the event actually fun. And of course Owen loved her...what kid doesn't like one-on-one attention on their terms ;) The beard comment is because Owen is scared of someone we know with a deep voice and a big beard; so if he says you don't have a big beard it means you're approachable and not intimidating and he likes you :P]

"Owen is going to have an Asher in his tummy too!" Well, no Owen, only girls can have babies in their tummies. "No mommy, Owen can have a baby in his tummy when he grows up!" Nope, not even when you're bigger. You're a boy. Boys can be daddies. "Mommy, mommy! Owen is going to be a daddy when he gets bigger! And Owen is going to be a chef! I will wear a big hat! I will cook food!"

[Lightbulb flashes on above Owen's head and eyes widen] "Mommy! When Owen was a baby he sat in Asher's baby chair! When Owen was a baby he played with that baby toy! When Mommy was a baby she played in that baby gym! When grandpa was a baby he weared that cowboy costume!" And so on, and so on...

Anything associated with birthdays = cake (in Owen's mind). Me: Hey Owen, tomorrow is mommy's birthday. Owen: Everybody will have a piece! Mommy I want a big, big piece of that birthday!

Out of the blue while riding in the car: "Asher is so cute! He's a chunk!"

Me: Owen, Nathan is going potty now. He wears big boy underwear.
Owen: No he doesn't! Nathan wears diapers. He doesn't like the potty. Nathan likes to be a baby.

[Note to self: Asher 13 wks exactly. Very rough nap day; cried ~10 mins w/ 6pm bedtime after 20 mins walking around. Last naplet 4-4:30pm. Not bad!]

Pumpkins

Owen and Reuel went out yesterday and Owen came bursting in...'Mommy! Mommy! We got a GIANT punkin'!! And we got a tiny punkin! And we got some tiny, itty bitty to-MA-toes! And we ate ice cream! He was at level 10 excitement. Some speedy pumpkin-carving commenced (excitement does not necessarily create long attention spans when you're not yet allowed to use a sharp knife). Asher joined in by sitting in his exersaucer next to the table and giving the toys along the edge some really hairy eyeball looks. It took some convincing to get Owen to put himself into the pumpkin up to his armpits and pull out the slimy guts, but then he was unstoppable. Mostly he had fun poking holes in the pumpkin with one of the little pumpkin carving tools we have. 'Daddy, I'm poking holes!'

Asher E-is-for-easygoing Swint

Oh my. Bedtime and nighttime had reached crisis stage around here with Asher. I was trying to balance his bedtime with Owen's--both usually on my own--and was having to walk him around in the dark basement, making sure it was quiet, for a loooong time, and then most of the time he would wake up, need repacifiering 20 times and finally get to sleep 2 hours later. Let me tell you how much that is *not* compatible with trying to care for another child simultaneously. Asher also has not been napping well (swing magic is all worn off) and so that makes for a rough combo...extra tired baby does not fall asleep easily at night. I was waiting til hopefully he starts napping a bit better (they say around 4 months that happens, and it did with Owen) before I allowed him to go to bed by himself (translate: forced him to cry to sleep, yuck!) but I just ran out of options. So...night #1 he was still crying at the 1hr15min mark and I totally caved. Went in, but didn't let him see me, rocked his bed a bit and he drifted off amid sobs eventually. I was heartbroken and in tears. Also I was afraid all that crying had been wasted since I intervened in the end. Well, nights #2, #3, and #4 he has cried for 30 seconds, 0 seconds and 7 minutes respectively. WOW. That is some fast learning. He has also settled himself in the middle of the night on his own, sans pacifier, and let me tell you we'd been having some doozy nights of replacing that pacifier over and over and over. This is *way* easier than it was with Owen, further evidence of a very different temperament on this little boy! And even with all of these short naps, he is one happy kid (in general). Only one night after not a single decent nap all day did he really lose it...for about 5 minutes when I got him out of the bath. As soon as we get some independent napping going, it is going to be a seriously happy household. Now that the swing isn't working for us, I have been back to walking/holding that baby to sleep for 30-45 minutes each time, about 4 or 5x per day. Exhausting and nerve-wracking for both Owen and I. We can make it!!!

Cutetastic

Reuel

While I'm watching Dora with Owen on the computer (thrill!) I just remembered I had this picture of Reuel on file. Thought it would be interesting to compare it to our boys!

Reunion

I just spent a lovely weekend catching up and reminiscing with two fantastic high school friends-- Brandee and Megan--who came up from NYC/CT with Brandee's adorable 1.5yr old Graham in tow. There's something unique about high school friends...maybe because we grew up in similar families with similar life circumstances in the same town there's an ease of friendship that isn't always the same as in later-life relationships. It was fun to pick up where we left off; Megan and I have kept up decently, but I hadn't seen Brandee since 1993! Graham and Owen got along really well (well, on day 2 Owen started getting a bit feisty about sharing his toys, but overall he didn't do too badly). Owen was pretty intense with his hugs...knocked Graham over a couple times at least while trying to bear hug him. Owen also spent the weekend pointing and saying, 'That is Gra-a-ammmm!' in his funny little sentence-ending intonation. I think we heard that one about 5 gazillion times. He was very excited about this new little friend. Graham is a hoot! He likes to mimic the last word he hears, which can be pretty funny. And he's a dancer! Loves to move to the music, which isn't something Owen does a lot of. We went to the apple orchard for goat-feeding, hay-mazing, tractor-riding, hot cider-drinking and apple-picking. It was briefly dry on Saturday, but only 50 degrees so the little guys had some pretty cold fingers afterward. Otherwise we stayed home and chatted and played. The weather's been nasty...snow that's sticking this afternoon/evening!

Photos!










Daddy and Asher held down the recliner...! :) Just kidding, they joined in the fun too!

Oh sweet boys of mine

There is almost *nothing* my heart leaps at these days as the sound of Reuel's footsteps coming up the stairs as I'm singlehandedly and simultaneously trying to get a wound-up toddler and a tired (but yet remarkably easygoing) baby bathed, fed, diapered, wrestled through the attempt to draw everything out, and in bed for the night. I am so very happy to see his face. It's not just that he can help me when he's home in time, although that's no doubt a big part of the joy, it's just that I'm not alone in it anymore. Even if he doesn't do a thing to help, having him in the house with me is a huge boost. Stay-at-home-mommyhood can be rather isolating...which is ironic considering I don't think I've even gone to the bathroom by myself during the day more than a handful of times in the last 2 years. A girl needs to converse with someone whose voice isn't always on the edge of a whine and have just a few moments a day where respect is just given rather than fought for.

There are so many priceless nuggets of Owen conversation from recent weeks. He makes me laugh about something new every day. It definitely makes the days go quickly the 2nd time around when you have a toddler to enjoy as well.

At bathtime-
[Owen in bath, beginning to wail]: I need a diaper!
Me: Do you have to pee pee?
Owen: Mmhmm!! I need a diaper now Mommy!
Me: [Counts the cost] Well, I don't have any diapers here right now. Would you like to go on the potty?
Owen: NOOOOOOO! Diaper!!! [start tantrum]
Me: [Second guessing self, but staying firm] Ok, you can just go in the bath if you don't want to sit on the potty.
Owen: NNNNNOOOOOO! DIAPER!!!!!
Me: I'm so sorry, but I don't have a diaper here. Let's finish your bath and you can go in the bath or on the potty. [Bath is minimal and very fast...crying kid.] C'mon. I'll buy you a little toy tomorrow if you go potty!
Owen: [tantruming, transition to bedroom]
Me: Ok, now I have a diaper. We can put on the diaper, but then we won't be able to read any books tonight. Or, we can read some books if you pee pee on the potty.
Owen: Diaper!
Me: OK, here's the diaper. No books!
Owen: Potty!! Books! [Goes over to potty] No potty! I want diaper!
Me: OK, here's the diaper. No books!
Owen: No!!!!
Me: Owen, if you use the potty we can read books.
Owen: [teary] Read books?
Me: Yep.
Owen: [sniff] And buy a toy?
Me: [feeling suckered] OK.
Owen: And eat 2 marshmallows?
Me: [definitely suckered] Yeah, alright.
Owen: [goes potty and grins ear to ear]

On a walk in the woods-
Aunt Deb: God made so many beautiful things! God made the trees and the rocks and...
Owen: God made everyfing!
Aunt Deb: God made Owen! Who made Asher?
Owen: God made Asher!
Aunt Deb: Who made Daddy?
Owen: God made Daddy!
Aunt Deb: Who made Mommy?
Owen: Daddy!
The gender inequality starts early, eh?

After church program, in the car on the way home, while eating a sandwich-
Me: What did you do today Owen?
Owen: I went to class!
Me: Did you have a story? What was it?
Owen: Moses.
Me: Oh wow! What else did you do?
Owen: I cried a little bit.
Me: Oh, were you sad?
Owen: mmHmm. Lots of kids were crying in there.
Me: Yeah, sometimes kids miss their mommies. It's Ok to cry a little bit.
Owen: I tripped and fell down!
Me: Oh no, did you get hurt?
Owen: mmHmm.
[pause]
Owen: I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm sorry you tripped.
Me: Yes, I'm sorry that happened Owen. You'll be Ok though.
[pause]
Owen: Peanut butter sandwiches make you feel better.

Phrases Owen consistently uses that aren't *quite* right-
1. 'how knows' as in 'Daddy how knows to use the mower!'
2. 'shake milk' as in 'Mommy I want some vanilla shake milk!'
3. 'crackernut' as in 'Mommy, I found that crackernut tool to open peanuts!'

Ever since we made Daddy a birthday card together-
Anytime Owen either paints, uses markers, chalk, stickers, or anything resembling a craft he says, 'Daddy will be so happy you made it!'

At sleep times-
Owen vain? Perish the thought! Sometimes I sing the cheesy song, 'I love you O-O-wen, Oh yes I do-o...' to Owen when we're rocking or sitting together in his room. Well, recently he's decided that he LOVES recapping the day before hitting the crib. One particularly nasty bedtime (they've been rough of late), I got so very creative, and not only recapped the day, but I did it in song to the above tune. The verse I came up with mostly discussed how praiseworthy Owen was for riding his big-boy bike in the driveway. Wow. What a hit that was! Now Owen begs me to sing about him every night :} He says things like, 'Owen made cookies!' or 'Owen washed dishes by himself!', or 'Owen is getting bigger!' and expects me to make up a song about each item. Oh my word. The other night I tried to shift this little activity and I threw out some topics, 'Daddy is so wonderful!', 'We love sharing our toys!', 'Asher is a cute little brother!', but Owen wasn't going for this one bit. Aye aye aye.

While painting with watercolors together while Asher napped-
Owen cannot carry a tune in a bucket! I thought this might be normal for kids his age until I heard Zayn sing beautifully via webcam recently. We sing to Owen all the time, so either he's distinctly musically handicapped, or we are! Well, I've been trying to get him to sing with me just to hear what's going on when he tries to sing. He's pretty self-conscious and won't usually do it for long. This day he was trying quite a bit and enjoying himself more than normal--we sang abc's, itsy bitsy spider, etc. etc. while we painted. Quite a while later while looking down at his painting project he says out of the blue,
Owen: 'You're singing dat song!' (translation: I'm singing that song)
Me: You're singing a song? What song is that?
Owen: That paper song.
Me: Oh, the paper song? I don't know which song you mean. How does it go?
Owen: [grinning, and beginning to warble in a random, anti-melodic pattern] 'You get a liiiitle bit of paper! You get muuuuuch paper. You get a liiiitle bit of paper. You get muuuuuch paper!
[more giggling]
This story is the hardest to translate into prose and catch the humor--you kind of had to hear it--but it had me rolling with laughter.

After I had been out of the room getting Asher down for a nap-
Owen: [beaming] 'Mommy I found those stickers!'
Me: Oh, did you find your puppy dog stickers?
Owen: [pause] No, those stickers.

That's one expensive toddler craft project.

And not to leave out my last but not least sweet boy:

What a delight. Asher can giggle and coo and woo your affection with the best of them. He pulled his trick on the nursery worker today that he's pulled on me more than once. She nestled him in the crook of her arm to get him to settle down to sleep...he closed his eyes for a couple of minutes and started to drift off. Then he lazily opens them, looks up at her and flashes his widest, sweetest smile, closes the eyes again and goes to sleep. She calls him the cherub. I heartily agree!

Happy Birthday Daddy

Daddy's 'real' cake was a chocolate cheesecake with chocolate cookie crust that we shared with our small group last night. However, as soon as Owen had found out it was going to be Daddy's birthday, he was quite insistent that 'Daddy is going to have vanilla cake!' Since we weren't out and about overly much this week, we had a baking afternoon and made some vanilla cupcakes, too. Daddy got a card from Owen and a lawn sweeper attachment to expedite the mammoth raking task (shared with me for my upcoming birthday too). [p.s. Let it be known that 2 year olds who stay up til 8 o'clock after not having had a nap the day before awake at approx. 5:30am rather than their normal 7am. And 10 week olds who have not been napping much wake up 4 times at night rather than 2. And parents who go to bed late on a birthday night are going to need a large cup of coffee to attempt to handle the morning 5:30am screamfest. But I digress!] Owen has aged Reuel a decade--when asked how old Daddy is: 'Firty-six!', which sounds more like 46. Time is flying.

All the pretty flowers

Owen was riding his trike today and picked up a stick on the driveway to put in the rear basket, where he likes to store yard miscellany...a rock, a stick, some leaves, etc. My eye happened to catch a sight I couldn't quite place as he lifted the lid to try to put in the stick. 'Owen, what's that in your basket?' say I. 'You [I] put round leaves in there!' says he. I go over, lift the lid, and the basket is piled high with 3/4" diameter rhododendron buds from the large bush by the front door. So much for the welcome splash of pink we would normally have hoped for come next May :P

addendum

Regarding the previous post detailing Asher's enormity, I just made an interesting connection to one of the verses about the Biblical Asher...here is Jacob's blessing on Asher from Genesis 49:20:

Asher's food will be rich;
he will provide delicacies fit for a king.

And consume them, apparently!

Ha! Maybe the meaning and history of a name really do count for something! (Luckily, Asher means 'happiness'!)

Asher's well-check

Asher's stats, 10 weeks old tomorrow!

Head: 16.3 inches, ~75%ile
Length: 23.5 inches, ~50%ile
Weight: 15lb, ~95%ile
Weight to length ratio: off the charts, >95%ile

So, Asher seems to be a large-headed, short, fat kid. Poor guy!!! Someone called him a 'basketball baby' at church yesterday, and when Dr. Hoder walked in today he said, 'Now there's a chunk of change!' I am *not* overfeeding him at only 5x per day usually, 6x on a rare day. I guess it's just how he's programmed! I do believe Owen weighed 16 pounds at his 2 month appointment, but he was growing longer very quickly as well. That's odd to me, considering that Owen is not a very tall kid now. Huh!

Can't help myself...more pix!

The many faces of Asher today...we had some time together while Owen and Debbie slept today!

Owen's date

Auntie Deb's in town for the week so Owen's been living large...as in, getting to do some fun field trips during the day rather than having to wait patiently while I attend to the needs of three of us during the day rather than two. Today, Auntie Deb and Owen spent the afternoon painting pottery! The place they went is as tacky as they come...the walls are lined with plaster of paris figurines, and there is not a single one that I could even begin to contemplate wanting in my house! The paints you use to color them are really gaudy poster paint colors, and when you're all done you can choose to have your piece finished off in shiny glaze, or shiny + sparkles! Ooh la la! Owen of course thinks going there is *fantastic*. (I took him there for the first time a couple weeks ago on a whim when I was intending to go to Walmart, but upon driving by it had the notion that Owen needed a special outing since he'd been getting slighted on attention quite a lot lately. It was a hit.)

The first time we went Owen was quite delicate with the painting process. Today, Deb informs me, he was not. Apparently the paint was flying, proportional to the fun being had. Here was the result (toddlers always choose sparkles):

It's a hippo. Could you tell? Rather Fantasia in style. Debbie said the clerk usually recommends a drying time of one hour but in this case recommended overnight due to the Van Gogh-esque use of paint. I do believe the polka dots were added by Deb. Overall, I think it's quite a bit more interesting than a blandly-painted one color hippo!

Here are some other tidbits of conversation from the day:

Deb: Tell mommy what we talked about on the way home in the car!
Owen: Mommy is going to dentist.
Deb: What else?
Owen: Your little teeth in your mouth are going to fall out and then you will get big sharp teeth when you are big!

Me: Say thanks to Aunt Debbie for such a fun day!
Owen: Thank you.
Me: She's a nice auntie.
Owen: She's a fun lady!
Me: [chuckling]
Owen: Mommy's laughing a little bit!

Today at mom-to-mom Owen waltzed right into his class without even saying goodbye to me :P Complete opposite of last year!! Goes to show you that kids are ready for certain experiences at different times, and Owen just wasn't ready to be left last year (but I needed the break; don't regret the tears shed). Asher was a gem in the 0-3 month nursery. He is a laid-back dude...for now ;)

Asher interested in toys

Asher thought the mobile on his swing was just fascinating today!




Boo!