Owen's Monkey Business

A couple of Sundays ago we got Owen dressed up to go see Santa and thought we were smart getting there at 10:30 to line up when Santa starts at 11:00. Let's just say several people were smarter, and got there by oh, say 10! So we decided we didn't want to wait an hour and then have O. not want to do it anyway so we walked down to Picture People at the other end of the studios. Luckily they were able to get us in right away with no appointment which kind of amazed me because later when we were leaving other people (with appts.) were being told they'd have to wait. Waiting with dressed up kids? ewww! Those having problems had different photographers than we had so at least I know we didn't cause their delay! Anyway, O. did much better at this photo shoot than at the 9 month old one and we left with these (and a few more) great pix. Owen turned 18 months last Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010. He is so fun! I will come back and add more to this post about what 18 months is like fo...

Warning: This is another picture heavy post! I just have to grab the time I have to post so I end up lumping lots of pix together! Owen is now 16 1/2 months old and so much fun! Today is Halloween and we have been enjoying lots of Halloween-y activities! For mommy and daddy's birthday two weeks ago we went to Lombardi Ranch pumpkin patch. During this past week we carved a small jack-o-lantern at home, Owen had a costume photo shoot with two friends because all three dressed as puppies this year, and we made edible playdough into pumpkins for his parent-tot class party. Today we spent the morning cleaning house (as you probably have already figured out, Owen LOVES sweeping up, vaccuuming, emptying garbage, helping to make the bed, put away shoes, and other chores. We shook out all the rugs, with him chanting "shake,shake,shake". We listened to music and played with colorful scarves, and Owen and daddy had a fun trip to the neighborhood park while mommy did some organizi...

Owen is 15 months old now and we are just having a blast! He understands so much and has become such a helpful little guy. He helps unload the dryer by bringing folded clothes to particular people and hands us clean dishes to put away from the dishwasher. He is very good at putting things away where they belong and doesn't like things out of place. Hmmm, wonder where he got that from? Himself I think. For example, if he sees something out of place he points at it and grunts or brings it to us or in some cases picks it up and points to the garbage (in the case of food under his highchair). He is a neat eater and puts spilled food back in his bowl too. It bewilders me sometimes. He still loves brooms and vaccuums and loves to help sweep up (usually the pile of dirt I've already swept). Yesterday he spent a good half hour with an outdoor broom sweeping puddles in the gutter. He had a blast. We are very lucky with him because he doesn't put things in his mouth ever (like c...

Owen turned fourteen months last Thursday and it's a whole new ballgame. Since then, he has started: *eating some snacks and meals at his child-sized table and chair *picking said snacks out of the pantry and carrying his plate to the table *getting cat treats out of the pantry and sitting down with them to feed the cat. *pointing at balls, trucks, globes, balloons, dogs and other objects of interest in his books *getting great joy out of observing us and mimicking our every move An example of the last happened last night at my parents' for dinner. Grandpa spilled a glass of water on the carpet in the living room so I jumped up and ran to the kitchen to get towels. I had to run back and forth three or four times to get paper towels, then dishtowels, and so on. Owen watched me run with giggles and rapt attention. As soon as I sat down, panting and out of breath, he laughed wildly, stood up and threw his sippy cup on the floor to mimic spilling his own water, then started runn...