Sleeping on the couch

The other night Owen had a bad dream and woke up screaming. After that he wouldn't go back in his bed, so we tried to let him stay with us, but he only wanted to stand up and jump on the bed. Since it was 4 am, this did not go over well. So Scott put him on the couch with a cup of milk. Finally he fell back asleep and he just looked so cute all wrapped up in the quilt that I had to take his picture.

My, what big ears you have

April and Taylor got back from Disney World Sunday night. Today they brought over some surprises for the girls and Owen. Ashlyn got a pink hat with ears and a snowglobe, Haley got a silver bell and a pink hat with ears and Owen got a black hat with ears. He actually wears this around the house. In this picture he was wearing it while he was eating. I don't know if the big smile is because of the hat or the corn fritters on his plate...

On the outside looking in

This is what Owen does when he's outside. Ashlyn and Haley taught him to do it. As you can tell from the glass, they all do it a lot. It's impossible to keep the door clean. Every once in a while he will breathe out and his cheeks will blow out.

At the drive in...

Owen got a new Baby Einstein. It's called Baby Wordsworth and it teaches them words for stuff around the house along with sign language. Owen sits in his car and watches it.















For those of you who don't watch Baby Einstein movies, some parts are so exciting it's hard to stay seated, such as the very beginning when the worm or whatever goes across the screen. Owen recognizes it and can hardly wait for the show to start.















Owen is showing how he has perfected the two handed point.















Here is he learning the word "table". He does not know this word. He does know the word "side". If he is inside the house, this means he wants to go "outside". If he is outside the house, this means he wants to go "inside". If he is standing by his room, this means he wants to "slide". You have to pay attention. He has very little patience for ignorance.

Mommy's helper

Owen is sweeping the living room. He doesn't do too well, but that is because he has a hard time handling the broom that is twice as tall as he is. I need to find him a short one because he loves to sweep.















Of course, he only lasts about 5 minutes and then he needs a drink. He climbs on the table and swings his legs. I guess it makes him feel big or something.

Good Night Prayer Bear

This is Owen's bear. He sleeps with him every night. When you squeeze him he says the "Now I lay me down to sleep" prayer. No one is allowed to touch the bear unless you are picking it up to hand it to Owen. Otherwise, it's hands off!





























Owen gives Prayer Bear a kiss

The bigger they are, the harder they fall...

Owen absolutely loves this. He squeals when he is falling. I was afraid it was knocking the air out of him, but he lands on the feather bed so I guess that's pretty soft. Scott is always trying to think of ways to toughen him up. Yesterday he and Brandon were outside actually throwing a regulation size football at him! (Brandon will deny this, but let me tell you- Brandon lies!)

Working out

Our treadmill is out in the garage. Sometimes, early in the morning, I get up and run on it. It truly fascinates Owen and everytime we get out of the car he immediately gets on it. Today Scott turned it on so Owen could "run". It was funny because he was so serious, holding on to the handles and all.















Here Scott has turned it up and Owen is actually having to run to keep up with it. He only fell off once, and it's really too bad I didn't get a picture of that...

Baby Einstein Baby MacDonald

Owen's favorite things to watch on tv are the Baby Einstein movies. They are supposed to make the kids smart or something, and if they're right about that then Owen is going to be a genius. He watches at least one every day. Today we watched Baby MacDonald and learned all about farms and farm animals. There may have been more to it, but that was all I could sit through.

Here is Owen dancing to the music while he watches a horse plow a field.















In this one, Owen is making sure I am not missing a single second of the movie. Pointing is Owen's new thing, but I'm sure you'll pick that up as you see the next few pictures.
















He has to make sure Haley is paying attention and sees the puppet cow.
















Now he's learning what a barn is I guess.
















And yes, I see the barn too.
















And the hay...

Table dancing

Look at what Owen has found he can do! We are all sooo excited about this one.
First, carefully climb over the arm of the couch onto the table...















Okay, this looks harmless enough...















Wonderful! He does have a hand on the wall to steady himself, but at one point he did let go and do a quick jump/dance thing. Of course, with everyone (Haley) laughing at him I'm sure he won't feel pressured to do it again...

Who is this handsome devil?

As I was drying my hair, Owen got in the drawer (big surprise) and found a mirror. He saw himself in it and was mesmorized.















He looked at me and started jabbering, kind of like "Holy smoke, who is this handsome devil of a baby?"















Then he decided he was just so cute that he deserved a big kiss!

Owen on safari

Yesterday Owen put on his hat and went outside to see what he could find.
















This picture is light because it was originally dark and I tried to lighten it without really knowing what I was doing.















Owen found the ball right away.















As Max made his move, Owen quickly pinned his head to the ground.















He then found some time to sit on the swing with Ashlyn.















Wouldn't you know it? The dog came back for more. I told you he was dumb.















Having temporarily run off Max/competition, Owen takes some time to kick the ball around the yard.















Then it's back to the swing, this time with Haley. Oh, and Haley's expression? In a word-typical.















And now he's resting at the patio table.

Rocks

Owen spends a large amount of his time moving the rocks around. It is his job to keep all the rocks off the driveway. He picks them up and throws them back into the yard. He takes it very seriously. When he's all done, he rewards himself with applause.

Waiting for the mail to come

This morning we all went outside to wait on the mailman. I had lost my keys and someone found them and put them in the slot for outgoing mail so we had to meet the mailman to pick them up. So there's not a lot to do in the front yard, apparently, except to try to see the world from different angles.
In this picture, Owen is trying to figure out what the heck Ashlyn is doing.















In this picture, Owen is trying it out for himself.
















From then on, whenever Owen wanted to sit down against the garage door, he would get into this position, look behing him upside down, and then back up to the door.
















And here Owen is being a real good sharer and giving Max a drink of chocolate milk. We've given up trying to explain to Owen that this is not very sanitary.