The Future of Little Dude

Well, it's been a good long while since there were any posts on this here blog, and there is one culprit: FACEBOOK. I've started posting photos & videos there instead, seeing as how I'm in touch with a large number of family and friends on Facebook and it's an easy medium. The sad thing about the end of this blog is that, well, I don't write as many (or as thorough) parenthood stories and cute Owen moments on Facebook that I do here on Little Dude.

But I must be honest with myself: Facebook or blog? And I know that Facebook will win.

So good-bye, Little Dude. And I'll see all of you on Facebook.

Owen Conquers the Slide. Almost.

Ok, so we've been neglecting our posting duties lately - but for good reason. It's summer and we're outside until late, so I've posted a video so you can see what we've been up to...

And We're Walking!

Today, Owen decided, would be a good day to walk. So he did - four or five steps across the kitchen, following Dave who was going out to the car. Then he got to daycare, and took some more steps. Then this evening, he continued to toddle along, again four or five steps at a time. But now he would stop and stand still at step four or five, rather than face-planting on the floor.

Today was a big day. My friend Heidi said to me, "Your life will never be the same." She's right. I'm thinking about canceling my gym membership because I expect to run after Owen from now on. He's already a speedy crawler - and I have a feeling that walking will only last a little while. He's more like a kid who'll run everywhere.

You Know You're the Parent of a Toddler When...

You leave the house wearing clothing covered with food, and you don't really care. I don't mean you have an old stain on your clothes - I mean there is a glomp of food attached to your leg that you don't even bother to wipe off.

Monday afternoon I left the house for my last final exam of law school (hooray!) wearing a pair of jeans that actually had two giant curry spots on them. The accident happened 2 hours prior to leaving the house, but I didn't bother to change. And THEN, when I got to the final, where I walked among people who do not leave the house wearing food on their clothes, I received TWO separate comments about my curry stains.

COMMENT 1: "Looks like you spilled something on your jeans! Do you want to use my stain remover marker?"

COMMENT 2: "Did a highlighter explode on you?"

Alas, I didn't have it in me to explain that, well, I just didn't care. And I knew that in a couple of hours, I would have cottage cheese, or blueberries, or sweet potato, all over me anyway.

Owen and James Brown

The (Little) Music Man

I am a big fan of singing in the car - really loud, breeze through your hair kind of singing. And in the past few weeks, Owen has become a fan as well.

I was driving home, the windows down, the music up, when Owen started "singing" along with loud "aaaahhhhhs" while kicking his legs back and forth. Then he started clapping. It was great!

But Owen's love of music has also ended one of our favorite nighttime rituals of singing lullabies. I would be singing and rocking him back and forth in the rocking chair. The lights were out. Owen was nursing. And then he would start clapping. Or better yet, he would sit up, milk spewing onto my lap and his pajamas, and clap.

That ended the lullabies. But just for now. Or maybe I need to pick songs that will really put him to sleep instead of making him into a party animal right before he drops off to sleep.

Happy Birthday, Owen!

One Giant Cupcake

It's Owen's first birthday! Hooray!

Due to some fortuitous class cancellations, I do not have my evening seminar tonight, so Owen, Dave and I are going out to dinner with Myah and mom Dina at a restaurant that brings cake and singing waitstaff. We have to get it in before he becomes too cool for such things.

This first birthday is as much a celebration of Owen as it is a celebration of parenthood. Last night in class I received a text message from Dave that said, "Happy Waterbreaking Anniversary!" It was so funny to receive at that moment, because that's exactly what I had been thinking myself!

Then after we ate a late dinner, I looked at the clock again and thought, We were just checking into the hospital, and the staff asked, 'Where have you been? We've been expecting you!' but how could I tell them that I had been cuddling with my cat and eating macaroni-and-cheese?

And then we crawled into bed and I looked at the clock and remembered, "A year ago today, my mom was driving through a snowstorm in Oregon to get on a red-eye so that she could be here for Owen's birth."

Thanks to everyone who's sent good wishes to us. Our little "April Fool" has been an awesome addition to our family.