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.

Food Milestones

Owen Wears His Dinner on His Head

Owen had his first restaurant meal last weekend - we ordered him a grilled cheese sandwich with an applesauce side off the menu at our favorite sports bar. The sandwich was cut into two triangular wedges, and Owen held one in each hand and kicked his legs out everytime he wanted some applesauce. He was happy. No, it was more like giddy.

Then two nights later we found ourselves out for sushi with friends, and ordered Owen (and Myah) an avocado roll. Owen ate not just the rice and avocado, but the seaweed also.

Yesterday morning Owen and I had the exact same thing for breakfast - waffles with blueberries and bananas. He loves eating big people food. Enough with the baby food - you have to sneak a spoonful into his mouth for him to eat it.

Purim Fun

I've added two photographs taken Monday night at our synagogue. We were celebrating the holiday Purim: Owen is a gorilla, and Dave and I are adults dressed up funny.

The Purim carnival was held during Owen's nap time, so he wound up sleeping through most of the event and dinner. As I was awkwardly holding him and eating dinner with my left hand, a woman came up to me and said, "Oh, I thought you'd brought your dog." She thought Owen was a dog cradled in my arms, rather than a child. I guess that's what happens when you dress a baby as a gorilla and let him take a nap.

First Word Update: Kitty!!!

And the winner is... KITTY. On Thursday, I pointed at Arlo, said, "Arlo," and Owen pointed at Arlo and said, "Kitty." Ooh, I was excited to tell Dave. And then Dave heard it later. And Owen's said it a handful more times, too. Yay Owen! You're talking!

I heard Owen say "ball" yesterday. Not sure yet if it was coincidence or not, so I'm reserving judgment on that one.

THEN today, I was talking to Dave on the phone, and Owen heard Dave's voice and said, "Dada."

THEN today, Dave and I both conferred and decided that Owen has been calling me "Mom-mom."

I had this feeling that once Owen started talking, he'd be rolling. And I was right. What a funny little guy.

Owen and I went to the zoo today, and surprise, surprise - his favorite animals were the lion pride.

Owen and His Cats

Owen loves his cats. And his cats tolerate him, although in the above picture Purna looks put-out that this little dude is trying to climb up into their window seat. Regardless, it's been interesting to watch the progression of their interactions as Owen has gone from newborn to baby to babbling toddler.

We're convinced that Owen's first word will not be "momma" or "dada" but "kitty." This is because, although he thinks that we are great, the cats really hold his attention and love and general admiration. Also, he is beginning to mimic our sounds, and the other day both Dave and I were saying, "kitty" over and over again. And Owen was babbling back and said, "Titty." We about died laughing. So his first word COULD be "kitty" although it might come out sounding like something else.

Give Me Chocolate!

We made brownies last weekend for a brunch we were attending, and decided to let Owen have a little taste from the bowl. Wow! He loved chocolate - he must take after his mama. This is the first really sugary thing Owen has had. 

We decided it was time - especially since we are attending baby birthday parties for the next two weekends. What were we going to do- deny him cake? I don't think that's fair. And, if this video is any indication, neither does he.

And sleep goes right out the window

We have confronted a large stumbling block in our household - sleep. Owen doesn't like it. He screams and thrashes and makes himself pretty miserable for a couple hours every night. We are currently trying to determine every possible thing that could be causing such behavior, and how to confront it and still get enough sleep on our end. 

Our daycare teacher, Tara, said although Owen seemed a little young to be experiencing them, it was probably night terrors.  A little investigation does seem to point to them as the culprit. We have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday to go over this with our pediatrician, and hopefully we'll come to some kind of resolution or action-plan. 

Until then, please be nice to us. We are very, very tired. Last night after an hour of rocking an inconsolable, sobbing Owen, I finally wrapped him in his blanket as tight as possible, and he fell asleep for the rest of the night. 

I'm Crawling!

Here I Come!

Monday marked Owen's first crawl. Prior to this week, he's been spinning like a top or steam-rolling himself to get around, but Monday everything changed. He finally figured out crawling! At this point Owen's speed is more snail-like than cheetah, but I predict by the end of the weekend he'll be motorin' around.

I didn't think Owen would be a crawler - I wasn't one, and his friends at daycare have been crawling for months and months. Owen just didn't seem interested. But I was wrong. He was just taking his time.

The Vomitorium (i.e. our house)

We have finally banished the sickness that kept Owen and Dave indisposed the past week - hooray! Poor Owen was a mess, projectile vomiting all over the place. Turns out he had a nasty stomach bug that was going around daycare, but the other kids just had it for 24 hours. Owen got it for a week.

We learned a couple of lessons that are worth sharing:

1. The best baby shower gifts are old towels for cleaning up baby vomit. No, seriously.

2. When baby is vomiting, only dress him in navy blue or black or brown. Anything other than this and you are silly.

3. After the baby throws up all over the daycare teacher, she deserves a little present. Yes, vomiting babies come with the job, but it's still gross.

4. It helps to have another adult around if you personally cannot handle the vomit. Then when the baby vomits all over you, you can yell, "Sarahhhhhhh!" and I will run in and scoop the vomiting baby from your arms and shuttle him to the bathtub. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

A New Year and a New House!

Owen Paints a Picture

Happy New Year! We have been busy, busy, busy, and our lack of posting only reflects our crazy life, not our relationship with you readers. We bought a house! We moved 6 blocks from our apartment to a new house up the hill. Dave's parents were kind enough to help us with our move, and now we are slowly, painstakingly unpacking boxes and boxes and boxes of law books. Ugh. One thing missing? The cord that sends our digital camera's pictures to the computer, so rather than a picture of our house and Owen, you get a picture of Owen painting.

A week after closing on our home, we flew to Oregon for the holidays with my parents, and returned after the New Year to a house full of boxes. (We thought they might magically unpack themselves, but alas...no luck). The cats are adjusting to all the new space (and TWO fun staircases to run up and down ad nauseum) and Owen is a bit confused by his new room and jet lag, but last night he finally returned to a normal sleep schedule. Whew.

I start my last semester of law school next Monday, then Dave begins student teaching after MLK Day. Owen is at day care full-time, and seems to be doing ok so far. So that's our lengthy update and an explanation of our lack of blog posting. Hope everyone is enjoying a healthy, safe New Year. Hooray for 2009!