Owen and Myah's Play Date

We are lucky enough to have friends who can take Owen on a random Sunday morning while Dave taught Sunday School and I had a bar review session. It helps that their daughter is only four weeks older, and she teaches Owen all kinds of big-kid things, like how to crawl. Myah just started, and I'm sure Owen will not be far behind, because once she started sitting up, Owen just couldn't stand to watch her and not do it himself.

We have come to accept that Owen likes going over to Myah's house because Myah has better toys. In fact, last week I saw a Fisher-Price commercial with a really fun toy, just perfect for Owen's age, and I excitedly described it to Dave and said, "I hope Myah gets one!" I use the excuse that our apartment is too small and Jim and Dina have room for all these fun toys, but really, it's because I'm a toy snob who has a child who loves all toys that make noise and flash lights. So it's really to Owen's benefit to play with Myah, because he has a great time. And his mom is a snob who really needs to get over herself and buy him that noisy crazy toy that he will love. But only once Myah tries it out herself and approves.

Disclaimer: Please do not send us noisy, crazy toys as a result of this post. Please don't. No, really. Please.

Growing, growing... but still no rolling

Owen is growing, growing, growing. At his 6 mos appointment, he weighed a little over 18 pounds (55th percentile) but he is now 27 inches long and in the 67th percentile for his height. His 6 mos clothes are getting a little tight - last night he wore his brand new dinosaur pjs that are size 12 mos. Gulp.

We know Owen can roll over, because we've seen him do it - both rolling front to back and back to front. He just chooses not to. So when the pediatrician asked us about it, we fibbed by saying, yes, he rolls, as though he rolls all the time. He doesn't. Only a few times each way. But he's doing lots of other things - like standing up on his own two feet for a couple of seconds, as you can see in the picture above. So despite his no-rolling rule, he's sitting up like a champ and reaching for objects and using his fingers to hold apple slices. We've also stopped swaddling him at night because he seemed like he didn't need it as much anymore and because - no surprise here - he's outgrown the swaddle blanket.

Owen's Half Birthday

Owen on October 1, 2008

You hear this all the time: I can't remember what my life was like before the baby. But it's true. I have a fleeting memory of my gym membership, attending movies, nights out past 10pm. Bah. All of this is nothing compared to sharing giggles in the bed with Owen and Dave in the mornings, learning how to wash a sippy cup without a dishwasher, and staring in wonder at clouds and trees and dogs.

Here we have a list of six things we've learned since Owen arrived, one for every month he's been here:
1. If Owen is pooping while nursing, and I am also eating a granola bar, then we are multi-tasking.

2. Baby cereal tastes like cardboard, but sometimes Owen likes cardboard.

3. Never underestimate that your pet can act as a diversion while you wash dishes/ fold laundry/ start dinner.

4. Owen likes toys that great-grandmothers give best.

5. White baby clothing is a horrible idea. Orange baby clothing is a wonderful idea.

6. Nothing else, especially not law school, is as important as the family.

Look What I Can Do!

Owen goes to day care a baby and comes home a multi-talented, super-duper cool kid. Look at him sitting up, all on his own! We are impressed. He is also learning to lift his butt off the ground, and is primed for crawling. And he spins 90 degrees. And eats. And earnestly watches the cats. And and and... I get the feeling that if he hung out at home all the time, he wouldn't be advancing so quickly. But with seven other little friends to watch all day, Owen is learning how to be independent. Hooray!

Illness

Are you that surprised that the next entry after "Owen Starts Daycare" is about the illness now infecting our house? Yeah, we're not that surprised, either.

Despite having troubles eating due to his stuffed nose, Owen has been a champ through his cold. If Owen was cranky and whiny and crying constantly, this would be harder than it is. He stayed home from daycare for two days, but he's back again and they haven't called us to say, "Please come pick him up now."

I have not been as lucky, staying home from school for three days and having a generally hard time studying the intricacies of Article 1 courts with my head full of snot. The hardest part of having a sick baby is that sick babies are up all night... and being sick myself, I'm not getting enough sleep to fight this cold. So there you have it.

And luckily for Owen and I, Dave is not sick. Unlucky for him is that he has to take care of us.

Day Care

Owen started part-time day care last Wednesday - and so far, he's enjoying it. He attends just in the mornings. 7 other babies, from newborn to 12 months, are in the Wee Bears room, and he has two teachers: Tara and Lindsay. His friend Myah is also in the class. Every day the teachers send home a progress report - how much he ate, at what time he took a nap, etc. They even include some more interesting information, such as, "Owen enjoyed sitting in the shade of the trees and being outside today." We've decided to keep the reports so that Owen can see them when he's older and track his own development. Because truthfully, these reports are more thorough than we can ever be with his baby book.

When we began looking for daycare, we were surprised to find that many daycare programs in this area only accepted new kids at the beginning of the school year. As a result, we enrolled Owen in part-time care even though Dave is home full-time until January 2009. But this way, Owen will be socialized with other kids, and he'll be eased into part-time care so that when he has to attend full-time in January, it won't be such a shock.

Owen's First Meal

Last Sunday Dave whipped up some rice cereal, and I have posted the short video taken during Owen's first meal. (Ingredients: rice and milk. Then pulverize to reduce the kernels.) As you can see, Owen took to the meal immediately, and then afterward I fed him regular milk to wash it down. Those rice pieces can get stuck in the throat.

Yesterday we moved from rice cereal to bananas. (Ingredients: bananas. Smush with a fork and feed.) Owen seems to prefer the bananas to the rice, but we don't have any photos of that yet. And yesterday and today I also shared my yogurt with Owen, who is quite pleased to be included in all this food sharing. We thought he was ready to start solids, but we weren't expecting him to be so participatory just yet. Today we attended a friend's birthday party (Happy 1st Birthday, Jacob!) and Owen eyed the sandwiches with great interest. Too bad he has a ways to go before we share those - some teeth would probably be helpful.