Virtual Quilting Bee

I recently joined a virtual quilting bee and I'm so excited! There are six of us in the group so every month I make a quilt block for each of the members and then mail them off (and then receive blocks myself!). I finished mine a week or two ago and since Crys, the organizer posted pictures of her blocks, I thought I'd post mine as well. Here they are: (*there are two for Crys and for Christin because I wasn't thrilled with the ones I made first for each of these ladies and so I made a second and now I can't decide which I like better...)

For Jolene:

For Emily:
For Amber:

For Crys:
or

For Christin:or

and for fun, a few pics of O (just after waking from a nap)

11 months

Well, only one more month to go before the big birthday party! We're getting ready for it (although, I have to say - AGAIN - that we can't believe Owen's almost 1). Here are the latest tricks:

• pulled to stand at sofa (yesterday!) all by himself
• army crawls all over the floor (wow, what a way to let you know how clean, er, not clean, your floor really is)
• feeds himself wagon wheels and teething cookies (but prefers to let mommy, and only mommy, feed him EVERYTHING else)
• points to everything and says "what?" (although it sounds like "da?") and would like for you to name and describe all that he sees
• says "roar" when he sees a tiger or when you ask him "what does the tiger say?"
• uses the signs for more and all done pretty regularly
• waves and says hi and bye when greeting or leaving someone
• says ny-ny when he's tired and ready to go to sleep
• says mama and dada
• points to/finds another person's nose, his own diaper, shirt, and belly on request
• points to/finds his truck and his book on request

He is also teething again and I guess it's the ones in the back and boy are they making his pretty cranky at times... Motrin is our friend, sometimes our best friend.

He is outgrowing his clothes (again) and we are moving up to 24 month stuff although some of the 18 month stuff still fits and some of the 24 month stuff is too big so I'd say he's between sizes.

Here are a few pics of our boy.

10 months!

I know I've been a bad blogger! I just haven't had the time to sit and type and upload pictures so I've neglected this little blog. But, I'm back! and I've got new pictures of our little man. He is already ten months and I've started thinking about his first birthday party - I've decided on the cake I think and I'm going to start working on the invitations but I still can't believe it's almost been a year since he was born...

Well Owen has been very busy learning all kinds of new things. It seems that on a daily basis he is learning a new word, a new sign, or a new skill (or all three!). I'm doing sign language with him and he's been picking it up pretty quickly. He will ask me to turn the light "on" by signing and will tell me when he's "all done" with eating. He points to everything and says, "un un" for me to identify the item/person/animal. He will point to Daddy, the fan, the light, the cat, and the dog on request. He will turn a book or picture the right way if he picks it up upside down. He loves loves loves his books and when we ride in the car, he is usually "reading" a book, pointing with his little finger, and "talking" about what he sees! He is reaching for stuff out of his immediate grasp while sitting and will really stretch and lean and then get back to sitting with no problems. He will get to his belly from sitting and has finally started rolling over and now he won't stop! He loves to roll while we're changing his diaper (which makes for some very quick maneuvering on my part) and laughs while he does it. He is just begun to take an interest in cars and the little people "people" and animals. He is trying to repeat lots of words, even "zebra!" He stands at the furniture and will take steps to "cruise" from one person to the next or from the sofa to the chair. He takes steps if you hold both hands. He is also a big fan of the pool - he kicks his feet when you say "kick kick kick" and loves to splash and "swim". He has seven, yes seven!, teeth - 4 on the bottom and 3 on top. He's eating lots of different table foods but I mush them up in the food processor before feeding it to him. He is very interested in what we are eating and I give him bites of fruit and veggies and breads when I'm eating. He also likes to drink out of a cup or a water bottle. I'm sure there are lots of things that I'm leaving out that he does but I can't think of any more right now. I hope all is well with everyone and I'll try to post again soon.

Here's Owen, right after a bath and ready for bed - so cute and happy!

this is his "strong boy!" pose

yep, there's the fan

smiley boy!

modeling a freshly made hat

I've jumped into Etsy!

Well, I've been toying with the idea of putting my baby knits on Etsy.com and today I finally opened a shop! The site is http://luckyduckbabyknits.etsy.com and if you get a chance, please visit it. I'm crossing my fingers that the hats sell because I really want to buy more yarn! If you know anyone who needs a baby gift, send 'em my way please. Let me know what you think about the shop. Also, you may want to check out the other shops if you've never been to Etsy, but be careful, there are lots of great things to look at there...

Hot, hot, hot!

It is sooooo hot here (and it seems to be pretty much everywhere in TX & LA so I know I'm not the only one complaining about it). We've been staying inside almost all of the time - except for quick trips in the car - which heats up in a parking lot in about 2 seconds - or a stroll around the shaded backyard to water the very thirsty plants or a swim (still in the shade) in a very warm pool. Owen is doing so many new things now. It seems that everyday he either perfects a skill or begins to tackle a new one. He's handing things over to you and releases it and really enjoys giving you toys. He pushes a ball back that has been rolled to him. He stands at the furniture and will even let go for a second or two and still holds his balance! He "dances" when he hears music, knocks when you say "knock on the door," and signed "more" after I did the other night! He will be 10 months old in less than two weeks and I still can't believe it. Also, he had Roseola last week - I don't know where he picked that bug up but it's been and gone so I guess it's something we can cross off the "Childhood Diseases" list. Here are a few pictures we've taken recently.

no, I'm not crazy and dressing my baby in winter stuff while it's 400 degrees here, Owen is modeling his new hoodie sweater I just finished for him - he's ready for fall,

if it gets here...

Staying cool in the pool (you can kind of see his Roseola rash here)

9 months

Owen is 9 months old and he had his check-up yesterday. He is 29.5" long and 23 1/2 lbs - both put him in the 90th percentile! He is doing pretty much everything he should be as well as a few other things except crawling. He supports his weight so well on his feet and stands as if he could take off any minute that the doctor said she thinks he may go straight to walking and skip the crawling, we'll see...
Anyway, some things he's doing now

• waving to everyone - hi and bye and he responds with a wave as well as initiates waving himself
• clapping hands for "yay," when someone says, "clap your hands," and in imitation of others
• he "dances" by shaking his little body when you say "dance dance dance"
• he scrunches up his nose and breathes really fast and loud (he makes it a back and forth game if you respond by imitating him)
• he sits and reaches for stuff all around him and then after grabbing it, pulls himself back to sitting position
• he babbles with lots of sounds and syllables and I'm still waiting for "mama"
• he laughs with a really big belly laugh when tickled and seems to be ticklish almost everywhere - feet, thighs, arms, belly
• turns his head to the side to look at stuff and is interested in looking at and investigating EVERYTHING
• isolates his pointer finger and tries to poke stuff
• tries to grab little things with one or two fingers and his thumb
• eating slightly chunkier stuff
• takes sips of water from a water bottle held by mama
• is much better at napping during the day - yay!!
• slightly better at sleeping at night - yawn

These are all of the things I can think of right now. I'm sure he'll be doing something else new tomorrow as it seems that he develops or perfects a new skill in a matter of 24 hours. We can't believe he's 9 months old and that his first birthday is around the corner. I have to say that we are so surprised at how fast time has flown by and we are trying so hard to make it slow down with no luck. Well, I'll try to post new pictures again soon. Ta-ta for now!

New pictures

Here are a couple of silly faces from our little guy

This is what morning looks like without coffee...We took Ben and Owen to the Aquarium in New Orleans and met Laurie & James and their two kiddos to look at the fish, sharks, and other sealife - they all seemed to have a blast and as you can see in the last picture, the boys were VERY tired. They nodded off before we got on the highway to come home!

Owen kept grabbing Elliot's face and giving him kisses (his kisses include lots of pinching!)

shhhh...