Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?!?!?!?!?!

Owen got a treat today - BeBe brought him his first Saints jersey and so now he's really ready to yell TOUCHDOWN! Hopefully he'll be able to say that alot tomorrow during the game.

The first picture is just a cute one I took this evening - he was sitting in the doorway of the backdoor and he looked so cute. We've been enjoying the warmer weather and playing outside every day. Last week we went to the zoo and had a wonderful time - his favorite animals to find were the monkeys but he loved seeing the tiger (of course) and since he was only a few feet away from us we really got to watch him and Owen just loved it.

relaxing on the porch...

okay, so when does this game start?
GO Saints!

TOUCHDOWN!

16 months

Hi everyone! I should say, "Merry Christmas," "Happy New Year," and if I'd waited longer, "Happy Valentines day..." We had a wonderful Christmas and all received lots of great gifts, ate lots of food, visited with lots of people, and luckily afterward, took a nap! Owen had a great time and it only took one present for him to get the hang of - tear, tear, tear, TOY!!! Today I have "organized" his toys in the living room as that's where they all end up and we are tripping over them too often. So to prevent broken ankles or other body parts, I decided to put them in lots of containers. At least this way, I have a place to put them all at night...

Owen is 16 months old now! Can you believe it!?! Our little baby is turning into quite the talkative toddler. He has so many words that he uses and yesterday and today he is trying out two word sentences !!! Yesterday he said, "walk outside" and today he said "wake-up daddy." I am in awe of him. He knows the names of so many objects that I can't even count them all. Of course, as most of you know, he knows the names of all of the people he sees often and asks about all of you daily. He has been enjoying all of his new toys although I think the cars/trucks continue to be his favorites.

He has had a cold/sinus infection this week and has been pretty yucky and miserable and difficult to get to sleep but each day he looks like he's a little better and hopefully will be back to his usual self soon. (I hope really soon because the crying when putting him to bed is more than I can take - I usually end up with tears in my eyes when he's calling my name.) I ended up with a sinus infection also so my doctor put me on antibiotics and I'm so thankful for that because one of us feeling awful is enough.

Just like most of you, we have not been able to play outside or go for walks because it has been soooooo COLD!!! Owen goes to the window or door and says, "COLD!" We've gone to the bookstore a couple of times so that Owen can play with the trains - he loves them!

As for new 16 month skills, language is his biggest developing skill but here are a few others:

• he hugs a stuffed animal
• he tries to spoon food and feed himself
• he has 12 teeth! - 6 on the top and 6 at the bottom
• he picks up toys and puts them in a bucket when asked
• he eats out of a bowl he can carry himself
• he eats off of a plate without throwing on the floor (unless he's finished...)
• he pulls dental floss out of the little box and makes a big pile on the floor before I catch him...
• he will sometimes bring me a diaper when he needs to be changed - this is a very SOMETIMES occurence and just started so I'm not too excited about it
• he is learning to be soft/gentle instead of furiously patting (aka: slapping) mommy, daddy, the cat...

Well, that's all I can think of even though I know there are lots more things he's learned to do in the last month.

As for baby #2, I went to the doctor this past Thursday and I'm 14 weeks and the baby's heartrate was 159 and he/she was kicking up a storm. We were listening with the doppler and it was difficult to get a complete count of the heartrate for a few minutes because of all of the kicks!

Hope you all stay warm and cozy!

Here are a few pictures of the boy...

New pictures

Here are a couple of cute pictures of Owen and since everyone should have received their Christmas cards with our surprise, there's a sneak peak at baby #2.

15 months stats

Well, we went to the pediatrician today and I'm pleased to say that Owen is off the charts (way off, more than he's been before) for height at 34"! and he's in the 75th-80th percentile for weight at 28 pounds. If he continues to grow at this rate I can only imagine how tall he'll be at 24 months - that is when you're supposed to be able to double the height for boys to determine approximate adult height.
The doctor was very pleased with his development - he only needed to have 3-6 words in his expressive vocabulary and point to 1-2 body parts on request but he's got lots more in both categories.
He got two shots (boo hoo) and while the first one didn't seem to bother him, the second, the MMR, really stung and he was broken hearted for a few minutes (I almost cried right along with him). He has recovered and is taking a nap so I'm hoping he'll sleep well and wake up refreshed this afternoon.
I've taken a few pictures recently but need to upload them onto the computer so I'll try to do that in the next day or two.
Hope you've all gotten our Christmas cards and enjoyed the pictures of Owen.

Saints fan!

Oh my gosh, my boy is a football/Saints fan already! Tonight the news was on but I had it on mute and as they flashed to a 3 second clip of the Saints football game, Owen just happened to glance up at the screen, raised his arms, and said, "TOUCHDOWN!" I'm amazed - Keith said, "wow, he knows more about football than you at this point" to which I had to admit he was right!
Just thought I'd share my smart little boy's new tricks.

15 months

Wow, time is really flying by! Owen is now 15 months old and he's really showing us what he knows. We will go for his checkup next week so I'll let you know his weight/height then. We enjoyed a little snow this past weekend and while Owen didn't get to see it while it was falling, he did have fun walking in it and seeing it the next day.

New skills:

• says lots of names - he likes to do "roll call" throughout the day asking for various people he knows and I tell them where they are (ex: Owen, "Dada?" mommy, "he's at work")
• points to many objects, people, and pets on request (actual and in pictures)
• he says, "hot" when I am about to give him a bite of his food
• he said "cold" when he touched the snow
• when I open it, he races for the freezer to grab ice (not really a skill but it shows his hearing is pretty darn good from the other room)
• he knows where "Mammy's" house is - he can get there on his own! (but luckily we are dutiful parents and are not yet letting him cross the street by himself)
• he rolls cars all over the house - on the floor, on a chair, on a counter
• he reeeeeeaches up for stuff on the counter (typically a phone, remote, or other contraband), grabs his prize, and runs with it
• he can hold and drink out of a regular cup with "some" spilling (this is best left in the tub since "some" equals lots if he decides to practice pouring) - but we hold the cup for him at meal time so he actually gets more water in rather than on him
• he pretends to talk on the phone - placing the phone behind his ear (so cute)
• he will hug a stuffed animal
• he will try to hug the cat (sometimes with a little too much love)
• he will let me know with signs when he's "all done" or when he "wants more" with no prompting
• he is almost running everywhere and tends to move faster when he's managed to secure something he's not supposed to have
• his vocabulary is very large and no, I haven't been writing all of his words down (I know, I'm surprised too)
• he says, "woah" or "wow" when he sees something that impresses him

Here are a few pictures - two from our "snow day." It is getting increasingly difficult to get a smiling, non-blurry picture of Owen lately... (I've been struggling with Christmas pictures for four days now so who knows what kind of picture will be in the card)

Happy Turkey Day!

I just wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you had lots of great food to eat (I know we did). Here are a couple of pictures from the day.

A boy who loves his blankie... (he had pulled it over with him and sat in his chair but when I walked in with the camera, he immediately jumped up to see his picture so this was as good as I could get)