Owen Eats! Sort of ...

Owen had his first taste of food. For awhile we thought he would be well into his 6th month before even showing interest until one day, he got angry watching us eat. After a few days I realized he wanted something too. So....on New Year's Eve, we tried some rice cereal. He had fun playing with it, ate a little, got most of it on his face and probably enjoyed playing with the spoon more than actually eating but it was a step. What a cutie!

Christmas

We had a fantastic (though dizzily busy) Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with my mom's family at a large family gathering where we all got our pictures taken with Santa (for Maya this was time #7). Maya walked right up all by herself and got onto Santa's lap. I guess that's the key....wear them down. Desensitize? We made cookies to leave for Santa too on Christmas Eve and Maya loved that she got to put the icing on all by herself. She was a bit tired by the time we got home from our family gathering so she wouldn't smile, but was excited to see that Santa had eaten them. Maya was a lucky girl and got an awesome Barbie house from Santa. It is so big that I think we need to build an addition, lol. Owen got several gifts but loved this mirror toy that was actually a last minute purchase when we realized he hadn't received but 2 gifts. Oops! Good purchase though!

Santa Beards

As part of our 24 days of Christmas we made an old school craft: cotton ball Santa beards. Maya loved this one!

New Tradition

We decided to try out a few new things this year in trying to find some fun family traditions. We found one we all loved! We went on a Santa brunch boat cruise on Lake Washington. So fun! Great food, carolers, Santa, a craft room and lots of room to roam. So much fun!

Like the boy mommy!

Over several days Maya kept going in to the bathroom and taking the bath towel off the rack and sitting on it asking to be 'like the boy.' I had no clue what she was talking about. Finally, one afternoon a commercial came on TV and she got excited and said "There is the boy mommy!". Ah ha! It's a commercial where a boy runs in to the bathroom and his dad asks if he needs help only to be told, "no dad, I'm a big boy." The commercial then goes to the boy who isn't using the bathroom but sitting on a towel playing some sort of video game on the floor while leaning against the tub. I have no idea what the commercial is about, but here is Maya playing a Build a Bear game on the DS in the bathroom. This has become her new past time.

Rolling and Sitting

I keep forgetting to post this! We've had so much going on since Maya got sick a few weeks back quickly followed by colds for me, Chris and Owen. Owen rolled over from his back to his front (he had already rolled front to back at about 3 months but not the other way). Anyway, On December 5th he rolled over. Of course, I had him on the floor and was doing something and Maya pointed it out. Funny girl! A few days later I sat Owen down in front of me and noticed he didn't lean back against me and was actively trying to sit up! Surprised me! Anyway, he's very wobbly but trying to sit up and loves when his big sister comes to play with him while he sits.

Sleeping Beauty

Maya has decided it's really funny to pretend she's Sleeping Beauty. This, however, involves her laying on the floor/couch/bed/stairs and pretending she's asleep (usually smiling and squinting through her almost closed eye lids). Of course, then she must be carried around sleeping. So silly!

Advent Calendar

This year I took on a great idea I read about in a magazine. Instead of having a traditional advent calendar with candy treats, we have come up with 24 activities. The first day was a bust because Maya was sick, however, we have had so much fun. So far we watched a Christmas movie, decorated the Christmas tree, made a Gingerbread house, done a Christmas craft, made Snowman pancakes, gone to see Santa, gone to a Christmas party and wrote a letter to Santa. Tonight is day 9 (we try to do our activity together each night) and it looks like we will be making a card for a friend. Maya has loved finding the 'magical' piece of paper that appears in our advent calendar each day to see what we are going to do. I sneak it in during nap time and tell her the elves came by. Love this idea!

Santa Experiment

We have already seen Santa 3 times and it's only December 9th. The first time was successful. We went on the Santa Train in North Bend and met up with the old guy. Maya sat in his lap and told him she was 2 and that she wanted a Tiana doll for Christmas. Though she looks like she's going to bolt, we even got a picture (I will admit this guy looks like a wax figure though, weird!). The second time we saw him was at a Christmas Brunch for Chris' work. We waited in line for about 10 minutes only to have Maya decide it wasn't a great idea when it was our turn. In the picture she is holding on to Chris for dear life while Owen is in Santa's lap. We have a nice picture of her back which is better than last years brunch where she screamed while Chris held her. The third time was a little more successful. This time the kids got dressed up to go see Santa at the mall. When Maya realized it was our turn, however, she took three steps towards him then sat on the ground. I thought we were in for tears, however, Santa, being the kid friendly guy he is, suggested she stand to his side by her baby brother and help hold him. Smart guy! Maya isn't smiling and almost ended up cut off in the picture, but she helped hold Owen and stayed in the picture. In the end she even gave Santa a hug when he gave her a coloring book. Two more encounters; I'll have to update how they end up in my Santa experiment.

My Wish

Right now I am listening to the song ‘My Wish’ by Rascal Flatts. It’s on my playlist on my Blog so turn your sound on and take a listen. It’s one of those songs that really sums up your thoughts…in my case, and maybe yours, it sums up my thoughts about my kiddos. I was reading something online the other day and in the article the woman wrote that she realized, looking at her teenagers, that the day would come when they wouldn’t be an active part of her daily activities. When Maya woke up this morning (she wasn't quite ready to be awake but came downstairs anyway), she cuddled up in my lap. It made me think of all the mornings she used to do that. She'd snuggle her little face in to my sweatshirt and hug me until she was ready to get up and play. This morning I realized what a big girl she already is as all 39 inches of her tried to cuddle in. It's a little sad to realize I don't remember so clearly those things that happened during our first year together. I know, I know, new memories are made and that's why, but I guess I don't want my baby to grow up too fast. Maya's first year I was always so excited for the milestones. With Owen, I think I'd be content if he'd just stay where he is, rolling around on the floor smiling and laughing. Ok, my rant is over. In the end, my babies will grow up and that will be a good thing.

The sickies strike again!

I had just been thinking it had been about 4 months since Maya was last sick, fever sick. We tend to get a fever every 3 or 4 months and it's always ugly...ugh. The poor girl doesn't bat an eye at a cold but a fever is awful with her. We got home from Target and she proceeded to have a melt down. When she calmed down I noticed that blank look in her eyes and though 'oh oh!' Sure enough it was 100.4 and 101.2 an hour later. She changed in to her favorite Tink nightgown, I gave her some Tylenol, and she snuggled on the couch the rest of the day with her Tink blanket and princess pillow watching movies. Poor girl felt awful. No puking though, that's always my fear. She's only thrown up once and it was only formula (she was 7 months old) but I am pretty much terrified of throw up in general. Now I'm crossing my fingers and toes that we all stay well until long after the holidays!

Look at this one daddy!

We ventured out to Farmer Brown's Christmas Tree Farm this afternoon to pick out and cut down a Christmas Tree. Maya was a smidge confused about the whole thing when I told her what we were going to do however she had a blast. We had never been to this Christmas tree farm however I would definitely recommend it! They have 30+ acres of trees of 7 different varieties! Maya kept finding all the 'baby' trees and then would decide if they were Baby Owen trees or Maya trees. We walked around for over an hour and finally decided on a beautiful Nobel! Maya thought it was pretty funny watching Chris cut down the tree. It was raining yesterday (though not while we were there) so we are waiting a day until it dries out before we bring it in from the garage to decorate. Maya is so excited for the holidays!

Lost and Found

Tonight we decided to wash the couch cushion covers due to a juice spill which occurred many months ago (right on top of that one!) and found all sorts of treasures. They made me laugh so I had to share.
Found: 1 french fry (plastic), 1 pretzel (plastic), 1 oinking light-up pig key chain, 2 quarters, 5 pennies, 1/2 a pistachio, 2 pieces of Pirates Booty, 1 corn skewer, 1 blue rubber lady bug, 1 pink barbie shoe, 1 pink birthday candle, 1 Princess fruit snack wrapper and various indiscernible crumbs.

The Big Move

We decided it was time to reclaim our bedroom and move Owen in to his own room. With Maya, I couldn't wait to get her in to her own room. She's such a restless sleeper that she kept me awake, even now. This time I was sad. I realized it is the last time I will have a sweet little baby in my room not to mention he's still attached to his binky when falling asleep and I was a bit worried I'd continually be fetching it for him. However, it needed to be done. I decided it was time because we were waking up Owen and he was waking us up in turn. The first two nights were a sketchy. Between the two kids (Maya had two bad nights in a row) we were up 7 times between 9:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. However, the third night after my 'pep talk' (it was all in jest but I'm pretending it worked) the kids both slept! Maya was down at 8:30 and Owen was down at 9. We didn't hear a peep until 6:15 a.m. In the end, it was nice to reclaim a little space for us and Owen is sleeping great!

Santa Train

Today we got up super early, got our warm clothes on and headed up to North Bend to ride the Santa Train. We met several family friends and got to ride a real train to Snoqualmie to have cookies and hot cocoa and meet Santa. I had some serious doubts about whether Maya would sit on Santa's lap BUT she surprised us all and sat right down (though she didn't look at him) and told him she is 2 and that she wants a Princess Tiana doll for Christmas. Owen was asleep in the Ergo so we didn't wake him for it. No worries, in our holiday plans we are going to see Santa 5 more times.

Thanksgiving

Chris and I have hosted Thanksgiving dinner for a variety of people the past 3 years but this year decided we'd take a break. Chris' brother and his family were going to visit other family and our friends had plans so we decided we'd take my mom up on her offer to fix the dinner at her house. We had all the good stuff and were able to enjoy it all a bit more than we do when we're busy in the middle of it all. Chris made a yummy apple pie (I'm not a big pie baker, but he is!) and I made some sauteed carrots with sage. The kids played with their cousin Charissa and had lots of fun watching a new My Little Pony Christmas movie, making a reindeer hand cut-out craft and beaded snowflakes.

Four Months

Looking at old pictures of Maya got me wondering how alike the really look...see for yourself

Exersaucer?

I laughed tonight when Maya climbed into the exersaucer that recently came out of storage. She looks a little big...

Self Portraits

Maya loves taking pictures, especially of herself. Today she wanted a picture of me, her and her apple.

Bath Time

Owen loves to take a bath. Maya never, ever liked the baby bath thus we resorted to putting her in the tub at one month. Owen loves his bath and spends the time splashing, smiling, talking and laughing.

Dressy Pumpkins

Maya has 4 pumpkins left over from Halloween that she has done so many things with (after she took their face stickers off, of course). Today, she dressed them up with all her play jewelery then wanted her picture taken with them. Don't mind the TV in the background (ugh).

Owen

At almost 4 months Owen is busy discovering all the things he can do. He is rolling from his front to his back, chewing on his feet (fist, my fingers, burp cloth, his arm...you get the idea), rolling from his back to his sides, trying to sit up, and sitting up on his elbows. He really never liked tummy time so I was a little concerned but he's nice and strong. Here are a few I took of him hanging out by himself and of course with his big sister.

Marriage

Maya has been walking around humming the Wedding March for weeks because of the wedding scene in the movie Monsters Vs Aliens. Tonight she came down from her room wearing a dress, purple dress up shoes, a crown and carrying her Ariel purse. As she walked in the kitchen she announced, "I'm getting married!" I laughed and asked who she was going to marry. Her response, "You mommy!" So silly!

Mommy Moment #255342

Poor Owen hasn't been sleeping well with a little bit of a stuffy nose that seems to manifest itself in the middle of the night and leaves him gagging, ugh. Last night Owen ended up sleeping with me most of the night so he would stay asleep. Not ideal especially since I don't sleep well in close quarters. It left me still sound asleep still at 8:30 a.m. It was just after 8:30 that I began hearing plastic plates. I laid there laughing to myself because usually it means that Maya is up and has decided to play in her kitchen which is in her room. Most mornings Maya wakes up calling 'mommy, mommy, mommy' though maybe once every couple weeks does she get up on her own. The upside is that her bedroom door sticks....so she can't be up around the house without us....or at least that's what I thought. As I listened closer, I realized that she was a lot louder than I would have expected her to be. So, I got up, put my contacts in and realized that Miss Maya's bedroom was open a crack and that the noise was coming from the kitchen....downstairs. I quietly tiptoed down the stairs and there she was...on the counter (half on the stove, next to the knives) taking out all of her plates and cups. She turned around and got down then looked up at me, holding a cup, lid and straw. Smiling, she said "I'm thirsty" and she jumped off her stool and ran to the fridge from which she pulled out the milk. Laughing, I helped her pour a glass. She put the lid on, stuck the straw in, put the milk back and pulled out a piece of Babybel cheese from the fridge, opened it and looked at me and said "I'm hungry too!" Of course, I took a picture. How could I resist? At least it wasn't a bag a pancake mix all over my living room floor... oh wait, that was our last food adventure.

Disney on Ice

Tonight I took Maya to see Disney on Ice with out good friend Katie and her daughter Emilie who is also 2 1/2. Maya had a blast! Before hand we got to see 3 'real' princess dresses and then we got to wave to both Cinderella and Princess Tiana. I wasn't sure what Maya would think of the ice show but she loved it. We got to see characters from Cars, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and Tinkerbell. Of course we also saw Mickey with his friends Minnie, Daisy, Donald and Goofy. I didn't manage to catch a picture of both girls but got one with Maya after the show as well as a funny one which made me think of the way she will most likely look at me when she's 15 and annoyed. She was busy eating popcorn and I think a little tired of me taking pictures. Overall, she had so much fun. It's nice being able to take her to do some things by ourselves. She's been so great with Owen but I know the jealousy errupts when she doesn't get much alone time with both me and Chris so it's nice to sneak these things in.

Halloween

We had a super duper busy day on Halloween. We spent the afternoon at a princess themed birthday party then attempted a nap but Maya was way too wound up....thus we stayed home and went trick or treating in our neighborhood which turned out to be rainy but lots of fun. Chris took Maya while Owen and I handed out candy. Maya was in heaven by the time she returned! Unfortunately, because Maya was overly tired we didn't make it anywhere Owen could wear his costume and he's just too little to send out in the rain with daddy BUT we did get to wear it over to grandma and grandpa's so that was fun.

Pumpkins

This year was the first that Maya has really participated in pumpkin carving. Last year she wanted nothing to do with it and wouldn't come near the 'guts'. This year she loved it and helped Chris pick out a pattern (A castle, of course), clean out the pumpkin then did her own little pumpkin craft while she waited for him to finish carving it. Owen and I mostly watched and helped Maya with her craft.

Cow or Monkey

As is par for the course, I bought two costumes for Owen. Quite honestly, I probably would have bought two for Maya also had the princess costumes not been so darn expensive. Owen's totaled half of what Maya's cost so I didn't feel so bad. Here is a preview of Owen's first Halloween. By the way, I tend to always buy two. I find good deals and can't pass them up. Last year Maya's back up Christmas dress cost me 1.99 on ebay. Granted, she didn't wear it, ha ha ha, but I always have back ups.

Gary and Gorgeous

My had 'adopted' to skulls. Yes, skulls. We got out our Halloween decorations and for some reason she really loves these skulls we have. She feeds them breakfast, puts them to bed, and even fed them broccoli at dinner the other night. She named one Gary and I named the other George. However, she can't seem to remember George so she tends to call him Gorgeous. A few days ago she was getting dressed and I told her she looked gorgeous! She looked at me and said "no, mommy, gorgeous is downstairs!" BTW, she is making a funny face, LOL.

334-6***

Last night Maya was out in the kitchen with Chris while he was cleaning up our mess from pumpkin carving when she started to repeat some numbers. Chris asked her to say it again....turns out it's our phone number. Chris and I were both cracking up. I have not tried to teach it to her nor had I said it at any point yesterday. So funny!! It made me wonder though. About a week ago I was at Babies' R Us trying to give the sales clerk my phone number for our 'rewards card' and it took her 4 or 5 times to get it right. It makes me wonder if our phone number had been circulating around her head for a week.

Rolling, rolling, rolling

Owen officially rolled over (front to back) today! We were all in Maya's room while I was putting her clean clothes away and Chris was trying to wrangle her in to some PJ's when Chris said "hey, look at Owen" (who was laying on the floor next to my basket). Sure enough a few seconds later her rolled over. Maya yelled "He Did It!!!!!!" I turned him back over and he did it 2 more times. So cute! Maya was just as excited as we were. It's so fun to share those moments with her!

Pumpkins

We went on our yearly trip to the pumpkin patch today but man, oh man, was it CHILLY!!! Maya had so much fun wandering around the pumpkins and the mud in her new boots, all bundled up. Owen snuggled in the carrier and slept on and off most of the day. We had fun picking pumpkins then we at a yummy lunch and checked out the kids play area, rode a kid's cow tractor ride (OK, only Maya did that) then went on a hay ride, played in the play area and even jumped in a whole pit of corn. I had no idea that corn could be so entertaining! We love The Farm!

Carousel

Like many kids, Maya has an obsession with riding the carousel. Our rule of thumb at the zoo is two rides. She was asking about the carousel today so I thought I would look back at a few pics of Miss Maya riding the carousel and even one with Owen's first ride.

Owen is 3 months

Three whole months have cruised by and I can't believe my little guy is 3 months old as of October 18th. He has changed from a skinny, sleepy little guy to one who is watching your every move and waiting for you to make eye contact so he can smile.

• Owen smiles with his eyes before it reaches his mouth.
• He is so happy when his arms are 'freed' from his swaddle.
• If I'm on the phone holding him, he is usually trying to participate too.
• He loves to cuddle and honestly would probably be a great co sleeper if we were down with it.
• Owen has super long eye lashes that are straight like mine, not curly like Maya and Chris' are.
• He gets a super big, sad lip just before he starts to cry.
• His angry cry sounds like 'mmmmmaaaad, mmmmmmadddd' so Maya often mocks him.
  
• He is long, long, long. I need to measure him and fill in that blank.
• Owen was born with light colored hair that hasn't fallen out.
  
• He snorts.
• He used to pee on me all the time; I'm good at timing it now.
• Owen loves taking a bath and gets the counter soaked while kicking water out of his tub.
• Can suck on his thumb fairly well though he prefers his binky.
• Calms and falls asleep very quickly once he's swaddled and has his binky.
• He likes to sleep with his binky pressed up against his cheek. He spits it out just before he falls asleep but he'll often wake if it moves away from his cheek.
• Loves the same John Deere toy Maya loved when she was his age.
• Is swaddled in the same blanket every night that we also used for Maya.
• Eats like a champ.
• He has my super long second toe.
• Owen loves to be carried around and isn't much for being left for too long. He will, however, sit for quite a while in his bouncey seat if you talk and sing to him with Maya.
• He loves watching Maya do just about anything.
• Owen is often called Oie; Oh We Oh, Oooohhh; or Mr Owen Pants. Even Maya calls him these.
• He hates the car; I don't think it's the car seat...I think it's the car and the fact he hasn't figure out how to see Maya yet.
  
• He is our finale and I'm trying to slow down and enjoy his babyhood more. I'm kind of sad to see him already trying to be mobile yet happy to see his big smile when he figures this stuff out.
  

Maya is 2 1/2

My girl is officially 2 1/2 on Saturday so I thought I would create a post all about her.

• Maya insists on 4 songs whenever she goes to sleep : Twinkle, twinkle; ABC's; Row, row, row your boat & Rock a bye Baby....always always
• Maya loves swimming and will jump off the edge, go all the way under water, and 'swim' while kicking and paddling with her arms.
• At meals she insists on dipping her chicken nuggets in syrup. She doesn't like any other condiments.
• She has funny ways of saying things such as 'Moresa' and 'pegaguin'. I'm always sad when she learns to enunciate...I miss 'bat da ba' (Tinkerbell).
• Maya is a princess through and through. She wants to wear a skirt ALL the time. At night she likes to wear nightgowns but insists on putting a skirt on under them. Tonight she even hugged her Dora skirt when she found it in the clean clothes basket.
• We are busy doing all sorts of 'projects' that range from dot painting to pumpkin face decorating. She loves making things to display or mail to people.
  
• She doesn't deal well at all with illness and usually is inconsolable to the point I sit up watching movies with her in bed in order to get her to focus on something else.
• She is almost 39 inches tall and 32 pounds.
• Maya loves doing what Owen is doing; For example, if he's in his bouncy seat in the kitchen, she pulls her princess chair out to the kitchen and covers them both up with blankets and makes sure they each have a toy.
  
• She has figured out there are 'unmonitored' times when I am busy with Owen thus is 'taking advantage' of it. I'm sneaky, however, and can usually catch her before any damage is done.
• Maya loves to walk around with whole fruit and will devour an entire pear, core included, if you don't watch her.
• Loves to dance and sing. She knows quite a few songs and is even starting to make up a few songs of her own.
  
• Maya loves her daddy. I tried to sit by her last night and she said 'no, that's daddy's spot.' Chris was upstairs getting ready for bed and we were all going to snuggle in to watch a movie. I love that she is so connected to her daddy.
• Washing her hands and brushing her teeth are things she loves to do all the time.
  
• She is working on potty training ....still. I love her enthusiasm when she goes and her determination when she doesn't want to sit.
  
• Maya likes to pretend to exercise with me.
• She does a pretty good forward summersault.
• When she is feeling unsure, she always wants to hold hands.
• Every morning she asks where her daddy is.
• Maya would eat pancakes for breakfast every day if they were offered.
• "It's not Scary" always means I'm really scared but I'm trying not to be.
• Maya can put on most of her shoes and jackets by herself but will take 20 minutes to pick out which ones she wants.
• Choice makes her giddy. She says 'I can have that one, that one, that one' with a big grin like it's Christmas.
• She loves birthdays and talking about birthdays.
• Maya has a huge sweet tooth.
• She can count to 20 though 16-20 are a little iffy some days.
• She has been singing her ABC's since she was about 18 months.
• Maya learned the 'I need a drink' trick about a month ago.
• I am in awe of her creativity and enthusiasm to the point that it inspires to me to have more of both.
  

Other Firsts

Owen is trying his hardest to roll over. He lays on his back and kicks himself from side to side. Tonight I thought for sure he was going to get all the way over. His darn arm just wouldn't cooperate though. I think it will be soon!

Was that Owen?

Tonight Maya was being her usual goofy self, swinging her pony tails around to hit herself in the face and suddenly Owen let out the funniest belly laugh. It was my little guy's first laugh. His eyes got big and we all started laughing. He did it two more times, but of course we never caught it on camera. Now comes the time when we will all spend hours trying to make him laugh again!

Remlinger

I keep asking myself why we didn't go to Remlinger Farms earlier in the season. They have so many fun things for kids from kiddie sized rides to jump houses and even a train ride and petting zoo. Maya and Charissa had a great day exploring all the rides and even picking out a few pumpkins from their store. I have to take Maya there when they open again in May. This is one of those things that makes me realize how grown up she is becoming. In August she went on her first ride all by herself at the fair only to make us realize she probably could have done it long ago. At Remlinger she had no qualms about walking on to the ride and having fun without us.

Cheers!

Maya learned how to 'Cheer's cups about a year ago. She now likes to cheers anything involved with eating. The other night she was about to take a bite when she stuck her fork out and said 'Everybody Cheers!' So we did!