Discovery Green & Conversations with Owen

5.22.10  Discovery Green, Downtown Houston

I was in the kitchen making dinner last night when I heard Owen tell Scott, "Greta eating Greta, Daddy!  Greta is EAT-ning Greta!!!"  

I walked around the corner to discover Owen pointing in mock horror at our tabby cat.

Who was bathing herself.

Everyday Owen: First Toy Catalog

We sat down to breakfast yesterday morning, and as soon as he saw the catalog his toast was, well, toast.

Photo shoot

Image via Heartspun Imagery

While we were in Texas last weekend, we arranged for our friend Viviana to take pictures of Owen again. You can go to her site to see more of the shoot.  And in case you missed the ones she took a few years ago...

Of course, my main motive for having professional photos made is to be able to remember exactly what Owen looked like at this age, but it was genius of Viv to suggest meeting at the playground.  She was so flexible and allowed what he wanted to do dictate the shots.  The result is that I have pictures that capture Owen's sense of fun, his lighthearted mischievousness, and even how gloriously sticky and red-faced he gets when he's in his favorite place:  outside.  

Thanks so much Viv!

Triker Dude

*For maximum viewing enjoyment, mute the video and play something cool like Riders on the Storm in the background instead.  Spare yourself my southern twang.

So here's the transportation milestone I mentioned.  Owen has a tricycle here at home that he prefers to ride Fred Flintstone style, but he hopped right on this one at my parents' house and started pedaling.  If only potty training were so easy.

Abby, Gabe and Owen having a triker rally on Saturday afternoon.

On a tacky and completely unrelated note, go back and watch the video again and look way up in the top left corner.  That's my parents' neighbors' new hot tub.  It's in the middle of their yard, lit by tiki torches, and made accessible only by a white kitchen step stool.  On Saturday night, they were in it with two of their Dachshunds.  Might I suggest something by Kid Rock or Lynyrd Skynyrd for this second viewing?

Back in 'bama

Our flight time yesterday was smack in the middle of what should have been Owen's afternoon nap.  Every time I asked him to rest on the plane, this is the face he made in an exaggerated effort to keep his eyes shut.  Sweet boy tried.

Resting up and doing chores today.  I'll post tomorrow about the transportation milestone Owen reached while we were in Texas!

Reminiscing

August/September 2009

I went wandering through our old iPhoto files the other day and was reminded of Owen's former penchant for disrobing when he was upset with us.  These days he's dropped the passive from passive aggressive and just starts swinging when he's mad.  We're working on finding the middle ground between burlesque and battery...

Owen and I are hopping a plane to Texas in a few hours.  Back on Monday to report on all the fun we had!

B & A: Computer Nook

Owen's Aunt Beck Beck reminded me the other day that she hasn't been to visit us since we moved last October, and she sweetly suggested I do more before & after blogs so she could see what we've been up to around here.  It sounds like fun to me, so I hope the rest of you don't mind!  Just so I don't start to fancy myself a design blogger, I'll always be sure to include Owen in the shot somewhere in these kind of posts.

I just finished the computer nook yesterday.  Don't ask how I managed to take the two photos from nearly the exact same spot a week apart.  The living room in our old house was a shade of green called Swampwater, and I still had about a quart left.  I used it on Owen's train table, now here, and who knows where it will strike again.  To hijack Shelby's line from Steel Magnolias, I think Swampwater "is my signature culla".

There you go Speck.  Now you can picture where I sit as I type!

Crane Pain

We woke to late February/early March skies today, so our plans to go to the pool were amended and we headed to the McWane Science Center with Amanda, Solomon and Selah instead.

Owen hasn't quite mastered the art of pedaling, so Solomon got to provide the horsepower.



It was so cute...

And then Owen decided to dismount at the same time Solomon came swinging through with the arm of the crane again.

The lady at the front desk wouldn't give me a bag of ice unless I filed an incident report - address, phone #, description of the event, signature, photocopies, etc.  So I sold poor Solomon out for a cheap, fold-over sandwich bag of frozen water.  The records of minors are sealed anyway, right?

  

Happy Mother's Day!

October 12, 1975

That's a poor man's scan of a photo taken of my mom and me almost 35 years ago.  It's been a long time since I fit that easily into her lap, but that doesn't mean there aren't still days when she carries me.  Even from 600 miles away, she makes me feel safer in the world.  

I love you Mom.  

Connoisseur

March 2010, Orlando, Joe's belongings

Owen ate a piece of cat food yesterday.  In summarizing its flavor profile, he said it was chewy and tasted like pickles.

Obvious answer

O:  Wha's dat on counter?

Me:  Um, it's a scent diffuser?  Reed scent diffuser?  No, bamboo reed diffuser.  Yeah, that's what I think they call it.

Owen looks ponderous.

O:  Owe-Owen jus' call it jar.

----------------------------

Hope you don't mind all the dialogue stuff lately.  We've officially moved into the funny conversation phase of parenthood.  

I was informed by a member of the Texas Mafia the other day that I hadn't posted nearly enough pics from our beach vacation.  Lest I end up donning concrete shoes...

Owen spent dinner smacking Scott and me around, so he was feeling considerably more affectionate towards Beck Beck and Uncle Joe.

Bossy... and polite

Transcript:

...come in here.  Get Owen out of his bed, please.  Please, Mommy, please!


Please, please, please.


... (inaudible)... bed, please!


Please.


... (inaudible)... get Owen out of Owen's bed, please please.


Get Owen out of - out of - Owen's bed, please.


... out of Owen's bed, please, please, please, please!


(Don't worry, I went right up and got him.)

2.5

The Weekend

Thanks for coming to visit us Jenn!

And Owen has figured out the "J" sound, so she is NeeNee no more.  Just try to call her that in his presence and he will restate your entire sentence for you with Jen-nee inserted instead.