Everyday Owen: Pears & Chairs

Scored them off of Craigslist this weekend. (The chairs, not the pears.)

Yellow Machines

If you're planning to have a conversation with Owen anytime soon, you'd better be able to call that thing in the picture up there something more than Big Yellow Machine. That tactic only worked for me for about a week, and then I had to hit the internet and educate myself.

We've memorized all the active construction and road repair sites within a 10-mile radius of home, with our current favorite site being the "new why-bwear-ee". Today we saw a crane lifting steel beams and a bulldozer pushing dirt around. Score!

But I would caution you against flaunting your newfound knowledge. Throw around terms like boom, grapple, or skid steer loader one too many times in Owen's presence, and he will just calmly point out the passenger side window at something like this

Image via Astronomy Picture of the Day

and say, "Care to tell me what THAT is, smartypants?"

Clearly we need more chairs

or is it just a guy thing to watch sports at close range?

The Dining Car

Owen removed the panel from the bottom of the refrigerator, declared that it was the door of a train and invited me to join him aboard for dinner. He even requested that we get our suitcases.

How could I not oblige?

Once we were ambling down the tracks dining on ground turkey and pasta, I asked where we were going.

Hobby Lobby.

I'm off on a cruise with 5 girlfriends! See you back here next week.

How we spent the rest of Christmas

DD, Coach and Jen (who Owen is pretty consistently referring to now as Neenee) drove over from Texas on Christmas Day in a record-setting 9 hours. I will never drive to Texas again unless Jennifer is my chauffeur!

We were able to enjoy Christmas dinner with them, along with Scott's parents and grandmother GG. Yes, Owen has a DD, Mimi, GG and now a Neenee. The lesson? If you want Owen to call you by name, find a syllable with a long E, say it, then repeat.

We spent most of our time just visiting and enjoying being together, but I was also a bad hostess and put them to work while they were here. We primed all the paneling and wallpaper in the living room, so farewell 70s! It kind of looks like the video below was made in a hospital waiting room, huh?

Before......................................After the before, but before the after (that pic to come later!)

Happy New Year!

Chocolate soul patch

How we spent Christmas, Part I

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas!

Speck & Joe's Wedding Day!

Pre Wedding Fun

Love and Sippy Cups

Watching fireworks the night before Speck and Joe's wedding

The wedding photo slide shows begin tomorrow, I promise!

Another conversation with Owen

On the Dumbo ride at Disney World

(Hey family, I have no photos of the wedding on my camera! E-mail me some to post please.)

While we were driving down Hwy 31 today, Owen called out from behind me, "Mommy, Owen have two noses!"

I glanced in the rearview mirror to see him sitting in his car seat with one index finger shoved into each nostril.

Math grade: A+

Anatomy grade: C-

Free to a good home

One toddler. Has all his shots. Good with cats and other children. Needs to be kept outside in fenced yard.

SsssssNoNoNo!

It snowed overnight-- our first snow here on Viking Circle.

So why is Owen absent from these picturesque scenes?

He didn't want to get his new galoshes icky.

It's someone's special day!

Try to ignore:

• the cat hair on the sofa
• the fact that Owen is wearing tennis shoes with pajamas
• that Owen's parting words mistakenly wish me a Happy Birthday

So glad you were born Scott! We love you!!!

Conversations with Owen

SCENE-- The Target parking lot just after sunset.

DADDY-- Where is the sun Owen? It was up there when we went inside, but where did it go?

OWEN-- Sun went time out, Daddy.

SCENE-- OWEN's room at nap time. (Coincidentally also the time he realizes he has a million questions to ask.) DADDY has gone downstairs to lower the thermostat setting because OWEN's room is hot as blazes.

OWEN-- Daddy go turn heat off, huh Mommy? Daddy turn off heat?

MOMMY-- That's right. Daddy went to turn off the heat.

OWEN-- Where heat go?

MOMMY-- It doesn't go anywhere, honey. It's just off.

OWEN-- Where heeeeat go, Mommy?

MOMMY-- I don't know what you're asking baby. The heat's just stopped.

OWEN-- Where heeeeat gooooo, Mommy?

MOMMY-- Ummm... heat rises? Heat goes up? I don't know.

OWEN-- No Mommy, heat go night, night.

MOMMY-- You mean you knew the answer all along?

OWEN giggles.

SCENE-- Repeated throughout every single day (with a few specific examples thrown in).

OWEN-- Whadat, Mommy?

Whadat part, Daddy?

Whadat do, Daddy?

Whaaaadat no-ise, Mommy?

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OWEN-- Whadat, Mommy?

MOMMY-- That's cake. It's a piece of cake.

OWEN-- What cake do, Mommy?

MOMMY-- Well, it makes Mommy fat.

OWEN-- (Giggling) Cake make Mommy fat! Cake make Mommy FAT!!!

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OWEN-- Whadat, Mommy?

MOMMY-- That's a fly.

OWEN-- What fly do, Mommy?

MOMMY-- Well, that fly doesn't do anything- it's dead. Can you put it down, please?

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OWEN-- Whadat, Daddy?

DADDY-- That's soup. Mommy made soup for dinner.

OWEN-- Dat's poup, Daddy.

DADDY-- Sssssss. Soup.

OWEN-- Poup.

Dat poup hot, Daddy?

What poup do, Daddy? What poup dooooooo?

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

OWEN-- Whadat, Mommy?

MOMMY-- Aww- you know what that is honey. It's your stuffed giraffe.

OWEN-- Whadat part Mommy?

MOMMY-- That's his eyes

OWEN-- Whadat part Mommy?

MOMMY-- Umm. I think those are his antlers?

OWEN-- (Lifting the giraffe's tail and pointing under it.) Whadat part Mommy?

MOMMY--

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SCENE-- Nap time today.

OWEN-- Whaaaaadat no-ise, Mommy?

MOMMY-- That's the heat going off.

OWEN-- Where heat go, Mommy?

MOMMY-- (Smiling to herself and feeling wise.) Heat go night, night honey.

OWEN-- Heat go night, night.

(OWEN takes contemplative pause.)

Mommy?

Where heat's bed?

Trees in Review

2007

2008

2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

My sweet hoodlum

When I picked up Owen from Mother's Day Out today, his teacher handed me his bags and then cleared her throat.

"Ahem, we had a little problem with Owen today. He had to be sent to the director's office."

I glanced over at Owen, who was on my hip, and I could tell he knew what we were talking about. He looked down at the floor and picked at his bottom lip.

"Owen wouldn't stop aggressively hugging his classmates. If you and your husband could work with him on hugging softly that would be a big help."

Part of me was embarrassed for Owen, and part of me thought Is she serious? Personally, I find soft hugs about as desirable as limp handshakes.

So what do you think? Will Owen be robbing convenience stores by the time he's 15 if I let this one pass? I can just see him lording over some poor clerk, "Gimme all the money in the register! I got a bear hug and I'm not afraid to use it!!!"

An analogy (SAT style)

wedding cake: Owen :: cheap beer : frat boy

Congrats Drew and RaRa!

We love you!!!

Owen's Big Box Birthday Bash

Everyday Owen: The giggles

I went to feed Owen a bite of his dinner at the same time that he tried to take a drink from his sippy, and he ended up with pesto up his nose. I said, "Oh, no!" And things spiraled into a delirious mockfest.