Owen's 4th Birthday

Happy Birthday Owen!

I can't believe it has been four years since I first held my baby boy. I can clearly remember how it felt to hold his little fingers and to kiss his sweet forehead on that first blessed day. Now, he's four and he talks, laughs, makes jokes, plays, loves on his brother, tells stories, sings songs and makes up lyrics, he asks questions, and constantly amazes us daily with what he knows and understands about this world we live in. He falls asleep giving me sweet hugs as he whispers, "I love you mama" and every day he helps to make me feel like the luckiest mom in the world.

We love you Owen!!!!

Owen's 4th Birthday Party

Owen has been asking for a birthday party at his house with a Spiderman theme for months. We settled on a Super Hero party so we could incorporate Spiderman and also have capes! Thanks to a few blogs I found - we were able to come up with a fun game plan - we added to it to make it our own and ended up with a Super Hero Boot Camp celebration.

All of the kids, especially Owen, really enjoyed the party (and so did we!!). Check it out!

Super Hero (Qualification) Challenges

The kids demonstrated that they were

“faster than the speed of light”

more powerful than a locomotive

able to leap a building in a single bound

and fly like superman

Super Hero Obstacle Course Training

Practice time... the kids took turns going through an obstacle course:

jumping over a raging river

crawling like Spiderman under balloons

balancing on a bridge over a river of lava

making it through the Bat cave

jumping through a ring of fire

Cape Ceremony

They earned their capes and promised to always protect protect the innocent and fight the bad guys

Hunting the bad guys

Once it was official, the Super Heros had work to do....

Each kid had to hunt down 3 Ninjas to save the town

And then we received a report from headquarters... the leaders of the Ninjas were in the backyard hiding. Time to hunt down and capture the Villains!

Super Hero Orders? Capture and bring the bad guys to jail

Lock them up with toilet paper

And punish the villains with Silly String!

Play time and food/cake

After the activties were over- the super heros enjoyed play time, pizza, cake, and more time on the zip-line!

Happy Birthday Owen!

First time on a snowboard

Back in January, we took Owen and Tucker up to the snow so that Owen could try snowboarding. We went to Soda Springs which really caters to kids and had a blast.

Once he had a few sled rides, a few tries down a little hill off to the side, and a few bites of snack, he really got into the fun of going up the moving carpets to the top of the hill. We took turns running down the hill with him, holding his hands as he got the feel for it. By the end of the morning, he would let go for a couple of feet towards the bottom and crash into the big soft foam squares scattered around the training hill.We made a game of it and Owen really enjoyed it.

Here is a short, albeit a little bit shaky, video of Kris running down the hill with Owen:

Mommy, "I am going to break"

Today my first born, my little cutie pie of a boy turns 3 ½ year. I have no idea how this is possible. I love him so much it hurts. I don't understand how I can love him more and more each day, but it really is true. I feel so grateful and so lucky to be his mommy.

In honor of his half year birthday milestone, here is a silly little story from last night.It was almost bed-time and I was helping Owen change into his pajamas. As I helped him take off his shirt, he told me he was cold and then started to say, in an agitated manner,

“I’m going to break. Mommy, I’m going to break. I need my PJs. I need socks.”

We went about the routine… brushing teeth, putting on a night time diaper, finding his PJs. With intense focus, he kept on, "Mommy, I’m going to break.” Finally, to his relief, we start to put on his PJs. Very happily and with a very big smile he says, “Mommy, I have my PJs on now. Now I won’t break. I’m warm.”

Finally, it clicked and I figured out his reference. Three nights ago, after a bath, Owen was running around in his birthday suit. He was playing and having a grand-old time, but at one point, he stopped and gave me a hug. I noticed his hands and feet were icy cold, so I jokingly said something like, “Owen, you are freezing. You are like an icicle. You are going to break if you don’t get dressed and get warm soon”. We raced to get him dressed and never said anything more about it. I never thought twice about it, but Owen did. He was very relieved to be warm enough not to break! Ahhh, I LOVE this kid.

Oh yeah, and on my way out the door today after he ran over to give me a third hug. He sat back down at the table and quietly told his Daddy, "I love Mommy".

Happy 1/2 year birthday Owen!

Swimming lessons

A few weeks ago we decided to try a swimming class at our local kids' gym, so we switched Owen out of his gymnastics class and into the swimming class on a different night. We wanted him to get some practice in over the winter so that he's ready for the upcoming summer swimming season. Even though he loves playing in the water and swimming with us, he's still very terrified of getting his head wet, so we thought some practice and water time would help him.

He's loved the class from the start, but last week was incredible! They had a zip line set up for the kids to try towards the end of the lesson. I didn't think Owen would go for it, but he never hesitated or even looked to me for encouragement. He just went for it! I was so happy to see him excitedly try it out and was thrilled when he landed in his teacher's arms. He smiled at me once he was back in line for his second turn.

The whole scenario just melted my heart.

floating practice

even though this picture is blurry, i love it because he was so happy riding this whale

p.s. yes, yes, i did want to jump for joy, but instead i just played it cool by busting out a double thumbs up and a goofy smile on my face.One day soon he's going to figure out that his mom is a total dork.

Owen learns to ride a bike

For the last few months, we've been on the hunt for a bicycle for Owen. It's been a challenge because he's still on the smaller side and most of the standard 12 inch bikes don't fit him. Last weekend, our search ended. We stopped at a local bike shop for a helmet for Tucker and while we were there, Owen tried two of the small kid bikes. We didn't expect them to work out, but we were happily surprised to learn that both bikes fit him! We couldn't buy the one we liked best right away because it was purple and Owen simply told us that purple bikes are for girls. A few days later, we went back and bought the red one they pulled from their warehouse. We took the bike home Monday night, and he practiced pedaling with the back wheel up. Once he had that down, we took off the training wheels and started to count down the days until the weekend. We bought bike pads Friday night and chatted about his new bike all week. He was pretty excited, but the truth is, we were the super excited ones!

Saturday morning, after an early breakfast, we went out to the local school, and Owen learned how to ride a bike. We brought his orange balance bike because he wanted to start with that one. After awhile, he agreed to try the new one. He was a little nervous at first because he thought pedaling was hard, but within seconds he was going without Kris' help. He picked it up immediately. After a short but successful ride, he wanted to play on the playground. He took off all his pads and he and Tucker played for a long time on the slides and climbing gyms.

After awhile, he tried out his bike again. The second time around, something clicked, and he started to love it. He was making laps in no time and asking to ride down the small hill at the playground. From a balance perspective- he had it down perfectly. It really was absolutely natural for him. Pushing backwards on the pedals to brake and starting were a little harder, but by late morning he had made some progress with both areas. We were at the park for nearly three hours and after nap and a short snack, he couldn't wait to get out front and try it again.

The balance bike experiment worked exactly like we hoped it would. It's so cute to watch him on the bike. We need to practice a bit more with the pedal brakes and starting without help, but he'll have it down in no time. Soon, we'll be able to try out another family bike ride with Owen riding his bike instead of pushing/gliding on his balance bike! As I write this, Kris and Owen are outside - Owen couldn't wait to get outside today and try his new bike! WOO!

The first video below shows Owen's first try and the second video is a few tries later, after the playground break.

little Tucker on his bike!

Owen's 2011 Winter Gala Performance

Owen had his second school performance tonight. For the last few weeks, he and his classmates have been practicing for the big event and I'm happy to say the practice paid off. The event was less chaotic than last year and very well organized, which helped to keep the kids calm. Owen did need a bit of reassurance from me when the kids gathered before the show. One of the directors showed him I was in the audience and then he gave me a big hug and said he was ready to go! By the time he and the others walked onto the stage, Owen was thoroughly enjoying himself. On stage, he sang and smiled through both songs.

It was great fun for us to watch the kids perform! Here is a short video from the event:

An unexpected question

Today, as I was driving the boys back from school, Owen asked me how the earth was made. Lately, he's been asking a lot of questions like this, such as "where does corn bread come from?" or "where do flowers come from?". I have to admit, this one threw me for a second. I paused and started to tell him that there are a couple of theories that exist. Luckily, before I had to explain in detail, he continued to tell me that that the earth goes in circles around the sun and at the same time he started to make circles with his fingers in the air. Then he explained that earth moves around the sun and makes morning and night. A second later, as we were pulling into our neighborhood, he happily switched topics to start telling me about what house and neighborhood he thinks his friend lives in. I just shook my head and marveled. Just weeks (okay days) ago we were immersed in poop talk. Now, we are on evolution? God, help me.

Happy 9th Month Birthday Tucker!

Happy 9th Month Birthday Tucker!

Today we had Tucker's 9 month appointment and Owen's 3 year well visit and we received healthy reports for both boys. They each had their blood drawn for blood counts and anemia and they both received a flu vaccine. Owen had the nose mist and Tucker had the shot.

Owen also tested his eye sight and hearing. He passed the hearing test with flying colors but froze on the 2nd half of the eye test, so he'll be tested again at year 4. The doc says that's very normal. He weighs in at 27 lbs 7 oz and is 35 3/4 inches tall.

Tucker has had a big month. He's officially crawling all over the place now on his hands and knees. He has started eating puffs and cherrios and will soon be practicing with more finger foods. He can sit up from any position and pulls himself up and continues to cruise all over; he's even taken a couple of steps as he is pushing the high chair. According to his doctor, Tucker has healthy stranger anxiety and is on track with his sounds. He's now regularly saying "ma ma" "da da" and "na na". Kris is convinced is second word is daddy! He still doesn't have any teeth, but two are bothering him and we expect they'll come in soon. He is still a big boy at 20 lbs 2 oz, but at this age, that's is just 50th percentile! We've had a few rough nights this month with some teething pain, but he is usually very happy. Like his big brother, his happiness is definitely correlated with food and good naps. Just the other day, his morning nap was 2 1/2 hours. I had to wake him up for his lunch time breastfeeding session!

Tucker's stats:

Height: 27 3/4 inches (Owen 26 3/4 inches)

Weight: 20 lbs 2 oz (Owen 18lbs 12 oz)

Head: 18 inches (Owen 17.7 inches)

We love you so much Owen and Tucker!!! You make us so happy.

so precious

A big day for Owen

We took Owen for his first dentist appointment today. He was a champ- he wasn't scared at all and didn't complain or fret as the hygienist worked on his mouth. The office is perfectly suited for young children, equipped with child friendly staff, a toy room, animal murals, large stuffed animals coming out of the wall, and two - yes -two screens playing a kid friendly movie viewable from the big chair. He went in smiling and walked out smiling and holding two new prizes. We couldn't have asked for a better first time experience.

We also found out that Owen earned the Student of the Month award today!! He is enrolled in the phonics program at daycare where he works along side two other children and his teacher three times a week for twenty minutes. He learned the alphabet and the corresponding sounds right around his second birthday and these sessions build on that foundation. They practice writing letters and he also will be learning how to identify the first letter of a word by its sound. Although it is far from perfect, he has already started to learn how to write "e", "g", "r", "w", and "b" - and he loves to play his "phonics" games with us. For example, we'll ask him what does "mommy" start with and he will enthusiastically respond back with "m". It's so cute and so much fun. His teacher is full of praise and of course that makes us happy.