Taking care of his babies

Owen was hilarious last night as he brought the animal-shaped bowling pins originally purchased for our dearly departed bunny Greta, made a bed for them out of a large pouch used to cook potatoes and got them ready for bed. He was very sweet. But I think the best thing for both of us was hearing him say "my babies," which I think delighted us because it was the first time we'd heard our baby express this need to take care of someone or something.



His little sister will be in good hands.

Amy is still shaking her pesky and exhausting cough. It's been going on for a little under two weeks now and she's understandably tired of it. We came home early from our Thanksgiving holiday at my parents' house so Amy could see the doctor again on Friday afternoon. He tells her she's not getting worse, but the recovery remains slow, as she still can't take any medication to make her feel better.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving, though, playing with the marble game at Nana and Grandpa's house, and enjoying a 100% gluten free holiday meal. The long weekend was nice, too. Owen and I went swimming at our gym's pool and Amy and I relaxed with a movie and some take-out Thai food. We also decorated the house for Christmas. It was the earliest date we'd ever got that accomplished, and the house looks great. Owen loves the Christmas tree and has taken to plugging it in himself as soon as we get home or come downstairs. He also had a great time decorating it, helping dad put bells on the bottom, as is the family tradition (so you can hear if someone is stealing your presents).

Amy is now at 22 weeks. With only four months to go, the baby seems to be doing very well despite her mom's cold. We go back to the OB today for a checkup. It'll be fun to hear that beating heart again.

Owen, raise one hand ...

... for every Iowa football loss your dad and grandpa saw this season.

Despite the terrible play on the football field, Owen and I had a wonderful weekend in Iowa City. We enjoyed the unseasonably warm autumn weather to hit the playgrounds and explore the neighborhood. We even got to have some fun opening and closing the screen door for the puppies on his Grandpy and Grammie's back porch on Saturday afternoon without a coat.

The other highlight of the weekend was some good times at the play area in the Coral Ridge Mall. Owen loves it there with its squishy equipment and floor. He plays himself to exhaustion and is always ready for a good nap on the drive home.

This weekend his best moment was in support of another little boy there whose dad was too cool for school when it came to playground time with his son, or just spending any time with his son, for that matter. Left to "tough it out" when his dad didn't want to bother, the little boy who was no bigger than Owen laid on the floor and cried. Owen happened to be running past at that moment, laid down with him and said "Hi. What's your name? I'm Owen," as he had been doing with every adult in the play area. The little boy stopped sniffling and got up. Owen smiled, jumped to his feet, then proceeded to work the room a little more. He met a nice mom who was impressed with all his language skills, and a nice fellow from my parents' hometown, Oswego, studying for his masters in economics, who had brought his homework with him out to a table in the mall.

Meanwhile, back in Normal what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend for Owen's mommy turned into a fight to the finish with a nasty cough, cold, and sore throat that persists to this day. Without being able to turn to antibiotics for help, Amy has been doing her best to whip this bug with tea, rest, Tylenol, and lozenges. It hasn't been easy. Fortunately, Thanksgiving week meant there was room at Owen's daycare for him to put in a whole day today ... and probably tomorrow as well. Wednesday we'll head up to Oswego for a Thanksgiving break.

Here are some additional pictures from the weekend, including two misguidedly optimistic football fans, as well as a shot of the excellent castle we built with his blocks tonight. He was very proud. Turrets, a gate, towers, and everything ...

Picking teams

What a fun night tonight! Great wrestling and teaching Owen how to be a "steamroller." Watching him enjoy an ear of corn on the cob. We also built a fort with sofa cushions, had a tremendously silly bath, raced mom by getting dressed after his bath before she could come upstairs, and singing songs while patting his back as he went to sleep.

All this in a little over three hours. I also managed to get this on tape. It's a favorite!

2.5

This is a picture of Owen at two and a half. He was in a sparkly mood for his half birthday today, feeling better after a week of yucks. He was in high energy, running some 20 laps around the main floor and working hard on building towers and riding his stuffed horse.

He absolutely charmed me tonight when I was putting him to bed. I had read him his books and turned out the lights.

"I need something," he said.

Owen can say this 30 times as part of his bedtime routine, but rarely tells you what he wants. But tonight, after he said it, he curled up into my shoulder as we rocked in the chair. Then he said, "I need a kiss." He reached up, wrapped his hand around the back of my head and brought me in for a kiss. It was so sweet!

We are still thrilled with the discovery that Owen will be big brother to a little girl. He got to share the news with his day care teacher, Kim, today, making the announcement that the kind of baby in mommy's tummy is a girl.

We're off for Iowa City tomorrow for the penultimate football weekend of the season. Go Hawks!

In closing, I'm attaching some pictures taken today (above), are some pictures from his half birthday last year and the year before. It's fun to see how far we've come.

I guess we won't call it Derek Jeter ...

The doctor's notes, not mine, tell you everything ...





















A very healthy baby sister for Owen!

It looks like it's time to look at the other half of the baby names book.