An announcement

Owen has something he would like to share ...

To answer your questions:
* Amy is at 12.5 weeks.
* The due date is at the end of March.
* Everyone is healthy.

Owen thinks it should be named either Lena or Tommy, thanks to characters in this book.

His Dad still likes the name Herky ... regardless of gender.

Horsey Horsey goes to town!

No Sunday nap again. Nana Aalberts got Owen right down for his nap on Saturday, but there was nothing doing today. I don't know if Nana just has the touch, or if Owen knows that resisting sleep when it's just Mom and Dad means he'll have some extra fun ...


Case in point, today when Owen didn't nap we drove the 65 miles to the Tanner Orchard, a wonderful place we'll be glad to take any of you to when you visit. There were horsey rides, goats in a treehouse, a tractor ride, miniature wooden trains, and pumpkins pumpkins everywhere! This one (see below) Owen thought was a "Very big carrot."

We had an excellent afternoon. Amy went through their store and bought us some fresh apple cider, a cherry pie, two varieties of squash, some honeycrisp apples ... and some fresh apple cider donuts so good I might be the next to be tried.

And it would be worth it.

We had a great weekend otherwise. My folks came down on Friday afternoon to hang out with Owen, celebrate Amy's birthday with her, and do a little sitting so we could go to opening night at the BCPA on Friday and to the I-Club viewing of the Iowa vs. Iowa State game on Saturday. We also had great fun at the parks and finding Owen some new pants.

Which brings up a funny story. We were at the store and the old jeans he was wearing (ones with snaps on the inseam for easy diaper changing) kept coming undone and revealing his legs and diaper. It's exactly the kind of nusiance we were trying to solve on this shopping trip. This gets to the funny part ... No doubt a testament to how much he reads, I went over to snap up the crotch of the jeans and said to him, "Do you want Dad to snap up your pants?" to which he said "Yes, Daddy, snap up my pants, whispered Owen."

Happy birthday to Owen's mommy! More pictures from the week follow of Owen and Amy after the first horsey ride, Owen on his tractor ride (he's in the orange shirt the second car from the end), and a different kind of tractor ride with dad.

Daddy, go another-again

Great weather, lots of fun activities, but very little sleep: summer ended with a

bang this weekend.

My folks were in town through Saturday. We went to the Discovery Museum with Owen on Friday afternoon, and to a favorite park on Saturday morning. He had so much fun he didn't want to nap ... so the fun continued, albeit with a little more saggy-eyed fatigue. The zoo was excellent on Saturday afternoon. Owen left us in the dust when he saw the carousel near the entrance. We rode it on our way in and again on our way out. In the middle, there was great fun with the sea lions, sun bears, and tigers.

Oh my.

Sunday was a little more predictable. We went to another park in the morning and after a "let's take him on a drive" nap, he was refreshed for a trip to the pool. Owen and I had been to the Fairview pool several times, but we'd never gone as a family (the pool we typically go to closed several weeks ago as summer wound down), so we'd never really had a chance to check out their two water slides. Amy indulged my water slide fancy by sitting with Owen, who seemed quite delighted to see his dad zip down the slide and into the pool at the end. "Go another-again, Daddy!" he would say.

On Monday, after going to the Labor Day parade downtown in the morning (his first experience at having significant amounts of candy thrown at him), Owen wasn't napping again (coincidence?), so I took him back to the pool. After playing in the wading pool for a while, Owen pointed at the slides. "Go another-again, Daddy."

Without Amy there, we went over to the slides and watched other people ride. After a while, though, I noticed some parents coming off the "slow" slide with their children in arms. I hadn't seen anyone do this the day before, so I went over and took a closer look at the rules. Indeed, you could ride down this one slide with a child under 48" tall.

"Do you want to go, Owen?"

Mmmm hmmm!

The lines were long since this was the last day the pool was open for the summer, but we rode the slide three times. It was the highlight of the day for both of us. Owen giggled and was adamant about going again and again. It broke my heart that we were going to have to wait until next summer to go again, but the sun was strong and he, go figure, was looking tired.

So we went home. But the experience left a lasting impression. As I was getting him into bed on Monday night he said "I rode all the way down the slide, Daddy. I rode all the way down the slide."

The changing of the guard

It's nothing like the winged Hawkeye uniforms or the Bulls going all-green to out St. Patrick the Celtics last year, but there was nonetheless a certain sense of elation when we were able to put the old Iowa T-shirt to rest this weekend.

Barely a week has gone by this summer without Owen wearing his yellow Hawkeye shirt. The collar is stretched out and there's a could-only-be-covered-by-a-dickie ring of grime.

As you can see, his new Iowa shirt brought great smiles. It features a be-shaded Snoopy and Woodstock, perfect for our sunglasses loving son.



Iowa gear also figures into one of my favorite memories of the week. We received our new Iowa Hawk Shop catalog in the mail early last week. Owen wanted to look at it during dinner the next night, so I gave it to him. He pointed at the picture at the top right (see insert picture here) of the catalog and said "He is rooting for the Hawkeyes."

We had a nice weekend celebrating Grammie Ives and Auntie Pam's birthdays in Iowa City. Owen and I spent some good time at the playground downtown, where we met new Iowa basketball coach Todd Lickliter on his way to get a paper Saturday, then had some fun with friends Jeff and Melissa and their daughter Olivia on Sunday. And, of course, Owen had a great time chasing the cat and playing with the dogs at Grammie and Grampie's.

It's raining again!

The past few days have included lots of indoors time, as the long-needed rain is finally here. While trips to the tub instead of the pool have been fun, it seems a pity to not be outdoors.


Owen and I spent two hours at the Children's Discovery Museum on Saturday morning. He was so tired it threw off his nap, so it wasn't until 2:40 that he finally fell asleep in the back seat of the car. He was rejuvenated when he woke up, though. He "played" some football with the neighbor boy and a school friend who was visiting. The best part was when A.J., who was full of color commentary (as most eight-year-olds are when they're playing football in the backyard) of last-second plays and tremendous touchdown runs, stopped to punt the football. As he was lining up his kick, Owen walked over and hugged him about the waist. A.J. thought this was quite silly.


No penalties were called on the play.


Aunt Pam came to sit for Owen on Saturday night and Amy and I finally got out to see the new Harry Potter film. On Sunday we cleaned our section of the Constitution Trail, then had a quiet day at home. Owen wasn't feeling good. A trip to the doctor on Monday confirmed that he still has some liquid in the back of his right ear, so we're back on the antibiotics for another 10 days to get him back on an even keel. Dr. Rosa was delighted by his appearance otherwise. He weighed in at 36 lbs., a major increase from his pre-celiac-diagnosis 28 lbs., just six months ago.


Perhaps he'll find some more gluten-free goodies when we're in Iowa City this weekend to celebrate birthdays for Grammie and Auntie Pam.

I see by your outfit ...

It's hard to look at Owen in his fireman outfit and not think about the Smothers Brothers brilliant rendition of The Streets of Laredo. I couldn't find a performance of the original anywhere online, but this will give those of you who are not in the know an idea.

You're going to love these videos.





We had a wonderful weekend celebrating our seventh anniversary. While no desk sets exchanged hands, we did have a fun time in Chicago. Owen spent the weekend with his grandpa and nana Aalberts, and Amy and I went downtown to see "Wicked," eat a nice dinner out, shop, and stay in a hotel with no reason to wake up early in the morning. We missed our little Owen, but had a great time.

Summer is fading fast, so we must make the most out of every pool visit and Popsicle on the front stoop until Labor Day ushers in the start of autumn. Owen has been a good helper watering our parched lawn (not surprising given his firefighter training). And he's enjoying being back in his room, following last week's painting and carpet cleaning.

Now on Home Video

We got the new video camera in April, but it wasn't until last week that I installed the software and transferred the videos from the camera to the computer where their value really skyrockets. You know it's only a matter of time until one of these becomes a YouTube greatest hit.

Before we get to the videos, a quick update. Owen is feeling much better. We're still doing the nebulizer treatments to make sure his lungs are free of all of the gunk that was in them last week. We had a fun weekend with Grandpy and Grammie Ives, though. We had some fun at the park while his grandparents got Auntie Pam set up in her new Bloomington rental. Owen and Amy showed Grammie the section of the Constitution Trail we've adopted to clean, we went to a party with all of the kids and parents from his daycare, and on Sunday we painted his bedroom, which looks excellent!

Segueing into the videos, the first selection is the fourth movie I ever shot on the new camera, and in some ways still my personal favorite.



Video #2 is timely. Auntie Pam has now moved out of our house, so it's fun to remember the day that she arrived in the big truck. What fun!



Lastly, a song by Owen and his mom. The show choir choreography genes have clearly found their home in a new generation.



More soon.