Father's Day 2008

Since Scott was gone last week, we celebrated Father's Day a little late. Saturday ended up being a jam packed day - we went out to breakfast, attended Scott's company picnic at the park, and grabbed an early dinner at the Bite of Bend. There is nobody who can light up Owen's face like his dad can, and there's nobody else I can imagine sharing this parenting journey with.

We love you, Scott!

Taking in the sites at the park.

Already taking after dad - our little climber in training.

Pure Bliss

When you are 11 months old, it apparently does not get any better than this...

Smith Rock two weeks ago

Sitting in the dirt
Eating Rocks
Trading licks with a puppy

Soloing

Scott is out of town for a few days, so I'm "soloing" with Owen. I cannot imagine how single parents do this without near constant family support. On the other hand, this has been a great opportunity to see how far I have come in my parenting journey.

Last fall, Scott was considering a weekend trip up to Seattle and I was completely overwhelmed at the thought of spending one or two nights by myself with Owen. Though we miss him this week, it feels great to know that we are doing just fine over these few solo days. Owen and I have a routine and he now knows what to expect as he moves about the day. I think he's also old enough to trust that I'm going to take care of him - meals will come, naps will occur, and fun times will ensue - no need to panic and freak out. (Though he still does on a regular basis if I do something crazy, like gasp!) leave the room to grab a pair of shoes or use the bathroom.) We had a fun weekend going to the pool, playing at the park, taking the dog for walks, and running random errands.

These last few days, I've found myself watching Owen. Just sitting and observing him at play and realizing how quickly he is growing up. Yes, it's totally cliche, but I wouldn't be a good parent if I didn't have moments to realize it on my own. All those "baby baby" moments are done and there will be no more snuggling and swaddling a little one that is just going with the flow. Owen is now aware and engaged in, well, everything!

One of the little things I realized is that Owen has moved from a good sleeper to a good napper. Yes, there is a distinction. We used to go through a nap or bedtime routine to lull Owen to sleep and then rejoice knowing he would stay asleep for a good while. Now, I can tell Owen that it's nap time, take him upstairs, give him his binky and blanket, and set him in the crib. Then...he puts himself to sleep! He also wakes up at the end of naps and spends quiet time chilling in his crib. A small, but significant milestone as it results in much less screaming. Hooray!

I love sleeping baby pictures!




Of course, the sleeping baby is harder to catch this day. This was a particularly sleepy morning when I opened the windows in Owen's room and had time to run and get the camera and snag a few shots before Owen woke up.

Let's hope all this talk of sleep doesn't curse me to a night of wakefulness. =)

Two boys

New skills exhibited around our house lately:
- learning how to walk behind his activity cart
- figuring out how to crawl up a short set of steps
- taking 3-4 steps at a time to walk between mom and dad

One of Owen's friends at daycare started really walking this week. Kaden is the little boy that Owen loves to follow around all day , so I'm sure it won't be long before we're seeing real toddling ourselves. A couple great Owen/Kaden stories:
- The boys are only 6 days apart in age.
- I met Kaden and his mom, Tracy, at a mom's group when Owen was only 5 weeks old, so it's pretty great that we ended up at the same daycare.
- When I dropped Owen off this morning, he saw Kaden and got the biggest smile on his face. Unfortunatley, Kaden is going through some separation anxiety, so being dropped off is not high on his list. We walked in the door this morning with Owen grinning and practically diving out of my arms to tackle Kaden, and Kaden returning the excitement with a "leave me alone" scowl. Pretty funny.
- Owen bit his first kid at daycare, and it was... Kaden! Of course, Kaden was trying to do the nice thing and "sharing" his crackers with Owen, and Owen did what any 10 month old does, and chomped down on the crackers... and Kaden's finger. Oops. Thankfully Tracy was cool with it and we were able to laugh together the next morning.
I wish I had a picture of the two of them together. I'll have to get one in the next month or so.

We got a request to post a video for Aunt Kate before she heads to the DR for the summer, so here's Owen showing off one of those new skills. Like any active boy, I think his favorite part is running over the blocks and crashing into the furniture. We wanted to post a video



We get a kick out of helping him practice walking after Scott gets home from work. He love trying to walk between the two of us. Of course, right now, it's "step, step, step, dive!" He's so trusting that we will catch him when he pitches forward and not let him pound his jaw into the floor (though that's happened a few times...). I just keep thinking that we should enjoy and embrace that faith he has in us. I'm sure it won't always be that way, but we'll try to always do the things that will reinforce that trust. We're here for you Owen!