Arctic Blast 2008

We're a little behind in posting... but thought it mucho importante to document the now past, big snow event of the winter (as of yet). For those of you that were not in the midst of it yourselves (especially those of you who are enjoying their summer right now!), here are some photos.





Luckily, Auntie Em and Uncle D brought Owen a sled... he quite happily sat on it and let Mama pull him around in the deep, deep snow. It was pretty much the only good (safe) mode of transportation.

Waiting for Santa....

We've been regularly checking the progress of Santa throughout the day today...

Tonight we will be traveling over the river and through the woods to Nonna's house, then home to get nestled into our pajamas and have a hot cup of cocoa....

The Dude's stocking is hung with care, and the tree lit and twinkling...

Merry Christmas to all! And to all a good night!

Choo Choo!

The Dude inherited the coveted Brio train set from Cousin T and Nic Nic recently. Just in time for Papa to set it up around the base of our (very) little Christmas tree... much to the delight of Owen and Cousin "No-Rrah".

Snow Day(s)

Mama can't remember the last time that Stumptown has seen so much snow. For days now it has been coming and going, falling then melting, piling up and blowing around. The forecast shows the flakes hanging around for the next few days... white Christmas? Who knows.

We've been trying to take advantage of being without wheels (Papa has been taking the AWD to get to work) by suiting up and venturing out to the store, but it's pretty cold out there, so we usually only make it to the end of the block.

The Dude has been loving it. He loves to wake up in the morning and look out the window to see if it's still there. He loves gearing up with his "Ya-ket" (jacket) and his "Boooots!" and going "OUT!!".



The fluffy flakes we had yesterday were almost as big as his hands, and he liked to look up at them falling down...



Until...





We tromp up and down the street, visiting all the festive decorations that the neighbors have in their yards. He especially loves the big blow-up snow globes (yes, we have more than one on our street). But he's also very fond of these snowmen... they have "HAT(s)!".



The snow continues to fall today and should throughout the afternoon. We will venture out into it at some point, we're quite sure.

Videos Galore!

For all of you that have been pining to hear The Dude speak...
This is his favorite book at the moment (we got it from cousin "Nic Nic"). It has all these little flaps that reveal different animals. He looks at this book at least 4 times a day. It's really cool.



And here he demonstrates our favorite depiction of the beloved sheep....

13 Months

Here are some photos to mark the 13th month. It feels like this has been a pretty monumentous month as far as development, but we'll get to that later.

For now, feast your eyes on our budding boy.

New Shoes

The Dude's shoe collection is growing. Like Papa, he loves shoes. We got these at one of those blow-out, warehouse liquidation sales. Best $15 we've spent in a while.
Just look how happy he is...

No Photos

Well, it seems a little odd that in this house the shutter has not been clicking like mad. We've been taking some time off... we've decided to live in the moment, and not see Owen's life from behind the camera, but instead in real time.

(Actually - that's all a bunch of B.S. We just haven't been lugging the camera all around with us everywhere we go. But we had you going for a second, eh?)

We do have some new video to upload, but we'll get to that later....

In the last couple of weeks we've been up to all kinds of mayhem. We've been to the local community center for indoor play-park (it has been raining cats and dogs here lately) and a music class, been making it to the library for story time, and of course all the boring errands and running around that we tend to do.

But as usual, The Dude takes it all in stride. He flirts with the cashier, he laughs when he hears someone in the room laugh (regardless if they are laughing at or near him), he is patient when kids take his toys from him, and he is calm when the Obnoxious Kid grabs and squeezes his face. The Dude abides.

He brings us his favorite books and we read them over and over and over. He can tell us what the chicken, rooster, cow, sheep and monkey say (proof coming soon!). And his vocabulary is ever expanding. Just this week he's begun to do what we ask... Like "Owen, can you please close that cabinet door?" or "Can you help us feed Penny?" (he'll go into the cabinet where her food is and pull out the bin of food). It's a sure indication that he understands what we are saying. Pretty cool.

Sleep? Well, without jinxing ourselves, let's just say that it's going pretty good. Night sleep is great, but napping is a different story. He's got an internal clock that goes off after exactly 20 minutes of snoozing.... exactly. Every time. It's weird.

Stay tuned for videos!

Play Structure Love

This was this first time that we exposed Owen to a bona fide play structure since he's been upright on two feet. Now that he's becoming more confident in walking around, we're sure that we will be making regular trips to the local school, but this was the first time that he's been plunked into the middle of a big, bright, bustling mess of kids. He LOVED it.

At first he just stood there and stared at all the little people, then a big smile crossed his face and he was off.

We think he's hooked...

Happy Halloween!

We've had The Dude's costume in the closet for months and were very eager to try it on him. We thought it was the perfect thing... so cute.

Wouldn't you know, he HATED it.



It just goes to show you that what the parent thinks is the coolest thing, inevitably is not. This will go down in history as the "stupid chicken costume of 2008".

However, it was much more amusing on Papa...



And downright HILARIOUS on Penny...



But Papa won the "Best Costume" award in our house this year, even though we're not quite sure what he was...



Hope everyone had a good Halloween as well, filled with as many tricks and treats!

Ring Around The Penny

The Dude is walking really well these days. It's a little strange to suddenly see your once non-mobile child get up and start cruising all around the house. The last week and a half have been full of walking adventures... we go from room to room, up and down the sidewalk, to Nora's house, and just yesterday we went all around the public library. Sometimes he still requires a finger, but we think it's just for moral support.

Here he is trucking around the kitchen... this was yesterday. He's picking up speed.

Fall Time is Apple Time

A photo montage of our recent trip to an apple farm.... Needless to say, our eyes were bigger than our buckets and we ended up with over 100 lbs of delicious, crisp apples. We are still elbow deep, but as you will see, The Dude couldn't be happier.

First Steps

Sometime in the last couple of days, The Dude figured it out. He's been cruising all around the house with either a push-toy, the wall, or our finger for a while now... and he's also been standing up unassisted in the middle of the room for about a week or so.

The morning of his birthday party (the 12th) we were sitting in the living room, playing on the floor and we held out a ball (his favorite object in the world) for him and he took about three steps towards us. He then did it again DURING the party, and we were so glad to have witnesses, and everyone was cheering him on, which he loved.

But after everyone had gone, he really started to put things together. He was playing with one of his push-toys, and like usual he was pushing it all over the house with one hand. But this time, you could tell that he was really processing how to move his feet. He moved forward, and sideways, and BACKWARD. The drool was pouring down his chest and his breathing was heavy... he was concentrating sooo hard. He never let go of the push-toy, but you could tell that he was preparing for something much bigger.

Then he decided to try the solo thing again, but this time he decided that it would be much more fun to do it while carrying something...



He gains confidence everyday. We'll keep you posted, but we're convinced that by the end of the week he'll be running. Oy vey!

The Party

The Family converged on our house on a Sunday afternoon to celebrate the First Annual Birthday Extravaganza for The Dude. He was in particularly rare form that day - before the guests arrived he took his very first steps towards us in the living room. "Uh oh.", we said. And despite all the commotion of the kids, and the guests, and the presents, and the singing... he took even more independent steps, and this time we had witnesses! But more on that later....

Let's get to the good stuff! The Dude was definitely showered with awesome gifts for his birthday. From a super cool Radio Flyer tricycle to the best top on earth, he made out like a bandit.





So then came The Big Moment. We set him in his chair, put the cupcake in front of him with the HUGE candle, and everyone started to sing. He stared at us all, and stared at the candle... he wasn't too sure what it was...



...and being the curious monkey he is, he reached out to investigate... OUCH! We didn't blow it out in time! The poor little guy stuck his finger right in the flame!! Bad Mama and Papa! We burned our poor child on his first birthday... good grief.

Of course, he forgot about the whole traumatic experience in about 2 seconds and went on playing as usual - but he was done with the cake thing and we weren't able to get the whole photo montage of the messy cake experience. It just goes to show you that you can't "will" things to happen... you just have to show up.

Thanks to all that attended - it was a great party. And for those of you that couldn't make it, you were there in spirit and hopefully this says it all....

Happy Birthday!

Precisely one year ago, The Dude entered the world without a cry. We've replayed the events in our heads and now sit in disbelief that a whole year has gone by.

Owen, you continue to amaze us. You make us laugh, melt, and fall in love with you every day. Your determination and independence worry us at times, but we are so proud of the little person that you are becoming. This next year will bring a lot of changes for all three of us, and we are ready.
We love you, Dude.

Back Log of Photos

Hey Gang,
We have been having some issues with our computer as of late... namely our hard-drive which has ALL of our precious photos stored in one place (no, we do not have a back-up. EEEEK!). So when scrolling thru the photos on the camera, we realized that there are some really awesome pictures that we have yet to share.

Here you go, Dude fans... this will wet your whistle as we count down the days to the Numero Uno Birthday Extravaganza!

Recycle Dude

We all try to do our part in saving the environment, and The Dude is no exception.
He was so proud of himself, examining each item very closely as he removed them from the bin.
Paper...plastic...magazines...junk mail was his favorite.

Forgot to mention...

Oh! We forgot to mention that The Dude is now feeding himself with a spoon!
Forgive us for the poor quality of the video, it was taken with a cell phone. But it was the closest thing to us as he discovered how to maneuver the spoon...

Lost Lake

It didn't seem so lost to us...But you wouldn't have thought that given the road we took to get there! Thank goodness for the new Subaru! Go AWD!! (We took a goat trail of a road over the mountain that was mostly one lane and gravel... talk about amazing views!)

Once we emerged from the forest, the beautiful Lost Lake was before us. The Dude had been there before, but it was while he was still inside, about a month before he was born.

THIS time, he could enjoy all that the place had to offer - his four favorite things:

-Family (Nonna, Auntie A, Uncle S, Nora, Poppy and Gram-Manda were all in attendance)
-Dirt
-WATER!
-Rocks


We had a great day of playing in the water, snacking, and taking turns in the canoe with Captain Papa.


Before we know it, these two will be heading out on their own....

Another one down...

It seems to us, each time we post we mention something about how quickly the time goes by.... so we will spare you. But HOLY COW, does time sure fly!

The Dude is now 11 months old. According to the shipping computer at Papa's work, he is around 18.5 lbs, standing like a pro (sometimes unassisted!), eating like a horse, constantly babbling, imitating words and sounds like crazy (not always getting the right sounds, but definitely nailing the syllables), and definitely going thru a "Mama Phase".

No sure signs of walking soon, though when lead by the fingers of the lovely Gram-Manda he struts his legs like a toy soldier. He's getting the idea, and trust us - we are in no kind of hurry.

"Sleep" is still a four letter word in our house, but some nights are better than others. Chalk it up to developmental beasties, teething or separation anxiety... who knows - but we've given up obsessing about it and given in to the fact that will probably never go back to our pre-baby, well rested look. *sigh*

But the payoffs are HUGE. We have a happy, goofy, active little guy who is the light of our universe. And when he plants a sloppy, wet kiss on you, you can't help but forget about how tired you are.

Let the preparations for The Great First Birthday Extravaganza begin!

To the desert...

Owen and Mama went on their first solo adventure, over the mountain and into the sagebrush. For one week we would stay with good friends, relax, sort through baby gear (our mission was to help them prepare for their upcoming stork delivery), play with their 3 dogs, soak up the dry heat and swim. A vacation away from the everyday of our every day.

Pretty brave of our friends to have a 10 month old let loose on their home and their dogs... it was sort of a "research trip" for them, to see what they needed to babyproof and how the older kids (aka Timba, Remy and Pete) would do with a small, less hairy sibling.

The Dude lost his dude-ness temporarily... he had a hard time with the dogs at first. They were a little bit scary. First, they are bigger dogs than his Penny - secondly, there are more of them - and lastly, one of them jumps! High! Remy is known for jumping up to five feet (or more) into the air when she is excited. This was the first site that Owen got of her. We were all walking towards the door and this brown, pitbull of a pogo stick was jumping to see us thru the glass. It totally freaked him out... Mama wasn't expecting that!

After a couple of days, they all started to get used to each other. The dogs learned that the kid drops food under the high chair, and the kid learned that the dogs just wanted to lick him and clean his face. They then became fast friends...


(The third dog, Remy is not in the picture because she was assuming her position directly under the highchair - where she was all week, waiting for a Cheerio to drop)

We helped clean, sort, assemble and organize all the piles and piles of gear, clothes, clothes and more clothes that were piled in their living room. They quickly became aware that having a baby requires a lot of "stuff". Amen.

The Dude broke in the new, white, organic cotton travel crib (much to mama's dismay) after we discovered that he had outgrown our own that we brought. Luckily, he didn't sleep in it too much so there wasn't much threat of messing it up... Yeah, you guessed it - he didn't sleep much at all that week.

Did the lack of sleep keep The Dude down?



On our last full day, we headed down to the park to feed the ducks and sun our bellies. The ducks were very interested in Owen's toes...more so than the bread we brought.



Despite the lack of sleep, the onset of the "Mommy Phase", the constant monitoring of the dog's water bowls, and the testing of her patience, Mama had a good time too.

How could she not?

10 Months Old

Since we didn't have a doctor's appointment this month, the weight and height stats are an unknown at this point. He definitely feels heavier to us - so perhaps the advice we've taken from the doctor is working.

The Dude is more mobile than ever. He pulls himself to his feet whenever, however. And like the photo below, he often times will balance himself to stand on his own...


He crawls with lightening speed (especially towards that doggie door) and can get to something that he wants in nano seconds... which almost always happens to be something he shouldn't have - like power cords and the stereo.

The latest mobility development is doing a sort of bear walk when we put him in the grass...



He's added actual words to his constant ramblings - well, what we consider to be words anyways. He says:

-ball (bah)
-bye
-more (muh)
-Ma Ma (which may also mean "more", he only says it at eating time)
-book (buk)

He LOVES any kind of ball-like object ("Bah!"), being chased by mamma and papa then tickled endlessly, animals (he points at them and says "Oooooooh!"), eating and any thing that is on the floor, the tinier the better, that he can put into his mouth.

Oh, and he also LOVES the vacuum cleaner. We mean L-O-V-E-S. As soon as we pull it out of it's "house" he starts to point at it and say "Oooooh!" very excitedly...

All the toys in the house, and his favorite thing is the Bissel.
Go figure.

Catching Up

Holy Crow! We can't believe that nearly a month has passed since our last post..... the time is whizzing by (Can you believe that it's almost Labor Day?!)

So pardon us while we catch up a bit and batch post, if you will. We'll make it worth your time - we promise.

Uh Oh....

We were wondering how long it would take him to figure it out.

One of his favorite things to do is to sit at the sliding glass door and watch Penny run around on the back deck and go in and out of her dog door.

Little did we know he was planning his escape...





Victory!

Camping Trip #1

Last weekend we felt adventurous. "Let's go camping!", we happily exclaimed.... Poor Goldie (Poppy's camper van) has been waiting and waiting for us to say those words.

So we loaded her up with all the "life support systems" and headed towards the mountain, not exactly sure of our final destination - and that was ok with us. We settled on a mountain lake, and then finally on one of the 4 campgrounds, and lastly on the perfect spot.

Our view was breathtaking-



But the look on The Dude's face was priceless -



The urge to crawl around and eat dirt and rocks got the better of him, and we let him get a little taste here and there, but we kept him pretty clean for the most part. Luckily we had Goldie as a place to land, crawl around, escape from the MAMMOTH mosquitoes and make a damn good cup of coffee.

Owen even had his own captain seat -



As the first inaugural camping trip for The Dude, we didn't do too bad... things could have been a lot worse. Next time we will know more of what to do and what not to do - for instance, spend two nights instead of one - and we will try to get more sleep.

Well, some of us anyway -