Power Bath

I think Owen would like his bathtime a lot better if he could take some milk in their with him.  He wimpers a lot while getting cleaned up, but not if he's sucking my finger. A new first: I rolled Owen onto his side to clean his back and he proceeded to pee pretty much straight into his own face.  Poor guy, good thing urine is sterile...one of these days I'll figure out how to manage his boy parts so we avoid accidents like that.  

Trouble Ahead

   

Owen's gotten pretty proficient at a few things -- eating, pooping, peeing right after the diaper is removed, holding someone's finger, wiggling enough to get out of his swaddle and sucking his fist.   In the semi-proficient category -- eye opening, burping, crying and grabbing inanimate objects.  So far he's really only grabbed onto 2 things despite his choice of lots of rattles, rings, balls etc - a GAP giftcard that daddy got at work and a telephone toy.  A sure sign of struggles in his adolescent years!!

Owen's Due Date: Today!

birth 3 wks
Just shows you - you never know what to expect! Instead of just arriving, Owen will celebrate 3 whole weeks tomorrow!  A snapshot of how far he's come!  Unless they've downsized pringles cans.  Matt devoured the one from the hospital instead of saving it for posterity (and future pictures) - no surprise there! 

Spittin' Image?

So people keep seeing Owen and saying "Ohhhh, he looks just like his dad!".  I won't really deny that their are some similarities, but don't all babies look about the same??  At least for now he has my eyes...but the doctor thinks he sees green/brown under the current blue so I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts.   In case you want to do more indepth comparison - here are baby pictures of both mom and dad - what do you think??  

Mom Dad

Important Life Lessons

Warning this video was recorded late at night (after rugrat mom retired).  If you are offended by adult belching do not watch! 

Chicken legs

Some people like chicken wings but we're now partial to chicken legs because that's what Owen has!  He's definitely put some meat on his tummy and even his head looks bigger but his legs are still, well, really scrwny.  Whitney was sure to document the chicken legs (see photo above). While we think they are cute, down the road we think the girls will appreciate if he beefs up those legs a little so we've got him on a strict regiment of squats.  Wish I had a video of this but you'll have to connect the pictures to imagine Owen in motion until I buy a camera with video capability.  He's really pretty strong once he gets his little feet planted underneath him.   

We Survived!!!

We made it through our first night without Gramma Graham (who has decided to be called Gigi) in the next room.  It wasn't easy, and no one had to be out the door at 7:30, but still we survived so we'll consider it a baby step towards being an independent family (of course Gigi, or anyone else willing to do middle of night feedings, is welcome to move back in at any time)!  [written Saturday but never posted]. We have now survived 2 more nights all by ourselves and Matt managed to get out the door for work this morning, but we had pizza for lunch & dinner on Saturday and fell behind on this blog.

  

Owen is opening his eyes more each day and wiggling a lot more but he's not doing pushups yet so no real milestones to report.  The highlights of the past few days have been visitors and more visitors.  On Thursday evening and again on Sunday - Grampa Bob, Aunt Whitney & Uncle Brian stopped on their way too and from visiting Tennessee for the disappointing Tenn vs. Florida game.  And they took Gigi with them to Tennessee (Gigi, Owen & Rugrat Mom shed a few tears, Rugrat Dad will surely shed some later when he realizes the quality and quantity of his meals will go way downhill!)  Whit & Bri were captivated by 

little Owen and reportedly both changed a few diapers and took over 100 pictures in a few short hours.  

The weekend was filled with visitors. Dan & Marni came to make sure they know what they've signed up for (they will have a little girl in January - or very late December if the tax gods smile on them).  Owen cuddled right up to Marni's baby bump - he must know he's got a friend in there!  Steva & Mike also took a little break from wedding planning to come meet little Owen. Steva works for Pringles so she hopefully appreciates the product placement in Owens early photos.   Next came Owen's first pint sized visitor - Adam & Katie visited with their son Jackson.  Jackson is only 9 months old but looks like a power forward next to our little

 shooting guard.  

Sunday our family was back in town for a few hours and everyone enjoyed a big turkey dinner.  Then we all took a trip to Graeters to celebrate Whitney's birthday with yummy ice cream.  Family shot, birthday gift 4 Whitney & thank you gift for Gigi!

To wrap up an already busy day Owen took his first hike in the park to get some fresh air and to give Sapphire much needed exercise.  He rode in his sling and slept the whole way even as we climbed through some tricky obstacles left over from last weeks storm. 

And there was light!!

Luckily, finally, the big white bucket truck found us about 3am last night.  While the first 2 candlelit feedings were sort of sweet, they definitely got old after a few days...as did hauling my big old pump around town to find a live outlet.   So we're happy its back.  I'm a little too tired to recap the last few days but I'll add some pictures of our highlights to this post and the ones below and share the big news...Owen has crossed into a new weight class - he weighed in at 5lb 1 oz today at the doctors - they are very pleased with his progress, not only does he look a little like Matt but turns out he can eat like his daddy too.  

L->R   Recent visitors:  Jon & Jess (Matt left Jon out of the pictures), Jill & Anthony (dog sitters extraordinaire),  Our First (or one of the first) Family Photos, Owen cuddles with Gramma and Owen has tummy time with daddy  (so mommy & gramma could get out of the house and go watch Jill & Anthony dance in the ballet! Nice Daddy.) 

Owen's First Black Out

We have to apologize for a gap in the blog. I've got lots of cute pics to add but one small problem...Cincinnati had huge windstorms yesterday and 90% of households had power knocked out and were we in the lucky 10%? No way! Our street has some huge trees down and branches and power lines everywhere. We've had no power since Sunday around 2pm and are still waiting. Some of our friends finally got power today so we're camping out with them until bedtime then we'll be lighting the candles again! Highlight of Day 8 (yesterday) was a visit from Aunt Jen & Uncle Jonah. They drove all the way from Knoxville to spend a few hours with Owen and he loved it. He got some great gifts (thanks! and enjoyed many minutes in the arms of both Jen & Jonah! We were planning to have nice dinner at our house but no power = no hot food and no football on tv so we took Owen out for his first visit to a sports bar/restaurant (luckily no smoking in Ohio anymore!) to fill the afternoon. In the evening the winds died down and we walked the neighborhood to survey the damage and pass the time.  Here's a picture of Owen with a huge uprooted tree in the yard of the neighbors who hosted the block party just 1 day earlier.   What a mess.   We were also lucky to find one friend - Marie (a follower of this blog) who amazingly was one of about 20 houses in a nearby neighborhood with power. She was our hero and let us bring over the baby and the pump and we got a few evening hours in electric light and a tv. We had a quiet and dark night, at least quiet from street noise, Owen decided to fill the silence from midnight to 4am being awake and testing his vocal cords! It's been a fun camping adventure with no power but we're ready for the big white bucket truck to find us ASAP! 

Owen's First Bath

Highlights of Day 7: Owen's first bath and his first block party.  The bath seemed necessary before showing his face at the neighborhood block party.  Although the camera didn't seem to catch the happy moments, Owen seemed to enjoy most of his bath until there was water poured on his head!  

We finally got the stroller adjusted correctly for little Owen and strolled him down to the block party, he's still a bit of a bore as he tends to sleep through all the socialization and even the big football plays.  But despite this little social hiccup of his, he's still admired by many everywhere we go.   

Owen's getting big and finally has a proper nursery!

Mom, dad & gramma have been working hard to feed Owen lots AND get the house in order AND finally pull together a proper nursery for Owen.   We have had success on all fronts and now mommy is ready for a nap...but not before letting our blog readers know all about it.   

Yesterday's highlight: Neighborhood walk #2.  We

 abandoned the stroller idea and tried transport option #2: the sling.  The ride was a little bouncy but Owen slept away and seemed to enjoy the fresh air. 

Todays highlights: A nurse from the hospital came for a 5 day checkup at home  and she weighed Owen (just after a feeding and before a poopy diaper so maybe that's a cheating a li

ttle) but he weighed in at 4lb12oz!!! That's great news even if he was carrying an ounce or so of extra milk as it usually takes babies 2 weeks to get back to their birth weight.  

Take a peek at Owen's Nursery - it's finally fit 

to be seen (but still waiting for some final touches!).  It's hard to get a small room on film...you'll just have to visit to see how cute it is!

Other developments in the last days:  

Owen's first nicknames:   Daddy called Owen "Poo Shooter" after an early morning diaper change that resulted in a need to clean the wall above the changing table. We hope that behavior won't continue and that nickname won't stick.   Gramma calls Owen "Scootchee" (spelling??) - she'll have to explain.  Mommy has not settle on her favorite little nickname but commonly uses "little O" or "monkey baby" for the faces he makes when he's waking up...and how he stretches his long arms around.  

One more picture - just because he's so cute. I call this one pea pod! 

 

Owen's Presents

We are so grateful for all the generous gifts we've received to help us with Owen's transition to the outside world.  We love them all and thanks to everyone who sent them...thank you notes will follow but for now please accept this public statement of appreciation.  We've gotten Owen to model a few of his gifts so here they are.   Owen with his giraffe from Great Grandparents LaFave!  He obviously loves him already.  He also got a similar one from Cindy...one for his room and one for the car!  Also Owen wanted to pose with the cake that was bigger than he is....thanks to Debbie & Brady for sending the sweet treat all the way from Costa Rica...Owen got some cookie with his milk!

Day 4 - Doctors, Ice Cream and Open Eyes

 Cuddling with Dad

 Presents for me?

Owen had a big day - 4 hours out of the house!   First stop: pediatricians office - he was off the growth charts (low end of course) but given a clean bill of health and they are sure he'll make his way onto the charts pretty soon.  He got his first shot and cried for only a few seconds! His parents and gramma were very proud.  He's kept his weight steady so we're feeding him well (most newborns lose weight for the first 4-5 days!)  He seemed pretty happy as we left the office so we decided to take him for his first lunch out at Arther's in Hyde Park and then got some Graeters Ice Cream.  He slept through most of it but seemed to enjoy the attention he got and even opened his eyes a few times.   We have had some questions about those little eyes - do they open?  what color are they?  the answers are occasionally - more as the days go by! and dark blue we think but underneath the doctor thought he saw a greenish/brownish (like his Dad's I guess!).  

Oh yeah and last night Owen had his first neighborhood walk - we got him all loaded up in the stroller and decided he was a little too small for that so we carried him and he got the neighbors admiring him!   

Enjoy the pictures!

   

I'm tired, come back later...