Wasson Rugrats: The Early Adventures of Owen and Keira

Snow Day

2010-01-24T11:59:00.006-05:00

So far behind...let's just say we're all still having fun and here is a video to enjoy!

And we finally made the effort to take a few family shots in the park...

October In Review

2009-11-16T21:54:00.004-05:00

Owen spent most of October perfecting his walking and fighting some nasty germs. Luckily no flu but he's done the stomach bug thing, the yeast diaper rash (TMI?) and finally some pneumonia. A week away from daycare under Gigi's wing (and some antibiotics & breathing treatments) seem to have done the trick and Owen is pretty heathy these days and just a blast - but I'll cover that in my November post. Back to October. Started out with a week alone with Dada while Mommy was working in Europe...they had a blast, watched lots of football and even had a sick day together at home. Then it was a few weeks of walking, then walking faster, falling harder, giggling more and getting back up to try again. And he continues to love balls (or anything that he can throw) and has a pretty good arm. We had a fun time taking some fall pictures as we got some nice mild days at the end of the month. Owen seemed to enjoy Halloween - he was a tiger at daycare and a monkey for the neighborhood parade. Unfortunately he was pretty sick on Halloween so he did no trick-or-treating, ate no candy and still puked all over the couch that night (November's update will talk about the 2 weeks I spent trying to get the puke smell out of the couch cushions - I think we'll go for leather next time!) Ok now what you all came here for- pics & videos!

and tilt your head for this one...

September - A big month for Owen

2009-09-22T22:21:00.000-04:00

Rugrat mom is a total blog slacker - sorry if anyone is still reading. I've had to (temporarily?) return to my world traveling ways for work. Still love the travel but definitely miss the little Owen when I'm away. Matt too but he doesn't grow much when I'm gone! Just back from a 10 day trip to Japan and head off for a week in Europe next week so I'll have to cover one month in one post!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY little O!!! He made it - we made it- we all survived the first year and they say that one is the hardest right??? Luckily little guy had 2 parties, got lots of great gifts and wasn't a big fan of birthday hats or cake but loved birthday balloons and being pushed in his new swing.

Other notables in September. He finally learned how to pronounce M sounds. Mama is now spoken after months of Daaaadaadeeeda - still not sure he knows who Mama is but we're getting there. Owen was dedicated at our church on September 12. They had a very nice service for all the babies. What a great gift from God he is!

Owen stopped hitting any babies that came near so he was actually allowed to sit with his little cousin Marrett.

He learned to give dirty looks when we tell him its time to get out of the bath

He learned to relax (for a few seconds at least) in his recliner. Now he's ready to watch some football with DaDa! He was home sick one day from daycare and got to watch sesame st. for the first time. He loves to do the wiggle dance to any music. I'll have to get video of that soon.

And finally the other BIG NEWS - See what Owen did for the first time tonight (you'll have to turn your head!)

Until next month...rugrat mom, signing out!

more fun with cousin Marrett

2009-08-10T19:56:00.001-04:00

She's getting so big! 6 weeks already. Owen showed more interest in her this time...unfortunately he likes to slap things he's interested in. He's not trying to hurt anybody but we need to figure out how to teach gentle touches!

Owen continued to prove that he loves water and has no fear! Just to prove he made it in a full flip see his post dive hairstyle!

Hey Mom, I found something really cool

2009-08-02T22:56:00.000-04:00

I call it a mini water play park right in the house (Mom calls it doggie water - ewww!)

But when the work is done, I get to have fun!

2009-08-02T22:34:00.001-04:00

I learned this from the seal at the zoo...

Life is so hard...gotta work to making a living.

2009-08-02T22:30:00.001-04:00

What a big boy!!

2009-07-27T21:41:00.000-04:00

Daddy's Day Delayed

2009-07-27T20:24:00.000-04:00

Well we didn't actually delay the day but delayed a post about it. I'll let Owen tell this one. On father's day I woke Daddy up extra early (that's why he doesn't look so hot in those pictures!) to give him lots of kisses and hugs. I was so excited about my first day as a son on Father's Day that I just couldn't wait to give him his gifts. I used my hand prints to make him a card with mommy and my footprints to make a card for him at daycare. You could say that I put all of me into making those cards!! I also gave him a book about sports to read to me - it has cool pictures that move when you turn the page (my favorite page is the girl playing soccer but I won't tell if its because I really like soccer or the girl is cute!) I also gave Daddy a gift certificate to go wakeboard at the new wake park in Cincinnati he was very happy about that. But then a big "uh-oh' happened. Daddy hurt his knee playing soccer (he didn't cry but I think if he did it would have made him feel better). Daddy says he will have to save his wakeboarding for the end of the summer.

Hey Mom, Look what I can do

2009-07-27T08:53:00.000-04:00

We've been baby proofing on demand. A whole new level will have to be added after what Owen showed us he could do today. All for a little plastic block :) Sorry you'll have to bend your head left....

Owen Has a Cousin

2009-07-07T21:34:00.000-04:00

Marrett Lacee Beckler arrived June 29th (over a week late) just in time for the big 4th of July Party! She's a very good baby and the new family is doing well (not that they've had a moment to themselves yet!) Jen was a brave new mom and brought her 5 day old to the Becklers lake house so we could all hang out with them over the 4th weekend (and also enjoy the lake!!). Thanks to all who contributed to the weekend of fun and good food. Owen was a little too small to hold Marrett so it was hard to get a picture of the 2 of them but Natalee (Marrett's cousin on the other side) is 4 and was a great baby holder and entertainer for both the young ones. Here are some pics from the weekend.

New Games

2009-06-24T19:11:00.000-04:00

Owen is so much fun these days. We can play games with him...and he can play games with himself. He LOVES his ball, much to Daddy's Delight! Here are some clips of his favorites...

this one is rock n roll (with a little surprise at the end)...he doesn't really like to eat the puffs so might as well play with them.

Game #2 was invented by Daddy. I call it Cheerio launcher and Owen REALLY LIKES IT!

And finally Owen's own little version of a ball game. Throw to self, chase, retrieve and repeat.

Owen's 9 month photo shoot

2009-06-20T17:25:00.000-04:00

i had trouble picking my favorites of these (or maybe I've had trouble finding time to pick my favorites since I spend my days chasing a very actively little boy all around the house). He withheld his rock star baby smile during this photo shoot but still let me get a few worth keeping :) Photography class starts Monday so maybe these posts will get better soon! We're still waiting for Owen's cousin Marrett to arrive (Jen's little girl - due any day now). Can't wait until we can post pictures of the two of them.

Owen's Big Backyard

2009-06-16T21:56:00.000-04:00

Well, at least it will seem big to him because he's a peanut. This post is not so Owen focused but he'll be the main beneficiary of this project. We decided our summer project was the backyard. We needed a place for our grill and to get rid of the weeks. And it just kept getting bigger. We ended up pouring (paying someone to pour) a stamped concrete patio about 300 square ft, then needing 8 cubic yards of topsoil to grade up to the patio and fill in all the holes made by our rototilling of the whole yard (to kill the weeds). All followed by 3 pallets of sod that was rolled out and cut to fit it perfectly :) It looks great - now all we have to do is not kill it! Here are some pictures. Owen likes it!

Owen's Friends

2009-06-12T08:20:00.003-04:00

Owen and Rachel sitting in a tree, oh wait sittin' in strollers

Owen was also hoping to play with his friend Spencer (Jon & Jess's newphew) but they ended up not being able to join so we gave him Spencer picture and he was pretty happy with the substitute. If you look closely you can see his 2 new teeth in the picture. He tries to hide them so he can sneak up on Mommy and bite her when she tries to feed him (that's also why we haven't been able to get a good picture of them)

Monkey Talk

2009-06-05T21:28:00.001-04:00

Owen meet Polka Dot

Parents in trouble

2009-06-05T20:15:00.000-04:00

Last Friday: Owen could/would scoot with proper enticement

This Friday: full on crawl, no enticement needed

Multi-tasking

2009-05-28T23:10:00.000-04:00

I couldn't resist putting one more video on here...I think he must be the most talented kid around!

Still kickin'

2009-05-28T22:27:00.000-04:00

I know I've been totally blog slackin'...that whole work thing, what a drag. But just in case anyone is still checking this, we're still here and doing pretty well. Owen is adjusting just fine to daycare and seems to really like all the other kids (he has also tolerated the constant cold that comes with having 8 infants in close proximity). Some highlights of the past months:

Owen has been come Mr. Wiggles - he HATES to sit still and is very very close to crawling but right now he dances, does push ups and scoots (I'll put together some video footage soon). I only get my cuddles from him when he's on the verge of sleep. Welcome to the world of little boys I've been told.

Owen went on his first business trip. Matt & I were both scheduled to travel the same days so I brought Owen to Orlando with me (Gigi met us down there to watch Owen while I worked). He liked our upgraded seat in first class as he could inspect every passenger on his way by.

Owen also had fun at JJ (his aunt Jen's) baby shower and he's anxiously awaiting the arrival of his little cousin, Marrett! While in Tennessee, Owen enjoyed hangin' out with Jen's niece Natalee and Polka Dot the monkey!

Owen's First Easter

2009-04-19T21:44:00.000-04:00

Owen's first Easter was full of fun...traveling to see lots of friends and family in West Virginia & Pennsylvania. He did great through the whole church service and enjoyed watching his 2nd cousins Ben & Cami hunt for easter eggs!

Giddy-Up with Grandma

2009-04-19T21:09:00.000-04:00

Owen Learns to Eat

2009-04-13T11:37:00.000-04:00

It's taken weeks and weeks but Owen is finally eating. He likes applesauce and sweet potatoes and tolerates cereal and green beans.

Scared? No its funny.

2009-04-13T09:25:00.000-04:00

For a second he wasn't so sure. Our friend Jon was reading his Old McDonald Book that has finger puppets (which make funny sounds when Jon reads the story). Owen's favorite was obviously the pig but the first oink always scared him for a second...until he remembered how funny it was! I'm barely finding time to post here let alone do any video editing so sorry you'll have to watch all 38 seconds of this one. And I could have kept recording for hours! But I'm the mom!

Cool Clothes

2009-03-26T22:36:00.000-04:00

Despite having to bend some shopping rules set by Rugrat dad, I decided that Owen was old enough to have his first pair of jeans and a cool t-shirt. Whole outfit under $10 so Rugrat Dad has forgiven us. Here's Owen's debut as a big boy, a cool boy!

6 month portrait

2009-03-19T15:06:00.000-04:00

We finally got one worth posting. Now I just need a smily one

O'wen says Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-19T11:43:00.000-04:00

Hard to resist a big Irish pub in walking distance...so we found a green onesie and took our little party animal to watch us drink a green beer or 2! He found another little Irish baby to flirt with (and made us feel better that we weren't the only crazy parents!) Our next door neighbors went with us and let O'wen pose with their beer!

Another new love

2009-03-19T11:40:00.001-04:00

One more step towards being a man!

Daddy's birthday

2009-03-10T22:30:00.000-04:00

Daddy is a lucky guy...he had more than a birthDAY...he had a birthWEEKEND! On friday night, mommy & I made daddy his favorite stuff for dinner - steak and mac'n'cheese. Mommy threw in some veggies too, to set a good example for me!

Then saturday we drove to Indiana (a new state for me-- check!) and we all went to watch Purdue beat Ohio State in Basketball. It was my first major sporting event and we even had to buy me a ticket (from a guy called a scalper!) I enjoyed the first half (except sometimes the fans loud cheering startled me) then took a good nap once the game seemed decided. Daddy taught me some sign language...a little arm move that means "boiler up!" (but I'll admit I don't really know what that means but its a good thing!). I got to wear all my Purdue gear to the games and everyone thought I was a cute baby boiler. After the game we stayed with Daddy's friends in Indianapolis and had birthday cake and I even got to ride their golden retriever! I had a great weekend...hopefully Daddy did too since it was his birthday!

Still haven't found time to edit my many minutes of video but this one is worth the 15 seconds even unedited. Owen's first interaction with a dog who actually likes kids vs. Sapphire's indifference.

Owen's new loves (and hates)

2009-03-10T22:22:00.000-04:00

As he grows bigger and more animated, we can tell more about what Owen loves and what he's not so fond of. His newest loves include...the exersaucer

doing whatever mommy's doing (like reading on the floor)

and here's a strange one...limes! Daddy did a Tequila shot at a friends birthday dinner and there was a leftover lime. I let Owen lick it hoping he would make the same ugly face that Daddy made after his shot but nope...he loved it and just kept licking it and pushing it into his little mouth.

And things he's not so fond of...or at least not a fan of yet....Rice cereal. We're on day 4 of "eating" it but mostly it just cakes his bibs and our table.

Amazing Handmade Gifts

2009-03-10T14:36:00.000-04:00

I never knew our friends were so talented. Owen has gotten some amazing amazing handmade gifts and he seems to know all the work that goes into them and prefers them over his other stuff. Grandma Lafave knitted Owen a beautiful blue blanket long before he was born and he's spent many newborn hours cuddled in it. Our friend Gwen made a beautiful large quilt with a transportation theme (planes, trains and automobiles) which is perfect to remind of our pre-kid jet setting lifestyle (which we're hoping we don't give up completely). The quilt already looks nice with the nursery colors and has found a home on the back of the couch for now - when we sit on that couch Owen is enamored with the quilt - he stares at it and seems to point at the graphics. Maybe he knows he already been on 10 airplane rides....who knows. See him studying his gift above and watch for this quilt to make a debut on Owen's big boy bed when that day comes! Thanks Gwen for all your hard work!

We also got a beautiful knit blanket that matches the nursery colors perfectly by my high school friend Kristi. It's the perfect size for Owen to cuddle up with right now and arrived just as the cold air arrived in Ohio. In the picture you'll see that Owen likes this blanket a lot because he can find a hole that is perfectly sized for his little hand to stick out! Thanks Kristi, We love it!! We also have a really cool handmade rocking horse made by Great Grampa LaFave just waiting in the basement until Owen can hold on tight! Giddy-up. We'll surely post pictures of that one later!

Vacation Post #1

2009-03-02T13:26:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I've been neglecting the blog again. And you poor readers are missing so much good Owen stuff. I'm on the 27 days until I go back to work countdown so sometime in there I'll try to do a blog blast and give lots of updates since I have no idea what will happen after d-day. I have hours of video just begging to be edited but its also getting warm out and Owen is enjoying outings like story hour etc so that's all taking priority over computer time - sorry! So back to vacation. We had a great trip to Costa Rica...the weather was amazing, our friends living in San Jose were happy to see us, the locals were friendly, the monkeys were playful etc etc. Owen is a water baby. He loved the ocean and the pool and had at least one splashing adventure every day. We also took him to the national park where we saw monkeys and sloths and lizards and he seemed to watch some of them and laugh. Gigi & Bapa went with us so all got lots of Owen time and the adults even took some opportunities to have adventures without him (Daddy took some more surf lessons then daddy-sat while the rest of us went ziplining thru the jungle!). Overall the first vacation was a big success so luckily we'll get to have another one sometime!

Look closely that's a monkey over Owen's shoulder.

Owen at the beach. He brought home just a little bit of sand!

The whole crew on the deck of our rented condo!

My First Superbowl

2009-02-01T22:33:00.000-05:00

People kept talking about this big game tonight (and it even took place in a city I have visited) so I decided to stay up and watch it. I donned my football fleecy jacket, grabbed a bottle of my favorite creamy beverage and settled in to watch the game. Some of the plays were a little too complicated for me so I did dozed off a few times. Daddy told me before he left that we are not normally Steelers fans but since we have zero connections to Arizona it would be ok for me to cheer for the Steelers since my grandad and some of my relatives are fans. Daddy reminded me that this exception was for this game only. One of the relatives gave me some Steeler socks that I wore on my hands so I could cheer them on - look close in the left picture. It was a very exciting game but I was glad the black and gold pulled out a victory. I did a few dances! First my touchdown dance (and yes that my Gigi watching the game in her jammies). She says she likes to actually watch the game too much to go to a party but I wonder if maybe she just didn't get invited to any parties.

Then there was my halftime dance. Gigi, Louie and I were dancing to someone called "the boss". I thought mommy was the boss so I'm a little confused but this boss could sing better than mommy.

I got a little bored by some of the talky-talky at halftime so I requested some in-house entertainment and boy did I get it. I couldn't help but giggle.

Kicking is kidstuff

2009-02-01T22:10:00.001-05:00

Owen is way past that - he's into juggling now. Mostly with his knees but surely the headballs will be next.

PS Rugrat Dad is far away and has requested videos and I'm far from editing software so there may be some rough cut, slightly boring footage posted here for the next few days. Bear with us!

Another snow picture

2009-01-30T20:17:00.001-05:00

Owen's Snow Day

2009-01-29T19:56:00.000-05:00

Since Daddy is working far away (in Maine and then Germany), Mommy and Owen are on a travel adventure of our own. We survived a solo trip to and thru the Boston Airport where our only incident was having to rest most of Owen on the security belt while I used the other hand to help prevent the car seat from getting stuck in the x-ray thing but we all made it through unscathed. Then we survived a layover at JFK and made our connection just fine (ie. we did not have to spend the night on the floor like Rugrat mom has had to do before) and arrived at Rochester just in time for a winter storm. 10" of snow in 12 hours turned this place into a winter wonderland. We had nothing to do so we just stayed inside and watched the swirling flakes by a flickering fire. Today the flakes were no longer falling and temps weren't too bad so we strapped on some snowshoes (me, not Owen) and the Bjorn and headed out to explore. After Owen went back in to the house to warm up with Gigi, I had some fun with the camera and the doggies, Lexie & Louie. Check out the bridge to (s)nowhere!

Owen's Aquatic Adventures

2009-01-29T17:53:00.000-05:00

Owen likes water, he loves to laugh while "swimming" in the bath.

So we figured he was ready for the pool. We found some swimmy diapers that were way too big (we cinched them to keep them up) and headed to the pool with Grampa Dougie and Grammy's gym in New Hampshire. Owen was less impressed with the cool water but he didn't scream so I think he'll be a water baby eventually. The ocean in Costa Rica is next...3 week countdown.

Flying, furry friend

2009-01-23T06:26:00.000-05:00

Nope not a new pet, an uninvited guest. After soccer last night Matt opened the front door took a few steps then quickly closed it again. He turned to me and said "There's a bat or a bird flying in there, do you want to wait in the car?" "And miss all the action? No way!" So I covered Owen (in his seat) with a blanket and we headed in. It took about 20 minutes to find our little friend hangin' out in the kitchen. Matt suited up for battle (I won't retell the story but he's done this before - at a friends house) and eventually got the little guy out the back door. We think he got in through a loose fireplace flue so hopefully he won't tell his little friends that we have good snacks or something! Never a dull moment

giggles

2009-01-23T06:15:00.000-05:00

I didn't have time for fancy editing but still thought you'd enjoy this one!

Christmas in West Virginia

2009-01-21T14:41:00.000-05:00

We spent several days in Morgantown around Christmas this year. Grandma & Grandad hosted an open house so lots of friends and neighbors came to meet Owen. Then we headed up to Pittsburgh for the family's traditional gathering on Christmas Eve for food and presents! Owen got lots of great stuff but most enjoyed meeting all the relatives especially his 2nd cousins Ben (age 4) and Cami (age 1.5). Owen spent lots of quality time on Great Grandma's lap and doing fun things with Grandma like taking baths (look at that well placed house plant!)

photo shoot with monkey

2009-01-20T21:18:00.000-05:00

Daddy was entertaining Owen with monkey talk when Owen decided that monkey needed hugs (and licks). Daddy is well trained so he grabbed the camera and snapped away!

Owen is a Party Animal

2009-01-16T14:40:00.001-05:00

I think there is an old wives tale about babies born in the witching hours being the wild ones. Well Owen's 12:11 am birth time apparently qualifies him. Each weekend before Christmas we toted him to one Christmas party after another and he was wide eyed and smiling until the parties ended...often exhibiting more late night energy than his parents. But don't try to wake him up before 9 am...that doesn't work for him (or for mom!).

More foreign visitors

2009-01-16T14:39:00.000-05:00

Amanda and Paul were here all the way from England to meet little Owen (well that and to see her family for the holidays). We had a little dinner party at our house and they spent lots of time getting to know Owen. Owen may have recognized their voices (especially the one with the funny accent) from the wedding. England was the last stop on his in-the-tummy world tour.

1st Passport Stamp

2009-01-13T20:30:00.000-05:00

Owen proudly shows off his first stamp (It says "CANADA") while his Grandfather "Dougie" looks on approvingly.

Please note these entries are not chronological. I'm just writing them as I come upon the good pictures...maybe I'll organize them later, otherwise you'll have to piece together the holiday story yourself!

Learning to share

2009-01-13T19:58:00.000-05:00

Playgyms are made for 2 aren't they? This was a while ago but too cute not to share.

News to come soon!!

2009-01-12T12:35:00.001-05:00

Faithful readers...keep your faith. As Oprah says, I'm getting back on the wagon. After 2 weeks away and a few weeks of holiday madness before that (all followed by a week of some minor colds, of course). I'm finally downloading hundreds of pictures and trying to remember how to write witty blog entrys. Stay tuned. Here is a teaser photo!

Mom finally made the video

2008-12-17T15:52:00.000-05:00

And there is another one in the works!

Owen's take on the Florida Trip

2008-12-14T20:57:00.000-05:00

I, Owen Christopher, just had to tell you all about my first vacation. Everyone told me I was such a good boy that if I keep it up, I'll get to go on lots more of these vacation things. First we got up very very early in the morning (I'm used to this but mom and dad seemed to be dragging), it was freezing cold out and I was happy when we got inside a place called an airport. We stood in a few lines then we got on this little tube and went up in the air for a few hours. Mom said my ears might hurt and forced me to have a bottle when we took off (my life is tough - forced eating!) but I didn't feel a think and then I slept against mom most of the trip. I did take a short break to be held by dad and in that time I peed through my diaper and onto Daddy's jeans so it looked like he peed too - we both laughed about that. When we got out of the tube it was warm and sunny and Gigi and Aunt Whitney were there. We had a happy reunion, then

got a car and headed to a place called Venice. In Venice we pulled up to this cozy little house with another cute little Dog named PJ who was about the same size as Sapphire but brown and a little gentler. At this house I also saw Aunt Jen again and met my great gramma and great grampa. They were very nice to me. They held me and made silly noises for me. They took me to the beach and this great restaurant called Sharky's. And they even bought me a rose in the front of their church and gave me a cool giraffe painting right off their wall. I rewarded them for all their niceness with lots of smiles and giggles (Mom says she'll finished editing the videos and post it soon but she says she's gonna do all sorts of things so I'll believe it when I see it).

Most of all I just wanted to report that I really like my great grandparents and these things called vacations (and it was fun to see my Gigi and aunts again too - especially when they fed me in the middle of the night).

Aunt Jen a special thanks for helping me learn how to read - my mom and dad read to me but they don't think I'm old enough to read for myself!

Owen touches the Ocean!

2008-12-12T14:03:00.000-05:00

First his toes touched the dry sand "Mmmm nice, can't wait until I can walk in this stuff!"

Then his toes touched the wet sand, "Hmmm this stuff is sticky and a little chilly, I'm not sure how I feel about it"

Then the water lapped his feet (the gulf is about 65 degrees right now) "Brrr, this stuff is not nice. Waaaaa, I want my little plastic bathtub back."

New Mode of Transportation

2008-12-10T14:10:00.000-05:00

Owen has pretty much mastered travel by front carrier, stroller and car so we decided to add a few more. We took Owen on a plane ride to Florida to meet his great grandparents (and to get us all some needed sleep and sunshine!). He did great on the plane...sucked down his bottle on takeoff to keep his ears equalized and then pretty much slept in the Bjorn the rest of the time. We can only hope he'll repeat this behavior on future (longer) flights.

Who is this Santa guy?

2008-12-03T23:03:00.000-05:00

Owen says "Please tell him I've been a good boy and to get that furry thing away from my face". At least that's what mom interprets his expression to say!

Winter Baby

2008-12-01T14:49:00.000-05:00

The first little bits of snow were in the air so Owen was suited up and ready...the toboggan is next!

Look what Rugrat Mom learned to do

2008-11-30T14:51:00.000-05:00

Some people might have wondered if I'd hone domestic skills like cooking and cleaning while on maternity leave for 6 months. The answer is a definitive No! I do cook a bit more but nothing fancy! And luckily we can still afford our monthly cleaning help so most of the hard stuff is saved for her! But I haven't just been sitting around eating bon bons (I do watch Oprah though)! The "domestic" skills I've honed seem to be focused our baby care (nursing while doing numerous other things, how to give baths without tears, etc etc) and also life skills like video editing and now some advanced photo editing skills. All for the benefit of the blog readers and someday Owen will be glad too! Check out my newest trick! You'll see more of this in the future!

Thanksgiving is over, get ready for Christmas!

2008-11-29T14:50:00.000-05:00

Nancy and I were quick to shift gears and start getting in the spirit. While Matt and Bill installed a ceiling fan in Owens room, Nancy and I kept Owen out of their hair by taking him to the Christmas exhibit at the Conservatory.

Lots to give thanks for!

2008-11-28T14:50:00.000-05:00

We have so much to be thankful for this holiday. Most of all our happy, healthy son and our wonderful friends and families. We happily spent our first holiday ever in our own home. Matt's parents came out and everyone had lots of quality Owen time. We got some things done around the house, Bill walked Sapphire a lot (which she badly needed) and we saw the Rockettes Christmas extravaganza and Rugrat mom & dad had their first real date since Owen joined the family. All in all it was a great Thanksgiving and I now have a killer, EASY recipe for cooking turkey breast in the crock pot (just in case any of you were fooled into thinking I cooked a whole bird!)

Stomach Stretched!

2008-11-23T15:32:00.000-05:00

Our friends Anne Marie and Matt host a tradition pre-Thanksgiving "stretch your stomach" party and with delicious prime rib and all the yummy sides it is always a successful event! We enjoyed all the food this year and introducing Owen to even more new friends. He's met a lot of babies about his size (or a little bigger) and he's met lots of adults but I don't think he really knew that humans also came in middles sizes...until this party. 2 year old Derek and 5 year old Grace both love babies and were anxious to befriend Owen and therefore he was introduced to middle size humans!

Rugrat Mom has a birthday

2008-11-22T14:49:00.000-05:00

Yep, it was that time of year again and we celebrated a nice quiet birthday at home. Gigi sent Matt the name candles to put on the cake he baked (ha ha, or the very yummy gourmet desserts that he bought!). I think at this point letters are better than numbers. Rugrat dad bought me a warm one piece pajama suit so Owen and I can be twins! He also came through with tickets to a play (with babysitter arrangements) and a gift certificate for a massage!! Owen made me a card and gave me a nice frame with a picture of us in it...I think he had some help but I love it no matter what! I've been wearing my birthday jacket a lot so thanks to Gigi, Jen & Whit for that. You'll probably see it in upcoming blog pictures. And ditto for the warm sweater from Dad & Mary Ann too! Thanks to all for the birthday wishes and gifts! I'm enjoying my little wiggling, giggling gift the most!

Cleveland visitors

2008-11-20T15:56:00.000-05:00

Amy and Andrew were in town and came to check out little Owen. He let them hold him but didn't want them to see his face (maybe he's worried about them picking him out in a lineup later in life - who knows)

Dougie & Grammy visit

2008-11-20T15:20:00.000-05:00

Owen has officially met all his grandparents now! And one great-grandparent! Quite a feat for an 11 week old. And he should add 4 more great grands to the list before he turns 4 months! Dougie and Grammy (Mary Ann), as they have chosen to be called, came all the way from Boston to see Owen for a long weekend. We had so much fun - we had waffles the market, we took some hikes in the woods, Dougie held Owen and tested to make sure all his silly voices still worked, Grammy was persuaded by Matt to do his middle of the night feeding a few times for extra bonding with Owen! We all attended a fund raiser party for one of our friends at the Observatory. Its was a cool old building and had a huge telescope ([picture below]too bad we couldn't test it out because it was rainy). We all had fun and the band was good so we took turns dancing with Owen while he's too young to be embarrassed by us. It was a great weekend and we're so glad Dougie and Grammy made the trip!

Look who has hair!

2008-11-20T01:00:00.000-05:00

Our Autumn Baby

2008-11-18T15:12:00.001-05:00

All the way from Costa Rica

2008-11-18T14:29:00.000-05:00

Debbie & Brady were back in town and got a chance to meet Owen before he visits there house in February where it better be warm and sunny! Debbie just loved holding Owen! And gave him a very cute "poop on Michigan" onesie (it's an Ohio State thing) that Owen wore to happy hour (I thought I took a picture of that too but can't find it so maybe not!). Thanks for visiting on your busy visit, Debbie & Brady and we'll see you soon in the tropics!

Fairport "Aunties"

2008-11-13T15:38:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, even more people travelled great distances to see Owen. 2 of my girlfriends from high school flew in for a weekend of baby holding and chatting on the couch. Self-dubbed "aunties" Liz and Betsy both seemed to enjoy meeting Owen and helping me care for him. Owen was an angel when we took him up the street to try out our new African restaurant (which got thumbs up from all of us, including Betsy who just returned from 5 months in Rwanda). And he enjoyed his quiet nighttime feedings with Betsy and Liz so Daddy got 2 full nights of sleep in a row (lucky Daddy). The weather was brisk but sunny so Owen bundled up and took Liz and Betsy on a tour of our local park...I want a fuzzy hat like that (maybe minus the bear ears!). And a picture of Sapphire, showing off her good balance - we do still love her even in the world of Owen!

Pringles Can Revisited

2008-11-12T18:06:00.000-05:00

At 2 months, Owen dwarfs the Pringles can that rivaled his size at birth! Keep eating buddy...get on those charts! He weighed in at 8#3oz and 21inches this past Wednesday that puts him in the 3 percentile range!

Trick-or-Treat

2008-11-06T16:57:00.001-05:00

Owen had a busy Halloween and seemed to enjoy it all. Party #1 was at my work (its ok to go back for the fun stuff!). The big plan was for Owen to be the busy buzzing bee and I was going to be the flower for him to rest on. Owen was a successful bee but my costume never materialized (guess this is just a preview of things to come!). Everyone enjoyed seeing Owen and he was even temporarily adopted by Sarah Palin and her body guard to try to help salvage their campaign (even his cute little face wasn't enough help!). After party #1 we came home, met Dad and headed to party #2 - the neighborhood bash. Owen was actually awake for most of this party and Dad got to make lots of buzzing sounds since Owen hasn't quite mastered that syllable yet. Then Owen went trick-or-treating. He only made it to one house but he dive bombed into the candy bowl as if it was a big juicy daisy. Then the little bee crashed, he slept soundly on mom's shoulder while we gave out candy to about 240 trick-or-treaters! It was a fun day and he slept well...no sugar high for Owen this year but next year will certainly be a different story!

Great Gigi (that's Gigi's mom)

2008-11-05T10:48:00.000-05:00

Great Gigi knit a special blue blanket for Owen long before he was born. Here he is showing it off. Owen will get to meet Great Gigi and Great Grandpa in Florida next month and maybe he will even put his foot in the chilly ocean and he'll definitely eat at Sharky's on the Pier!

Hip,hip, hurray...Gigi's back!

2008-11-02T11:09:00.000-05:00

Gigi just couldn't wait until Christmas to see Owen again so she jumped on an airplane and stayed for another week. Owen enjoyed seeing her so much that he decided to write the rest of this post! I'm so lucky that my Gigi came again to see me. She does all the things that my parents do (like feed me and rock me), but she talks to me the whole time and boy does she say nice things (I love that)! She says it's because she gets more sleep than my parents, and because she likes to talk almost as much as she likes peanut M&Ms (I don't know what those are yet but I can't wait to find out). My parents made Gigi work hard when she was here but she didn't complain. She had to babysit me at the soccer field, give me a bottle, rock me and watch Sapphire (at the same time!). Even when Daddy gave her a break and held me, Gigi sat close to him to make sure he didn't drop me. What a Gigi!

The highlight of Gigi's visit, according to my mom, was the day that we "shopped till we dropped". I slept through all of it so I have to pay more attention next time to understand what shopping is and if I like it. All I know is now mommy's closet is more full and she is happier when trying to find things to wear (everyone is still jealous of my extensive wardrobe especially all my warm fuzzy sleepers!). My only memory of this shopping experience was being fed in a small room that mommy called a fitting room, where all the clothes were black and white (which I loved because I can see them best)...I remember eating right along and then everything went black. Mommy told me later that I fell fast asleep right in her lap in the fitting room and then they took pictures of me. They are so silly but I do love them, especially Gigi!

Halloween Dinner Club

2008-10-26T17:22:00.000-04:00

We all survived the first dinner club with an infant in attendance (that was Owen)! The Halloween themed dinner was fun (the menu had roasted bleeding heart as its entree!) and Owen got to meet lots of our friends! He even tested out his bee costume to make sure he'd bee cute enough for halloween night! Here are some photo memoirs of the event. above: The dinner, Ron giving Owen his first Halloween fright

below: Owen's foot in Ron's shoe (after Ron made amends for the big scare by rocking Owen), and Avey holding Owen (with Emily close by in case he needs help!)

For anyone who doesn't know the Rugrat parents are in a dinner club with 8 couples and we rotate having dinner at different houses every month or two. So far we are the first to produce offspring but Marni and Dan have one on the way and those cute babies will probably convince others to jump on the wagon :) Here's one of me with Owen and Marni with Ayla (who'll be a more animated guest come January)

What Owen can do now - 7 weeks

2008-10-26T17:06:00.000-04:00

Besides eating, pooing and punching himself in the face, Owen has a few more skills now. These are very exciting for new rugrat parents but probably not that exciting for all of you. No one is forcing you to watch!

Owen's First Babysitter

2008-10-26T17:02:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Nanci for watching Owen while mom & dad took their baby CPR class (now we have skills that we'll hopefully never need). She did a great job although she did let him watch baseball, but it was the World Series so I guess that's ok. I'm not even sure who won that game, wait I'm not even sure who's playing. Sorry uncle bri, is it one of your teams? Good thing Nanci & Ryan have HD or this picture would never have turned out!

Getting to know AJ (Aunt Jen)

2008-10-26T17:01:00.000-04:00

Instead of heading somewhere warm and sunny, Aunt Jen spent her fall break with us!! Thanks AJ! She held Owen lots, taught him a few tricks, and even gave him a bath. Jen took over Matt's midnight feeding for a few days so he was very happy to have her here. Aunt Jen and Mom were going to play in a soccer game one night (don't tell my doctor!). Dad and Owen planned to be our cheerleaders, but the other team didn't show up so the whole family got to kick the ball around for a while.

Hola Bebe!

2008-10-23T09:48:00.001-04:00

Owen has had several international visitors already but we let him get to the ripe old age of 6 weeks before subjecting him to language lessons. Jon, his fiancee Michelle (from Venezuela) and their dog Linus visited this past weekend and started Owen's Spanish training. We're sure he learned a lot and will be able to help his parents navigate Costa Rica in February! Sapphire was glad to finally have a visitor that was more interested in playing with her than with Owen.

The Great Pumpkin(s)

2008-10-20T11:15:00.000-04:00

Owen's first Halloween season has officially kicked off. Friday night we attended Jackie's 7th annual pumpkin carving party. It was great fun and we managed to carve 2 of the 3 pumpkins that Gigi and Bob brought us from their garden. Can you guess which pumpkin is Matt's and which is Courtney's? (Hint: Courtney stopped at a work happy hour before the party and had her first raspberry drink in a long long time!)

The party turned out a bunch of fun pumpkins see the artwork and creators below (the picture is a little dark I guess in keeping with the halloween spirit)

Vitamin D

2008-10-17T11:12:00.000-04:00

The Doctor said its important for babies to get their Vitamin D and the best way is 15 minutes of sunbathing everyday so we headed straight to the park! Owen also weighed in at 7lbs, 1oz!!! What a big healthy boy!

Video of the Rugrat

2008-10-15T12:05:00.000-04:00

Not that exciting but check out his wiggles

And his favorite move, punching himself in the face.

Owen's Many Faces

2008-10-14T15:55:00.001-04:00

Owen's number of expressions has multiplied lately. We don't know what they all mean but we can take guesses.

The first is definitely 'please repeat what you said a little louder but don't you dare touch my "paci"'. Followed by 'don't bother me now mom, I'm practicing to be a rock star'

Then comes 'hmm that concerns me a little but not enough to open my eyes' followed by 'that concerns me a little more so I'll open my eyes but my lips are sealed'

Next is 'leave me alone, I'm thinking about something' followed by 'ahhh, this whole basket thing is a little scary'

and finally no expression at all...complete trust that mom will not drop his head!

Better View of House Project

2008-10-14T15:13:00.000-04:00

I've now acquired a camera that can take video clips so look for this blog to go multimedia. How terrible that Owen isn't even featured in the first video but he was not doing anything interesting when the camera was ready to be tested. So for anyone who cares...check out our new office and bathroom (located off the living room on our first floor). If you watch carefully you'll catch a glimpse of Owen in my arms in the mirror.

Best Buddies

2008-10-13T12:50:00.001-04:00

House to ourselves - FINALLY!

2008-10-10T21:39:00.000-04:00

This post is not exactly Owen focused but thought you might still want to know. As many of you know, we're in the midst of a construction project to create a powder room and small office in what used to be our side porch. The project was supposed to end before Owen arrived but he came early and they ran late so we're sharing the house with a bunch of contractors right now. They are very nice about it but I'm ready to have the house for just Owen and I! It's just about done so I figured I'd post a couple pictures. But its hard to take pictures of tiny little rooms with lots of doors - here's the best I could do - sink above, front and side windows below. I'll try to remember to take some of the exterior tomorrow!

Owen for Obama

2008-10-10T13:51:00.000-04:00

This is Rugrat Mom and I approve this message! Yesterday we heard Obama was going to be having a rally in a nearby park and it was open to the public. Seemed like a cool thing to check out so I looked at our calendar and [big surprise] it was empty! So Owen hopped in his wrap and we hiked a mile or so into the park. Owen cleared his first metal detector and we were in! A bunch of local politicians talked and then Obama took the stage and spoke for probably 30 minutes (yes that's him in the photo below, with the white shirt on in front of the flag). We were pretty far back but it was fun to listen! At the end he was talking to volunteers etc and we made our way up pretty close and I was hoping he might be looking for babies to kiss but I guess they don't really do that anymore! These pics are all with the cell phone camera - I'm pretty impressed!

Back to work

2008-10-10T11:50:00.000-04:00

Luckily we just went for a visit. There are things (and people) that I miss at work, but I definitely can't imagine going back yet. My group hosted a belated shower for us since Owen's early arrival forced me to miss the one originally planned. We had some great cake and answered lots of questions about our early Pampers experience (for anyone who might have forgotten, I work in diapers at P&G :). Owen got all dressed up in his "big boy clothes" - a 3 piece outfit, not a sleeper - for the occasion. He looked pretty snazzy even with the legs and sleeves rolled up. The picture actually makes him look chubby too - he's not - at least not yet!

Tom, my boss, holding Owen - he looks like he is ready for grandkids! And Al, a coworker and climbing buddy, sizing Owen up for his first harness.

Krista matches Owen so nicely! And Luke missed the shower (darn meetings) so he and Veronica paid Owen a home visit.

Pictures Galore

2008-10-08T13:59:00.001-04:00

If you read this blog faithfully and still want more pictures....here's the link for you

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=19k3s0i1.8v9c158l&x=0&y=-gaofya&localeid=en_US

Pennsylvania or bust

2008-10-08T12:15:00.000-04:00

Owen's 3rd state was PA but this time we didn't just drive through...we went to Pittsburgh and visited Owen's Great Grandma! She lives in a retirement community and just loved seeing and holding little Owen. One of her children was born around 4lbs so he didn't seem so little to her. She told Owen (and us) about all the great activities they have had at their community like a ventriliquist and a singing quartet. I think the pictures really tell the story!

3 States and Counting

2008-10-06T16:37:00.000-04:00

Owen has left Ohio! He spent 3 days in West Virginia this past weekend (no he didn't wear shoes - but he never does!). He finally got to meet his Grandma and Grandad Wasson and boy did they love him. He cuddled with them lots and even let Grandma change his diaper and help give him a bath. Matt's longtime friend Michael came to see little Owen and we stopped to visit several neighbors on our walk around the block. Saturday even more relatives came to meet Owen - George and Gail, Scott & Staci and thier little ones Ben and Cami spent the afternoon with Owen. Owen even got to go on a hike in the woods led by 3 year old adventurer Ben. Yes I know that only adds up to 2 states (and we won't even count the little part of PA that you have to drive thru to get to WV)...the next post will reveal state #3.

ROAD TRIP!!

2008-10-02T17:00:00.000-04:00

Our excitement for this week was getting ready for our big road trip to Morgantown West Virginia to introduce Owen to his grandparents Wasson. We leave tomorrow so we should have big stories for the blog next week. Thinking about the trip, packing for the trip and feeding Owen has taken most of our time this week so we don't have too much else to report. Some small things: Owen got weighed again and he's 6 pounds now! Way to go Owen (and mommy if I do say so myself)! He's even outgrown some of his preemie outfits and we've started to move into newborn size. We've finally found a hands-free, wheels free transport method that will support our little guy for walks in the park or just around the house...its called a wrap! See Owen in his wrap below. Yesterday we found a few minutes with Owen's eyes open to set up our tripod and do a little mom/owen photo shoot.

Power Bath

2008-09-29T15:51:00.000-04:00

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

2008-09-27T10:56:00.000-04:00

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!

2008-09-26T14:02:00.000-04:00

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?

2008-09-26T10:38:00.000-04:00

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

2008-09-22T16:08:00.000-04:00

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

Chicken legs

2008-09-22T15:35:00.000-04:00

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!!!

2008-09-20T19:54:00.000-04:00

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!!

2008-09-17T20:15:00.001-04:00

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

2008-09-15T20:09:00.001-04:00

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

2008-09-14T12:03:00.001-04:00

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!

2008-09-12T15:56:00.000-04:00

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

2008-09-12T13:20:00.000-04:00

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

2008-09-10T21:55:00.000-04:00

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...

Homecoming & Owen's First Party

2008-09-09T21:35:00.000-04:00

Owen stretched his actual arrival until just after midnight, we got an "extra" day free in the hospital. We weren't planning to take it but the nurses wanted to make sure he was eating enough to not lose too much of his birth weight (normal size newborns lose up to 10% and its not big deal but that's too much for a little guy like Owen)...he dropped a few ounces on day 1 then gained back 1 ounce on day 2 so they were happy and Monday afternoon we came home. Sapphire greeted Owen with curious but friendly sniffs then she continued to follow him around the house and keep a close eye on him. Settling in at home was pretty easy as Owen still sleeps 100% of the time when we are not forcing him to be awake for eating. We are trying to enjoy this relative peace and quiet as we know it will not last.

Our neighborhood had planned a small shower for us on Monday night. We called to let them know that Owen had not factored there plan into his arrival plans and we planned to send Matt as the family representative. However Owen was just fed and happily asleep so we decided he could handle the 10 house walk and a few minutes to let people greet their newest neighbor. We wouldn't let anyone hold him yet but everyone enjoyed a peek and he sleep happily in Gramma's arms while we opened some gifts and enjoyed some cake. He was a bit of a snooze at his first party but we had fun!

PS I'm now writing this from our Mac and having trouble with formatting. Next feeding is approaching so I'm not messing with it any more...you'll have to read the story carefully and try to match up the pictures :)

More Photos

2008-09-07T19:02:00.001-04:00

If you want more try this link:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=19k3s0i1.apttigkd&x=0&y=63hz5c&localeid=en_US

Rugrat's Grand Entrance

2008-09-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

3 weeks early and after 26 hours of labor....we are proud to introduce OWEN CHRISTOPHER WASSON. Born 12:11 am, 9/6/08 and weighing in at a whooping 4lbs 11oz and 18 inches long. Mom, baby & dad are doing great! We know you all just want to see pictures so here they are. Enjoy! We think he's the cutest baby around but we might be biased!