Talking up a storm

Owen continues to be very verbal, learning new words every day...which he has begun stringing together to form sentences! He surprises us by pointing at objects we didn't know he knew the words for and blurting them out. I can't believe how something so simple can be such music to my ears!

When Roby's parents visited, Owen went from referring to them by using a silly sound he associates with their language (Malayalam) to calling them "Uppa" and "Umma", to saying the actual words "Appachan" (grandfather) and "Ammachy" (grandmother). They were thrilled by this! He also learned another Malayalam word from them. I don't know how to spell it-Poi (rhymes with toy), which means something like "it went away." So O will point at butterflies and airplanes, and after they leave his line of vision say, "Poi Mama!" He also calls up the stairs, Rooooobbbbbyyyyy, which is the way I call him I guess. I love watching the way his mind works and seeing what the little guy comes up with. So cute!

He was particularly wound up while I was taking this video, hence why he is screaming out the words. For some reason, he will only let me film him when he is hyper-boy. Oh! At the end, when he makes a sound like "OH," that is his way of saying "Love You." (He has moved on from "Dove Doo," which we thought was super cute too ;)

Park Cutie

Spring is on its way

A random barn stands unused next to the park by our house. I swear we don't live in the country (even though city mouse Roby thinks we do :) Now that it is getting warmer, we have been going outside and to the park more often. On this particular day, we were joined by Owen's buddy Caleb and his Mom Alyson.

On the slide

Playing near our front porch steps

Owen's first real snow

When Owen was 2 months old, we had a dusting of snow and took his picture during the 20-minute span before it melted. Winters here are cold like Philly, but we rarely get snow, and blizzards and feet of snow are unheard of. We were excited one morning to see that it had snowed over night and quickly bundled Owen up in 4 layers...he could hardly walk. He even obliged me by wearing the scarf I knit for him! He had fun experiencing the crunch of snow beneath his little feet and checking out the footprints he left behind. After a bit of exploring, Roby took O for a wagon ride around the neighborhood so his feet wouldn't get wet.

Owie Update

This first year of Owen's life really has flown by. I guess the cliche floating around-"they grow up so fast"-really is true. Roby is a touch sad that our little baby isn't a baby anymore, but I am truly loving the phase he is in right now. Owen has been completely mobile for a few months (although running after him to save him from peril and catching him on the stairs 5,000 times a day tends to wear me out) and is able to communicate more with us. He still only signs "all done," but we think he uses the same sign with only one hand for both "more" and "milk." Even if we don't quite get what he is telling us, it is so awesome to see him actively trying to communicate with us. He has done a swell job of mimicking many words we say and has said "all done," "yes," "book," "ball," and a few others. He says "mo" for "more," which I think is so cute, and my favorite thing he utters about 10,000 times a day is "Uh-Oh!" He loves that word and isn't afraid to use it, in context, out of context, you name it.

If you ask Owen what a lion says, he growls this adorable little growl (the same he uses when chasing the kitties.) Anytime he picks up an animal toy or sees one on tv or in a book, he growls, even if it is a goose :) Every time he holds a stuffed animal he kisses it, and he spends every morning taking nearly every book he owns off his shelf and bringing them to me or whoever he wants to share his treasures with...hmmm...could this mean we have a future lover of literature, and possibly writer, on our hands? I squeel in delight at the thought!

I never really noticed how observant O was before. Every day he does something that amazes me. He is forever trying to put Roby's shoes on and brings me his little socks he finds (by the end of the day he may be wearing 3 socks on one foot!) If you mention a phone to him, he will put a toy or his hand up to his ear and say hello and have a pretend conversation in his little baby babble. If you ask him to brush his hair, he will get a tiny brush and run it through his curls before coming to you and brushing your hair. And finally, yes people it has finally happened, Owen has actually expressed interest in eating table food! hooray! For a moment in time there I thought he would be eating pureed food in college! He loves eating meat, so I'm thankful that I am no longer a semi-vegetarian. And his favorite things in life right now are cheerios...a cheerio for our cheery o! :) They have helped me distract him through plane rides and restaurant visits, among other things...thank you inventor of the small round o of wheat goodness, you are a genius and deserve to be commended!
So that is what is up with our little man. I will try to keep you updated with his latest pics (since I am no longer sending out monthly picture of the day updates) and antics! Hopefully soon I will be able to find the time to blog about our recent trip to so cal and our friends' visit to tn for thanksgiving!

(p.s. most of you already know from an e-mail i sent out and a myspace bulletin, but just in case you haven't heard, owen has made his magazine debut in this issue (Dec.) of Parents magazine. His smiley little face is on page 22 in the Cutest Kid in the Universe section! Hope you can check it out.)

Owen is One!

Yes, I know, it seems impossible...our little guy has turned one already! His birthday fell on the day after we returned from our trip home to Philly. We celebrated by taking him to Lupi's, a local pizza joint, although he, of course, didn't grasp that it was his special day. Even a gigantic party for him seemed to be just one big play date, the more the merrier for him!

His party turned out swimmingly! Thankfully, everyone was able to come, even Bindu Auntie drove up from Atlanta! It was cool to see all the people who have been a part of Owen's life from the very beginning together in the same place. We certainly have met some great friends here in the South!

Alyson, the cake decorator extraordinaire that she is, decorated the cake I baked...rivaling Martha Stewart herself with her sugary masterpiece! I had my heart set on a monkey theme for our little monkey, complete with smiling cake, silly monkey cupcakes, banana splits and monkey masks for the kids to make. Owen enjoyed running around with the other children (Will was the youngest at 3 months old, and Chase was the oldest at 5 years old) and even let Rachel and Audrey help him unwrap his presents.

When it came time for his cake, I was unsure of how he would react. He hadn't liked the icing on his store bought cakes in Philly, so I didn't bother making him his own smash cake. As we sang to him, he reached out and touched the icing, getting some on his face. His eyes lit up, so we stripped him down to his onesie and put him in his high chair. Alyson served him a monkey ear, which he enthusiastically smooshed and ate little by little as he smeared chocolate icing everywhere. I was thrilled Owie liked the cake I baked him! Afterwards, Roby had to run him upstairs for a quick post-cake bath :)

Owen had a wonderful first birthday with all his favorite GA and TN peeps around to celebrate with him and spoil him with presents!

Little Buddies

Here are the latest pics of Owen with his little buddies Caleb & Isaac. Alyson, Stephanie and I continue to meet weekly and are amazed at how quickly the boys are growing....soon they will all be 1!

Owen's Ninth Month

I thought it was time for an Owen update since he is growing up so quickly and learning something new every day. He is now 9 1/2 months old, weighing in at 18.9 pounds and measuring 28 inches long. Two weeks ago he took his first step while Roby, Hank, Amanda and I cheered him on! He still cruises around the furniture and is able to stand and squat without holding onto anything, but is a bit hesitant. He will be walking in no time!

O is a prolific stair climber (with supervision of course!), loves to pull the toilet paper off the roll, looks out the windows and plays in the curtains, bounces up and down any time music is on, chases his superman ball all over the house, and enjoys playing in a large Pampers box (who knew he could be so easily amused!). He has been babbling a lot and says dada and mama often, although he doesn't realize he is talking about us yet :) One of my favorite quirks of his is how he leans in and rubs his forehead against our foreheads or cheeks while closing his eyes with a big grin...it seems to be his way of showing affection! He also likes to suck on my chin, which is, uh, interesting, but still cute. He rolls his tongue like crazy and crosses the fingers on his right hand, perhaps for good luck? And we are excited that Owen won a monthly contest and will be spotlighted as The Cutest Kid in the Universe in the December issue of Parents magazine! We can't wait to see our little star's face in print! We will remind everyone to check out the issue when it is closer to the date.

We are taking a roadtrip with our cousin Bindu tomorrow to Tampa for a friend's wedding and will visit Judy (I worked with her in CA at The JESUS Film Project) in Orlando before heading back home. It will be a whirlwind trip, and an adventure for sure...I just hope Owen can handle the 7-hour drive!

I still need to post pictures from our Houston trip, our friends' visit last weekend, our landscaping progress and our Tampa visit! Stay tuned!