Seven months

Oh Owen,

My baby…  My baby who at seven months is crawling, and standing, and eating regular non-puréed people food by the bucket load.  And all of this makes you so darn happy!!  You terrify me and amaze me with your determination to see just exactly what your tiny body is capable of.  You pulled yourself up to standing in the bathtub last week and looked at me beaming with pride while my heart stopped.  You are a baby, a tiny baby.  A baby who does not yet even weight 20 lbs and yet in your mind you are ready to run, and jump, do back handsprings, eat hamburgers and drink beer. 

But you are happy.  So very, very, happy (except when you aren’t and then nobody is happy).   And you are sleeping, which to date might be our greatest parenting accomplishment.  One day, when you are older and have babies of your own, I will tell you why there is no blog post for your sixth month.  But for now, suffice it to say that babies who don’t sleep only cry, and parents of babies who don’t sleep cry too.  We’re too exhausted to do anything else, including writing in complete sentences. 

You have figured out to hold your own bottle, and you like to feed yourself cheerios and cut up fruits and veggies by the fist full.  And all of a sudden, you have so much to say.  You are so full of excitement over your newfound mobility, it’s like you want to shout it from the rooftops.  But when you aren’t shouting you are laughing.  One look from Levi can send you into fits of giggles, as can anyone who nuzzles you under your arms. 

The very first things people notice about you are your eyes, which absolutely sparkle.  They are just so full of LIFE, and so expressive.  It’s as if you could tell us everything we need to know just by looking at us.  They just want to drink in everything, because there is just so much and you don’t want to miss any of it!!  And you, my Baby O, you radiate light and energy and love and excitement and passion.  You make my heart explode everytime I look at you.  I love you so so much.

5 months

Oh little buddy,

You have transformed over the last few weeks from a newborn into a chunk of a laughing, smiling, cooing, on the brink of independent mobility BABY.  You can sit up all by yourself now, which you think might just be the greatest thing ever.  You can roll over both ways, although you don't really like too.  You grab onto our faces and pull them in close for big, slobbery open mouth kisses.  And you eat real food.  Lord do you eat.  Last night you pounded three bowls of spinach.  You also eat mango, sweet potato, pumpkin, bananas, figs, avocado, peas, carrots, apples, pears, blueberries, oatmeal, and more. 

This past week you started school and you seem to love it.  Except for the ear infection (which I promise, come hell or high water, we will do everything in our power to ensure you never have again - you screamed for three straight days and almost did us all in).  Your arms and legs still haven't stopped moving, which has lead your Daddy to start calling you Jitterbug.  It's pretty fitting, and even your teachers at school are starting to use the nickname:) 

You sleep in your room now with Levi and light up like a little lightening bug every time you see him.  He feels the same way - just last week he said, "Mama, I love you and Daddy, but I love baby Owen more."  So, you know, good to know where we stand.  Your favorite song is "You Are My Sunshine", and even when I sing it all out of tune it can put you right to sleep.

You are getting so big so fast, and I love you so much!

Love, Mama

3 (3.5) months

Dear Owen,

Well actually, you are now half way to 4 months, but we have just been so busy having fun with you and Levi that I have barely had time to sit down and breathe this summer:0)  You have already done so much in your short little life – road trips and music festivals, visiting tons of family and friends, and lots of camping trips!!  But now, at your 3.5 month mark your personality is coming through strong and clear, and I couldn’t love you more!  These are a few of the things we now know about you that further show us you were always meant to be here.

1)      You love being outside more than any baby I have ever known.  Stepping outside of the house you look up at the trees in amazement.  Your arms and legs slow and still and you lean your head back and stare open mouthed at all of it.  You can ride around for hours outside in on of your many slings and never make a sound. 

2)      You are a natural camper (most likely because of #1 above).  You have now been camping at 2 music festivals, Edisto Beach State Park, Smoky Mountain National Park, and 1 ill planned private campground near Chimney Rock (don’t worry, we won’t do that again).  You’ve loved every minute of it. 

3)      You love to swim.  I have to admit this one took me by surprise a bit.  It took us 2 years just to get your brother in the water, and truly he only began to really like it about a month ago.  Which coincidentally, was when I decided to stick your feet in the pool one day and you didn’t scream.  You just kind of looked at me like, “now what?”  So I took you in with me and your whole face lit up.  You swam around kick kick kicking your little legs for 45 minutes.  I eventually pulled you out because your lips where starting to turn blue but you were so happy in the water. 

4)      You have developed a personal alarm system that every younger sibling should have.  If Levi does anything to you at all that does not meet with your approval – you send off an immediate blood curdling scream that could raise the dead.  He cannot so much as look at you sideways without our knowing.  Clearly you were destined to be a younger brother.

5)      Speaking of Levi, he thinks you hung the moon (and the stars and the sun…)  First thing when we wakes up every morning he crawls over us to give you kisses and the last thing he does at night is stand next to your crib and blow you kisses.  He’d rather “snuggle” next to you on your playmate than do anything else, and he likes to hug and whisper into your ear how much he loves you.  Yesterday while he was laying on the floor next to you I heard him whisper “Baby Owen, I love you with my whole heart”, and I thought right then that nothing could be more perfect.

6)      Every time I look at you, you smile and my heart explodes

Love,

Mama

Month 2!

Hello, My name is Owen and I am a squiggler.

I have never before seen a baby as squiggly as little Owen.  All four limbs are in constant motion all of the time.  On his belly, he can already hold up his head and his little feet are push push pushing against the rug as he tries to propel himself forward.  The only way to get him to sleep is to swaddle him so tightly that it is like a straight jacket.  As soon as we do that you can count to thirty and he is out.  But during the day, that is usually for only about 30 min. and then he is up and at it again - constant motion:) 

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Not only am I a sqiggler, I am smiley:)

Owen has started smiling and laughing, which is quite wonderful.  And usually when he smiles, it often starts as a tentative affair, but ends as a huge open mouth smile that takes over his entire face.  He is just starting to figure out smiling, and when he does he lights up the entire room.  He also laughs, but usually in his sleep.  All will be quite and then out of nowhere we'll hear giggling, but when I go in to check on him he's still asleep.



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I know what I want, when I want it, and I'm not afraid to tell you

Owen is the king of efficient communication.  When he is hungry, he gives one warning whimper... and if a bottle is not magically procured in under 30 seconds, then the next cry out of his mouth is of a magnitude normally reserved for victims of torture.  It is VERY effective.  

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I have a great big brother

Several weeks ago we told Levi that if Owen started crying in the car, the best thing to do was sing to him, since we couldn;t pick him up or feed him while we were driving.  Since then , every time Owen starts fussing Levi earnestly launches into a complete recital of every single song he knows, begining with the ABC song, followed by Kimo-kimo, the rainbow song, Levi's own special Owen song, twinkle twinkle little star, itsy bitsy spider...

Owen's first full month has been full of exciting adventures!  First off was a bath once we were finally able to see his bellybutton.  Once he was all clean and smelling good, he was ready for some visitors! We kicked it off with a weekend visit from Gigi (Matt's mom) who was so excited to meet Owen she could barely contain herself.  She came up with her neighbor Kathy and commenced immediately to equal opportunity spoiling of both Owen and Levi. We managed a couple of great outings over the weekend, including Owen's first dinner out at West First and his first hike at the Carl Sandburg house to see the baby goats.  The Sandburg hike can now be officially claimed as a family tradition, as Levi's first hike took place there when he was five days old.    

The next weekend we loaded the boys up and headed down to Columbia to Neine's house for a visit with the Hewlette side of the family.  Owen got to get in some more snuggle time with Lielee, who had teamed up with Niene to get the boys some special pre-Easter treats.  Big E came up from Charleston, and Uncle Frank, Rieree, BeBe, Uncle Richard and Aunt Linda all came over too!  The big boys tackled some home repair projects for Neine while the rest of got to visit

After a great big lunch, William and his family came by and Owen got to meet Anastasia and Jackie.

Then, to cap off a great first month, we loaded up the truck and land yacht (camper) this weekend and headed to the French Broad River Music Festival in Hot Springs, NC.  By all accounts, Owen was the youngest kid at the festival - and seemed to adapt readily to the laid back atmosphere.  He spent the weekend lounging in his sling, listening to great music and enjoying the sunny weather.  He and Levi made lots of new friends and rocked out to Sol Driven Train's special kid's show.

Big Hungry

So,  after several nights of this...

And a little less of this...

We were not surprised in the slightest to find out that baby Owen has been gaining almost a pound a week!

Family Photo Day