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.