PTW, part 7: Amtrak to Portland!

One Saturday in January, Mom, Dad, Richard, Owen and I took the Amtrak from Albany to Portland for the day. We spent the day at OMSI, the science museum, then took the train back to Albany. It was a wonderful day. Owen loved riding the train, and we all had a good time at the museum. We will definitly be taking the Amtrak up again.

PTW, part 6: a new bed for Owen!

It's Monday night, and PTW is winding down. Today's score: 5-1! Potty decisively winning! We are very proud of Owen, and Owen is happy with all of his new bribes- I mean toys. I still haven't finished blogging January, so I better keep moving!

These pictures are of Owen's new bed, chair and bedside table. Mom and Dad drove these out when they came at Thanksgiving, plus a dresser. These are Dad's from when he was a boy, and I used them until middle school. Dad had them stripped in Virginia, then in January he restored them- I don't know all the details, but it involved a trip to rural Oregon, clamps, magic glue from a hobby shop, lots of sanding and lots of polyurethane. They turned out beautiful, and the color matches the other furniture in Owen's room.

We all were a bit hesitant for Owen's first night in his room. Owen does not have a good track record with change, nor with sleeping through the night. Richard and I joke that it would be nice to have an Owen Change Rule book. It would go something like this: new shirts, new coats, new hats, new sweaters, new shoes: NOT OK; new pants, new socks, new toys: OK. Turns out, Owen loved his new bed from the first night we put it together. He's been great in it ever since.

Thank you, Dad!

PTW, part 5: Christmas in Oregon, Part 2

It's Monday afternoon. The score is 2-0, potty well ahead of floor today, but with a long time in his morning diaper, and a long nap, we haven't had much chance for accidents. Day care will be helping with this adventure, so we'll send him in tomorrow armed with lots of pants and undies.

The blog is now up to January. We flew home from Vermont on New Year's eve. My parents picked us up from the airport, and we got to Corvallis about a half hour before midnight. We put Owen to bed and waited till the clock ticked to midnight before crashing. We celebrated the Kumpf family Christmas on New Years Day with my folks and Susie's family.

My parents stayed for the rest of January, and here's some pictures of our adventures. Owen loved having them around, and they were very patient with the grocery store game. They took a trip to the coast and aquarium, we all went on a train ride (subject of another post), we had a snowfall with the largest flakes I had ever seen and made a snowman before it all melted. Mom, Susie and I made an IKEA pilgramage, and bought enough shelving units to keep Dad busy for the rest of the trip. Both the Muhly and the McManus households gained lots of storage space.

PTW, part 4: Christmas in Vermont

Sunday, 7:00. The score is 4 to 3. The potty is still winning, but the floor is gaining ground. Hopefully we will end the day still ahead.

We flew to Vermont to spend Christmas with Richard's family. There was some snow on the ground when we came, which melted and then was replaced. Owen is not fond of snow yet- Richard made him a snowman, but Owen thinks snow is "too cold." Smart kid.

We spent Christmas Eve at Roger and Ivonne's house, Christmas at Richard's Mom's, then several nice afternoons and evening's at Thomas and Kathy's farmhouse- which looked beautiful for the season. Kathy's son was home from college, and it was nice to get to meet him and spend more time with Taylor. Taylor was pretty good at air hockey, but Ivonne's sister turned out to be a pool shark. Who knew?

Hint- click on the picture of Steve sledding, to see a close-up of his expression...

PTW, part 3: Christmas in Oregon

Today's score thus far: 4 to 2! We just had another pre-nap success. Now Owen is sleeping, with a diaper on, so we can relax for a couple of hours. The washing machine will enjoy the rest, too.

Santa visited Oregon a few nights before Christmas Eve- he can do that if you schedule it in advance with his elves. Owen must have been very good this year. Santa brought matching wheel barrows for Owen and Richard, guitars for Owen and Richard, some more parts to Owen's Geo Trax (which is slowly taking over downstairs), a truck, a helicoptor, and of course, the things from Owen's list- a Frosty the Snowman book, a purple ball, and the purple present. Unfortunately we didn't find out what the purple present was until after Christmas, so we gave him a gift in a purple bag. Turns out he wanted a purple container that they have at day care that holds dress-up clothes. Oh well, even Santa isn't perfect. Owen's favorite toy turned out to be a cash register and some groceries. He still loves that thing- bringing it from room to room, begging you to "buy something!"

PTW, part 2: Dec trip to the woods

I was over-ambitious yesterday and tried to post a video of Owen on his bike. After processing literally for 12 hours, and no progress, I gave up. I'll stick with photos for a while. Also, the spell checker seems to be down, so feel free to giggle at my un-edited spelling attempts.

Friday's final score: 0-3, floor beating potty.

So far today: 3-2! Potty pulls ahead of floor!

We have had some success, and awarded Owen a big yellow truck for his skills. Yes, it's a dump truck, the irony not lost on Richard. Honestly- I didn't think about it when I bought it at K-Mart. His other bribe was a phone call from Thomas the Train once he successfully did #1 on the potty. Todd and my dad didn't answer their phones, so I caught Dave Wallis, and he called Owen and told him how proud he was. Thanks Dave! Owen was very excited that Thomas called, though he was shy on the phone, as usual.

Here's some photos from December. We took a trip to the same cabin in the woods we went to last year, again with Susie's family, to Odell Lake. It was a great weekend- sunny, with lots of beautiful snow on the ground (and none in the air or on the road).

Potty Training Weekend (part 1)

Well, after days of anticipation, potty training weekend is here. We have a 3 day weekend, so we thought it would be a good time to give this a try. Also, Owen turns 3 this summer and will need a new daycare/pre-school where he will likely need to be "bathroom independent." So we bought lots of underwear, and several pairs of sweatpants, and some carpet cleaner, and the adventure has begun. So far, the score is 0-1. But we are hoping for some success soon.

What else does this mean? It means that we will be at home all weekend, and I will attempt to update the blog.

I am 2 months behind!!

Christmas season was a busy one, and I haven't been blogging. We have taking a TON of pictures since last post, so I'll get the highlights up here. Since Dec 9, I've traveled to San Diego twice, the three of us went to Vermont for Christmas to be with Richard's family, my parents visited Oregon for the month of January, and then everyone (Richard, Owen, my parents, Richard's mom, my sister's family and in-laws) went to Maui for the last week of January. Then Richard's mom stayed with us for an additional week. I guess I know why we haven't been updating the blog.

Pictures soon...