cows, dogs, frogs and family: Vacation in Vermont

We spent the last week of June in Vermont with Richard's mom and family. We had a wonderful week- usually we are there over Christmas when it is very cold, so it was a treat to play outside. Owen loved spending time with his grandma- visiting local parks and feeding fish at a stocked trout pond. Owen's cousin, Kobe, is 4 months older than him. They enjoyed spending time together- this was the first time they were both old enough to actually acknowledge each other's existence. Roger and Ivonne have a pool, but Owen was nervous to go swimming in it. He did enjoy a canoe trip down the Battenkill. Thomas and Kathy just bought a converted barn-house and lots of acres including a stream. Owen and Kobe spent a lot of time throwing rocks in there. We also got to see Nancy and Steve. The week flew by!

Owen head butt Daddy

Said Owen. And then he did. Two times. Richard ended up with a black eye. Owen seemed not to have any ill effects. We have no idea where Owen learned the phrase or the act of head butting.

The teachers at day care and Richard and I have noticed some growth in Owen. He's beginning to test boundaries. Like pouring his drink on the floor and laughing about it. I think he's just practicing being 2. The next year will be fun!

Owen and Richard have a new game. They sit by the side of the house where there are lots of river rocks. Owen says "how about this one?" and points to a specific rock. Richard then picks it up, Owen inspects it, then puts it through the fence. Owen points to another rock, says "how about this one?" and the game continues.

We head out to the East coast Friday night- one week in Vermont then one week in Virginia. We are hoping that Owen sleeps for a least a few nights during this trip. We are really excited to see everyone. Owen's been practicing names looking at family pictures, and seems to have them down.

We had a nice Father's day on Sunday. Owen made a cute card and cookies for Richard at school, and we went to brunch and the park.

Oh- and he's now counting to 20. Missing a few in the teens sometimes, but still he's pretty good at it.

Owen pick Zoie's nose

Owen is saying longer sentences now, such as the one above, said this morning to Richard when Owen put his finger in Zoie's nose. Zoie is very tolerant of the attention. Owen has also said "Owen squeeze Daddy's cheeks" and other cute, several word sentences.

Here's a picture of Owen and Laurel in our new ball pit- inspired by Kristi's. They both really love playing in there. Watch out for the ball pit shark!

We went to the Oregon Zoo in Portland during Memorial Day weekend. It's a nice size zoo for seeing in a day, and Owen had a blast. He hasn't been to a zoo since last summer, when he was really only fascinated by rocks. This time, he noticed the animals. He was excited about the elephants- "elephants big!", but wasn't so happy with them when they walked towards us. He liked the giraffes: "giraffes tall!" We watched the penguins being fed, and he thought they were hilarious.

We went to San Diego last weekend for a wedding and to see some friends. I failed to take the camera out of the case, so I have no evidence, but we had a nice trip. Our house in San Diego sold (finally!) and closed last Thursday so we drove by and said our farewells. We couldn't tell if Owen remembered it or not. We also saw lots of old friends. I think Owen remembered people, though he's very shy.

This rainbow was over our house last night. It was a beautiful, pink sunset, and the rainbow arched right over our house. I couldn't get it all in the view, but here's part of it.

Washington

Owen, Richard, and I headed up to Washington last weekend to visit Kristi Gee and her sons. Owen did great on the trip- he slept on the way up there, and mostly read to himself on the 5 hour drive home. And, for one of the first times, he slept at night away from home- for 3 of the 4 nights.

Owen had a great time playing with Jackson and Henry, and particularly enjoyed their toys. It was great to see them all and to see Eastern Washington. Richland has a lot of beautiful community parks, and Owen is a big fan of "slides and swings!". On Sunday we took the boys to see "Thomas, Live!". Owen isn't quite clear on who Thomas the Tank Engine is, but he likes trains a lot. He had mixed feelings on the live stage show- he was happy when the trains were on the stage, but upset when the actors kept singing. Richard had to bring him outside and then back inside several times. He may still be too young to appreciate theater.

Owen now likes to say OK and not OK- his version is "K" and "no-K". Sample conversation:

Owen (with urgency): "Bubba! Bubba! Bubba! Bubba!"

Mom: "Would you like Bubba?"

Owen (calmly, with a smile): "K."

Alternate conversation:

Mom (or more likely, Dad): "Would you like to eat this nice vegetable?"

Owen (with urgency): "No-K!"

We found a new toy at Kristi's house that Owen loved. In her play room, she has an inflatable pool filled with plastic play balls. Owen spent the weekend in Washington hanging out in that pool with Henry. So I found a pool and play balls at K-mart and set it up for Owen on Saturday. He is so happy with it- we had a hard time convincing him to leave it to do anything else.

We had a very nice Mother's Day today. Owen and Richard surprised me with a hanging fuchsia, and they both had a card. Richard made us a great breakfast and dinner. We went to get gelato and to the park. It was a fun day for all of us.

Owen is beginning to enjoy using crayons- he also enjoys instructing Richard and I to draw various things- usually Bubba, bunnies, and dogs. Even with those, he's taxing our artistic abilities. We tried to play with Play-Doh, but I don't think he understands that yet. He's doing a great job using a spoon- he likes to eat Cheerios and milk in the morning all by himself- and he doesn't make a mess.

2 new things

Owen did 2 new things yesterday.

When we were walking down the stairs, he counted them, up to 5. Then he skipped to 8- his favorite number.

At dinner yesterday, Owen shared a joke with us. It must be something he learned at daycare. He kept pulling spit from his mouth and trying to hand it to us. He thought this was completely hilarious. We are missing the joke, but it's hard to not laugh when he cracks up. Perhaps a 4 year old could explain the humor.

Easter with Gramma and Grandpa

My parents were here for the week of Easter.

On Saturday, we celebrated Owen's cousin Laurel's first birthday. She enjoyed eating cake for the first time.

We attempted to take him to Easter service on Sunday, but he spent most of the time outside the church, watching men spread out Easter eggs for the post-service hunt. Sitting still for an hour isn't part of his skill set right now.

Owen had a full Easter basket. His favorites include a bunny from Grandma McManus, which he has slept with each night since receiving it, and "career hats" from my parents.

He did enjoy going to the children's museum with his grandparents in Salem later in the week- lots of fun things to play with and climb on. We had such good time, we went back the next weekend with Richard since he had to work the first time.

Owen has gotten much better at colors. He's interested in the alphabet and numbers- he will count the even ones when we count the odd ones and will fill in letters when we sing the alphabet song.

He and Richard often go out to the yard to dig for worms, then they come in and Owen will

explain to me everything they found. They went for a bike ride this morning, and when they returned, Owen told me all about the farm animals they saw, and how they were eating grass- amazing that he can tell a story now- using mostly nouns. He has said a couple of sentences- if you count "ball down" and "coat on" as sentences. We do.

When we read him books and he learns about things, Owen wants to know if it's something he can put in his hand, or if it's something he can eat. So, for example, if you point to a flower, he'll ask "hand?". Yes, Owen, you can put that in your hand. "Eat?" No, Owen, you don't eat flowers. Then the next time he sees that thing, we will identify it as Hand or Eat. Sometimes he plays a joke with his car book and says he can Eat them, but giggles the whole time.

How to get to Aunt Susie's

Owen and Richard went for a walk Friday night. At the end of our street, Owen pointed to the left. Then at the end of that street Owen pointed to the right. Then he refused to turn on any of the next streets. Until he got to Susie's house. Then he pointed to the front door. They went inside and played with Laurel and the cat and the dog.

Owen has learned how to get around Corvallis faster than me!