Socks

First, we'll just start with a handsome picture of Owen... Now, we'll move to socks. Owen loves socks. Actually, he loves taking them off more than wearing them... but he loves to slobber them up so you can actually wring out the slobber. On car rides, you hear him get really really loud right when the sock pops off. I think it's cheap entertainment, so I keep putting them on, just so he can pull them off again.

Here he is with his sock. It was in his mouth, and it popped out when I took off the camera.

Then he saw my socks on the floor and worked really hard to get to them. He tasted one, but it must not taste as good as his... he spit it out... I hope he doesn't have a foot fetish when he grows up!

Owen is getting his move on. As you can see, he starts with a spin, then a turn and finally a scootch back. How great to be able to play with toys with your feet! He is also slowing learning how to push up on his hands and feet. Teeth and movement all in one week... and all before he turns eight months.

Now, if only he would say "mama"...

Big changes

Owen is changing daily...and quickly. He's now much more "on the move". He realizes now he can actually get to the toy that is out of his reach by rolling, spinning and scooting backwards. He hasn't quite figured out "forward motion" but it's soon.

He was very proud to reach a CD case and move it around... I suppose he didn't like the 90s music I was listening to?

Yesterday he worked on tooth number two. It has barely popped through, but it's definitely there. It's quite challenging to take a picture of bottom teeth, especially when they are so small.

It's a bright picture, but you can see the bottom tooth (his right) and can imagine his left one. It's much more prominent this morning... not that he's up to eating steak yet or anything, but we're one step closer.

happy baby.

Fish face

Dancing Man

Owen has taken up dancing. This is from a few days ago. When the music starts he does a little jig. I love his serious face. Dancing is hard work.

Eyes

Just look at this kid's eyes! And those lashes! Nothing CoverGirl makes can make my lashes look like that! We are still working on the sippy cup. His favorite thing is to lean over onto the cup that's on the floor. He's quite flexible.

I felt it!

While I cannot get visual confirmation, today, on the day Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States of America, Owen got a tooth!

It's amazingly difficult to get him to open his mouth AND move his tongue to see it, but I can definitely feel it with my finger! Today is a great day for America! Owen has a tooth!

Owen and Ben

Last night we babysat Ben for a couple hours, while Patti and Dan enjoyed a "date night". Ben is five months old. It was really cute watching the two interact. Owen was so gentle patting Ben's head. They seemed to have a fun time.

Owen was "kissing" Ben's head, the same time Ben was tasting Owen's sock.

This is the funniest video, and while it may seem a little mean, we only let it go on for the length of the video. Ben would cry, which made Owen cry, which made Ben cry, which made Owen cry. Everytime one of them "got it together" the chain would start again. (make sure you have your volume on)

Weekend Fun

We've had another fun and exciting weekend, and we still have one more day! We're spoiled that today is Martin Luther King Day, so Lucas doesn't have to work! But the past two days have been full of adventures. We've gone on walks... it's cold outside, so Owen gets all bundled up. We love the "new" hat that was passed down from Seth. We went to the zoo. It was cold, but nice. The only odd thing there was a security guard. We first saw him in the bald eagle exhibit. But then noticed everywhere we went, he was there. Was he following us? Was he a clone and there were five of them? I don't know, but it was a little odd.

Here is a picture of a goat. For no other purpose than for my friend Marcy, who loves the goats. They were happy that day Marcy, though I'm sure still dreaming of their bigger living situation that you are dreaming of building them!

Owen took a bath.

He played with Doc.

And of course, took a good nap.

We have a lot of hand-me-downs from Seth and Zachary. I can tell my sister loves corduroy overalls. When I was unpacking the 12 month clothes, I found a light brown, dark brown, light green, and dark green pairs. I'm finding I love them too... he's just so handsome in them!

Such a little man

Owen is looking more and more like a little man each day. Especially since he's moved up in clothing size. He's up to 12 month clothes. Granted, some are really big on him, I call this growing room, but he's growing up so fast!

AND, he's starting to become a "ham" for the camera. A far cry from the serious camera man from a few months back!

Of all his toys, his favorite of the moment, the blanket tags. Amazing how slobbery they can get!

Seaside

We just returned from our second annual Seaside get-a-way with our friends Susan, Dave, Tony and Deb. We had a wonderful time, as always. So rarely can six people spend two nights together, and everyone gets along, no matter which combination of people are together. We all, of course, brought too much food. It was all very very tasty. Here Tony is displaying his work of art: a challah loaf from Grand Central Bakery.

And here he is with his "baby" another challah.

Owen had a great time, he's such a good traveller. He also pulls off adult hats almost better than the hats that actually fit!

He played, and ate, and slept. The normal routine of a kid. He wasn't a huge fan of the can of "lentils and rice". Not as good as home cooking, but he ate it all the same.

He took an afternoon snooze with Deb.

Hung out with his pal Dave, in the hat Susan knit for Dave.

Played with his monkey.

And practiced his "spiderman" skills.

He really enjoyed hanging out with everyone, as did we.

Next year it will be eight of us. Susan and Dave are expecting there first baby in the beginning of March. We can't wait for next year!

New Skills

I started introducing Owen to sippy cups today. (he needs more water in his diet) At first I tried one without handles. But I think it was too challenging. So, we went to Fred Myers and picked out one with handles. I held up a blue and red one, and a green and blue one. He grabbed the red one, and played with it for the remainder of our shopping. I took this as a good sign.

After a long afternoon nap, we started to figure it out.

What is this?
Oh, I see, put it to my mouth.

Something is coming out, mmm...That's tastey!

Not as good as my thumb though!

Target

As many of you know, I love Target. But yesterday, I actually used these words: "Brad, I appreciate your policy, and I understand this is not YOUR fault, but if this is not fixed, I will not shop here again." I meant it too.

Let me explain. Owen needed a new car seat for our truck, our huge, ginormous four door Toyota Tacoma. (this point is a little bit of foreshadowing) He has almost out grown his "baby" seat, and is ready for the next step. I went to Target last week, and spent what seemed like hours researching convertible car seats. For those new to "baby lingo", that's a car seat that will be rear facing for a while, and then be able to switch, or convert, to front facing when Owen's a year old. In theory, this convertible car seat will last him a couple years.

So, after finding the "perfect" seat... good color, good support, oh, and safe, I picked one. And it wasn't the cheap one. It wasn't the most expensive, but it wasn't cheap... safety never is.

A few days later, we removed it from the box (again, foreshadowing) and took it to my favorite local kids shop, Segal's, to have it installed. It's a free service they provide to ensure the car seat is properly installed. The car seat would not fit. Or rather, it would fit in the back seat if the front seat was pushed all the way forward. I would have to sit cross-legged in order to ride in the truck. No good. So, they sold us one that would fit. It's a nice color too.

Now, to return the first car seat. I did not have a receipt. It was thrown away while cleaning. Target has strict return policies. No receipt= No Return. That's OK, Target can look up receipts using the credit card it was purchased with. I knew this, so I was not worried about the return. I really wasn't worried about anything, until the customer service lady, Sally, gave us this "look".

"I hate this, but policy says that if a car seat is opened, we can not refund it."

"WHAT?!? How are we to know that the car seat won't fit without it being opened? Can we talk to you manager?"

Sally got us the L.O.D. (that's leader on duty to Target lay people). This is when we met Brad. Brad is a young 20ish, red faced, know-it-all whippersnapper of an LOD. We explained our plight to Brad. Of course the box is open, but it has NEVER been used. He reiterated the policy. That's when I said the shocking and infamous statement. "Brad, I appreciate your policy, and I understand this is not YOUR fault, but if this is not fixed, I will not shop here again."

Brad gave us the number to customer services. I promptly called.

The first guy could not understand that the problem was not that I didn't have my receipt. The problem was the open box. When he did finally understand (there was a slight language barrier) he had me talk to the customer service supervisor. (maybe they call them the C.S.S) I again explained the situation. He said to go back to the same Target, talk to the LOD, give him this reference number and they would refund the car seat.

So, we did. Brad didn't know what the reference number meant. He again told us the policy. I said we talked to the CSS, he told us to come back. Brad scurried off to the back to call the CSS and discuss this "reference number". I think Brad thought we made this up.

Finally, after about 10 minutes, Brad came up and told us that they would refund it... "though it WAS against policy" I'm pretty sure the LOD and the CSS had a long, heated discussion. I hope the CSS won.

So, long story short: We got our refund. I will continue to shop at Target. Which I'm very thankful about... where else would I wander for hours and spend money randomly!

Cute New Year Baby

Just a couple cute photos from last night and this morning.
My happy monkey:

My serious monkey:

Butter and Bubbles

First the exciting news: Lucas made butter. Whipped the hell out of some whipping cream and made real, home made butter. We saved half to keep plain, then with the other half he made a toasted pecan maple butter, which will taste yummy on our homemade biscuits. He's very crafty this new year.

Now, for the sad news. Have any of you had packages delivered recently? At first, I thought it was a fluke, but now I realize it's the way of the future. Pop-less bubble wrap. WHAT you say? Exactly. They now make bubble wrap with square bubbles. You can't finger pop them. You can't twist them to pop them. You can't even step on them to pop them. They have taken away the joy of popping. Sure, maybe they are more "reusable" this way... but they have stolen the secret happiness and stress reliever of popping. Shame on them.