Jackson Elk

This weekend some of us headed to see the sights in Jackson, Wyoming. It's a cute little town that appeals to ski-bums, artists, cowboys, and naturalists alike. Elk (and their antlers) actually play an important role.

It was a little overcast and snowy on the drive, but it ended up being a beautiful day to bundle up under blankets to see real elk on the national refuge via horse-drawn sleigh. And let me tell you, we learned more about elk than we probably wanted to!

While Daddy baby-sat his mini-me :)

You call this spring?

Hmm, why so long since the last post? Well, we've been settling in, meeting other moms and babies, being sick (just colds, probably from the other moms and babies), and having visitors (Oma and Grandpa are in town)!

Now that the snow has melted and "spring" is here, we try to venture out when the sun is shining and the wind isn't whipping. We checked out the backyard, since it's mostly free of our inherited dog poop, and went to the neighborhood park with Grandpa. Note to self: there are no swings at the neighborhood park! Whoever heard of such a thing? Also, the park seems a little advanced for those under 3 feet tall.

Getting a boost from Grandpa

Grandpa and Mommy had to push and pull Owen up the little slide from different ends, all to get about 4 feet of sliding action on the way back down. :)

One of O's favorite areas to play in the house is on the front steps. Tossing things up there and then going to get them, only to toss them back down, etc. Always busy, busy!

We also finally made it in to the doctor for his 15-month checkup and shots. His stats were 33" tall (92%), 24 lbs (41%), and 47.6 cm head circumference (63%). That's 3 inches of growth since December! The doctor said he's tall and skinny. Not sure where he gets that from! And, besides the minor cold we're both recovering from currently, he's in pretty good health overall. Just a little anemic, which was not surprising given the fact that he's not really a fan of meat. We'll work on that with other food sources though.

15 months

Nothing too exciting going on these days. Still unpacking and trying to find our schedule what with the time zone change and now Daylight Savings Time. I think he's also trying to transition from two naps to one, which doesn't help in the predictibility. [sad face] Making it to the pediatrician for a 15-month check-up is on the list, once we pick a doctor. He definitely seems heavier and taller every week!

"Helping" with the unpacking

He occasionally sits on his ride-on toys and scoots backwards. This is progress, since his original and preferred method is to push them backwards or alongside until he crashes into something (and sometimes topples over himself).

Here's a short clip of him playing on the entry stairs. I spared you the footage of him making speeches and goofing around up there, but this will give you an idea of his confidence in his motion these days.

He's definitely running from room to room now. And he's very into repetitive actions: on/off/on/off, up/down/up/down, take/give/take/give, etc. Hopefully, this is just a normal phase, but I haven't unpacked my "what to expect" books from the move yet for reassurance. :)

As you could tell from the end of the video, he's also much more aware of being filmed. He likes to look through the pictures I take on the camera, so here's a Mom/Son shot I took during one of those lessons. He has not learned how to smile for the camera yet, though!

Random strangers often compliment his eyes. I think this picture is evidence of why. That and he does like to stare. Ha!

Settling In

We're still unpacking, but gradually settling in to the new house. Part of the fun (for Owen) of unpacking was the discovery of some "new" toys that we'd been saving for a rainy day. One of the big hits has been a hand-me-down Sit 'n Spin that plays music. Check out this video of him dancing to the beats (also a demonstration of his improvement in balance). :)

The house also has some fun elements for Owen, such as a little play area under the basement stairs complete with a tiny doorway and window. He's taught himself how to go down the stairs backwards by practicing on the entry steps.

He also likes opening and closing (and opening and closing) the French doors to the dining room. He's shut himself in once or twice. :)

Yesterday we ventured down to the neighborhood playground because we had so much thawing this week. Unfortunately, we picked the afternoon when a new cold front was blowing in. I noticed that none of the natives were silly enough to play on the playground just yet. But Owen loves being outside, regardless of temperature, and crunching the snow underfoot. He actually cries when we bring him back inside. (This trip to the playground looks a little different than the one we took nearly a year ago back in sunny Texas.)

Since their traumatic boarding/journey to the great white north, the cats have been a little more tolerant of Owen's advances. There's still a lot of chasing going on, but the cats will both occasionally surrender to his persistence and let him "pet" them. He's getting a lot better at being gentle, and they've become a new source of soothing softness for him. Let's hope this tolerance continues! (Don't blame us for Owen's attire here - it was laundry day!)

And lastly, he's an eating machine! It seems as though we are always feeding him. Even when he just ate what seems like an adult-sized portion, he will come sniffing around us for scraps if we are still eating, especially if there's bread/crackers involved. He still hasn't really picked up on mouth capacity and will ravenously eat whatever is placed on his tray. In this one, some cheesy tortilla became stuck to his cheek during the feeding frenzy. He was laughing because he could feel it, but couldn't find it.

We made it!

Today was a good day: we finally got our full-sized refrigerator delivered and installed, the house became wired for internet, and our Austin house closing was complete! Not to mention that it was nearly 50 degrees and sunny, so Owen and I got to take a spin around the block in the stroller. Plowing through snow in the stroller was a new experience. :)

But, let's back up. We've been in Idaho for a week now and a lot's happened in that week.

Owen's first plane trip. We had some drama on the first leg when O was tired, but couldn't fall asleep in the seat. John ended up walking him up and down the aisle about 20 times, where he eventually passed out on his shoulder. This picture is on the second leg, post-nap and post-ridiculously-long-airport-jog where we just made our connecting flight. It's debatable whether lugging the carseat around with us was worth the effort.

Gearing up to venture outside in his new big (too big?) jacket

Although we were a little off-schedule, we did make it out of the hotel for a few meals. (I've got to say that a high-chair is one of those things that you take for granted until you don't have one. Human high chair is much less effective!) In this picture, he's flirting with the waitresses. I think he's catching on to this whole "baby/chick magnet" thing...

In an effort to stave off cabin fever from being pent up in the hotel room for days, we took O to a kiddie playland on one of the afternoons. His favorite spot was the ball pit, for sure.

Although, the play house was a close second.

Finally, on Friday we were able to close on the house and get the movers unloaded in the new digs. We still very much like the house and are unpacking in our spare time (will it ever be done?).

Here's the proud homeowner beginning what's sure to become a least-favorite chore when the novelty wears off. It was actually snowing while they were unloading all of our stuff and dropped into the single digits that night. We're definitely not in Texas anymore.

But here's what it looked like today off of our back porch. (see the foothills in the distance?) Sunny and clear with the tinkling sounds of snow melting off the roof. And so, a new chapter begins.