Winter came, kind of. We've had some good snowy days, but they are still followed by sunny days that melt everything away. As a result, we have a weird mix of snow chunks, icy sidewalks, bare yellow grass, and puddles in the garage. I did capture a few of the finer snowy scenes around the neighborhood before they dripped away.
And got a few more pictures on my ski trip to Grand Targhee yesterday! Pink sunrise over the foothills.
Grand Teton looming in the fog on our approach.
Proof that I was there! And yes, it was cold. Probably in the single digits upon our arrival in the morning, warming to ~20 degrees in the afternoon. But the sun came out, and there was no wind, so it was bearable. :)
Gorgeous Tetons visible from some of the ski trails and the road back down the mountain. I could stare at these mountains forever! They are truly amazing.
Orange sunset glowing on the trees on the way home.
This is the season to be sick, but Owen and Jacob remained relatively unscathed this week so we got them together for a play date. I think they had fun! They even entertained us with some wrestling while we got lunch together.
Now that we are back in the high desert, most of us are enjoying this mild winter we're having. I'm sure there's plenty of winter left yet to come, but we still have no snow on the ground here and temperatures in the upper 30s, which is unusual. Okay by me; I'll take a few winters to ease into a "real" winter. :) Plus, I need it to hold off until I can find a satisfactory pair of gloves that he'll wear! New bath towel:
Anyway, Owen is really flourishing with his speech and play these days. Here's a clip of the dancing we mentioned previously. (He's checking out his reflection in the fridge.)
Some other pass-times:
Back to asking us to kick the ball around with him a lot. This go-around he has a lot more power behind his kicks.
"Where'd it go?" with his hands thrown up questioningly
"Thank you....welcome" all as one statement of gratitude
Now has all but one of his baby teeth!
Picks out which shoes he's going to wear (I don't give him the choice for clothes yet!)
Has mastered his 3 toddler puzzles (guess we need to get him some more of those)
Declares "Job!" as in 'good job' for himself when he does something he's proud of. Have we been too encouraging?
Adores books, but is selective on which books to read before bed
No longer cries when I drop him off in the nursery for MOPS; just walks away to the toys, but he's still happy to see me when I pick him up! :)
New haircut:
And because I forgot to post his 2-year stats earlier, here they are: Height - 35.5" - 85% (so he'll be just under 6' as an adult, if you believe the old wives' tale) Weight - 27.9 lbs - 49% (this was just after a bout with the stomach flu, we just weighed him again, and he's nearing 30 lbs, which puts him ~75% more likely) Head - 20" - 96% (this was actually off the charts, but the doc estimated for us. Hope that head is full of brains!)
Of course, all those measurements come with a little * for human error. When he was originally measured for height, the nurse came up with 34", which was shorter than he was measured for his 18-month checkup. I noticed that he was laid out like a hypotenuse on the table and asked her to straighten him up. After she did, she got 35.5", which is taller than we measured him on the wall at home. Sigh. Let's just not put too much bearing on these numbers, okay? But if you assume user error on every kid ever measured, I guess you can still conclude that we have a pretty big boy, relatively speaking! :)
The middle of our Texas trip included a week's stay with Uncle Dan and Jenn in Houston. Their new house is lovely, and it was great to give Owen his own room again, for Mom and Dad's sake. Here he is showing them his new trucks!
Who needs the contents when the box and packing material is so much fun?
We really tried to soak up the sun and warmer temperatures with walks outside and some park play time.
Owen spent a lot of time with Uncle Dan and Jenn being tutored on how to count to 3. Supposedly, he did it a couple of times, but I never got it on camera! He does "1, 2, 1, go!" now that he's back home. (He's supposed to get to 3 before "go" in the video below.) We're trying to learn colors and counting, but it will be a while.
One of his favorite books from D and J's end table was their new car manual. Go figure!
We met up with several college-era friends while in Houston. One day we met up with my college roommate and her daughter, who's 8 months older than Owen. It was so apparent that boys and girls are wired differently from the get-go. Abby avoided dirt as much as possible, while Owen steered directly for it! Although he did like the miniature kitchen she had. :)
The next day we met up with John's old colleague and his kids at the Children's Museum of Houston. Oh, how I wish we were closer to a children's museum in Idaho!!! Owen had so much fun. His favorite part (besides all the cars to pretend to drive) was an outdoor water works section that included a long, winding "river", boats, valves, tubes, dams, and lots of water. He got totally soaked from splashing in the river. Luckily, he was wearing 2 shirts, so I dried one under the bathroom hand-dryer for the ride home.
Another kitchen, this one at the museum.
Did I mention they had face painting there too? :) He was being kinda grumpy, so I gave him this villainous makeover! Turns out he had gotten one of his 2-year molars in that week. (Don't worry. He loved the face paint!)
We also tried out some sidewalk chalk. He mostly liked to sit in what everyone else was drawing, so it ended up being a pants-less activity toward the end for him with a trip directly to the bathtub!
We continued the family fun with Christmas, part 2.
Hmm... what else? Oh yes. We discovered that Owen really likes dancing to club music. Here he is dancing unabashedly in his high chair at the sushi restaurant on our last day in Houston. Hilarious!
Hmm... where to begin...? We took a 2-week sojourn back to the motherland, Texas, for the holidays, stayed in three different locales, saw tons of family and friends, and crossed off nearly all of our major food groups that are lacking in the mountain-northwest. Might have to do this in multiple posts, since there's so much and some of the photos are on a computer that's not in my possession currently.
Owen was a great traveler, all things considered (3+ hour drive to airport, parking and tram/baggage check/security/waiting at the airport gate, 3 hour flight, and more driving on the other end). He loved rolling his bag along behind him like all of the other people he saw! (It was filled with in-flight trucks and books.) Luckily, we had extra time to walk at a toddler's pace from security to the gate.
We actually had to pay for his seat this time, now that's he's of legal age. :) He did pretty well on the plane, sleeping 1/3-1/2 the time, reading, eating and looking out the window ("Cars!" were spotted upon landing). He didn't have to get out of his seat the whole flight, though he was definitely ready to by the end.
We can't go to Texas without spending a little time in Austin. We met up with friends and had a little playgroup with Owen's old buddies, Maria and James, who had already departed when we decided to do a group photo.
Then it was on to Christmas at the ranch. Lots of family, food, and presents. Owen finally met all of his cousins.
Seeking protection with Uncle Ken from the evil remote controlled fire truck.
Watching Cars2 with his cousins Katie and Hannah. He sat there for the whole movie!
Sharing books with cousins Kristine and Evalynn.
Riding on the RV with Grandad! It was raining nearly the whole visit, so this was a rare opportunity to get outside.
Then we spent a week in Houston (post to follow), returning to the ranch for a couple of days before heading to Austin to catch our flight back. I broke out some of my old toys for him. I think they were a hit!
Checking the pasture for cows.
Throwing a fit on a sandy trail. He's developed a penchant for lying down on the floor in a (usually) silent protest. This has manifested itself at the airport security line, gate waiting area, public bathrooms (ew!), library story time, neighbor's driveway, and just about anywhere he feels inclined. I can't wait for this phase to pass! :)
Whoa! Grandad has an actual tractor! Owen was so excited to see it and literally kick the tires. Of course, he had to get a closer look behind the wheel, but he would not get anywhere near it once it was turned on! Scary!
The obsession with "driving" wheeled things extended to our rent car.
