1-2-1-4...

He has been cracking me up lately as his personality really starts to blossom.  He's got several different kinds of laughs, depending on the situation, such as an almost adult-like polite conversation laugh, an easy-going "cool guy" laugh, and a high-pitched staccato hyena laugh, along with the usual suspects.  He knows just when to use them, talk with his hands, give you a serious look, make a funny face, etc.


Not sure where he picked up this "hi-ya" to go with his kicks, but it's pretty entertaining.

He's also learning to count.  I had no idea that he could count up to 10, if you help him get past "three".  I just thought he was stuck on "one, two, one, two."  I guess "three" is hard to say, although we've gotten "twee" out of him a few times.

Which brings me to some of my favorite phrases that I want to jot down before I forget this adorable mimicking period.  He really picks up a lot of words now, but the best ones have toddler phonics, especially if an R is involved.

• "eh-mo teewee?" - multi-daily request for me to turn on the TV so he can watch Elmo on Sesame Street.  We still try to minimize his TV time, because he turns into such a little couch potato!
• "jaff" - giraffe
• "poose" - octopus
• "potamus" - hippo
• "ostirch" - ostrich
• "bana" - banana
• "qui-qui" - kiwi
• "noonles" - noodles
• "ahlo" - yellow
• "geen" - green
• "wed" - red
• "purpo" - purple
• "bagoh"- bagel
• "circo" - circle
• "ceweal" - cereal
• "gugurch" - yogurt
• "anshtairs" - downstairs 
• "what doing dada/mama/cars?" - conversation starter

Snow Day

We finally had a good snow that stayed on the ground long enough for us to break out the snow pants, boots, and gloves.  That combination allowed Owen to stay outside for quite a while and never complain of being cold!  Yea!  We had a great time blazing new trails,

rolling down the hill,

making snow angels, 

building a "snow man" (Idaho snow is so dry it's hard to pack and move the upper tiers),

throwing snow balls, and having fun.

 But frozen sand is just not the same...

Teepee Fun

Owen's been having a great time with his buddies lately.  We have 2 new additions to our basement (a treadmill and a teepee) that, along with the train table and hobbit hole, have made it the place to be for the playgroup on cold days.  I wish I could bottle and sell the energy that 5 two-year old boys have when they are together!

On an unrelated note, I just wanted to document these cute overalls that he got from both grandparents.  Hook 'em!  (Only 6 months until football season...)

Plus One

Dear readers, we're on the hunt for a couple of new names.  In July, we'll be a party of 4!  As a result, the blog will probably need a new moniker to reflect that it won't all be about Owen anymore (much to his dismay!).  If you have suggestions, let me know, but it may have to wait until we decide on a baby name.  :)


Here's the bump at 18 weeks.  As my dear husband pointed out, black is slimming, so this bump must appear larger in real life! 

More Christmas pics

I just got some holiday pictures from my brother, who has a much fancier camera and much more patience behind the lens than I do.  Thought I'd share some of his handiwork here.  (And yes, Owen was still sporting the scab from his birthday party fall and got a new scratch on his nose the first day we were there.)

Also, Owen's been adding to his vocab and behaviors lately, so I wanted to document some of the highlights.

• "Bess you" - now accompanies most sneezes and coughs (even fake ones) in our house
• Always talks about the "soonds" he hears.  He'll stop what he's doing if the icemaker empties or a car drives by and ask me if I heard the sound (he says it with an exaggerated vowel and a surprised look on his face)
• Frequently asks to "run" or "chase" meaning laps and laps around the couch for you
• "Ball kick" - requests to kick the ball with him, usually when he's just finished dinner and Mom and Dad are trying to finish theirs in peace
• "mo-ning" - greeting that could be given at any time of the day
• knows lots of animal and object names and we're working on colors, which is proving a little difficult for him
• "Haw-horn" - Longhorn
• retrieved his own pajamas from his dresser when Daddy was putting his own PJs on to be "just like Daddy"
• recognizes his friends' cars, yells their name, and starts giggling
• is going through a phase (hopefully) where he likes the computers at the library more than story time