It's rare that we are all in one place at the same time, so we had to take a moment and get a family photo (dogs and all)!
The Wade Family
It's rare that we are all in one place at the same time, so we had to take a moment and get a family photo (dogs and all)!
Owen Meets his Aunts and Uncles (on the Wade side)
Our next stop was Grandma & Grandpa Wade's, where Aunt Cat was anxiously awaiting Owen. She hadn't seen him since he was only a few weeks old, so she couldn't wait to get ahold of him.
Then Aunt Shannon and Uncle Matt got a turn. They are expecting a boy in December, a cousin for Owen!
Look out Uncle Matt, this is what you are in for!
Silly Uncle Eric was also excited to meet Owen. He knew just how to get Owen smiling.
Even Uncle Andrew took a turn getting up close and personal. It was very weird for me to see my baby brother holding my baby.
Owen Meets the Tanner Gang
We left Cleveland and headed to Columbus where we stopped at Great Uncle Bill & Great Aunt Patty's to visit some of the extended Tanner family. This is my mother's side of the family. Above is Owen along with his second cousin, Adam. Believe it or not, Adam is two weeks YOUNGER than Owen. We have always thought that Owen was big and chubby, but Adam is off the charts BIG. We were sharing notes with Doug and Lindsay (Adam's parents). It will be fun to watch the two of them grow up through the years. I hear that Lindsay is a faithful blog reader, so...Hi Lindsay! (did you, by any chance get a photo of all the 2nd cousins together? if so, I would love a copy)
And here is Owen with my cousin, Mary. I told you she had nice hair!Owen Meets the Kuder Entended Family
Owen got to meet lots of Great Aunts and Uncles on the Kuder side of the family. The 2nd cousins were really interested in holding Owen and checking him out. It's a good thing he isn't shy and doesn't mind getting passed around a lot.
Owen went on his first airplane ride and took it all in stride. I may have been stressed about the whole thing, but my worries turned out to be unwarranted. He slept through most of the hour and a half plane ride to Ohio on the boppy on Brian's lap. If only I could have curled up and slept like that!
Starting Solids!
Since Owen has been waking more frequently at night, we talked to our pediatrician about starting him on cereal. Brian raced home from work to put together Owen's highchair so his introduction to solid food could be done in comfort and style! I would hardly call it solid food that we gave him. It was more like breastmilk on a spoon, but Owen was interested.
Owen's Entertainment
Owen has this thing where he just loves to look out the window. It's an easy fix to throw him in front of the window in the evening when he's cranky. Brian likes to do this with him. Don't ask me what he looking for out there...maybe he's keeping tabs on the neighborhood squirrels?!!!
Tired Baby or Bad Parenting?
Owen just loves hanging out in the doorway jumper. It's fun to watch him bounce around and get a better sense of his body balance. I enjoy checking him out when he doesn't know that I'm watching. Every time he caught my glance he would give me a giggle or huge smile. He was having such a good time today that he wore himself out and fell asleep. Are we terrible parents for letting this happen? Don't you just love how this photo shows off his adorable, chubby thunder thighs? There is just something about baby fat that is so irresistibly cute!
Sitting Up
We have been working on getting Owen to sit up for a while now. He is finally showing a lot of progress and can sit up on his own for a bit. He usually only lasts about 30 seconds before he falls overs, but it is fun to see the concentration on his face as he is figuring out his body control. He also thinks falling is funny so each try ends in a giggle or big smile. I like to have lots of blankets around to cushion the fall, so it's no wonder he likes it all.BTW, yes, his onesie says Poop on Michigan...isn't it great? Go Buckeyes!
Professional Photos
If you can call some college kid snapping photos of us "professional" then we got them! You can check us out at The Picture People
Owen Goes to the Beach
So we decided that a trip to the beach with Owen might be fun. We were having beautiful weather and thought going late on a Sunday wouldn't be too bad. We packed the car and headed up to Hampton Beach in New Hampshire. I don't think Owen knew what to make of it all. He wasn't a fan of the nippy 65 degrees ocean water. The first time the water came in and touched his feet he immediately started crying. I didn't blame him because it felt cold to me as well. We took a long walk down the beach and had fun people watching. You've got to love a baby in silly swimming trunks!No Hair O Bear!
So I've been frequently getting the question, "When is Owen going to grow some hair?" I've been curious about that myself, but being a bald baby isn't that bad. He's still really cute. It might be different for a girl. It reminds me of my wonderful cousin, Mary. I believe all her life life she's been known as "No Hair MareBear", even though she now has a nice head of hair. So Mary, hope you don't mind that we steal your nickname for Owen. And my response to the hair question is this...it's not a big deal for him to be bald at this point in his life, it's late in life when he'll cares about how much hair he has!!!!5 Months Old
Owen turned 5 months old today. Wow, how quickly time has flown by. He has also grown tremendously. It's hard to believe all the changes. Everyday Owen seems to be more fun than the last. Just when I think it can't get any better, it does!Some milestones of Owen's at 5 months:
- Smiles and laughs all the time. My heart just melts every time he smiles for me. The best is when I go to pick him up at daycare and the second he sees my faces he breaks into a big smile. The laughing is contagious. Brian is really good at playing games and getting him to laugh and I can't help but run over to see what he is giggling at and to laugh along with him.
- Rolls over from his tummy to back. It's so exciting every time it happens - but he has to be well rested and in a good mood for the rolling to happen.
- Likes cooing and babbling. It is so cool to have him making sounds to emulate talking. When he notices that he has my full attention he may start cooing like he's trying to tell me something. He'll make noises, like a wet razzing sound, when no one is around as well. It's fun to wonder if he will be a chatty kid?
- Usually turns his head for my voice. He doesn't always do this, especially if I just say his name...but he is catching on more and more. I've been working on saying his name frequently so he'll recognize it more.
- Owen has been holding his head up well on his own for a while now. He is definitely getting more control of his body and balance. This is especially nice when you need to hold him with just one arm. He does a pretty good job of holding himself steady.
- Almost sitting up. Brian has been practicing with Owen a lot the past few days. While he doesn't stay up for very long, he's getting better and stronger.
- His reaching for objects is also developing. He seems to prefer to grasp softer things, like his bibs, burp cloths or even my shirt. We've been putting this cloth doll, Wayne, in his hands and he's pretty good about shoving parts of it in his mouth. He'll hold on to smaller toys but he's not that into grabbing them on his own yet.
Mama's Boy
Owen definitely seems to prefer me over anyone else, especially when he his cranky. While I find this incredibly cute and endearing, it's not always that convenient. He'll be crying for Daddy, but stop the second he gets handed off to me. I like to think we have a magical bond, but it's probably only because he knows where his next meal is coming from!
Owen Sees the Ocean
Today we took our friends Gayle and Rob out to Rockport on Cape Ann. I'm calling this Owen's first view of the ocean. He's seen the water on the Boston harbor, but I don't count that as the ocean since there is no breezy, salty air to take in. We quickly discovered that Owen's beach hat is already a bit small. He's growing too fast!
The Boston Garden
Our friends, Rob and Gayle are visiting this weekend. We were downtown for lunch and ended up at the Boston Garden. Owen loved rolling around in the grass, checking out the cops on horseback and all the other craziness that goes on there.
I've labeled this photo "Good Bench Hunting" because the guys were obsessed with finding the bench that Robin Williams and Matt Damon sat on during the movie "Good Will Hunting".
Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'
Owen started rolling over from his stomach to back. The first time he did this today, we thought it was a fluke. So we put him back on his tummy and he did it again - two more times. It really came as a total surprise. We had no idea he was ready to start rolling over. I grabbed the video camera instead of the photo camera, so I don't have any pics to post of the big achievement. But I did take this really cute photo of him laughing today. What a fun day we had!
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