Food and Laundry

Owen had his first taste of real food tonight. I introduced sweet potatoes to him, and they seemed to be a bit hit. This whole eating solids is still so new that Owen like to feel it all out, literally. The hands go in the mouth right after the food. It's a bit hard to keep him from doing it. Once on his hands, it goes everywhere.

Looks like stain treatment is a whole new beast!

Showing Off for the Neighbors

Today Owen went to check on Elizabeth and Ruben, our wonderful neighbors across the street. For the first time, Owen seemed to be a bit shy around other people...I think Elizabeth and Ruben need to come over more often!

Buckeye Fan in Training

It may be week 5, but between being away, night games and not getting the games on TV...this is the first Saturday that I've been able to sit down and enjoy a Buckeye Football game with Owen. And what a perfect game to start off the big ten season. (OSU beat Minnesota, 34-21). I got Owen used to hearing Go Bucks chants, and at one point he was laugh out loud each time I said it.

Since the Olympics, Owen seems to like sports on TV. It's the only thing I allow on when Owen is around. We don't need a baby that watches TV, but for OSU I'll definitely make an exception! Daddy also loves the Red Sox, so this boy is going to be one crazy sports fans.

Summer's Gone

Summer is gone and the cool weather has moved in here in New England. Today we dressed Owen is this adorable fleece outfit that I bought him. It is so fun to put your child in cute clothes!

Eating Fun

As you can see, feeding time is very interesting with Owen. He likes to feel the food and spread it all over the place. Sometimes he won't let go of the spoon, so he has to have one of his own. My guess is that about 40% of the food actually makes it into his stomach. It's a fun job trying to clean it all up when he's done!!!

Backyard Baby

Brian is back to working on Fridays, so it's just me and Owen chillin' out at home. Owen loves to be outside so we hung out in the backyard for a while. Who cares about laundry, or picking up the house or any of those endless chores when you can play with this cutie?

Jump, Jump

For his six-month birthday, we took Owen out to get a Rainforest Jumper. This has got to be the single, best activity center. Owen absolutely loves to jump in it. He has a big smile on face and bounces the entire time you put him in.

6 Months Old

It is incredible that six months have passed since Owen has arrived in our lives. He has a smile that lights up my heart. I just look at him and feel so lucky. I was joking with a friend that I've become one of those mothers who thinks their child is the most wonderful child. I absolutely love being Owen's mother.

Owen's 6 month milestones:

• Sits up on his own. Most of the time this is in the "tripod" position by leaning forward on one or both arms for support. We are working on it.
• Owen has started eating cereal. He's still learning the whole eating solids because not a lot ends up in his mouth. But one thing is for sure; solid food = smelly diapers!!!
• Brian is really good at playing and inventing games with Owen. He loves to be rolled over and over and anything involving a silly voice.
• Has lots of energy; rolls and wiggles around. The naps seem to get getting shorter, and the alert playful times are getting longer. He's still only rolling over from stomach to belly, but he's starting to wiggle and arch his back more. He's going to be on the move before I know it.
• Loves to be on his feet. The exersaucer and doorway jumper are big favorites. He will jump himself silly in these things. Grandma and Grandpa Kuder discovered that if you do a jumping jack in front of him while in the exersaucer, he'll try to imitate you. It is incredibly funny.
• Owen definitely knows his mom and dad from strangers. This was pretty evident when he got passed around to relatives on our trip to Ohio. Many times he would look around the room to find me or Brian.
• Enjoys being sociable -- laughs. He's very alert and has good eye contact when you talk to him. I'm still working on getting him to recognize his own name.
• He reaches for and grasps toys really well now. Loves to put anything he can get his hands on in his mouth.
• Owen is probably the only one on this planet who likes to hear me sing. He will usually stop what he's doing to listen and watch me sing to him. I read somewhere that repetition helps with learning, so the Itsy Bitsy Spider and the ABC's are the two most frequent songs I sing to him. Owen seems to like music quite a bit, because he's still engrossed in Brian when he breaks out the Guitar Hero game.

More Family

Owen got to meet more of Brian's family when we got back to Cleveland. Cousin Kelly, Great Aunt Stephanie and Great Uncle Steve. Somehow we missed getting a picture with Aunt Barbara, who is a faithful blog reader (hi Aunt Barbara!). Owen and Uncle Steve share the same birthday, so I called them the 3.11 boys.

Owen Goes to the Zoo

Aunt Cat was very excited to take Owen to the Cincinnati Zoo along with her friends, the Lutows and roommate, Jen. It was a very hot and humid Ohio day, but Owen didn't seem to mind. The animals were great, but I'm not sure how much Owen noticed them. He happily hung out in the bjorn with Dad or napped in the stroller.

Brian's good friend, Nick, also joined us on our adventure to the zoo. Owen might look a bit small in this photo, but that's because Nick is a big guy. It was so great that Owen got to meet him.

But the most excited ones to meet Owen were the Lutow twins, Kate and Julia. Aunt Cat has been telling them all about Owen and showing off pictures to them that they couldn't wait to finally see him in person.

Owen Meets Great Grandma Wade

We took Owen to New Concord to go meet my Grandmother, who was so VERY excited to see him.