Grandparents Come to Town

My parents were in town over the weekend to visit and spend some time with Owen. He warmed up to them pretty well. My father was playing peek-a-boo with him almost the second he came in the door, so Owen was pretty happy about that. There were also lots of duck-n-hide then big smiles for Grandma too.

Owen got an early birthday gift that he just loves. There are sure to be lots more pictures of Owen playing with this since he can't seem to get enough. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa.

We took a trip to the New England Aquarium with Grandma and Grandpa but taking photos there was difficult because it was so dark. But Owen had a great time checking out all the other kids, watching the penguins gulp down fish, and checking out the huge turtles in the monster tank.

11 Months

The love for this little guy continues to grow exponentially every day. He’s mellow, curious, mischievous, silly, happy and just so good. He loves peek-a-boo and being held upside down. He has started to give me these wet, open mouth, slobbery kisses that melt my heart even though they gross Brian out. I can hardly stand how much I love him.

Owen's 11 Month Milestones are:
• Cruising along furniture so much more and a lot quicker too!
• He's crawling then putting himself into a sitting position. This is a new thing for Owen because he had always been content to play with toys while laying on his belly before now. I also catch him sitting on his knees and find it to be so adorable because this is always the way Brian sits on the floor.
• He's really starting to get into his toys and figure out what they do instead of just putting them in his mouth. It's amusing to watch him push toy cars along the floor.
• Big time exploration going on. Owen likes to get into everything he shouldn't. You look away for two seconds then discover he has done something like take out all the tissues from the tissue box. What a silly boy!
• Owen is becoming a bigger and bigger eater everyday. He is enjoying feeding himself cereal, crackers, fruit or whatever else he can get his hands on. I usually have to have two spoons when I feed him...one for him to hold and one to use for feeding. The teeth have been slow to come, but that doesn't seem to slow him down.
• Wordlike sounds are now spilling out of Owen's mouth. Still no definite first word yet.
• Is getting better at waving goodbye.

Cruising Around

Owen loves to travel around the house and investigate everything. These days he's always pulling himself up and cruising around on everything from couches, chairs, cabinets, doors...even the walls sometimes. He's got a couple of favorite things...the desk chairs (on wheels) in the office, the mudroom door (shown above) and our coffee tables. His coordination, balance and mobility seem to be improving everyday. He only needs one hand to hold on and I've even caught him balancing without holding on to anything. It feels like only a matter of time before he's walking. It just amazes me because just the other week I felt like he was too wobbly to be walking anytime soon, now I feel like it's just around the corner.

We are having another sunny Sunday, so we wanted to get out and get some fresh air. The minuteman bike trail is so close to our house we thought it would be a nice easy walk to Lexington Center. The walk was far from easy in the slushy snow. Daddy only made it as far as Starbucks (okay, I wasn't loving walking conditions either)...but Owen sure seemed to enjoy our little excursion.

French Fry Guy

We went out for lunch today and couldn't help but laugh as Owen immediately grab a french fry for himself. I have been trying to give him more "big people" food, like fruit slices, tiny pieces of meat, crackers, etc. Of course I'd like him to eat healthy, nutritious stuff, but I might as well give in to the fact that it isn't always going to be that way. Enjoy your fries little man!

Hiking

Today we decided it would be fun to take a hike. Walden Pond is an easy destination for us, so we packed up the car and headed out. This wasn't Owen's first trip to Walden Pond, I had taken him there during my maternity leave but he slept during the entire hike.

Standing on the edge of the pond...yikes!

We were anxious to try out our new backpack carrier that Grandma and Grandpa Kuder got us for Christmas. At first we weren't sure Owen liked it because he was a bit fussy. After a bit of adjustment he seemed to be much happier.

Owen seems to really enjoy being outside. Hopefully we'll be able to have lots of hiking adventures with him.

Car Rides

The sun kept getting in Owen's eyes, so I let him borrow my sunglasses.

View of the backseat.

Since day 1, I have sat in the backseat with Owen. It's totally not necessary, especially since Owen is a really good car rider. He has no problems if he's back there alone...but if Daddy's driving I can't seem to stay away from our little guy. It looks like we are being chauffeured around. Once Owen turns a year old and we can put his seat forward facing, I think I'll go back to sitting in the front seat. I miss the leg room!