Owen 1 Year!

It's my last monthly post from Owen's first year! I have lots of pictures from his party and much to report (i.e. more blog posts to come!), but I wanted to do his monthly update real quick.

I cannot believe it's been one year since Owen arrived. One one hand it's been so fast, but it also seems like another lifetime ago when he was born. It was an eventful arrival, making it the hardest birthday of my life but also the very BEST. He is such a blessing and I am grateful for his presence each and every day. We are a lucky family to have Owen around!

Today Owen and I shared our birthday for the first time! It was cute and fun - we had lunch with friends and went about our usual Tuesday activities, but it sure was great to have a birthday buddy with me all day.

A few updates from the last month of Owen's first year!

• Owen said "bye bye" for the first time when we visited the little zoo at Happy Hollow. He was mesmerized by the giant tortoise and could have watched him all day. When I finally decided it was time to move on, I said, "Say bye bye to the tortoise!" and he did! He waved and said "bye bye!"  So cute. We happened to swing by the tortoise again a little later and Owen said bye bye AGAIN when we left. Dallin (a little friend of ours who was with us) said it was a magical tortoise, it could make Owen talk! Of course, Owen hardly ever says it now, but once in a while the words come out!
• He is picking up on sign language - it's so cool! He's been doing the sign for "all done" the whole month and has also picked up on "more," "sleep," and "milk." And EVERY time he sees a dog he points, so that's sort of like his own personal sign for dog. He also did the sign for airplane one morning and it was maybe the cutest thing I've seen.
• He loves when I do monkey noises and tries to do it back (the high pitched part). So cute.
• The top two front teeth FINALLY came in after 2 weeks of grumpy grump! At one year he has 6 teeth - top front four teeth and bottom two front teeth.
• Owen absolutely LOVES pushing around cars/trains/trucks...he literally does it all day long.
• Owen also loves playing ball. He's good at throwing and now he is really good at kicking, which is pretty funny since he can't even walk. And he can kick a ball far!
• He pulls himself up on the coffee table and entertainment center all the time now and in the last few days has also pushed up into a downward dog type position. He stays stationary when he pulls himself up to places, but he's getting better every day!
• He finally loves eating real food and can really put it down! His favorites are tomatoes and chicken, although he really loves pretty much anything we give him.
• We finally had to employ the cry it out method so that Mom could finally get some sleep. It's been a week. It's better. It only took a few nights and not much crying, although he still wakes up once or twice needing his binky, but at least I'm not feeding him in the middle of the night anymore (he has been SO SPOILED). I'm still exhausted, but I think a full night's sleep MIGHT be on the horizon. ;)
• Owen is a happy boy. He is scrumptious. He has squishy thighs. He is everything a 1-year-old should be.

Happy Birthday Owen!

One last shot on the green blanket. 

And this is what happens in just one year...

And, as you can see, he has bid farewell to the annoying monthly green blanket photo. He couldn't get out of there fast enough. ;)

Owen, 11 months

Owen turned 11 months on Saturday. It is unbelievable that his first year is almost over. And, while it feels like it's gone by quickly, it also feels like his birth was AGES ago. We just have a few more weeks to describe his birthday in terms of months instead of years...our baby is growing up!

I took a lot of notes this month on Owen and what he's up to!

• At the beginning of his 11th month, Owen was able to sit up from lying down and by the end of the month he is a professional at this task.
• He has perfected the Owen Scoot and is super duper fast. We don't think he'll ever actually crawl on all fours because he simply doesn't need to. 
• When Owen feels an urgency to get to his mommy, he throws things out of his way as he crawls over, even if the items aren't necessarily IN his way. It is really funny, cute and dramatic!
• A week or two ago Anna was throwing a major temper tantrum and could not calm down. She was lying on the floor at one point and Owen crawled over to her, touched her face and gave her two kisses on the forehead. The temper tantrum disappeared, it was just the medicine she needed, and we couldn't believe Owen did it - it was sooooo sweet.
• Owen is an excellent waver now. AND he waves when he just hears people saying hello or goodbye, he doesn't need to see waving first. What a genius! ;)
• On August 16 he was crawling around with a spoon. At one point we looked down at him to discover he was pretend eating. His first imaginary play!
• We've started using some basic sign language with him and it's official, Owen's first sign is "more," which is so stinking cute to see babies do.
• On August 14 two more teeth popped through - top teeth next to the center teeth. They came through the same night and, needless to say, he did not sleep well that night. I'll be honest, I always thought teething was a baby myth - we never even noticed when the girls grew teeth. I am here to attest it is NOT a myth. Owen is totally opposite of his sisters and is definitely letting us know that it hurts to grow teeth! His top two front teeth have been almost coming for like two weeks now...everyone cross fingers they come through soon!!
• When we were flying home from the east coast, we hit some pretty decent turbulence at a couple spots. Owen would just giggle whenever that happened. He likes to live on the edge! He also giggled his way through the landing. Must have been an adrenaline rush for his little body!
• This past month I was in New York City with Owen for work - I had a conference to go to and a big party to throw. The day before the party we were at the venue getting ready and one of the PR interns for one of our sponsors was there. He really liked Owen and kept playing and talking with him. At one point the intern said, "High five!" and held up his hand to Owen...and Owen gave him a high five! I had no idea he knew what that was or how to do it. Turns out Owen is an expert at high fives AND regular fives. 
• When we were at Grammy McCarthy's house in Massachusetts, she had a toy tractor out for the kids to play with. Owen started pushing it around and, since then, can be often found pushing around cars. I just love watching him learn and discover the world. It's amazing how FAST babies' brains develop!
• Owen LOVES the vacuum.
• Owen FINALLY likes real food and is a good little eater. Yay!
• One of our favorite things that Owen does right now is nose breathing. He purposely breathes through his nose really loudly, in and out in and out. Sometimes he also crunches up his face when he does it. He thinks it's really funny and, well, he's right!

Owen hates laying on his back...whether it's to get dressed, change his diaper, take a bath...or, apparently, when taking his monthly birthday photo. Little stinker...

We seriously could not get a good shot on the green blanket - he would not hold still, I couldn't get anything in focus, he was grumpy the whole time...this was the best I could get!

We love you, little 11 month old!

Maynard girls and food

It's no mystery the Maynard girls like food. These two quotes from Anna and Cate this past week just further prove that point.

Anna, in all seriousness, while helping me make cookies last Friday: Mommy, I'm helping you clean up the dishes by licking them. It's a lot of work for me.

Cate, in all earnestness, eating dinner the other night: I am so grateful I have a tongue!

New Jersey 2012

A few quick shots from our visit to Grandma and Grandpa Wallin's in New Jersey this summer.

Owen had to go into NYC with me for a few days while I threw my big blogging party...we decided he was the cutest swag around!

Cape Cod 2012

Just a few quick shots from our Cape Cod vacation...there's more where this came from, but want to get something up!

Owen 10 months

Since Owen's 11 month birthday is just days away, figured I better get his 10 month post up! We were on the Cape when Owen turned 10 months old. I did get pictures taken - I even was crazy enough to drag the green quilt and growing giraffe cross country for the photos!

I just pulled up my notes for this post, and, well, I didn't make very many! So, just a few quick things:

• Owen started growling during his 10th month. It was pretty funny!
• The weekend of July 6 Owen suddenly started waving at people all the time. He would hold his hand up and curl his fingers in and out. SOOOO CUTE. 
• That same weekend he started using the word mom and mama all the time, which, of course, melted my heart.
• During this month Owen started doing the "Owen Scoot." Here's how it works. He gets up on his right foot, then onto his left knee, sort of wiggles and twists the kneeling leg, which moves him forward, then sits again, then repeat. It is a surprisingly fast mode of transportation! It was pretty funny that month, I didn't always see him actually scooting, but suddenly he'd be across the room. Very sly!
• When he gets excited...and even when he's not...he often sits with his feet off the ground. We think he must have super strong ab muscles!
• Owen tans! I put baby sunscreen on and everything and he browns right up, in fact he's got a cute little farmer tan going on (you can see it in some of the photos below)
• Right around his 10 month birthday he started clapping (happened pretty much the week we were on the Cape) - he is a fabulous clapper!
• When we first got out East, cousin Colby had a play sword and would swing it down and yell "Hi-Yah!" really loud. Owen totally picked up on it and LOVED it. Every time Colby would say "Hi-Yah!" Owen would pause for a moment then make the same grunting noise, his own version of Hi-Yah. It would make the whole family laugh every time, and I think it made Colyb feel pretty special! :)

The 10 month birthday photo shoot ended up being way to stinking cute and I took waaaaayyyyy too many pictures. Here are some of the favorites.

Owen and his Growing Giraffe

Owen is getting sick of taking photos on the green blanket. Just two more months, buddy!

I can clap!

I can scoot!

I can look super duper crazy happy and cute!

I can be coy.

I can be GQ.

I can be the sweetest thing you've ever seen.

This is what I do when I get excited! In this particular instance, my buddy Mac is approaching!

Hi Mac! Should we play? Your mouth looks interesting...

Owen is not phased by a little nip! Bring it on, Mac!

Oooo...this thing back here looks interesting...hahahaha!

Mac: "Are we done yet?"

What a difference 5 minutes makes

When our kids are babies and they can sit up but don't crawl or walk yet, I like to do a little photo shoot and take a few (okay, a lot) of pictures of those cute chubby faces.

This was Owen at the start of his photo shoot.

And this was Owen at the end. Which was only 5 minutes later.  

Who knew sitting on a soft blanket smiling at the camera was such torture?

Owen 9 Months

Owen celebrated his 9 month birthday just a few short days ago. I truly cannot believe how the time is flying by! He had his 9-month checkup this week and, in true cutie-patootie pipsqueak fashion, he is 17 pounds 4 ounces and 27 inches long. Cousin Sophie was over 19 pounds at her SIX month appointment. Despite Owen's smaller stature, he is still squishy and chubby and everyone he meets wants to gobble him up! Nate says Owen is the next Tom Cruise. {Minus the Scientology and muptiple divorces to 33 year old women, of course.) Owen is certainly a ladies' man already, so I think Nate is onto something! :) Look for Top Gun 2 in about 25 years!

Things to remember from Owen's 9th month!

• Owen HATES peas. He loves applesauce. And all other food is still just so-so. He just isn't that interested, but he's getting better. And his fine motor skills are great - it is so cute to watch him pick things up to eat. He also gets super excited when I walk toward his high chair with the box of Cheerios or fruit & veggie puffs. 
• No crawling yet, but he is super close. He is also close to being able to pull himself up to the side of the coffee table. Despite the lack of crawling, he can really get around, scooting about on his bum and reaching really far for stuff. He can also spin a mean circle sitting in one place. It's funny, you don't really notice the actual movement, but suddenly he'll be in a different place. Very stealth.
• He loves to give his mommy kisses and usually will give me a kiss when I ask for it. One particular night when his Dad and Auntie Anne were here, he really let me have it - coming at me with an open mouth and tongue stuck out, grabbing my face and turning it to him, and "kissing" me like crazy. It was bananas. We were all laughing so hard. He hasn't repeated these overly-friendly moves since, but it was a night to remember! 
• He can stand at the table and LOVES to do it.
• Owen's first tooth popped through this month on June 18 to be exact! Bottom front right. Didn't make much of a fuss that night. Good boy.
• Around June 16 he really started in on saying "Bah! Bah! Bah!" and it is his favorite word by a long shot. We all just love it when he breaks out the bah-bah-bahs.
• He is still super friendly to everyone he sees. He is making friends left and right!

Owen, you are such a sweet little guy. We love you!

Funny little side note - Owen was sitting on my lap just now watching me edit the photos. I got the hiccups. Every time I hiccuped he would laugh hysterically. Which gave him the hiccups. And then every time either one of us hiccuped, he would laugh. SO funny.

This was the first month where Owen was super smiley for almost every picture. It was awesome!

The Happy 9-Month Old

He's finally warming up to the "Growing Giraffe"

Of course there was a shot with his "concerned" look - the look he's been pulling since Day One

Seriously, does it get any cuter than this? Owen is smiling up at Cate in this picture.

Of course I had to end the little photo shoot with a picture of his very first tooth!

Mom: "Oh wow, it's going to be easier to get a shot of this tooth than I thought."

Owen: "Uh, lady, what do you think you're doing?"

Owen: "Seriously, what do you think you're doing?"

Mom: "Oh good, he's cooperating!"

Owen: "Yeah right. I'm shutting you and your pesky finger out."

Owen: "You're still trying? Really?"

Owen: "Mom!"

Owen: "Mooooommmmm!!!!" Mom: "Success!"