Exercise!

I am not disciplined enough to do any sort of exercise except sports and the occasional walk. Owen, on the other hand, is starting early. His exercise regimen started about a month ago, when he started doing baby crunches (or sit ups), in an attempt to try to sit up or see something that he couldn't while laying down. And now, at 5 1/2 months, he has started doing push ups. And I don't just mean using his arms to push up on his belly, I mean a full on push up on his tippy toes. I couldn't believe it the first time I saw it and it took me four days to finally get a picture of it.

He's been able to rollover for about a month now from back to tummy, but he FINALLY learned how to roll back over this week. He makes it look really easy (and it's supposed to be easier to go from tummy to back), but I think he just never thought to try until recently. He's rolling all over the place now. No need for crawling - if he wants something, he will figure out a way to roll and shimmy his way over to it. And I love that play mat in the picture above, but he's not on it for long anymore!

Owen has also gotten used to being on his tummy. He really doesn't mind it at all anymore, and actually started rolling over in his crib and sleeping that way. For awhile, he would get mad that he rolled over in his crib, but not anymore.

The weather has been awesome lately, so last weekend when Owen and I went to Elkader, we went for a couple of walks. He loves it and looks pretty cute in the process!

My brother and sister-in-law got married a couple of weeks ago in Jamaica. Unfortunatley, Ryan and I couldn't go, but Owen still got a souvenir! Can you guess who it's from?

It says I Love Mommy & I Love Daddy...but Grandma and Grandpa are the BEST!

I have been waiting for his first teeth to start showing, but nothing so far. He is the drooliest baby and is ALWAYS chewing on his fingers, a teether, or a pacifier, but no sign of a tooth yet. And this has been going on for a while. Maybe he just likes the taste of his hand!

I love this picture!

Mother's Day!

At the graduation, Owen wanted to take pictures

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day! My parents, brother, his wife and kids, Owen and I had spent Saturday night at my other brother and soon to be sister-in-law's house because my brother graduated from Vet school on Saturday. So Sunday morning we all went out for a Mother's Day breakfast at IHOP. Then my parents and I packed up and headed back to Cedar Falls. So I was able to spend Mother's Day weekend with my mom! :) Then, back in CF, Ryan, Owen and I went out for ice cream and ate it in park, before going for a little drive. Ryan and I used to do this on the Harley, but since our family has grown, we had to substitute the car! It was nice and relaxing, except when we drove by the shooting range in Black Hawk park, and the gun some guy was shooting was really loud and it scared the crap out of me. I knew we were in the shooting range, and Ryan had stopped the car, but I just thought he wanted to see if he could tell how good of a shot the guy was. I was kind of looking off in the other direction, toward the river, and when the guy shot his gun, I about hit the ceiling. It was kind of funny, because it was pretty silly of me not to expect a gun shot. My heart was racing for a while after that!

Owen was pretty fascinated by his cousin

When we got home, Ryan had to get ready for work, so then Owen and I got to spend the rest of the day together by ourselves. I put him down on this activity mat, and FINALLY got a video of him rolling over! As you'll see, it's pretty hard work! And he still doesn't really like being on his tummy for very long. After I stopped the video, he did manage to roll back over on his back, but it was partly because he grabbed ahold of one of the activity mat's arm things and kind of swung himself around. He hasn't been able to roll back over yet, but every time I put him on that mat, it doesn't take long before he's on his tummy!

So all in all, yesterday was a really good first Mother's Day, and I've gotten lots of use out of my new diaper bag that Owen gave me. I love it. Today, Owen has been a little cranky pants, but he's also taken a couple of naps and one of them was pretty long, so I even got a little nap! So that's a plus. I'm not sure why he's being cranky. He's not feverish, so I don't think he feels sick or starting to cut a tooth, so maybe he's just having a bad day. He was such a good boy all weekend, especially through the graduation, that he's earned a little cranky, I think! And even his cranky isn't too bad. I think I have the best baby ever! :)

Rollover

Owen rolled over yesterday! He was playing on the floor on his back while I was watching TV and when I looked over at him, he was on his tummy! I was so surprised that I woke Ryan up from his nap in the chair. :) I was just mad that I missed it. I've watched him come SO close so many times and have had the video camera ready so many times and I missed it! Oh well, I was just so happy for him. And since that time, he has done it a couple of more times. He's not really a huge fan of being on his tummy, though. Sometimes his arms get stuck down by his side, and it looks silly because he just arches his back. But he's getting better and he'll tolerate more time on his tummy when his arms are in front of him and he can push up a little bit.

He also learned to put his pacifier back in his mouth. I was really impressed by this. It has to be in his hands the right way, but it seems like that would take a lot of hand-eye coordination. I like that he can do this because he pulls his pacifiers out of his mouth and then gets mad. If he drops it, I'm lucky if he 1) picks it back up and 2) picks it up in a way that he can get it back in his mouth the right way, but this is a start! I really wish that I could just get rid of the paci because he REALLY likes it, and that makes me kind of nervous. But it's so easy, especially at night, to just give it to him. I have very few problems getting him to sleep, and I think it's largely due to the pacifier. He also really enjoys his mobile.

Last time I wrote about how Owen is starting to really like our dogs, and I was nervous about our chihuahua, Ace. Well, it now looks like they are going to be good buds! Ace has been doing a lot better with letting Owen touch him and if he doesn't like it, he just runs away. This picture may look like they are best buddies already, but I had kind of lay Ace there and hold him in that position, but he did jump up and sit by Owen on his own. :) Owen also got a huge kick out of Ace last night because Ace was getting all riled up and running in tight circles and "digging" in our bed. It was so funny to watch Ace and really cute to watch Owen laugh at him. I really wish I would have had the video camera.

Ragnar, on the other hand, I wasn't too worried about, but his size can be a little scary, and he's not used to being wrestled with and tugged on. He also doesn't live up to his name. "Ragnar" is the Minnesota Vikings mascot's name, and he is a big, strong, brave viking. Our dog, Ragnar, on the other hand, should have been named Scooby. He is scared of everything, especially thunderstorms. This picture of Ragnar and Owen was taken during a storm. Rag gets scared and always climbs on Ryan's or my lap during storms, or, if it's at night while we are sleeping, he goes to the head of the bed. Well, I'd like to say that Ragnar was protecting Owen in this picture, but I think it's the other way around.

This was taken today while Owen was playing on the floor on his activity mat. He got a little kick-crazy and knocked the thing over. He didn't mind one bit, though. By the time he was ready to be picked up, he had schimmied all the way off the mat and was basically just looking at the wall. Silly Punkin!

This Sunday is my first Mother's Day, but I am going to be out of town for my brother's Vet school graduation for part of the day, and my husband works that night. I will get to spend the day with Owen, but I won't be able to hang out with Ryan. Soooo, today when I came home (I was subbing in Hudson), there was a present waiting for me from Owen! And they didn't even make me wait until Sunday to open it! Ryan, I mean, Owen, knows I LOVE purses and bags, so I got a new diaper bag!! And I love it! It has a ton of pockets and space and the strap is really comfortable. I already have two diaper bags, but my boys know that I can never have too many!