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!

Cuatro meses (4 months)

Time is such a funny thing. I was just cleaning out my closet yesterday, and was finally putting away my maternity clothes, and started thinking that it seems so long ago that I was pregnant, but at the same time I can't believe he's already four months old! April 15th was the one year mark of finding out I was pregnant. Again, seems so long ago, but at the same time, it sort of feels like just yesterday. That year flew by. It's weird.

Anyway, my baby is four months old and is getting to be so much fun. He is SOOOOO close to being able to roll over from back to stomach. SO close. And yesterday I finally got a giggle out of him! It isn't the all out laughter that I'm excited to see/hear, but it's a start! It happened when I blew on his belly :) He opens his mouth really wide when I "throw" him up in the air, like he wants to laugh, but nothing comes out...yet. He also started blowing raspberries (blowing spit). It's pretty cute and you can see him do it in the video. So about the video- it is Owen standing up on the chair, blowing raspberries. It is important for you to know that the chair is very soft, including the arms ;) I laugh out loud every time I watch this. Make sure your volume is up so you can hear him.

It's so funny how he never looks away from the camera until he's down.

He has also become very interested in the dogs. He likes to watch them and get kisses from them, and when he is close enough, he will reach out and try to touch or grab them. This will be interesting. Our chihuahua, Ace, does not want to be touched by Owen at all. He will lick Owen, but he doesn't like Owen to touch him. I have been trying to ease Ace into it, and sometimes he will let it happen, but has a little growl going. Otherwise, Ace will just run away. Our lab, Ragnar, is a little more flexible. Raggie loves to sniff and lick Owen, and will let him touch him, but he is sensitive about ANYONE playing with his ears. And sometimes I can lay Owen on Ragnar, and other times Raggie will move, but I haven't seen him growl at Owen since he first came home. Ace is just an a$$ to just about everyone but Ryan, me, and my parents, but I am hoping he'll grow to love Owen - we'll see. Ragnar, on the other hand, his very friendly and likes everyone, but is skiddish around toddlers. I don't think he would ever bite anyone, but sometimes I get a little scared when he is around young kids. Kids seem to either not know anything about dogs and are scared or too forward, or have their own dog that they can do anything to and the dog doesn't care. Ragnar isn't used to being wrestled with, tugged on, hit, etc, but hopefully he will learn to tolerate those kinds of things from Owen.

Ok, time for some pictures!

Mommy's little monkey!

Owen laying with Daddy.

This is called a Sleepy Wrap. It's basically a really long piece of stretchy fabric that I tie around myself, and then I can put Owen in it to carry him around. It's awesome! I have both of my hands free and his weight is distributed evenly across my back, so it's really easy to carry him around. He really seems to like it and he looks so cute in it! It's a one size fits all thing, so my husband could even use it. Plus, you can use it for preemies up to 35 lb toddlers! They come in all kinds of colors, too.

Happy boy!

In bed with Daddy

Well, that's all I have for today. Hopefully I'll have some rollover news in the next few days, or some video of him laughing! :)

Easter

I've been slacking! Owen and I went to Elkader a couple of weekends ago for my future sister-in-law's bridal shower, so Owen has been busy meeting more family. First, he met his little cousin Annaliese.

And they love each other already!

He also got to see his older cousin, Ian. It won't be too long before Owen can play, too!

Owen is watching Ian pretty close!

He also got to meet and see some of the ladies in my family at the shower. He got lots of attention!

This last weekend was Easter, and my mom came to Cedar Falls on Friday to do some shopping. So, of course, Owen got a couple of new summer outfits and a new toy from my mom and dad. 

We went to Muscatine for Easter to visit Ryan's family, so he got to meet his two cousins on that side, too! Bri and Lexi both loved him and wanted to help feed him (I had a bottle) and give him a pacifier. They are going to be good mommies someday! Here is a picture of them swimming.

We also got to take Owen swimming for the first time! He screamed and cried when he first got in because there were a lot of kids and he got splashed a lot and swallowed some water. But after he calmed down, he enjoyed it. I wanted to take some video of him, but I got in the water to help calm him down and then we never got video. We got a couple of pictures, though. I think he'll have more fun in the water when he can sit up on his own in a baby pool and splash around.

And of course Grandma's can't help but spoil their grandkids, so Owen got a summer outfit and a walker from Ryan's mom and stepdad. Owen really likes to be able to stand up on his feet and look around, so the walker is awesome because my arms needed a break from holding him up all day! He can't touch the floor with this feet in it yet, but at least he is upright and can look around. I wasn't sure if I would rather him have one that he can bounce in, or one that has wheels for him to eventually be able to walk in, but we got one with wheels that plays music. He seems to like it :)

All in all, Owen made out like a bandit for Easter. He also got a lot of nice hand me down clothes from his cousin Ian and Ryan's cousins Hayden and Jaxon (who are more like Owen's cousins since they are only four and one years old). We may never have to buy clothes! :) I'm just glad that Owen has a lot of family around his age - he'll be kept busy at family functions! This time next year, maybe Owen can join in on the Easter Egg Hunt fun!

3 months old!

Awww! Raggie's a good big brother!

Today is Owen's 3 month birthday! I can't believe time goes this fast! There is a Mexican folk tale that says if you measure your baby when he is 90 days old and take that number times 3, that is how tall he will be when he's full grown. So Ryan and I measured Owen today, and he is 24 inches tall, which puts him at 6 feet full grown. If that comes out to be true, he must have inherited tallness from my side of the family. Ryan is about 5'9"-10", and I don't think anyone on his side of the family is much taller than that. My dad and brothers, on the other hand, are all over 6 feet tall, so if he ends up 6 feet, he'd be about in the middle of Ryan's side and my side. Only time will tell, but the person that told us about this folk tale said that his grandma (who is Mexican) did this for him and his brothers and they all came out true. And he said he is about 5 inches shorter than his brothers. So, anyway, check back on this issue in about 18 years.   :)

I'm starting to think I either jinxed myself by bragging that my baby sleeps for 10 hours, or daylight savings really messed with Owen, but he was doing SO good with sleeping until last Sunday (the first day after we changed our clocks forward). I've started doing a routine with him before bed: bath, story, songs, eat, and bed. It was working really great for awhile. One night Owen fell asleep around 9 pm and slept until 8:30 am! The next two nights he went 10 hours! It was so awesome. BUT, for the last two nights, I have been doing the same bedtime routine with him and he starts to fall asleep while I'm feeding him, but then the second I put him in his crib, he is wide awake and just wants to talk. And if I'm not in there for him to talk to, he's mad. So I usually put him down at 9:00, but the last two nights he didn't settle down until midnight. :(  He spoiled me and now he's being crabby. But I know it could be much worse, but it still kind of sucks. It's been hard to get his naps on a schedule because we don't get up at the same time each day, and sometimes we are home all day and sometimes we are out and about, so his naps are kind of random. I hope he gets back on track.

I thought it might be kind of interesting to see how much Owen has changed in these past three months, so here are some pictures. It's crazy how much they change in the first month- he looked so different in just a few days, but I'm just going to show monthly pictures:

Birth day - December 16, 2009

1 month - January 16, 2010

2 months - February 16, 2010

3 months - March 15, 2010

I took this one yesterday- it was his first time enjoying the outside! Except it doesn't look like he's enjoying it very much!

The weather has been awesome the last few days - upper 50's and lower 60's (today was cold and rainy, though). So yesterday was the first time Owen has actually been outside. Every time before this he has been in his carseat covered up with a blanket. But I think I enjoyed the weather much more than he did. I think he had just woken up when I took him out there, so he looks pretty bored.

As far as I can tell, Owen is right on track development wise, if not even a little ahead. He's been able to hold his head up and "talk" for a LONG time, and lately he has been able to grab the animals on his bouncy, he can put all of his weight on his feet, he can put his fist in his mouth to suck on it, and I think he's starting to notice his hands. You know how babies figure out that they have a hand and just stare at it? I think he's doing that. I expected him to be more surprised by it, though. And yesterday he rolled from his back to his side for the first time! Can't make it all the way over yet, his darn arm is in the way. I rolled him on his tummy after he did that to see if he'd roll over like that (since it's easier to go from tummy to back), but he just layed there. I'm going to have to be EXTRA careful about letting him lay on the couch and stuff now that he can roll a little.

The temperature is supposed to go back down to near freezing this weekend, which sucks, because Owen and I are going to Elkader for my soon to be sister-in-law's bridal shower. I was looking forward to taking Punky for walks. I'm SO looking forward to summer. I keep seeing little baby swim trunks and sunglasses. They are so cute and my aunt got us a baby pool at my baby shower, so I'm excited to be able to use it. I hope he likes the water! If he's anything like me, he will. I used to go swimming EVERY DAY in the summer. Maybe in the years to come we will have to get pool passes, especially if we are still in Cedar Falls. There is a really nice aquatic center here that is great for kids, so it will be fun to be able to take him there. I can't wait, but part of me thinks he's growing too fast the way it is. I just want him to stay little forever!

                            

Owen is a big cousin!

At 2 and a half months old, Owen became a big cousin to Annaliese Kay. It was funny because when I got the phone call that she had been born, Owen was in his smiley, talking mood, so it seemed like he was really happy and excited to have a baby girl cousin. He now has one boy cousin and three girl cousins, but he's only met his older boy cousin so far. Hopefully he'll met the rest of them soon! It's cool that he has someone in the family that is so close to his age.

When I was at my parents' house while Ryan was in Arizona, my mom found some of my baby pictures. I think Owen looks a little like me, but his face is much rounder than mine. I've seen pictures of Ryan as a baby, but it was a long time ago and I can't remember what he looked like. When I look at Owen, I can't tell who he looks like. Everyone has a different opinion, so maybe he's just the perfect combination of us both. :) I know for sure that he has my big eyes, though, because Ryan's eyes get really squinty when he smiles, and Owen has BIG smiley eyes.

In the photo album with my baby pictures, there are a series of four pictures of me in various stages of falling out of my bouncy seat, and by the end, I was NOT very happy. Well, today I got the pleasure of getting the same thing on camera, but I didn't let him get to the point where he was on the floor...MOM! And he wasn't upset about it either.

For those of you who are looking close enough, I did cheat a little bit. In the first one Owen is not wearing socks and in the second one he is. They weren't taken in succession. The second one was taken a couple of hours later (and no, he was NOT in the bouncy that whole time).

I try to give Owen tummy time every day, but apparently he spends too much time on his back. Here is the proof:

My poor baby is bald!

Owen has started doing something new. He is constantly grabbing things, but I really don't think he's actually trying to reach for things yet. Just anything that happens to get in the way of his hands, he'll grab. I think it's really cool because the other day he was in his bouncy (he likes that thing a lot) and he made the music play all by himself! It was weird because Owen and I were home alone, and I was sitting at the computer, and all of a sudden the music started playing! It was a little creepy, actually, at first, because it was completely out of the blue, but it was cool to experience another first, even if it was sort of an accident.

It is the lion that plays music. The hippo and monkey are rattles.

This is him grabbing his pants. :) 

I have re-started playing in an adult volleyball league, and since Ryan works at night, Owen has been going to a friend's house while I'm playing. I thought it would be harder to leave my punkin with other people, but I know they are taking really good care of him. It also helps that he is the BEST baby ever! He really doesn't cry or fuss very often. Really, almost never. And every time Ryan or I pick him up from the babysitter, they tell us how good of a baby he is, and that they just can't believe it. I think it would be 100 times harder to leave him with someone if he were a fussy baby. I got SO lucky, and Ryan got even luckier, because he got me! Haha! You know he'd say the same thing about me! :)