Early birthday present

My birthday isn't for another month, but Ryan and my parents knew I couldn't wait that long for my birthday present...a new video camera!! Yay! I couldn't wait that long because our camera is still in the shop, and Halloween is this Sunday, so I needed something! Some friends of ours gave us a costume for Owen to wear that their daughter wore when she was a baby, so Owen is going to be a skunk :) I tried the outfit on him and it is so cute! I'm not sure that we will do very much, if anything at all, for Halloween, but at least I can get some video of him in the costume. We might walk around to a couple of places in our neighborhood. I'm not going to give out candy this year because our dogs are ANNOYING when it comes to strangers being anywhere near the house, otherwise I would have said that Owen would have been the cutest little helper. :)

Well, since I got a new video camera, I just had to get some video to put on here. It isn't the most interesting video I've taken, but it does show Owen "going crazy" (although it isn't when I told him to - it's just while he's playing with a toy), the fact that he LEARNED TO STAND UP BY HIMSELF and then he was pretty tuckered out.






I was surprised that he fell asleep while drinking his bottle. He hasn't done that in a looooong time.

He is ALWAYS on the go. Walking all over, making messes everywhere, bothering the dogs, trying to get into the cupboards even though they are tethered shut. The only time he sits still is when he's eating (and that's probably only because he's strapped in!) and sleeping. The other day, Ryan was complaining that he won't just sit and snuggle with him and just hang out like he used to. I agree! I want to snuggle with him! I do get to, a little bit, when I nurse him, which I'm down to two times a day on that. I was pumping or nursing when I came home for lunch, but most of the time he wasn't ready for milk when I was home and I got tired of pumping, so now I don't even make enough milk except for those two times a day - usually around 7 am and 5:30 pm. So he's up to two formula bottles a day now too, plus all the table food he eats.

He cracks me up. Right now he is chasing Ace, the chihuahua, around the kitchen and living room. Ace really doesn't care to have much to do with Owen, and right now all Ace wants is to eat and drink, but his food is up on the table because apparently dog food tastes good to babies, too. And playing in the water bowl is tons of fun. So Ace is hungry and thirsty and being chased by a crazy 10 month old baby, who thinks it's hilarious.

He also cracks me up when he takes a bath. He doesn't use the little baby bath anymore, and he just has a blast in the tub with all that space and water to splash in. He also has dunked his face right in the water a few times, and then freaks out and grabs for me and hugs me. It's funny. Then, he grabs for the plug in the drain, and when our tub drains, it makes a very loud sucking/slurping noise and it scares him. No, it terrifies him. He starts screaming and crying and it is sad and hilarious all at once. Maybe it's mean, but I kind of like the way he hugs me really tight when he's scared. :) I don't drain the tub when he's in it anymore, though, because I don't want him to have some weird, irrational fear of tubs or something. Tonight, I drained it when he was out of the tub on my lap, and told him to wave bye-bye to the water, to try to make it seem like an OK thing. He didn't freak out, but he watched very intently. And even when he was still in the tub, every once in a while he would stop playing and stare at the plug in the drain, like he was keeping an eye on it.

Well, hopefully next time I post I'll have some Halloween video and hopefully some pictures, too!

Broken Camera :(

When I was about six months pregnant, Ryan and I decided to get a new camera so we could take lots and lots of pictures and video of our cute little baby. And we did take lots and lots of pictures and video, until that cute little baby turned destructive! He loves to play with electronics - cell phones, remotes, cameras, DVD players, etc - and we should know better than to let him. Owen dropped Ryan's cell phone on the concrete on the 4th of July and broke the screen, and now he broke our camera :( BUT, it is in the shop and is hopefully going to get fixed for free.

I WISH MY CAMERA WASN'T BROKEN! Here are some new things going on with Owen:

-He's a walking pro. He is everywhere all the time and can practically run. He still can't stand up on his own without something to hold onto to pull himself up, but it's not too far away.

-He LOVES to feed himself, which is awesome! It's definitely messier, but it's actually really nice not to have to feed him all the time anymore. There are some things that we still have to feed him, of course, but he loves feeding himself AND the dogs.

-He's getting his two top teeth. He's a really good teether (so far!). No fevers or fussiness. He's just his normal, happy self.

-He is smart. If I say, "Owen, go crazy!", he will sway back and forth and wobble his head. This started the other day when I twirled him around by his arms and then we I put him down, we were both dizzy. I said, "Mommy's crazy!" and wobbled my whole body, so he mimicked me to get me to swing him around again, and now I just have to tell him to go crazy and he will. It's awesome, because it shows that he's learning language!!!!!

-Today I almost left work to go home to hang with my boys because Ryan texted me and said he was playing the radio and Owen was dancing with him. HOW CUTE! And another example of why I NEED MY CAMERA! I got a little preview of this when I came home for lunch, and Owen's dancing looks a lot like his "crazy sway". But I really wanted to blow off work when I read that text!

Owen went to Omaha last weekend with my parents because my little niece got baptized. My mom took some pictures that are pretty cute, but I don't have any of them saved on my computer. I promise that there will be LOTS of pictures next time (if not my own then I will steal some of my mom's) and I'll try not to go so long before I post! I just hate to post without pictures, but I thought I better get this new stuff down before I forget!

Walker Part III

I finally got some video! Two, in fact. The first one I actually got about a week ago, and it's of him walking while holding my hand. I was home alone, so I had to put the camera on a stool, and at the very end he lets go of my hand and takes a couple steps alone, but it's hard to see because he's so close to the camera.



What a cutie :) He loves to walk with us like that because we can go and go and go, and we do it quite often. But more and more he is walking all by himself. In this next video, we stood him up and encouraged him to walk to me, but there are lots of times where he will be standing up and start walking on his own. Ryan told me last night that he thinks Owen is starting to realize that it's easier to carry things by walking rather than crawling, which I think might be the case, because he loves to carry things now while he's walking.


What a big boy!

When he falls down, though, he can't get back up into a standing position without pulling up on something - he can't just stand up from a sitting position on his own. If he could, I think he would be walking a lot more, but he has to crawl to the couch or something in order to get back up, and I think he just gets distracted by toys and stuff. I'm pretty impressed with his skills, though!

We also just started using sign language with Owen. I'm not sure how well it will work, because it seems like his always busy doing something and doesn't really take the time to look at me :) We're going to have a go at it though. We are just starting with basic signs that he would need like milk, water, cereal, mom, dad, eat, more, and dog. I majored in Spanish, and I really like the thought of learning new languages, and I'm starting to think learning sign language would be really fun! It would be really awesome to teach Owen Spanish, and I would be able to teach him some, but as a baby learning language, he needs a native speaker to speak to him for him to actually learn it. Or I would have to speak it ALL the time to him, and even though I can teach Spanish, that's to kids who are learning it at a later stage in life and I haven't used more than just basic Spanish in a LONG time - I'm rusty. Anyway, we will see how this goes. I think Ryan likes the idea of Owen learning signs, but doesn't really want to put in the work! :)

Walker Part II

...and this time I'm really upset that I don't have any video. At 9 months and 4 days old, Owen walked about four feet yesterday ON HIS OWN! He is CRAZY! He has been practicing with his walk toy a lot, and has taken a couple of steps on his own, but last night was awesome. Ryan and I were sitting on the floor about four feet from each other and we would stand him up and encourage him to walk to us. He was having so much fun, too, laughing and smiling the whole walk over to me. I can never catch him on video though : (

We are also practicing walking by holding onto one of his hands and walking with him. It's funny because he looks like a toddler who is holding his mom or dad's hand to cross the street, not a baby who is strong enough to walk! He loves that, too, he just has so much fun doing new things. Even pinkeye and an ear infection doesn't get in the way of fun!

That's right, my poor baby has pinkeye and an ear infection, just days after getting over diarrhea, which he got not long after getting a cold in which his runny nose never left (maybe he has allergies? Or maybe he's just a snotty nosed little kid!). The diarrhea never really got him down, but we took him to the doctor on Friday anyway, just to be safe. He wasn't dehydrated, so we just had to let it run it's course. On Thursday night, though, he had pooped right before bath time, so after he got out, I decided to let him play a little without a diaper so he wouldn't get a rash. Since he had just pooped not 15 minutes before, I thought he'd be ok for a while. I was so wrong. He was playing in the carpeted living room and pooped - diarrhea poop. So I picked him up and took him to the kitchen to clean up his leg, foot and butt and put the diaper on him. Luckily it took me a few seconds to get a wipe out of the pack, because he pooped again in the kitchen. Poor baby! He really didn't seem bothered by it at all, though, so that's good. The pinkeye and ear infection, on the other hand, are a different story. He's very cranky and his eyes looked so miserable. They were puffy, red, and gunky on Sunday and most of Monday, but we went back to the doctor and got some amoxicillin and eye drops. He absolutely loves the amoxicillin and cries when his dose is gone. The eye drops are a completely different story. It took Ryan and I, not only to hold him down, but to pry open his eyes. It was really difficult because he was crying so his face was wet and he can really hold them shut! He needs those 3 times a day, too, so Ryan's going to have to wait until I go home for lunch to give him any for today. The antibiotics will clear up his ear infection and the pinkeye, but the drops make him non-contagious (if that's a word). But, like I said, last night he was having a great time walking around. I think he gets a second wind after eating food, taking a bath and then having some milk. I think he could have played all night, it was crazy how good he looked and must have felt! Yay for amoxicillin!

I stole some pictures from Ryan's mom's Facebook, so here are some pictures from Jungle Bungle that I didn't have for last post.

Ball pit - NOT a fan!

Playing with Daddy. See his shirt? It's Iowa and says Owen Burke on the back and 44 was Ryan's high school football number. A friend had it made for us, as well as a Vikings one! This was the Iowa/Iowa State game day.

Owen and his cousin Bri.

Playing at Jungle Bungle

I am going to try my hardest to get a video of Owen walking. I should have known he'd be doing physical things at early ages. Ryan jumped on a bike at age two with no training wheels and took off!

Happy Grandparent's Day!

Today is Owen's first Grandparent's Day, and it just so happened that he got to see one of his grandmas and a set of great-grandparents. We went down to Muscatine for Ryan's cousin Hayden's birthday party this weekend, so we got to see a LOT of family! There are six kids on that side of the family that are 5 and under, so Owen had a lot of playmates. The birthday party was held at Jungle Bungle, which is a lot like Chucky Cheese, so the kids had a great time. I think even Owen had fun crawling around. There were a few things he could crawl into and a little piano that he liked to bang on. Ryan went into the ball pit with him, but he hated it. It almost seemed like he thought it was a pool and he clung to Ryan like a koala bear. I forgot my camera, gosh dang it, but (Owen's) Grandma Angie had hers, so I'll have to get some from her. So on Owen's first Grandparent's Day, he got to see Grandma Angie, Great-Grandma Nancy and Great-Grandpa Ron. He also got to see Grandpa Dan on Saturday.

It's kind of funny because Owen has two Grandpa Dans. But my dad's legal first name is actually Owen, so either way he went, we'd have double names : ) We did not get to see my parents this weekend, but we did go see them last weekend, and Owen was actually there from Friday night until Monday afternoon. Ryan and I took him on Friday and spent the night, and then Owen stayed a couple of extra days so that Ryan and I could go tubing and camping with friends for Ryan's belated birthday party over Labor Day. So Owen got to spend lots of time with those grandparents last weekend, plus my brother, his wife, and their kids were in town that weekend, so he got to spend time with them. Ian is three and Annaliese is 2 1/2 months younger than Owen, and I think they had a really good time. Ian is a really good big brother to Annaliese and really good about sharing his toys with Owen and making sure the toys he is playing with don't have small parts to them. It's the cutest thing. Ian loved getting down and crawling around with Owen (Annaliese isn't quite crawling yet), and even helped give him a bath (I wasn't there at the time, but I saw a picture of it.). I love watching little kids play together. It's so cute. Owen also got to see Great-Grandma Kuehl last weekend. He's one lucky little boy to get to spend time with all this family!

We don't get to see Ryan's dad and his wife and kids since they moved to Florida, but they did get to meet Owen once before they moved. Maybe we'll just have to plan a vacation...

And even though I knew it was Grandparent's Day, we forgot to say anything when we were in Muscatine, and when we got back it was nap time (for all of us!), and then Ryan and to work and life just got in the way and we didn't even call my parents. So this is our official "Happy Grandparent's Day!!" wish to all of the grandparents and great-grandparents. We love you!!

Now a post wouldn't be a post without a few pictures. So here are a few from the last couple of weeks:

BIG smile and you can see his two pearly whites : )

Getting tickled by Daddy

They love to wrestle on the floor!

Cheering for his favorite team!

 Owen has been getting in a lot of practice standing up on his own. He can't get into that position without pulling himself up on something or pushing off of you while you are laying on the floor yet, but he's getting really good at being able to stand alone for long periods of time. He's taken a couple of steps on his own, too, but mostly if you are a couple of baby steps from him, he just leans forward at you instead of moving his feet. He can practically run while he has ahold of furniture, though! He's getting really fast!!

We also started taking Owen to daycare on Wednesdays and Fridays. There is a woman who does in-home daycare in our neighborhood, and we really like her. Her name is Johnna and it's cool because she has a son who is two weeks older than Owen, so he has a built-in friend! I'm glad we decided to take him to daycare to get him socialized and it also gives Ryan a break. He works really late at night and then has to get up early with Owen, so it's a lot for him. It's only for 12 1/2 hours a week, so it's not too expensive, and Ryan and Owen still get to spend some quality time together : ) Owen really seems to like it there. She has a lot of toys and everytime I pick him up, he crawls over to me, but then is pretty much just ready to get back down and play. I don't drop him off, Ryan does, but he said he hasn't cried yet, so hopefully it stays that way. He was having some trouble napping there the first few times, but he's gotten better. I just wish I could see him playing with that other little boy! Johnna said there is quite a bit of difference between them, though. Her boy is barely crawling and Owen's about ready to jump on a bike! : )

Walker

My little guy is always on the go. He got this walk toy a little more than a month ago, but it isn't very heavy and Owen hasn't really been able to use it as it's intended because it goes fast and its easy for him to pull it down. But yesterday, my 8 month old cutie finally used his walk toy for more than just something to touch.


I like how he's staring at me the first time. He was getting frustrated that he was running into stuff - he needs more room!

Owen is also getting good at standing without holding on to things, and he's especially good at it when he's distracted. Last night he was chewing on my cell phone and watching TV while he stood for about 15 seconds by himself! Fifteen seconds is a long time! Ryan was also standing him up and letting go, and Owen would stand there for awhile and even took 1 step! Oh my goodness, I'm not ready for this, but it's so exciting!!!

It's getting harder and harder to get Owen to lay still to change his diaper, so the other night after his bath, he played naked for awhile. I figured I'd rather clean up some pee (or poop, but he'd already done that a couple of times that day, so I figured the chances were small) than to have him get mad and fussy, and ended up taking some pictures. : )

He'd rather play with the diaper than wear it!

Owen got his first cold, and I'm the one that gave it to him : ( I got a cold more than a week ago (and its finally just starting to get better) and I tried really hard not to give it to him, but I can't keep my hands or kisses away from him! Ryan and I went out of town last Saturday and Sunday morning, so Owen stayed with some friends of ours. He wasn't sick yet when we left him, but they said he didn't have a very good night and was just not being himself. Which means he was snuggling with them and rocking in the chair with them, instead of crawling around like a crazy man! Luckily he wasn't being fussy, he was still smiling and laughing, but he was definitely not his active self. His nose was really runny and he had a fever on Sunday, but then by Monday he was loads better. I wish I had gotten better that fast! His fever was gone and his nose was much better and he was back to his active ways. It must be my magic milk! : ) This was the first time he had been sick with anything, and hopefully this is an indicator of how good his immune system is. I'm so glad I decided to breastfeed!

New Job, New Haircut

I started my new job at Impact Marketing last Monday, and so far it's going great. Since I have no experience in marketing and advertising, I have to learn a lot, but I'm a fast learner so I'm not too worried about that. But so far, I have mostly been organizing the office and especially the office of my boss. The first day I think we threw out 7 bags of trash from his office! Right now the company is going through a buy out, so my boss has a lot of meetings and everyone else in the office is busy doing their own thing, so I haven't really gotten into the meat of the job yet. Eventually, I will be going to meetings with my boss and will be doing more important things than organizing and filing. I think I'm going to like it a lot.

One downfall to the job: I go almost 12 hours without seeing my sweet little baby!! I feed him at 6:30-7:00 in the morning and he just goes back to bed. I come home for lunch around 12:30 and he's taking his first nap. I come home from work at 5:15 and he's taking his 2nd nap! : ( I miss the little guy! Then, he gets up around 6:00 (hopefully!) or I will wake him up at 7:00 so that he can go to bed at 9:00! Only three hours with my baby a day!  NOT COOL! I just have to keep reminding myself that a lot of moms are in the same boat, and that I have this job to provide for him. (Besides, in 10 years, HE will be more thankful that he has the right clothes on than the fact that I got to spend more than 3 hours a day with him during the work week when he was a baby [if I stayed at home].) It sucks, though. As soon as he wakes up from his nap, I give him a million kisses on his chubby cheeks! The nice thing, though, is that Ryan is home during the day and works and takes classes at night, so one of us is always home with him and we don't need to pay for daycare. I like that Ryan and Owen get to spend time together by themselves (but I still wish I had more time with BOTH of them!).

So, new job for me and new haircut for Owen. I've given Owen a couple of haircuts before (I just buzz it), but that was back when his hair was falling out anyway and he was starting to get a mullet. Now, Owen's hair is filling in pretty good, but it was just sticking straight up in places and was all over, so I decided to just buzz it again and start fresh. Here are some before pictures:

And here are some after:

Pretty drastic, I think! It's funny because when I buzz Ryan's hair, I use the exact same trimmer, but it looks so much shorter on Owen because his hair is so light and not as thick. I kind of miss his crazy, longer hair, but it will grow back and it's still REALLY soft and fuzzy!

We all got to go to my parent's house last weekend for a visit, although Ryan had to come back early to work. I love visiting grandparents, because Ryan and I both slept in until late! It was awesome. We did our usual 'Elkader stuff': walks, visits with Great-Grandma, swinging, and lots of play time with Grandma and Grandpa for Owen. He also got a lot of kisses from puppies, as well as from his grandparents, of course! I think he really likes the fact that he can crawl all over at my parents' house (aside from going up and down stairs) and isn't stuck in just the living room like he is at our house. He was always on the go! I think he hates being stuck in the living room at our house, and here's why I think that:

He's always trying to escape, and sometimes he's successful. He is crazy and will crawl over ANYTHING. I'm going to have my hands full. I'm really starting to feel bad for Ryan's mom, because I know Ryan was the exact same way, and he had multiple broken bones and stitches as a kid. I'm screwed! ; )

I swear all the kid does is crawl, talk, sleep and EAT! I feel like I'm constantly feeding him, and I'm not even with him that much anymore! I only nurse him about 3 times a day and he gets one formula or pumped bottle other than that, but otherwise he is eating solids. He LOVES fruits and veggies, especially orange veggies. He also really likes these easy dissolve snacks I get at Wal-Mart. They are perfect for snacks on the go and at home and he really likes to feed himself. Today I also gave him some bread pieces and cheese, which he loved as well. I have a good little eater, which is awesome. He's not crazy about baby food meat, but they look and smell disgusting, so I don't even care! Eating time gets pretty messy, though, so most of the time I just strip off his shirt and let him have at it.

Last night, I was laying on the floor playing with Owen, when he crawled over to me, put his hand up on my belly, got up onto his feet, and pushed off my belly to stand up without holding on to anything! He did it a bunch of times and is starting to get pretty good! I think the longest he went was about 5 seconds, which is actually a pretty long time. It was awesome, and tonight he was doing the same thing. He also will just let go of the couch or whatever he was holding onto while he's already standing. He puts his arms out to the side to balance. It's so cute and I love seeing him do and try new things. He'll be walking before I know it!