Fun Stuff, I Tell 'Ya!

Owen is teething big time right now. Poor little guy is getting all four of his cuspids at once. Ouch! But, when the Motrin is kicked in, he is just as much fun as ever!

Breakfast with Owen is usually his best meal. Best, being defined as the one where he not only eats the most in one sitting, but also refrains from throwing his bowl/spoon/fork/food at me to indicate he is "Da Done" {Owen speak for "All Done").

Saturday morning, as I was unloading the dishwasher, I looked over at Owen. He was watching Sesame Street and trying to balance his bowl on his head....
...when he realized I was looking...I got a big "Da Done, Mama".

One of Punkadoo's new "things" is to put on either Daddy Q's or my shoes. Here he is trying on my new Reef flips.... these have a little "heel" to them, so wasn't sure how little man would do once he got them on....

from here he took off, and did just fine -- for about 3 steps. Not sure I want my little boy to be any better than that in heels ;-)

Saturday afternoon, Daddy Q was cravin' some McDonald's. I heart McDs. I know most of you reading this blog probably never set foot in fastfood restaurants like this, but boy, it has a special place in my heart! I have always been a big fan...as a kid, I understand that my folks would create reasons for me to have to be in the floorboard anytime we passed a Micky D's to prevent me from throwing a wall-eyed temper tantrum if we didn't stop.

Owen had never tried McD's before...so, Saturday was a big day. Here it is...his first happy meal!

Slurp.

Ahhh!

The coolest part for Owen? The little toy that came inside the box. This army dude riding a squirrel {how seriously random is that?!?!--must be a movie out that I have totally missed} kept Owen entertained for a good 15 - 20 minutes. Hilarious!

I am working on a book for Owen that shows the people, places, and things in his life today, along with pictures of him going through his daily routine. Here are a few from bathtime tonight that I will use in the book.

Swimming lessons got this little man back in the bathtub, and happy, happy, happy!!!

I am so thankful to have a toddler that can smile and enjoy life even through the very worst of teething. This little man melts my heart in so many ways! I hope his little brother or sister {who will be here in 4 weeks---yikes!} follows in this happy boy's footsteps!

Owen LOVED SoccerTots this time...

First of all...a big shout out to Cathy of the Tenner Trio (Abby's Blog) for picking up my camera that I left at SoccerTots and delivering it to my house TWICE...thank you, thank you, thank you! I would have missed it if you hadn't intercepted the coach--she was going to keep it a week! Thank goodness Cathy knew I would go crazy without my camera for SEVEN WHOLE days!!! And, another shout out to Cathy's mom and my dad for tracking me down to tell me my camera was safe and sound ;-)

Now...onto the SoccerTots pics that you get to see thanks to Cathy! We got there early yesterday, and the building wasn't opened. We have quite a drive over there, so Owen was ready to get out of his car seat. I told him we could walk around, and wait for the door to be opened. He went right up there and knocked! He kept knocking until the guy working there showed up and let him in. Hilarious!!!!

Once indoors, he was in soccer heaven. He had the whole field, the goals, and all of the balls to his own little self!!

Run, run, run, Owen!!! This little man pounds the ball! He runs up to it and kicks the fire out of it! It is so fun to watch!

One of his two favorite activities was bouncing the balloons in the air with his hands and kicking them with his feet.

Fun times!

He also liked kicking the goal at the very end....and, of course, getting the soccer ball stamp on his hand. For the rest of the day, everywhere we went, Owen showed anyone who would listen the "ball" on his hand. Yay! I am glad he liked it so much this time!!!

We spent Memorial Day outdoors!

Daddy Q and I set aside today to work in the yard. Weeds, weeds, and more weeds took up 5 hours of our day!! Wow!!! Little man thought that he needed to go for a bit of a jog before we got to work. Lately, he does this anytime we go out the front door. He runs down the sidewalk, while I go as fast as I can after him! One day last week, we went around the block ;-) Today, we just went to the cross-street and back. Phew...he has energy!

Owen was quite the supervisor!

After working in the yard, we all cleaned up, and went to the grocery store. We decided to try a beer can chicken for dinner...it was yummy!
While the chicken cooked, we hung out back with the stereo on, the water fountain going, the fans blowing air down on us, and the little man constantly entertaining us! He had so much fun in the water hose and we had fun watching him have fun.

We enjoyed our day outdoors, but stayed mindful of what today really means. We are very thankful for the brave men and women who have served or are serving our country to keep us safe!

Did we have a busy day, or what?

Not only did Owen have a busy week this week {we had an activity every day....swim on monday, gymboree tuesday, swim wednesday, soccer tots on thurs, and swim again on fri}, but we topped it off with a busy Saturday. Good thing our Sunday and Monday will be low key!!!

Our day started with a road trip to East Texas for Miss Kaela's {Johnna's daughter} 3rd birthday party!!!! After lots of play time, the kiddos ate pizza, birthday cake, and watched the sweet girl open her gifts!!

Owen, with Addison (Jaleesa's little girl) and Rhett (Chad P.'s little boy).

Owen, Addison, Rhett, Queenie, and Rider {Chad P.'s youngest}.

The birthday girl....she was sitting across from the others and I couldn't get them all in the same frame...

Blowing out the candles!!!

Once we made it back home, we hung out in the backyard to let Owen exercise his legs a bit--5 hours in the car--what a trooper!!

Paw Paw Mc got Owen this fun golf set...here he is lining up a shot!

and...hmmmm...did he hit the ball? Maybe little man should stick with soccer!

Later, he mowed. As background to the next two pics, I have to share that our neighbor, Steve, is ALWAYS in the yard. He is an expert at taking care of the yard and is meticulous about it. If anyone on the block needs tips...you go to Steve! Daddy Q, on the other hand, isn't quite the natural out there. I could go into details about the trials and tribulations we had doing our own yard before we outsourced, but that is another post for another day. Lets just say that we both had a lot of laughs in the yard when we first became home owners....

So, Owen was trolling right along at a good clip and I made the comment to Daddy Q that "he looked like our neighbor, Steve, out there." Just look at those happy feet! He is so in his element!!

Then, apparently something happened with his mower, and Owen stopped, started shaking it back and forth, tipped it over, came around to the front of it to check it out, and then threw a bit of a tantrum. Daddy Q said..."and now, he looks like me." Oh my, I am laughing so hard I may cry just typing this. I hope the humor comes across for you, too!!

Lastly, we grilled out for dinner. Before hand, Daddy Q served us chips and salsa. Little man was lovin' him some salsa! He is a major double-dipper {I mean, its worse that two dips...more like ten to twelve}, though. We'll have to work on that or no one will want to share salsa with my spice-lovin' little friend.

I said to Daddy Q that I couldn't believe he was eating so much of it...was this normal? Daddy Q said, I don't think its that hot. Then, Owen started blowing on it to cool it off ;-)

What a fun day! Good to see my friends from high school!!! I miss you all so much and loved seeing your little ones!!

Owen's First Day at SoccerTots!

Today was our first day at SoccerTots! One of my Mom2Mom friends organized a special class just for all of us--so, the class if full of friends we know and love!!

I kept telling Owen this morning that we were going to play with his friends, soccer balls, and goals. He was really excited and raced to the door. I have been wanting to snap a pic of him opening it, just 'cause it is sooooo cute since he is just barely tall enough to do it. But, he can do it! so, we have to keep the door locked AND/OR the garage door down. Otherwise, he can now escape. 98% of the time, we leave the house sans blanket. But, today O wanted to take it with....his top, left "fang" tooth is coming in, so he doesn't feel so great. I'll print this one and frame it, just cause it is special to me.

Anyhow, back to SoccerTots! I have to say that looking back at these photos made me feel better about how he did in the class. While there, I was pretty darn frustrated. He loves the balls so much, that often when the kids weren't kicking them, he was pretty upset. Once, he through a full-on tantrum 'cause the activity with the cool, squishy balls was over and the Coach wanted Owen to give it back--what????--give a ball up? No way, Jose! Owen really has pretty much stopped throwing tantrums, so this really threw me for a loop. I certainly don't want to take him if he is going to be upset more than happy.

But, looking back at the photos reminded me that he did enjoy a lot of the activities. I think I let the ones he didn't, or was just a little too little to do, overshadow all of the ones that he did *get* and enjoy. I also reminded myself that he HATED swim the first day, but now that we are in a routine in the class and he knows what to expect, he LOVES it. So, we'll continue trying SoccerTots and hope the little guy gets used to the fact that the activities rotate and he can't just kick goals all of the time AND that he starts to follow some of the other kiddos and does {and enjoys} more of the activities.

In the meantime, here are some highlights from today...

Kicking the balls into the goals!! Owen and three of his friends, Abby, Parker, and Emma, in the net.

If you can't kick a ball...how about a balloon? Owen enjoyed this one just as much as the balls. They kicked balloons, hit balloons, and headed balloons. Fun, fun!

Owen and Noble heading out to kick over cones...the next activity was putting them back upright with their feet, only! Owen did two and then got mad about the "no hands" rule ;-)

Owen smiling post-kicking-over-the-cone.

I HATE that I off N's head in this one. I put the camera down just as I saw the picture happening before my eyes. This is all I got...but, look at his gusto!!!

So, that was some of what they did! It was 45 minutes of moving, moving, moving! The class really is awesome and I feel like Owen will enjoy it more and more in time.

Be still, my beating heart....

Is he not the most adorable little man on earth? This mama sure things so!!!!
He picked a "flower" for me...what a sweet, sweet boy!

Thought this was just too funny. I stood Owen in the flower bed where there was good light for a photo in his Sunday clothes. It was near the gargoyle. I guess he thought he should introduce himself. He was saying "hi", but that rude 'ole gargoyle had nothing to say back to him.

Boy, when this little guy wants to be, he is a total sweetheart. Days like this make me *almost* forget the days like Friday when he threw gravel right in his friend's face...

hip, hip, hooray....we went to Gymboree today

Shortly after Owen and I had breakfast this morning, we got a call from Daddy Q that he was still in England! What a shocker. Sadly, his grandmother had to go into the hospital the night before, so he stayed over. So, since Daddy wasn't coming home as planned, it was pouring rain outside such that our plans to play at the neighborhood event all day were thwarted, Owen and I were in the market for something more to do! I looked up the Gymboree schedule and found a Level 4 class for Saturday morning, called and got a spot, and off we went!!

Most of the time, Owen hangs out at the basketball hoop and shoots baskets...completely ignoring the rest of the class but for the activities I encourage {make} him do at least once. However, with the swine flu scare, Gymboree had to put away the basketballs. Guess what? These few weeks without those balls have been the best thing for Owen and Gymboree!
I know he misses them, but it sure gave him an opportunity to really play on the equipment...a lot...instead of the one pass he does to humor me! Today, I couldn't keep him off the equipment--even though the basketballs were back!!! We had to take a few breaks for the balls, but nothing like before!

The funniest thing he did today...it was "rock and roll" day where they rocked on equipment (like boats and horses) and rolled balls down slides, under tunnels, and through tubes. It probably goes without saying that my little dude rolls balls like nobodies business. But, the funniest thing he did, was that he took a ball on a boat ride with him. When he was doing the "rock" activities, he had a ball in hand or in the seat with him at ALL TIMES! I swear, balls for Owen are equivalent to most kids' security blanket or favorite stuffed animal.

He is so funny.

What we're up to...in case you are wondering.

Last night, Owen and I had our first "conversation". It was so much fun! The best part is that it was all about the "bay-bee". It went like this {Note: I include baby names here, but don't hold us to them--they are subject to change!}:

Owen: Mama? Bay-bee.
Mama: Yes. Mama is having a baby.
Owen: Bay-bee
Mama: The Bay-bee is going to make you a big brother.
Owen: Huh?
Mama: You are going to be a big brother!
Owen: Bay-bee
Mama: If it is a little sister, her name will be Maggie. Can you say 'Maggie'?
Owen: Maggie {said with absolute perfect enunciation}}
Mama: Wow! That's good, Owen. If it is a little brother, his name will be Liam. Can you say 'Liam'?
Owen: Huh?
Mama: If it is a boy, his name will be Liam. Can you say 'Liam'?
Owen: Huh?
Mama: Hmm. Sounds like if we want you to say the name we have to change it....
Owen: Uh-oh.
{hugs and kisses ensued}

On a seperate note, this little man is a book worm if I ever saw one. His absolute most favorite thing to do {well....second favorite....playing with the "ball" is still numero uno} is to read and practice his words.

Today, we went through books for at least an hour and a half of the day. Owen points, I say what the object is, and he repeats it if he thinks he can. If he isn't confident, we move on to the next. So much fun!!!

Mother's Day Weekend at Grammie & Mac's

Owen and I traveled to Grammie & Mac's for Mother's Day Weekend. G.A. Julie came over to hang out with us, too! We had a great time and Mama Q got to take lots of naps and sleep in late...what a great Mother's Day Treat!!!

Every morning, Paw Paw Mc shared breakfast with Owen. There is not much that Owen likes more than eating and spending time with his Paw Paw Mc....the 2 combined...what a treat!!
Later, Mac took him for a ride in the ATV he won in that big bass tournament! Owen had fun, but didn't convince Mac not to sell it. So...it is for sale....any takers? ATV not for you? How about a brand new RV (I have pics of that, too!)?!?!

That night, we had crawfish and shrimp!!! This little guy didn't know what he was in for! But, boy was dinner YUMMY!

While Mac took care of dinner, Owen entertained the rest of us.

Owen was showing G. A. Julie the airplanes. This pic is taken just after Owen quit watching it...bummer...would have been cuter if they were still both looking ;-)

Owen showing Grammie his new water ball. Owen did not like the water sprinkling the way it is supposed to. We had to turn it way down to a trickle for the little man to get close to it.

This made me laugh. In the bath, I am constantly adjusting the faucet and feeling the water temp until we get it just right. Owen often copies me, even though he can't move the faucet to be colder or warmer....he just goes through the motions. Well....playing with the water ball, he walked on over to the faucet to "adjust" it....

and then came back to "check the temp." Too darn funny. It really is amazing what kids pick up from you...isn't it?

Me and my little boy on Mother's Day.

So, tonight while Owen was eating dinner, he pointed to my belly and said "baby" in the most east texas accent I have ever heard come from his little mouth. First, where did he learn that there is a baby in there? I haven't been telling him 'cause I figured he was too little to get it and I fear that he will go up to anyone with a big tummy, point to it, and say "baby." That would be embarrassing! Once, 2 weeks ago, Mimi and Stevie told him there was a baby in my tummy. Last week , Erin told Mr. N. Could O really have picked that up from those 2 mentions? I guess, but I was FLOORED! Second, I cannot believe the accent he uses when he said "baby". Mine is bad, but there is one person I know who has a stronger one than me....Erin. Maybe that is a clue as to where Owen picked up that there is a bay-beee in there!!!

Ha ha!