22 Months and 22 Weeks

I have to quick get this post in today since I'll be 23 weeks tomorrow and these kiddos ages will no longer coincide. :)

22 monther -
Owen is beginning to talk more and more and try to copy me which I am loving. He loves to help us cook or bake (Pat got him into that) and will stand on a chair in front of the counter and be the dumper. Last night we were making dinner and he would try and say all of the spices I was using. Not understandable in the least but completely adorable.
Owen is starting to learn some letters. O and Z are his favorites. Z he just signs but he loves to say O! We started doing pat a cake a week or two ago (I was never very good about teaching him this types of things when he was littler) and that's when he started saying O all of the time. We started reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom again and he likes to find the O's on the pages and really like the last page which is just the letters. I was changing his diaper the other day and he was fussing about it so I started reciting the book (this is what happens when you read the same thing over and over) and he was able to chime in on his own at B, D, G and H. I hadn't realized that he knew that so it was a lot of fun. When I can get him to say L he sticks his tongue way out and to the side. He doesn't always want to try though.
Owen's been a little under the weather lately which isn't fun. He had an ear infection right before Thanksgiving which cleared up pretty quickly after starting the antibiotic and getting him back to his usual self by the time we were with family. Thursday afternoon he came down with a fever though and I figured it was due to some molars coming in (his 2 year molars came in fine on the bottom a few weeks ago but the top ones haven't appeared yet) because he was chewing on his fingers a lot and when I would ask where his owie was he would point to his mouth. Turns out he has hand, foot and mouth disease. I talked to the nurse at his pediatricians office and she said that's probably what it is base on his symptoms. The good news is that he's probably past the worst of it and will likely be fine by the time we're around all of the kiddos at my families Christmas. We did hang go over to play with the neighbor boy on Thursday morning before he had any symptoms so I'm hoping he didn't pass it along to anyone. The rash on his hands doesn't seem to bother him but he does ask my to rub the bottom of his feet sometimes because they itch which the nurse thought was interesting. He hasn't had any problems drinking fluids so we don't have to worry about him getting dehydrated.


22 Weeker
We had our ultrasound right before Thanksgiving and everything looked great! Baby is measuring a few days ahead which is pretty typical. I'm feeling a lot more movement which is so much fun. I'm starting to feel little kicks from the outside.

16 weeks and almost 21 months

Baby #2
This pregnancy has been so different that I almost feel like I've never done this before. My body seems to remember being pregnant as a lot of the stretching pains started much earlier. And the heartburn! I think that started as soon as I found out I was pregnant! The crazy little boy running all over also reminds me that I've done this before :) I remember the nausea going away around 10 weeks with Owen and feeling really good during my 2nd trimester. This time around makes me question whether I want anymore kids! I started feeling sick at 6 weeks (right after we told our parents) and it was 24 hours a day. I never actually got sick but I felt terrible at all hours of the day. I think around 12 weeks it started to get a little better and I wouldn't start feeling sick until mid-afternoon and it lasted until about 5-6 in the morning. I still feel my best in the mornings so that's when I try to get things done. I also don't remember being this tired with Owen. I'm exhausted all of the time it seems. That could just be from parenting a toddler though.
I've had 3 doctors appointments so far. My first one was at 8 weeks which was a little earlier than usual because I'd been having some pain in my abdomen that concerned me a little bit. I'd had it for one day while we were in Florida (which was before I knew I was pregnant) and it was off and on for a couple of weeks. It was near my right ovary which made me worry that this baby was somewhere it wasn't supposed to be. We were still in KS at the time and I wasn't having any bleeding so my doctor said it was okay to wait until we got back to see her but to come in earlier than is usually scheduled. The pain stopped around 7 weeks so I don't know what it was and I keep forgetting to ask. The nurse said it could've been round ligament pain since that starts earlier with subsequent pregnancies but now that I've definitely been feeling that pain I don't know if that was it.
Baby's heartbeat has been in the low 150's at each appointment which is similar to Owen's if I remember right.
I was excited that I hadn't gained any weight between my 1st and 2nd appointments but I seemed to have made up for it at my 3rd with a whopping 9 pounds. Yikes! Food has some appeal to it now so I think I was trying to make up for the prior weeks where I hated everything food related. Unfortunately you don't get to make up for unused calories weeks later :)
I've had some blood pressure issues as well already but not enough to be put on medication. It's always high when they take it right away but then they check it at the end and it's back to normal. My doctor said I likely have some underlying hypertension issues so I'll have to get that checked out after this baby is born. She also had me start taking aspirin right away to help prevent pre-eclampsia again and I'll continue that until 36 weeks.
I've felt a little bit of movement in the last week but not regularly. The first time was about a week ago and it was quite a bit. Since than it's just been a little flutter here and there every few days. Oh how I look forward to those wiggles! I know that once that happens I will forget all of the things that made me not want to ever be pregnant again.


#1
Owen. My number one. The thought of having to split my time between 2 kids freaks me out sometimes and I often wonder how I'm supposed to love the next baby as much as I love Owen. My mom has told me multiple times that she thought that while she was pregnant with me but you don't divide your love, it just multiplies itself.
Owen is quite the hilarious little boy and has become such a great little helper. He loves to laugh right along with us and loves to be silly to get us to laugh. I recently started asking him to laugh which ends up giving both of us the giggles.
Owen still loves his trucks and cars and tractors and has little interest in anything that doesn't have wheels and can't be pushed. We've been to a couple of houses lately that had mostly girl toys but he made due by finding the doll strollers and pushing them around.
Owen is a great helper to me and loves to put his shoes in the basket and does a great job of putting his toys away at the end of the day.
He's also a good help with getting the things we need for diaper changes when we're downstairs and putting things away. I think part of this is because it's a new thing though. I typically change his diaper in his bedroom but then found he seemed more cooperative downstairs so we do that a little more often. The newness may have worn off though because today he just wanted to hide behind daddy instead of getting his diaper changed.
As much as I talk about Owen being a tiny tornado around here he really does have a sweet spirit underneath all of that boyness. Every morning and after every nap all he wants to do is sit with mom and read books. As soon as I walk in the room he looks at me then points at the rocker and says "ch!" and we sit in the chair and read books about cars and trucks. The other day he was playing with the vacuum (he got over his fear after daddy talked him into trying it out) and ran over his toe. He wanted me to kiss it so I squatted down in the middle of the kitchen and kissed his foot and then he wanted the other one kissed so we went back and forth until I put him down and then he turns around, gives me a kiss and a hug and is back to pushing the vacuum. Oh, how I love this boy! I also see that sweet spirit when he's around other kids. A lot of kids just take what they want and it doesn't matter if someone else is using it (which I get is totally normal and we have those moments on occasion) but Owen typically just stands close to the toy or child with a snack he wants and just wait. I also realize that this behavior is cute right now but may become creepy when he's older :)
Owen's new favorite thing to do is walk out of the kitchen with some sort of utensil and "swat bugs". We've had some flies in the house that last couple of weeks and Owen saw daddy use the fly swatter so now he walks around hitting the floor or the couch or the chair. When asked what he's doing he'll sign bug then make a swatting motion with his hand and say "daddy". Cracks us up every time.
I've been amazed at the things this kid remembers. My parents stayed with us a couple of weeks ago and slept with Owen in his room. They went to bed after he was asleep and my mom got up before Owen did but my dad was still in bed when Owen woke up so they got to chat together for a while. Probably about cars since they share that love :) Owen will still point at the bed then sign grandpa and sleep. There are other things that he'll remember weeks later which amazes me. His short term memory is lacking a little but he just gets distracted. Yesterday he was playing in the basement and I was upstairs and when I hear him coming up I told he needed to bring his milk cup with him and he'd go back down the steps and I went back to the kitchen and when I heard him coming up I'd check to see if had the cup and he just had some other toy in his hand. This happened about 3 times before he came up with the cup. He'll also occasionally forget he's holding something and ask where it is. I told Pat this and Pat was so proud and said "he's going to be an academic!". I'm not sure I can handle more than one of these absent-minded personalities in our house! :)
Owen is still a fantastic sleeper. We started letting him sleep with a pillow in his bed a month or so ago and he loves it. We had a few rough days last week due to naps only lasting 30 minutes. I think they were only rough on me though since I'm used to having a couple of hours to myself in the afternoons. We're back to our normal routine of 1 1/2-2 hour naps though with a good dose of playing in the crib afterwards. We've had a night here and there where he'll wake up crying but it generally just takes a couple minutes of snuggling and he's ready to go back in his bed.
We still struggle to get out of the house before 10am but Owen likes to take his mornings easy. I think he usually wakes up around 8:30 but I typically don't hear him until 9ish and he just sits and chatters in his bed. He then wants to read with me for a while then we come downstairs and he wants his pillow set in front of the couch with his milk, cereal and Signing Time dvd. He can be a little bit of a dawdler about leaving the house but usually enjoys it once we're out. We've been having more morning activities lately though so we're working on it.
I think Owen knows close to 100 signs now including several that he's made up. We're still working on vocalizing words but I think we're getting closer. "Umm" and "yeah" or "yep" seem to be the most common. He's also added "no" (this is usually only used to copy us) and mailman (which sounds very similar to mama). I'm so thankful that we taught him sign language as we rarely see a tantrum due to not knowing what he wants. We see tantrums due to not getting what he wants though! There are a few signs that he's made up that we haven't figured out yet so I'm working on that.

Today has been one of those days where I've been overwhelmed with love for my child so writing some of this made me a little emotional! I'm sure pregnancy hormones had nothing to do with it though :)

Owen was done smiling but continued to say "cheese!"

Stealing the dance floor at a wedding a few weeks ago

Watching TV with daddy

Owen LOVES this little lawn mower

loving his pillow!

Love that smile

A common sight in our house

Daddy with his little fox

Owen's new buddy. Pants are optional around here :)

Owen has something to say...

Owen's favorite song

Every morning Owen runs into our bedroom to find daddy and asks him to play music on his computer. Pat asks him what he wants to listen to and Owen replies with "yeah yeah yeah". The song that plays after this is " I wanna hold your hand" and Owen started holding his hands when that plays. Silly kid.

18/19 months

So, it's been a while since I've done a monthly update on Owen so I'm going to try and catch up on where he is now. We had his 18 month check up last week so I finally have some stats on our little giant!

H: 34 1/4 in (90%) - I'd say at this point he'll be taking after my side of the family in height!
W: 27 lbs 14.5 oz (75%)
HC: 19 3/4 cm (95%)

His doctor said he definitely had a growth spurt in the last 6 months and is finally growing into his head :) This also explains why he can reach everything in our house. There are still times each day where Pat and I look at each other and say "did he just reach that??" I think all of his growth happened over the summer while we were gone so all the things that were out of reach when we left in June are no longer that way. We've started packing things away or just getting rid of them since it's likely they will just end up broken.

Owen is as feisty as ever and wanting to explore everything. We're trying to figure out the balance of curiosity and disobedience along with when things become a safety hazard. Everyday presents new challenges in discipline and patience but he brings so much joy to our days. When we open the refrigerator he will run over and just want to look in it. It's quite possible he's learned that from me... When we first were home he had to open every cupboard door to see what was inside and seemed a little confused when he got to the ones that had locks on them.

Raising a little boy is also a messy job I'm learning. We did baths 3 nights in a row due to messy meals. One night it was peanut butter (this one I expected to be a mess!) and the next day I gave him a hamburger for lunch and the next thing I know he's rubbing his greasy plate all over his head. I didn't see that one coming but that sight still makes me laugh. It'll be interesting if we ever have daughters to see the difference between raising boys and girls.

Owen is still saying few words but seems to be practicing more. So far we have:
maymay (mama)
dad
baybay (bailey)
duh (duck)
t t t (train)
p p p (tractor) - I taught him tractors go put put put which is where the p sounds come from
uh-oh
maaa! (oh man!)

We're at 75+ signs now but I haven't really taught him any new ones lately. I asked about his speech at his check up and his ped wasn't concerned yet. She said some kids work on comprehension from 12-18 months and then start picking up words from 18-24 months so we'll wait until he turns 2 and if he still isn't talking much we'll get him evaluated. He understands almost everything I tell him or ask him and he communicates in some form so I'm not worried.

Some of Owen's favorite things to do:
talk on the phone
play with cars, trucks, tractors, trains or airplanes
run.....everywhere

Two things he started doing lately that are completely adorable happen at bedtime. The first started the other night when I was about to take up to bed. He'd said goodnight to daddy and we started up the stairs. He got up one step then came down to wave to daddy again. I think we let this happen 4-5 times before saying all done. He will also occasionally run back to give daddy hugs over and over before going to bed which you can't say no to! I started praying with him before bed at night and after I say amen he would look at me and put his hands back together like when we pray and so I asked if he wanted to pray more and his excitedly nods his head. So I asked what he wanted to pray for and he signs daddy first and then we say amen and then we have to pray for grandpa and then grandma. I know these are likely his way of stalling bedtime but I love it and can't say no. He did the prayer thing at dinner the other night after daddy prayed and when daddy asked who he wanted to pray for he said "mama!". Totally melted my heart.

Tuesday we had some separation anxiety issues. We had out first MOPS meeting so Owen went to the nursery but got so sad whenever I tried to leave. I stayed for about 30 minutes just to make sure everyone was calmed down and they had the help they needed and he did not like when I left. Usually he calms down after a few minutes but I had to go back about 10 minutes later to do something and he was still crying off and on which made me sad. When I picked him up at the end they said he did fine though so that made me glad. That night he would not let me put him in his bed. He just wanted to snuggle on my lap and would cry every time I would move to get up. I let him fall asleep on me but he woke up and cried when I tried to move him to his bed. I think it was much easier to let him cry when it was happening on a nightly basis. It happens so rarely now that it breaks my heart and I usually go back in right away. I sent Pat in after a few minutes and he calmed down right away. I guess sometimes he just wants more mommy love!

I almost forgot about his belly button obsession. He will spend several minutes at a time looking for his belly button and often will just walk around with his shirt pulled up with his finger on his belly button. You'll also know he's comfortable around you if he starts looking for yours. One night while he was in the bath tub he would take a cup of water, pour it over his belly, drop the cup then look for his belly button. This went one for several minutes which was quite comical. It's almost like a security thing for him to know it's there.

Loving the trucks at Grandma's house!

Dance party with Grandma

walking Bailee

Riding the carousel with aunties

Enjoying all the bubbles in Grandma's jacuzzi

Waving at something

Spaghetti night!

Movie watching with Dad. He went back and forth between this and his crazy dance.

Florida Trip

We got back a couple of days ago after spending a week in Florida. Pat had a conference down there so we decided to make it a family vacation. Pat's mom came with us which worked great since Pat had to spend a few days in meetings and I probably wouldn't have ventured out much on my own with Owen. Pat's uncle has a condo near Daytona Beach that we stayed in which was great. It's in a fly-in community so Owen got to see lots of airplanes which he loved. We didn't have a pack n play down there so we zoned off part of a closet and figured out Owen prefers tighter boundaries. One of us had to lay down with him every night until he fell asleep otherwise he would freak out. The first night or 2 were extremely difficult for me just because I'm used to laying him in his bed and walking out and that's it. Once I readjusted my expectations I was actually able to enjoy watching him fall asleep. The other fun part was that when he woke up in the morning he would appear at the side of my bed looking so adorable :) We also let Owen forward face in the car seat (I'm planning on keeping him rear facing as long as possible) while we were down there and he still hates being in the car seat so he went back to rear facing as soon as we got home.

We got down there Friday afternoon then had dinner at a nice little restaurant near the condo. They had a nice little play area outside that Owen loved. We spent most of Saturday on Disney property. We didn't get tickets for any of the parks since tickets and expensive and Owen wouldn't remember it anyway. Instead we rode the monorail around and a couple of boats. We saw The Boardwalk on Saturday and Downtown Disney on Sunday. We were glad we didn't get tickets for the parks because our days were full enough without them.
We spent a few hours at the beach on Monday and Owen LOVED it. He made me so nervous though because he would just take off into the water not realizing they could knock him over and pull him out. That was the only day I got sunburn and it was pretty minor which was great. I've had some pretty nasty sunburns in my life so I'm trying to be smarter in my old age and use sunscreen more regularly. I'd kind of forgotten about reapplying it but it wasn't bad.

Tuesday we went to look for manatees and alligators and say neither. Well, we saw 1/3 of a manatee but that was it. We drove down this little gravel road near Cape Canaveral and had fun searching for alligators but unfortunately all we saw were a lot of birds. I guess it was too hot for anything to surface.

Pat's mom flew out early Wednesday morning so we just laid low the rest of the day. It was the only day Owen had a real nap for the whole trip. All of his naps were either in the car or on my lap on the airplane and he'll only sleep for 30-45 minutes in the situations. The poor kid was exhausted but did really well. Fortunately he slept great at night. We went back to the beach that night since Pat hadn't been able to come with the first time and it was so fun. It was cooler and raining a little so there was hardly anybody there and Pat and Owen had a blast. We hadn't brought our suits so we just planned on wading and walking in the sand but there was no way we were able to keep Owen out of the water and he was soaked when we left. He had a blast running into the waves and Daddy loved catching him. I was put in charge of keeping the phones and wallet dry so Daddy did the chasing while Mommy attempted to stay dry.

We flew back to Cedar Rapids late Thursday morning and Owen fell asleep on my lap about 5 minutes after takeoff and slept about 45 minutes. On the way down there we had an extra seat in our row for him to climb around in but not on the way home. It went pretty well though.

We got back to our house around 2:00 and then left for Kansas City around 6:00. Pat was going to a Chief's game Friday night and we figured Owen would sleep better down there since that is what is familiar to him at this point. He also slept the first 3 hours which was great and the last hour and a half he was in a good mood so it made for a relatively easy trip. Pat was pretty tired though!

We had a great time even though it was so hot. (This MN girl does not like heat!)

We stayed at a hotel in Orlando one night so Owen got his boundaries once!