Owen's birthday was over a month ago so I should probably get an update in here!
We had a little party with some close friends of ours on Owen's birthday which was fun. Owen had fun putting sprinkles on his cake and blowing out the candles. He brought up his cake, and what color his candles were and who was here and where they sat for a couple of weeks after. It was fun to do something small and he enjoyed it.
We had a doctors appointment the day after Owen's birthday and he was 33 lbs (95th percentile) and 36 inches (75th percentile). This explains why carrying him around is so difficult and why I'm avoiding it as much as possible. Owen did really well and just took everything in. He didn't have to get any vaccines which helped. The doctor checked his reflexes and he talked about that the rest of the day!
Owen has begun talking a lot more in the last couple of months and will at least attempt any word you ask him. He's still somewhat difficult to understand but is surprisingly patient when we can't figure out what he's saying. Often times he'll end up laughing at our attempts! He's just recently started putting 2+ words together which has been fun to observe. There's usually a pause in between each word which is cute. The first words he put together were hot sauce which came out sounding like "hot-a sauce-a". He will often add "uh" or "e" sound after a word and frequently stutters when trying to get words out. I think his brain is just moving faster than his mouth can handle and that's what causes the stuttering.
Owen knows most of the alphabet but needs a little prompting at times. He seems to do best if I repeat each letter after he says it. He's able to recognize all of the uppercase letters and quite a few lowercase as well. He loves pointing letters out whenever he can but rarely reads them from left to right. He either reads from right to left or pulls them out at random. He's also able to recognize the alphabet in sign language and tries to make the signs but doesn't have the dexterity in his hands yet. I love watching him try though! Owen can usually spell his name but doesn't really differentiate it between other words. Anytime he hears us ask "what's that spell?" he says "OWEN!" We're trying to figure out if he recognizes the word Iowa but it sounds very similar to Owen when he says it so it's hard to tell. Owen is also able to count to 10 but this is less predictable as he will often skip a number (which number varies) and he just gets excited and either counts 10 or doesn't take all of the items into account. It's fun to watch though.
He's also very good with colors and knows orange, red, green, blue, yellow, white, purple, pink and usually black and gray. Shapes we haven't done much with so that will probably be next on the list. I know that those usually come before letters but he loves letters so much that I just went with it.
Owen still loves playing with his trucks and tractors but has started playing with puzzles and balls more. He got to play with some play-doh the other day and had a good time using the cookie cutters. Owen also has a love for Jayhawk basketball. I should say that it's a love of talking about Jayhawk basketball rather than watching it. He'll watch a game for about 2 minutes and then he's done watching and just wants to run back and forth between the kitchen and living room or pretend he's dribbling a ball. If you tell him what time it is he will say either "jay jay bah bah" or "8 o' clock jay jay bah bah" and if you ask him what time it is you get the same response. He loves to "shoot" balls through a hoop or have his stuffed animals do it. He has started pretending more and likes to gives his animals drinks and food or put them down for naps or make mommy give them hugs because they are sad. He also likes to have pretend food. He's very affectionate with his stuffed animals so I'm hoping that the hugs and kisses will carryover when baby arrives.
It's finally starting to warm up some here so we've been able to spend a little more time outside which Owen gets extremely excited about. The first day that was over 20 degrees he escaped out the garage door while I was unloading groceries and just stood there yelling "OUTSIDE! OUTSIDE!" like he'd never been outside before. I can honestly say that I have never been so excited for spring as I have been this year. Having a toddler during the one of the meanest winters is difficult for sure.
Owen got to move up to the 2 year old classroom at church this month and he loves it. We were having so much trouble with him crying when we dropped him off in the nursery but now that he's in a this new class he just walks right in without looking back. I think he enjoys the toys in there more and one of his teachers we've known for a while and they love each other.
It's been so fun to see him grow and learn so much in these last few months and there are still days I look at him and think "when did he get so big??" I've had several people tell me that once this baby comes he's going to seem so much bigger so I'm trying to prepare myself for that.
Owen is usually a pretty easy going and obedient kid although we have our 2 year old moments of course. He still sleeps great unless he's overtired and is usually pretty happy.
I'm sure I'll think of some things to add to this post but the little guy is awake now and looking for some attention!
