Chicken Noodle (9 months)

I LOVE THIS BOY!

Owen at 8 months

Time flys when you are having fun! Seriously can Owen really be 9 months old already?!? Olivia grew up fast, but not even close to how fast Owen has seemed to grow up. There are days I miss my little infant, but I love watching him grow his little personality, play and love on his big sister and have his set of "firsts." First Christmas was fun, now he had his first Valentines day, first time playing in the snow, first word ("da da" of course) and first fever. Oh and he had a third the other day.. finally his third tooth broke through! :)

My first fever :(

Owen is my little lap baby. Everyone told me boys are more cuddly than girls. Owen can be cuddly but mostly he just loves to sit on my lap and face out. He likes to play from there, read from there, relax from there, etc. He really doesn't like to be left alone, so especially if Olivia is napping or something you can find Owen in my lap or hanging on my leg. I enjoy Olivia's nap time with Owen. I was so concerned about before he was born about not having any one on one time with him. Since he naps in the morning he goes down for a nap later than Olivia (usually about 10 minutes before she wakes up), so I usually have a good two hours of just Owen/Mommy time. It is nice to just play with him and read him books or even let him play by himself while I work nearby (if he will) for a while. Don't get me wrong, there are days when I would pay a pretty penny for them to nap at exactly the same time so I could have a lengthy break, but most of the time I just enjoy to one on one moments that don't come the rest of the day. The good thing is he really, really loves Olivia (despite her efforts to use him for her personal pony.) Olivia can even tell this. When she comes up to him to play or when Owen and I get her up in the morning she always grabs his hand as he smiles really big at her and says "I THINK HE LIKES ME!" They love to play together and with the exception of monitoring some safety and Olivia taking everything from him they play independently. It is so cute to watch them when they don't know that I am watching. Makes my heart melt. He also is so protective of her already. When she gets put in time out all he wants to do is crawl over to her and sit by her when she is in trouble. Even if she is in time out for being mean to him.

I am happiest when... I'm playing with my sissy.

Some other things about Owen... he is finally starting to babble some constants. He said "dada" and "mama" and "nah nah" and I swear he said "more" the other day. He is also doing some signs (mostly more and up and maybe all done) and holding his own sippy cup. These are all big milestones to "mama".

All about Owen:

Favorites:

food: MEAT! (steak, chicken, turkey), graham crackers, oatmeal with fruit, bananas, and mashed potatoes

books: doesn't seem to have strong preferences like Olivia did, but he likes the book with kitten pictures, peek a boo baby and whatever I'm reading to Olivia.

things to do: play with Olivia, dance with mommy, crawl (really fast!), play chase or follow, play in the kids kitchen, suck on his paci, sit on someone's lap, Bath time

toys: shoes (he loves to look at them and try to chew on them), barnyard magnet toy, fisher price kitchen and usually just whatever olivia is playing with.

Dislikes:

getting diaper changed or changing clothes, getting nose wiped, being left alone in a room, being put in my exersaucer unless I'm in a REAL good mood, things that move fast in front of my face (dogs, balloons), loud noises (vaccum, hair drying, blender), most vegetables

Some of my favorite Owen moments: Dance dance parties we have in the kitchen with Olivia and Daddy. He smiles so big and laughs as I hold him and we dance to music.

Another bittersweet moment was when he was sick he was the snuggliest little snuggle bear in the world and I soaked up every moment of it.

Watching him dance while sitting on the ground bouncing his butt up and down... so funny

Watching him play and laugh with Olivia.

when he picks up things, puts them in his mouth and then crawls to where he wants to be.. example a sock or a toy he wants to move somewhere else.

Owen's nicknames right now: chicken noodle, Owen chicken noodle, handsome man, snuggle bear (olivia is snuggle bug), Owie, mister mister and Bubby.