Owen Turns 2

Our sweet little guy turned 2 years old on October 13th, although he thinks he's 4 like Drew. Owen is a fun, happy kid and has so many expressive faces. He is very affectionate and loves to give hugs, high fives, and knuckles. He hugs Allie every day when she gets off the bus. He often cries when a family member leaves the house -i.e. Allie or Drew to school, and Dan to work. He TRULY misses them and lights up when they return. 

At the same time, he does like to scold them when he thinks they are doing things they shouldn't do, or if they walk to far ahead of us.  He'll scold her and say, "Allie, Uh, Uh, Uh..."

He is also very smart. Owen can master any iPod, iPad, or cell phone you give him. He'll figure out where the games are and how to play them in no time. He is still a busy, busy guy and can get up onto any counter, table, desktop, etc. in our home. He has been stealthily climbing out of his crib for over a month.

It's hard to be upset at him, even when he climbs into our bed at 5 am to snuggle and get warm. Whenever he says "sorry", he doesn't actually say the word yet; he just pats you on the head and then gives you a sincere hug. He is always making us smile and laugh. 

He is starting to combine words to make rudimentary sentences.  He likes to say "iPod, please?", "dinky, please - for drink, please", "a have some?" (if he wants what you have),      He often says "OK" after I ask him something.  I'll say, do you want to go downstairs, and he'll say "OK" in a cheerful voice. 

For his special day, we had his favorite - Mac and Cheese, broccoli and cauliflower (yes, he loves both of those at the moment), and homemade applesauce. He LOVED it... He ate some watermelon as an appetizer. He could probably eat an entire watermelon if I let him. He LOVES to eat it as a wedge - and he eats right down as low as you can go without biting the rind.

His imagination has soared the past few months. Making cars drive fast then crash and then fall off the cliff to crash again (he'll say "Oh noooooooooooooo" as the car slowly falls off the cliff). Building train tracks and driving trains is also a favorite pastime these days. His favorite movies/TV shows right now are: Lion King, Blue’s Clues, Super Why, and Dora.   Owen absolutely adores his older brother.  He loves to mimic Drew, and play basketball with him or to run around playing tag.   

Fav. Foods are: cheese, almost any fruit, avocados, popcorn, and ice cream. He actually calls most treats "ice cream".  He calls chocolate, cupcakes, muffins, etc. "Ice Cream". I ate a chocolate candy one night, and then picked him up, he smelled the chocolate on my breath and had a curious look on his face. I could see the wheels turning in his head. He was trying to identify the smell. He then light up and said "Yummy!" "Ice Cream, peas?" He wanted whatever I just ate - he knew it was a treat...

Things he doesn't like are: ANYTHING with a red sauce or tomatoes (which sure makes it hard since we are a pasta loving family... ), green beans, salad, pizza, and milk. When he doesn't like something he'll say "tss, tss" - which means "Yucky!".

Dan was VERY sick (which doesn't happen very often - he's SUPERMAN) on Owen's actual birthday, so decided to go to Red Robin a week later, once Dan was feeling better. He chowed his dinner and they sang him a birthday song and gave him an ice cream sundae. He listened intently as they sang to him, and thoroughly enjoyed every bite (including the cherry on top) of his sundae.

Drew Halloween party

And the holiday keeps on going and going and going ...

Drew had his class Halloween party on Nov 1st. He was elated to wear his buzz costume one more time. His classmates loves his light up wings. Owen and I got to join Drew for snack time and a brief trick -or-treating around the community center building. All the treats were "non food" treats.

After trick-or-treating, we all got to play in the large gym and run around and play with all the toys.   This was a special treat for the kids.  They usually go outside to the playground or out for a hike or exploring the trails for their free time.   So, they were super excited to get to play inside!

Drew is such a happy kid. A few other moms told me that their kids always talk about Drew and how they love to play with him at preschool. Emma's mother told me that she didn't want to go to preschool that morning but the mother said "I wonder what costume Drew will have today". That was enough encouragement to get Emma up and to school. She wasn't disappointed in his Buzz Lightyear costume with light up wings. Drew told me he likes to make her laugh by being silly!

Owen enjoyed playing in the tunnels and getting stuck inside them. 

Drew loves to play and is so sweet and thoughtful to others.  Drew let kids go in front of him and even let one have the bigger snack pile.  I was able to watch him share his tricycle, since other kids weren't taking turns and keeping them for themselves (there were only 3 tricycles - and 20 kids).  He was the only one sharing with others.  When he did have a turn on the tricycles - he was zooming all around the court.  He was having a blast.  . 

Drew has a tender heart and can see others needs. He melts my heart to Infinity and Beyond!

First Day of First Grade

This post should have been in my September posts, but I guess better late than never!

This is Allie on her First day of school.  She goes to Issaquah Valley Elementary and is in First Grade.  Her teacher is Ms. Allison Rupert.  (Her teacher last year at CTA was also named Allison.)  She rides the bus, almost everyday, to and from school, and LOVES it.  We meet her at the bus stop, which is  just up the road.  On non-rainy days, Drew likes to ride his scooter and I bring one for Allie in the stroller.  The boys get so excited to see Allie get off the bus. 

Owen cries almost every morning when Allie gets on the bus.  He yells her name and says, "Allie, Uh, Uh, Uh..."  He's telling her to not get on the bus.  When she does, he usually cries and says her name over and over.  He never likes it when one of us leave.   He usually lets out a big squeal when we see her after school and has to give her a big hug.

Allie is very smart and is a hard worker.  Her handwriting and writing skills have grown tremendously this year.  Her first grade class is really focusing on reading this year, and developing a love for books.  Allie loves to read, and often reads multiple chapter books at a time.  I find books everywhere - a stack by her bedside table, in the kitchen, my room, by the couch, etc. - all with various book marks in them. 
She still LOVES recess, and popcorn Fridays.  I'm going to be helping out with the Garden program for her class, starting in January.  I miss being able to go into her class monthly and see what she is doing and learning.  She is making friends, and enjoys school.

 

Allie Turns 7

Our little girl turned 7 this year.  Sometimes I can't believe she's already 7, and sometimes I feel like I've battled a teenager for the past 7 years :0  Allie has always been so smart and clever and so aware of everything around her, except for other people walking and shopping carts in the grocery store :) well beyond her years.   

She is SO creative and loves to draw, color, create, invent, and find new uses for anything.  Allie loves to play and have fun.  She can do anything, if she puts her mind to it (and if mom doesn't tell her to do it!)  She has a gift for making friends wherever she is, so we knew she'd do okay in the transition to our new home.  She misses her AZ friends and cousins dearly, but has made some fun new friends here in Washington. 

Dan was in India on her birthday, so we had a simple get together the Friday before her actual birthday.  We made homemade pizzas, played outside, watched a movie and had candy and popcorn.  Allie had so much fun.  Thanks to all our friends and family who called or sent cards or gifts for her birthday.  It helped make her birthday special in our new place and without our dad here :)  Dan sent her a bouquet of flowers - which she absolutely LOVED and felt so special.  It's amazing what flowers do for a girl! 

Allie couldn't decide what kind of cake she wanted - so we made two!  The round one was a funfetti box cake mix with cream cheese frosting.  I wrote her name on top, exactly the way she signs her name.  The second (square cake) was a yellow cake with a blackberry lemon cream frosting.  The frosting was to die for.  We made it from our fresh blackberries we had previously picked.  It was fresh and delicious.  That was MY favorite! 

Boat Tour with the Walkers

Here we are taking a boat tour on Puget Sound,  enjoying a beautiful, warm, sunny Seattle day.  Oh wait, it was freezing cold, with gloomy skies... and did I mention the water dropped the temp at least another 40 degrees???  It had actually been warm that week, so we dressed in short sleeve shirts thinking the trend would continue.  Luckily, we had some sweatshirts for the kids in the car and found a few blankets in the back of the car too. 

It was cool to see the shoreline of Seattle from this viewpoint and to learn some history of Seattle fom the cheesy tour-guide with the microphone.  Allie and Drew sat on the side of the boat to have a better view, while the rest of us stayed a bit warmer in the middle.  They finally joined us when they couldn't take the cold any longer.  Allie spent the next 15 minutes huddled under a blanket.
 

Owen didn't seem to care about the neighborhoods of Queen Anne, or the boats in the harbor or the history of each pier lining the harbor.  So, he played starfall on my phone instead :-)  We stayed on top until our goose bumps had goose bumps then we went down below to stay warm.  You could feel a bit more of the rocking of the boat inside.  

This is how I feel after wrestling kids the entire 3 hours of church...

Poor Owen, gets dragged around and has to adapt to our schedules instead of the other way around.  The older two had strict nap schedules when they were younger (because they both still napped at the same time) and they rarely missed a nap or at worst got their snooze delayed by half an hour.  But Owen has developed the gift of falling whenever he can... the couch, his car seat and even the stroller.  I can usually transition him into his bed if I get him home within 30 minutes of falling asleep or his car nap is all he'll take.

Our ward meets at 11am so nap time is always tough on Sundays.  A few weeks ago we wrestled all throughout church and he screamed as I dropped him off to his class.  He wouldn't stop crying and banging on the door to get out, so I took pity on him (and made it harder for me the next time I drop him off :-(  I'm such a softy). 

So, he came to class with me and my four year olds.  He had to tough it out through all of church since I had to teach and Dan was on a business trip.   When church was over, I put him in his car seat, and as I was about to pull out of the parking lot, I looked back and saw this.  He was dead asleep in lessthan 2 minutes = hunched forward.  The shoulder straps were keeping him somewhat upright and from falling completely over.   His head would wobble side to side like a bobblehead as he lightly snored. 
Drew and Allie giggled at him the entire drive home :-)