Usually Samuel and Owen love bathtime together.  They can get a little out of control, and there is always a small squabble or two, but for sharing such a small space with limited things to do, I am always impressed with how well they get along in there and for how long.  But that doesn't stop them from enjoying the rare occasion when they get the tub to themselves. 

Samuel is such a fish.  We have to remind him often that the tub is not a pool.  He has zero inhibitions about diving, rolling around, and counting how long he can hold his breath.

Owen is a little more timid about the water, and is just recently starting to put his face in and lie all the way back on his own.  One afternoon while Sam was at a friend's and Emmett was napping, Owen played in that tub for an hour!!  I finally dragged him out, afraid he might dissolve if I left him much longer.  O would've stayed in there all day if I let him. 

I decided I'd better get Em into his snowsuit at least once and venture out into the cold with his big brothers.  I waited too long, though, and I could barely zip the suit over him.  In keeping with tradition, I propped Emmett in the corner of the sofa and snapped his darling little picture.

Owen:

Samuel:

January 2012

Oh, THIS kid!!  He has been such a little stinker.  But he still has his sweet moments.  And he's darn cute.  Saves his life, I'm telling you.

I was about to vacuum.  Little Owen J pretended like he had no idea, grabbed a pillow, and sat himself down in the middle of the floor for some juice.

Fireman backpack? Check. Whistle around the neck? Check. Froggy boots? Check check. 

I was on the phone when I saw Emmett's car seat out of the corner of my eye.  With a child in it.  My heart skipped a beat and it totally freaked me out for a second because I knew I did not leave Emmett in there.  Busted!!

Owen is usually a good napper, so that often means he gets an hour or so in the evening to play by himself while Sam goes to bed first.  This is often O's best time of the day.  The family room window is still the numero uno top choice place to play, and Owen particularly enjoys it when he doesn't have to fight for it.  It makes a great place to line up some dinosaurs, wouldn't you say?

June 14, 2011

Only posting this one week late.  Which is ridiculous that I even get all worked up because I didn't do O's bday post ON his birthday.  I'm dumb.  But anyway.

Owen's birthday!!  Out of all of us, Samuel was probably the most excited.  He seriously loves birthdays.  Owen did know enough to sing to himself over and over, "HAAA-ppy day to yooooou" every time we said something about it being his birthday.  We kept it totally low key and pretty minimal, but still enough to make it special. 

Sam had a friend's party that morning, so while he was there O and I went to get some balloons.  I will not do a birthday without balloons.  Just won't do it.  It was tied into a pretty little bouquet, but Owen wanted them separated the moment we got home so he could run around with them.  The cutest thing was when Samuel came home, Owen said, "Here, Sam, your balloon" and handed him one . . . the GREEN one, no less! 

Owen went down for his nap, and Samuel and I did a bit of decorating, blew up a few little balloons, and wrapped the presents.  Samuel had talked about getting Owen his very own monster truck for a good while, and Erik had taken him out the night before to choose one.  So Sam was super giddy to wrap it, and then antsy for the next 2 hours just dying for Owen to wake up.  As soon as we heard O jump out of bed, Sam took off and met him half way on the stairs, excitedly handing him the gift.  Owen was pretty pleased with it, too.

A bit later, we went to Sam's t-ball game.  Auntie C and Mormor both met us there, and then afterwards we all went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate.  The last time I went was when I was 8 or 9 and living in Virginia.  In all honesty, I wasn't super thrilled about the idea.  It just seemed to dirty and nasty and trashy to me.  But Sam has had it in his head for about 7 months (since his own birthday) that we would go there for Owen's birthday.  And he talked enough about it to Owen, that O also talked about "Chucky Cheesey" all day.  I would ask him, "Should we go to Chuck E. Cheese tonight for your birthday?" and O would grin, then do his cute laugh and chuckle, "Yeeeeah." 

So we went.  And I was pleasantly surprised.  The place was clean and nice and way more kid friendly than our usual bday haunt, Pirate Island Pizza.  We really had such a fun evening there.  We had some pizza, played lots of games, tried several rides, and when our tokens were all gone, we cashed in the tickets.  We let O choose what he wanted, then got doubles so each boy had the same thing.  A styrofoam rocket, a tiny frog, and some Smarties.  O was in heaven with his goodies clasped in hand.  He walked back to the table and then to the car doing his super duper precious happy "walk" which is more like a waddling bounce.  I can't even tell you how cute it is.

"Look at dat over deeeeere!" pointing to the singing and dancing animatronics.

The boys have played on the little "rides" before for fun at the mall and such, but I've never put money in.  So once O was behind the wheel of a police car and I popped a token in, he got so startled that he climbed out to stare at it wondering what the heck was going on.  When Sam went for a ride on this thing that went up in the air (above) I was surprised Owen also wanted to try and figured he would whine to get right off.  He didn't.  He laughed and talked the whole time.  Then he rode it at least 5 more times that night.

Samuel looooved riding this monster truck.  It revved, growled, and tipped from side to side and front to back.  He drove it several times.

Besides the clock ride, playing basketball with his Daddy was probably Owen's other favorite thing that night.

So we went back home for a few presents and then some ice cream cake.  Owen got a velcro catch game, a couple little pool toys, and a Mater Duplo set from us.  He also got some fun wooden puzzles and a jawbreaker the size of his head from Mormor.  He pretty much did not want to put that thing down, although you could tell his arm was starting to wear out from holding the massive thing.  When the cake was in front of him, O finally let go of his death hold.  We actually had'nt planned on letting O just dig into the cake, but before bringing it over, I had laid out spoons and plates.  So while we got rid of the candles, Owen helped himself.  It was pretty cute. 

After the celebrating, we put Sam to bed and let O hang out for a while longer to have some quiet solo time.  As a two year old.  Happy birthday, sweet sweet Bubba J!!

Our sly little funny man.  I love watching him.  I wish I could get a glimpse into his mind and know just what he's thinking. 

Because what else would you do with a cushion you threw on the floor?  He spent a solid half hour playing in this cushion with his doggie.

Because Otterpops are best when they turn your belly button blue.

Because you need a tupperware hat to read Christmas books on the time out stool.

Because where else would you put marbles?  He does this all the time, then walks around the kitchen floor to listen to the noise they make.

This cutie makes me so so happy.

Notice anything a little different about these pictures?  Anything not quite right?  Maybe something you’ve never seen before?? 

Yeah, that’s my 22 month old with a pacifier.  He kind of took a pacifier around 5 months, but it totally didn’t stick.  I don’t have binky babies.  So when I was cleaning out and found this pacifier, I was baffled that O grabbed it, stuck it in his mouth, and walked around with it in there ALL. MORNING. LONG.  At one point, when he put it down for a moment and then couldn’t remember where he left it, he panicked and started running around crying, “Baby mouth??  Baby mouth go?  Where baby mouth????”  I took that as my cue to make sure he didn’t find it again.  Two days later, O will still randomly start looking for his “baby mouth.”  What a weirdo.

Because this is what can happen when Mom falters for but a moment . . .

. . . the entire toy closet on the floor, and a snotty sandy little Hitler mustache.  For today.