Christos Anesti!

Another fun Easter weekend with the Dows (and Bakers).
 

Dorothy came back to the states as a part of her fellowship with Duke University and was able to swing through Amarillo with her beau, Juan.

In addition, Mary & Doug settled in for the weekend.

 

Dorothy brought a new "under the sea" puzzle for Kaden.

 

Lots of smooches for Owen.

 

** more to come...

 



A Good Friday Indeed

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Dyeing Easter eggs at Heather's house on Friday morning.

Heather's house could probably be dubbed the "fun house" as she loves to let the kids do projects and get messy.  She has also been known to take Kaden back to her house for the day and bake cookies.  Lord, I'm going to miss her when they move back to Ohio!

 

 

I am constantly amazed at the difference between boys and girls at this age. 

Here is a snapshot at what dyeing eggs looked like with Kaden & Danni. 

 

Danni: carefully chose an egg and a red crayon.  From there, she took about five minutes to meticulously color each side of her egg before deciding upon the pink container of dye.  But instead of plopping it into the color, she gently placed her colored egg on the wire holder to slowly lower it into the dye so it wouldn't splash.

 

Kaden: nonchalantly grabbed an egg and a blue crayon. He made a few swirls on one side.  When I asked if he could color the other side he proclaimed that, "coloring was too hard" and sloshed his egg into the blue dye.  Then he just wanted to put an egg in each colored cup and rush off to play.

 

Crowd control... Or Owen control.

 

Note to self (and others) for next year:

• The dye requiring vegetable oil for a "marbled effect" is a waste of time.  Greasy, not a lot of marbling and the dye isn't very dark.  Would probably work much better with straight food coloring and adults (not 3-4 year olds).
• The "neon" dye seems to work the best-- dramatic, vibrant colors!
• Prefer the oil pastel crayons to plain crayons when coloring on eggs (much more dramatic color)
• Clear plastic coctail glasses seem to be the perfect size for dipping & retrieving.
• Don't let Kaden punch all of the holes out of the box the night before-- it makes reading the directions quite tricky.  :)

 



Spring Break in Scottsdale, AZ

We were able to go back to Scottsdale, Arizona for Ben's spring break this year.

What a treat!  An entire week of relaxation with Mary & Doug (as well as Stephenie, Jason & Brayden) with beautiful scenery & great food.
 

Mary's sign in #20 pretty-much sums it up.

 

 

Making the 700-mile journey.

2 of the Dow boys

 

 Early one morning...

 

 

(We were 2 hours ahead of Amarillo time, which translated to an extra early run with the first hour being in the dark.)  As much as I have enjoyed-- and dreaded-- some of these LONG distance runs, I am glad the St. Louis marathon is only a few weeks away and I can put this crazy mileage behind me.
 

 

During our stay in Scottsdale, we were able to visit with Stephenie & Brayden
on two different occasions.

We attempted to get a decent picture of the three cousins, but this was the best that we could come up with.

 

playing "pool man" at Stephenie's house

 

 

more pool time...

 

During our stay, I got to go shopping to a few of my favorite stores/shops: Trader Joe's, Lululemon, etc... and Owen was a good buddy to hang out with.  I also plowed through TWO novels during the week.  Ben played golf on three different days and attend a couple of Trading meetings with Doug, which made the trip spectacular for him.

The Ben Dow family relaxing in the "hot pool" at Las Villas.

the two messes after a bath
 

Us leaving town. 

So incredibly beautiful.

(Sad sigh)

 

Maybe again this summer...

 



Owen is 15-Months Old!

Owen at his 15-month appointment

·         Dr. Fletcher report:  You are 31 ½” long (75^th percentile) and weigh 20 ½ pounds (just under 10^th percentile).  You seem to  be following the same growth curve, which is about the same as Kaden’s at that age.  He told us to, “Keep doing what we’re doing… because you are physically perfect.”  Yahoo!

·         You started walking a few weeks ago (14 ½ months) and are good!  You basically went from creeping along the furniture to strolling across the room in a span a weekend.  On Friday night you sat in the middle of the floor, pushed yourself into a forward fold and then a stand, found your balance, and took off.

o   Your walking has made my life better!  Let me rephrase… Your walking is great for my arms and back!  I think it has made you much happier too.

·         We’re not gonna lie: You’ve been hard to live with lately and it’s mainly due to your piercing scream.  It is the loudest, most penetrating, horrible screech that we’ve ever heard and you do it all of the time—when you’re mad or frustrated about something.

o   We’re not sure if this is your new personality (Lord, we hope not!) or if you don’t get to be outside as much as the last few months have been cold.

o   I’m also hoping this is not the beginning of temper fits that go along with the “terrible twos” because this seems WAY too early!

·         You’ve started getting pickier about your food.  You don’t really like vegetables unless they are puréed in smoothie form and unrecognizable.  The same is true for many fruits.  

You also don’t seem to be allergic to anything.  I know that we were supposed to hold off from giving your peanut butter until you turned 2 (recommended by pediatrician), but we have found Kaden giving your peanut butter crackers, pieces his peanut butter & jelly, and various other peanut items over the course of the past few months and it hasn’t caused a negative reaction. 

·         You sleep well once we get you down for a nap and for the night. 

You typically still take one big nap during the middle of the day. 

We normally put you to bed around 7:30 pm and you sleep for about 12 hours. 

·         Like your brother, you seem to be a climber too.  Before you started walking, we witnessed you push the Lego™  container to the living room chair in order to boost yourself up. I know this is something you have seen Kaden do for the past year.

·         You enjoy being around people—at the Townclub, at Kaden’s school, at church; I’ve never seen you cry if a stranger wants to talk to you or hold you.

·         You say a few words, but babble in your own language.  You also mimic tones—talking and singing. 

·         You still seem to like music and dance.  The funny part is that you also seem to have RHYTHM!

·         You have beautiful, expressive eyes but I still can’t tell what color they are.

They are BOTH blue and brown.

·         I’m not sure if you have a favorite toy.  Anything good always seems to get seized by your older brother.  Grrrr…  You do, however, love your cheetah animal print blanket that grandma got for you at Christmas.

·         You’ve begun to tease.  You offer a piece of your food, only to snatch it away at the last second while giggling in delight.

Yep, that's you munching a fresh tortilla in the back seat.

We LOVE you, Owen Dow!



Caught in the Crossfire

Have you ever witnessed a toddler in the throes of temper fit? 
You know the kind where the kid lets out a piercing scream that is accompanied by an arched back and flailing arms & legs?
A kid who obviously belongs to parents who don't know how to control their children.

I guess we obviously don't know how to control Owen anymore.

Picture taken within about 4 hours of "the incident"

 

Yes, this was inflicted by our sweet baby Owen.

I'm still not really sure how it happened either.  Ben handed Owen to me, something made him mad, and he proceeded with a temper fit of the calabur mentioned above, slamming the back of his head into cheek bone/eye socket.

 

Yes, a horrible picture.

 

BUT this one clearly depicts the bruising & yellowing that happened after a few days.

AND it also shows the "lines" that Kaden was innocently inquiring about during breakfast this week.

It's been a rough week for the ole self-esteem.

Next week will be better...