Owen is 9 ½ Months Old!

 Owen David, Opening Day at Hitt Records!

 

·         Dr. Fletcher report: At this last visit you weighed 18 lbs, 11 oz (5^th percentile) and were 29 inches long (50^th percentile).  I may have been alarmed in the past, but this seems to be the exact same growth pattern that your brother followed—long & lean.

 

·         You are still the happiest person I’ve ever been around.
 

·         You are still crazy-ticklish!
 

·         I love your smile with your gapped-tooth grin.  Your two top teeth are spread considerably far apart… and I love it!  You have 4 teeth with two more top teeth on the brink of breaking through within the next few weeks.

 

waking up

 

·    You have very expressive eyes.  You often knit your eyebrows together and look up at us like we're all crazy.  I think you look an awful lot like your papa (David) Dow.

 

·         You are a good eater!  Your pincer grasp has come along and you have been feeding yourself in your high chair for the past month or so.  I have made some baby food for you, but we quickly started feeding you whatever we have been eating for lunch/dinner.  You haven’t turned away from spicy food either (jalapeño cornbread, tamales, chili beans, etc.)
 

·         You still nurse ~3 times in a 24-hour period.  I have to make sure it is a quiet time now because any little distraction causes you to squirm away and see what’s going on.

·         After our Missouri trip, you have really come along with your sippy cup (thank you grandma!)
 

·         You are a dream child to put to bed.  I can typically lay you down at night, turn on your fan, put a blanket over you and that’s it.  I say “goodnight, sweet baby” and walk out of the room.  That’s it.
 

·         I hate to admit it (out loud) but you’ve been sleeping through the night consistently.  (Through the night, meaning 10+ hours.)  A few times I’ve found you standing and crying in the night, but lately we’ve been able to get you back to sleep without nursing. 

·         You typically go to bed around 8:30 p.m. and get up sometime around 7:00 a.m.
 

·         You moved from army crawling to up on your hands & knees at about 8 ½ months, which means you can really cover some ground FAST. 

 

·         You just may have learned your lesson with the stairs; you are very cautious when you approach them & dangle your arms over the edge without attempting to descend them anymore.  On the other hand, you’ve climbed the two from the den to the living room without much hesitation.
 

·         You seem to like Schatzi, our 65 lb Boxer.  You like to crawl up to her and pat her.
 

·         You still love to be outside.  You can be crying and when we set you outside, it seems to soothe you.

·         You’ve never been one to demand to be held, so (sadly) I don’t really hold you that much, but when we do, you like to be faced out to see the world around you.  
 

·         After we take Kaden to pre-school on Tuesdays & Thursdays, you & I run errands together.  You like to ride in the grocery cart and watch people. You always seem to smile at people when we are out & about.

 

·         You have the CRAZIEST, loudest high-pitch squeal.  It hurts our ears.  You do it when you’re content in the back seat or in your high chair… and then smile. It. Is. AWFUL.   Kaden usually yells at you, saying, “Owen! That is a HORRIBLE sound!”  (Wonder where he heard that?!)

 

·         You love the bath.  You do a lot of kicking and flapping, which splashes the water around… which drives your brother crazy.
 

 

·         You’ve begun pulling up on EVERYTHING and will sometimes just hold on with one hand. 

·         I haven’t been able to keep shoes on you since you always pull them off and chew on them, but I feel better knowing that it’s better for you to learn how to walk without them.  .

 

·        You still love your "Johnny Jump Up" jumper that is fixed in the doorway between the kitchen and living room.  You have been known to entertain yourself in it for an hour... and even fall asleep mid-bounce.

 

 

·         And I think you just said your first real word: “Ma-ma!”  YES!

Owen, you bring pure joy to our lives. 

We love you more than you will ever know!

 

September in Missouri

I think that mid-late September is the best possible time to be in Missouri; cool air moves in, the humidity is significantly lower, the bugs die out.  It just feels good to be in the mid-west in September.

I felt like we did a TON on this particular trip-- or at least I was busy & not getting much sleep.

On of my main reasons for coming home was for the annual Cook reunion



St. Louis Zoo

I think that the St. Louis zoo just might be my favorite zoo that we've visited thus far (and we've been to at least 4 zoos in the past 3 years... Well, 3 ½ with the Amarillo zoo being the ½.)

The admission to the St. Louis zoo is absolutely free, and we parked on the street so we didn't even have to pay for parking.  Free!   

Mom & I ended up splurging by buying a $10 wrist band that allowed us access to all of the extras at the zoo: the train, the carousel, the stingray cove as well as several other attractions. 

 Posing with Owen in the stroller we borrowed from Jennifer for the day.

 Kaden, Owen & grandma

 

Fall might be the perfect time to go to the zoo as most kids are back in school, making everything extremely accessible and easy to view. The weather was also perfect—hovering around 65°.

 

 excited to see the tiger pacing back & forth

Holding Owen's hand while riding the train

wide-eyed through the dark tunnel

 

The Penguin & Puffin coast ranked high among my most-favorite attractions.

 

Kaden taking a look at the penguins outside.

 As we strolled inside the building, there was a definite drop in temperature to mimic a penguin's true climate.

Owen enjoying himself with his new cozy Mizzou tiger hat.

 Mommy & the boys: Kaden (3 years old) & Owen (9 months)

 Last year when we went to the Butterfly House, Kaden wanted to ride the carousel but once we got on and it started, he quickly became terrified and wanted to jump off. 

This year, he seemed excited at the sight of the ride and immediately said that he wanted to ride the tiger!  I think it may have been a little scary at first but he had a good time.

 Owen and grandma relaxing on the bench seat.

 

I think our favorite attraction of the day was the Stingray cove.  For me, this alone was worth the $10 wristband as we got to leisurely walk around the shallow pool and pet the stingrays & baby hammerhead sharks.

 The only thing we had to do before entering was wash our hands and remove any/all jewelry as to not harm the stingrays in any way. 

Telling Kaden what to do...

Basically, all you had to do was flatten your hand near the surface of the water and wait for a stingray to glide up, underneath your hand... similar to how a cat will rub up against you and essentially get petted.  It was SO neat!

 Owen chillin' off to the side.

smooth & rubbery

   View into the stingray pool.

Lovin it!

 

Our final destination of the day was the Children’s Petting Farm area and the goat pen.

 Owen taking a closer look. 

Kaden brushing the goats.

Getting acquainted with my new friends.

 

 Walking back to the car with grandma.

 

I wish that Ben could have experienced the zoo with us, but then again someone had to stay back and make some money.  We had an awesome day at the St. Louis zoo!

 

 



Sonlight Preschool

After much thought, we decided to enroll Kaden into Sonlight preschool this year.

Neither Ben or I went to a formal preschool, but we thought it might be good for Kaden to try- give him another opportunity to socialize & learn from someone else AND give me some quality time with Owen two days a week (Tuesdays & Thursdays).

 

The night before school began, we got to go to Sonlight Preschool's meet & greet

to check everything out!

 Kaden with his present for Ms. Billie

sitting in his very own seat

 

Ben & I had to laugh, watching Kaden that night.  After we checked out his classroom and briefly talked to his teacher(s), we let him play on the playground for a bit.  Talk about a social butterfly!  He walked up to stranger parents & kids alike saying things like, "Hi, my name is Kaden!" 

"Everyone... Look at me go down the slide!"

No fear... Climbing up the wall.

Ben & I just looked at each other & laughed... We think that Kaden might be Kyle's kid!

 

 Kaden, asleep in his bed on his 1st day of school.

Lady, what are you doing? Why are you taking my picture this early?

Love this classic photo of Owen! 

 

It's too early, mom!

Kaden posing with his brand new nap roll & Cars backpack.

the Dow boys posing in the front yard

 

One of my good friends, Amy, taught at Sonlight last year before her son was born and Kaden's good friend, Danni, went there last year.  Both gave this preschool a glowing review.

Today Kaden started in Ms. Billie's "early 3's" classroom along with 11 others.

Kaden was SO excited to get out of the car and go to school!

(I think I may have been just as thrilled to drop him off for a few hours.)

"the look" (Mom, quit taking my picture!)

 

Ms. Billie welcoming Kaden into the classroom

Kaden's basket

I think this might be the beginning of something very wonderful!

 

 



Football Season

On Friday night, we picked up Ben from school and watched the Boys Ranch home opener

against the Bovina Mustangs.

Proud papa, showing off his two boys.

 

  Kaden & mommy eating popcorn during the football game

(the only way that seemed to keep Kaden still).

 

I Love You

"I love you, mommy!"

(sometimes it's even whispered with an accompanying gentle pat to my head.)

I literally cannot think of a better phrase to wake up to.

Too bad this phrase has to be immediately followed with, "Now get up and make waffles..."

 This is how my mornings have begun over the past few weeks with the only difference being the item he's craving that morning.

Neither Ben or I can recall Ben teaching him this trick to start out with a nice comment...
Which begs the question:

Are boys hard-wired to know how to manipulate girls?