Slip-Sliding

Owen and I headed off to the park this morning to enjoy a clear but slightly chilly day. We were thrilled to have the place all to ourselves for quite a while, and Owen had fun climbing up the slides, coming down the slides - quite a bit of static in the air, check out his hair! - and decorating the slides with wood chips (perhaps we can channel this talent/hobby into our flower beds?).

We arrived back home to find a package from Nanny that included one of Owen's favorites - Hallmark's music cards! He has four of them now (sadly two had to be "retired" due to overuse) and he clearly loves them. Thanks Nanny!

Rainy Day

Today was a rainy, yucky day, so Owen and I hung out on the couch in our pajamas, eating goldfish and watching Elmo's "Birds, Bugs and Bicycles" DVD. Not an unpleasant way to spend time!

One For His Fans!

I heard there were some rumblings of discontent over no new photos of Owen recently, so here are some random cute pics to appease his fan club! Enjoy!

His Little Duece Coupe

Owen and I have really been enjoying the great Spring weather - going to a local park to play on the slides, hanging out on the desk and watching the birds in the yard, and gassing up the old sports coupe and taking a few spins around the driveway.

A few days of all this activity is enough to really wear a little guy out!

Time Goes So Fast

Today Owen is 21 months. Bob's happy because that's his "lucky" number; I'm a little sad because our baby is growing up so fast. Oh, it's always fun to see how he changes and all the new little things he does each day/week/month (today he discovered his pants have pockets and that he likes sharing licorice with Daddy). And of course we are thankful that he's growing and developing. But I'm always conscious of how fast this all goes - how soon he won't fit snugly in my lap or tolerate the hundreds of kisses I bestow on him daily.

So I concentrate on enjoying every minute of now. At least once a day I look at Owen and wonder again at the miracle of him, and how blessed I am to have the privilege of being his mom. And every night as I lay him in his crib and tell him I love him, he looks at me with those beautiful eyes and I feel exactly like I did the first time we saw him - that he was always, always meant to be our son.

Owen and The Bubbles

If The Shoe Fits ...

I love shoes. So many styles to choose from (heels, loafers, flip-flops, sneakers, boots, sandals!), so many colors and materials, and let's face it, they always look good regardless of what the number on the bathroom scale says, or what kind of day your hair is having.

Owen, however, does not yet see the merit of shoes. Sure, he's fine with the very soft soled shoes he's been wearing since coming home - and trying on my shoes. But now that he's walking, running, jumping and climbing, I've decided he needs something with a sturdier bottom for outdoor adventures. Plus they don't make many toddler sized shoes that you can easily scrunch in half.

So we've been on a shoe mission. Several pairs I've tried have resulted in Owen crying and refusing to walk. Today Owen's new Robeez Tredz arrived. As soon as I put them on he started the usual whining and not wanting to stand; determined to prevail (and not wanting to return the shoes to Zappos, even though they do have free shipping), I walked away.

Well, after about 10 minutes of clomping around the kitchen like a mini-Frankenstein, stopping every few steps to lift his arms in the air and cry to be picked up, he finally accepted that he could still walk in these strange new shoes and seemed to be OK.

Sensing victory, I took him to the library and let him loose in the children's area. All good - no crying, no zombie walking. He even picked up a silk flower someone had dropped on the floor and sweetly offered it to a little girl using the computer (she took it from him rather blandly; chivalry is wasted on youth!).

Next stop, the mall for a visit to our favorite fountains, steps and ramps (yes, I know, we go there a lot. There's not much to do in Westminster and it was raining today). Anyway, more happy Owen - more relieved Momma! I think we've finally found a winner!

Now if I can just get him to think that DSW is a fun outing ...

Follow the Bouncing Ball

My mom, aka Nana, came to visit, and after a day spent at the Gettysburg Outlet Mall (Gap, Carters, Children's Place, OshKosh!) happily outfitting Owen for Spring and Summer, we went today to the new bounce play place in the mall.

Owen thought the moon bounce was pretty cool and the ball pit was great (have to admit, I kind of liked it too!). We also stopped by the "water park" to show Nana how to throw pennies into the fountain.