When Good Stickers Go Bad

Owen Isn't The Only One ...

who likes to play with the fridge magnets.


Love you too Bob!

Busy Boy

We capped off a great week that included a visit from Nana with a trip to a local children's play place. Owen drove a fire engine, played keyboard, shopped for groceries, took Daddy on in a game of Foosball, shot some hoops, built pipe structures, tested the slides, and explored the sand box.

Guess which activity was his favorite ...

The Joy of Building Towers ...

... and knocking them down!

WARNING: Mom Bragging Ahead

I know I've been a bit slack in posting this month, so please enjoy these pictures and some of the funny, sweet, wonderful things Owen is up to recently!

- Two weeks ago at CVS I was checking out some cold medicine on a top shelf as Owen was standing next to me moving each bottle of NyQuil an inch to the left and counting "1, 2, 3, 4" etc.* as he did so.

- He likes to count on his fingers, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, done!"

- He has some foam animals with letters in them, and I overheard him playing with them and saying "S - good", "E - right", imitating me praising him. He does the same thing with his beloved (and bedraggled) flash cards.

- He plays with his magnetic fridge letters everyday, and now makes the sound ("t says ta") to go along with some of the letters. He knows all his letters, although sometimes Y and V are still a bit confusing.

- Owen will often come up and say "hug" then proceed to give me a great big one, complete with his little hand patting my back.

- He also likes to give really long kisses and lick my cheek!

- At bedtime after a story, we rub noses (from one of his favorite books) and he'll hold out his hand so I can gently rub his palm.

- He says good night to Ava and gives her a kiss every night before heading upstairs.

- Our little engineer likes to get in the mechanical cars at the mall but he likes it even more when someone else gets in for a ride and he can peer underneath to try to figure out how it works.

- He likes to help me throw laundry in the dryer and help Daddy with chores around the house (especially after he stuck a magnet down the heating vent).

- I recently bought him his very own guitar, which he loves and enjoys playing "Jimi Hendrix" style.

- He's into stickers, playing basketball with Daddy, going outside at any opportunity no matter how cold, and strangely, Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Owen is, everyday, our joy and blessing and laughter and love! Happy Valentines Day to you all!

*He loves to count things and does it all the time. When he demonstrated this in front of his Nanny and Aunt Maria (both former teachers), they were really impressed and told me that it's called one-to-one counting and it's a kindergarten skill. I think there is some serious brain power in that big ol' head (I warned you there would be bragging)!

Super Steeler Sunday

I've often told Bob how very lucky he is to be married to a woman who loves football; he always agrees. And probably never more so than this past Friday night when he called to tell me Todd could get two tickets to the Super Bowl and "could he go"?

I didn't hesitate in saying yes - after all it's the Super Bowl! - and I thought it was great that he and his brother would be sharing the experience. I even dug out my vintage Terrible Towel for Bob to take along. There was only caveat on my part ... when the Ravens go to the big game (next year?), Bob has to take me! Todd also felt fairly confident in promising Maria he'd take her to the Super Bowl, first class all the way, when her Cleveland Browns make it.

So the boys made their plans and Saturday morning Owen and I packed up and headed to Cumberland to spend the weekend with Nanny, Aunt Maria and Hannah. We had a great time visiting and enjoyed the company of Maria's family at her house for a Super Bowl party, complete with our own half-time Guitar Hero (or as Owen says, "GEEE-tar") show. Bruce had nothing on us!

Frequent calls and text messages from the guys assured us they were having a great time, and although I found myself pulling for Arizona (I pretty much always root for the underdog) we were all thrilled for Todd when his favorite team pulled it out in the end. Uncle Todd - the last pic is just for you and your Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers!