Life with Our Three Year Old

A recent conversation between Owen and I as he pulled the camcorder, portable DVD player, CDs and various cords/chargers from the cabinet.

Me: "What are you doing Owen?"
Owen: "Making a mess"
M: "Yes, you are making a mess"
O: (with a big smile) "I try!"

And of course no day would be complete without the standard 3-year old "I do it", "My turn", and a personal favorite, "Mommy, look at me; I'm big!!" (usually cheerfully shouted as he's standing atop the back of the chair).

I must admit that there have been a few moments in the past two months when I seriously considered starting a national petition to claim the terrible from two's and officially make it the "terrible threes", but all in all life with Owen continues to be daily doses of fun.

Though still not the chattiest of kids, he amazes and delights me with some of the things that come out of his mouth; for example, declaring a nectarine we were sharing "really delicious" and thoughtfully answering "no, not yet" when I ask if he's ready to go to bed.

I love that each day brings new discovery, something new to chuckle at. I love how his sense of humour is developing and the twinkle he gets in those huge brown eyes when he knows he's being funny.

I love how compassionate he is ... Owen regularly save worms from the sidewalk, picks up "baby leaves" on our walks, and encourages his fish Salt (the only survivor of five from our not-so-long-ago trip to PetSmart) to eat his food. The other night when I told him I had a headache; he promptly kissed my forehead and asked if I needed a band-aid.

I love that he will walk up to me and give me a big hug and a kiss, usually accompanied by "I love you", or occasionally "Hi Mamacita" (the last thanks to Bob's teachings, along with another term of endearment (?) "Hi Hot Mama").

I love that he is still obsessed with cars and will happily walk through the parking lot pointing out "Ford, Honda, Toyota, Subaru" etc. - he knows them all. He takes great delight in a trip to our local Jiffy Lube, and imitates tire changes at home with his jump rope and Daddy's car.

Yep, I just love life with our three-year old!

Go Ravens!

Labor Day Weekend

We are so lucky - Nana and Pop-pop have several Marriott timeshares and they invite us to join them on "mini-vacations"!

This was Owen's third year going to Seaview, a property close to Atlantic City, New Jersey, for the Labor Day weekend. We were thrilled that Uncle Rich and Aunt Cathy were spending the week there too!

Saturday was pool day; Owen "borrowed" a pool noodle and played horsey and fishing with it in the kiddie pool after splashing around most of the afternoon with us in the big pool. The weather wasn't super nice Sunday so while Bob, Pop-pop and Rich golfed, Nana, Cathy and I took Owen to the zoo near Cape May for the day (it's not truly a vacation if I don't visit a zoo!!).

At night - after dinner at the Grill or a local diner - we joined around the table for snacks and drinks, and board games. Just a really nice, relaxing time spent with people we love. Lucky, lucky us!

School Days - Part II

Well, as my wise cousin Kim so accurately predicted, Owen took this day in stride, and Mommy had the harder time!

At 11:30 this morning Owen donned his dinosaur (alligator?, hippo?) backpack and posed for a few pictures before we made the short trip to Little People's Place for his first day of pre-school. Once there, we took a few more shots before heading inside to find his cubby (he shares it with one of his "girlfriends" Reganne!) and into his classroom to greet Miss Stephanie and Miss Marianne.

Owen made a beeline for the fish tank and after he and a few of his classmates watched Raven and Poe swim about for a few minutes I knelt down, gave him a big hug, told him I loved him and to have a good time, and that I'd be back soon. He calmly said "love you too" and as I glanced back before leaving he headed over to a table laden with toys and started playing.

No crying, no fear, no problems ... for Owen. I did manage to get to my car and call Nana and Pop-pop before I shed a few tears, but really I think I did fairly well considering I cannot believe my little baby is old enough to be away from me three hours an afternoon, two days a week!

I stayed busy by going to the library and partaking in a little retail therapy (got some early Christmas shopping accomplished!) and before too long it was time to pick Owen up again.

As I entered his classroom I saw him sitting calmly on the rug with some of his new buddies; he looked up, saw me and waved, then came running out (after his teacher said it was OK) to greet me with a big smile and hug. Without a doubt the best part of my day!

Miss Marianne said he did great and Owen seemed very happy - he showed me the spider he made and we sang a bit of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (this month is Nursery Rhymes). He liked playing outside and the snack, and said he had fun.

As for me, I'm relieved. Now how many more "first day of school" days do I have to survive?? (smile) Life is good.

School Days - Part I

Last Friday night we converged on Staunton, Virginia; Owen and I arriving first, Cearra traveling up from her mom's house, and Bob finally pulling in at midnight after working in a remote part of Maryland.

Saturday morning found us unloading unit 45B at the storage facility, and along with Cearra's roommate Jacqueline, J's parents and nephew, trudging an amazing assortment of clothes, shoes, fans, books, pictures, purses, toiletries - etc., etc. you get the picture - up to the third floor of Woodson Hall and Cearra and Jacqueline's room for the year.

Each time I visit Mary Baldwin I marvel aloud at the beauty of the campus, these stately old buildings nestled in the lush hills of the Shenandoah Valley. It really is a magical setting and I think Cearra is going to have a wonderful sophomore year.

After a nice lunch and trip to the bookstore (where just one of C's econ books cost more than $200 - ouch!!), Bob, Owen and I said our goodbyes with big hugs and just a few tears and started back to Westminster to await our next installment of school days ...