12 Months Old

*I have so many posts to catch-up on including Owen's 1st birthday, Grandparent visits, Christmas and a few other cute milestone posts ... which should all be coming your way in the next couple of days :) 

Wow! Owen is 1 year old. It is crazy to see how big Owen has grown in 12 short (although at times I was searching for the fast forward button :)) months. He has grown from a tiny, needy little baby to a very funny, independent, walking -- YES WALKING little man. His cuddles, hugs, kisses, giggles and smiles will melt any ones heart and makes everything worth it. Every month becomes more and more fun and it is truly amazing to see how smart Owen is. He is constantly surprising us and showing us a new way to look at the world around us which is just priceless. Okay, now on to the stats and milestones.

Owen's Stats:

Weight: 22 pounds, 5.5 ounces (41%)
Height: 30 inches (69%)
Head Circumference: 48 cm (88%)
Diapers: Size 3 during the day, size 4 at night (We have to use 2 overnight diapers at the moment to stop him from soaking through).
Cloths: 12 months in tops and bottoms
Eyes: I love his eyes. They change color depending on what he is wearing and the light. They teeter between a hazel and a greenish brown with a blue ring around the outside.

Owen's Milestones: 

He sprouted two more teeth (both top teeth -- right middle and the tooth next to that) right before his first birthday and is working on two more on the top

Figured out how to clap on his birthday and LOVES to do it. You can even ask him to clap and he will do it with much delight

He is officially walking (a post on that will be soon). He still looks like a little drunken sailor but a very cute one at that

Owen and Lexi have really started to play together and it is the cutest thing ever. Owen will throw a ball to her and she will bring it over to him ... he will bring her a toy, she will take it, he will take it back and the cycle continues until Lexi gets bored. Owen also figured out how to feed Lexi and will fling food from his highchair to make sure his doggie doesn't go unfed. Or he will think he is sneaky and reach his hand down with his food to feed her. Lexi is such a good patient doggie and we are so lucky they both love each other so much

He does not like when you take anything away from him and will watch were you put it to try to get it back. There is no more hiding anything from Owen ...

Officially on cows milk and really enjoys it

He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 and usually sleeps until 5 or 6 ... drinks a bottle and goes back to sleep until about 7 or 7:30

He has moved to taking just one nap a day

His favorite books are Goodnight Moon, Brown Bear Brown Bear and the First Words Books

He is in a forward facing convertible car seat and LOVES it. It will make being in the car much more tolerable

Will bang and two objects together and LOVES to make as much noise as he can

Has started repeating simple words. Will say Da-da and doggie and knows what those mean.

Understands simple directions and will come when called, will walk/crawl to daddy, give hugs, help heat up a bottle, just to name a few

Something funny that he does is he will start to bark when Lexi barks ... it is really funny

Has major separation anxiety but once I am out of the room or leave, he is content

Sleeps with his Mickey Mouse. There are a lot of times that he will be laying right on him or cuddling right next to him ... it looks like this is his "blankie" or equivalent to my "bear bear"

He is a very active and busy boy but will stop and cuddle when he gets tired and I treasure those moments

Merry Christmas

We wanted to take a minute to wish you all a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Love Always, 

Chera, Eric, Owen and Lexi 

12 Month Pictures

When Owen turned 1 we got his pictures taken and they came out great. I wasn't sure how they would turn out because Owen always wants to be on the move, but surprisingly enough the photographer managed to get some good shots!

A letter to Owen

Dear Owen,

Wow, you are one year old today. Who would have known that you would change our lives so much in 12 short months. I remember holding you in my arms for the first time and thinking ... wow you are finally here and perfect in every way. You were a surprisingly 8 pounds 5.2 ounces and had a full head of dark brown hair. Daddy and I weren't sure what we were going to name you and when the nurse asked us, we looked at each other and looked at you and said Owen and all of the sudden you stopped crying ... it was fate you wanted to be our little O.


Over the past year you sure have given us a run for our money and constantly have us questioning if we will ever do this again. You were a very sleepy baby and ALWAYS fell asleep while eating. Daddy usually had to provide the assist while you were eating by tugging at your ears, or tickling your toes. You turned into a snacker and liked to eat every hour and finally gave up breastfeeding at 5 and a half months, but I continued to pump through your first birthday (you are one lucky baby!). You also have a hard time with solid foods because you don't know portion control and like to stuff your mouth until you gag, but we are working on that. You go through phases on how much food you like to eat and how much you like to drink but hopefully it will get easier. 


And sleeping ... you slept through the night for the first time on December 17th and have not done it since (and last night you decided to wake up EVERY hour ... uggg), but I will treasure those nights when you do decide that sleeping is a good thing! It has been a long year with little sleep and lots of waking up but at least you are a healthy little boy and that's all we can ask for.


Besides the eating and sleeping issues, you are one funny loving little boy. You love to flop on anything soft, think hanging upside down from your toes is hilarious, you love to read books and have books read to you, could watch Mickey Mouse for hours on end if we let you, you love to play with balls -- you can roll them and throw them, are really good at knowing what you are not suppose to get into and when I catch you you squeal in delight because you think it is so funny! You are my little troublemaker who is constantly striving to discover everything around you. You are very courious and smart and keep me on my toes daily. 


You are a Momma's boy at heart and shower me constantly with hugs, kisses, giggles, cuddles and wiggles. Every time I walk into a room you crawl over to me and give me a big hug. It melts my heart and something I will always treasure. The love you have for your doggie Lexi is also very special and warms my heart. You love her, follow her all around the house, steal her toys and bonies, take her to the park everyday and have just started to pet her. And you adore your daddy who constantly teaches you new tricks and loves you so much. 


It has been amazing to watch you change and grow this past year. You have brought us so much joy and love that we never knew existed. We are so lucky you are our little boy and can't wait to see what next year holds for us!


Happy first birthday baby boy. 


We love you to the moon and back. 


xoxo Mommy, Daddy and Lexi

What a year it has been

I still can't start to comprehend that we have an almost one year old. It is crazy how fast the year has gone by, although there were times that I remember just wanting to fast forward and those that I wanted to freeze and never wanted them to end. So last night I decided to put together a little video of Owen's first year and boy did it bring back all sorts of emotions. I couldn't help but smile as I watched it (over and over) and I think that is just what you need to do sometimes to recharge and really appreciate how lucky you really are. Owen is one fun loving little boy that is stubborn as hell (I swear he was born that way), smart, a little daredevil, mamma's boy, knows what he wants and of course very curious. He keeps us all on our toes and makes sure I don't have much time to do anything but keep an eye on him but I can't imagine our lives without him and can't wait to see what next year holds.

So if you have time (yes it is 8 minutes long ... and to get it that short took a lot of editing) and want to relish in the milestones, achievements and of course all of the gummy smiles of our little Owen, please do. It really has been an unbelievable year (there is sound ... you may need to adjust the volume using the button on the slideshow).

A Very Blurry Christmas

It's funny ... it's hard to explain, but during this holiday season I have constantly had thoughts of "remember this time last year?" and how different life was? In fact, this week marked the first baby that was born from our baby class and I remember hoping my day would be soon but secretly thinking I don't think we are ready you can stay in there as long as you want.

 Our Apartment Last Year -- Look at all of the breakables still out ... and no baby toys that have no taken over our living room. 

So now when I think of Christmas I think of all things baby. The shift has gone off of the presents, the rushing around to get everything done, scheduling time to be with loved ones ... to OMG my little baby boy is almost 1! How did that happen?

Last year at this time I was trying to wrap presents on the floor with Lexi trying to "help" by sitting on the wrapping paper and my legs were numb from my huge belly. I was exhausted from working and trying to get all of our Christmas shopping done ... although looking back now I didn't know what being exhausted really felt like. I stressed on weather or not to buy a "babies first Christmas's" outfit because I thought if I did I would definitely jinx myself and have a baby born after Christmas or even after the New Year (did I forget to mention that my doctor thought for sure I was going to be late ... in fact they made me schedule an appointment a week after my due date -- I remember crying on my way home after hearing that!). Add on top of that the stress of getting Lexi's surgery done with a newborn -- gosh I am glad that is done. The only thing I wanted to do was walk the mall to help Owen evacuate. Speaking of Owen ... one of our never ending conversations were what to name our baby boy. We really had no clue up until about an hour before Owen came. We didn't even have a short list because the names just kept changing.

Last belly shot - 39 weeks 

And then Owen decided to come 3 days before Christmas. We left the hospital on Christmas Eve with terror across both of our faces because we were now responsible for this little 8 lb 5 oz baby and the hospital conveniently forgot to give us the owners manual as they pushed us out the door. I think Eric and I looked at each other when my mom left on Christmas Eve night and said Now what (as I was secretly hoping mum mom would turn back around and show back up at our doorstep)? Are we suppose to celebrate Christmas because at that point my main focus was trying to get this stubborn VERY sleepy little baby to eat. I couldn't think about Santa, or gifts, or calling anyone ... heck I couldn't even keep my own emotions in check.

Minutes after being born 

 Our Christmas Baby 

 Thinking he might just like his new family 

 One of the vary few pictures I have that shows just how much dark brown hair he had when he was born 

 Merry Christmas 

 Best stocking stuffer around 

So now a year later as the Christmas decorations are going up, gifts are being purchased, travel plans are being made ... all I keep thinking about are all of the memories of this time last year and what a Crazy Blurry Christmas we had. It will definitely be one I will never forget and will treasure forever ... and I am pretty sure going forward Christmas will have a special and different meaning to all of us.

This was the night of Christmas probably around 3 am ... I remember coming back into the room and thinking how sweet this was and had to sneak a picture ... Boy I am so glad we don't have a newborn anymore 

 Exhausted with the kids on Christmas last year 

A Belated Congratulations

I should have posted this a few weeks ago, but I just wanted to send out a big congratulations to Eric. He just recently got a new position in his company in a new department and will be starting it after the New Year. I know how hard he has worked to get this position and thank my lucky stars that he works so I can stay at home with Owen and Lexi everyday. We are all so proud of you!!!

Love,
Cher, O and Lex

Santa

This is what christmas is all about. Today I worked a family christmas party at donahues and there had to have been about 20 kids in attendance all under the age of 8. As a special treat they had santa come to hand out gifts and I was lucky enough to bring santa I the room and watch all of the little kids get so excited. One little girl even ran right up to him and gave him a huge hug. You. Really can't find anything more magical then santa and kids at christmas.

The time Owen tried to meet Santa

We have been on a mission to meet Santa since he came to the malls right around Thanksgiving. We went the day before Thanksgiving with my mom only to find out that at that point Santa only works on the weekends. So we tried again when we were out in Rochester after Thanksgiving. This time we were in luck ... Santa was ready and waiting to meet Owen ... only Santa's elves took way to long to take the picture while Owen sat on Santa's lap and tears started to flow before a good shot could be taken. I tried one more desperate attempt to get a good picture with my happy little boy and Santa and this is what I got:

Yup ... my smart little boy had caught onto this game and cried as soon as I tried to place him on Santa's lap. We tried him standing near Santa while I did a crazy dance ... sung songs ... made funny noises ... but nothing worked. I am pretty amazed that we even got this picture as all I remember is him whining and crying the whole time. 

Once Owen realizes that Santa is a good man I am sure he will be happy to sit on his lap! 

No one said it would be easy

But I never thought it would be this hard ...

Christmas time has always been one of my favorite times of the year. It brings back memories of going to cut down our christmas tree with my dad at a tree farm, getting home and having my mom tell us that it is too fat ... too tall ... or doesn't have the right needles for the ornaments, decorating the tree with my mom, wrapping gifts in colorful paper with pretty bows and ribbon, watching the grinch stole christmas on tv,  and just the overall warm and tingly feeling that comes with the joy in the air.

Well this year with an almost toddler ... it seems that all of the holiday joy has been sucked away and to be honest I can't wait until the month of December is over. Here are some reasons why:

Decorating
We decided that it just wasn't practical to get a christmas tree (this is the first time in my whole entire life that I will not have a tree -- makes me very sad) because 1. Owen will be the child that takes the tree down (read previous post) and doesn't understand why he can't play with the tree since it would have been set-up in the room we play in all day everyday in and 2. We will be traveling for pretty much 2 weeks visiting family for the holidays which means the tree would be up for a week ... uggg. So this in itself has really put a damper on the holiday cheer because I feel like I am letting Owen down by not going all out for his second christmas (although his first christmas was a blur that I am not sure any of us remember it).

Shopping
Trying to figure out when to shop with an almost toddler has had me stressed out to the max. Owen is suppose to take 2 naps a day but most of the time only ends up with 1 nap. Which would be perfect right? I could get my shopping done in the morning before his nap. Well I tried this today and this is what happened. We left the house and ventured to our first store which of course didn't have what we needed but said we could order it online through the store and we would have it in two days ... an hour later and not getting what we wanted because it ended up being sold out online as well means we just wasted precious shopping time that I can't get back. At this point Owen is cranky, my arm feels like it is going to fall off from carrying around him and the diaper bag but we need to get over to the mall because I didn't make it this far to turn around and go home already. So we head to the mall go to a few stores were I have already planned out what I am getting and realize its lunch time. We head to the food court I get Owen some chicken fingers realize that I forgot his sippy cup so I get a juice box instead which he hated as soon as he had one sip realize at this point we need to call it a day to get home to Lexi and nap time. Owen is screaming in the car so I give him a bottle and because it is a 20 minute drive home from the mall Owen falls asleep ... we get home, I quietly carry him upstairs, put him in his crib realize that Lexi had an accident in his room go to pick it up and now realize Lexi has woken up Owen. OMG he can't be up already he only napped for 15 minutes total today. This is not good. Don't worry it gets better. I go to walk outside to take a few deep breaths only to find the most rancid vomit on the stairs from Lexi ... are you kidding me? So now I have an awake very tired child ... a dog that just wants to go out to the park and play ... vomit and accidents that need to be picked up ... all because I tried to do a little christmas shopping.

Was it worth it? Not in my mind. But now my stress level has reached an all-time high. When am I going to get all of our christmas shopping done (weekends are out because I am working every weekend until christmas -- need to make money some way right?) ... I could go at night but if you could even start to understand how exhausted I am by the end of the day with a baby who has not slept through the night in almost a year and has separation to the max you would understand the need to just melt into the couch once Owen's head hits his pillow ... lunch is made for Eric and I pump for the last time of the day. And I have tried online shopping but sometimes you need to go to the store to see the product. Blahhh

First Birthday?
Feel about being an awful mom. It looks like Owen's first birthday is just going to be a wash this year. I am hoping to do something in the summer maybe around the 4th of July since his birthday is 3 days before christmas and well in case you haven't caught on ... I can't really handle life right now. We will be traveling during his birthday anyway so I am just going to make sure he gets a cake and a balloon on his birthday and gets to open a present from Mommy, Daddy and Lexi ... that's if I ever get to get out of the house to go shopping.

New Years Eve
This is a time to be with those that you love and get ready to kick off the New Year. It has also always been a special time for Eric and I because before we were married December 30th was our anniversary (it will be 7 years this year -- crazy). Unfortunately this year I have to work both Friday and Saturday (New Years Eve) night. It's not ideal but I am glad I didn't have to work on Christmas Eve.

Now I know it is possible to do all of these things with a baby ... I guess I just haven't figured it out yet.  So to all of you mommy's out there that can do it all ... I applaud you. Looks like I am throwing in the towel as Owen never did fall back asleep. It's going to be a long day on a 15 minute nap. Please pray for me.

Captain Dis-truct-o

Oh my g ... Owen is in FULL destruction mode. His favorite thing to do now is to empty drawers, cabinets,  buckets, pretty much anything that can be emptied he makes it his mission to do it. He takes things out and then puts other objects back in. He finds this hilarious and sure does keep me busy. As soon as I have cleaned up one of his messes he had made another and once he sees me coming he squeals with delight, crawls as fast as he can away to make another mess. Let's just say by the end of the day a large glass of pinot grigio is calling my name!

Emptying my wallet 

Found a cabinet that he hasn't been able to get into yet ... until now 

One of Owen's favorite places to play 

And the ultimate fun spot :)

True Story

I came across this article on a fellow blogger's blog and just had to share. (Click on article to make larger)... Now how can I create more hours in my day? hmmmm 

Lunch Date

Last Friday after one of Owen's doctors appointments I decided we both deserved a treat after a very long week so we went over to Micky D's for a lunch date :). Owen was such a good boy and had a blast eating some chicken fingers and french fries. It was a very special treat for both of us!

Yummy!

 Hi Mom

 Flirting with the ladies of course 

 Mom, can't you see I am trying to eat

 Drinking from a sippy cup

Thanksgiving Part 2

After celebrating Thanksgiving in Westfield, we left in the wee hours on Friday morning and headed to Rochester for round 2 :). We were lucky that Owen slept for most of the ride and for the most part stayed happy in the car after a little breakfast break at one of the rest areas. He even read to us and I captured a it on video so you could enjoy the cuteness of it all.

We had a great time in Rochester and Owen loved having so much space to crawl around and play with Grams, Papa and Auntie Lizzie. He especially liked being able to romp around in Bella's dog bed -- it was pretty funny to watch him flop around in it giggling and laughing the whole time.

Hot dog time with Daddy

 Playing with Auntie Lizzie

 Hi Owen

 Playing in Bella's bed 

 Mom this is so much fun

 Can I just nap here?

We even headed out to see Santa again to see if maybe this time we would get a picture with the big guy. We were in luck this time ... however Owen wanted NOTHING to do with sitting on someone else's lap without mommy after a minute. Oh yes separation anxiety is back and driving me NUTS! So we didn't get a professional picture with Santa but good thing Grams was there because she managed to sneak a picture that turned out alright to use on our christmas cards so you will all have to wait to see how it turned out :).

Meeting Santa for the first time (look at the grip he has on my jacket)

 Figuring out the doggie bells 

 Helping Grams decorate for Christmas 

 Snuggle time with Papa

We had a great trip in Rochester and we are happy to be home for a few weeks before we do it all again!