I caved

But it was so worth it!

Ollie's 3 year stats

Back to the doctor today. This was for Ollie's 3 year check up. I know that his birthday was 2 months ago, but apparently when you call around the actual birthday to make an appointment, the best they can do is 2 months later. (When the kids are sick are there are shots that need to be given by a certain time they get in really quickly, though.)

Ollie is 41 inches tall- 3 ' 5"- 97% on the growth chart

weighs 47 pounds- yes, that's right- greater than 99%- which is a nicer way to say, "off the chart"

And the doctor said he is the size of an average 5 year old.

I think he's right on track since last year Dr. Patz told us he was the size of an average 4 year old.

Here is my big man at his end of the year soccer party. He was so proud of his trophy!

And little Henry went with us today since he's been waking up from nap screaming the past couple of days. I don't know what his deal is, but I was secretly hoping it was an ear infection so that it would be something. You know what I mean? Thankfully, I guess, it was nothing. I think this is about the 5th time in his short life that I've paid my $25 co-pay to have him checked for an ear infection. Ollie had several that we didn't know about and caused hearing issues and speech delays, so I'm a little gun-shy. Better safe than sorry, I guess. Apparently he has a molar coming in that causing him some pain, so that's probably the reason.

Here's my little man with his first taste of cotton candy this Saturday.
I'm off to sunny Orlando for a few days. I've got to attend/ speak at a conference there and unfortunately won't get out of the hotel, most likely. Hopefully I'll be able to update the bloggy blog, but if not, I'll be sure to post some pictures of mis-matched children and pizza for dinner from my absence. Just kidding, Jas. You are a wonderful daddy. I'm sure there will nothing but organic salads and home made soups eaten here while I'm gone...

The First Soccer Practice

Well, it's finally here. An organized sport. Team moms. Uniforms. Minivans. That one thing you forgot. I have a feeling we're in this for the long haul.

Tonight was Owen's first soccer practice.

In case you don't know my hubby, Jason, he is a soccer geek star. He spent 3 of his elementary school years in Germany and played soccer over there, so he got some cool European training. He's a keeper- NOT a goalie- that's hockey. He's played since he was 4, all through childhood and was on the first soccer team his high school had. He's played for traveling teams, adult teams, indoor leagues, has coached all levels... you get it. This was a big day for him. Even when I was pregnant- before we knew we what brand of baby we were having {and it wouldn't have mattered}- he was already talking about tiny soccer balls.

This is Owen at 5 months old- he had just learned how to sit up and Jason was rolling him a ball. {Apparently we were feeding him steak. I had forgotten how big he was!!}

This is Owen at 10 months old watching the World Cup {it only happens once every 4 years} in a soccer uniform from Mexico {courtesy of Aunt Carrie and Uncle Izzy}.

And this is Jason trying to teach Owen how to kick... at 10 months old. FYI- he wasn't even crawling.Needless to say, there has always been a soccer ball around. This is July 4th, 07- Owen was 23 months. So, as I said, today was a big day. Jason was putting on Owen's shin guards and I asked him if he was tearing up. He looked at me and said he might, but then Owen said he was ready for the "baseball field". And we then realized AGAIN that this child is not quite 3 and doesn't understand any of this.

So, off to soccer practice. They did a few drills where they lined up and took turns kicking the ball in the net. Then they played a "game" with the team divided in half. Here's what soccer practice was like for Owen:

Okay, really it wasn't all that bad, but he didn't get the concept of going after the ball- or staying on the field. He was really good at kicking it in the goal when they did the little drills, but I guarantee you Jason will be working with him on the whole "game" idea. The whole practice lasted 25 minutes and then the coach said, "To the Playground!" and everyone ran to the playground. They were super sweaty and hot, but happy! Here are some pictures of Owen having fun before (and the last one during) the "game".

Looks like the U4 league at the Y will at least be entertaining! I'll be sure to keep you updated.

The Song that's Stuck in my Head

And Jason's head, too, I'm sure.

Owen has been on a Thomas the Tank Engine kick since we did the potty training weekend with him and gave him a train and tracks as rewards (for major progress). Now he's watched Thomas videos pretty often and played with trains every day. One day I told him (when I was trying to tear him away from the train table) that he could pick one train to come with him. So, ever since then, he says, "pick one twain?" as soon as I tell him we have to go somewhere. He sleeps with a train, picks one to take to bath (not IN the bath- they are wooden), picks one to take to breakfast and picks one to take to school. I appease him to get out the door; I don't think that's too terribly bad of a compromise, do you?

Back to the song. This is from breakfast thing morning. Notice he's gung ho around 6:30 AM- momma's boy:

Here are the actual words to the real song (because we've watched a lot of Thomas, too!) so you can try to figure out what words he's using here (he gets stuck on the first verse of the chorus- there's you're hint):

Chorus:
Every day's a special day on Sodor. Changing as the seasons come and go.Gentle spring gives way to summer sunshine. Autumn winds give way to winter snow.

Bridge:
All the engines work the same, Freezing snow or driving rain. They just take it in their stride; Boilers nearly burst with pride!

Waking Up Owen

Doesn't that sound like a title to an indie film that should win several awards?


Owen is a great sleeper. You will never hear me complain about that! He goes down for a nap at 1:30 and I have to wake him up every day at 4:30- he'll be 3 next month.
Well, this is what I experience every afternoon about 4:30: 5 minutes of slowly turning on lights, rubbing his back, saying, "Owen, it's time to get up, buddy. We're going to go have some snack.", etc. Yesterday, he still wasn't budging, so I employed Leia to help me.

As you can see, still NOTHIN'! It takes a while to get him up and then he's full steam again in a few minutes- especially with some snack and juice in his belly (that's when he gets nice again).

I know- he still has a passy when he sleeps. I was going to focus on potty training first, then getting rid of the passy. Sounds backwards, I know, but that's just the way it's going to have to be. He may have buck teeth one day, but he's a great sleeper! I guess I'll just remember these quiet afternoons while I'm paying the orthodontist bills in 10 years!

Happy Friday!

- Post Script: Well, if that wasn't a jinx, I don't know what was. I was feeding Harris his snack downstairs around 4:15 (he gets up at 4:00) and heard some whining over the monitor. Sure enough, I went up to Owen's room and he wasn't in bed. He was standing on his stool in front of the potty and he had pee-peed and pooped while standing there crying. He couldn't get his pants down because he was holding on to his trains- priorities, you know? At least he knew to go to the potty... I thought sitting on the potty was kind of a natural next step, but you know... nap fog and all.

Anyway, so much for the perfect long napper and for the no- accident potty training, right? Shows you what I know! At least that's the exception and not the rule.

The Potty- Day 3

Alright- we made it! I think he's getting it. Of course we'll have to wait and see, but so far, so good. He's going off to pre-school today, so we'll see how that goes. I'll keep you updated!

Post Script- Mid way through Day 4- Just picked up Owen from Pre-school and he had NO ACCIDENTS today! I can not believe it!!! I am so thrilled! He went to the potty twice there. Amazing! Now, I know they kind of hover and make sure they go, etc, but that is still a big deal. And he went when we got home before nap! I'll stop updating you on every trip to the bathroom, now, but just know that I am very happy with the 3 day boot camp method and I'll be happy to answer any questions about it if you have them.

The Potty- Day 2

A quick update for those following along.
Day 2 went a lot smoother than day one. Owen woke up and pottied and had only 1 1/2 accidents all day. The half was an accident that he realized needed to be taken to the potty about half way through. Both occurred while eating, so we can see that can be a distracter. If you've ever seen Owen eat- he eats a lot- then you'd know that already.
He had an accident about 5:00 am this morning in bed, but this morning had a big breakthrough. While eating breakfast, he looked up and said, "I have to go potty". HUGE. So, we went to the potty, took care of business and went on with the program. Awesome!!!
Owen has been getting litte toys along the way for potty progress, but we brought out the big guns yesterday afternoon when he was doing such a great job- Thomas trains and tracks. He's gone Thomas and I don't think we'll ever get him back. He was very sad to go to bed last night. And he wanted to play "twains" this morning and 5:00 am, but I told him it was night night time, still.
The bad thing about where we live (just West of the Eastern time zone) is that it's hard convincing someone that it's night night time when the sun is out and the birds are chirping- 5:00 am. So, a few weeks ago we went ghetto/ Troy trailer park and put aluminum foil on both the kids windows. I know, don't judge me. If you know me really well in real life then you know I'm a certified interior decorator. So, this is truly beyond my comprehension and right mind. It was lack of sleep that lead me to it.

So, 5:45 am- twains.
6:30- breakfast and successful trip to potty.
Day 3 is looking to be good! Gotta go help Jason- I hear the choo choo of many twains.

The Potty

Today is the beginning of day 2 in the 3 Day Potty Training boot camp. Our house is on lockdown and Harris has been shipped off to Connie and Irv's for the weekend. I feel almost like I did when I was in the hospital after our babies were born- like the rest of the world is spinning and ours has stopped.

Owen will be 3 on August 23rd and has to be potty trained for his next class at school which starts August 9th (how's that for a little pressure?). I was super pregnant and/ or just had a baby when I thought we should have started potty training him, so I just kept putting it off. There are my excuses. I have more, but I'll spare you.

Point is, we put this weekend on the calendar about a month ago to knock it out. I was crying about it (fear, pressure, not wanting to deal with it) yesterday morning before we started, but I'm glad we did.

I found the information about this method on my friend Tara's blog and asked her about it. She said it worked great with her son- who is several months younger than ours- so I thought I'd try it. The more I read it, the more I liked it. I can't "reveal" all the secrets because it's actually patented and you have to buy the e-book yourself! I will tell you that we had to throw away all of Owen's diapers yesterday morning- he did it actually- even the hidden ones- that was mainly for us, the parents. Very scary. And we went through 13 pair of big boy underwear yesterday morning with lots of pee pee on our floor.

After that, I think he's actually getting it, though. He hasn't had an accident since yesterday around lunch time. He slept through his 3 hour nap and ALL through last night without an accident. He got up at 4:15 this morning and I went in there with him to pee pee in the potty and he got up all by himself around 6:30 and went to the potty and poo pooed BY HIMSELF. We got up when we heard him talking about it in the bathroom! HA!

This was Owen's special breakfast pancake this morning that Jason made. Pretty cute, huh?

So, day 1- not as bad as I was imagining. I'll let you know how the next 2 days go.

Here's the big boy this morning sporting some Diego undies. We have a collection of Cars, Mickey, Diego, Thomas- you name it. And I think he's worn most of them already!

As you can see from the first picture, we still have a yellow, pink and blue bathroom in our 1971 home. We'll eventually get to remodeling them, but they're working for right now. The boy's bathroom is the yellow one and I did yellow, green and black in there with bumble bees. Our bathroom is the blue one and we did brown and blue and actually already had a shower curtain that matched. And the pink is the guest 1/2 bath and I put brown in there, too. It will be a big project when we start, but I would like to eventually get some white potties and not colored ones. They make it a little more difficult to tell potty progress if you know what I mean- especially the yellow ones! OK- I'm getitng gross here. I've been in potty land- please forgive me!

Have a great Saturday!

Fun with Wadybugs

We have an outside kiddie pool set up for general splashing and revelry.

As a side note here, I read one time that if ever your kids are crabby- always throw them in water (bath, pool, sprinkler) and they get happy. I really think that's true!

Anyway, Owen, Harris, Cooper (our babysitter) and I were outside in the pool one day and a ladybug joined our party! Owen was more than happy to entertain her.

Again, somewhere, I read that most ladybugs are male. I don't know how that could be and I'm going to have to research it. I guess some have to be male, but I don't know about MOST. Any ladybug experts out there? Are they all in drag? What a misfortunate name, if so. Let me know-

For now, here is our adventure with the "wadybug":

P. S. It's just as much fun to watch chubby in the background trying to find anything to put in his mouth (read below).

Last Day of School

Why is it that the "last day of school" emotes 2 completely different feelings as a parent and as a child??

I can tell you that I'm very sad that Thursday was Owen's last regular day in his 2 year old preschool class. He'll go to a summer session (that will be just like his school year) starting on June 2, but Thursday was the "official" last day of the year, so they had a little program for the parents.

If you haven't heard me talk before about Owen's school, I LOVE IT! They are super attentive, eager to help work with you as a parent and the child and they truly love our kids. God has really blessed us with this environment and I'm so thankful every day.

So, at the program, they did a version of what they normally do at circle time each day. They sang Twinkle, Twinle Little Star, the ABC song and one other song that has the same tune (I can't remember it, so if you can then you get a cookie) with Ms. Cathy playing the tune on the xylophone (she said it was the only tune she knew- ha). Then they passed out sticks and did several songs with them. The first was The Bear Went Over the Mountain and the sticks made the mountain:

Then they did some rowing song and I'm not sure what it was, but it was cute and fun:

The little girl with green bows in her hair is Anna Grace. Owen loves Anna Grace. Any girl that he doesn't know and he needs to refer to her somehow is called Anna Grace- as in- all girls should be her. When we were leaving, Anna Grace's mom told me that she said, "That's Owen. He loves me." Yes, my dear, you are right. A girl can tell these things early on, apparently.
Here is Owen with his certificate- going for his Wilson look from that Tim Allen TV show- also can't think of the name- another cookie up for grabs here. Am I brain dead today?

And here is a cute picture of the O-man with his teacher Ms. Cathy. We love her so, so much and she will be leaving his classroom for the summer. Sob, sniffle, sob. Thankfully, the other teachers in there are equally wonderful, but we have a special place in our hearts for Ms. Cathy. I know this is overkill, but here are a few more shots I couldn't leave out. The shirt they're wearing has all their handprints on it and their names are on the back- a sweet gift from his teachers!

Blackmail Picture of the Day

Since we are really starting to get hot and heavy into potty training, I thought the idea of some big boy DIEGO underwear would make Owen want to graduate from diapers. After loads of build up about the big boy underwear with Diego, I knew he would want to wear them... I just didn't think he'd want to wear them this way.

The Zoo Animals

Today, on an adventure at Marshall's (isn't it always an adventure?), Harris and I picked up a pack of safari animals for Owen. I thought this would be a nice touch to the safari playroom I'm setting up right now (more to come on that when it's fininshed). I knew that Owen has always loved animals, but I had NO IDEA how attached he would become to these animals. He's had them for all of 2 1/2 hours and I have a feeling that they will be part of our family for a while. Included in this package of rubbery kind-of animals is a giraffe, elephant, cheetah, warthog (nice, huh?), hippo and a lion. (I'm listing these so I can remember what is missing at a later date.)

Owen wasn't too sure what the warthog was in the beginning, but he figured it out. When Jason told him he had to share one animal with Harris, though, he immediately tossed the warthog his way. "Here doe, Ha-wis"... as in... you can have the crummy one.

Then, I needed to go make dinner downstairs and asked him if he wanted to watch Diego downstairs. He Lurrrves Diego (who else talks to animals, right?) and he hesitated and said he wanted to stay upstairs. I told him Harris and I were going downstairs, then. Well, about 2 minutes later, he came down holding ALL the animals as best he could and asked if he could watch Diego with his animals. See how he has lined them all up to also watch "tee-bee"?

It was time for dinner after Diego and Owen was getting tired of transporting them from room to room by hand, so he came up with a better idea:

Needless to say, the animals ate dinner with us. They also marched around the rug beside Owen's chair at the dinner table (when they were supposed to be eating dinner), played ring around the rosies, came back upstairs to the new playroom after dinner and it was a little sad telling them goodnight. I'm sure we'll see them first thing in the morning.

The Barbage Truck

Waiting on the front porch for the grand arrival

Tomorrow is the big day. The day when the "barbage" truck arrives. Owen lives for Tuesdays and I hope (every week) that the barbage man gets here early in the morning before I take him to preschool. We must be one of the first streets on their route, thank goodness! One week he let me down, but I've forgiven him.

The first pass of the barbage truck on the other side of the street

There is a large amount of garbage truck build up every week and Owen really does remember it. He asked me this afternoon if he could see the barbage man (he asks about 5 out of 7 days) and I told him that he had to go to sleep and then when he woke up tomorrow morning he could see him. Nothing like using the garbage man for bribery, right?

This is a video from last Tuesday morning. Fortunately, we have trash (sticks, leaf bags and general litter) and garbage trucks roaming around on the same morning, so we all stay at the window or out on the front porch most of the morning- waving to the garbage parade.

Oh, yes, I should mention that Owen has NOT become a black jack or poker dealer. He got this cute visor as a party favor from Emma's birthday party. Gina even included little stickers that spelled out his name and animal stickers. We decorated it this weekend and he loves it. Great party favor idea! Thanks, Gina!

Snack Attack

Dang that Maria Montessori-

One of the big things that they teach at the Montessori school is how to do things yourself. Normally, this is wonderful. Owen cleans up after himself (with some prompting), puts up his dishes, dresses himself (still working on the finer points of that one) et cetera.

Today, as he was getting his own snack that he gets to choose, M&Ms were his first choice. (We have them here for potty training, but every now and again I'll let him have a few for snack.) Well, the bag wasn't quite closed completely.

And when I asked him how many he thought should go on his plate, this is what he decided:

Needless to say, I took away about 40 or so, but he was still pretty happy with his selection. He also chose animal crackers, banana (mine- that I was currently eating), marshmallows (the tiny ones) and goldfish. His other favorites/ usuals are chocolate graham crackers, carrots with ranch, any fruit, applesauce, cheese its, wheat thins, cheerios, pretzels and fruit snacks.

So, in my striving for transparency, I'll tell you that we did put all the M&Ms back in the bag!!!

Happy snacking!

5,4,3,2,1 LIFTOFF!

This Saturday, we were so excited to get to go see some rockets launch. Marshall Space Flight Center is here in Huntsville and they had a national college competition of rocket launches out at Bragg Farms. Since we happen to know the Braggs and family pretty well, they invited us out for it! What a treat! It was amazing to see what these teams had put together. The rockets were huge and made of welded metal. They had tents for each team and they would work on them before the launch- they had make shift workshops in the back of cars and in the tents. The rockets had to go a mile high and they all had cameras on board and had to be retrieved. So cool- very Homer Hickam Rocket Boys, but more high tech.
Irv went with me, Jason and Owen and Connie was nice enough to keep Harris for a bit, so we got some fun time with Owen. He loves rockets (as he should- it's in his genes), so this was super cool. They launched about every 30 minutes, though, so it wasn't quite set up for the attention span of a 2 year old.

And the day was beautiful, but a little windy. And when we got out to the flat farm land it was REALLY windy. We were wearing short sleeves and shorts and most people there had on sweatshirts and long pants. So, thankfully, Jeannie had a blanket to lend us.

As you can see, my right arm is covered with the blanket (the gale force winds were coming from that direction) and if you have seen me in the past 2 days, you know that my left arm is completely sunburned! I've had about 5 people ask if I drove with the windows down!


And, for the record, "liftoff" is the proper term, not "blast off" like Little Einsteins or Mickey Mouse (or any cartoon for that matter) would have you think. We sometimes just let Owen get away with Blastoff because it is fun, but know that we will edu-ma-cate that child soon!

He shoots, He STORES!

I went to a consignment sale the other night (Thanks to Melanie for the advanced ticket!) and got a bunch of clothes and picked up one toy for Owen. It was "Silly Soccer" and since he loves soccer and we had the counterpart game to this (Silly 6 Pins), I thought it would be a good find. And it IS! Especially since it already had batteries in it, all pieces were included and they had photocopied the assembly instructions and put them in there! WOW!

Here is Owen concentrating and practicing his shot (it's actually a little harder than it looks).

Then he figures out a way to cheat and make it clap and applaud for you if you just push it over the line.

Then he MADE ONE! If this isn't sheer joy, I don't know what it! I can't believe I got this shot, either! Our camera takes a second and I was trying to get him kicking it, but it went in and he shouted "STORE!!!!"- which, of course, is SCORE in Owen-ese. Can anyone believe that Owen will be old enough to play organized soccer this fall??