Going in chronological order...
Thanksgiving at Spyhopper
We are in the process of healing with the loss of my father. My Dad was an important part of all of our traditions so we are in the process of creating new ones. This year we decided to have Thanksgiving at the beach. Steve, Owen, Grandma Teri, Tessie and I all went to the beach and had the full Thanksgiving dinner. Jarod and Heather came later that night. Jason, Margey and the boys came the following day for some family fun. We played A LOT of games, watched some football and just hung out as a family. It was nice. Sad still, and some of us were emotionally on edge, but the holidays are hard when you lose someone you are used to sharing them with. To add to the sadness a bit, we also lost a good friend in Bear. So, I added a picture of him in memoriam.
Breakfast with Santa
We went to breakfast at the McMenamins in St John's with the Gerlts and Grandma Susan. This was more for me than Owen, but it was fun :)
Zoo lights
The Oregon Zoo decorates the entire park with lights every December. Owen slept quite a deal of it but it was his first train ride and, for the waking hours of the trip, he was very interested in the lights. They were hard to catch on film but I tried.
Planting Dad's Tree
As a gift from Laura Langslet (Margey's sister), we were honored to be able to participate in the Friends of Trees Gift Tree planting event. We went to Forest Park and planted a bunch of trees and were able to spread some of Dad's ashes in the process. Now, my father is resting at the beach and in the city. We plan to take the remainder of his ashes to the mountain where we used to go camping as kids. This way we will have places to visit him all over the state.
Christmas on Taggart St.
Our personal photographer Amy came over to help us get pictures for our Christmas cards. Unfortunately, Owen was in a tongue out phase and catching a smile was a challenge. But, here are a sample anyway, plus a couple Christmas related amateur pictures by myself.
Christmas in Grafton/Plainfield/Chicago
This year we flew out to the Midwest for the holidays. Owen was a champ on the plane. On the flight home, he actually took interest in what was going on out of the window. Otherwise, he was just tickled to have both of his parents sitting there with no other job/task but to keep him entertained. Ben and Olivia were fabulous company as usual. We played tons of games and had lots of laughs. Steve and I had so much fun tromping through the snow with our baby. Owen however, was not quite sure what to make of it all. It was great to see everyone.
Owen's new tricks
Our little man is developing right on track. It is amazing to see how easily he learns from his environment and generalizes things. He may not be saying clear words yet but he is starting to use "mama" and "dada" with the correct parent. Amazingly, while we were in Chicago, he said "dag" while looking at Rex, and then "ahduh" and showed he was no longer interested in playing with the dog. It could just be Mommy wanting to hear things, but Aunt Rebecca was there to verify the incident.
As for social behaviors, he is now clapping, waving, giving high 5's, raising his hand, pointing (not with purpose yet but he is trying) and starting to blow kisses. Unfortunately, now that I am starting to work on signs with him, every time I sign more, all done, apple, any sign I know, he starts waving at me. Cute, but not what I was hoping for.
The biggest thing (and what motivated me to log on and blog) is that today he walked across the room holding onto his walker. We are going to try to tape it so Grandma Mary and Grandpa Dan can see (they gave Owen the walker). He was so proud of himself. That is what makes all of this so amazing, he knows he is doing well.
New Year's Eve/Day
What happened at midnight? Our whole house was asleep...
Because Mom and Dad Matter Too
I (Sara) am a total stress case right now balancing 2 part time jobs, an internship, babysitting my nephews with our childcare swap, homeowner, 1/6 of the Tree Leaves Trust, being a mom, wife, and Sara. Sadly, the Sara and wife roles are the ones that are suffering the most but I anticipate a lot more free time come March when all of the internship work is being wrapped up and the property is being rented. For all you facebookers that see me post negative things, it is all about being stretched thin, nothing more. I am just being dramatic.
Steve is mourning the Badgers losing the Rose Bowl and suffering major anxiety about the Packers performance tomorrow. Other than that, he is just being Steve. He did, however, manage to record a song over his winter break. He isn't in love with it but I think it is good.
BLAH....that was a lot of work. I hope to keep up, but the next big blog may be birthday pictures in March.
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