As Owen is about to turn 2, I have been thinking a lot about all the amazing things he is doing, only to realize that I have completely forgotten when his milestones were occurring. For this reason, I am going to make a quick list of what he is currently doing...

Communication:

• We decided his first sentence as "more milk please" in combination of approximate vocals and sign while we were in WI.
• He is now speaking in 5-6 word sentences frequently.
• He is using common phrases like "I don't know," "I like it" "I don't like it" Mommy/Daddy do it" "Go get ________"
• He is using name possessives (Owen's miles's, mommy's, etc)
• He is using attributes (lots: big, little, hot, cold, warm, dirty, clean, wet, etc),
• He is using abstract concepts such as later, not, actually, maybe,
• To be fair and not paint too much of a rosy picture, he does do a fair share of whining which is hard on us since we know he can communicate a lot better than he does sometimes.

Academics:

• He knows all his basic colors, confusing red and blue frequently but corrects himself.
• He knows all basic shapes (oval, diamond, heart among the standard ones).
• He knows most of his capital letters ans some of his lowercase.
• He can count to 6 independently, forgets 7 and 8 unless prompted, but eventually makes it to 10.
• He can recognize quantities of 1 and 2 consistently without needing to count them out. His favorite is to say two boys while I am struggling to carry him and his cousin up and down the stairs.
• He is starting to show some recognition of number symbols, but not consistent as of now.

Fine Motor:

• He can do 24 piece jigsaw puzzles by himself after doing it a couple times with assistance.
• He can string large beads.
• He can stack cups and blocks.
• He likes to paint and color and generally uses correct grasp if reminded. He is trying to draw things now, and tells us what he drew.
• He enjoys playdough, generally needing assistance with rolling and making balls. He loves the cookie cutters.

Gross Motor:

• He is walking and running
• He is still not able to jump but tries
• He dances as well as his mother does, which isn't saying much.
• He can throw and kick a ball.
• He he loves to run around Playdate PDX and the park
• He is a very active kid and likes to play outside.

Imagination play/socialization

• He loves characters and toys.
• He has a barn, castle, garage, dollhouse, etc. He love using the dollhouse characters and furniture out of the dollhouse (he uses the vacuum to clean our carpet and kitchen, he has the characters use the real toilet, he holds their hands and pretends to walk to the store)
• His vet kit keeps him busy a lot as well. He gives the cats medicine, checks temperature, basically uses all the tools in the kit.
• His playmobile toys are well used, and used appropriately. However, there is a lot going on in them so too much to write about here.
• He still does not like to dress up much but he does like to pretend things are hats. Go figure on that one.
• He will periodically say thank you to his cousin/friends while playing. It always shocks me as it usually happens when they are playing without me.

Tangent over, I have now documented his development. It is amazing how hard it is to keep track of these things.

Pumpkin Parade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGxIEedeyRU

What he is doing now....

I was encouraged by a friend tonight to write down everything he is doing or I will forget when he starts doing things. I view this blog as a good place to track this information.

His new gross motor tricks include running (clumsily but it counts), climbing everything, and dancing with moves learned by his mother (meaning dude can't dance but his smile makes it look good).

Academically, he is advancing like I never knew a kid could. He is matching up to a field of 15 with no trouble at all. He is pointing to objects in books when we ask and labeling them independently. He loves animals and can tell you what they say. He knows a minimum of 16 body parts (expressively and receptively and yes, I know I sound like a behavioral therapist but that was my job for nearly a decade). The biggest achievement to me, however, is that my 17 month old is starting to count. At first I thought I was imagining it but, he really is counting. If I start with one, he says "doo, dee, dor, die, sih, seh, aye, nigh." He can't seem to get 10 but seriously, he is 17 months old. I am so impressed.

His eating is hit and miss but we are on a "eating everything" phase again which makes me happy. He still loves fruit more than anything else but is also starting to eat his veggies again and even eating meat without spitting it out. He loved the lentil soup his dad made in the crockpot.

Sleeping is still not our strong suit as parents, which is hard when we are all tired, but there is always tonight to try again. He is cutting his 4 k9's right now so we are a little soft and want to cuddle him extra. He will have 16 teeth once the last one finally pops through.

That is where we are. We are tired but happy and so excited with his advancements.

Playing Catch Up Again

I just do not understand how people can keep up on their blogging with a baby, work, life, etc.

To recap on some of Owen's Firsts and holidays.

March 1st, First Birthday
We are STILL waiting for pictures from Margaret. I do not have any pictures of my baby't first birthday which is killing me. (I am trying to lay it on thick to encourage Margey to just give me the camera and cord and I will download them myself)

March 29th, 3rd Anniversary
We spent our anniversary as a family at the beach house. It was very relaxing and mellow. We are in the plans for a much grander celebration next year (no offense Owen but hopefully just your parents)but this was a perfect way to celebrate this year.

April 24th, Easter
Owen was only sort of walking at this point but we did get some cute pics with him carrying his basket. He dyed Easter real eggs with Steve and found plastic eggs with stickers and cheddar bunnies in them. He was much more interested in taking the eggs apart and putting them back together than eating the crackers.



May 8, Mother's Day
Again at Spyhopper but this time with the whole Gerlt side(except Jarod and Heather as they couldn't make it). Sleeping in, flowers delivered by my handsome baby, and wonderful breakfast, couldn't have asked for more.

May 12, Sara's Birthday
Nothing really happened here but I did get my bike trailer that I had been dropping hints about(OK, flat out demanding).



June 8th, Sara gets a new job
I got hired on the spot to teach Environmental Health at Clark College in Vancouver, WA. I am so excited about this opportunity!

June 17, Steve's last day of school
I missed Summer Steve...he is in such a good mood tonight. He is going to be back at Waluga for one more year and then after that, we aren't sure.

Summer plans
Fathers Day in Sunday and I am going to post pictures hoping Steve doesn't decide to start reading this blog.



We are also having Mark and Angee over for pizza and Scrabble to celebrate Steve's birthday.

After that, it is off to Chicago/WI for a week.

Random Pictures Just for Fun:

News

We have a walker! Owen took his first unassisted steps at the beach on Saturday April 2nd. He is still reverting to crawling mostly but he loves playing the walk to me game and has made it to 4 steps without falling. He is still very unsure of it all but super proud of himself when he does it.

Also, sad news is that O seems to be reacting to berries. Blueberries for sure but I also think strawberries. As it is berry season, I am so sad for him. Thankfully there are tons of other great fruits in season in the summer so he will have peaches, apricot, watermelon, and nectarines to keep him happy.

I am still hounding the photographer of Owen's birthday party for pictures but I will post pictures of the last month soon.

For my Nonfacebooking Mother

November/December Recap

So much for once a month huh? Sorry everyone. I fully intend on prioritizing posting about Owen on a more regular basis but Mama Sara is a bit busy these days and her down time is usually spent sleeping.

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.