Chris-chris Fun

We knew back in November that "Chris-chris" was going to be fun this year with Owen, but so far, it has already exceeded my expectations on the ole level-of-fun-scale. It all started back when we bought a new Christmas Tree before Thanksgiving. Owen was so excited about the lights and ornaments and everywhere we went he pointed out the Chris-chris trees. We even bought him his very own fiber-optic "baby chris-chris tree" that he carried around for several days. Then we started talking to him about Santa, and Robert took him down the toy aisle in Target to make a list of what he wanted Santa to put under the tree. That day, he chose "a new Thomas train that makes noises like this 'toot, toot,' a new Gordon train, and a cool racing car, a big one!" (his words, not mine!) Side note-The cool racing car that he was referring to that day happened to be one of the hottest toys of the season and I found myself this week frantically running around trying to get my hands on one. No worries though, I found one and at the price I was hoping for :) Score one for mama...errr, Santa!

Then, starting in December all of the shows Owen likes to watch started playing Christmas and Holiday episodes so the idea of Santa coming and bringing presents was really driven home with him. Every time we passed a toy in a store or saw a commercial on tv Owen would say "Santa gonna bring me that Mama!" and it culminated with us browsing a toy store and Owen declaring "Santa gonna bring me ALL these toys Mama!" UHOH! It was time for Santa to rethink his (or rather, her) strategy...So we started talking about how Santa cannot bring all of the toys, but he will bring him the ones that Owen asked for at store, and he seems to be ok with that...score two for mama...errr, Santa...

Now the past few weeks we've been shopping for Christmas gifts for our family members and ultimately, Robert and I and for one another. Owen and I shop for Robert during the day while he is at work and when he gets home, he likes to spend that time with Owen so he takes him out shopping with him in the evening. And, just in case you ever wondered...2 years old is too young to understand what a secret is and how to keep one! When Robert called me on the way home from shopping one evening Owen was in his car seat trying to tell me on the phone what gifts they had picked out. Luckily for Robert, there was too much background noise to make out what he was saying. I was not so lucky however when Owen proclaimed to Robert to we went shopping that afternoon and bought him "xyz" (insert totally cool surprise gift I had bought here) and that we wrapped it for a present. Awesome...score one for Owen (or maybe Daddy)! Thanks kid!

And I know this is really just the beginning of the fun which makes me anticipate Chris-chris Day so much more. We will be having our own little Virginia Christmas this weekend before heading to Illinois for ten days to let Owen experience the true craziness of the season with our families :) I can't wait to share the funny shenanigans that take place between now and then. Until then, the score rests at:
Mama/Santa- 2
Owen-1

The Spicy Heater

Owen is now a very independent little 2 yr old. Where he used to want to be carried up and down the stairs, he now proclaims "I do it by MYself!" (now, if only that enthusiasm would carry on to things like dressing himself and putting his shoes on...but I digress)

So in the spirit of allowing him to do things by HIMself, he is allowed to get his room all ready for sleeping which includes turning on his fan and turning on his space heater. (Two side notes here-First, yes, he sleeps with both a fan on and a space heater. This may seem odd, but the fan is more for the ambient noise and the heater is to warm his room. And second, yes, he sleeps with a space heater because his room is in the basement and coming from someone who spent their teenage years in a basement bedroom, take my word that it gets mighty chilly in the wintertime down there. Ok, now that all of that is cleared up...) Last night we went downstairs for bed and he said "I gonna turn on my heater, I do it by MYself!" so I said "ok," but then realized Robert had already turned it on. I told Owen, "well its already on, but you can turn it off and then turn it on again" so he walked over and said "is it hot mama?" because being the smart little guy he is (and having been reprimanded for touching it several times when it was on) he knows that the thing gets a little warm to the touch. I told him it shouldn't be hot and to go ahead to turn it off/on. So he puts his hand on the edge of it and quickly pulls it away exclaiming "Ouch! Thats spicy!" Sure enough, when I touched the heater, it was quite warm, but I don't know if spicy is the word I would use to describe it :) I tried to compose myself enough to explain the difference between temperature-hot and spicy-hot but decided that teaching moment could wait for another day. Instead, I kissed my smart little baby, put him in his boy-boy bed and let him drift away to dreamland and I walked up the stairs still laughing...

"Ouch, thats SPICY!"

Fall Fun

Oh no! Has it really been 2 months since I've posted a new blog? Where did the time go? Somehow I managed to miss both Halloween and Thanksgiving...so, let me recap-

For Halloween this year we were the Wizard of Oz family for a 2nd time. I had this adorably cute lion costume that Owen wore last year and it was too bit, so I knew it would fit him one last time and I simply could not resist the urge to go for it again. This year Owen wasn't crazy about wearing the "mane" on his head and neck, but he humored me through several pictures and loved walking up to people saying "roooooooarrr!" He thought it was especially funny that daddy was dressed up as a "Care-Crow" and that I had red shoes on. He seemed to enjoy carving pumpkins this year and certainly enjoyed talking about "THE GUTS" for weeks after, even though he wouldn't dare touch them with his hands! (I know, I've created a monster) Around Halloween Owen heard the word "creepy" and decided it was pretty fun to say. One night after dinner with friends we were walking through a parking garage where Robert told Owen that the vent above our heads on the ceiling was creeeeeeeepy. After getting in the car, we drove under the vent on the way out and Owen said "uh oh, creepy don't get my car!" How do you explain to a 2 yr old that creepy is a feeling, not a thing that can get him?

Four weeks later came Thanksgiving and while the events leading up to it were not as exciting as the events that lead up to Halloween, the holiday was still very exciting for Owen. This year, Grandma Bonnie, Grandpa Steve and Aunty Laurie came to our house for the festivities. Owen knew for awhile that they were coming, so for about 2 weeks whenever he was questioned about it Owen would tell people that his Grandparents were coming to his house on Friday...even though they came on a Tuesday :) While my family stayed here and enjoyed some time with Owen, Robert and I headed up to NYC for 2 nights to see the Big Apple. Before leaving I tried to prep Owen as best I could, telling him that we would be leaving on a big bus, showing him pictures of a bus in one of his books and telling him that he would stay here with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunty Laurie. He seemed fine with it, and to be honest, I'm not even sure he noticed we were gone. Robert and I certainly noticed though and on our way home were talking about how we couldn't wait to see Owen. After just 2 days he seemed to grow an inch and was even speaking more clearly. He learned a new word- "me-memeber?" and now asks us all the time if we me-member things that 1/2 the time we have no idea what he is talking about. He also became very thoughtful while we were gone and now thinks decisions over with a finger on his cheek in a very thoughtful manner while saying "hmmmmmm." He is such a funny kid! Its going to be fun to see what he comes home doing and saying after 10 days in IL for Christmas this year!

???

I know that preschool age children are notorious for their relentless questioning and Owen has now entered into this new realm of curiosity. From the backseat of the car we typically hear a stream of questions such as-
Did you see that Mama?
Whats that Mama?
Where going Mama?
You hear that Mama?
Look Mama!
Going home Mama?
Whats daddy doing?
Hear musics Mama?
...I think you get the idea. I love that he is so curious and also so aware of his surroundings. A few weeks ago we were in the car and Owen declared from that backseat that we were in Shirlington and we should go get mooshies (smoothies). He was right, we were in Shirlington, but smoothies were a last minute addition to the agenda that day :)

Another classic question we've been hearing is "Whatcha got there?" He asks all the time weather we are eating something he has never seen before or doing something simple like writing with a pen, its always "Whatcha got there Mama?" Yesterday he was playing with his African animals set and as he pulled each one out of the bag he told me "Look me got here Mama! A Elephant! Look me got here Mama, a Hippo! Look me got here Mama, a Giraffe!"

I sometimes wish I could bottle up his little voice and keep it forever, or send it to people who could use a smile, because no matter what mood you are in, when you hear that little voice say, "I wauv you Mama," you can't help but melt!

You Ready?

Over the past month Owen has transitioned once again in his language development and he is constantly just cracking us up. He has moved now from making simple statements of fact (ie "I see cool car" or "I play racing cars") to actually forming questions like "where'd mama go?" or "where's racing car?" Yesterday Robert sent Owen downstairs to pick out his pajamas but it was dark and he clearly did not want to go down there by himself. So he was sitting on the stairs and he peeked around to look at me and said "you coming?" As I walked down the stairs with him he told me "mama go with you, mama gonna turn the light on." I love the way he talks!

Well today he had known that he would be going to his friend Naomi's house to play for the morning and he was eager to get dressed and have his hair combed and shoes put on because he knew he'd be leaving soon. Robert was taking his time in the kitchen getting ready to take him and finally Owen walked over to him and said "you ready dad? You ready?" Noticing that Robert did not have his shoes on yet, Owen walked over to the door, grabbed Roberts brown flip flops, carried them to him in the kitchen and said "Brown shoes daddy, here go!" Then Owen walked over to me and said "a hug" and gave me a hug and a kiss...they walked out the door, Owen was ready, but I don't know if we are!

Owen-isms Part II

Let me just say, I love the way Owen talks. His little voice is so cute, he talks all the time, and you just never know what's going to come out of his mouth. Its so fun to hear him trying to construct sentences and figure out this complicated language we speak. Most of the time now he is able to spit out a complete sentence, noun, verb and subject, but he still has some of his very own "isms"--Owenisms :)

My do it-Any time Owen wants to do something himself, like brush his teeth, carry a bag or buckle his carseat, "My do it Mama! My do it!"

Mine turn-When he decides someone else is done playing with a toy, and its his turn to play, "Mine Turn!"

Mines-If Judah or Naomi try to touch one of his Lightening McQueen cars, "NO! MINES!" (its usually yelled)

My Body- Any time anyone tries to touch Owen when he is not in a playful or willing mood, "No! My body! MINES!"

And recently Owen has picked up a somewhat Canadian accent by adding the "ah" sound to the end of many of his words. He says "Train-ah" (twainah)and "McQueen-ah" (makeenah)and not only that, but he says home, phone, and Owen with a long O accent, as in hooome, phooone, and Ooowen"

He's a funny one eh? :)

Peas Anyone?

Ahhh, welcome to the Terrific Twos! Let the stories commence-

At dinner this week Owen was left to his own devices for several minutes while we cleaned up. When I returned to help him finish up his dinner I found that had stuck peas into his nostrils! "I peas in a nose mama!" Great Owen, thanks for the info! I was able to use my nails to pluck a pea out of each nostril and then when I crouched down and looked up at his nose I saw that there was one more in the right side pushed pretty far up there. I frantically called Robert over and by covering the unobstructed side of his nose and getting him to blow we got the pea to come down far enough that I could then pluck it out...thank goodness!

Trip #1 to the ER diverted, but stay tuned...ya never know with a curious 2 yr old around!

Memories...

We've started noticing that Owen has very vivid memories of certain things and its always fun to get him to talk about his version of these early memories. It all started when we were shopping in Target and from the shopping cart I heard a very clear "I go a El-en-ois Mama, I see Gapa" (which translates to I want to go to IL and see Grandpa). Coming from this barely 2 yr old I figured I must have made that up in my head so I started to ask a few questions-
Me: "Owen, do you want to see Grandpa in IL?"
Owen: "YES!"
Me: "What is in IL?"
Owen: "Gapa"
Me: "Grandpa?"
Owen: "YES!"
Me: "What else is in IL?"
Owen: "A Gapa car! Gapa car in the garage door...garage door goes up, down, up down. Daddy push a button in Gapa car"

I apparently heard him 100% correctly and ever since then we can ask him questions about who else lives in IL, how do we get there (daddy's car or airplane have been his answers)and what he wants to do there ("play with Mack truck a el-en-ois" or "I ride Gapa car"). At least once a day either in play or in conversation he lets me know about his desires to get to IL...he has even grabbed his little luggage and taken it over to the front door saying "I take a backpack a el-en-ois a see gapa, peas mama!"

Another cute thing we noticed is that he can now react with emotions to his memories. A few days ago we were playing hide-n-seek and Owen and I ran to hide with the lights off down stairs. We are not very quiet when hide so Robert knew just where to find us and when he came into the room he banged very loudly on the door. Owen and first got scared but when I screamed and Robert came running in to tickle us Owen thought it was just hysterical. But what we thought was funny was that for the rest of the night, Owen would recall Robert banging on the door and just start cracking up. He would say "Daddy bang bang a door" and then just let out this deep belly laugh that was so genuine and cute. Over and over again he recalled that memory and laughed every time.

And a final thought on memories is just something that happened last night that I was amazed by. I feel like I am constantly amazed by this growing little guy and everyday I wonder what more he will come up with. So we had friends over last night and the girls were all in the dining room talking when Owen came over. Someone asked Owen if he had gone to a baseball game and he said "yes!" She asked what he did at the baseball game and Owen said "a bat a ball!" and then when asked what-else he said "a fireworks!" (they lit off fireworks during the National Anthem and when the Nat's scored) When asked again what else he did he said "A choo-choo" which was also correct because we took the metro train into the city to get to the game. He was asked what he ate at the baseball game and he thought really hard and while he was thinking I'm standing there going, hmm, what did he eat? and suddenly he answers "I eat a french fry!" At this point I am shocked and want to just keeping asking more and more questions even though he has clearly demonstrated his ability to remember the fun experiences we have. A final question that he was also able to recall from that night was that he rode in the backpack carrier in the train to the game. He loved being in the backpack carrier and thought it was great...I think its great that he can remember so much and that we can have conversations about the fun things we have done as a family. So fun, and now I can't wait to make more!

Funny Phrases

This week we returned home from a wonderful week spent with family back in IL. Owen turned two on July 3 and we went to IL to celebrate his birthday along with the 4th of July with all the family. Even Uncle Brad came in from CA to help celebrate. We had a party with each side of the family and Owen was showered with gifts and love on his special day.

We have noticed in the past how Owens development seems to go in fast forward after we have visited with family or gone away on a trip. Between all of the stimulation, attention and new experiences, its really no wonder we find him doing new things after a vacation or having someone come out to visit; and this time was certainly no exception. Owen came home from this trip with 2 new phrases- "Be right back!" and "Wait a minute!"

Owen first started saying "Be right back" when he was playing in Grandma and Grandpa McGinnis' family room. He would walk over to Grandma and say "be right back" and then walk away to get something and come back to show it off. He was sure to tell everyone "be right back" before leaving the room. The night before we left he spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Siebert's house and they relayed this funny story- Apparently Owen asked Grandpa if he could watch Nemo and Grandpa told Owen that he did not know where the Nemo movie was. Grandpa and Grandma were sitting on the couches having a conversation at this point and Owen asked again, "watch Nemo" and again, Grandpa told him not right now because he did not know where the Nemo DVD was. Owen continued playing on the floor for a minute and then said, "be right back" and walked off into the other room. A minute later he came back in carrying Aunty Laurie's huge plastic case full of DVDs. Owen again looked at Grandpa and said "I watch Nemo!" Apparently he knew just where to find the DVD even if Grandpa didn't!

The other phrase I find to be only mildly humorous and a little cute depending on the situation it is used in. He first said it when he was playing with his toys and I interrupted to let him know it was time to take a bath. He looked at me and responded with a quick "wait a minute" and went right back to playing. After regaining my composure I again told him we needed to go get in the bath and he put his hand up and said "wait a minute mama!" Ummm, I don't think so little man! Its cute when he thinks we are leaving without and he calls out "wait a minute!" but when he is commanding us to wait because our plans don't fit into his schedule...not so funny :)

*********

And now that this draft as sat unpublished for almost 2 weeks I have to add a third new phrase Owen has started with- "Check it out!" This cracks me up every time he says it. He runs up to daddy with his cars and says "Check it out" or looks out the front window while riding in his car seat and calls "check it out" from the back. Anything that he deems worth looking at gets a cute "check it out," although it comes out sounding more like "cheeh it ouuuuwww" :)

Cool Car

Time has really gotten away from me and I have been wanting to blog this latest story for almost a month now! Sorry for the delay-

Uncle Tom drove out to DC early in June in a black Mustang Convertible. When he arrived, he came in and started telling us stories about his 12 hr drive with the top down. Robert and Tom went outside to check out the car and get Tom's luggage and after they stepped out, Owen, having been listening to the whole story, said "I see cool car? Please Mama?" How could I resist? So I took him outside to see the "cool car." I left him outside with the boys and they showed him how the roof on the Mustang opens and closes. When Owen came back inside, all he could talk about was "cool car, roof up, down, up, down."

Every day, as Tom came and went, Owen wanted to see the "cool car." We decided on a nice evening it would be fun to take a drive to our favorite ice cream spot in the "cool car" with the top down. Robert went outside, got the car seat all installed and put the top down. I was inside telling Owen we were going to go get ice cream in the cool car and getting him ready with his hat on and everything. When we got outside and started to put him in the car seat he flipped a lid! He could not understand that we were going to let him go for a drive in this freak car with no top on it! HA! After a few minutes of reasoning with him, finally we convinced him it would be ok, Tom was going to drive, daddy was going to sit in front and mama would be right in the back seat next to him. Still a little upset, he let us buckle him into the car seat.

As we drove down the street, he was sceptical at first but slowly began to realize this could be fun. He would hold his hat on his head as we accelerated after each stop and say "hat, wind, mama!" He ended up really enjoying the ride in the "cool car."

After arriving home from our ice cream adventure we went inside and Owen looked at me and said "I ride cool car? Please mama?" And now, every time we pass a convertible on the road or in a parking lot, Owen is sure to point out the "cool car!"

Owen-isms

Now that Owens language is in full bloom its always fun to hear the things that come out of his mouth as he tries to figure out this very difficult language we speak. Most of the time we can figure out if not fully understand what he is saying, so it is very fun to have him around and take him places now that he wants to point out and talk about everything he sees!

He still has somewhat of a limited vocabulary but I must say, he does a very good job making due with the relatively few words that he does have. Take, for instance, the word heavy. For the longest time I have told him he is getting so heavy when I have to carry him for long periods of time, so he has been familiar with the word. He has been known to use it when trying to pick things up out of his toy box but often asks for help saying they are "too heavy." When we were in Mississippi in March we heard for the first time his very creative use of the word. On the playground there was a small bridge connecting one area of a climber to the other area. He crawled across it the first couple of times because he couldn't figure out how to get onto it. After I showed him how to hold on and step down onto the bridge the light bulb went on and he realized he could do it himself. The first time he went across all on his own he got to the other said, looked at me very proud yet out of breath and said "Its so heavy!" This is one of those things that I know I must correct and give him the proper words to say, but I just don't want to because saying things are "heavy" instead of "hard" is much cuter!

Another Owen-ism we are working with has to do with eat vs drink. Lately he needs to eat everything, crackers, yogurt, cereal Kix and milk. Yes, that's right, milk! He comes to me doing the sign for eat and says "I eat milk mama, peas (please) mama, I eat milk!" How do you say no to that? When I say, "Owen, do you mean you want a drink?" he says "No! Eat milk mama, milk cup!" as if I don't understand what it is he is clearly stating to me :) Love it!

And finally, its been a few months ago now that Owen started telling me "Bless You" when I sneezed. Ever since he was a tiny baby and it was just he and I at home all day, if I would sneeze I would then look at him and say "Owen, say Bless You Mama!" Finally, one day I sneezed and he looked at me and said "Baa Mama" Once I figured out that he was not trying to imitate a sheep, I quickly said, "Oh, thank you Owen!" Well just this week we turned another corner in that little exchange when I was in the kitchen making dinner and he sneezed out in the family room. I said "Bless You Owen" and quickly heard "Thanks Mama!" in response. Awe, its just too precious.  

Fun with Family

Wow, we have been on the go for the past 2 weeks and its been great! First, we spent 4 days in IL where Owen was spoiled rotten by both sets of his grandparents and great-grandparents. He is so loved and enjoys every minute he gets to spend with his extended family.

We flew to IL again this time...and while its hard to say exactly how many times Owen has been on an airplane, we do know he is a well seasoned traveler. He doesn't blink twice when we pull him out of his crib before the crack of dawn and he eats a breakfast of dry cereal while we drive 40 minutes to the airport. He gets very excited when we park the car in the long term lot and get to go for a ride on the "big bus" and he gets major thrills when daddy sits him on top of the luggage and pulls him from the airport entrance to the ticket counters. Then, after surrendering his shoes, toys, milk and diaper bag to the security checkpoint, he is delighted at the sight of escalators and people movers and is pretty savvy at getting on and off of them without tripping. He knows how to pat the plane when we get on and this time when we boarded, he chose our seats for us. He loves to look out the window on the airplane while we wait for others to board and watch the "choo-choo cars" (aka luggage cars) and sits back and relaxes during take off and landing. This trip it was very cute when about 1/2 way through the flight without any prompting he lifted up the window shade, casually looked out at the clouds and said "airplane fly high in the sky." He put the shade back down and went back to watching his Thomas movies on the iPhone. I think that about sums it up :)

So after our whirlwind trip to the Midwest, we headed back east and less then 24 hrs after our plane landed we were back at the airport picking up Uncle Brad from his flight in from CA. This was only the 4th time Owen has seen his Uncle Brad (about once every 6 months) but he acted as if they were old pals. The minute Brad was out of sight Owen would pop up with the question "where Brad go?" and he didn't even mind that we left him to go to a concert because he knew Uncle Brad was going to let him watch the movie CARS as many times as he wanted. They had a grand time together. Owen learned how to say "Owens hair" and point to his head and then say "No hair!" and point to Brads head. He also got to have money in his pocket and learned that if he asked for more, Uncle Brad would turn up with some for him to feed to his piggy bank or throw into a wishing fountain. And so, it was again affirmed to us that its not the quantity of time spent together with family but the quality of time that you spend when you are together!

So, GaGa's (Grandmas), GaPa's (Grandpas), Ba (Brad), Yorry Yorry Yorry (Laurie), Jas (Jason), Ta (Tom), Cotty (Scotty), Cokee (Cody), and Sarryy (Sarah)...we love and we can't wait until we'll all be together again!

See You Tomorrow...

We just love it when Owen starts throwing out new phrases he has learned. His latest is "See you tomorrow!" We first noticed him saying it to the cats when he would leave his room, "See you tomorrow Wee-Wee, Mike" (that would be Owen-speak for Missy and Mike), and now he says it to just about everything...his toys, friends, stroller, everything! Its very cute. 

This past week Owen also used the potty for the first time. He was sitting on it just like he had done in the past but this time we caught him at the right time and he actually pee'd! He has done so every time we put him on the potty since then which has been very exciting for us all! I tried giving him a sticker as a reward, but the bigger reward to him right now is the fact that he gets to "use" toilet paper and then flush the toilet when he is done. Now he has a huge fascination with the bathroom, toilet paper, flushing and even Mommy and Daddy using the potty. He likes to use his new phrase in the bathroom too, saying "bye bye pee pee, see you tomorrow" when he gets to flush it away. What a little ham!

So this past weekend was very fun and very busy with a friends birthday dinner on Friday night, a BBQ out in Columbia Maryland on Saturday and a wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday! The weekend was full of fun, the weather was beautiful for picnics and enjoying the outdoors and we spent almost every day with our friends who mean the most to us...our Virginia Family :) It was really great. I think the best part though may have been at the BBQ on Saturday when Owen accompanied me to the powder room on the main level of our friends house. We go in and Owen is chanting (in his not so quiet little voice) "Mama pee pee, Mama pee pee!"...great! I just know everyone in the other room can hear him! Then I get up and flush and the toilet and the next thing he starts saying...no, yelling, is "BYE BYE MAMA PEE PEE...See you tomorrow!" (He of course must make sure he can be heard over the running water as I wash my hands/try to drown out his loud little voice) So I proceed out of the bathroom and back to the party with Owen following asking "Where'd Mama pee pee go?" 

Oooh, potty training is going to be so much fun!

Trains, Trains and More Trains

This weekend we had the opportunity to take Owen to spend a Day Out With Thomas. I figured he would like it seeing how he loves his Thomas train toys, loves to watch Thomas movies when we get them from the library and just loves "choo-choo-choos" in general. 

Apparently Thomas travels all around the country this time of year and it happened that he would be at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) for just 2 short weekends in April and May. Little did I know, these tickets go on sale early in the year and sell out quickly, so 2 weeks ago when I tried to get us tickets, they were completely sold out...all 6 days! I got on the DC MOMS listserve to see if anyone on there was selling their tickets and got one response, a person who advised to me to go the railroad station in person and try to purchase tickets because they have a limited number available for sale there. Well, Baltimore is about an hours drive up the B-W Pkwy and anyone that we have picked up from the airport knows that you don't just hop on the parkway and drive off. It's usually stop and go on this beautifully landscaped main artery between DC and Baltimore. So, that idea was out. Next I hear from my cousin that she was able to obtain tickets in the past on Craigslist and thus began my stalking of Craigslist for 14 consecutive days...long story short, after 2 of my offers to various people fell through I got into contact with someone willing to sell me tickets for Saturday May 2nd! Yippee! Thomas here we come!

Robert and I...errr, I guess I was a little more excited in the beginning then anyone else...but I digress...So we were all pretty excited to set out for Baltimore at 10am Saturday morning. Owen fell asleep on the drive up (and thankfully, because it was going to be a long day for him) so we stopped and picked up the tickets and headed to the station. We pulled into the parking lot and were directed to park in between an antique steam engine and an old red caboose. We decided to wake Owen up at this point and boy do I wish I had a video camera on him. He yawned, opened his eyes and glanced out the side window. Suddenly things came into focus and he realize he had woken up on the Island of Sodor! (aka, Thomas-land) He couldn't get the words out fast enough or mask his uncontrollable excitement as he looked around and saw trains everywhere! Priceless!

The whole rest of the afternoon was right on par with that first moment in the parking lot. From seeing the real, full sized Thomas the Tank Engine for the first time, to going for a ride on him,to taking pictures with Sir Topham Hat, to walking in and out of all of the old train cars, it was a day designed for little Owen. He soaked up every second of it as did Robert and myself. The trouble for the tickets was so worth it, and next year, I'll be the first one online when those Day out with Thomas tix go on sale! Thank you Thomas and Friends, for making this the best day in his young 22 months of life so far :)

Hours spent online looking for tickets- More then I care to admit

Hours in the car-3

Tickets for the event- $36

Souvenirs- $25

The look on his face when he woke up on the Island of Sodor- PRICELESS!

There are some things money can't buy...

My Shadow

So everyday, rain or shine, I have a little shadow that follows me around the house. If I'm in the bedroom, my shadow is on the bed, if I'm in the kitchen, my shadow is helping right along by taking all of the tupperware out of the cabinet. Along the same lines, if I am in the bathroom, low and behold, there is my shadow right behind. This can come in handy sometimes; brushing teeth is never a battle because if I am brushing mine, my shadow must be brushing as well. And hopefully potty training won't be too stressful since every time I have to go, my little shadow must sit and try to go as well (we have yet to get the desired results from all of this trying though!) 

This morning, as on every other day, my shadow followed me into the bathroom when I was putting my contacts in. After I was done, he promptly put his little finger into the contact case and put it to his eye...he of course, had to put his contacts in too! He also regularly grabs my eyelash curler while I am applying my make-up and puts it against his cheek. (I'm sure someday he will grow to hate this story) Apparently my shadow likes to have pretty eyelashes too :)

I love my shadow and my shadow loves me. Someday, I am going to miss my little shadow when he goes off to school and is no longer always just steps behind. I try to remind myself of this when my shadow unrolls all of the toilet paper or takes every single tissue out of the brand new box because he too, needs to blow his nose!

Welcome to the world of Blogging

So blogging is totally new to me...I am not sure what I am going to write about here or who will even want to read what I am posting, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Several times over the past few weeks I have found myself saying "Hmm, I should Blog" or "If I blogged, I'd blog about this," and thus, here I am!

I figure we are a pretty mischievous bunch, hence the Blogs name and there should be some tid-bit to write about at least every now and then! One or all of us always seem to be getting into some sort of no good :)

Which leads me to one the few times this month I have said, "I should Blog"- 

My friend Nina was coming over with her little girl to play with Owen and spend some time together. I was also babysitting little J-Man who was napping peacefully at the time. I found myself rushed to finish getting myself and Owen ready before they arrived and figured I'd put J-Mans bottle in the warmer so that it would be prepared for when he woke up and there were people here. I put the warmer on, get us together and Nina and "Omi" come over. After a few minutes of chatting in the family room, I start to smell baby spit up. I'm looking all around trying to find the source, but can't seem to see anything anywhere. Doesn't look like its bothering Nina or the babies so we continue chatting. But nope, there is the smell again...I start smelling my clothes, the chair I am sitting in, everything and finally Nina starts to smell it too. At that moment my hearing keys in to the sound of bubbling and boiling coming from the kitchen and I quickly realize the bottle warmer is still warming...approx 10 minutes after I initially put the bottle in there. I frantically run into the kitchen only to find that the bottle had begun leaking and now the warmer was not boiling the necessary 2 tbs of water but about 5 oz of baby milk! YUCK!!! The smell in the kitchen and throughout the house was aweful and, needless to say, that bottle warmer in now cleaner then I think its been in the 2 yrs we've been using it for Owen! HA! Thats a mistake I hope to only make once in my life...Lesson Learned!