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!