Stinky, Stinky

So the other morning Owen was playing in my room while I was laying in bed, trying to get a few more minutes of shut-eye.  But I can't be fully asleep because I have to be aware of everything Owen's doing.  So it was more like a few more minutes to rest my eyes.  Anyways, I was laying there when all of a sudden...

I felt two little fingers pinching my nose closed.

I heard a little voice say, "Kack, Kack".

And then I smelled it - a very stinky odor coming from a certain little baby.

Whenever he has a stinky diaper, I pinch my nose and say, "Stinky, stinky".

 I think we're making progress with our communication.

I love that baby.

Our Little Man

Current Stats:

Age: 17 months

Weight: 23 lb. 10 oz. (25th percentile)

Height: 32 1/2 in. (75th percentile)

Teeth Count: 8, with two starting to poke through.

 Four on top, two on bottom, (a third coming in) and two bottom molars (a top molar poking through).  Slowly but surely.

Likes: 

• Playing at the park.
• Dancing.  And not the typical 1 year old bounce.  He does a mean shoulder shimmy that is hilarious.  I don't know where he got it, but I love it.
• Singing.  Current favorites: it's a small world, 5 Little Ducks, Once There Was a Snowman
• Going to Disneyland.
• Making funny faces.

Dislikes:

• Taking a bath.  About a month ago, he became hysterical when I tried to give him a bath.  He has always loved his bath, so I have no idea why he suddenly became afraid.  We've been making progress - he will stand  in the tub if I hang my feet over the side and cling to my legs.  He doesn't cry like he did before, but he is still very unsure about it.  The pediatrician said it's totally normal and that he'll grow out of it.  In the meantime, we've been having a lot of sponge baths.
• Bedtime.  I finally decided to buckle down and get Owen sleeping all night and in his own bed again.  (He had been sleeping with us because of sickness, then a 2 week trip to Utah, then sickness, and finally over the holidays we had a lot of noisy relatives staying with us so we kept him in our room because he kept getting woken up.)  Anyway... I'd finally had enough of being kicked in the ribs all night, so we went cold turkey and just started putting him in his crib and let him cry it out.  The first night was AWFUL.  He seriously cried the majority of the night... But after that it was smooth sailing.  He still cries when I put him in his crib for bed, but only for a minute and then he's out for the night.

New Skills:

• Making animal noises (cat, dog, cow, duck, snake, tiger, lion, dinosaur, elephant, alligator, monkey) and making animal faces (nose twitching like a bunny rabbit and a fish face)
• Identifying body parts: head, hair, eyes, nose, ears, chin, cheek, teeth, tongue, mouth, hands, knees, tummy, belly button, feet, toes)
• Identifying people: Mommy, Daddy, Himself, Grandma(s), Grandpa(s), Aunts, Uncles
• Giving real kisses, complete with the noise.
• Makes particular noises to vocally say "yes" and "no"

It's amazing how much he's learning right now.  I can teach him something in the morning and he will have mastered it by the end of the day.  He's definitely a little sponge.  I'm really enjoying this age a lot.

 Love you, Owen!

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4 Years...

And still going strong.

Top Nine in '09

In 2009...

1. We celebrated 3 years of marriage

2. Rick graduated from CalState Fullerton

3. Owen had his first airplane ride when we went to Florida

4.Owen turned 1

5. Rick started his job at New York Life

6. We moved!

7. We took a family vacation to Utah and Owen saw his first snow.

8. I got to be home with Owen full time and watch him grow and learn firsthand.

and last but certainly NOT least...

9. My mom was cured of her cancer.  :)

Wishing everyone a healthy, happy 2010