Paul Simon

New in the past week:

• found his toes, now pulls off socks during diaper changes
• reaches for toys, if he can't get it, pulls the blanket until it is closer - coincidence?
• grabbing faces, hair, beards (thanks for being patient Uncle J!)
• thinks oatmeal is awesome
• so close to rolling from back to tummy, now a master at tummy to back
• fake coughs

It makes me think of a line from a Paul Simon song - 'slow down, you move too fast'... I feel like I'm going to blink and suddenly I'll be giving him a hug as I drop him off for college. Any wonder why I am having a tough time moving him from the crib in our room to his own room down the hall?

Daddy and Me

Owen is the luckiest kid in the world to have a dad like Todd. Because of his work schedule, he is home with Owen in the mornings while I am at work and he does such an amazing job. He has bottle fed a very tough reflux baby with such love and patience, holds him in Owen's preferred 'ready for sleep' position until his arm is numb, and plays with him non-stop through the morning. Maybe all dads do this, but I think he is extra diligent and is in a constant conversation with Owen about the things they see as they go about their day. This over the shoulder position is the one I usually see when I come home - when Owen has just awakened from nap and he is cuddled into Todd's chest, then I see a little head pop up over Todd's shoulder when he hears my voice.

Todd is always drinking out of a big blue cup and Owen is fascinated by it. He watches Todd drink from it and it always trying to grab it. So Todd decided to let him play with an empty one and Owen immediately put tipped it up to his mouth, just like Dad!

Going on a Walkabout

Throwback reference to Crocodile Dundee for a walkabout. I love going for walks, I find it really relaxing, especially up where we live now. There is not a lot of traffic in the afternoons and the streets are really quiet. When we first started out in early March, I had him all out bundled with coat, mitts, warm socks and a cozy outfit, with a blanket to cover the stroller and keep out the wind. Now, we use a wind/rain shield if we need to, but otherwise, it's open air all the way. He is still trying to get used to the feel of the wind on his face and I definitely use the wind/rain shield if I need to, but today was just a light breezy day, so no shield, just a little extra blinking required!

Mmm-ahh-mmm

When Owen cries, it sounds like he is saying 'mom, mom, mom' in his cry. We don't have too many pictures of him crying because obviously I would rather comfort him than document the cry face, but for the record, his lower lip shoots out, almost like a pout and you know the cry is coming.

He is such a good baby though, after all the crying because of the nasty colic and reflux, an occasional cry session is much easier to snuggle him through and of course the Moby is always there in times of trouble!

(a bad reflux/colic day in March, Moby prepping)

I Like to Move It

I love watching the world through Owen's eyes. Everything is interesting to him and in particular, I love watching how he moves. It's a way for him to explore and learn, but it is a good lesson for me, a reminder of how grateful I am for my body. As I have watched Owen look at toys, to then being able to hit at them, to now being able to hold them and bring them to his mouth; seeing him kick his legs when he is so excited about something, or pushing up through his arms when he is on his tummy. Each new milestone brings huge smiles from him, he knows that he is doing something pretty cool. Last night he pushed up through his arms while on his tummy and leaned his head to the left a little, which caused him to roll onto his back. He looked at me, a little confused at first, and then broke out in the biggest smile...

(post roll - how did I get here?)

Of course I was clapping and cheering, even though it was most likely a moment of gravity, but who cares? I qualify everything that I do, making it seem like nothing, when really everything deserves acknowledgement just like I do for Owen. I want him to know that Todd and I love him, that he is cherished, that we are proud of him, and, just like the previous Toni Morrison quote - that we light up when he comes into the room. That unconditional love, so easily shared with him, but so hard to give to myself.

First Time Momma

Being a mom is by far the most rewarding, exhausting, heartcrushing experience of my life. It is crazy how you can experience such a rush of emotions over the littlest things. It makes me think about that moment on The Office when Pam and Jim click the pretend camera as a way to represent how they want to remember that exact moment, creating a memory. I think I have those experiences all the time and I have never appreciated them. Moments with Todd, or with my family, where I have wanted to wrap the memory up and put it in my pocket like a child collecting treasures. Now I see those moments as so fleeting as I watch Owen growing so fast and changing every day. I want to take out my invisible camera a million times a day to remember those moments - how it feels to hold and snuggle his little tiny body, when he kicks his legs in turbo because he is excited about something, or the first time Owen grabbed my sleeve while I was changing him and when I looked at his face, he was smiling at me like I was the most incredible person he knew (heartcrushing moment). Toni Morrison asked a group of women once if their face lit up when the people they loved walked into the room, such a profound message in a small act.

Rice-A-Roni

Owen has been watching us eat and drink with serious fascination for the past few weeks. I had planned to wait until he was closer to 6 months to start trying food, but he is interested and ready, so we decided to give it a try last week. A little milk, a little cereal, overheated by me; more milk to cool it off, then more cereal to bring it back to the right consistency, and then we were ready!

He did great, but we definitely need to get a high chair, since he spent most of the time in 'crunch' position, trying to sit up more!

Cool Like Me

We spent over 20 minutes trying to pose Owen for his 'chilled out' pose during his newborn photo session. And, he only held the pose for about 3 seconds after we let go. But we did get this famous shot...

For the past two weeks, Owen has been sleeping like that, with his hands up beside his head. I have wanted to get a shot of it, but didn't want to wake him up with the flash of the camera. Then, last week I was cooking in the kitchen and talking to Owen about what I was doing when I turned around to see this....