Froehliche Weinachten!

Hello, hello -- is anyone still out there reading this? I know it's been a while since we've posted, but we've had a lot of changes this fall. The biggest was Stacy taking a new job in the University of Wisconsin's communications department. That meant a return to full-time work, and the start of full-time day care for O. The good thing is that he still has a ball with the kids there and is awfully happy when we drop him off. That being said, we're enjoying two weeks off together for the holidays. Last week we were in Minneapolis and Stevens Point for Christmas and are relaxing -- and getting the house in order -- this week.

We're also making time for our annual international holiday celebration. This year, we picked Germany because we have the perfect costume for O -- a pair of lederhosen his Benedict grandparents brought back from him when he was a toddler. Legend has it they were too small for him, so they were never worn. I got them on O about a month ago, but as you can see from this picture, he wasn't too happy about it. To honor the German traditions, O had a visit from St. Nicholas in early December and found chocolate, an orange and some Cheerios in his shoes when he woke up from his nap. I'm also preparing some sauerbraten for our meal...pictures to come.

When I looked back at what I wrote during O's early days, I loved having that record of how he was growing and changing, so I'm going to do more posting in 2010, if for no one else but me. It's amazing what can happen over a couple of days. Since we've been off with him, we've noticed his comprehension is now really advanced, and he knows exactly what we're saying or asking him to do. He's learning new words by the handful every day; just this week, he's saying reindeer, scone, basketball, nurse, shot (he got his flu shot today), bike, wrist and knock. He also has a great way of saying "Moommmmeeeeey!" that makes my heart melt every time he says it, even at 6:30 a.m. When we were at my parents', my mom told him he needed to be gentle with a wooden loon on their hearth and to pat it on the head. He saw a loon in a book today and said, "Pat pat." He sings along to "Frosty the Snowman" with me and dances whenever he hears a few bars of music. At Grandma Kathy's, he marveled at people's prowess on the Wii with a hearty "Woooow!" and when Molly asked him to get T's shoes from under the dining room table at my parents' and bring them back to her, he crawled under to retrieve them and clapped for himself when we cheered him. He loves everything Elmo, snowmen and Santa, except for the idea of getting anywhere close to the guy in the red and white suit.

That's the latest from us. I'll post again soon on the German Christmas meal.

Back from Up North

We had a fun weekend on Lake Towanda with the Stockbridges. Owen really loved having a little buddy around all the time. They got along well for the most part -- these pictures don't show the fallout from Owen taking toys away from Keegan.

Keegan did teach him how to blow kisses, and with Emily's chocolate chip banana bread he learned to sign "more." (He also says "mmmm" when he's doing it.) He's also started saying "mine," making the owl's "who" noise when he sees his owl puppet and loves to ask "why?" We're not sure if he really knows what he's saying, but I've been playing along and answering him.

Goofball

It's been a while since I posted some new shots of Owen, so here are a few. It's a lot harder to get good pictures of him than it used to because he won't stay in one place and often he just wants to grab the camera.

He continues to be fascinated by technology and anything with buttons. He's quite adept on his feet and walking well...except when he trips over his toys. Any time there's a song playing, he starts dancing. He "talks" up a storm, but we think he's really understanding much of what we say and is using a lot of words, especially when he's repeating what we say. Regularly out of his mouth: Up, cup (pronounced "pup"), book, ball, hat, Cheerio, open, shoes, chair, hi, yes and more. Nancy, his day care provider, swears she asked him today if he was dancing and he replied, "Yes, I dance."

Some of these pictures are from our trip to the Milwaukee County Zoo last weekend with Grandma Martin. Owen was really watching all the animals from his perch in the backpack, but I think his favorite part was when he got out and walked around a little bit.

Let him eat cake

Here are some shots from Owen's first birthday party. He woke up from his morning nap right when the festivities began and had fun playing with his buddies Gavin, Danny and Keegan, as well as all of his grandparents. He got quite a haul of presents, too, and will be entertained for months to come. He also enjoyed his first taste of chocolate cake -- yum! Thanks to all who made it such a fun day and memorable occasion.

First haircut

OK, so it might have been his second haircut, but this was his first real haircut. I only lopped a little off the sides and top a couple of months ago. Still, after weeks of enjoying his Zac Efron-esque do -- a friend of mine joked about him styling it with a tiny hair dryer and round brush -- we decided it was time to get Owen's hair cut for real.

We took him to Next Generation, a kids' haircut place near our house -- thanks to the Smiths for the recommendation! Owen was in heaven -- he got to watch an Elmo video, and he got to sit in a red fire engine chair while Kathy the stylist cut his hair. He was very good, and as you can see from the photos, he took it very seriously. He was all smiles later, though, as he showed off how handsome he is! We were a little sad because he definitely looks like an older boy now, but he's so darn cute that we love it at the same time.

Splashy fun

We finally got Owen's little pool inflated and ready to go this weekend, so we invited his buddy Keegan over to test it out. The water was pretty cold but they were undaunted. Owen started splashing right when he got in, and the giggling started once Keegan started splashing. Everything Keegan did was hilarious to Owen and it was funny to see the two of them playing together. (Up until now, they've just sort of played in separate spaces.)



Owen was 11 months today and he's starting to communicate with us. If you ask him where Daddy is, he'll point to Colin. We think he may have said his first word aside from "Dada" and "Mama": "up." He'll say it when he wants us to pick him up or when he is looking upstairs. He's also toying with "hi" and doing this two-handed open-and-closed hand thing that could be a wave. Time will tell if that's really what he's saying and doing or if we're engaged in some wishful thinking.

Happy 4th of July!

Coming up on 11 months

Where has the last year gone? It's gone by in thousands of diapers, hundreds of nursing sessions and dozens of books read before bed. Here are some of the latest shots of Owen.

It's fun to watch his personality and temperament develop. He's an intensely curious kid and can't play with something without turning it over to be sure he's not missing anything on the back. If he really, really wants something, he doesn't stop trying to get it until he's succeeded in getting it. He's skilled at getting a spoonful of food into his mouth, although sometimes he takes the easy way out and just sticks his fingers into the food and puts it in his mouth that way. He loves to look out the windows and tries to make a beeline for the door whenever it's in sight. He's still very happy and smiley, but it's harder to get those shots because he rarely stays still long enough to get a picture.

Our trip to the zoo

We had a gorgeous Sunday in Madison last weekend and thought we should get out and do something, so we decided to hit the Dane County zoo. Apparently the animals agreed because many of them were out and busy.

It's so fun to watch Owen in a new setting, because it's amazing to see him taking everything in. He's so serious about it and his head darts back and forth as he looks around him. He seemed to like the bear the best and even yelled out a "ba!".

A kid after my own heart

You can't imagine how happy it makes me to see the smile on Owen's face when he gets his hands on a book. Whether it's one of his board books or one of my hardcovers with the crinkly library cover, he really does love to touch the pages and look at the covers. (He's probably thinking, "How can I get this in my mouth?" but I like to think he has other reasons.) I hope he won't grow up and think it's dorky to love reading, and I'll do what I can to encourage him.

He's discovered his shelf of books next to his play area in the living room and delights in taking all the books off the shelf. Every once in a while, he'll stop to look at one of them. One of his favorites is a book about the Little People's class trip to the nature center, fire station, dinosaur museum, science museum and aquarium. It's got lots to look at and tons of flaps to lift on every page and he loves peeking behind those.

I got out all the lift-the-flap books now that he knows what to do with them. (That alone amazes me -- it wasn't too long ago that he didn't have the concept of object permanence, and now he knows to look at what's hidden behind a piece of cardboard.) I even got him an Easter card with a flap, and as I was buying it, I thought, "Owen will really like this." And thinking about it later, I decided it was pretty cool to know him well enough to know that's something he'll like.

In other Owen news, he's now the proud owner of two teeth in the middle of his bottom gums. He's also gotten quite adept at picking up food and putting it in his mouth. For a while, he was using a two-handed technique, using his left hand to bring the piece of cereal or meat close to his mouth and using his right index finger to work it into his mouth, and half of it would end up in his lap. But now he can pretty much do it in all one motion. Dinner takes a lot longer when he's feeding himself!

Where's my cookie?

On the move

Here are two videos of Owen crawling, taken about a week apart. As you can see, he's gotten much faster and precise with his moves, and he can really cover a lot of ground quickly. While we want him to crawl, we're not sure that we...and our house...are quite ready for it.
And here's a video that was taken over the weekend. We've found that any piece of electronic equipment -- a cell phone, camera, remote control -- is enough to send him skittering across the floor. His little phone -- not so much. And he does a mean Michael Phelps impersonation with his lunge on the last stroke.


Is he trying to crawl or do pushups?

Almost eight months

Owen's been a very busy little fella in the last couple of weeks. He hasn't worked his way up to his knees yet, but he has perfected a military crawl. (More on that in a later post.) We also decided it was time for a little trim to get those side wings under control, so Owen had his first haircut over the weekend.

While Owen is having fun moving around, he's less than pleased about the two teeth poking their way through his bottom gum. The worst part is that he's used to being able to chew on things without those teeth getting in the way, so he's managed to bite his lip. Ouch!

Where Owen meets Blackhawk

When people come over to visit, they often walk in the door and say, "Did you name Owen after the street?" because Owen Dr. meets up with Blackhawk Ave. just outside our door. No, we didn't, but we still think it's kind of cool that Owen Dr. ends at his house.
Too bad our last name isn't "Blackhawk."

Talking

Owen loves to try out all of his different sounds. He's become increasingly vocal in the car, too, as we talk about what's going on outside.

Owen's spring

Owen's been keeping very busy during our recent wave of super-warm weather. He's been enjoying lots of walks and fresh air, and especially loves to sit outside our house and watch the cars going up and down Blackhawk Ave. (And we love watching him track them all the way up or down.) On Sunday evening, we took him over to the park across the street from our house, where he went on the slide and a swing for the first time.

He also finished a six-week swimming class with Colin. We had hesitated to put his head under the water because we weren't sure how he'd do with it and we didn't want to make him afraid of the water. But on Saturday, when one of the instructors came around to swim with him, our ladykiller got shy and put his head down...straight into the water. It was funny the first time and even funnier the second time he did it. For the record, sticking his head in the water didn't faze him at all.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

More belly laughs

Add "stinky" to the list of incredibly funny words.

A long car ride home

It takes -- at most -- three minutes to get from Nancy's house (Owen's day care) to ours. So, it's always funny to me when he manages to fall asleep in that time. I was really giving it my all today trying to keep him awake -- singing "The Wheels on the Bus" -- but no luck.
 

Belly laughs

Here's a video of Colin & O having fun. For some reason, O finds the word "Safe!" -- said like an umpire making a call at home -- really hysterical. Or maybe it's just Colin he finds funny.

Owen update

Things were a little crazy at the StalinBenester house in February -- the worst was the five illnesses between O and Stacy. (Stacy even missed her Oscar party because she was sick -- that tells you something!) Anyway, blogging was one of the first things to go, but I'll try to make up for it with some photos of O.



In the last month, he's mastered sitting up and rolling back and forth to get to something he really wants. He's also trying out all the different sounds he can make, from "dadadada" to clicking and gurgling. He's also become very squirmy -- we can barely keep our hands on him sometimes! But he remains a very happy and smiley boy and we must say "He's such a good baby" at least five times a day.

Sledding

One of Owen's Christmas gifts was this really cool sled, which is a pretty cushy ride for the little guy. It's got its own seat and weather shield. Despite some of the ridiculously cold temperatures recently, we've had a couple of chances to get him out for a spin.

The first time, we were looking to tire him out so he'e take a good nap when we got home. He had other ideas and decided to fall asleep while in the sled. Sigh. He slept through us writing his name in the snow, which you can see in one of the pictures. The next time, he was wide awake and really smiley about the whole experience as we tooled around our backyard, then took a lap around in the park across the street.

My stage mother moment

Last fall, just a few weeks after Owen was born, I went to a local consignment sale to pick up some gently used clothes for the little guy. I got a ton of great stuff, and with plans to return in the spring, I signed up for the group's listserv.

A few weeks ago, the Half-Pint Resale organizers put out a call for photos of kids wearing things that were purchased at the sale. I sent along one of my favorite pictures of Owen and he's now featured on the group's Web site. Check it out here.

The funny thing is that kids of two of my book group friends were also picked -- be sure to look for Rory, Skylar and Beau.

A year in books, 2008

I’m a little late in getting this together, but it’s always fun for me to go back and reflect on what I read in the last year. I had more ambitious goals for the year – thinking I’d dive into some non-fiction already on my shelves – but I ended up reading a lot more contemporary fiction. (I’ve gotten into the habit of ripping out a review that sounds interesting to me and then requesting the book from the library. This keeps a steady stream of great stuff flowing.)

I’m not sure what this year will hold. I’ve already devoured “American Wife” and am deep into a book about Charles Dickens and “A Christmas Carol.” Please send your recommendations! And maybe I can write something of my own this year…hopefully by next January I’ll be talking about one of my children’s book ideas.

(By the way, I'm fully aware that I'm a dork.)

1. The Abstinence Teacher – Tom Perrotta
2. Bloodletting & Miracle Cures (audio) – Vincent Lam
3. The Audacity of Hope – Barack Obama
4. We Need to Talk About Kevin… -- Lionel Shriver – This book should come with a warning label: Highly disturbing.
5. Songs Without Words – Ann Packer
6. Into the Wild – Jon Krakauer – I picked this up after seeing the movie – both were incredibly well done. The photo of Christopher Candless is haunting.
7. The Collection – Gioia Diliberti – A fun piece of historical fiction about Coco Chanel.
8. Clemente (audio) – David Maraniss
9. The Post-Birthday World – Lionel Shriver – This one will make you consider the choices you've made in your life, and for me, be happy with my decisions.
10. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – Winifred Watson
11. The Appeal – John Grisham – I tore through this the weekend before the Wisconsin State Supreme Court election -- eerie parallels.
12. Public Enemies (audio) – Bryan Burrough – I’m eagerly awaiting the film version of this book, which was made in Wisconsin last year.
13. Interpreter of Maladies – Jumpha Lahiri
14. A Walk in the Woods (audio) – Bill Bryson – I love Bryson’s truly funny travel tales.
15. The Queen’s Fool – Philippa Gregory – I love getting swept up in Gregory’s Elizabethan world, even though – as Colin put it – I’m essentially reading the same story over and over.
16. American Ground – William Langewiesche – I re-read this book about the breaking down of the World Trade Center after Sept. 11 because I was speaking about my experience that day to a class of UW-Madison students. It’s pretty amazing how your perspective and memories can change in just a few years, and it’s hard to believe that I actually had that experience in the first place.
17. Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi – This was another interesting foray into graphic novels – if this is what all comic books were like, I’d be hooked. And the two Persepolis books, in combination with “The Septembers of Shiraz,” made me realize my education was lacking when it comes to the Iranian Revolution.
18. Unaccustomed Earth – Jhumpa Lahiri – I love Lahiri’s graceful and intricate portraits of the meaning of family.
19. Things I’ve Learned from Women Who’ve Dumped Me – ed. Ben Karlin
20. Persepolis 2 – Marjane Satrapi
21. Nice to Come Home To – Rebecca Flowers – This was a fun read based on one of my all-time favorite books, Sense & Sensibility.
22. Kindred – Octavia Butler
23. See You in 100 Years – Logan Ward – Our book group’s selection about a family that decides to live like it’s 1900 for a year was a nice surprise, and it led great phone discussion with the author. Much like “Julie & Julia” last year, this made me think all I need is a concept and I’ve got the makings of a book.
24. Mr. Wrong – ed. Harriet Brown
25. The Septembers of Shiraz – Dalia Sofer
26. Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen – This can’t-put-it-down peek behind the scenes of the circus was a true eye opener. It seemed like a pretty seedy world.
27. Dreams of My Father (audio) – Barack Obama
28. Loving Frank – Nancy Horan
29. So Many Books, So Little Time -- Sara Nelson – Here’s one I could have written myself, too: The author writes about the books she reads throughout the year.
30. A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity – Kathleen Gilles Seidel – I was so nervous the day before Owen was born I read this book about raising an adolescent daughter in one sitting. And what a relief to have a son! (Ha.)
31. The Summons – John Grisham – I started this book as my doctor started my induction on Aug. 7. I didn’t make it very far, and it was about two weeks before I picked it up again. But this speedy thriller was just what I needed at that point.
32. Floater – Calvin Trillin
33. Belly Laughs – Jenny McCarthy
34. Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man – Fannie Flagg – Daisy Fay is one of the most fun and charismatic characters I’ve encountered in my many years of reading. You'll be rooting for her the whole way.
35. Neither Here Nor There (audio) – Bill Bryson
36. So Long at the Fair – Christina Schwarz
37. About Alice – Calvin Trillin
38. The Likeness – Tana French – If you’re in the mood for a good mystery, this is a twisty one that delivers. And it takes place just outside of Dublin – fantastic.
39. The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows – A sweet tale of World War II resiliance.
40. Rome 1960 – David Maraniss – Hands down, this was the best book I read last year. Maraniss weaves the story of the Olympic Games with threads of politics, race relations, gender politics, the Cold War and the business of sports and does it in a way that has the reader on the edge of the seat. I managed to get out of the house for a few hours this fall to see him at the Wisconsin Book Festival, too, where he answered my question about how he writes so engagingly. (It’s all in the personal details, he said.) Now I have to work on putting his advice to use.
41. The Size of the World – Joan Silber
42. Death in Prairie House – William Drennan – This is the bookend to “Loving Frank,” which was the romanticized story of Frank Lloyd Wright and his mistress, Mameh Borthwick. “Death in a Prairie House” is the ugly reality of the horrific end of their relationship.
43. Here’s the Story – Maureen McCormick – My brother waited in line for two hours to get Marcia, Marcia, Marcia to sign a copy of her autobiography for me. He declared her to be a real sweetheart.
44. What Was Lost – Catherine O’Flynn
45. Downtown Owl – Chuck Klosterman – I’ve loved his laugh-out-loud non-fiction about popular culture and enjoyed his first foray into fiction. Hold on for the ending – I was blown away by it after wondering through most of the book how the three concurrent stories were going to come together.
46. The Other Queen – Philippa Gregory – Again, Elizabethan history, this time from the perspective of Mary Queen of Scots, who got stuck in a really terrible position.
47. Don’t You Forget About Me – Jancee Dunn – A fun, breezy read for anyone who came of age in the late 1980s.
48. Revolutionary Road – Richard Yates – This was the second time I picked up this Yates classic. I enjoyed it both times – and am looking forward to the movie – but many of the women in my book club disagreed with me.
49. The Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart – I was wandering through the Borders children’s book section and knew I had to pick this one up for Owen’s library.
50. The Partner – John Grisham

Cutest thing ever

I have no words for this except that I absolutely love this picture.

 

Jan. 20: A day of change

In addition to the Obama inauguration, the StalinBenester household experienced another big change. Today was Owen's first day at day care, and like everything else we've thrown at him the past few weeks, he handled it better than we ever could have imagined. When I went to pick him up, he was happily gumming his circle rattle -- Nancy said to never send him without it because he loves it so much -- and smiling for mom. Nancy also said he's the easiest baby she's ever seen, so we're happy he didn't give her any trouble. (Not that we expected him to.)

And we're happy that he seems to have fun there. And as I said to my co-worker today, I think I shed more tears leaving than he did when Colin dropped him off.
But, apparently he only took two 30-minute naps today, so I guess it's no surprise he fell asleep during the three-minute car ride home.

Today's events got me thinking that with a personality like his, we're sure Owen is destined for great things.

Funny noises

My apologies, Stalin Benester readers, but it's been a busy couple of weeks with me back at work. I don't know how I'd manage to work full time even if I wanted to. And even though I dreaded it a bit for weeks, it's been fun to be back and overall I'm enjoying the return to work. Colin and Owen had two fun weeks together at home, and today was the start of my part-time schedule. The worst part about being apart from Owen is that he gets funnier with each passing day. Every day it seems like he's making a new noise, scooting a bit more or looking at something in a new way. Here's a video of him making one of his cutest noises. (Note: the video goes in and out of focus when he moves around.)

Branching out

Until a couple of weeks ago, Owen has had a steady diet of milk, milk and more milk. But, when we were in Minneapolis, we decided to use the high chair at my parents' and give the rice cereal a try.

Owen has been really attentive when we're eating, so it was fun to see him engaged in food of his own. He kept wanting to grab the spoon, which made getting the cereal in his mouth a challenge. But, despite the evidence in these pictures, more ended up in his mouth than on his face and the bib.

Owen's first Christmas

I'm a little behind in my posts, but I'll try go get caught up on all the latest in Owen's life. The big event this month was Christmas, and we were lucky enough to have the time to see all of our families and really celebrate Owen's first holiday in style.

On our way home from Stevens Point, I declared that Owen gets the Baby of the Year award for being such an intrepid traveler. He slept through almost the entire 4.5 hour trip to Minneapolis, the 3.5 hour drive to Stevens Point and the final 2 hour leg back to Madison. What an incredible kid. He couldn't have asked for a better Christmas, either -- I think every other present to come out from under the tree was for him. Toys, books, clothes, keepsakes -- he's set for a long while and we appreciate everyone's generosity.

When we got back to Madison, Colin and I celebrated our Brazilian Christmas by making a Brazilian-themed meal (the highlight was a sweet French toast called Rabanada) and watching the movie "Victory," which really has nothing to do with Brazil except that Pele is in it. I don't know how we'd missed that movie before considering our love for soccer, but we really enjoyed it!