Consumerism

I'm not sure whether to be impressed or frightened by this -- help me decide.

Tonight, when O and I were driving home, we were stopped at a red light next to an office building. O looked at the sign and said, "Mom, is that insurance?" I made him repeat it because I wanted to be sure that's what he was saying, because, in fact, he was looking at an American Family Insurance sign. We're not entirely sure where he picked that up, but we're thinking he saw it on a commercial somewhere and got the logo stuck in his head.

It's not the first time something like this has happened. A month or so ago, he was in the backseat talking to himself and started saying, "Boo hoo! They like customers, I like cash!" He kept repeating it and we had no idea where he'd gotten it. Colin suggested I Google it and sure enough, it was a line from a Southwest Airlines commercial that he had likely seen during the football playoff games.

And around Christmas, he was playing with his phone and pretending to talk to "Peggy" -- a character in a Discover card ad. (I had to Google that one, too.)

So, that gets me back to my first point -- I don't quite know what to do with this. Maybe we're just better at tuning out the ads and he picks up more of the details and the stories being told. Maybe we should offer him up to a researcher on how kids interact with advertising. Maybe we should be impressed with his concentration and recall. Maybe we should stop letting him watch so much television (he really doesn't watch that much -- some Curious George, news and sports on weekends).

Announcer

Overheard in the backseat, says Colin: "This is News 3 weather!"

Maybe he's watching a little too much news.

Snow holiday

It turned out to be a good day for a holiday -- we got at least six inches of snow and O and I were hunkered down inside for most of the day. But when he got up from his nap, I thought we needed to get some air. I practically had to drag him outside but I eventually sold him on going out when I suggested we bring the snowball maker he got for Christmas. (It's great, by the way -- today's snow wasn't quite wet enough for good snowball making, but we'll have a ton of fun with it when the snow cooperates.)
Once we got outside, he had a really fun time. He made flaky snowballs, helped me shovel, made a snow angel, and then wanted to make a "Frosty." Here's our handiwork, with a corncob pipe and magic hat made out of leftover Christmas tree branches. We also made a Professor Hinkle (the magician in Frosty) and Frosty's friend Karen, also made of tree branches. He then wanted to make an Owen and dad along with a TV. Hmmm. They got Liverpool FC insignias made out of fir fronds.
After spending about an hour outside, we came in for grapes and cocoa. Maybe I can use that as a bargaining chip the next time I'm trying to get him out in the snow.

Energizer

This is the scene I walked into when I went to pick O up from school the other day: He dribbled a soccer ball, shot it in to the hole of a cushioned tunnel, then did his post-goal celebration, complete with jumping, fist pumping and yelling "I scored a goal!"

One of the teachers shook her head at him and said, "I don't know where he gets so much energy!" I know just what she's thinking -- I don't know how he does it. Right now, it's almost 10 p.m. and he's still stirring around in his bed, trying to fall asleep. Earlier, when we were supposed to be quietly singing in the rocking chair, he was belting out "People in our Neighborhood" from Sesame Street. (And he was doing it with different voices. That's one of his new things -- when he's pretending, he speaks in a lower register or makes his voice scratchy to be a man, and a little gurgle when he's pretending to be a baby.) Tonight he's quiet in there , but some nights there's singing and talking to his stuffed animals as he tries to settle down. I guess that two-hour nap today did its job for the afternoon, but charged his batteries for the whole evening.

I'll be interested to see how things change when he's out of his crib and in to the new toddler bed we bought for him...


He's been doing this "pretend to be a baby" thing a lot lately, including tonight after his bath, when he was lying on our bed as I toweled him off. But then, as I tried to get his pajama bottoms on, I pulled him to standing. He threw his arms around my neck to give me a big hug, and after I told him I loved him, I got an "I love you, too" back. And so while it's fun to remember what he was like as a baby, having an expressive, loving 2-year-old is pretty incredible.

P.S. He managed to fall asleep while I was writing this.

Reflections

The begging to watch "Curious George" started the minute we got to the car this afternoon. I mentioned that we were going to go home and make dinner and Owen said, "Can I watch something while you make dinner?" Then it was repeated, about two dozen times. I made the decision that we weren't going to watch anything and I'd try to find some alternative entertainment. So, after dinner Owen and I spent about an hour tonight going through the old blog posts looking at his pictures and watching videos -- over and over and over again. I told him stories about what he was doing in them, and he loved it. I think he was most amazed at the things he can do now that he couldn't when he was a baby -- roll over, talk, sing.

After his bath and some stories, he and I were sitting in his rocking chair to quiet down for the evening. I looked down at how big he's getting and realized he's not going to be able to sit in my lap much longer, so we stayed there for a long time tonight -- he was unusually cuddly and still (rocking is typically a squirmy affair), so we sang songs and talked for longer than usual. Aside from the moment he sees me when I arrive at school to pick him up -- he shouts a hearty "Hi Mom!," drops whatever he's holding, runs to me and says, "Let's go home!" - talking with him and remembering the best pieces of our time together is my favorite part of the day.

Little man

After I posted last night's blog, I went back and looked at all the old blog posts I'd written, and as I got to those from when he was a baby, Colin asked me, "Are you going to start crying now?" A few tears were shed, I'll admit, but you can't help it, especially when watching the ones with videos of him giggling (he still belly laughs that way).

And as I read back through the old posts, I found some threads that are still relevant today, and I'll revisit those. But this evening I've been reflecting a lot on my Grandpa Maher, who would have been 94 today. I wish he had gotten to meet our kids -- he would have gotten such a kick out of them. When O senses a new audience and starts to ham it up, I know he got that from his Grandpa Bernie. And every time O is asked who is his favorite baseball player is, and he yells "Joe Mauer!" I can see my grandpa's smile. So, even though he didn't get to meet O, little pieces of him lives on.

As for the little man, he becomes more grown up every day. After I picked him up, we went to Sport Clips for a haircut and despite crying, "I don't want a haircut!" through the whole thing, he was a good sport and did really well. (My coat is covered in hair, but oh well.) It helps that the place is plastered with hockey sticks, soccer balls, and pictures of football, baseball and Bucky Badger. He does great when we have lots of distractions.

Yes, dear, I'm very happy

I know I said last year I was going to blog more, but this year I really mean it. I have a warning, however: If you don't like stories about O, you can stop reading. It's really going to be dedicated to the funny, insightful, sweet things he says every day. Another blogger I read says she writes a blog about her kids and prints out the previous year's entries on their birthdays. So, even though blogs are soooo 2006, my mom doesn't want to join Facebook and misses out on a lot of the stories, and I want to have a better record of O's childhood, because it's speeding by.

We just enjoyed a nearly two week break together and we seem to have hit some stretch of the third year where he (temporarily?) dropped the "terrible" part of the terrible twos and has been a ton of fun. Tonight, even though Mr. No Nap was bordering on deliriously tired, he wanted to play a game where he was a baby and thought it was hysterical that we were talking to him and carrying him like a baby. It sure made the bath a lot easier; for the last month, he's pitched a fit and splashed us away when we tried to wash his hair. Instead, he giggled away and cooed like a infant as I lathered him up. (I seem to remember him not liking the bath at some stage of infancy, but I'm not going to remind him of that. I will remind him that last night -- out of the blue -- he declared that I am smart.)

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I have been less stressed out over the holidays, but in our best moments, he keeps turning to ask me, "Are you happy, Mom?" with his big grin. Yes, I tell him, I am terrifically happy.

Books of 2009

Yeah, yeah, I know what's left of my readers are looking for news of Owen. The kid's still cute and funny -- today he's big on having us stand up and play soccer with him, insisting that we "Stand floor!" and waving his hand down to show us what he wants us to do. He also has become particular about what songs I sing to him and if he doesn't like my selection, he says, "More song!" Let's hope he doesn't say that to his music class teacher later this afternoon.

I've been meaning to post the list of books I read last year since I've heard from some people in the past that they enjoy getting book ideas. So, for what it's worth, here it is, with a few thoughts about some of the most thought-provoking ones.

1. Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson – an eye-opener about life in Afghanistan.
2. American Wife, Curtis Sittenfeld – truly entertaining fictional take on the life of Laura Bush.
3. The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens’s 'A Christmas Carol' Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits, Les Standiford – "A Christmas Carol" is one of my favorite books of all time, and I never knew the impact it had on shaping the holiday as we know it.
4. The Perfect Wife, Ann Gearhart – This biography of Laura Bush helped clear up what was true and what wasn’t in “American Wife.”
5. Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell – this lays out the reasons why luck and timing are often the reason for success. Sorry about your August birthday, O.
6. The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett – a must read for any fan of historical fiction, architecture, England or truly great writing. One of my favorite books of the year.
7. Marrying Mozart, Stephanie Cowell
8. It’s a Boy, ed. Andrea Buchanan – this is one I’ll have to reread once a year as O grows up.
9. Love the One You’re With, Emily Giffin
10. Bright Side of Disaster, Katherine Center
11. Street Gang, Michael Davis – I loved this history of the creation and impact of “Sesame Street”
12. Operating Instructions, Anne Lamott
13. Frankly, My Dear, Molly Haskell – this history of “Gone With the Wind,” another one of my all-time favorite books, got me to pick up the 1,037 page classic again (see No. 18).
14. How the States Got Their Shapes, Mark Stein – enlightening book about how our country became what it is geographically. (Wisconsin really got lost out on a lot of land in order to share Great Lakes access with some other states, but that was part of the bigger plan for geographic equality.)
15. The Lady Elizabeth, Alison Weir – another take on my favorite period for historical fiction by a skilled historian.
16. A Homemade Life, Molly Wizenberg
17. Sippy Cups are not for Chardonnay, Stefanie Wilder-Taylor
18. Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell – Yes, it’s politically incorrect, and yes, Scarlett is an imperfect character to love. I think I avoided rereading this over the years because I was afraid I wouldn’t like it as much as I did when I was 15. No worries, I still loved and devoured it.
19. Heart & Soul, Maeve Binchy – I usually like her books, but this wasn’t one of my favorites.
20. American Parent, Sam Apple – a new father’s take on parenthood. I loved the experiments he did on himself with tear-free shampoos (they really hurt the eyes) and baby food (not very appetizing).
21. Gossip of the Starlings, Nina de Garamont
22. Swimming, Nicola Keegan – a fictional story about a world-class swimmer is perfect choice for anyone going through Olympics withdrawal.
23. Admission, Jean Horwitz
24. Pollyanna, Eleanor H. Porter – Life would be much better if we all played the “Just Being Glad” game more of the time.
25. Not Becoming My Mother, Ruth Reichl – This isn’t a self-help book – I’d love to be like my mother!
26. Skeletons at the Feast, Chris Bohjalian – Another of my favorite reads of the year. I couldn’t put down this book about the eastern front at the end of WWII, and I found myself thinking about the characters and story constantly when I wasn’t reading it.
27. Olivia Joules & the Overactive Imagination, Helen Fielding – a light and entertaining read – just what you’d expect of the author of “Bridget Jones’ Diary.”
28. My Life in France, Julia Child – you’ll have a new appreciation for high-quality cookbooks once you read how much time and effort Child put into her masterpiece on French cooking.
29. Prospect Park West, Amy Sohn – what my life might have been had I stayed in Brooklyn. I’m much happier to have landed in Madison.
30. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Alan Bradley – Flavia, this book’s 12-year-old budding detective, is one of the best protagonists I’ve ever encountered. I can’t wait for the sequel.
31. Missing Mark, Julie Kramer – a breezy murder mystery pursued by a Twin Cities television reporter. Lots of fun.
32. The Girls From Ames, Jeffrey Zaslow – this one made me really miss my high school friends.
33. The Great Escape, Kati Marton
34. The Wild Things, Dave Eggers
35. When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss – I figured that if I’m living in Wisconsin, I should know more about Vince Lombardi, even if I’m not a Packers fan.
36. Upstarts!, Donna Fenn
37. Where Men Win Glory, Jon Krakauer – also on the favorite of the year list. Run to the bookstore or library to read this one!
38. The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown – another book that delivers what you’d expect from its author – a can’t-put-it-down read that races across Washington, D.C.
39. In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan
40. The White Queen, Philippa Gregory – one of my favorite authors of historical fiction switches eras to the War of the Roses, and I enjoyed it just as much. I’m looking forward to the next two books in the trilogy.
41. The Guy Not Taken, Jennifer Weiner
42. No Time to Wave Goodbye, Jacqueline Mitchard
43. Live from New York, James A. Miller and Tom Shales – this comprehensive oral history of “Saturday Night Live” covers it all and gives me more respect for this paradigm-shifting show.
44. A Single Man, Christopher Isherwood -- a gripping read that takes place over the course of one day. Now I have to see the movie!
45. Stalking Susan, Julie Kramer

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!