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!