14 months: "BALL"

February has been the month of the 'BALL'. At one point, I thought about counting the number of times in a day that she says/SHOUTS 'BALL'. I soon lost steam, though. I can assure you he loves balls, his favorite thing to play with is balls, he will do anything for a ball, he seeks out balls, and in general he LOVES balls. Are you catching my drift? You know how Target has the red, round, stone whatever-they-ares along the curb in front of their store? Well Owen thinks they are balls. He wants to touch it, and he cries every time we leave Target. This kid cracks me up. His favorite ball (this week) is Mike's life-sized (and dirty) basketball. I suppose being the mother of a boy is one of God's many ways to teach me to chill out.

Additional words: 'Papa', 'Gock' (meaning car, milk, and walk), 'BaBa' (Bath Time), 'Aht' (meaning everything that is not dog, ball, car, milk, walk, or bath), and 'Dada' (which now is clearly assigned to either parent). He shouts 'Dada' every time either one of us enters the room.

On Super Bowl Sunday, he took his first steps. I was grateful to have something else to watch besides the game, though Madonna was also a hit (in my book =) ). That day we got up to about four steps, and we stayed there until last Tuesday (the 21st) when I came home from a few hours at work to Haily (our adorable, wonderful, amazing nanny) exclaiming 'HE's WALKING. That afternoon he walked back and forth from the coffee table to the TV, and now he's walking all over the place. I need to get a video... I'll work on that, promise =)

Here are a few 'in action' shots of the last few weeks.

He likes to have every toy out at once.

Owen & his friend Grant, obviously having a good time. What isn't funny about a trumpet in the face?

Grant (a whole year older) has it figured out =)

We love the pantry. This is what happens when I go to the bathroom. 'Quinoa any one?'

'BALL'

Owen runs on Dunkin. He would not give up the bag of coffee. Seattleite.

Owen continues his love affair with Oskee. He now likes to French kiss her. He crawls up to her with his mouth wide open.. she of course takes the opportunity for a good lick. So gross =) Again.. I am letting go.

Another of Owen's new favorite games is to bring book after book after book to have you read. The one in this picture is his current favorite. He only has the attention span to sit through 1-2 pages, so we really have to read fast.

Our little climber still loves to play in the drawer.

Cheering on our tigers.

'BALL'. He likes to carry all things heavy while learning to walk. Multitasker.

We've been working on the fishy kissy face.

Loves to look out the window

Additonal nuggets from our nugget:

• Every animal is a 'dog'. He sees a crow in the parking lot and shouts 'DOG'. He sees a horse on TV and shouts 'DOG'. We read the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear and he shouts 'DOG' with every page turn.
• He's wearing 12-18 month clothing... some 18 month pants. We are definitely out of anything that's strictly 12 month.
• This is the stage where he loves music and he dances. I LOVE this stage.
• We are up to SIX teeth. #6 was a doozy.
• He hates diaper changes. I hate diaper changes. These moments in our day test my patience more than any other. I've been using more disposable diapers so that I don't have to change him as often. I am exhusted just thinking about changing his diapers tomorrow. I'm also not dramatic at all.
• He signs More, Eat, Milk, Thank You (only once), and Please... although 'Please' involves rubbing my chest, not his own. It's ridiculously cute.
• He loves milk (just like his daddy), and would still drink his meals if I let him. He always drinks his milk with the sippy cup out of the right side of his mouth. How do these little quirks form? Cracks me up.
• I realized I said Owen shouts when describing anything that comes out of his mouth. I am not exaggerating. He's quite loud =)

2012 has taken off in a fast and furious way here in Seattle. Sorry about the lack of blogging lately. I'll try to be better in March.

LOVE, Heather

(ps.. our exclamation point is still broken, so please forgive my seeming lack of enthusiasm)