My darling Owen at 3.5

The general purpose of this blog is to document my kids growth & development so that I can ultimately remember what they were doing when. Let's be honest, I don't think I sleep well enough to remember things without writing them down. Today Owen celebrates his half birthday. I let him have dounts since he gets the shaft of having a birthday at the end of Decemeber.... at least I can make this day semi-special, too! So enjoy a little celebration of O's 3rd year thus far!

 

Pictured is this darling boy and his best good friend, Ralphie. Ralphie is a tiger (as is every good boy's best good friend), and he goes most everywhere. He's a much better eater than Owen, too. Good job, Ralphie. Owen still naps about an hour a day and 10.5 hours at night. We still (daily) enforce the 'must see the 6' rule for early morning awakening. He's just up at 5:45. Just becuase that's Owen. And I love him. Even at 5:45 am. Everyday.

 

3 of Owen's current loves. Pajamas (in public), PB&J, Parks.

 

I buy bandaids a lot =)

 

Owen selfie. I found 16 of these pics on my iPhone.

This handsome little dude continues to be quite the communicator. I find him using really descriptive words like fantastic and disgusting, and wonder at his vocab. Some of that is preschool, I'm sure. Some of it is just his ability to communicate. He pronounces all of his letters well except 'L'. I reawy wuv sentences that have a wot of 'L's in them.

 

Ready to swim. Wike those shark goggles?

He's been gaining confidence in the pool this summer and also seemingly really enjoying soccer. I think we'll sign him up for a little team this fall.

He's also great at riding his tricycle now, too. Coordination is, and may always be, something he has to really work on. He can thank his mother's gene pool for that!

Heading to school. He LOVES school. I love that he loves school. He loves Miss Abbey, JT, Collin, Weo (Leo), and Gabby. He loves learning songs and yoga, playing outside, playing on the computer, and being social. It's great to see him thriving in this environment. Last week I 'thought' I was being nice by picking them up an hour early. Owen cried because he wasn't ready to leave. I guess next time I'll just enjoy some mommy time! It's also worth noting that when I go for pick-up, Owen is frequently in different clothes. This is not becuase of a potty accident...but because he spilled milk on himself. #clumsy

At the zoo with Uncle Ryan. Now that's a bird's eye view!

Mommy and Owen time at the Card's game. Mima is entertaining Millie in the background. Owen's current favorite players: John Jay & Matt Adams. I guess he has an affinity toward good batting averages!

Mr. GQ at the Mo Bot Gardens!

Like Papa, like Owen.

 

Playing the Leap Pad on the way to Maui... see Ralphie sneaking in that photo?

 

O & A are starting to play a bit better together. They love to play chase/get-you-get-you. He's also a big fan at hid-n-seek, but he's muuuch better at seeking. The hiding, not so much. He just giggles.

Fell asleep at the table after our Maui red eye! This meal time was calm, but it's often still a time of some frustration with O. His palate is pretty picky, and he is hesitant to try anything  new or even have it on his plate. SO, we've started rewarding him with marbles. He gets marbles everytime he tries a new food. In the last week... tilpia, steak, and mashed potatoes. Maybe it's working? He also gets marbles for listening and for being kind to Amelia. I'm sure there will be another post about the marbles. (On that note, three has been a bit more difficult than two.. we are trying to work through some of the more challenging behavior with positive reinforcements). Stay tuned.

 

Additional O-isms:

- He calls the yellow part of an egg, the 'oak'.

- Last weekend he said to my dad, 'Where do your popsicles live Papa? My popsicles live in the downstairs freezer'.

- 'What's that car in front of us?'..this is in reference to ANY car in front of us. He still LOVES his cars.

- 'Had you never seen xyz'.. this is often a sill combo. 'Had you never seen a monster truck mustang?'

-  He's the social welcoming comiittee for the neighborhood, often opening the window and shouting HI to Mr. Bob or Sawyer. He pronounces it 'Soiler'. Mike and I really get a kick out of that one.

- He's starting to have an imagination for characters when he plays with his cars. I often catch him giving them a voice and having them talk to each other. Love it!

We are so grateful for our O, and we love watching him learn and grow.

 

Happy Dirty Thirty, Britt Britt!

Well today is the day that marks 30 years since God gave us Ms. Britt Sanborn to make the earth a more joyful place. I knew I wouldn't be able to spend the actual day with her this year as my vacation time is slim post-Maui time, so I started brainstorming early in the year. Turns out (one of) our favorite singer/song-writers, Ingrid Michaelson was touring on the west coast early May. Britt's stomping grounds are currently SoCal (and I hadn't visited since before Owen!!!), so the timing and events just fell right.in.to.place.

 

 I flew in to LA on a Thursday night after work, ate a pint of kale and spinach dip from TJs with a glass of red and my best friend!

 

On the way to breakfast in Santa Monica Friday a.m... palm trees just never get old to me.

Breakfast & Lunch at Huckleberry Café in Santa Monica. On the left is featured a maple bacon scone. Please sir, May I have another. These are a post-night shift @ UCLA favorite of hers. My sustenance for the day was a delicious fried egg sandwich with spicy arugula. We were so full after breakfast that we didn't eat till dinner!

  

Next up was paddle boarding in Malibu. It's Britt's new Zen. Now there are certain people in your life that can get you do things you never would otherwise. Britt sincerely knows my lack of athletic ability, balance, courage, and anything else required to try to athletic things. She's seen my stop an entire chair lift because I fell off of it at the top of the mountain. She knows my capabilities and still thought I could do it, so we gave it a go. She even let me borrow her hip Athleta Rash guard. So even if I was soaking wet, I'd still look cool.

 

She gave me a personal lesson, and God blessed me with a nice calm ocean.  I spent a good amount of time on my knees and fell a few times on to my board but overall survived and loved it!

After paddle boarding we made the (too) long trek from San Diego to LA. I think it's only 120 miles or so but it took about 4 hours. That traffic is impressive! We spent some time on the PCH to get a reprieve from I-5's break lights. This view was much preferred, as well.

When we got to LA, we had just enough time to shower, grab dinner, and make it to the concert. We missed most of the opening acts.. and they were VERY good, but the concert in general did not disappoint!

View from the venue! Only in San Diego can you watch Ingrid from your sailboat.

We are so happy because we have red wine in our hands! We are also so happy because Ingrid is amazing. I've been listening to her new album since I've been home, and Owen remarks, 'It's your favorite song, again!'.

 

Here's a little snip-it of the Wade wedding song... live!

 

Saturday a.m. we woke up, grabbed some coffee, took a little stroll down one of the (many) marinas in SD....

 

... and ended up in a delightful farm-to-table restaurant in San Diego's Gas Lamp quarter. What you see featured here is a 'bag tree' provided by the host, Jason. We were, apparently, on a first name basis!

 

Hey, it was noon somewhere, so we had a drink. We already had coffee, so what else is there to order?

 

OOh my, a chai and fig roasted Korean short rib omelet.

I had some delicious shrimp eggs benny. Just FYI, I usually get some sort of eggs benny at a nice brunch place. It's just my fave. That's all.

So then we from SD back to LA and stopped at a fancy little place called Marina Del Rey, the home of Britt's sailboat. No, I am not lying. She's got a sailboat with a soundtrack... she's installing it in this pic.

I was told to sit back & relax. And so I did! And also, we saw a seal in the bay.

 

This is a picture of a really.big.deal.

 

We finished the quick, whirlwind, wonder of a weekend off with the most delicious sushi I have ever.ever.ever consumed. The name of our order was the 'Trust Me'. It was so much sushi I almost made myself sick...but warm rice, crispy and soft seaweed, lots and lots of nigiri...mmmm.

I've made it sound like all we did was eat. Well that's mostly true. My body was a bit peeved, but I regret nothing! Also, who knew LA was chilly?! I promise I brought more than the gray sweater I am wearing in every picture, but those were the only long sleeves I had!

 

Dearest Britt, I remember celebrating your 21st birthday (that was a fun weekend!). Since that time, you've grown in to an even more joyful, selfless, hard-working, passionate, creative, talented young woman. I'm so proud and honored to know you and have you in my life. Your 30s better watch out... you're gonna take them by storm! xo, Coop

 

20 Months: Beach Bum

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that the theme for this month would involve Amelia and her beaching. I'm happy to report that she's actually acquired some fear during the months of Sept- May. She was a little scared of the waves & the ocean (they are MUCH bigger in Maui), and she preferred to play in the sand and eat suckers. Her choice made her easier to parent on the beach! 

I have to admit that I almost named this post 20 months: Bird Watcher because her favorite part of vacation (by far) was tweeting with and chasing the birds. There were sparrows on our porch and quail mamas and chicks in the park.  A true delight for my little animal lover.

Somehow in the last month I seem to have lost my baby. Where did her cheeks go? Tonight when we were cuddling before bed, she was trying to put her legs around me while she laid her head on my chest (usual position). Her legs were TOO long to get comfy. Where is my baby girl!?

She sure does love her daddy. And she now calls him daddy. She often takes roll as well.. perhaps she's a future teacher? At every meal she points and says, Daddy, Mommy, Ooooo, Oskhgudghsgsgn (Oskee). Repeat. Daddy, Mommy, Oooo, Oshsifsidfsdf. She is not really attempting to say Amelia or Millie yet.

Love that my kids love all 4 of their grandparents dearly!

What? Give me food. Now. I mean please. But make sure it has sugar in it.

Yeah, just like that. I like suckers.

Every time we brought Millie in to the pool, she would say 'cold, cold'. We were proud of her new word & got her acclimated to the water with a few games!

 

Maui Millie.

My little athlete loves to run, climb, balance. She already whoops Owen at any athletic attempt!

She also loves to ride. When we are heading out of the house, I'm trying to get the kids in the car, and she's climbing in the stroller. Love her!

This is the morning after our red eye home. She cuddled up in between our pillows and slept for hours.

 

Now that we're home, we're on operation get-rid-of-the-paci. I cut the tips of the infant pacifiers and boy was she ticked. She threw them on the floor ;). I'm hoping she'll now just use the toddler paci (much less preferred) for night time only. On one hand I want to hold on to one baby stage...but this isn't the right one to keep! 

 

 

Date Night

Mike and I had a goal for 2014: MORE Dates.... one a month. Life comes quick & it's easy to not prioritize each other, so I think it's a good goal. We've done pretty well so far, and April's date was the BEST!

 

Mima and Papa Cooper kept the kids overnight for our first Cards game of the year.

We stayed overnight at the Hilton 360 (a beautiful hotel on my bucket list), and we started the evening out at the bar. I had the 'Yadier Mind', and I think Mike had the 'National Holliday'. I really was out of my mind, because I had 2 cocktails and could barely walk in to the ballpark.

Room with a view!

Ballpark Selfie. I so love this man, and it's awesome to spend extended time with just him. I do love my children, but I also love time without them.

We had seats courtesy of Boeing down the 1st base line. I always enjoy new vantage points at Busch Stadium, and I sure do love watching Cardinal baseball.

A great date night indeed!

May's date was with Mima and Papa Wade, Uncle Dax & Aunt Lindsey in Maui... pictures and abundant posts to come!