19 months: Cars

July 2012 brings the dawning of a new era: An obsession with cars. I swear that I don't just give him boy toys to play with. This all started when we were living with GaGa and PaPa Wade, and I can assure you they have equal numbers of girl vs boy toys. He just likes cars. As many cars as he can hold.

Here he is holding 5 at a time. This is kind of his max. Two in each hand, and one in the middle, nestled against his chest.

We also had our first visit to a place called Monkey Joes. I'm not sure if this is nation wide, but it's a place with huge blow up structures to jump in. We met my friend from high school, Melissa Wade (no relation to my in-laws), and her little boy Carter.

Owen liked to jump for about an hour, but then he was ready to run.

A boy and his daddy.

4th of July. He stole my ice water. He likes straws, too!

He is LOVING any time he can get in the 'big pool'. Big pool stands for any size pool, anywhere. This one is at MiMa and Papa Cooper's house... and it usually comes with a MiMa who gets in and plays with him. This pool is especially cool because it also has a 'big ball' to play with. He really loves the word big (dig), and will use it before most any noun.

Spaghetti face pictures never get old, do they?

More time in the 'big' pool. Accompanied by 2 footballs. Life.is.good.for.Owen.

Still loves balls.. but cars are now tied for first.

Another new obsession: Cousin Carson. He calls him 'Cartoon' which is particularly fitting. He thinks Carson is the coolest, and I must admit.. he is pretty cool. He plays with O, and keeps him cracking up quite often. Owen likes to sit right by him...

YAY I GET TO SIT BY CARTOON!

In the unpacking process, Owen found finger paints. He wanted to try them out..

Turns out there is a reason the package says 'For 3 and up'.

 Notice all of the cars stacked on books. He stacks cars everywhere. This week he now stacks them on top of each other, in the couch cushions, on the kitchen chairs, etc.

Where's Owen? Should I mention that he dumped the laundry out to put the bag on his head?

Exhibiting his engineering 'knack'. Helping daddy put screws in to our new kitchen table stools.

"Mom, please do not interrupt my light reading time".

Now that I am in the 3rd trimester, I sleep with a gagillion pillows, and he is cuddled amongst all of them. Smart kid.

Lining up the cars as he waits for breakfast.

I'm 19 months old today & I love this truck (cuck) puzzle!

Additional developmental nuggets:

• This has been true every month, but I haven't mentioned it in a while. He plays with his hair A LOT. It's always when he is drinking his milk & when he's tired. Often it's also at meal time, and thus his hair is usually quite crusty.
• He sleeps with his stuffed puppy dog (puppy) & his blanket.
• He's not a cuddler (typically), but he will sit on your lap in the a.m. and drink his milk, & he'll lay his head on your shoulder before naps/bedtime as we sing Jesus Loves Me. 
• He is still taking 2 naps a day (!!!). God has been very gracious with me. It gives me divided time to get things done/unpack which is great b/c I don't have tons of energy.
• Often he'll say 'CHEESE' and smile at the camera.
• We are working on manners. He typically asks for something by saying 'uh uh uh'. We'll say, 'how do you ask nicely', and he'll offer a 'PEACE' (please). Since this worked so well, we are also working on answering questions with 'Yes' instead of 'No'. 
• The next things we need to work on are keeping food in the kitchen & stopping the throwing in the house (he has a great arm). Thus far, these processes are going slowly.
• It's been a big month for teeth. I think I counted 5 new.. which puts us up to 14.
• He loves to dance.
• He knows more people by name. He'll ask for MiMa, Papa, Cartoon, & Liam on an hourly basis. He also knows Ava by name (Bayba), but he doesn't usually ask for her =) He's having a hard time saying Livi, so he'll just point to her picture when asked.
• He's working on concepts: Under & Hot. Every time we walk outside he says 'tot' (hot). Yes, Owen.. it's ridiculously hot! He also likes to touch things to feel if they are hot.
• His words continue to multiply daily. I have no idea how many we are up to at this point, but my favorites are still turtle (toodaloo) & Carson (Cartoon).
• He's been very generous with the 'Love Yous' this week.. mostly as I am putting him to bed. he doesn't know what it means yet, but he repeats it & I love it. He'll learn the concept soon enough!

p.s. note from me... I am a bit anxious as I write this 19 month post. If my children will be roughly 21 months apart.. that means I have only 2ish months left. Yikes!

Thanks for reading. With LOVE, Mike, Heather, Owen, Oskee, & Baby Girl.