Cradle Cap a.k.a. Cradle Crap

Owen has cradle cap all around the crown of his head. It even extends down to his eyebrows and then down the sides of his face like sideburns. For those of you that don't know what cradle cap is, it's dried skin that looks like scales. Does anyone know how to get rid of this?? The doctors say it will go away on it's own, but the Internet says use baby oil. We have been trying! I rub baby oil all over his sweet head and then let it sit for 5 minutes or so. Then I take his soft hairbrush and try to exfoliate his skin with it. Then he gets a bath and I wash his hair and let the shampoo sit on his head for a couple of minutes to try to get all of the oil off. That whole day Owen's head looks great, but when he wakes up the next morning there it all is again! Maybe it's a vanity thing or just the fact that I know what it's like to struggle with having bad skin, but I want my son to have beautiful soft baby skin!!

Cats

We have three cats, Precious, Punkin and Princess. I take full responsibility for naming them cute names. They are our 3 sweet P's!!

Michael and I weren't sure how the cats would handle a baby in the house. We had babysat our niece Camryn when she was a baby and they didn't want anything to do with her. When she cried they took off running and when they were around her they hissed like crazy. Not a good thing!! Anyway while I was pregnant two of our cats - Precious and Punkin were glued to me. They wanted to be laying on me all the time and this was not normal. I swear they knew!! When we brought Owen home it was like nothing had changed. They have never hissed at him. In fact Punkin wants to lay right next to Owen when he's sleeping in our arms. Princess & Precious have become surrogate mommies, they get very concerned when he cries. The above pictures are all Michael's doing. He wanted to see if the cats would let Owen ride them and sure enough they didn't seem to mind. Don't they look like they are having the time of their lives (said with a very sarcastic tone)!!!!

Lunch Date!

Today Peepaw and GG came over to have lunch with Owen and I. Peepaw actually got to hold Owen. It's been a while because he's had a pretty persistant cold and hasn't wanted to touch Owen for fear of getting him sick. Owen was asleep in his swing when they first got to the house. He slept through us eating lunch and chatting a bit. Then GG just couldn't handle it anymore and I had to wake him up so she could cuddle with him. Owen is pretty much a Mommy's boy so when he realized that it wasn't me holding him this is the face he made.

Bubble Boy

Just recently Owen has learned a new trick. He can blow bubbles!!! He also loves to shove his fist in his mouth and spread the slobber all over his face. What fun!!!!

It's a boy!

When Michael and I went in for my doctors appt when I was 19 weeks pregnant, we were hoping we would be able to find out if it was a boy or a girl. We already had names picked out either way - Owen Michael or Olivia Grace. I wanted to tell both sets of parents at the same time so we decided to have dinner at my mom and dad's house. Michael parents came up from their house in Olympia to celebrate with us. That morning I had made two sets of signs and put them in envelopes - one saying it's a boy and the other saying it's a girl. Most everyone thought we were having a girl, but I just knew it was a boy. We had out parents open the "It's a boy" envelopes at the same time. It was great to capture the moment on camera.

Owen's Room

I was vacuuming this afternoon and it occurred to me that there might be people reading this blog that haven't actually seen Owen's room. So here it is....

Noah's Ark is the theme. Michael's mom Carol, Michael and I spent a Saturday afternoon painting his room with the stars around the middle. Also there is a saying on one wall up by the ceiling that says, "No earthly joy can bring more pleasure, than a little boy to love and treasure. The Owen sign I made from letters I bought at Joann Fabrics and an extra kitchen cabinet door we had in the garage. I also crocheted the giraffes that are sitting under the rocking horse. There are also 3 Noah's Ark cross stitches on the green shelf that I did as well. Remember I had 6 years to plan!!! The best thing about Owen's room is it's actually connected to the master bedroom. That has really come in handy with all those middle of the night feedings.

Sitting Up

About a week ago I sat Owen up on the couch for the first time. As you can see he wasn't to thrilled about it. I'm not sure why because I'm always holding him so he can see what's going on. Maybe that's the key word...holding!! Well I tried it out again a couple of nights ago and he seemed okay with it.

Thumb Sucker

Owen is definitely getting the hang of sucking his fingers. He still likes the pacifier when he's really tired though. It seems like that's when he can't get his hands to cooperate with him. However, twice last week I put him in his swing so I could do some housework and when I went to check on him he was half asleep just going to town on his thumb.

Tummy Time Update

Owen has been tolerating tummy time now. I can usually get a few minutes out of him before he starts getting really mad. I've been using the Boppy to prop him up and that seems to work better than putting him flat on the floor. The funny thing is he's got such a big head and he's such a kicker when he's leaning over the Boppy I have to hold his little bottom down so he does do a face plant into the mattress.

Bug Eyes!

A few weeks ago Owen realized that he could make bug eyes. He'll just be sitting there looking all cute and then BAM - out come the bug eyes. I'm telling you it's kind of creepy because sometimes it looks like his eyes are going to pop out of his head.

Nicknames

Everyone has a nickname, but Owen has tons of them. I swear he's not going to know his really name is Owen until he's five. Here is a list of them...

Baby O
Dudie-O
O
Handsome Man
Sweetness
Prandsome Hince
Handsome Prince
Punkin Head
Puddin Head
Mister Whister
Mister Man
Man O Man O

Comments

I thoroughly enjoy blogging about Owen, especially since I think he will enjoy it one day. I also love knowing that other people are reading and enjoying it. With that said I have changed the settings on my blog so that anyone can comment not just registered Google users. So...if you have any advise to give, suggestions or just want to comment on how adorable Owen is, please feel free. :)

Snoozin'

My dad is known for his ability to fall asleep just about anywhere. One night we were at their house and Owen fell asleep on Grandpa's shoulder for almost 2 hours. Grandpa was so thoroughly delighted!!! On Easter Grandpa wanted to see if Owen would fall asleep like that again, but this time Owen wasn't the only one snoozin'.

GG & PeePaw

This is my Grandma and Grandpa on my Dad's side. GG stands for Great-Grandma, but I have no idea where the nickname PeePaw came from. They both enjoy seeing Owen as much as they can. Grandpa's 87th birthday was on February 16th and we were really hoping that Owen would be born on that day, but he wanted to come a little earlier than that. Grandpa is so sweet every time he sees Owen he says, "Sakes & Days". I'm not sure what it's suppose to mean, but I think it's something like, "Man, he's cute".

Family Picture

This is the first really good family picture we've had taken. It was taken on Easter by our good friend Ellen. Most of the time Michael's eyes are halfway shut. He has a certain knack for looking drunk in pictures. It's a gift really! :)

Egg Hunt

As you've probably guess by now my parents are very excited to be Grandparents. For Easter Owen got his own Froggy Easter basket filled with a toy frog that ribbits, a bib that says Easter Egg Hunt Champ, a teething ring and candy. Grandma also "hid" eggs in the front yard for Owen to find. He is after all an Easter Egg Hunt Champ!!!

Ed

Right after finding out I was having a boy, my Dad just happened to go shopping at Rite Aid (I think) when he saw Ed. It's was the only horse left that wasn't bright pink so he just had to buy him. Ed lives at my parents house since we have a wooden rocking horse at our. He's been waiting in the living room for Owen to ride him. On Easter we couldn't resist letting Owen ride Ed. Of course Grandpa helped a little!

All night!!

8 1/2 hours!!! That is how long Owen slept last night. What a joy! I woke up at 6 this morning and I had to sit there and think, did I get up last night? I probably could do the whole, feed, change, put to bed routine in my sleep, but I didn't. He slept the whole night. At 6 I did of course go into check on him and while I was putting my finger under his nose to feel if he was breathing I accidentally touched his nose and he got a little upset about that, but he did go back to sleep for another 1/2 hour.

Hi

Today during church I was sitting down holding Owen while Michael was standing up singing. Just then Owen looked up at his Daddy and clearly said, "Hi". I know, I know he's not even 3 months old yet, but it was so perfect. Even the lady behind us was so surprised. Later on at my parents house he did the same thing with his Grandpa. Owen was taking a nap in his car seat and he started to wake up, when Grandpa went over to talk to him, Owen looked up at him and said, "Hi". He has such a sweet voice I can't wait to hear him say more words, but at the same time I know there will come a time when I will also wish for some peace and quiet. :)

Precious Little Hands

Sometimes when I hold Owen I think about the future and what it holds for him. I look at his precious little hands and think how many wonderful things they will do for him in the years to come. Right now they can comfort him when he doesn't have a pacifier. Soon they will entertain him when he can reach for toys. In few months he'll learn to wave bye-bye to Daddy as he goes off to work. He'll be writing his name and coloring pictures to post on the frig. And quite a few years from now he'll be holding the hands of a beautiful woman that's he's in love with. Those same hands that his mommy holds and kisses today. Those precious little hands!

Tummy Time

This is an old picture of Owen hating tummy time. It's an old picture because I can't stand to give him tummy time. He really does not like it at all. Whenever we lay him on his tummy he just rubs his head back and forth into the blanket he's laying on. He refuses to turn his head to the side. Oh yeah and he screams!!! Yesterday I was reading about tummy time on the Internet and some of the mom's that commented said they had the same problem with their babies hating tummy time. One of the tricks they tried was propping their babies up on the Boppy (a pillow that's shaped like a horse shoe) and their babies were okay with it then. Last night my mom and dad were over for dinner and we decided to give it a whirl......no such luck, he still hates it. I'm going to just have to grin and bare it though because Owen doesn't have much strength in his arm right now. He has a strong neck and chest, but he doesn't have any strength in his arm so he needs to work on that. If anyone has any other suggestions on how to get a baby to enjoy tummy time...I'm all ears.

Swaddle me!

I don't know what people did before they invented Velcro. Owen sleeps every night in a Swaddle Me blanket that has Velcro on it to keep him trapped. He is a pretty good kicker and sometimes he gets out of it, but for the most part he enjoys being restrained to go to sleep. He can fall asleep without being in it, but the problem is he can't stay asleep since his arms and legs have a mind of their own. I wonder how old he'll be when I can stop strapping him in, feedback on the matter would be great.

Fussy Baby / Happy Baby

For the most part Owen is a very happy baby. He has his normal fussy time at night usually between 8 - 10. For some reason throughout the day he just has a harder and harder time burping so I think that's the main reason he's fussy. Yesterday was a very fussy day for him though. He got himself so worked up we ended up strapping him into his stroller and going for a walk in the neighborhood because none of our other tricks would work. Then later when he got fussy again we took a lavender bath in the whirlpool tub and that worked like magic. The nice thing is everyday is a new day and he's been so happy all morning just cooing and smiling up a storm. Hopefully the rest of the day will be just as peaceful.

Daddy

Before Owen was born, Michael was very leery about holding babies, however, the moment Owen came out something changed in him. It was the most amazing thing to see! He honestly transformed before my eyes into a Dad. Michael has been the greatest. He had a week off from work and when we came home from the hospital he woke up with me during the late night feeding just to be with me. And when he's home at night he always helps with changing diapers. He's just an amazing father and a wonderful husband and I love him very much.