Cheeser!

What a ham!!!

Day with Daddy

Yesterday Michael was able to come home for lunch, but after that he needed to go back out and give an estimate. On his way out the door he said, "I hate having to leave you guys". My reply was, "We'll go with you then". Since Michael was only giving an estimate there was no need for him to take his painting van, so we all piled in our normal van and headed up to Mill Creek. It was so nice to spend the afternoon together. It was almost like having a three day weekend. Michael and I just got to talk and enjoy being together. I even got to stop in and surprise my friend Nikki with a quick visit. Owen was a such good boy for having to be in the car for so long. He slept most of the way back home and only started to fuss right when we were getting off the freeway.

Crossing his ankles

Owen's newest thing to do is cross his ankles. His favorite time to do it is when you're trying to change his diaper. It makes it so much harder when he does this. The funny thing is he's been doing this since he was in the womb. When we had our third ultrasound done we could see that he was just lounging inside. He had his arms behind his head and he was crossing his ankles like he was just chilling out in a hammock.

Going for a stroll

I try to get out and going walking with Owen at least once a week. Last week I went three times though. Once with my friend Kim, once with Michael and once just Owen and I went. When Owen and I went walking with Kim and Daddy we went on the BPA trail in Federal Way. It's a nice trail. It follows the power lines so it's not like there's a view or anything, but it's nicely paved and there are tons of blackberry bushes along the trail. YUMMY! They aren't quite ripe yet, but you better believe Owen and I will be going back in a couple of weeks to pick them. In regards to the title of this post that is usually how Owen starts out - in the stroller, but by the end he's usually in someones arms being walked.

Up, Up & Away!

Every week I get ideas for activities from BabyCenter.com that Michael and I can do with Owen to encourage his development. Some of them are fun and others just sound stupid. Owen really isn't interested in most of them yet because frankly all he wants to do is chew on things. One of them that he does like is up, up and away. It's where we put him on our shins and "fly" him around. He really gets a kick out of it.

Better

Last night was SO much better. Owen went to bed at his normal time, but Michael and I went to bed earlier than normal at around 9:30. Partly because of shear exhaustion from the night before and just in case Owen decided to have another meltdown we would at least have a couple hours of sleep before it started. I drifted off to sleep and the next thing I remember is opening my eyes and seeing the clock say 4:30! YAHOO!!! I specifically remember saying "praise God" in my mind and then quickly adding "please let him sleep until 6:30, please". He did better than that, Owen slept until 7:30 - 11 hours! I did find out when Michael woke up that Owen did start crying at 11:30, but he only cried for 5 minutes and then went back to bed. Poor Michael was thinking, here we go again! I on the other hand was so tired I never heard a thing.

Worst Night EVER!!!

I'm not exaggerating here, trust me! Last night was awful! Owen went to bed a little after 8pm which isn't out of the ordinary, his bedtime is normally 8:30. Michael and I stayed up until 11pm and then went to bed. I woke up to Owen crying at 12:30 and was trying to let him cry himself back to sleep, but he was being pretty strong about it. That's when Michael rolled over and said that he woke up crying at 11:30 as well. I thought I was dreaming that Owen was crying so I didn't wake up for that one. At 12:30 I went in and gave him some teething tablets thinking that might be what was bothering him. He went back to sleep. He woke up again at 1:30! I think I let him cry himself back to sleep again. He woke up again at 2:30! This time I went in and rocked him and kissed him and snuggled him and put him back to bed. He kept on crying and crying and crying. At 3am I decided I'll feed him. He ate pretty good so I thought that was what was bothering him. I put him back to bed. He was quiet for a while and then he started crying again. I think it was 3:50 or something like that was when I decided to change his diaper to see if that was the problem. Then I gave him tummy drops because he was acting like his tummy was hurting him. After I changed his diaper I was holding him and he burped about 3 times and I thought okay that was the problem. So I put him back in bed and let Daddy deal with him while I took a breather and went to have some time to myself. After 5 or so minutes when I didn't here him crying I went back to bed, guess what...he started crying again. By now I was so frustrated and tired as I'm sure Owen was too. I ask Michael to turn our box fan in our bedroom on high so it would drowned out his cries. I refused to go in again, he needed to just cry it out otherwise he was going to expect us to go in every time and that's just not going to happen. After about 5 minutes he finally feel asleep. I think Michael and I finally got to bed at 4:30am!!! Around 6 I woke up thinking I heard Owen, but it was just our stupid neighbors dog barking. I tried to go back to sleep, but then I did hear something. I heard beeping! Of all the nights (morning now) for the battery in the smoke detector to go dead this was just the icing on the cake. And it had to be the smoke detector in the stairwell which is too high for me to reach it so I had to wake Michael up so he could take it down for me. Luckily I just bought 9 volt batteries at Target on Sunday so I was able to shut the thing up fast. I was able to get back to sleep thank goodness. Michael left for work around 7:15 or so and Owen let me sleep in about 15 minutes after that. Owen was grumpy a little bit this morning partly because the first thing I had to do was change his diaper, but after that was over with he was fine. Now he's taking his morning nap and it's the start of a new day. Tonight will be better I'm sure!

Look Alike

Owen really does look like his Daddy. He really only has his Mama's button nose. He's looks so much more like a little boy in this picture than a baby. Sniff Sniff!

Little Talker

Yesterday I sat Owen on the floor in the family room and he just proceeded to talk up a storm. I just kept snapping pictures of all the faces he was making. I took so many I swear I'll be able to make a flip book out of them. These are just a few.

Looking Back

Last weekend marked a year since we started telling family and friends that I was pregnant. I was 11 weeks pregnant when this ultrasound picture was taken. It was so amazing to see how much Owen had developed in 4 weeks. He went from this little white spot with a beating heart to actually being shaped like a baby. I know I've said it before, but babies really are miracles!

In the sink

This morning I gave Owen his first bath in our kitchen sink. We bathed him in my Aunt Linda's sink when we were in Wyoming, but I've never done it at home. He's getting a little big for his baby tub, but not quite big enough for the bathtub. Besides just the thought of bending over the bathtub and bathing him makes my back starting hurting. He's been sitting up so much better so I thought I would give it a try. As you can see he's not really sitting up, but everything went pretty good. He just got mad at me when I let water run in his eyes.

Princess

Owen is just in awe of the cats. He gets very excited around them. He just wants to grab onto them. We show him how to pet the kitties nicely and sometimes he's does, but other times, like in this picture he just goes for it. He flat out attacked Princess. He just goes right for the face. Thank goodness none of our cats are vicious, they have never tried to swat at him or bite him. They just get up and walk or run away. Princess is the only one that will really stick around and even let Owen get near her.

Sippy Cup

Now that Owen is eating baby food he can start to try out other liquids as well. So I had a coupon for any Gerber sippy cup so I got this blue Nuk one since he's likes Nuk pacifiers and bottles. It has two little handles on the sides and he holds it, but he really hasn't gotten the hang of sipping. Luckily it's one of the kinds that doesn't spill. When he does somehow get a little bit of juice squeezed out of it he makes this face like what in the world is this!!! I haven't tried giving him the sippy cup in a few days because I ended up drinking the juice instead of him. I'm going wait a little while longer and try it again.

Unbelievable

The sleeper that Owen is wearing is so cute. He actually has two like it. This one is blue with an airplane on it and the other one is yellow with ducks. I like it so much because it's shimmery and soft. The unbelievable part about this picture is...I packed this very sleeper in my suitcase to bring Owen home from the hospital! This sleeper doesn't have a tag on it that says the size so I remember just holding it in my arms trying to imagine a baby and thinking to myself, "yeah that's probably about the size of a newborn"! How wrong I was!!! Here he is 6 months old and he still has room in it to grow in it!

Toothy Grin

I was able to get this picture this morning by just snapping one picture after another until I got just the right one. His teeth really did come in fast once they broke through. He still just chews and chews on things so I'm sure it won't be long and there will be more.

6 Month Check-Up

Today was Owen's 6 month check-up with the pediatrician. He is now 14lbs exactly and 25 1/2 inches long. The doctor wasn't concerned that he's hasn't gained a lot of weight, he's at least gaining and not losing so that's good. Now that he's eating baby food I'm sure he'll start packin' on the pounds. Poor Owen had to have 3 more shots today. He always does really well, he's just been extra sleepy today. Thankfully at his next appointment at 9 months he won't be getting any shots!

Meeting more family members

Yesterday evening Owen got to meet his Aunt Kim and cousins Justin and Tyler for the first time. They all came over with Uncle Ryan. Owen was sleeping when they first came over, but while we were giving them the tour of the house he woke up. Aunt Kim works at the SuperMall so she had some great gifts for Owen. He got two pairs of shoes, Nike and Converse, some socks, bibs and onesies. They are all so cute! We had a great time talking and are looking forward to seeing them more in the future. The only bummer is I was a total space cadet and didn't take any pictures!

Samantha Rae

Here is the newest addition to the Martin family. Yeah I know she's not quite cooked yet, but she will be soon. We're hoping before Thanksgiving, at least Mommy (Becky) is crossing her fingers.

Afternoon Nap!

Michael has been working for the last two weekends on painting our house. He is so wiped out! He could have slept away most of today, but I made him get up and go to church with Owen and I. After we got home he did need to do a couple of things like finish taking down the old gutters (new ones are being installed tomorrow) and clean up all the ladders that were scattered around the yard. After that he came in and laid on the floor with Owen. I was upstairs folding clothes and making the bed when I came down and saw them both asleep on the floor. Like father like son! Michael's still not quite finished with the house, but once he is I'll post some before and after pictures.

4 Generations of Martin Men

Last night we met most of Michael's family in Tacoma at Applebee's. We were celebrating all the boys birthday's. Michael's Mom and Dad somehow managed to have 4 boys all 4 years apart all born in July. Who knows! The only people that weren't there was Rick, Michelle and their 3 kids. Great Grandma & Grandpa Martin were also there so we were able to get a 4 generation picture with Michael's family.

Owen also got to meet his Uncle Steve and Aunt Shana for the first time. While Uncle Steve was holding Owen he gave him a sugar packet and I guess Owen started shaking it about and sugar went everywhere. Owen must have gotten a kick out of that because Uncle Steve was sure he need to take more sugar packets home with him so he stashed them in his car seat.

Coca-Cola

Michael and I have these two Coca Cola cups that we got when we went on a cruise to Alaska for our 5th Wedding Anniversary. We use them all the time to put ice tea in because it keeps it colder longer. Red is a color that is very attractive to babies and Owen is no exception. This morning he just HAD to have this cup so he could gnaw on it. At first I made him work for it by putting it out in front of him so he could inch his way to it. By the end he was so tired he had a total and complete meltdown. I've never seen a kid get so upset over a cup before.

Second Tooth

Keeping with his holiday tradition Owen's second tooth came in this morning which just happens to be his Daddy's Birthday. The new tooth is inside the black oval and as you can see the first tooth has come out quite a lot in just 10 days.

Owen's First Post

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Peek-A

BOO!!!

Expression

In this picture I think Owen looks like the Gerber Baby. His expression is quite similar, but of course he's cuter!

On His Knees

Now that Owen can rollover from his back to his tummy he really wants to move. He wants to get to his toys so badly. He's really been trying!! He puts his knees under his tummy and then he gets his arms under his chest and he can actually pull his tummy off the ground now. He can inch his way to his toys by pushing with his legs. It won't be long and we'll be baby proofing the house.

Swim Trunks

On the Fourth of July I went to Fred Meyer's to go shopping with some friends because there was a great sale going on. I found these swim trunks for Owen and thought they were so cute I had to get them. They have these things called Little Swimmers which are disposable swim pants for kids, but there are just too many of them in a pack and I don't know how many times Owen is really going to go swimming so I just though this was a better deal.

Well as you can see it looked pretty promising, the water was cool, but not cold and it was so hot out it felt good, but then....

Owen just freaked out!!! I swear the neighbors probably thought we were the meanest parents ever. He was not happy at all. I really want to take him to an actually pool so he can float and feel what that's like. After I scooped him up and took him inside I was undressing him and noticed that he had a little cut right where the waistband of the swimming trunks were. Michael checked it out and he couldn't feel anything that could have cut him. I don't remember if I was wearing my rings or not when I was putting them on, but that's the only thing I can think of that might have cut him. It's all healed now, but I'm thinking that was probably half of his problem when he freaked out in the pool. Maybe one day he'll like it.

Update on Exersaucer

Owen has been playing in his Exersaucer now for about a month and half and now he really is starting to play. He is now strong enough to pull the toys down towards his mouth as you can see. He can also turn himself around and find something else to play with if he gets bored. All in all he can sit in their for about 15 minutes at a time entertaining himself.

Squash

Well Owen has move onto flavored foods now, squash to be exact. He really likes it and to be perfectly honest squash tastes and smells pretty good. In this pictures he's actually wearing a bib, but for the most part I have to feed him without one. See after I give him a bite of food he loves to grab his bib and then shove it in his mouth. That would be so bad really, but the way he grabs his bib he ends up shoving the BACK side of the bib in his mouth. So it really defeats the purpose of having a bib on in the first place. Owen is also very talented when it comes to holding onto his food for hours. It can be 2 - 3 hours after he's eaten squash and he burps and out comes about a spoonful of squash looking almost exactly the same way it did going in. For those of you who have seen March of the Penguins I think Owen has the same skills as the male penguins do when it comes to regurgitating food for their young.

Good Sleeper

Owen has really been doing well sleeping without being swaddle. He just rolls right over and sleeps on his tummy. Yesterday afternoon he was playing on the floor in the family room and he just put his head down and fell asleep. About 30-40 minutes later he just woke up and started playing again. He's really starting to be able to entertain himself for a little while now. The picture above was taken yesterday morning. He slept so well, almost 12 hours. He did wake up at 6am to eat, but then back to bed and I finally woke him up at 9am! Such a sleepy head!

Bath Robe

This is a present that I received for Owen back at my very first baby shower at work in October. Owen has the matching hooded towel and wash clothes for it. We put him in this robe a while back, but it was just huge. Now it's almost like it should be longer because the sleeves I still have to roll up, but as you can see it doesn't even cover his diaper. Oh well it's still cute!

Yummy Feet!!!

Owen has just learned how to pull his feet towards him and he's been really enjoying it. He hadn't quite been able to pull them towards his mouth, but on Saturday he succeeded. He was just laying on my lap enjoying them for the longest time.

Chewing

Owen loves to chew on his keys!!

Solid Food....well sort of

As promised here are some pictures of Owen trying out rice cereal. As you can tell by the look on his face he's not too thrilled. The first time I fed him I mixed the cereal with breast milk and I think my milk just has issues once it's not inside me anymore. I had pumped the milk just that morning and stored it in the frig, but it just didn't smell right. So we decided to mix formula with his rice cereal instead. Since formula tastes different than breast milk he's not too keen on that either. This morning he kept pushing my hands away and spitting out the cereal. My friend Julie gave me some good advise and told me to just let him play around with it and see what he does. So this afternoon I'm going to strip him down to his diaper and put the bowl of rice cereal in front of him and let him put his fingers in it and taste it by himself. We'll see how that goes, messy I'm sure!

Somber Baby

Owen is such a happy baby, but at the same time he's a very somber baby too. It took us quite a while to figure out how to get him to laugh. Then once we got him to laugh at something the next time we tried it he wouldn't think it was funny anymore. About the only thing that is a sure fire way to get him to laugh is to scare him. He loves to be startled! I will duck out of his view and then pop up and say, "BOO!" and he just laughs and laughs.

First Tooth!!

His tooth is within the little black oval!!!

Today Owen cut his first tooth!!! Grandma and Grandpa Grant stopped by and Grandma thought she could feel it right below the surface and she told me it would be coming out in a day or two. Later in the afternoon I went to feel it and I pushed a little on his gums and the tooth came right through. It dawned on me that Owen likes to have his milestones happen on holidays. He was born on Martin Luther King Jr Day, dedicated on Father's Day and now his first tooth came on the Fourth of July. He took his first flight the day before Mother's Day so he just missed that one. Happy 4th and Happy 100th post for me!!!

Surprised!

I'm am so surprised how well last night went. It was Owen's first night sleeping ALL night without being swaddled. He went to bed at 8:15 and didn't cry one bit. At 9:00 when Michael and I came upstairs he must have heard us because he woke up and started crying. Right off the bat I told myself you are not going in to check on him for at least 20 minutes. The methods we've been using since Owen was born came from the book Becoming Baby Wise and it says that you can't undo all the love that is given during the day with a little crying. So Owen cried for 18 minutes and put himself back to sleep. The last time we tried to get him to sleep without being swaddled Michael and I were going in every hour to give him his pacifier so I didn't want to start that up again. Around 10:00 he started crying again and this time he only cried for 10 minutes. I went to bed at 11:00 and woke up a little before 4:00 and he hadn't cried since 10:00!! YAHOO!!! He did start crying a little after 4:00, but only for about 3 minutes. At 6:00 when Michael woke up I went in and checked on him and he was asleep on his tummy. Babies sleeping on their tummies are so cute. The funny thing is he's sleeping exactly like I do with one arm up by his face and one leg bent.

Chin Monster

I know I've said it before, but Owen loves to gnaw on things. His favorites are his rainbow colored teething ring, his bib, his blankets and my chin. Yes that's right my chin. It's the funniest thing. I will be kissing his cheek and he just turns and starts gnawing on my chin. To make it even funnier he makes this squealy noise while he's doing it. My chin is constantly covered with drool, but he's worth it...at least until he gets teeth!

Frosting

Grandma Grant just loves to let Owen try all sorts of things - chocolate, strawberries and in this pictures frosting. She just loves to see the expression on his face. He did happen to LOVE the frosting, so much so he was sucking it out from under her acrylic nails. In just a couple of weeks Owen will start eating rice cereal and then he'll move onto baby food. I'm sure there will be lots of funny and messy faced pictures to come.

Update On Rolling Over

Owen has pretty much mastered rolling over from front to back, however, yesterday he rolled over from back to front for the first time. He only did it once, but he kept trying to do it again, but couldn't remember how he did it in the first place. He's a champ at laying on his side, but I think he gets scared or something and then rolls back to his back. This morning when he woke up I went to get him and he was on his tummy, but he was swaddled and it's a lot easier to roll over when your arms aren't in the way. That really freaked me out though. Since his arms are restricted he doesn't really have help to roll himself off of his tummy once he gets there. The doctors are pretty insistent that babies sleep on their back. I think once they do start rolling on their tummy and can freely choose to sleep like that it's okay, but since Owen just started rolling over it worries me that he can't get back. So starting tonight he is not sleeping in the Swaddle Me blanket anymore. We've tried this one before and it wasn't good. He wakes up around 1:30 and cries and cries. He's been such a good sleeper too. Most of the time he sleeps 10 - 11 hours straight every night and the last couple of days when he wakes up after sleeping 10 hours he eats and then goes back to bed for another 2 hours. I just hope he doesn't have too hard of a time sleeping not only for his sake, but for Michael and I as well.

Naked Baby Pictures

This morning I gave Owen a bath and I just couldn't help it I had to take some naked baby pictures. The first one he is wrapped up in one of his hooded towels and he's gnawing on it. He will gnaw on anything. I have to keep a bib on him at all times because if he doesn't have a bib to gnaw on, he will grab his outfit and start gnawing on it. I'm just waiting for a tooth to pop out any day now. The second one is so cute because it's shows his little bum. And yes like any mom in the future I will probably bring these out and show people and I'm sure he will get embarrassed by them.

Flaming Geyser State Park

Yesterday after church we decided to go out to Flaming Geyser State Park and have a picnic. Michael packed a nice picnic lunch and then we headed out. I hadn't been there since I was a kid so I didn't even know what was there. When we go there we found a table and had lunch. We were silly though because we forgot a blanket so we couldn't lay on the grass and play with Owen (He was cranky and tired so it probably wouldn't have happened anyway), we didn't bring anything to play with and we forgot the Snuggly so we couldn't really go for a hike very easily either. Michael and I are more indoor people anyways so it didn't surprise me that we were so ill-prepared. I would like to become a more outdoor person for Owen's sake. There is so much to see and do outside and I don't want him to be one of those kids that sits in front of the TV all day playing video games. I want him to run and play and use his imagination. Okay, back to Flaming Geyser State Park, there wasn't much to do at the park unless you brought a bunch of friends and volleyball net or you were going to go tubing or rafting down the Green River. So we only stayed for lunch and then packed up and headed home. We did stop at a nice fruit stand where I got some berries, apricots and nectarines. YUMMY! One more thing, would someone explain to me why it's called Flaming Geyser State Park? I never saw a Flaming Geyser!!

Miracle Baby

I just love this picture with the sun coming in the front window. The two most precious people in my life. I feel so blessed that God has given Michael and I this beautiful baby boy. I have so many hopes and dreams for him. I know Michael and I will make mistakes when raising him and we'll wish we could have done things different sometimes, but we will do our best which is all we can do.