Ba-Ba

Owen has been taking a bottle now for a week!! It's such a relief! We can already see and feel a difference in him. His little face and tummy are getting chubbier. I don't think my milk was bad, I just don't think my body was making enough of it for him anymore. He really does enjoy his bottle too. He gets this big smile on his face when I shake it up right before I give it to him. Yesterday he even said, "I want my Ba-Ba". Michael heard it too so it wasn't just me thinking I have the smartest kid around...it was true. I think he said it about 4 times. I don't necessarily think he knows what he's saying, but it's the cutest thing. He hasn't said that phrase this morning, but he has said "Ba-Ba" about a hundred time already...I think he's in love!

Haircut

My hair has been driving me crazy for some time now...so I decided to chop it off! This is the shortest my hair has ever been. I love it!!!

Out to lunch

On Thursday I went to a tea house with my friend Janet and GG & Peepaw watched Owen. It's the first time he cried when I left. He really is a mama's boy. He did have a good time though and GG even got to snuggle Owen while he slept on her chest.

Splish Splash!

Stairs

Owen has really started exploring the house...mainly because he's trying to follow me when I charge off to go do something, but at least he's getting around. He crawled all the way into the kitchen from the family room yesterday! A few days ago he finally found the stairs. I guess it's time to put up the baby gate. Michael and I have been such procrastinators about getting any of the safety stuff up. The only thing we have done so far is put the covers over the outlets. We just need to knuckle down and get it done before I have to call poison control because he's swallowed dish soap or something.

Road Trip

Over the weekend we attended a family wedding down in Salem, Oregon. We left on Saturday morning and took our time driving down. We went out Hwy 101 and ate lunch in Astoria, Oregon and then drove down to Seaside. It was actually pretty nice in Seaside, but Owen had just fell asleep so we decided to just keep driving. Next summer we are planning on going back when Owen can actually run around and dig in the sand. We arrived in Salem around 4ish, plenty of time to change, get some fast food and make it to the wedding at 6, right? Nope!!! With numerous errors on my part while driving we ended up being late to the wedding, but fortunately most weddings don't start on time and this one was no exception so we didn't end up missing anything. Michael's cousin Carissa looked gorgeous in her dress as did all the bridesmaids. The wedding was touching with Carissa's mom Terri walking her down the aisle and her Grandpa Roy & Uncle Dave "giving" her away to Ryan. Jessie Lynn (Carissa's sister) entertained us with 3 songs during the evening. Her voice is absolutely breathtaking! After the service there was desserts and dancing. Owen got to meet Michael's side of the family and "dance" with some of the baby girls in the family. In the picture above he is sitting with Aunt Vicki and Kayla. Kayla was born a couple months after Owen. We ended up leaving the wedding at 8:30 since both Daddy & Owen were exhausted. The next day we had lunch with some of the family members and then it was time to get on the road again. Overall Michael and I were really surprised with how well Owen did in car. He was a really trooper!

Little Man

He just gets cuter and cuter!

9 month check-up

Owen had his check-up today. He is now 15lbs 3oz which is only in the .5 percentile!!! He's 27 inches long which isn't nearly as bad that's in the 11th percentile. The doctor isn't too concerned yet, but he said if he doesn't start to put on some weight by his year check up he'll be running some tests. I'm going to try in the next few weeks to get Owen to take a sippy cup. I'd really like to get him down to breastfeeding only in the morning and right before bed. Wish me luck, this kid is stubborn!

Stomach Flu

Yes, that's right we all got the stomach flu this weekend. Needless to say it was awful! Poor Owen had a fever of 102 on and off. He wouldn't eat any solid food...well none of us could. It was really a lousy weekend all together. Michael ended up staying home yesterday which was a lifesaver for me since he was on the mend and I was still in the thick of it.

Fall Stroll

Ever since Peepaw got his Little Rascal he's been going to the park when it's not raining for a little stroll. He just happened to be out there when a photographer was there for the Auburn Reporter. The photographer was trying to get some shots of the beautiful fall leaves. He asked Peepaw if he could included him in the picture and it was printed on the front page the next day with this caption, "C.K. Grant, 87, takes a ride around Game Farm Park in Auburn. Grant tours the park every day, weather permitting.

Before & After

Here is a picture of our house last December or January (whenever we had snow). This is before the new paint job and the new gutters.

And here is a picture of the house this morning. Isn't it pretty with the red shutters and door??

Red Wagon

Here's Owen in his Radio Flyer Wagon that Grandma Grant got him.

Kiss the baby

This is one of Owen's favorite things to do. FYI, no babies were hurt in the making of this movie.

Up close & personal

Arrrrr...

Grandma Grant got his onesie in Levenworth a couple weekends ago. It's says, "Surrender the Booby"!

Gross!

Runny nose anyone!

Ear Infection?

I've been concerned that Owen might have an ear infection for a couple of days, so yesterday I decided to take him to the doctor. His 9 month check up is next Tuesday, but I just didn't want to wait that long. The doctor checked him out and said that there is a little bit of fluid in his left ear, but it could clear up on it's own or turn into an ear infection. Since we are going in next week he's going to see if it gets better or worse. I know there's this big controversy on giving kids antibiotic when it's not really necessary so I wasn't that surprised when he said let's wait and see. I don't want Owen to be given anything that isn't necessary for him either. I just can't wait for him to be a happier kid. He's just been so cranky lately. I can't even walk out of the room without him crying and sometimes when I set him down on the floor to play and I sit down with him he starts crying. He could just be going through an attachment phase too. Who knows!

Zoom Zoom

Here is Michael pushing Owen around on his car. He actually goes much faster and Owen just holds on and has fun. It's just really hard to film walking around the house backwards

Garage Sale Finds

Last Saturday I spent 5 1/2 hours going to Garage Sales. It was the Semi-Annual Mill Creek Garage Sales. There was 7 of us that went in two vans. I had a list of things I wanted to find and I actually found most of them. The main things I wanted to find were clothes and toys for Owen.

All in all I found...

Learn & Laugh Chair (First picture - Only $3 - I checked online if bought new it costs $35!)

Backpack to carry Owen in (Only $2)

An outdoor swing for Owen

Lots of Clothes for Owen

A light fixture for our Living Room

An America sign for my Dining Room (Grandma Grant actually bought this for me because I ran out of money)

A toy car set for Owen

Grandma Grant also picked up some awesome things for Owen...

Radio Flyer All-Terrain Wagon (Only $25 - Checked online for this one too would have cost $159!!!)

Police Rocker (Second picture - Only $5 - If bought online it would have been $40)

Two animal books

As you can see the saving really add up. Everything we brought home was in great shape too. The only thing they needed were a good wash and some batteries.

Another piece of info - This was the longest I had ever been away from Owen. I think it was 7 1/2 hours in all.

Orange Creamicle

On Thursday night Grandma & Grandpa Grant came over for dinner and to watch Survivor. After dinner Grandpa Grant decided he needed something a little sweet so he helped himself to what Schwan's calls a Rainbow Stick. It's really just an Orange Creamicle. Owen decided that he should get something sweet too and Grandpa didn't really mind sharing either!

Old Highchair

In August GG & Peepaw watched Owen so I could go out for tea with a friend of mine. When we came back to pick Owen up we strapped him into this really really old highchair that has been in my family for a long time. I was so surprised that he didn't mind being tied down.

Blocks

Owen just loves his blocks! They are probably his favorite toys right now. He loves to take them out and scatter them all over the family room. He also loves knocking over any towers Daddy and I might make with them. They are a great encourager to get him to crawl. Daddy has been working with him by telling him the different shapes and colors. Sometimes he will ask Owen to get him the green square after showing him 3 different blocks and Owen will actually pick the right one. Now I'm sure there are those of you out there that are thinking that it's all by chance, but we think he's the smartest baby ever...and of course we're right! ;)

Swing

Like I said Owen and I have another cold and last night he was not feeling well. He wanted to be held...sort of, but wouldn't let us snuggle him. So we tried the swing. The swing has been out in the garage since August because we had a get together at our house and it was in the way. Since Owen hadn't been using it we just kept it out there. I figured he was done with it. But last night I thought it might just be what he needed and I was right. I strapped him in and turned the movement on and the music (music part was pretty pathetic since it's in dire need of new batteries) and off to sleep Owen went. I contemplated letting him sleep there all night since the doctor said it's good to have babies sleep elevated when they're sick, but just the thought of having my neck in that same position all night made me cringe so we took him out and had him sleep in his crib.

Cubby Cheeks!

Makes you want to pinch them!

He's everywhere...finally!

Owen can be so stubborn! He knows he can crawl, but he just refuses to. I guess I had been letting him stand up and hold onto things to much and that's all he wanted to do. So last weekend we did not let him do that. Finally Mommy had to leave the room because Owen knows he can whine and Mommy will eventually give in, but Daddy won't! After a little while I came down and Owen had crawled around the family room rug twice! Now he's doing so much better. We are really encouraging him to crawl towards toys and us to get him to crawl more. He even followed me yesterday when I went into the kitchen. He only made it into the dining room, but he tried. He is still little! The funny thing is he still mainly crawls on his tummy and he's fast at it. When he does lift his tummy off the ground it takes him twice as long as if he crawled on his tummy.

New Toy

Here is Owen's new toy...well sort of. It was given to us by some friends of ours. It's new to him! He's just tall enough that he can touch the floor and he has actually moved it a little. Mainly he just sits there and holds on though. Not only is it fun for him to ride on, but the front has a little game of basketball and the part where he's sitting actually separates and it becomes a walker. Right now his favorite thing to do is hold on tight while Daddy drives him around the house like a madman.

Round 2

Poor Owen and I have yet another cold! I'm starting to think the first one didn't truly go away since we only had a week of feeling on the up and up. Yesterday I went out and got this product called Little Noses. The nurse at Owen's pediatrician said it helps with clearing out the mucus in his nose. So last night Michael and I decided to give it a try in hopes of clearing out Owen's nose so he could enjoy breathing again. Well I don't think it's actually the product that clears out your nose, it's the crying, no...screaming that happens while you're trying to pin your infant down to get the nozzle anywhere near his nose that actually clears out his nose. Life is so traumatic when your 8 months old!

One good thing is since his cold has come back he's sleeping like an angel again!

Sleep Issues

Owen has always been a pretty good sleeper. He's slept consistently through the night since 4 months old. However, recently he's decided that he needs to cry at night sometimes up to 6 times a night. Michael and I are going with the tough love approach and letting him crying it out. The most it's taken him to get back to sleep has been 8 minutes of crying so it's not too bad. The thing I don't understand is what changed...he was sleeping 11 hours every night just fine and all of the sudden this habit started. I read online that he's at the age now where he's going through separation anxiety and he remembers us when he wakes up and he wants to be social at all hours of the night so maybe that's what's going on. All I know is I'm not going to start a bad habit like feeding him again in the middle of the night that will only have to be broken later. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.