Owen Turned 11 Months Old

Owen at 11 months old has developed quite the personality. He is happy, fun loving and is always an explorer.

Owen at 11 months old

Owen no longer lays still on the changing table. He wiggles and squirms and tries to grab whatever he can. There aren't many times that we can get his diaper changed without giving him a toy to occupy him. One day he kept trying to get the baby powder bottle so I let him hold it but forgot the top was open. It only took a second and *poof* he was covered in baby powder.

Owen's antiquing gone wrong

Owen is such a good eater and is always looking forward to the next meal. There isn't a food that he doesn't like.

Owen eating peaches and bananas (amongst other things) for dinner

Owen is only mellow immediately after eating, and only for a moment

Owen is so busy and loves to take his toys and put them on the other side of the baby gate, on the blocked off side of the living room or out the dog door. Most of the time when he puts them on the blocked off side of the living room he tries to reach between the couch and the ottoman to get them. Sometimes he gets stuck.

Owen stuck between the couch and the ottoman

Owen loves to sit in his chair and read a book, watch the activity in the house or drink a bottle.

Owen hanging out in his chair

Owen loves the camera and is such a ham

Owen loves both the dogs and loves to play with both of them. Owen will chase them around and plays tag with Nanuq and gives Darth hugs and climbs on him. Darth is pretty good about letting Owen climb on him as long as one of us are nearby.

Owen playing with Darth

As soon as Owen started crawling he was into everything. He would go into the kitchen and figure out which cabinets weren't unlocked and take everything out of them. One of the unlocked cabinets had cookbooks, vases and a few other random things in it. For the longest time Owen would just take all the cookbooks out but one morning he discovered the joys of breaking glass as he slammed the sun tea pitcher onto the tile floor (fortunately he came out without a scratch). No more cookbook fun for Owen, it was time to lock that cabinet too.

Owen helping Dad put the lock on the cabinet

Since Owen's 10 month birthday he has taken his first steps. Although we don't officially consider him a walker at 11 months, he is able to stand on his own for a few minutes and take a few steps without encouragement. He started out by standing on his own, then he would take a step or two with encouragement. Eventually wanted to take those steps on his own without us cheering him on but was so excited to please us.

The three "babies" waiting for us to come in from the garage

Also since his 10 month birthday, Owen has discovered the dog door. He often goes and looks out the door or throws his toys outside. He loves to watch the dogs outside and has only gotten stuck trying to get out once and gotten outside once, YET.

Owen playing at the dog door

We have used several objects to try and blockade off areas of the house. For awhile we were using Owen's walker to block off the back side of the couch but one day he figured out how to bypass it. He crawled up and into the walker and was on his way out the other side when he got stuck.

Owen trying to climb over the walker

Owen loves to be outside and loves to explore. One day we were out in the front yard unloading the truck and put him down to crawl around. Owen decided he wanted to go explore down the street. I figured like most kids he would try to run off to Grandma's but never thought he'd try to crawl away before the age of 1.

Owen off to go exploring

Owen and Dad enjoying the evening

Thanks Uncle Josh and Auntie Natalie for my Seahorse,
I sleep with him almost every night

Owen playing with the dog door, again

One of Owen's birthday presents is a cop car just like his Grandpa Grumpy's. Owen couldn't wait to play in his car, he had to help dad put it together.

Owen helping Dad put his car together

Owen ready to patrol the neighborhood

Along with all the walking practice comes a few bumps and bruises. One day Owen fell at school and bumped his check. He wound up with a battle wound.

Owen with a bruise from walking practice

Owen sitting in one of his favorite spots, the video rocker

I don't have any pictures of it, but Owen loves music. He has an activity center table that plays music and he has figured out how to make it play. His favorite song is the ABC's and he plays it over and over again. Most of the time he will stand at the table and do the squatting dance where he bounces up and down to the music.

UFO

While coming inside from a walk this evening, we spotted this unidentified flying object high in the air above our front yard. Funny thing is it made weird squealing noises.

Owen is 10 Months Old

Owen turned 10 months old... can you believe it!?! As I type this I am listening to Owen take pans out of the few unlocked cupboards and bang them on the tile... ah the life of an infant.

Owen at 10 months old (he only sits still for a moment)

Owen double-fisting his pacifiers

Owen was very wiggly one night after he got his bath so rather than fight him on the changing table to get a diaper on, I set him on the floor to let him play and ran out of the room to grab something quick. As I stepped out I thought, "I sure hope he doesn't got to the bathroom" and sure enough, this is what I came back to...

Owen laughing at his accident but not sure what he's laughing at

Owen hanging out in his highchair

Owen went to the pediatrician shortly after his 9 month birthday and as usual, he was at the top of the charts in weight and length. His head measured 45.4 cm (50th percentile), he weighed 23 lbs 4 oz (90th percentile) and was 29 1/4 inches long (80th percentile). He pediatrician is not at all concerned that he is a big boy but she gets quite the chuckle. He often gets comments when we our out about his size, most of them are along the lines of him being a linebacker. One of the funniest ones was the cashier at Downtown Disney that said we should take the pacifier away and give him a steak to chew on.

Owen playing in the kitchen

One of Owen's first attempts to feed himself, it took two hands for the first several tries

At his 9 month appointment, Owen's pediatrician recommended we move away from the pureed foods and started feeding him soft table food. He is such an independent baby that he loves being able to feed himself.

Owen trying (loving) hashbrowns

Owen being a ham as usual whenever he hears the camera

Owen loves to play and we must clean up after him frequently because he has learned how to take objects out of a bucket and put them back in. He will sit and play for some time taking all of the toys out and put them back in. He will do the same with his ring stacker, he'll take the rings all off and with thought, put them back on.

Owen playing in the washing machine box, taking toys out and putting them back

Such a happy baby

In addition to feeding himself soft table food and putting toys "away," Owen is able to briefly stand on his own and can wave bye bye (which he normally does with two hands). Owen is so happy, loves his food and loves to watch and learn how things work. He frequently goes into the kitchen to explore the unlocked cupboards, taking out everything he can. Owen also LOVES bath-time. As soon as he hears the water running, or even knows someone went in the bathroom, he comes crawling over laughing with excitement because he can't wait to get in the tub and splash. Owen sure makes life fun!

Owen making a mess with his toys

Owen loves to climb up on furniture or people and I'm sure he could climb stairs if we had them

Owen now goes to Creative Preschool and he absolutely LOVES it. All of the teachers are great and they all comment everyday on how wonderful and so much fun Owen is. While at school he eats like a king, which my be why he loves it there so much. He gets toast in the morning when he gets there then a mid-morning hot breakfast and late-morning snack. He also gets lunch, an afternoon snack and a hot dinner right before we pick him up. For lunch and dinner he gets usually a sandwich and fruit, sometimes veggie as well, for one meal and a hot meal with meat, starch, veggie and fruit for the other. Surprisingly he hasn't doubled in weight since he started there. Owen probably eats better there than he does at home on the weekends.

Owen eating a peach for lunch

Owen kicked back eating with his feet up

Owen loves computers so much we got out this really old one we don't use anymore for him to play with (he loves "typing")

Owen loves to play baby toss with dad. He gets the biggest smile and just laughs and laughs when he gets thrown in the air.

Owen mid-air during a baby toss session

Owen trying to get a drink of water

Owen loves both fish tanks, he will just sit and watch and follow the fish around

Orlando and SeaWorld

Over Labor Day weekend we met Grandpa Grumpy and Grandmama in Orlando so the big boys could to go MACNA (Marine Aquarium Conference of North America).

Owen with Grandpa Grumpy and Grandmama

Grandpa Grumpy feeding Owen ravioli for dinner

The second evening there we went for a quick swim after dinner, before bed. This was Owen's second time swimming but this time he absolutely LOVED it. He started splashing the minute he got in the water. We also got him a float so he can just hang out in the water. He wasn't too fond of it that night but has grown to love being in it.

Owen splashing around

Owen going for a ride on Jed's shoulders

Taking a quick bath before bed playing with face wash since we had no bath toys

Grandpa Grumpy and Owen both sporting their overalls

While the big boys were at the conference during the day time Owen, Anna and Grandmama went shopping, swimming and spent one morning at SeaWorld. This was Owen's third trip to SeaWorld but he had the most fun this trip. He watched with wide eyes at every exhibit we visited and every show we watched.

Owen watching the flamingos wandering the sidewalks

Owen watching the Killer Whales at the Shamu show

Owen and Anna in a fish tank