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

Owen Turned 9 Months Old

We were so excited to celebrate Owen's 9 month birthday because we had several milestones to celebrate. (We apparently didn't take as many pictures this month so several are from the same day. However, it would appear that we took even few than we did, but this is not the case, it just so happened he seemed to have the same outfits on the days we snapped pictures.)

Owen a few days after his 9 Month Birthday

The weekend after Owen's birthday we met up with Terri Smith at Goodwood again so she could capture Owen's 9 month pictures. As usual, Terri did a fabulous job and some of the photos she took can be viewed on her blog. One of her signature shots are her Memory Shots and we now have one to remember Owen at 9 months. Thanks Terri!

Owen's 9 Month Memory Shot by Terri Smith

Shortly before Owen's 9 month birthday he learned how to walk along the furniture. This past month he has really worked on this and can now walk like a champ. He is so strong and has decent balance so he can even stand by himself for a few moments, or at least until he realizes he isn't holding onto anything. He walks around the house using the furniture and walls and walks all around by pushing anything that will move. A few weeks after his 9 month birthday he learned how to sit down from standing (no more falling over) and to push up to sitting from crawling.

Owen practicing standing and pushing his walker

Owen in the new fish tank

Owen cuddling with his seahorse during nap time

Owen loves to give out kisses to just about anyone he knows. Most of the time, the kisses are normal, wide-open mouth, slobbery baby kisses that he lays right on your lips. With Jed however, Owen kisses Jed's nose and sometimes locks on. It is quite humorous but a bit painful for Jed.

Owen giving Dad a "kiss"

Owen taking a nap draped across Dad's legs

Owen is still such a happy baby, unless you are withholding food. He rarely cries unless he legitimately needs something. We are truly blessed to have such a good tempered child. The poor baby is even generally happy despite teething. We knew a tooth was coming because he had been chewing on everything he could and drooling like crazy. Plus, he had a few cranky times here and there for no apparent reason, so we knew something was up. Sure enough, on Jed's birthday we woke up and little Owen had cut a tooth on the bottom. About two and a half weeks later his other bottom tooth cut through. The two keep pushing up and, if he keeps his tongue out of the way, they can be seen really well. We think the top teeth are close since he's been drooling all the time again and his gums are swollen, but nothing yet. No pictures of the teeth because he keeps them pretty guarded but we'll keep trying.

Owen posing for the camera

In addition to being so happy, Owen is often content just playing with his toys and making a mess. One of Owen's favorite games is taking all of the toys out of the basket after we put them away. One afternoon Owen was playing on the floor with his toys and as usual, he had taken them all out of the basket. He wasn't making nose banging his toys around like he usually does so we knew he was up to something. We looked down and he had crawled into the basket and was happy as could be just sitting in the basket.

Owen playing in his toy basket

Owen getting kisses from Dad

Owen playing with the PS3 controller

Jed got laid off in the beginning of July. He has a new job and was back to work in about a month but while Jed was home we pulled Owen out of daycare. During Daddy Daycare the boys had plenty of time to hang out and cause trouble. While at home, Owen started saying "da-da" frequently and started saying "ba-ba." (Ba-ba was supposed to be ma-ma but Owen just can't figure out the difference between a b and an m.) While at home he also learned how to drink out of a sippy cup and perfected his tongue sticking out skills.

Owen causing trouble

Owen working on the tongue tricks

For the past few months we put Owen in his crib to take a nap. Sometimes he falls asleep right away but sometimes he stands up, holding the crib rail, crying until he eventually falls or sits down and goes to sleep. The days he stands up and cries we often go in to check on him and find him in the strangest positions. One day he was too tired to stand up and cry so he was sitting down and eventually slumped forward and fell asleep. We couldn't resist snapping a few pictures.

Owen folded in half sleeping

Owen walking along objects

Owen sticking out his tongue

Owen chilling in his highchair

Everyone knows that Darth loves to play fetch and Darth can't wait for the day when Owen can throw his ball for him. Darth thinks Owen's ready and keeps giving him the ball but Owen isn't sure what to do with it and Darth isn't sure why Owen won't throw it.

Owen and Darth both confused

Owen having a good ole' time

Owen playing with a pillow, a common occurrence,
often resulting in him rolling around on the floor with it

Owen trying to dodge a kiss from Dad