Santa

We decided this year, sort of at the last minute since it was the last weekend before Christmas, to take Owen to see Santa.  Surprisingly it was not at all busy (only one person in front of us in line) and we were able to take our time to get Owen situated.  He did a good job, wasn't too sure about it but there was no screaming or crying.

Owen did let go of Jed's hand and looked at the camera, after a little coaxing with funny faces and noises from Anna.  After we were all done and saying bye to Santa Owen had the sweetest moment where he reached over toward Santa and gave him a quasi hug.

Owen at 13 months

Having just had his 1st Birthday, Owen was ready to do and learn so many new things.  He is anxious to be near both mom and dad and see what we are doing.

Owen wanting to cuddle with a sick dad (thus the covered face).

Owen has a pretty solid routine at this point, not only for eating and napping but also nighttime activities.  (Almost) every night, Owen gets a bath, which is one of his favorite things.  After he has had his fill of bathtime, he gets out, gets dried off and goes streaking through the house.  He goes running out the the bathroom into the living room and gets the biggest smile on his face.  A few pictures from his streaking adventures one night...

Shortly after Owen's birthday we celebrated Thanksgiving.  We had a very nice long weekend.  Our friend from Jacksonville came over Wednesday night to to visit, spend Thanksgiving Day with us, and to meet Owen.  On Thursday we got up and drove across town to participate in the Turkey Trot 5K.  Jed and I jogged and walked it while Owen cheered on from the stroller.  Jed pushed him the whole way and when Jed slowed down Owen got fussy but when he sped up Owen laughed and got excited.  After the race we came home and cooked a turkey and all our usual side dishes.  It was time for Owen's Thanksgiving Dinner: Round 2 (if you'll remember he had some mashed potatoes and cranberry salad at a mere two and a half weeks old last year).  He loved it!  The cranberry salad was his favorite and the mashed potatoes and stuffing came in close second.

Owen's walking is really improving, right after his 1st Birthday he started walking backwards (just 2-3 steps) but loved his new talent.  Then shortly before his 13-month birthday he got to practice steps when we took him to get his hair cut.  He was quite the champ but wasn't completely confident on the way down.

Owen is such a big, strong, smart boy.  His favorite song is "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and loves it when his singing puppy sing it for him.  With the help of the song he has now knows where his head is.  He has also learned where his tummy is and can show you where they both are when asked.

Owen hanging out with daddy on the couch before bed.  He has moved more from momma's boy to daddy's little buddy.

Owen's feet must have been cold (despite the footie jammies) because in the morning we found him with feet tucked under the sheet saver.

Owen has learned to not only imitate us but also his friends from school.  We picked him up one afternoon and his teacher told us that one of his friends screams a very shrill scream when she gets upset or frustrated.  She then proceeded to tell us that our sweet little boy will lay on her to make her scream, just so he can imitate her with the biggest grin on his face.  We wondered why he was all of a sudden letting out the most ear-piercing screams.

 

Owen imitating Dad and trying to carry his backpack one morning.

Owen loves his food and usually lets none of it go to waste... however, one afternoon, we found him in the kitchen with a trail of goldfish behind him leading to the living room.  Not sure what happened that day.

 

 

Owen's First Haircut

Anna decided that Owen's hair had gotten entirely too long since the front was almost in his eyes and he was rockin' a serious mullet in the back so for her birthday there were going to take a trip to trim it up.  We went to Rinse & Repeat here in town.  It's brand new to town, family-owned salon that is just for kids.  They were so wonderful with Owen and he was fabulous during the haircut.

Owen's hair before in the front

Owen's hair before on the side and back

 

 Owen's hair before in the front (here you can really see his length)

Siting in the chair getting ready

Towel is on, ready to start

The first snips

 

Calmly sitting while she worked

Owen was engrossed in the comb so she let him hold it

Trimming behind the ears

Trimming up the back

Back is all evened up but needs taken up some still

 Finishing up the back

Much better!

Owen's hair after in the front

Owen's hair after on the side and back

Owen's Nautical Birthday Party

Saturday after Owen's birthday we held his 1st Birthday Party at our house.  It was a nautical themed party and we invited our friends, co-workers and neighbors, with and without kids. I guess you could say it was also a party to celebrate that we made it through a year.  We had the party at noon and had several nautical themed foods.  For the main food we had fish and chips, sort of, we had Chick-Fil-A Nuggets and potato chips.  We also served birthday shaped pasta (hats, presents, etc.) salad with tuna fish and peas, blue jello with gummy fish floating in it, gummy sharks, and Goldfish crackers. The food was set out on the dining room table and the cake came out when we were ready for it.

For the party favors we gave out kids nautical hats and let the kids color them with fabric markers.  To entertain the kids we took two washing machine boxes, tipped them on their sides, cut the (now) tops off and made them into boats for the kids to play in. They liked them, although, they tipped them back upright and pretended they were houses.  We also hung plastic nautical flags from the pergola.

Thankfully, it was a gorgeous day out so people could be outside as well as inside. People came over, ate, hung out and visited and the kids played. Sadly, I don't have any pictures other than the cake and Owen eating it because of all days, we both got sick the night before the party (thankfully Owen came out clean) and neither of us felt up to much by the time the party rolled around. I had big plans for the including lots of pictures, a more decorated cake, and more decorations but sadly didn't get to them.

Now, for the cake, it was a homemade cake, yellow for the sail and chocolate for the boat.  Owen's cake was chocolate with chocolate frosting.  Because I'm sure you're all wondering, the "J" cake was for Jed's co-worker, Jason, who's birthday was also that week.

He really liked the cake but could only get frosting in his hands so we broke part of it off with a fork, then he really dug in.

After a little while we moved Owen out of the sun and into the shade to work on his cake some more.  Apparently everyone loves a glass of milk with their chocolate cake because after we got him all situated, he signed for milk and when we gave it to him, he chugged it.

Owen all done, just keeping his hand on the cake enjoying how it feels.

 

After Owen was done with his cake the party died out, Owen got a bath and we spent the rest of the afternoon napping and opening and playing with presents.    Despite the illness, the party was a good time and turned out well.  All-in-all it was a great day!