Owen is 18 Months Old

My precious boy turned 18 months old on November 7th.  I cannot believe that he is just 6 short months away from being a 2 year old!  That just boggles my mind...

 

At 18 months old:

*  Owen weighs 25 lbs. 3 oz. (40th percentile) and 33.25 inches long (75th percentile).  His head circumference was 48 cm (65th percentile).  He is growing well and had a great 18 month well check.  Right on track - thank the Lord!

*  He wears 24mth/2T shirts and 18-24 month pants.  He is in a size 4 diaper and size 6 shoe.  It is so fun to see him in clothes that his big brothers wore.  I know that people always talk about how boy clothes aren't as cute as girl clothes, but I sure do love dressing my babies.  :)

*  Owen's teeth... let's see...  He has 8 teeth in the front - 4 on top and 4 on bottom.  (7.5 if you count his cracked front tooth. :(  )  His bottom right 1 year molar has cut all of the way through.  The other 3 are currently working their way up.  Joy.  Those monster teeth sure are tough...

 

*  We have been working on body parts and animal noises - and O is an exceptional pupil so far.  Ha!  He is proficient in cow, monkey, and lizard noises/movements (he sticks out his tongue rapidly for lizard).  He can also point to his eyes, nose, mouth, hair, teeth, and tummy when asked.  He is like a little sponge and seems to pick up on something new every day.

*  Owen's little toddler speak is so darn cute right now.  I love to hear him say, "la loo" (love you), "dak due" (thank you), "dew" (Drew), and "bite?" when he wants a sip of your drink.  It's so fun to hear him speak actual words and to be able to communicate some of his needs.  There are definitely moments when we have a bit of a communication breakdown that usually leads to a little (or big!) tantrum.  I had forgotten how hard that is at this age...

*  Speaking of this age...  Mercy, this little monkey can be mischevious.  He got a hold of a red marker a couple of weeks ago and painted huge clown lips on himself.  I have found him on top of my dining room table, standing there proudly, more than once.  And just today, he stopped up a toilet by unrolling the remainder of a roll of toilet paper and putting it in the toilet.  He is sweet as can be, for certain, but he keeps me on my toes!  ;)

*  Owen loves, loves, LOVES his big brothers!  He wants to be right in the middle of whatever they are doing.  Nothing thrills my heart more than to see them interact.  My deepest desire is for them to be not only siblings, but best friends.  We have started this little chant where Wade and I say, "Carpenter brothers are..." and they say, "Best friends!"  Oh, how I hope that speaking those words over them will just make that relationship second nature.

*  Owen gives THE BEST slobbery kisses of any of my babies (sorry C & D, but it's true!).   He grabs my cheeks with both hands and lays a big smackaroo on my lips, complete with a "Muuuhhhwahh!"  He is always kind to wipe the slobber off of my chin when he is finished.  Ha!  I'm sure that we will pass back and forth many colds with that little show of affection, but I don't even care.  My heart nearly bursts every time that he does it.

Owen, Owie, O-O-O-O,

My goodness, Bub, you are such a busy little thing right now.  This is a challenging age, just because it is exhausting to keep constant tabs on you and try to predict your next move.  At the same time, you are so insanely sweet.  You love to cuddle and be held.  You still want to nuzzle at my neck and rest your head on my shoulder.  Those are the parts of this age that far outway the messes and near heartattacks that you give me.  You are still so much of a baby to me.  I love that your hair is still pretty sparse and you still have such full little cheeks.  I am going to hold on to every last morsel of "baby" that you have left.  You are so precious to me...

You love books right now.  If I am sitting on the floor, you will bring me a book and back your tiny little behind right into my lap.  I cannot resist the "ook?"  "ook?"  "ook?"  The world stops whenever you voice that request.  I think that you have that figured out.  ;)

You are still such a good napper and nighttime sleeper, thank the Lord!  We have had a few rough nights here lately, and I know that it is due to those big ole teeth that are coming in.  Even with some tooth pain, you are a good little snoozer, and I am so grateful. 

I don't mean to harp on the fact that you are michevious.  There have honestly only been a handful of messes that I have had to clean up.  They are few and far between - I guess that is why I have to fully document them with pictures.  Ha!  People compliment us all of the time on your behavior and how sweet you are.  I think that you throw just enough fits and make just enough of a mess to keep us humble.  ;)  You really are a mild mannered, patient little guy.

I love you so much, Baby.  You will never know how deeply I care for you or how badly my heart needed you.  God gave me you at the exact right moment in my life, and I will never stop thanking Him for the gift that you are to me. 

I love you to the moon and back,
Mommy

Preschool Happenings

It has been an exciting preschool week for my Little Buddy.  :)  Tuesday was Feast Day at the preschool.  It was adorable, as usual.  The kids made a bunch of cute crafts - a necklace, turkey hat, decoupaged pumpkin, and hand print turkey place mat.  He was pretty excited to show off his handiwork.  Cute boy...

Wade, Clayton, Owen, and I joined our Drew for lunch.  They served us a great lunch and it was so much fun to see Drew in his school environment.  It was a fun way to kick off the Thanksgiving feasting!

Today was superhero day, so the kids got to dress up as their favorite superhero.  Our little guy had a bit of a superhero identity crisis - Iron Man mask, Hulk hands, Superman shirt, and Batman cape.  Ha!  I told him that may be a bit too many props for preschool, so he settled for a picture in the whole getup and then just wore his Superman shirt & cape.

Makin' preschool memories...  good times!  :)

Halloween 2012

Our kids started planning their Halloween costumes shortly after the tobyMac concert.  We bought Clayton and Drew a poster for their room before the concert.  The next day, Clayton noticed that Toby had a tattooed wedding ring.  He brought me the face paint and asked me to paint him a faux wedding ring tattoo.  From there, we added a soul patch with adhesive backed felt, and ta-da... he was a pretty cute version of Toby!

Trying a serious Toby face...

I thought he was a dead ringer!  ;)

He suggested that Drew could be Chris August, who opened for tobyMac.  Little brother went along with the plan.

Add an elephant to the mix, and you have our little trio!

My sweet little O sat happily in his stroller for the whole block.  He wasn't interested in candy, but he was super happy with my glass of ice water.  I have a feeling he won't be so easy to please next Halloween...  :)

Clayton wore that same elephant costume when he was 1 1/2, and Drew wore a lion costume when he was 1.  I loved them both so much and had the hardest time deciding which one to put Owen in.  I ended up choosing on the elephant, but took some pictures of him in the lion costume as well.  Both are so stinkin' cute.  

We had a fun evening walking around our neighborhood and visiting with neighbors.  :)

Preschool Costume Parade

Drew had his costume parade at preschool on October 30th.  It was so cute to watch the kids parade around the school in the costumes. 

Drew's cute little class

 Drew wore his knight costume.  Cute boy.  :)

 Clayton wore his fighter pilot costume and the sweet teachers offered to fill his bag with candy, too.  It pays to tag along with little brother, I guess!

Such a fun day!

Soccer - Fall 2012

My Clayton just finished the fall season of Upward Soccer.  He really enjoyed it!  He played soccer back when he was 3, you may remember.   It was quite comical to watch him back then - being silly and goofy 80% of the time that he was on the field and actually playing 20% of the time.  What a difference 4 years makes!   He was really into the game this season, and it was very fun to watch.  This was our second sport to play through Upward, and we continue to be really impressed with the organization.  It was a super fun season, and we are so proud of our boy!

 One of Clayton's best buds (#23) was on his team.  He loved getting to play with his pal.

 His coach really stressed the importance of teamwork and good sportsmanship.  It was cute to watch them run to their teammates and help them up if they were hurt.

 There were a couple of pretty chilly games towards the end of the season.  All of Clayton's fans bundled up to watch him play, though.  ;)

I'm kinda sad that the season is over.  I will miss seeing my eldest doing something that he loves.  On the plus side, though... we get to sleep in on Saturday mornings again now.  Yay!  :)