then we played in the snow!

snow and singalongs

we've been hit with tons of snow! it's so beautiful outside now and the cold has suddenly obtained value - the keep the snow on the ground. Owen is intrigued by the new look of the outdoors, and while we were walking in the falling snow, he kept looking up and seemed amused that the snow would rest on him, or else chill his face.

we had a busy, accomplished and enjoyable day yesterday (i love when it can happen like that!). ben and i trekked to social security and i applied for owen's social security number so ry and i can file a tax amendment for owen for last year. then erin, lily, owen and i made our way downtown and had lunch with nain and poppa sam. we then wandered around some of the fun shops down there and brainstormed christmas gift ideas. owen and i arrived back at the house, tired and ready for his nap. he slept beautifully as always and i made tasty pesto-spinach lasagna for supper. Dave Warne and Ry had a show last night, so erin and i got a babysitter together then went out to hear some great music! It was a really fun day.

dave and ry were practicing for their show at our house, and owen woke up from his nap mid-practice. after his diaper change, he walked out of his room, into the living room with his eyes wide and mouth open; i think he was thrilled to have live music coming from his living room. he slowly made his way closer and closer, until he was right beside them. he was holding onto the couch when he started to rock out! he was moving his body back and forth so quickly, his bobbing along to the tunes. when he felt inclined, he belted out some notes too. it was quite hilarious.

i have a nostril!!

it seems i've been having a slight problem with obsessing over things. lately it has been over stories, in whatever form they come to me. it's all i can think about, and my time revolves around finishing the story. i read a near 400 page novel in 2 days. i finished 7 seasons of gilmore girls in . . . hm, i'm not sure = 2 months maybe? okay, that one is shameful. but in all this, so far this hasn't interfered too much with my life. i just could be more productive. perhaps i'll phase out of it. but, so long as there's a good story to be told - i'm all ears!!

owen was eating lunch as normal today, when he put his hand up to his face and his pointer finger caught his nostrel. the look on his face was interest: what is this hole above my mouth that my finger can fit into? it was also curiosity: the hole stays there and i can keep putting my finger in it! and a little confusion: putting my little finger in too far doesn't feel that great and it makes my eyes water. a very amusing new discovery.

owen and i went for a walk and played outside this afternoon. we got out one of his warmer jackets and bundled him for the cold.

peek through the barnyard window

Owen and I played with his farmset today. This isn't an unusual occurrance, but we played with it a bit differently. I was laying on the floor and he noticed me though the haymow window. He was playing infront of it, while I was tapping my fingers on the inside of the window. He thought this was very funny, but his excitement grew when he found he could see my face in his little farmset! He just though this was fantastic. He moved on to opening the doors on the barn so far open that a couple popped off. He didn't intend for this to happen, and he kept trying to put them back on without success. He just kept opening and closing the one that was still intact. He would open it, reach in and touch the floor (he had the barn on its side so it was like opening a box then looking in). Since he enjoyed seeing my face so much in the barn I thought I'd try to relive the experience. He enjoyed this so much, too, especially since he could touch my face this time! We had a fun time doing this over and over again.

He is a very good walker now. He doesn't fall very often, and he really doesn't crawl anymore. He is still so very intentional about the whole thing, it's quite funny. His whole upper body tenses up, and he waddles around with his fists clenched, up by his face, and his shoulders shrugged! It's so cute.

Owen had a dr. appointment yesterday, a little overdue for his 1 yr check-up. He's a healthy little boy, our Doctor said. I didn't have any doubts, but it was good to hear. He apparently has fallen into the 25% for weight and height (used to be 75%) and his head circumference is now in the 75% while it used to be 25%! Interesting. Though his weight and height haven't changed much, I have brought out all his 12-18 month clothes now, as his arms and legs have certainly grown, most particularly his arms. That, and I'm more conscious of keeping him in clothes that cover him up now that is is getting winter-like outside. We took a nice brisk walk this afternoon and he wore his nice little mits and a warm hat. Though it was chilly, he seemed to enjoy it very much.

dear sweet walker.

I can officially say that Owen is walking. It happened yesterday. He still falls every once and a while, but that's to be expected. He's getting really good at re-balancing himself. Such a sweet boy. He is really into talking these days, too. Not to mention singing and fake laughing. He just really loves joining in these days.

of bops and giggles

Today Owen was full of smiles and giggles. He and I were the only ones at home today, and we did loads of playing with his toys and dancing to music. He loves listening to music! He stood infront of the stereo for a bit this morning, so I turned on the Flyers, and he immediately grew excited and started hitting his hands on the stereo table, while bopping up and down. He's been really attached to me holding him lately, which I don't mind of course, but it is hard to do things that way, so having him content to play on his own is helpful.

He has been doing a lot of phonetic imitating. He doesn't mimic sounds yet, but if I say, "yay yay yay" he'll do the same. And he loves fake laughing. It's really humorous, especially when it is accompanied with his little knee-slap.

I've gotten into the habit (mainly because Owen now looks for it) of saying Yay!! When he claps. He looks at me every time he starts clapping, in expectation of my encouragement and he gives a huge satisfied grin when I say it. Earlier today, when he did something I thought noteworthy, I said Yay! and he lifted one hand, passed the toy he had in one hand to the other, he realized that didn't work so he passed it back only then to put it down - all so he could clap! Haha! I didn't realize the association between clapping and Yay! was so strong until then. He heard the word, and all he could do was make it work to clap. man, he's so cute.

push to walk

Owen has discovered pushing this cart thing, which allows him to 'walk.' He loves doing it, and it takes great concentration and his tongue helps a lot with this.

Silly me, I took the video sideways. Sorry!