Owen at Twelve Months.

I'm about two months late in posting this, but better late than never, right?

Length: 30 inches (53rd percentile)

Weight: 18 lbs 4 oz (8th percentile- wahoo!)

Head:17.5 lbs (10th percentile)

Owen is such a sweet, happy little guy and I can't believe that he's been in our family for a year! Owen continues to be a happy, calm, and curious little guy. He wakes up happy and stands in his crib just waiting for me to come get him. When I come into his room he gets all excited, hands me his blanket, and then puts his arms up for me to pick him up. 

While you can't see it in the picture, Owen finally has two teeth on the bottom! He was a sad little teether and seemed pretty uncomfortable with the whole process. Too bad this is just the beginning. 

Owen has a really consistent sleeping schedule- wake up around 7-7:30, naps at 10 and 2 or 3, and then bedtime at 8. Owen still wakes up once a night for the most part, but sometimes sleeps through the night and it feels like the best thing ever. 

Owen has no interest in cow's milk at this time- in fact, he gets really, really upset about it. He will not take a bottle from me and he won't take a whole milk bottle from anyone else. If it's not my milk, he doesn't want any part of it. This is not helpful for me, as I'm really ready to phase out breastfeeding! At 12 months I'm still nursing him 4 times each day with hopes to start tapering things off this month. 

Owen is absolutely opposite from Dylan when it comes to eating habits. He loves all fruits and vegetables, but has little interest in breads and pastas. No complaints from me- I love that he loves healthy foods. Typically I give Owen some YoBaby yogurt and cheerios for breakfast, two pouches of baby food and some chopped up fruit for lunch, a snack of fruit, raisins, applesauce, etc, and then whatever we're eating for dinner, plus more baby food and/or cooked vegetables. 

Owen is so interested in toys and also loves to look at books. He has a few in our living room that he's always pulling out and flipping through. He also loves Dylan's toys and always wants to be into whatever Dylan is doing. 

Owen is still crawling for the most part, but he will take a step here and there between cruising on the furniture. I'm so ready for him to walk, because his poor knees, shins, and feet are getting so scratched up when we're outside. I put him in pants a lot because of this, but it's starting to heat up and I know shorts will be a better choice soon. So far he refuses to keep his shoes on, but he just has a pair of baby sandals from Target and they are not difficult to remove. Owen is great at going up and down stairs, although I still watch him really closely when he's on the stairs- I don't need him to fall and break his collarbone like Dylan did at 18 months!

Owen is absolutely obsessed with Ben. Those two have the sweetest, happiest relationship and I love that they're such pals. Owen gets so excited when Ben comes home after work and usually spends the rest of the evening wanting to be held by his dad. They wrestle and play, and Dylan usually joins in on whatever they're doing. 

Here are a few pictures from Owen at 12 months, including a few from his birthday and party:

Dinner Time: Honey Lime Chicken Taquitos.

Hey pals, I know that my blogging has been less than consistent lately (or consistent only of baby updates), but I just made this recipe last night and you need to make it for dinner immediately. No lie, this recipe was easy and absolutely delicious. Even Dylan loved it, and when my ridiculously picky 4 year eats it up, I feel definite feelings of triumph. Like I feel like there should be a balloon drop in my kitchen or something. Just don't make me clean it up, ok?

I found the recipe for Honey Lime Chicken Taquitos  on Six Sister's Stuff, which is a great resource for dinner ideas. 

So take my word for it, this recipe is awesome- cook it, eat it, enjoy it. 

Baked Honey Lime Chicken Taquitos Recipe

Author: Six Sisters' Stuff (Elyse)

Recipe type: Main Dish

Prep time:  40 mins Cook time:  20 mins Total time:  1 hour

Serves: 5

Ingredients

6 Tablespoons honey

5 Tablespoons lime juice

1 Tablespoon chili powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

12-15 flour tortillas

2 cups shredded Monterrey jack cheese

1 cup green enchilada sauce

½ cup sour cream

Instructions

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together honey, lime juice, chili powder and garlic powder. Add shredded chicken to the mixing bowl and let it marinate in the fridge for at least a ½ hour, but preferably a half day or so.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spread chicken mixture evenly between flour tortillas, top with cheese and roll up tightly, placing seam side down on a baking sheet. Spray the tops of the taquitos with nonstick cooking spray (or brush with a little vegetable oil). Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tortillas are golden brown.

Whisk together enchilada sauce and sour cream and serve with taquitos.

Owen at Eleven Months.

Less than two days until Owen turns one (!), so let's get started with his 11 month update:

Owen has become absolutely and completely obsessed with Ben. Whenever Daddy is around, all is right with the world, and there is nothing else that he wants than to be held by his dad or at least have him in his line of sight. We visit Ben at work almost every day, and it's so cute to hear Owen babbling in the back seat like normal until I ask him, "Owen, do you want to go see da-da?" Once he hears that, all he says/shouts/screeches/what have you is "Da-da-da-da-daaaaaa!" His adoration for Ben knows no bounds, and you know what? Ben is a spectacular dad who deserves to be adored by his boys. End of story.

Owen has no interest in walking on his own, although he cruises around furniture like a pro and walks if he's holding on to our hands. He also goes up the stairs at lightening speed and recently learned out to go down the stairs too. Owen stands on his own quite a bit and is getting better and better at standing for longer periods of time.

Owen's communication seems to be about the same as last month- saying ma-ma, da-da, na-na, and up. He seems to be understanding more and more each day and can obey many simple commands. He also has a number of games that he likes to play- peek a boo, so big, steal the binkie, and wrestling with daddy. He has also started shaking his head "no" when he's not into something, specifically when he's done eating.

Owen still doesn't have any teeth, but it seems like his bottom teeth will be coming in any day. What he does have, though, is the most adorable blond hair that curls like crazy after bath time. Love, love, love it. 

I have reached month 11 of my 12 month goal to breastfeed Owen. I have mixed feelings about transitioning Owen to cow's milk in just a few weeks. On the upside, I am So. Dang. Ready. to stop lugging my pump to work. It's just one more thing to cart in and out of my office building. I'm also so done with taking pumping breaks at work 1-2 times per workday. Yes, the breaks are lovely, but it is also stressful to plan my day around a pumping schedule. I'm also excited to have the worry of "Does the sitter have enough milk for Owen?" removed from my plate. I can just give her a jug of regular milk and call it good! On the downside, I loooove the bonding side of nursing. It's our quiet snuggle time, and both Owen and I love it. I don't plan on cutting nursing cold turkey (I can't imagine the discomfort of nursing 4 times each day to 0.... ouch!), but I'm going to start and drop daytime feedings, but keep the first and last feedings of the day for now. That's the plan at least, and I may change my tune next month when I actually try and change things.

Owen is such a great eater. He loves baby food, solid food, and anything in between. Strawberries, watermelon, pears, cantaloupe, grapes, blueberries, bananas, and raspberries are his favorite fruits. Corn, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, and cucumbers seem to be the favorite vegetables. He also loves goldfish crackers, yogurt, chicken, and almost everything else that I've given him. He seems to have mixed feelings about oatmeal and shredded cheese- sometimes he likes it, other times he isn't interested. The quantity of food that he eats greatly varies from day to day. Sometimes he eats and eats, and other times he'll just have a little bit here and there.

Owen is a pretty good sleeper, although I'm ready for him to consistently start sleeping through the night. Most days he wakes up around 7, naps at 10 (1-1.5 hours), naps at 2 or 3 (1.5-3 hours), and then goes down for the night at 8. Lately he wakes up most nights around 3 or 4, nurses for a quick minute, and then goes back down for bed. Owen likes to be swaddled in his blanky, although he is able to get out of the swaddle in .5 seconds and is just fine with it. He also wants his pacifier during naptime and bedtime, but it also comes out about .5 seconds after being in his crib and is just fine. He's just a creature of habit and loves his routine.

Here are a few pictures of my Owen Maverick:

Owen at Ten Months.

Yikes, I have fallen behind in my monthly Owen posts! He just turned 11 months, but here is a little bit about our sweet boy in month 10.

Owen is on the brink of toddler-hood and it breaks my heart just a little bit. How are we already at this point? I feel like I just had Owen, and now he's always on the move. This month has been a little more challenging than previous months... he has definitely become more whiny and irritable at times, but he is still sweet and happy most of the time. When Owen wants my attention he wants my attention, and he will definitely let me know when he doesn't like something (such as me walking by him when he wants to be picked up). But when he's happy? It's so adorable- his sweet smile and dimples are always on display, and he loves to play and laugh. 

  Owen loves, loves, loves Dylan and always wants to be around him, especially first thing in the morning. After having his diaper changed and nursing, he crawls to Dylan's door and wants to push it open. Owen prefers to play alongside his brother, and Dylan usually enjoys it too. Owen absolutely adores his daddy and sometimes calls for him in the morning when he wakes up saying, "Da-da-da-da." While I am still the mommy and security blanket, there are times when Ben is holding him and I walk up to take Owen in my arms, Owen will lean away from me and snuggle closer to Ben. Owen is very affectionate and is always giving kisses, attacking our noses, or putting his face next to mine for a quick little love.

Owen is getting more confident about cruising around on the furniture and seems closer to being a real stander, rather than just standing for a few seconds. To be honest, since Owen was such an early crawler I totally thought he would be walking by now, but right now he doesn't have much interest. Why walk when he can crawl everywhere at lightening speed? Owen is constantly climbing all over me and likes to grab the neckline of my shirts for stability. This has definitely resulted in indecent exposure more than a few times.

Owen is still nursing about 4-5 times each day. Some days he's all about it, and others he only nurses for a minute before being on the go again. It has been my plan to nurse until he was a year and then introduce cow's milk. I'm not sure how well this will be received, because the few times I have tried to give Owen a bottle he was not a happy baby. Owen still doesn't have any teeth (hooray!), so nursing hasn't gotten complicated by that yet. Owen loves solids and eats just about everything that I've given him. Fruits, vegetables, cheese, yogurt, shredded chicken, rice, pasta... he'll try it all. Unfortunately, that also means that he's tried some disgusting things too- including dirt and dog poop. We were at the park and he picked up what I thought was a piece of tree bark. As usual, he put it right in his mouth. When I went to take the bark away, I realized that it was actually dog poop. Yuck! I wiped off his hands, mouth, and tongue was careful not to kiss his mouth until after he received a more thorough cleaning at home. 

Winter has not been easy for Owen, and he came down with a double ear infection this month. Poor baby just can't catch a break! Luckily, I knew exactly what to watch out for with Owen's ear infection (since he just had one a few months ago), so I got him into the doctor and on antibiotics as soon as I recognized his discomfort and fussiness. 

We love our sweet Owen Maverick and are so blessed to have him in our family! Here are a few pictures of Owen from the past month:

A peek inside our lives.

There are so many things about this video that make me happy. I love this little family of mine.

Owen at Nine Months.

Owen's 9 month stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 12 oz. (6th percentile)

Length: 28 3/4 in (59th percentile)

Head: 17 1/4 in (14th percentile)

Our happy, smiley boy is 9 months old! Owen continues to be such a joy to our family and we love having him in our home so, so much. Owen has been a happy and content little boy since day 1, and his sweet smiles are contagious. Everyone we meet seems to comment on what a happy boy he is and Owen is quick to give a big grin. In fact, when we were at the grocery store the other day our cashier said that he looked a babydoll, because his face was so sweet. 

Owen is a crawling machine and is getting anywhere and everywhere super quick. He pulls up on everything and cruises from one piece of furniture to the other with ease. He's even a pro at going up the stairs! He has also started standing on his own on occasion, and can stand by himself for about 5 seconds before dropping to the ground. 

Owen is a mischievous little guy and is so fascinated by things that are not for him- the cat's water dish, the dishwasher, and toilet paper are some of his favorites. Dylan is his favorite playmate and he loves to be watching whatever his brother is doing. Lucky for Owen, Dylan absolutely loves "his baby" and is happy in include him in almost everything. Owen has started to play "so big" and peek-a-boo, which is absolutely adorable. 

Owen is a noisy little guy and has been communicating more and more each week. He calls me ma-ma-ma and Ben da-da. He's also started lifting up his arms and saying "uhhh!" for up. When he wants milk, he frequently starts saying na-na, which I find adorable. One thing that I love is that Owen still doesn't have any teeth, so his smile is still more baby looking than toddler. I just want to keep Owen a baby for as long as possible!

Owen's sleeping habits are pretty good and predictable. He has recently transitioned to two naps each day, one around 10 am and then another around 2 or 3. Bedtime has always been between 7:30-8, and he never puts up a fuss about going to bed. Sleeping through the night doesn't always happen- I'd say he wakes up one out of every three nights. I keep telling myself that it's just habit and to let him put himself back to sleep, but I always give in and snuggle and nurse him for a few minutes. He wakes up for the day between 7 and 8 am,  happy as a clam. 

Owen is still nursing 4-5 times each day, but never for very long. When he has a bottle he rarely drinks more than 5 oz. at a time, but I remember when Dylan was this age he would drink 8 oz. without a problem. Owen absolutely loves food! He usually eats a Yo-Baby yogurt  and some Cheerios for breakfast, has 2 baby foods for lunch, and has whatever we have for dinner, or some more baby food if our dinner isn't baby-friendly. Owen loves to feed himself anything that he can. Raspberries, blueberries, corn, cut up grapes, bananas, yogurt melts, puffs, and crackers are some of his favorites. He also drinks a little from a sippy cup. The only thing that he didn't seem to love was cottage cheese, because the texture is so different. I can't blame him though- I cannot stand cottage cheese. Funny enough, Owen's favorite meal is green beans with mashed up avocado-- two things that I don't like at all. The main goal is to ensure that Owen isn't a picky eater- we allowed Dylan to become picky and it has been a nightmare ever since-- I'm not going to deal with another picky eater! Please notice that his weight has gone from the 2nd percentile to the 6th percentile- something I'm so, so happy about. Ever since he dropped to the 2nd percentile I have been so worried about him chunking up, and the jump to the 6th percentile had me pretty dang thrilled. 

Poor Owen got sick again this month- he had a high fever (with no other major symptoms) for a few days and was just so sad and lethargic. Owen has not had an easy winter, health-wise... too many colds and other illnesses! After a few days he was acting like himself and was all over the place with a smile on his face. 

Here are a few pictures of our sweet boy from the past month. Some are happy, some are sick, and some are angry. Love my baby boy!

Owen at Eight Months.

Owen is getting so big! Eight months! Here is a little bit about our boy...

The day after he turned seven months, Owen starting crawling up on his knees, instead of army crawling. Now he is so much faster and seems to get from one end of the room to the other at lightening speed. In true baby fashion, he is all about power cords, random bits of fuzz and dust on the ground, and the cat's water dish. Essentially, he wants anything that he's not supposed to have. He's also pulling up on everything in sight, and is starting to cruise around while holding onto furniture. 

Owen is starting to make so many little sounds and is always babbling and squealing. Ma-ma, da-da, ja-ja, etc. are frequent sounds. He's actually starting to say ma-ma a lot more, and I'm wondering whether he is associating it with me at all. It may be too early, but I know that within a few months he will definitely be directing ma-ma toward me. Owen continues to have such a sweet, happy personality. He's still extremely smiley and gives giant open-mouthed kisses. My makeup is never safe, because it seems like as soon as my makeup is done for the day he gives my nose, cheek, or mouth a giant, slobbery kiss. And I don't mind at all- he's just too sweet.

Owen has had a difficult winter so far- he and Dylan both had croup in December and Owen is recovering from his first ear infection. Last week he started getting super fussy, especially during mealtimes and nursing, and he was not sleeping well. I was thinking that he may have been teething, so we were giving him Orajel and teething tablets and wondering why he was still so uncomfortable. My mommy gut was telling me that it might be his ears, and I'm so happy that I listened and took him in to the ped- he had an infection in his left ear. Poor boy! After 12 days on meds he is good as new! 

Owen is still happy, happy, except when you try to do either of these things: change his diaper or get him dressed. Owen does not like to lay on his back, because all he wants to do is roll over and go, go go. He's started doing what Ben and I call "the death spiral." He tries and tries to get off of his back no matter what and gets super angry when you won't let him. Sorry Owen, but you have to be on your back when I change you. There is nothing that we can do to avoid him trying to roll over- we give him fun things to hold (even non-baby items that would normally capture his attention, like hair clips, hand mirrors, etc.) and he still tries to roll. I hope that this is just a phase and he'll realize that his attempts to roll over during diaper change time are futile, and he just needs to suck it up and stay on his back. 

Owen is finally getting back to sleeping through the night- hallelujah! It seems like ever since he had croup a month and a half ago he has gotten into the habit of waking up around 2 or 3 am, but he is finally getting back to waking up around 6ish for a feeding and then going back to bed until around 7-8am. Owen usually take three 60-90 minute naps each day, although sometimes he just takes two if one of his naps is super long. 

Owen doesn't have any teeth yet, which I am perfectly ok with- I love his sweet, gummy smile, and I also enjoy nursing without worrying about teeth. Speaking of nursing, Owen still nurses about 5 times each day- when he wakes up in the morning, after each of his naps, and before bed. I don't think he's drinking as much lately, since some of his nursing sessions have been so short. The milk is there, but it seems like Owen doesn't want to waste time nursing, he just wants to be on the move. Owen is great with baby food and has loved everything that he's tried. He's also started to self feed and gets so excited about Gerber puffs or yogurt melts. I give him little bits of bread, quartered raspberries, peeled and quartered grapes... the boy loves it all. We also started using a food grinder, so that we can grind up whatever we're eating for dinner and feed it to him, as long as dinner isn't too spicy, impractical, etc. 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the past month:

Let's just pretend that it's still Christmastime, ok?

 We had such a wonderful December and I'm sad that it has come and gone. After my birthday on the 8th, it was time for the Christmas countdown. We left for Indiana on the 18th for eleven relaxing days with family. A few days before we left, Dylan's preschool had a Christmas party. It was so cute- there was food, Santa, singing, and a little present for parents. Dylan's class made a class recipe book with a recipe that each child shared. It was darling and hilarious. Here is Dylan's favorite recipe:

Dylan has this obsession with ice sculptures (no joke- he wanted one at his birthday party) and I'm so happy that they were included in the recipe. 

This is a classic example of Dylan's sweet and sour personality. He was not interested in singing with the other children at the Christmas party- he's in the green shirt. 

Ben didn't come to Indiana until Christmas Eve, but we Face Timed with him multiple times each day. Owen would get so excited for Face Time- I'm not sure if it was because he loved seeing himself on my phone, or if he was excited to see Ben's picture. Either way, his reactions were darling. 

Watching TV at my parent's house was super fun for Dylan, since he was able to watch from his "nest." He wanted to have his backpack on a lot with all of his toys inside. 

On Christmas Eve we had a little Nativity reenactment. Dylan was Joseph, Evvie was Mary, Owen was baby Jesus, and I was the angel 

Another example of Dylan's sweet and sour personality... the boys on Christmas Eve in their matching jammies. 

Ben did some fancy wrapping for my Christmas gifts. I wonder what this one was???

The day after Christmas we went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum... so much fun!

And then on the 27th I was able to meet up with some of my most wonderful childhood friends for dinner. Can't wait to see them again in March for Dr. Lindsey's wedding!

Owen loves his grandma so much!

Seesters!

Cousins!

Aaaaand some airport hilariousness. Love!

It was a wonderful December and I wish we could just do it all again!