ABCs

Recently Owen started saying E.O.P. E.O.P. E.O.P. over and over. We couldn't quite figure it out. Then he added "Now my E.O.P." and we figured out he was trying to say "Now I know my ABCs" (Amazing what the parents of 2 year olds can figure out.) So without further ado, after weeks of hard work, I present, the ABCs!!!! (Ok, so he loses interest around T and will only do it with prompting or quietly to himself. I'm not complaining!)

computer camera!

Owen loves taking pictures of himself on my computer. Here's a little overview. (I don't know why this is underlined, but I don't know how to fix it either...)


So his head looks like it's not attached to his body here, but I thought his "silly face" was cute :)


Another silly face.


Just silliness in general!

About 10 minute before bedtime, Owen started requesting a drive. He would not be deterred. I couldn't catch the persistence on video because he's too entranced by the sight of himself, but you get the idea.

Few new pictures of Owen

Owen got a big boy bed!
We took this one just for Uncle Mark.

For some reason, when we give Owen his medicine, he thinks he has to stand in this box.... ???

Geeks breed geeks, I guess.

Attempt at a family picture.

Owen chilling in the hot tub.

Ever time I TOUCH the door to Owen's room, he's up like a shot. He was asleep in our bed one night, so I got this one rare picture of him sleeping.

Lovely shot of the 2 of us, gross and sweaty, and Owen, rested and happy.

Owen's last trip in the backpack. Besides getting too big, he's starting to hate it.

We went to the cabin and Owen spent the whole trip moving this empty water jug around, like it was his duty.

Owen sings Wheels on the Bus.

Ok, so Mommy does the singing and Owen plays along. :) (And yes, that is the same shirt I had on yesterday. I'm sick, ok?)

You might have seen a theme in our starting position. Owen is obsessed with his thumb and my hair, so most of our videos (taken with my laptop on my lap) start this way. During the day, it's kind of cute. When he's grabbing your hair by climbing on top of your head in the middle of the night, it's less cute. Every time he gets sick (which is frequent now that he's started daycare), he ends up in our bed somehow. We've been very tired people.




You don't see Owen say much here (other than "oh yeah!") but he has had something of a speech explosion lately, which has us thrilled. People seem to think we'll want him to shut up some day. I don't think so! He's been walking around shaking his head saying "no no no" (there is just no end to people criticizing my housekeeping skills), but even that's pretty cute! He has the sweetest little voice! When he had croup last week, he'd have these horrible coughing spells and then he's say "Whoa!"

After 26 months of waiting to hear it...

Owen has finally decided that Mommy is as important as Elmo, Daddy, the kitties, and the many other words he has added lately. Yay for saying Mama! I thought I was going to be UGH forever! (Please excuse our disheveled appearance. Owen's had croup, and I've got strep)

Owen for Obama!

Owen, Grandma Lyla and I headed downtown on Thursday to see some of the Obama-mania. Very exciting! He's been adding some new words to his vocabulary lately, but we're still working on Obama!

I know, I know!

I'm a terrible blogger. I did figure out how to record a video using my computer, which makes uploading it here MUCH easier, so maybe I'll do it more frequently now.

Here's Owen blowing you a kiss!

Owen's cellphone obsession

Owen apparently decided that he likes talking on cellphones. While he was "talking", Cathy actually called the cell.

A few new pictures

Owen LOVES his slide!

Owen took a quick dip in the kiddie pool and then wanted to play, so I got lots of cute neekie shots. Hey, if you had a tractor, you'd ride it naked too! ????












Here's a picture of Owen running around the
apricot tree at my parent's house. For some reason, it was the most fun thing EVER!


I can't believe he's almost 2 years old! Where does the time go?

Mr. Chatty

Maybe one of these days new words for Owen will become routine, but not yet! In the past 3 days he went from saying 3 words (kitty, daddy, and boom) to 7! Now he says kitty, daddy, boom, AND ball, bubble, dog, apple!

More importantly, he's gotten much better at saying things when we ask (like "can you say Daddy?" and he'll say it.) This is a HUGE step because that's been a big hurdle for us. He'll imitate us doing all sorts of things (like Ben taught him to fake sneeze and fake yawn), but not making vocalizations. Now doing it in public will be a whole other matter...

No "mama" yet, but you know, I'm just chopped liver. At least he signs it :)

Owen's favorite new song.

One day I was singing the itsy bitsy spider and noticed that Owen was messing with his hands. A week later, he would start doing the spider part by himself to request a song. The irony was, as soon as we'd start singing, he'd sit back to enjoy the show and stop making the hand signs. Well, he's finally decided he could do it WHILE I sing, and I managed to catch it on tape. So, for your viewing pleasure (put your computer on mute if you don't want to hear my vocals!), here's the Itsy Bitsy Spider.




In case you were wondering, yes, he was very very tired when I filmed this. He was also sitting on a rocking ottoman and almost fell off a few times during taping, so please excuse the video jumping all over.

A few more videos for your viewing pleasure.

Now that I've figured out the video thing, I thought I'd pepper the blog with a little Owen cuteness.

Some good giggles

Oh, and by the way, we have a new spoken word. Yup, you guessed it. "BOOM!" So that makes kitty, dog and BOOM! Makes for some interesting conversation.

So you want to see how a baby signs (and find out where your bellybutton is?)

I realize watching this again that if I wanted him to demonstrate some signs I should have asked him to do things he LIKES, not asked him to sign sleep.

Owen's pants--a video test

We're not sure why, but today Owen started, um, adjusting himself. I THINK I've figured out how to put videos on here, so check it out!

I'm going to try this two ways and sees what works.

Here's a link:
Owen video.

(Just FYI, Daddy put on that unacceptably saggy diaper.)

Here's the video itself.







And a cute picture from the other day. Owen likes to wear Daddy's shoes.

Blog for thought

I've started reading this woman's blog, and it's so amazing. I've laughed, cried, ordered books and DVDs from amazon, and felt like I meant someone who GETS IT! What it's like to have a speech delayed child, that is. Here's a taste:

"I wonder when we'll stop celebrating every word. When we'll just nod and shrug and go on with our meal instead of pumping our fists in the air and laughing, like holy crap, did you just hear that? I wonder when I'll move him out of the "speech-delayed, present tense" and into the "speech-delayed, past tense, can you believe this kid used to ever not talk?", and when I'll stop flinching when strangers ask him questions he can't answer (What's your name? How old are you? You must be talkin' up a storm these days, huh?) and when family members ask me what sign he's making for the millionth time.

He's catching up, bit by bit and word by word. I feel like he's the least speech-delayed kid in early intervention -- like we already have no business being there anymore, OT issues aside -- but I still can't quite shake the worry that he's still not quite where he "should" be. Even though I honestly don't even know where, exactly, that is.

Four months ago, before the "diagnosis" and signing and speech therapy, he had five words, maybe six. Today, as of right now, including "hurt" which he just said for the first time five minutes ago, he has 71. I know that because I've written each and every one down. I wonder when I'll stop doing that too, like I did with the list of signs when I realized that he basically knew every sign on every DVD.

I'm ready to let go of the labels and the worry. I'm even ready to let go of the lists.

But I'm not ready to stop the celebrating."

I thought of the list of signs and sounds we have on the fridge that I check off and add to, and I realized I'm just not there yet. I hope that every sound is really a word and can't stop thinking about the day when he'll just talk. I want to SMACK every person who says "oh, someday you'll wish he never learned to talk." I wish I knew what to say to the lady at the grocery store who asks Owen what his name is.

Anyway, it's good. If you want a glimpse into the thoughts in my head, check it out.

http://www.amalah.com/amalah/speech_delays/index.html

This is just the index of speech delay entries. I read it from the bottom up (earliest to most recent post), and the Sept. 17, 2007 entry was really helpful to me.

Little comparison?

Owen's learning signs as fast as we can think of them in the past couple of weeks. I was just looking at the list below and realized just how fast he's learning them.

2ish weeks ago he knew the 11 I listed below. In addition to those, he now knows and uses:

1. Movie
2. Cheese
3. Shoes
4. Socks
5. Sleep
6. Bubble
7. Open
8. Book
9. Mom
10. Dad
11. banana
12. airplane
    
13. Some others I'm forgetting, maybe?

Anyway, in the year or so since we started signing with him, he learned 11 signs. In the last 2 weeks he learned 12 more! Go Owen go!

He's also starting to really copy our mouth movements and sometimes the sounds we're making. For whatever reason, he never really did a lot of this. We're really working on this now, and I'm seeing big improvements. I THINK he's saying Dog, Bye-Bye and Bubble now, in addition to Kitty. (Bubble, Bye Bye and Bath might all be in his vocab, but if they are they sound the same. He said ba-ba while waving to the outside before nap time. He says ba-ba in the bath a lot, and I'm not sure whether he means bath or bubble or both since we often blow bubbles in the bathtub.)

A few more pictures

Just for the record, YES, we know the boy needs a haircut. Mommy's just too cheap to pay for it (and too chicken to try doing it herself.)


Oh, and for the record, Peek a Boo NEVER EVER gets old. He looks like he's up to something here, don't you think. Grandma Lyla says he has a well developed sense of irony because he signed "all done" one day when she was leaving. She gives him a BIT more credit than the rest of us, but I guess he is her only grandchild. :)

Neither do airplanes! Good thing we live near a (small) airport!)

A day at the zoo...and what Owen thinks of his parents.

There are more Owen pictures coming, but my camera battery died in the middle of a download, so I'll have to come back and try again when I have more time!

I'm trying to sort out how to rotate pictures on here. They look normal on my computer, but blogger knows best. In the meantime, just do a little mental workout and rotate it in your head, will you?

This is just a cute picture of Owen at the zoo the other day. The weather is finally cooperating, so we had a nice outing with Grandpa, who met us there and came with us for cupcakes afterwards. (Well, Owen had peas, but he still doesn't know what he's missing!)


Ben and Grandpa Ken walking with Owen. He's FINALLY gotten really good about holding our hand when we're out somewhere. It's totally cute. He also gets a big kick out of two people holding his hands and flying him through their air over puddles, etc.


This is probably the least flattering picture of Owen ever, but it cracks me up. Notice Ben pointing to something of interest (a monkey, I believe). Now notice Owen's eyes craned as far as humanly possible in the OPPOSITE direction. Little stinker :)


Owen's started signing his version of "Mommy" and "Daddy." Well, mostly Daddy, and mostly only when we bribe, beg and plead, but we're happy to get some acknowledgment in the growing list of signs, finally. The kid will sign "bubble," for God's sake. The funny thing about baby sign language is that a lot of the signs are sort of approximations, just like with speech. For example, the sign for "help" is to make a thumbs up sign and then to lift it with your other hand. Owen has translated this into just lifting both hands. He doesn't know he's doing it wrong, and we know what he means. Well, Daddy and Mommy are kind of the same. "Daddy" is to open your hand with your fingers splayed and point your thumb at your forehead. Owen has somehow turned this into pinch your fingers together and stick them in your ear. We've got lots of parallels to draw between this approximation and the picture above :) (Stick it in your ear, Daddy!) Ah, well. This is why we want him to talk.

Signing machine

Well, the boy may not say much, but he is a signing machine! It's nice to be able to communicate with him (mostly. The other day he was signing all done the second we sat him at the table to eat. He didn't like what we were serving.) He did start saying "da" (Dog) consistently, which is good. We thought he was saying this a while ago and then didn't hear it again. It's back!

His list of signs is now pretty long, which is good:

• Drive/car
• Music
• Help
• Bath
• All Done
• More
• Eat
• Milk
• Bye
• Yes/you're welcome (Kind of a weird Japanese nod)
• No

Now we're working on:

• Movie
• Shoes
• Socks
• Cheese
• Change (as in diaper change) Wouldn't it be great if he could say when he needed to be changed? It would be a huge step towards potty training!

If you want to learn to talk "Owen," here's a useful sign language dictionary (with videos!)
Baby Sign Dictionary

Old McOwen had a farm (pics!)

Old McOwen had a farm

Owen, Grandma Lyla and Cathy went to the Stock Show on Monday, and Owen had a grand time. Watch this space for pictures!

Stats

Owen had his 18month well-baby checkup today and seems to be outgrowing his "Q-tip" build a tiny bit. Historically he's been 90+%tile for height and head circumference and 17-25%tile for weight. So a tall skinny boy with a GIANT head. Well, he still has an enormous melon (the pediatrician says it's lots of brains to make me feel better, I guess). I knew he'd have an enormous head from looking at my family, and looking at both sides, the height is no surprise. He's now 25 lbs (40th%tile), 34 inches (85%tile) and off the charts for head circumference. (They just say above 97th%tile to make you feel better, I think)

We can now add "bath" to his list of signs. We're going to start working on "help" "cheese" and a few others. More importantly, he strung two signs together "more bath" and "more milk" etc. This means he can argue (when we took him out of the bath, he signed "MORE BATH!" because bedtime is what comes after bath time.) More importantly, it means he understands how language works. Now we just need to get sounds other than pterodactyl imitations to come out of his mouth.

Here's to you, Uncle Mark!
So here are a few recent pictures. There was this temporary tattoo that came with toy or something, so I put it on Owen's arm to see what he thought. #1, he was not amused. He wanted it OFF! He did finally get used to it. #2, those puppies are hard to get off! He ended up having it on for about a week. #3 What amazes me about this is how much he remembers. He hasn't had it on for about a week and a half, but he keeps pulling up his sleeve to look at his arm, like "where did it go?" I can't believe he remembers something like that for so long. I asked him today where his tattoo was and he just looked at his arm like "I don't KNOW!"


First sledding!
My Dad really wanted to get a sled for Owen, but for some reason couldn't find one in the stores. He looked several places. In the end, he put some holes on a tub and attached a rope. It works :) Owen wasn't overly impressed with the experience, but I think it will get better with time. We just pulled him this time because we didn't go to a steep enough hill.

Downward Dog
Owen likes yoga. Well, really he likes looking between his legs, but we'll call it yoga. Not bad form, huh?

Elder-wii.
Ok, so this isn't Owen, but I had to post it. On New Year's Eve my parents and the Hatfields came over, along with some other people, and there ended up being a wii cow racing smack down. I bet Nintendo didn't know they could market to the over-60 crowd!

Later dudes!

Confessions of a slacker Mommy

Yes, it's been since November that I've posted any pictures. I see Owen so much, though, that I don't notice all of the funny little things he does as much as people. Here are some things he's learned in the last few months:

Fake yawning. Ben taught him this.
Fake sneezing. Also a Daddy trick. It's actually kind of helpful because he blows air out his nose so we're hoping it will help him learn to blow it and blow bubbles in the pool.
Walk backwards into things. Don't ask me why, but it's HYSTERICAL to him. We're trying to teach him that walking backwards is moonwalking.
Spinning. Just for fun.
Making a weird croaking noise with his voice. Think Dracula.
To sign "all done, more, milk (his favorite) and eat" Milk is pretty funny. The sign is to make a motion like you're milking a cow, and Owen does it really fast and frantically with both hands.

We're still mystified about why he'll imitate us making weird sounds like sneezing but won't immitate us making sounds like "mama" or "ball." We're working on some strategies that are supposed to help with this. The signing is supposed to go a long ways towards encouraging speech because they get the idea that they can influence actions/the world with communication and get what they want. Nonetheless, Owen is getting increasingly frustrated (as are we!) with life because he's more insistent about what he wants to do and still unable to communicate it for the most part. We're hoping this will actually help, though it's leading to more tantrums in the meantime. Part of the reason he doesn't say much is that he's so content with the world that he doesn't have super strong desires, it seems. A little frustration could motivate him to WANT to communicate more.

Speaking of Tantrums, Owen had his first big public one the other day. He LOVES the fire truck at the Children's Museum. I mean kitty loves. When we're there, we have a hard time getting him to do anything else.

Though he may love the fire truck, he's less thrilled with the fire fighter's clothing. This is a really cute picture, and I wish I could figure out how to rotate it on here.

Here's Owen looking mischievous for X-mas pics. Hmmm... How could I screw up Mommy's shot?

I LOVE this picture. I actually submitted it to the Regis and Kelly Cute Baby Contest (because the winner gets $125k towards college, and who could pass up a shot at that?) Just for the record, the Santa hat was in the water about 2 seconds after this picture.


The light outside was just amazing one night, so I went out and grabbed a few shots of Owen and Daddy playing in the backyard. Owen has become obsessed with going outside. He just likes to walk around crunching snow. He also likes to throw the ball to the dog, though he's going to have to work on distance.

Jeff, Kelly, Ben, Owen and I braved 20 degree temperatures and met downtown to see the Parade of Lights. It was fun. Owen was getting a little cranky by the end but would calm down the second he caught sight of the next float or balloon heading our way.

This is X-mas day at Justinian and Christina's. We were trying to get a picture of all 3 kids on the couch together. I don't know what we were thinking. This is the best I got.

Most of them were more like this:


Tiernan's performance gives me hope that someday this picture will be a lot easier to take. Actually, now that I look at this one, she doesn't look terribly lady like. At least she sat on the couch!

This is by far Owen's LEAST favorite gift. Who knew Tickle me Ernie was so traumatic? He's scared to death of him. Edges away from us when we point to him. Won't touch him. Freaks out if we turn him on. Maybe someday it will be a hit, but for now it's Owen torture.

Owen's new BFF Cesar. They're doing pretty well together.

Owen's preferred position. We're trying to discourage it because Cesar doesn't like being pinned down.

Owen and Grammy at the Children's Museum while they were here for X-mas. I'm a terrible Daughter in Law. This is the best picture I got of them together. At least there's a great one of Ruth Ben and Owen from Thanksgiving.


And last but not least, Owen's visit to Santa. It wasn't too bad. Owen wasn't overly fond of Santa, but he liked feeding Mrs. Clause some of his snacks. (The Santa here is a guy I used to teach with, Don King, who dyes his beard and hair every year to do this. Mrs. Clause is his wife Kim (but that's a wig :) The first time I saw him with the Santa beard, I didn't know he worked as Santa and I thought he was having a weird anti-midlife crisis.)