Life in the fast (slow) lane...

Life is interesting in the way that sometimes I feel like it is going really slow, but at the same I feel like time is moving so quickly. I feel that this is multiplied when I think of my days with Owen. Some days seem like they are never going to end, they seem to drag on and on, but then when I think of how fast he is growing up. I almost can't believe how fast the time is going. I am as usual way behind on blogging what has been going on with us, but I really feel like I don't know where to begin when talking about all the things Owen has learned to do and say since I last wrote about him. Kids really do grow up fast. I think Owen is in one of my favorite stages right now. He is learning so much and I am loving the fact that he understands me and I am beginning to understand him. Here are a few of his recent discoveries, abilities, and words.

• Owen loves to climb on anything he can. For instance he loves to open the dishwasher climb on top of it and then proceed to take anything he wants out of the dishwasher and grab anything else he can find on the counter right above the dishwasher. Not a good thing...especially if by chance his mother leaves a knife on the counter and he decides he wants to play with it. (He seriously has a guardian angel or maybe two watching out for him.) Nothing happened as a result of him carrying it around.


• Speaking of carrying around knives, he can also now reach things on the end of any counter...also not a good thing...considering his mother left a knife on a different counter top than was previously mentioned thinking that he could not reach it...too bad he could! Once again he was not harmed. Hopefully...no one reading this post has picked up the phone to report me to DFS. I promise that I really didn't think he could reach it.


• Owen loves to watch the PBS show Super Why. This isn't my favorite show, but he watches it so well that I must admit that he may or may not watch two episodes of it a day. One of the funny things he does when he watches it is that he "answers" the characters when they ask a question. For example, Super Why will say, "which one of these words starts with the letter T." And Owen will say, "Daaa." It is really funny to watch. I really need to record it before he stops doing it.
• His favorite thing to do in this world is run around the room and have us chase him. He LOVES it. He pretty much wants to do it all day long. Usually, I will play it with him for a little bit, but then I get tired of it and he will usually throw a fit when I say I am done. When we chase him we will also hide behind stuff and then jump out and scare him. He tries to mimic us peeking around the corner by leaning to one side, as if he were peeking around a corner. He is however standing in the middle of the room and not peeking around anything, but I guess in his mind he is doing the same thing we are doing.
• Whenever I put on my jacket or shoes on, Owen will automatically say, "Let's Go!" Although you can tell what he is saying, it isn't crystal clear. He loves when we go somewhere, which is probably because we don't go very many places!


• Some of the others words he currently says are: hello, nenna(Jenna), ook (Brooke), hot (mostly when we have a fire going or when he touches the dryer and it is still warm), ookie (cookie), cheerio (although most people wouldn't know what he was saying, I know that he is trying to say it), cracker (same as cheerio in that most people won't know what he was saying), diedie (diaper), whoa, no-no, uh-oh, eye, car, wow and dank dou (thank you). He tries to say a lot of other things, but only if we ask him to say it. He signs please and more, but really doesn't do anything else.


• He knows the animal sounds for tiger, lion, dog, kitty, snake, cow, monkey and pig. He also will occasionally do a fish face when I ask him to do it. I usually ask him every morning during breakfast what different animals say, mostly to distract him enough that he eats his oatmeal before he even realize what I am feeding him.


• He just started giving us kisses. It is actually pretty cute and not as slobbery yet as I am sure he will do in the future. Basically, he just opens his mouth and pushes it lightly on your face. Favorite thing he does right now!


• We have been trying to get him to be more reverent when we pray and so now he clasp his hands whenever we tell him we are going to pray. It usually only lasts a few seconds, but he does it and understands what we are asking him to do.


• He understands a lot of what I say to him. For example, I will ask him if he is ready for breakfast and he will run over to his seat. I tell him that it is time to brush his teeth (all 5 of them) and he will run to the bathroom door. I tell him it's time to take a nap and half the time he comes to have me pick him up to take him in his room and the other half he throws a fit and runs away. After I brush his teeth every night I tell him to go get Daddy for prayers and scriptures. He will go find Brent and then just kind of stand there by him until Brent realizes that Owen was sent to get him. Then Owen will run back to his room, looking back several times to make sure Brent is following him.
• This kid likes spaghetti, pizza, lasagna, green beans, grilled cheese sandwiches, enchiladas, crackers, cereal bars, and yogurt. But the only thing I can consistently get him to eat is fruit. He pretty much eats a whole piece of fruit by himself at every meal. Bananas, pears, mangos, oranges, pineapple, and peaches, you name it. At least I can count on him eating at least one thing, right?

Owen and Brent right after our huge snowstorm a few weeks ago. It was so crazy!

The view out our front door before Brent shoveled through it.

Owen loves to put things down his shirt or our shirt and then pull them out the other end. So, to aid in his obsession I put this vest on to he can put as many as he possibly can fit and still walk around without too many of them falling out.

Talking on Mommy's phone

See? What did I tell you about his obsession with fruit.

Trying to eat a ginormous apple

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit us in January.

Reading with Grandma

Showing off all his fun toys