Mr. Independent

Owen decided this past week that he prefers to feed himself. He does NOT want to eat from a spoon anymore. So, we've had to get really creative with finger foods. He's eating all kinds of new things now: cucumbers, cheese, cantaloupe, watermelon, peaches, kiwi, crackers, and basically any veggie/fruit sliced up. This has made meal time VERY messy! Because of this, Owen has been taking a lot more baths lately!

GET ME OUT OF HERE!

Playing peek-a-boo with the shower curtain.

First Steps!

I cannot believe I'm actually writing this......Owen just took his first steps! It's taken us both by surprise. We knew he was going to walk early, but this early???? Jeez, we are in trouble! Micah was doing dishes and Owen walked from our trash can (3 steps) to the open dishwasher. He loves to play with the dirty dishes. And he's taken a few random steps since then. CRAZY!!!

Look at those teeth!

A few nights ago Owen picked yellow squash from our garden. Then he played with them before we cooked and pureed them.

We know this is gross, but Owen loves to play in the dog's water bowl. We try to keep him away from it, but sometimes he's just too quick!


Just Owen laughing......

Family Pictures

Owen had his 9 month doctor's appointment yesterday and he is still a BIG boy! He weighs 21.5 pounds (70th percentile) and is 31.5 inches long (100+ percentile). So he's tall and skinny. Today we had some cheesy family pictures taken. We hadn't done this since Owen was born, so it's fun to have a few.






We had this picture taken for Owen's Grandma Willems (Kelly's mom). She made this quilt and stuffed hippo before Owen was even born! Is she talented or what??? Nine months ago when we brought Owen home from the hospital, he was smaller than this hippo.

Asheville, North Carolina

The reason we haven't posted anything new lately is because we've been on a vacation! We went to Asheville, North Carolina to visit our friends Kim and Corey and their precious daughter Natalie. We were supposed to get home yesterday, but we missed our connecting flight in Denver and had to stay the night (with no bags or anything). This is extra hard with a baby, but Owen is a trooper. We even ran out of diapers on the flight home today. But I think I was most upset about not having a brush to comb my hair.

Natalie is only 2 months younger than Owen and they were fun to watch interact with each other. Owen would get so excited around her and just grab her shirt and pull her towards him. We've got to teach the boy some manners!

Asheville is a gorgeous area....very green and lush with tons of trees (basically the exact opposite of Nevada). Downtown Asheville is filled with great local shops, restaurants, and interesting architecture. Kim and Corey also took us to the Biltmore Estate, which was fabulous! Our favorite thing about the Biltmore Estate was the gardens/conservatory. It was absolutely stunning!

9 Months Old!

Today is Owen's 9 month birthday! It's amazing that he's been out in the world for just as long as he grew inside my body. Wow! Oh, and he has 2 teeth now. I need to try to catch them in a picture.



Here Owen is getting a driving lesson and it doesn't look like it's going very well. Don't worry, he's only pulling the car into the garage (we promise).

Reno Balloon Races

Yesterday we took Owen to the annual Reno Balloon Races! This is one of our favorite events to attend and Owen really enjoyed looking at all of the balloons. Our friends Kristin and Jack met us there bright and early at sunrise. We got there just in time to see all the balloons taking off for a mass launch. Afterwards we went to our friends Enid and Cory's house (who live right down the road from the park). They had a great breakfast party for all their friends who attended the balloon races. Owen had so much fun playing with all the other babies and kids that were there.

Here is a cool video Micah took:

Owen & Friends

Ryder came over to play a few days ago. They spend 3 days a week together and have become buddies. They really like to wrestle each other.



Here's Owen and Brock playing in a cool sand/water box.


As you can see, Owen is quite a bit bigger than his friends.....well, Kirby still has him beat but he's catching up fast! We weighed him today and he is about 22 pounds.

Playing at the Park

It sure was nice having Micah home with us today for Labor Day! We went to a park and relaxed this afternoon.

Chase, Finger Foods, and Ribs

Owen is so much fun these days! He's learned how to play chase and hide & seek! He loves it when we crawl after him and also when we hide from him. He's recently starting eating finger foods. Right now he feeds himself these little puff things.....kind of like cheerios except softer. He loves them and it sure keeps him busy. And the dogs have already learned that Owen drops some of them on the ground.....so anytime Owen eats, the dogs are close by! :o)

Here's Owen helping his dad bake cookies.

We went to the Rib Cook-Off in Reno on Sunday. It's a huge event every Labor Day weekend. Last year we went when I was pregnant and this year we went with a friend who is 8 months pregnant. Amazing how quickly things change......

Just Hangin'

We thought these pictures of Owen in our tree were cute:

GET THIS BIB OFF!

We always post really cute, smiley pictures of Owen on our blog. And for the most part, he is a really happy baby. But lately he has decided he HATES wearing a bib at mealtime. These pictures are just too funny.....we snapped them tonight after he ate dinner. Normally he just pulls the bib right off, but he was having trouble tonight (and he was pissed).

Here's two lovely pictures of Owen, to balance out the fussy pictures! We had a nice afternoon at the park today.

Micah's Home!

Micah was in Chicago for a business trip all last week and we really missed him! I had never stayed with Owen by myself for so long, but we made it (although we didn't sleep much because of the teething....Micah lucked out)! On Saturday we went to a baby sign language class, which has really encouraged us to start signing with Owen. We are starting with some basic signs: milk, eat, dog, thank you, please, more, all done, drink, ball, fan (he loves fans), mommy, and daddy. If we are consistent, he could start signing back to us in about 2 months or less. It's so exciting to think he will be able to communicate with us before he can even speak!


This afternoon we went up to South Lake Tahoe to check on Micah's big redevelopment project. Micah has been designing this project for 2 years now and they have just started construction. This is a huge project right across the street from the Heavenly gondola area. Owen loved watching the tractors!

Pearly Whites!

Owen woke up this morning with a tooth (or at least the start of a tooth)!! We've been thinking he has been teething for a while now, and he's been especially fussy at night this past week. Then last night I could see the white tooth just under his gum. And by this morning it had broken through. He cried a lot in his sleep last night, but I gave him teething tablets that seemed to comfort him. Maybe he'll sleep better tonight. I CAN'T BELIEVE MY BABY HAS A TOOTH!!!!

Jessica's Birthday Party

On Saturday we went to Jessica's Birthday Party. She is the daughter of one of Kelly's co-workers and they rented a big blow-up "Jumper" for the kids. Owen had so much fun!

Owen and Kelly


Owen is already a climber!


This is Owen's first trip down a slide.....he wasn't so sure about this.


Owen and Jessica (the birthday girl) watching the cars go by.


Jessica really wanted Owen to play duck-duck-goose with her, but he didn't quite understand!


No, we're not locking our baby up (we promise). Somehow Sandy convinced Owen to crawl into her crate though.