Owen is 13 Months!

Size:  Owen is still a chunker!  I love his thunder thighs and squeeze them all the time!  He is fitting into 12 month clothes still, but is making his way into 12-18 and 18 month clothes.  It all depends on the brand and how everything fits.  His rash guards and swim suits don't fit anymore, thankfully he got some 18 month sizes for his birthday!

Special Trips/Visits:  We have been trying to get out of the house almost every day.  Owen gets bored sitting around and playing with the same toys all the time, so I try to break his day up and take him out to do something in the middle of the day.  Sometimes it is just errands that I need to get done, sometimes we go to the pool, and recently we have joined a play group in the neighborhood.

Chillin' at the pool with Mama!

Firsts:  Owen has been saying more and more words and using them in context.  His favorite word right now is 'ball.'  Every round object he sees is a ball and he loves to point at all the balls he sees in public and say the word over and over!  He threw a fit because I wouldn't let him play with the watermelon I bought.  He stood at the counter banging on the cabinets saying "Ball!  Ball!" wanting the watermelon!  I've been keeping a list on my phone of all the words he can say... Mom (yes, Mom, not Mama!), Dada, Doggie, Ball, Bye Bye, Baba, Nana (for my Mom and for bananas), Bird, Tree, Yay, and Woof Woof (also calls the dogs this).  He also understands a lot of directions and phrases.

Owen eats banana every morning for breakfast.  

As I'm cutting it up for him he says "Nana!  Nana!"

Likes:  Owen's favorite thing to do lately is drink from your cup.  He loves drinking from a straw or from a camelbak water bottle.  I drink from a water bottle with a straw all day, so he is constantly standing up and patting my legs when I'm taking a drink because he wants some.  Even though it is the same thing that is in his sippy cup (water!).  He also loves playing with plastic water bottles.  We discovered this at the beach and today he saw one again and went crazy for it!  He loves to crunch it and throw it around.

Owen has had a blast at play group!  He has met a couple other kids his age and then a couple that are 2-3.  He really loves other kids and socializing, so it's important for me to bring him around other kids where he can express this part of himself.  The first time I brought him to play group he crawled over to a little girl who is only three days younger than him and gave her a hug, several times!  It was the sweetest thing!  Such a ladies man!

Owen LOVES riding his new toy he got for his birthday!  We take him on walks in the evening (when it's cool enough) or give him a ride around the house.

Owen and Pops matching in Harley Davidson shirts!

Kid got so grumpy when I was changing his diaper I decided to just let him roam free for a few.  He ran to his toy and demanded a ride!  This is going to be one of those pictures I will use to embarrass him when he is older!

Hold on, let me just make a quick call!

He also loves this new toy he got for his birthday.  He loves pushing it all over the house!

He has been more interested in books the last week or so.  He pulls all the books out of his book basket and looks through them.  

He got a new tooth brush and enjoys brushing his teeth each night before bed.  

There is a Rafi song called "Brush Your Teeth" that he loves and makes the "sshhh" noise along with the song, so we use that to encourage him to brush his teeth!

Dislikes:  He is so easy going most of the time... the only thing that he doesn't like is when you take something away from him that he is playing with.  Our house is child proofed so that he can play with just about anything he gets into, so this only becomes a problem when we are out somewhere.  The key is to distract him with another toy!  He also loves to climb stairs, I mean LOVES it.  We have baby gates, so it's not an issue at home.  But when he sees stairs at someone else's house, he B-lines it for them.  Then he throws a little fit when you take him away from them... like I said, the key is distracting him with another toy!

Family Update:  Everything is going really well.  We are anticipating the arrival of Baby 2 and getting all the little details finished for that.  I'm really enjoying staying home... I was worried I might get bored, or feel like I need more, but I'm feeling great.  I feel blessed to be able to watch Owen grow and I can tell that my bond with him has already gotten stronger.  He says 'Mom' all the time now, and I LOVE IT!!!

Here are some more cute pictures that I forgot to add to previous posts...

Squealing in the tent at the beach.

Checking out the tigers at Barefoot Landing.

I can put a cup on my foot!

MOM!  Are the cookies done yet?!?!?

Loving on Pops at the aquarium.  He has a special bond with Pops!

Mimi showing him the fish at the Bass Pro Shop.

Chillin' after a long day in Myrtle!

We had his 1 year photo shoot about a week and a half ago.  Here is a sneak peek picture!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far!  I'm actually getting excited for fall (I know, I shouldn't wish time away...).  I'm so excited to do all those 'fall' things with Owen like carving pumpkins, taking him apple picking, taking him to the corn maze at the Farm Market down the road, and trick-or-treating!  He is at the age now where it will be so much fun to do those kinds of things with him.  The holidays are going to be SO much fun this year!

Love,

Judi