His first haircut

His first haircut. Paul and I haven't been in a hurry to get his wispy baby hair cut. I didn't know if we ever would. :) I went in to get my hair done last week and we decided we would take Owen in too. Sitting on daddys lap and playing with a squirt bottle and comb helped the process, and of course some jelly beans. Just a little trim around the ears and a bit off the back and front. My hair dresser I've had most of my life, Tammi, was the perfect one to do it. We wouldn't even let her use the trimmers. Others may not notice a difference, it still hangs over his ears a bit, but to Paul and I it was a big step.

When they first met

It was one of the sweetest moments in my life when we met Owen for the first time. They held him up, he cut the cord, they laid him across my chest. We were a family. I love my memories of when they first met. Paul's big hands and Owens tiny body. Paul would brush his finger across Owen's hand and Owen would grab on tight with all his might. I loved seeing their eyes meet and knowing it was the start of a sweet bond between father and son. Its hard to describe the moments that are etched in my mind from those first hours. I will always cherish these memories. 

Venturing out with solids

Owen is venturing out in his eating. He can gobble up just about anything...that he likes. He would eat bread and fruit all day if he could. I'm sure a lot of us can identify with that. Banana and Strawberry are some of his favorites. He still loves to nurse but we have been offering him food also. He doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with pureed baby food anymore. He prefers feeding himself. I am looking forward to picking up some fresh fruits and veggies at the farmers market on Thursday. I would really like to find some healthy baby friendly recipes to make for him. I saw some spinach, pineapple, banana, orange juice and flax meal popsicles on Instagram that looked like a yummy treat. What recipes do your kids love? What things did your one year old like? Any favorite websites or cook books I should look at?

12 months

Our boy at 12 months

Oops, I'm a little late on posting this. This last month has gone by so fast. Here is what Owen was doing at 12 months...

-He says momma, dadda and WOW!

-His favorite things to play with are kitchen items, balls and animal toys. 

-He has 9 teeth

-When he gets excited he shakes his head from side to side and smiles big.

-He can walk but still prefers to crawl. I love his really wide stance!

-He points at everything. He gets so excited and in his own little language tells you all about what he is pointing at.

-He loves books! He especially loves books with pictures of animals. We read books in the car, the bath, the bed, the library...everywhere!

-He has started interacting and playing with other kids. He loves to watch older kids.

-At his 1 year check-up he was 31 1/2 inches long (90%) and weighed 20lbs 9oz (25%)

-He loves to go swimming. We have been going to our apartment pool almost everyday. He is not scared of the water at all. He even kicks his legs and blows bubbles under the water! Watch out Michael Phelps! 

-He is a happy boy, our sweetie pie and we love him so much! 

Taking our baby beluga to sea world

We took our little baby beluga to Sea World in San Diego! We are in town for Paul's twin brothers wedding. We wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to take our little boy to Sea World. He loved it! We arrived at the park and ran right to the orca show. The second a killer whale came out from "back stage" Owen was flailing his arms wildly, pointing and yelling, as if trying to talk to his new whale friend. The whale would jump out of the water and Owen would look with big eyes. Every time the whale dove down under the water Owen would cry because he didn't want him to go away. It was so cute to watch him!


As we wandered around the park Owen had big eyes and spent most of the day pointing and loudly talking to the animals. He loved the killer whales, sea turtles and of course the beluga whales. One of the lullaby's I sing to him most often is "baby beluga in the deep blue sea". It was special sitting on the side of the beluga tank with him on my lap and watching the belugas swim around. 


The one animal that Owen did not like was the walrus. As you can see in one of the picture above Owen was right up against the glass when the walrus spit out his food and then munched it back up. Owen was terrified of the big fat walrus from that point on. Pesky walrus. 


We had a wonderful day making memories as a family! We are here in San Diego several more days and then the wedding is on Sunday afternoon.


PS I am so excited to post about Owen's 1st birthday party! We left town to drive down right after his party and I have not had much time to go through all of the pictures. There are a lot of pictures and it is so hard to choose! I may have to do several posts. :) 

That little face

I love that face. Even when its covered in food and snot. It is that little face that makes me melt. Neck rolls and all, you are a cutie pie!

Exploring purple flowers

Tiny hands exploring purple flowers. He is in an inquisitive stage. Taking the time to focus on a tiny flower long enough to grasp it with his fingers and bring it near his face for a closer look. Intently watching anything around him that moves, cars, animals, people, or something just blowing in the wind.