Owen Update

So, it's about time for an Owen update, wouldn't you say?

The O-man says tons of words now, but here are just a few of the funny ones I can think of off the top of my head:

• "gahgee" – a.ka., "glasses." I think this comes from one of his Dr. Suess books that refers to glasses as "goo goo goggles."
• "she-she" – a.k.a., "Herkey." This one gets said A LOT! Anytime he sees anything with a Hawkeye logo, he shouts this out. I'm sure he's capable of saying "Herkey," but for some reason, it always comes out this way instead.
• "ahwah" – a.k.a., "Iowa." We still haven't gotten "Hawks" or "Hawkeys," but we're slowly getting there.
• "Wheel. Of. Baby!" – a.k.a., "Wheel. Of. Fortune!" (as in the way the crowd shouts it out at the beginning of the show.) Not sure where "baby" came from, but he pauses between each word just like the crowd does and it's hilarious!

We've been working on concepts like colors, letters, numbers, and shapes lately and it's fun to see O's progress. I am constantly asking him what color various objects are, and right now, his answer is ALWAYS "pink." When I correct him and tell him what color it actually is, he usually repeats it, so that's good. I was beginning to worry that maybe he was color blind because he never seemed to differentiate between colors, but then yesterday, this happened...

O has been able to identify an apple and say that word for some time now. But he also calls oranges apples, despite my constant correction. He refuses to say "orange." So, yesterday, as I was getting him dressed, I asked him what color the shirt was that I was about to put on him. (It was orange.) He responded, "apple." Little stinker! He recognized that it was an orange shirt, but since he refuses to say that word, he called it "apple." I had to laugh...he's so clever.

O continues to be a good eater most of the time. He still eats just about anything I give him – including some things that really surprise me. Like salt & vinegar potato chips, for example. Huh? What kid likes the overpowering flavor of vinegar? Mine.

Enjoying an afternoon snack (or "sack," as he calls it)
of Goldfish and apple slices.

We regularly talk about letters and I've gotten him to repeat each of the 26 letters of the alphabet. I also sing the ABC song to him all the time and, although he doesn't sing it with me yet, he does hum the tune and make random sounds (some of them letters, some not) to the tune. I have a feeling music may be the way this child will learn concepts like this. It just seems to come so naturally to him.

Because we both get bored with the same old toys and television programs (and it's still too cold to play outside), I've been trying to introduce new activities whenever I can. My largest metal mixing bowl and cookie sheet are pretty much permanent members of the toy collection now and we've had fun coming up with ways to play with those. (Tossing plastic balls and other small toys into the bowl makes a delightfully loud noise, and sliding Hot Wheels cars across the cookie sheet always makes my little man giggle.) 

Play-dough makes its way out of the closet more and more often these days and Owen seems much more interested in it now than before. Crayons and markers, however, come out much less than they used to because, for some inexplicable reason, O loves chewing on them! It drives me crazy! But I'm starting to accept that he just may not be much of a doodler. Ah well, he will surely excel at other things!

He's also not much of a puzzle solver...yet. The other day, I took out a Melissa & Doug clock puzzle that I had been saving for when he was a bit older and, to my surprise, he really seemed to enjoy it! It has a block for each of the twelve numbers on the clock and each one is a different color and shape. (Combining colors, numbers, shapes, and – eventually – time concepts...I love it!) He says, "fi" (as in "five") every time he grabs a number, though he rarely actually grabs the five. We talk about the colors and, of course, the numbers, but he also is getting really good at getting the shapes to fit into their spots (though I have to point out where they belong first).

I also tried to make make my own simple puzzle for him. I found a page in one of his coloring books that had a small drawing of Elmo in a grid with a larger, empty grid below for you to draw it yourself. (The idea was to teach drawing skills by focusing only on one square at a time and then drawing what you see in each square to complete the whole picture – a concept MUCH too advanced for Owen.) Instead, I did it. And then I colored it and cut each of the squares apart. Next, I mounted them onto card stock to make them sturdier than the flimsy coloring book paper.

And since I don't have a laminator, but knew they needed a little bit of reinforcement from the inevitable destruction Owen will bestow upon them, I covered them in clear packing tape.

I've been wanting a fun magnet activity for the fridge for a long time anyway, so I stuck some magnets on the back of each piece and covered the magnets with the tape, too. (Loose magnets are a choking hazzard around here.)

Voila!

O shouts, "Eh oh!" (Elmo) when he sees it, but hasn't quite grasped the concept of fitting the pieces together yet. He does like taking them off and sticking them back on the fridge, though, so that's something.

Oh, and they must be tasty, too.

In other news, I just checked Simple Mom for the latest Project: Simplify hot spot (announced yesterday) and it is your kitchen pantry and refrigerator. That's a good one for me so maybe I'll actually try to tackle this one this week. (Last week's was your kid's clothes/toys and I didn't even bother taking "before" shots of that because I knew I wasn't going to do it.) I'm still hoping they'll do my hallway linen closet because it desperately needs a renovation, but I may just have to do that one on my own...

And our basement project is coming right along. The heating guy did his thing last week and the electrician is done for now as well. I think the plumber is done, too, though they hit a snag this afternoon that I'm not sure needs to be fixed still or not. We have someone from the county coming to inspect the work thus far tomorrow morning and then, I believe, drywall can begin. Yay for walls! I just can't believe how quickly everything is happening! Let's hope for a successful inspection!