6 months

My baby boy is 6 months old! Half a year! Not too long ago, this milestone seemed so far away, I can hardly believe it's here now. Owen had his 6-month check-up this week and the nurse mentioned that this is her favorite age because babies are generally so happy at this stage. And boy, is that true for Owen! He is so smiley and giggly!

He still loves playing on his activity mat and is a pro at grasping and pulling his toys toward him. And he spends a lot of time "at the office" (i.e., in his exersaucer), giggling and squealing as he bounces up and down. He's mastered rolling from his belly to his back and gets close to the reverse, but his arm always seems to get in his way. We are still working on getting him to sit on his own. I keep telling him how much more exciting the world will be once he can sit up, but I guess he's not in a big hurry to find out if I'm right.

We're also developing O's palette by introducing vegetables (carrots, green beans, squash, peas, and sweet potatoes) and fruit (apples and pears so far, with peaches, bananas, and prunes still to come). So far, he seems to like it all! I am anxious to start making some homemade baby food purees, but until we get our own house (and my food processor makes its way out of storage), Owen has to settle for store-bought.

Nap times have started to decrease (which makes me sad because it's the only time I seem to get anything done!), but I will not complain about our little guy's consistent pattern of sleeping through the night! He's a rock star in that department!

He now weighs 16 pounds, 9 ounces (the 4oth percentile for his age) and is 25 3/4 inches long (25th percentile), so he's right on track. Thanks for checking in on us and we'll continue to keep you all up to date on Baby Owen as he grows, and grows, and grows!

Photos

Bright eyes and rosy cheeks!

Go Hawkeyes!

Baby's First Christmas

Baby O's first Christmas was so much fun! And although he had no idea how it was different from any other day, Mommy and Daddy enjoyed it on his behalf. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves this week...

Pictures

Owen has finally started taking to the Bumbo chair, so long as he has something in front of him to play with. We're hoping that he'll begin sitting up on his own very soon!

He went so nuts for this bag of chocolates! He got a hold of it while Mommy was trying to get it wrapped as part of a gift and thoroughly drooled ALL over it!

Snug as a bug in a rug (or a Baby Bjorn) with Aunt Rachel.

All dressed up for church on Christmas Eve.

Like the cap? Owen posing with Papa and Grandma Vera on Christmas morning.

O's new favorite pastime is bouncing around in the activity saucer (or, as Grandma V calls it, "the office"), and when we put his new crawling ball (a gift from Grandma Peterson) on there, he was SO excited!

5 months

Well, other than turning 5 months, nothing much new has happened since my last post. Owen now enjoys a bit of oatmeal cereal in addition to the rice delicacy he started with. And I am planning to give him carrots or green beans next week as a special Christmas treat...isn't he lucky?

We are looking forward to Christmas next week and getting to be with all of our family. It is so nice that we are already here, though, and don't have to deal with the hassle that is holiday travel. It will be interesting to watch Owen's reaction to getting and opening presents. Since he is currently at the stage where anything put in front of him goes directly into his mouth, I'm sure he'll get a good taste of all his new gifts...and the wrapping paper, and bows, and boxes, etc. We'll be sure to take lots of pictures...

Pictures

The monthly picture with Curious George.

Daddy helped O on his first horse ride.

Passed out at Aunt Janan's...and those wine glasses have nothing to do with it!

Meeting the big man in red for the first time.

Thanksgiving & solid food

Well, last week was Thanksgiving and we have SO much to be thankful for this year. God has blessed our lives in innumerable ways, with one of the greatest joys, of course, being our dear, sweet baby Owen. Also, we are thankful to have been able to share the season with our family (mostly Ryan's this year), and for the health and well-being of each and every one of them.

The most noteworthy event of the week (in my opinion, anyway) was that O ate his first solid food; if you can call mushy, bland, rice cereal "solid." He did surprisingly well and seemed to enjoy it. He tried to suck on the spoon like he does with his bottles, but he still managed to figure it out. Thanks to Aunt Janan for taking video of this momentous event!

Pictures

Asleep in Daddy's arms Thanksgiving morning (before the crowd arrived).

Hey everybody...it's baby's first Thanksgiving!

Sometimes O sticks his whole fist so far in his mouth that he actually gags himself.

Family photo

And another one...

Playtime!

This plastic ring landed on O's face and he couldn't figure out how to get it off. Too cute!

Pure glee at seeing Mommy the morning after Thanksgiving! Does it get any cuter than this?

4 months

Ok, I admit that I've been a bit delinquent in my posts lately. I blame it on not having a wireless internet connection at my new digs. Aaarrrgh!

So....there's lots to share about O's recent development. First and foremost, I am extremely happy to report that he is now sleeping through the night pretty consistently. (That is, typically 8 hours or more!) Praise God! He has also managed to establish a fairly regular nap schedule during the day, which is another blessing for Mom!

He rolled over from his tummy to his back for the first time a few weeks ago, but refuses to do so on command. Only when he feels good and ready does he impress us with that trick, so it was a good week or more before Daddy got to witness it. And now, he actually seems more interested in scooting than rolling when he spends time on his tummy, so there's that.

He continues to be a very smiley, happy boy who has gotten quite adept at grasping objects - which all go promptly into his slobbery mouth. I suspect that he may be showing early signs of teething...or he may just like to taste everything you put in front of his face. Unfortunately, he still has a problem with spitting up. Just about every time he eats (and sometimes even a couple hours after he's eaten), he spits up and makes a mess all over himself, whoever happens to be holding him, and sometimes the floor, sofa, chair, bed...whatever happens to be nearby. The doctor referred to him as a "happy spitter" since it doesn't seem to bother him and he is gaining weight well, and says I should just resign myself to a life filled with extra laundry.

At his 4-month check-up this past week, everything looked good. He weighed in at just under 15 pounds (the 50th percentile for his age), and measured 24 1/2 inches (35th percentile). All in all, he's a very healthy baby, and for that, we are extremely grateful! Dr. Omar (who I was very impressed with and am lucky to have gotten to see, thanks to a family friend of the Petersons!) says that we can start introducing solid foods at any point. I can hardly believe that my little baby is already ready to eat from a spoon! That just seems crazy! I think I may wait another couple weeks, just for good measure. Perhaps that will help with the spitting up, though...

Still no formal interest in our house in Washington. We are praying that we get an acceptable offer signed before the end of this month, but are quickly losing hope that it will happen. (Burying St. Joseph in the yard didn't seem to do the trick in our case.) Darn this economy! In the meantime, we are living with Ryan's parents and are grateful for the free rent! But as each week passes, we are growing more and more anxious to get into a place of our own again. Fortunately, Owen doesn't seem to mind where he is, so long as he has loving arms to hold and play with him and smiling faces to smile back at...and there are lots of all of those things around here!

Pictures

Aunt Jackie carved this lovely pumpkin on Halloween for her favorite nephew.

At cousin Tony's wedding in Indiana. O did very well on his first road trip and hotel stay!

With Grandma at the wedding reception.

O was so excited to finally meet his uncle Chuckie. They're going to be buddies for sure!

Welcome "home," Owen!

We received such a warm welcome home last Friday when we arrived back in Iowa. Papa Vern even took the time to decorate the house with banners and balloons, and both Grandmas have been stocking up on baby gear - like toys, swings, high chairs, cribs, etc. It is evident just how excited our whole family is to have us back! And we are excited, too. Fall in the Midwest is so beautiful and we were lucky enough to make it back in time to see all the leaves changing colors. (Unfortunately, as natives of this area, we are all too aware of what comes after those leaves fall and the temperatures begin to drop. Try as I might, I'm not sure I can be as upbeat about the pending Iowa winter that lies ahead.)

Owen has adapted to life here very well. This was probably a great time to move since he is too young to really even know where he is, so it truly makes no difference to him - Washington, Iowa, China..., wherever! He does, however, seem to feel pretty comfortable at Grandma and Papa Betts' house and proved that by officially sleeping through the night this past week! That's right - a full 10 hours of sleep!!! Again, he's only done it once, but he's come close several other nights with about 8-9 hours at a time. He's just coming right along!

Ryan will be flying back to Seattle on Sunday to gather up the remaining stuff in our house (there's not much - just the things we still needed during those two days and nights we lived there after all our stuff had been moved out.) His friend Nathan who lives in L.A. is going to meet him there on Monday and the two of them will set out on the cross-country journey back to Iowa in the Pathfinder. (The other car was shipped to us and is due to arrive this weekend.) They are planning to make a few stops along the way and see some of the countryside, weather permitting. I wish them luck and safe travels!

In the meantime, O and I will continue to crash the Betts pad, and when Ryan returns, we will officially take up residence with the Petersons. We have not had much luck with the house selling process yet, but are still hoping to get it sold soon so we can get a place of our own - hopefully before Christmas. We'll see........ (Keep your fingers crossed for us.)

Pictures!

Grandma Peterson enjoying Owen on his first night home.

Beautiful Aunt Jackie holding her favorite nephew.

Papa Vern is so enamored by his newest grandson.

The little stinker was giggling when we put his hat on him for a chilly evening walk and we were able to capture this little gem. He's so happy to be here!

Videos!

Playtime with Grandma Vera

Playtime with Papa Vern

3 months

Owen's 3-month birthday was yesterday and that is one milestone I have been anxious to reach! According to what I've read and heard, after three months, babies tend to cry less, fall into a routine, sleep through the night, start rolling over, etc. Along with the excitement of these things, however, is frustration and worry over the fact that my dear, sweet O-man hasn't actually achieved any of those things yet. I love him immensely just as he is, but I cannot WAIT for at least the first three on that list!

I must say, however, that the night after my last post, the little pistol actually slept for 8 hours - a first! It was just a one-time thing, but he has been sleeping about 6 hours at night pretty consistently this past week. I've heard it explained that technically, 6 hours is considered "sleeping through the night," but I don't accept that, and here's why. Owen typically goes to bed sometime between 7:30 and 8:30, so six hours from then is 1:30 or 2:30 in the morning. Tell me...who awakens and starts their day at that time? So, until he is sleeping from 8:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m., I refuse to call it "sleeping through the night." And I realize that probably won't happen for quite some time, but it WILL happen! (A light at the end of the tunnel!) In the meantime, though, only getting up with him once a night now is leaps and bounds better than three or four times a night just a month or two ago!

In other news, this week will be our final week in Washington. I've said it before, but moving back to Iowa is incredibly bittersweet for us. While we are absolutely thrilled to be near our families again (which is truly the main reason we're going), we are also very sad to be leaving our lives here. We have made such remarkable friendships that we will treasure forever. We love our beautiful home and charming neighborhood. We are disappointed to be leaving the Seattle culture, including Mariner baseball games, hiking in the mountains, and walking along the waterfront. And we will most certainly long for the mild Northwest climate come mid-January in Iowa. But our families - oh, how we love them! - trump all of that, and so...off we go.

The movers come tomorrow to start packing us up and they load up and ship out on Wednesday. Then, we fly out on Friday. Look out Iowa...here we come!

Owen sporting his denim overalls; hand-me-downs, courtesy of Will Woodruff. They're still a little big on him, but I just couldn't wait to get him in these, they're so stinkin' cute! The way he's posed, looking off in the distance, this shot kind of reminds me of a senior portrait! : )

Our monthly shot of O next to Curious George. (Check out his growth by comparing this to his 1- and 2-month photos on my Facebook page.)

Getting ready for the cold midwest weather. Poor baby has no idea what he's in for!