Homeward Bound

It's impressive how quickly Owen got the hang of Christmas....mainly opening presents. Turns out he's also a big fan of Christmas cookies and the classic tune, Jingle Bells. Which we sang no less than 100 times en route to Providence. Regardless, I'm happy to say that we made it back home safe and sound and mostly sane.

The calm before the storm. Here's a cute snow bunny playing before the long journey home. Our plan to tire Owen out worked. Both he and Johnny were out cold almost immediately.

 

And here's a happy boy during a pit stop...

But don't let these pictures fool you, our trip was hardly all naps and smiles. Owen repeated his first official sentence, "I get out, I get out, I get out" almost incessantly for two days. The kid is a trooper, though, and we were all happy to sleep in our own beds. 

Mostly Nice

My good intention of sending out a physical holiday card has fallen by the wayside. It's been a crazy couple of weeks so a digital greeting will have to suffice.

We three Linkers and Johnny survived the seemingly endless car ride from Providence to Chicago. Note to self, driving 16 hours with a toddler is not fun! Owen spent the better part of two days vacillating between whining, crying hysterically, and asking for the airport. Smart kid. Johnny, on the other hand, gets a gold star for his traveling prowess. 

It's hard to believe it's almost a new year and we have so much to be thankful for. A loving family, a beautiful little boy and the new kid, set to arrive on the scene in early April. 

Happy Holidays to all and here's to a healthy and happy 2014!

Love,
Steve, Sarah and Owen

Almost Paradise

Owen is an early riser.  Truth be told that he goes to bed early too but, you know, I'm greedy.  I want to enjoy a peaceful evening and morning. For the past two weeks or so Owen has been waking up at 5:45 am on the dot (give or take a few minutes). His internal clock is really quite impressive.

We try to keep him in bed with us until at least 6:30 am, a more reasonable breakfast hour, in my opinion.  Since a quiet cuddle or cat nap is pretty much out of the question we've had to get creative with ways to keep Owen still. We've found out that he likes watching music videos. Not sure how we ever survived without the internet. Thank you, Al Gore!

It's taken some trial and error to find what he likes. Nicki Minaj, too risque; Jack Johnson, too chill; The Jackson 5, too vintage. You know Owen is into the video when he pays attention and claps when it's over and says, "Again!" Some favorites....Lazy Song by Bruno Mars, Roar by Katy Perry, and Paradise by Coldplay. The common theme, animals. Naturally.

Paradise also happens to be "Owen's song." It was playing on the radio the day Owen was born and it reminds us of his birth-day. And who doesn't deserve a theme song?

Busy

Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgivukkah trip to California. More to come.

We've been busy! Immediately upon our return from sunny California, Owen ended up in the ER with a nasty case of croup cough and I am in the midst of finals. On a positive note, as of 6pm tonight I will be done - DONE - with graduate school. Yippee!!

Boss Hog

The boss of everything. Enough said.

Selfie

Ever wondered who's the reigning queen of the selfie? I know, me neither. Well watch out Kardashians, you've got competition. Steve had to delete a handful of blurry pictures before he found these on his iPad.

Friends

Owen and his buddy Micah; a couple of little boys at the park. They sure have come a long way since they were just cute lumps on a blanket. What a difference a year (and a few months) makes!

The Throne

Here's Owen's first school picture. Hmm, where do I begin? Easy. Owen is adorable. And that's pretty much where the nicety ends. While the photo may not be as ridiculous as this,

or this,

I will venture to say that it could qualify as an awkward school picture. The background, fake pumpkins and flowers are pretty amazing but what really takes the cake is the look on Owen's face. He looks like he's sitting on the potty for the very first time.

When Life Gives You Apples

Eat them. Or better yet, make pie! Look at this yummy apple pie that Steve made for me as an anni-birth-ary gift. Don't worry I didn't eat it all myself. I'm good at sharing.

Anni-birth-ary? Let me explain. Our 5th wedding anniversary is November 1st followed by my birthday on the 2nd. It seems like just yesterday that we got married. I can't believe it's already been five years. Then again, a lot has happened since them. Time flies for sure!

Back to the apples. Owen's quest for a hearty immune system continues. He had a fever on and off all weekend. By Sunday morning things seemed to be looking up for our patient and we were going stir crazy so off to the orchard we went.

Is this the face of a sick boy?

One of the nice things about Rhode Island is how quickly we're able to get to the country to do fun stuff like apple picking. The benefit of living in a small city.

Owen picked his apples off of the ground and insisted on co-mingling these bruised and rotting fruits with our fresh tree plucked apples. As soon as he put an apple in the bag we tossed it out. Bad parenting, maybe? But if ignorance really is bliss, I'm not talking.

Lil' Pumpkin

Everyone told me that Owen would get sick when he started going to day care.  Yeah, yeah, I thought, he's only going twice a week, how bad could it be? Well, he's pretty much been sick since the end of August. Our sick pumpkin had his first ear infection and has an ongoing cold and cough that he just can't seem to kick. Honestly, the lack of sleep and general crankiness has made us all pretty miserable.

The worst part (for me at least) is that despite feeling under the weather, Owen won't sit still. Doesn't he know that you're supposed to lay on the couch, nap and watch rom-coms when you're sick? It's pretty much impossible to quarantine our busy boy so last weekend we went to a local farm for some fall (err...forced) fun.

Despite feeling under the weather, Owen was a good sport. He led the way through a corn maze. We even ran into a chicken along the way. 

Watch out, toddler on the loose!

Sadly, there were no smiles for this kid. Fortunately, both he and Daddy are still pretty cute sans grin.

Count Cutie

A little Halloween preview...with help from Photoshop. Muwahaha! 

Here's the original picture. In case you're wondering, that's a "I'm watching Sesame Street" face. Serious business. 

Oh No....

It's finally happened. Owen has learned the word, "no." It seems to be his go-to response for pretty much any question we ask him.

Owen, are you hungry? "No."
Do you want to eat? "No."
Do you need help? "No."
Do you want to go home? "No."

You get the point.

So far it's been cute and kind of funny but I'm sure the novelty will wear off. You've got to see this video of his "no" skills on display.  Keep in mind that Owen does not love Mommy. Mention of Daddy, on the other hand, makes him smile.

Good Boys

Over the past few days Owen has taken an interest in walking Johnny. This morning his dream came true. Here are my boys out for a walk, enjoying in the beautiful fall weather.

Our usually mischievous dog was amazingly calm and obedient with Owen at the helm. It seems that Owen may have the magic touch...."Sit, Johnny!"

When we adopted Johnny we were told to make him sit before coming into the house in order to show our dominance. Owen obviously has a sense of humor; we all know that he's really the one who runs the show. It's okay, I'll play along with the joke....Good boys! 

The Red Zone

Last night Owen got a rare treat. A romp on the football field at Brown University's Stadium. Here he is running like mad on the 10 yard line.

Steve's certain that Owen's a ringer for Judd Nelson in the final scene of the Breakfast Club.

I think he looks far too preppy in his fancy running shoes and airplane jammies. Run Owen run!

Shattered

Two guesses how this happened?

How do you spell success?

Have I mentioned that Owen doesn't stop moving? His boundless energy and enthusiasm for going "out" (often very early in the morning) necessitates multiple outings a day. Rainy days make things a bit more challenging. When in doubt, coffee and a treat for my little muffin-man (the kid is seriously obsessed with muffins) always hits the spot.

 

On one of our recent outings we found a new library with more activities than our neighborhood library. It's been very educational for both of us. Here's Owen learning about different types of fire trucks.

He's also been exposed to new and exciting toys. Take this doll, for instance. A cross between Newt Gingrich and Janet Reno. What?!?!?

But the most exciting development happened last night at dinner. After saying the word broccoli for months he finally put the goods to his lips and took a bite. I'm not sure the green stuff made it down his throat but I'll count this as success!

Success = Broccoli

First Day of School

I guess it's not really called school when you're just 18 months old. Technically, yesterday was Owen's first day as a day care kid.  Here he is rearing to go with his new shoes and frog lunchbox.

I was bracing myself for a tearful goodbye but Owen was happy from the get-go. This did wonders to assuage my Mommy guilt - what a well adjusted kid! Well, Owen saved up his tears for Daddy at pick-up time, "And where have you been?" Unfortunately, this morning's drop-off was not nearly as seamless. Luckily for Owen, he's only going to day care twice a week. This is bound to be an adjustment for all of us.

I also started school yesterday. My final semester! Two classes and 16 weeks to a master's degree. Not that I'm counting...

Bruiser

It's been a rough weekend. Owen sustained two separate park injuries. The first resulted in a boo boo under his eye and the second, a nasty bloody lip. Yup, that's blood all over his shirt. I'm beginning to think that he's been cursed with my lack of coordination. Sigh...

He Walks!

Owen's strange ailment went away almost as suddenly as it appeared. Thankfully he started walking again during our vacation and had a great time playing with his cousins and spending time with family. I can say with confidence that we all made great memories and while no one will admit it, I'm pretty sure all were happy to bid adieu to the hysterics of a curious and willful 18 month old and a naughty, itchy dog. 

Steve and I had never been to Maine before and were just blown away by the beauty of Acadia National Park. Needless to say, vacation takes on a different meaning with child but we had fun hiking, biking and just taking in the sites. Here are a few of our best shots.

We took Owen all the way to Maine to go for a bike ride. The excitement of wearing a new "hat" and the soothing hum of nature lulled him into a deep and peaceful sleep. He was dreaming of lobstah, no doubt!

While you can't beat a week in the woods, mosquito bites and all, being with family is irreplaceable. Especially now, living so far away. Owen's cousins are much older than him but they played together like three peas in a pod. He's in love...what can I say?

And here's Grandma in her element, shooting beautiful photography.

As much as I give her a hard time for not taking pictures of people, she was able to capture the Maine crew before we all headed home. Great times!