California Dreamin'

Owen modeling his new hat for our upcoming trip. Goodbye Ocean State. Hello Laguna Beach!

C'est la vie!

Today we said goodbye to some very good friends, Owen's bottles (or "ba" in Owen-speak). They were carefully packed and promptly shipped to the basement for safe keeping. Owen's ba has been replaced with his new big boy milk cup. I'm hoping its fancy straw and sleek design will help to soften the blow of the swift and sudden departure of ba, a comfort that Owen asks for throughout the day.

 

I expected the worst, anticipating a meltdown of epic proportions at breakfast this morning. Let's just say the meltdown wasn't that bad. Owen actually drank some milk and didn't scream "BABABABA" at the top of his lungs. It's a start. Bye, bye, ba. We'll miss you! 

Woo Woo Woo

It's official, Owen's new favorite diversion is looking out the window, pointing at things, banging on glass and enthusiastically repeating, "woo woo woo!" At first I thought that woo-cubed was the noise a fire truck makes but I've come to learn that it's a universal "term" that can be used for practically anything that moves. Here is Owen passing time by talking to airplanes at the airport in Providence; 

Enjoying the scenery outside Grandma's house;

And watching gorillas at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

These are rare glimpses of a kid who never stops moving. Let me repeat that. He never stops moving. This is Owen in a more natural state, cute and blurry.

The good, the bad and the incredibly cute

The Good. The weather is finally warming up making it much easier to get out and about and little Owen is a chatterbox. He babbles mostly in baby talk but also throws in a new word here or there. Recent additions to his verbal repertoire are Mama (finally) and baseball. This makes both Steve and I very happy.

The Bad. The kid is a picky eater. Owen doesn't like vegetables and he's totally given up being fed. He is 14 months old after all, geesh. And just to spice things up he's inconsistent in his likes and dislikes. One day he'll tolerate carrots, the next day he hates carrots. A boy cannot live on meatballs alone so I've resorted to straight up trickery. There's zucchini in that muffin...Gotcha!

The Cute. Oh, I mean the incredibly cute. Owen has started giving us hugs and kisses. To be honest, his kisses are slobbery and a little gross but the hugs are pretty amazing.

He's also taken to standing at the door to say goodbye to whoever is leaving the house and just marvel at the passers-by. I can't blame him, the world is a pretty interesting place. 

EastOver

Easter has never been my favorite holiday. The story is morose and is anyone else just really freaked out by the Easter bunny? I've only been to one Passover seder and I had fun but from what I gather, most families don't sing "silly seder songs." Anyway, what Steve and I both like about these holidays is being with family.

A benefit of being a mixed-faith family, living away from family, is that we can create our own holiday traditions. Take EastOver (an Easter, Passover hybrid) for example. I colored eggs mostly because I wanted to see if using cabbage as dye works. It does! I was also curious to see if Owen would eat a hard boiled egg. No such luck.

In addition to his EastOver basket, Owen got a rare treat. An up close and personal visit from Sydney, who was interested in eating the faux grass. Owen laughed as he threw grass on her. He then pushed her out of the way as he got down to business.

The EastOver Mommy (remember what I said about the Easter bunny) brought Owen a set of toddler crayons. After we hid the M&M's from our chocolate crazed lad, Daddy gave Owen a quick tutorial on how to color. 

It could have been the sugar but here is Owen's first drawing. A picture of Syd, his muse. An artistic prodigy, I tell you.

Our celebration ended with a traditional EastOver dinner of matzo ball soup, chicken salad, Vermont cheddar bread (anyone who's visited us is familiar) and macaroons. Yummy!

Bi-molar

 

"Adam and Eve had many advantages, but the principle one was that they escaped teething." 

- Mark Twain 

Owen has been a grump lately. A big grump. We came up with plenty of theories to explain this sudden and extreme case of the grumps. I have to admit I was worried that it was just part of his personality. What happened to my sweet and smiley baby? It all made sense one morning, mid-scream, on the changing table. A HUGE pearly white molar. How could I have missed this?

We were out of the woods for a few days and then it was straight back to the grumps. It turns out that Owen is bi-molar. The current tooth count is seven, only 13 more to go. Boy oh boy, teething has been an adventure.

It hasn't been all bad, though. We've been going on long walks, taking trips to the park and "cruising" around the ottoman. Here are a few pictures of happy Owen. Then again, what kid doesn't delight in a trip to Home Depot?

An Easter gift from Grandma B has also been a big hit with the little one. The wheels, the wheels, the whee, the whee, the wheels on the bus go round and round. I wouldn't be surprised if this toy gets lost someday.

Bow Wow Wow

Here is Owen and his best buddy. Johnny, as you're probably aware, has secured his place as the black sheep of the Linker family. The dog has a quirky personality but in his defense, he has to endure constant torment from both Owen and Sydney (the cat). We're teaching Owen to "pat" Johnny and "be nice" but Owen prefers to pull his tail use his body as leverage to stand. Sydney, on the other hand, hides behind the ottoman or under the table to pounce on Johnny. Lately Johnny has taken to barking for an escort to walk past the cat. I am not kidding. 

Regardless, we talk about dogs a lot. Usually we're talking to our dog, "Come on Johnny," or "Johnny, NO" or "Bye bye Johnny," but we also discuss dogs in a literally context. In fact, Owen's favorite book, Moo, Baa, La La La points out that dogs can say "Ruff, Ruff, Ruff" and "Bow Wow Wow." For the record, Johnny says "Bow Wow Wow." Check it out!