11 months and crawling!?!?!?!

Is my little squirt actually crawling?!  Well, I guess you can call it that.  He now gets around with 2 hands, a knee and a foot.  It's hilarious!  I guess I just assumed that crawling was easy and would come natural to a baby.  Owen has taught me otherwise.  All that matters is that it gets him where he wants to go-wherever Brent is.

Owen is 11 months old today.  1 more month and he will be a year old!  CRAZY!!  He is so so much fun.  I seriously have the most fun kids ever (no offense moms :)  Just this morning we were playing outside in our back yard.  Brent was driving around his little truck and I was pushing Owen in the Flinstone mobile.  We were racing Brent around the yard-all of us laughing as hard as we could.  I thought for a moment about all the moms who have to/choose to go to work while other people get to enjoy their children all day. I feel so blessed to be able to stay home with mine.  There is no where else I would rather be!

So, what is Owen into these days??  Oh right, BRENT.  Anything Brent does, says, or touches is wonderful.  Owen is such a sweet little brother.  He is very patient with Brent and all his attempts to drag him, pull him, carry him around the house.  Although Owen develops more and more each day, he has still kept his chill, laid back personality.  He is very vocal when he "needs" to be, but for the most part just chills with a toy on the floor or watches the people around him.  He still isn't showing any signs of "stranger-danger".  He pretty much enjoys going to anyone.  He does however prefer to be on the floor now since his new latest trick (crawling).

Owen sleeps like a champ, eats like an adult, and doesn't have fear of anything yet.  He tries to crawl off the couch head first.  He rolls over to his belly in the tub and tries to blow bubbles.  This usually ends with Owen sucking in a lot of water and me yanking him out of the tub.  He doesn't care though-goes right back for more.  Sometimes if Brent and Owen's naps don't line up perfectly and I have some 1-on-1 time with Owen, I will read some books to him.  He really seems to enjoy this.  He prefers to hold the books himself.  They usually end up in his mouth and then I have to take them back.

I love this kid so much and he is such a special part of our family! Happy 11 months Owen!!

Just recently discovered how much he LOVES to swing!



First attempt at eating corn on the cob.

This chair has been in Brandon's family for YEARS (hence, the duct tape).  No matter how hard I try, it never leaves :)

Brent has been asking for Owen to ride beside him in his truck ever since he got it.  Now he is finally big enough to ride and Brent is thrilled! (so is Owen)

Owen and one of his girlfriends (Claire) having a picnic at the park :)

From Videos

Click on this pic of Owen and it will take you to a short video of him crawling.  Because of the angle it's hard to see his unique crawl.  Trust me, it's different.

A Thomas the Train Birthday

Brent turned 3 on Thursday, September 1. Why is it that every year goes by faster than the one before?? My little Brent has changed so much from 2 to 3 years old. I don't even see a "toddler" anymore. When I look at him I see a "kid". Crazy!
Brent is really into Thomas the train right now. He will sit down and play with trains for hours. It's insane! He also loves cars, trucks, and sports. Pretty much, he's a boy. He loves for us to read to him and is getting interested in puzzles. We spent this last year learning his ABC's and he knows just about every letter and the sound each makes. He is very smart and absorbs things like a sponge. Brent also loves to sing and dance. We will put on some tunes in the morning after Daddy goes to work (Jason Miraz, Maroon 5, Jack Johnson-to name a few) and dance in the living room. I love it when we are out shopping and a song comes on in the store with a good beat. Brent will stop what he's doing and break it down in the middle of the store. He'll say "look at me Mom". And then ofcourse I have to make a fool of myself and join in. Brent is now halfway potty trained. He is good with the #1 but not so much with the #2. Potty training Brent has been much more difficult that I had anticipated but we are getting there. Brent doesn't care so much for arts and crafty things. I have tried coloring, painting, playdough, different crafty things. It just isn't his thing yet.
Brent has been showing a lot of interest in Owen the last couple of months. He gets sad when I have to put Owen down for his morning nap and begs for me to keep him up. Whenever we are about to go somewhere he always makes sure that Owen is going too. He has gotten A LOT better at sharing. We have been encouraging (making) Brent share his toys with Owen pretty much since Owen was born. Even when Owen couldn't hold things. We wanted to start this as early as possible. It still isn't easy, but I see it paying off.
I already love that Brent is my first child because I see such great leadership qualities in him. I feel that he will be a good example for Owen and any other siblings to come. He is so passionate about life and so eager to learn. Brent is very organized and prefers for things to be in a certain order. He is very observant and doesn't miss a thing! This can be a good thing and a bad thing.
Brent asked to have a Thomas the Train birthday party this year (big surprise). We held his party on his actual birthday in the morning so all his little friends and their mommies could come. It was so much fun and I have to say I had a lot of fun planning it! Pretty much all the decor and games were handmade. We had a "bean bag toss" game, "pin the thomas", "hot thomas", and a pinata. There was lots of food, candy and prizes for the little ones and the mommies. Brent has such good friends and I am fortunate enough to be such good friends with their mommies.

We also held a little family party for Brent the Saturday before his Birthday. It was a hurricane/birthday party. All of Brandon's family was in town to get away from the hurricane so we decided to go ahead and have a party for Brent. We didn't have any power and it was raining cats and dogs outside with 40 mph winds. A one-of-a-kind birthday party. We cooked hotdogs and hamburgers in a frying pan on our gas stove and I bought a cake from Wal-Mart and stuck a Thomas Train on top. It worked! We also let Brent run outside and play in our flooded back yard. He had a blast!

I am pinning the album to the right.  The first few pics are of the hurricane/family birthday party and the rest are of his Thomas Friend Birthday Party.