Owen's birthday party

Ok, I will be the first one to admit that I went a little overboard with Owen's party. However, we decided that since we're so close to a lot of our family right now, we might as well have a big party to celebrate. That, and all the Cars stuff was marked down for clearance at the party store. :) Anyway, we had a lot of fun with plans for Owen's party, and I think everyone enjoyed coming. Most importantly, Owen absolutely loved that everything around him was Cars and Lightning McQueen, and he had a great day.

Daddy surprised Owen with a Lightning McQueen balloon when he woke up in the morning.

Chocolate chip Mickey Mouse pancake for breakfast.

Owen's Lightning McQueen cake. You don't even want to know how much food coloring went into that red frosting. Really.

I must say that I was pretty darn proud of how well the cake turned out, but I will also say that next year, Owen's getting a 13x9 cake that's not even coming out of the pan.

Part of the decorations.

This was Ramone's House of Body Art (from the Cars movie) - we had wooden cars that people could paint, just like in the movie.

Among his many other talents, Matt is a very good artist, and drew these sweet backdrops of places from Radiator Springs. This one is Luigi's Casa della Tires, complete with the Leaning Tower of Tires.

This is Flo's V8 Cafe, where we served 'motor oil' and 'washer fluid'.

This is Ramone's House of Body Art.


We served food in the back of various dumptrucks.

Tow Mater's Fish Pond had prizes for all the kids.

Owen getting started on painting his car.

My mom helping Owen whack the pinata that Matt's mom brought. I'm not quite sure Owen gets it yet.

Free-for-all for candy.

Owen was a bit clueless about the whole thing, but thought it was pretty great that we let him pick up tons of candy.

Opening presents - he got a broom from Grandma Bromley, because he loves to help clean.

He loved all of his new books, and almost wouldn't put them down to open anything else.

Now he's getting into it. :)

Cheeser.

Saying thank you to everyone.

Our present to Owen was a teepee that we made.

Singing happy birthday to himself.

Blowing out his candle.

We had tons of fun with everyone, and got to see almost all of our family in the area. Owen loved all the attention and especially all the Cars stuff. I'm pretty sure he'd be willing to have a birthday every day, but I'm definitely glad it's over with. :) Can't believe my big boy is already two years old. Love you Owen!

Two years old!

Our sweet little boy will be two this Friday, October 22. I can't believe he's already this old! The past two years have gone by way too quickly, and although I miss every second of those two years, I'm loving watching Owen grow and learn new things each day. Here's a glimpse of what he's like right now (it's pretty long, but this is mainly so that I can remember these things about him):

Things he loves to do:
-read any kind of book, over and over
-color - he would be content to color through all the paper we had in the house if we let him
-do puzzles/figure things out - he loves playing matching games, looking for hidden things, and doing puzzles
-play outside - he's very active, and likes to do anything physical. He's a great jumper and climber.
-watch movies (and sometimes he'll throw out random movie quotes - he'll add a "dragon warrior!!!" into conversations)
-sing songs - he knows the words to about a dozen songs, and likes to sing them with mommy
-ask questions ("what's that?")
-watch "fly Mater" online (the CarsToons about Mater - especially 'Unidentified Flying Mater')
-take "bubble tubbies"

Owen, 3 days

Funny things he says:
-he calls umbrellas "Obamas" (no, we didn't teach him that - that's just how he says it)
-when he answers the phone, he says "hello hi!" or "how's it going?"
-when someone leaves the house, he says "see ya later! Have fun!"
-he calls hippos "hobos"
-zebras are "yeezbas"
-he calls tissues "nex", and loves to blow his nose with them ("please mommy, have a nex?")
-before he answers any question, he says "I don't know" and then he'll say the answer (for example, when asked what color his shirt is, he says "I don't know it's yellow")
-he says "oh my gosh!" (apparently I say that too much)
-kisses are "tisses" and cows are "tows"
-he has so many grandparents here that he calls whichever one he's not with "the other grandma"
-he likes to say, "Guess what Mom?..." then he whispers "Spanikopita". Then he laughs at how funny he is.

Owen, 6 months

Things he knows:
-he can count to ten (he also knows most of the numbers between 10 and 20, but can't yet put them in order)
-about half of his letters (and he can draw an "O" and a "W")
-his colors
-how to take his clothes (including his diaper) off, and put his shoes on
-he recognizes his name when it's written, as well as the word "stop", and we're working on other sight words
-he can tell you his full name as well as his mommy and daddy's names

Owen, 1 year

Funny things he does:
-every morning, he "shaves" with daddy's electric razor and puts on daddy's deodorant
-he loves to dance to any music, particularly "Kung Fu Fighting" and "Move It" (from the Madagascar movies)
-he can knock his knees and "raise the roof"
-he doesn't like to be dirty - he says "oh no, dirty!" and asks me to "wash-a hannies" (wash his hands)
-sometimes he calls me "Nicki"
-he makes the wackiest faces
-when we sing "Old MacDonald", he makes us sing that "on this farm he had a helicopter" instead of animals
-he loves to clean, and has often been found pulling wipes or dryer sheets of out their boxes by the fistful in order to clean everything around him. He also gets scoops of laundry soap (when the box isn't tightly closed), tosses them on the floor, and then rubs it around - when I find him, he tells me he's cleaning.

Owen, 18 months

Favorite things to eat:
-"mac-a-noodles"
-"chockit milky"
-"hot doggies"
-"beans" (jelly beans - he says "please mommy, have a bean?")
-grapes, apples, bananas
-applesauce
-any candy or cookies he can get out of his many grandparents

Owen, 2 years

What makes this boy so sweet?
-he's very cuddly - he loves to hold my hand, sit on my lap, and before every bedtime we have to "cuddle mommy sing a song"
-he's very polite - generally very obedient and very good at saying "please" and "thank you"
-he loves to give kisses, hugs, and to "hold you, mommy"
-he tells me he loves me all day long
-when he climbs into bed with me in the morning, he scoots up next to me, puts his arm around my neck, and gives me a big kiss
-when he leaves nursery each Sunday, he says "thank you, teacher"
-he can just about say his bedtime prayers by himself, and he's very good at folding his arms and closing his eyes for every prayer that's said

We love this kid so much. Happy birthday, Owen!

Cupcake

Funny boy

This is Owen acting out his current favorite book from the library. We read this book several times a day. :)

Ocean

We love the ocean house. These pictures are from last time we went. We took some of my sister's friends, and we got to go to the Aquarium with my dad, who hasn't been in years. It was a fun trip.

Visiting the lighthouse a couple blocks from us. The oldest one on the west coast!

Eating spanakopita at the Greek festival... and yes, we taught Owen to say "spanakopita". Hilarious.

Trying not to get splashed at the Aquarium.

Telling Becca and her friend Kayla all about Dory and Nemo.

Making sea lion sounds.

Boardwalk.

Driving the train at Dennis the Menace park.

The roller slide... Owen loves this!

Deciding that sand doesn't taste very good after all....

Boots

Owen got these boots as a hand-me-down from my cousin Nico. He LOVES them. Some days, I can't get him to take them off. He does look pretty darn cute in them, though.

Playing

This is what Owen and I do every day.

Kind of blurry, but he loves to "throw ball doggy".

Hoping Maile doesn't run him over as she chases the ball.

Getting out of the car to come and tell Maile what not to do.

And of course we spend lots of time trying not to put various objects (including our clothing) into the pond. This is Owen with the two new fishies he picked out for the pond.

Love this sweet face.