Happy birthday Owen!

I cannot believe Owen turned 5! Here's a snapshot of what he's like right now:

43 pounds (about 50% for weight), 45 inches tall (about 95% for height)

Favorite color: red

Favorite toy: "Batman shooter thingy that got taken away" (he got in trouble for hiding, and his toy got taken away. :) )

Favorite food: pizza (favorite fruit: grape) (favorite vegetable: "nothing. I don't like vegetables." ha!)

Favorite dessert: "dinger bread men!"

Favorite book: Animalia

Favorite movie: Toy Story

Favorite song: "I love all of the songs!" (like what?) Twinkle, Twinkle; I Am A Child of God; A You're Adorable; I Love to See the Temple

Favorite thing to do: Ride bikes, go to the park, carve a jack-o-lantern, play games, watching movies

Favorite thing about school: "Inside playtime!"

What do you like to learn about? farms, sharks, turtles, outer space, dinosaurs

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? George the Monkey (Curious George)

What makes you happy? "The happiest is when I get the things I want" (Great.)

What makes you sad? "When I don't get the things I want"

What do you want to be when you grow up? a dad

We love this crazy, sweet boy. He is very active - he loves climbing and jumping off things, playing tag, dancing around, karate-chopping everything, and swordfighting with anything that could even remotely be called a sword. He loves to build things, do science projects, and do art projects. He is a very good (and very particular) artist - all of his colors have to be just right, all of his lines have to be perfect, and he's very good at drawing recognizable characters and scenes from movies or scriptures.... it's pretty funny to watch him work. When he is concentrating really hard, he has the funny habit of chewing on his tongue. I always thing he's eating something, but nope - just working hard. He loves to learn and is very curious about all sorts of things. He loves to ask questions and get explanations for everything, especially how things work. He loves school and is doing well in his class. He is a great reader by himself, and loves when we read to him. We're working our way through lots of the classic children's books that Matt and I read when we were little, and Owen loves them all. Owen loves to make up stories and songs that can go on for hours if we don't stop him, and we often find him with all of his little figures acting out epic dramas that can go on for days (as long as Nora doesn't stomp on the set up :) ).

Owen is a very loving, tender-hearted little boy. He loves his sister and takes great care of her. He is very vigilant about her eating, and watches carefully to make sure she doesn't eat anything with milk. He often hugs and kisses her, and loves to help her get dressed or put bows in her hair. They are the best of friends, and I hope it stays that way forever. :) Owen is a great helper to me - he loves to clean and help me cook. He's getting big enough that I can trust him to do a lot of things by himself. He constantly surprises me with the things he knows and the things he learns how to do every day. He definitely has a very strong personality and a wonderful testimony. We love our crazy kid. 

Celebrating at grandma Bromley's house a few days before his birthday

Matt and I got him his first bike!

He was SO excited. :)

Eating birthday cake at home on his real birthday

These two love each other so much. :)

Owen got to wear the special birthday crown in his class at school, and I brought him a balloon and birthday doughnut after school. Because all the kids in his class have October or November birthdays, they have several kids a week with birthdays, so no one brings treats to class (they'd never have time to do anything else). Instead, they got to help make a cake in class for all the October birthdays. Owen loved it. We just did a few family parties with O here and there when people could make it... I think we ended up having three different "family" parties, plus his friend party. Instead of having a birthDAY, Owen had about two birthWEEKS with all the celebrations. :)