11-Month Update and Jonathan's 32!

Owen turned 11-months old this past Sunday.  It's so hard to believe it's almost been a year since he was born, because it seriously feels like yesterday.  He was a good participant this time for his 11-month photo:  

Owen is very busy, and he's trying to keep up with his older brother the best he can.  He's always crawling behind people following them around the house.  On Monday 10/21/13 he stood in the middle of a room all by himself for a good 8-10 seconds.  That same day he also held on to my pinky with one hand and walked next to me, so he's coming close to walking.  Owen's other cute 'trick' is that he loves to give high 5s.  If you say high 5 and hold your hand up, he knows exactly what to do and laughs while doing it.  

It's so fun to see how different Jack and Owen are at the same age...truly different personalities.  Owen is more clingy where Jack was always trying to get away from me at this age.  Jack is also a very visual person who likes colors, etc., and Owen is very tactile.  Owen LOVES the texture books.  In the collage below he was just sitting in the corner quietly feeling the different textures in a book.  

These pictures were just two that I thought were so cute.  I had to wake him up from a nap one morning to go to MOPS, and I found him sleeping with his little blankie in his mouth.  He didn't even wake up when the flash went off.

Jack and Owen have been playing together much more often.  I'll be in the kitchen and hear them out in the play area giggling with each other.  It's nice they have someone to play with when I have stuff to do around the house.  Even when I hear them talking/laughing in their room early in the morning, you can't be too irritate that one woke the other since it's just so cute to listen to.

In this picture Jack asked me to put Owen next to him and take a picture:

Both boys love their dad, and they both try to capitalize on the weekends and evenings with him.  

We've had some great family outings recently.  Both boys love riding in the BOB with drinks and snacks, and you can't beat the scenery in Laguna Beach.

We got a rare family picture on top of Laguna Canyon overlooking the ocean.  

Jonathan and Jack did the same hike a week earlier by themselves, and Jack had a great time with his dad exploring little cave areas and just having one-on-one time.

Jack has been REALLY excited for Halloween this year.  He always tells us how much he loves Halloween, and he likes anything Halloween themed (ie cartoons, decorations at stores, crafts, etc.).  It was a hot day so we had a short, but fun trip to Tanaka Farms to get pumpkins.  We got a bunch of tiny pumpkins and two big pumpkins to do some carving and decorating.

We've been doing some Halloween-themed crafts.  I sewed the seams, but Jack glued on the face for the bat puppet.  Jonathan and Jack made some kleenex ghosts, strung them together, and hung them up.  We also did hand print spiders and glued on some googly eyes.  I'm not the craftiest person, but I have a few more things planned since he loves it so much...thank you pinterest :).

Jonathan's birthday was this past Monday, and Jack LOVES birthdays and birthday parties.  We spent the day while Jonathan was at work decorating our kitchen, making a special birthday card, and shopping for and preparing a big meal with cake at the end.  Jack also insisted on party hats, of course.

This is a random picture, but Jack really likes balloons.  Jonathan bought him a balloon when they were at the grocery store a couple weeks ago, and he said it was his 'friend.'  He tried to bring him to bed with him two different nights, so we had to have Jack 'put the balloon to bed in the pack 'n play before going to his own bed.  Here's Jack watching tv with his 'friend.'

I have had to find ways to keep Jack busy during Owen's morning nap, because if Jack is bored he goes a little bit bonkers in the house and turns mildly destructive.  I know he's bored when he starts throwing toys around, turning couch cushions, or smashing things :).  He loves 'helping' so I've tried to get him involved with baking/cooking and housework.  

We're looking forward to Halloween and the rest of the holiday season since Jack is so excited about everything and loves party prep.  I'm most excited for Jack and Owen's birthdays next month!