Owen is 1!!!

Owen turned 1 a month and a half ago, so I'm happy to finally get his birthday pictures posted.  I am so glad I was able to stay consistent with the monthly photos over this first year, because I'm not always the best with following-through on this kind of thing.  It's so fun to be able to look back and see how much he has grown in the past year.  The craziest thing is looking at his hair when he was first born compared to now!  I never would have guessed a baby with dark brown hair would come out.  He's looking more like the rest of us blondie's these days, though :).  

Owen's birthday was particularly special to me, because it gave Jack a chance to love on his brother.    Jack wanted to be a part of putting together a family party for Owen.  Jack helped to make homemade cupcakes and frosting, and we decorated them in a firefighter theme.  He also made the sweetest card for Owen.  I drew the train, and Jack painted it.  I was writing "Happy Birthday Owen!" on the card, and Jack added "Because I love you" at the end of it.  At the very bottom of the card you can see where I wrote what Jack said, because it was so sweet.

Once Jonathan got home we had dinner and ate our cupcakes with the big '1' candle.  Every birthday party in our family brings out the birthday hats.

Owen and Jack also got some great gifts from Grammy and Grampy Nichols.  Jack got an alligator kids science project, Owen got the touch and feel books he likes, and they got some amazing space themed blankets and pillows for their rooms to add to the current space theme.  Jack went into a tearing frenzy opening the box full of presents.  He is a lover of presents, and he thinks every box that comes to our house is for him :).

We went to Owen's 1-year wellness visit on December 12, 2013, because he was sick for a few weeks with croup and another really bad cold that gave him some stomach issues.  We had gone to the doctor closer to his birthday for illnesses but waited on the wellness visit until he was healthy again.  His 1-year, 3 week stats are:

Height: 30.25 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 20.0 lbs. (around 15th-20th percentile)

At one of his visits immediately after his birthday for croup, he was 19lbs, 6 oz.  He wasn't eating much at the time so I think he lost a few ounces.

Recent Milestones:

Owen took his first two steps on November 16th.  Every day he had moments where he would take 2-3 steps and then go back to crawling.  He most often does it when I'm not looking, and as soon as I see him he'll fall down into a crawl.  On December 15th we were at the park, and I turned around to reach for a tissue in my diaper bag.  When I turned back around he was walking across the park and took maybe 15 steps.  On January 1st he started walking around the house where he would let go of furniture and walk over to one of us, a toy, down the hall, etc.  So, he's not officially walking consistently yet, but he can definitely do it.  

He eats a lot, and he eats everything!  I am actually a little surprised that he doesn't weigh more, because it's not from a lack of eating.  He definitely eats more than Jack does at every meal.  I'll give him things from my plate thinking he probably won't like it but he can try it, and he usually likes it.  His usual breakfast is fruit, an egg scrambled in butter with cheese, and toast with butter and jam.  He usually eats whatever we eat for lunch and dinner.

He recently became interested in trying to feed himself with spoons and forks.  If I put food on his fork, he can pick it up and feed it to himself.

We have a hard time distinguishing specific words, but we are always saying to each other "I swear I just heard him say _____."  We know he says "car, pretty (when looking at Christmas lights), bath, pear, boo-burr (blueberries), and park."  We joke around and say boo-yah when Jack has done things like shoot a basketball, and we've heard Owen say 'boo-yah'  haha.

He loves to dance to all types of music.  We play the Wee Sing cds in our car, and you can hear him clapping to the music and laughing as soon as it comes on.

He is constantly pointing at things (trees, lights, and ceiling fans are the top objects he points at).

Major Interests:

Owen loves climbing everything!  He climbs onto the couch and over the sides of the couch, onto kitchen table chairs, on top of the kids table, up stairs, to the top of the playground equipment, etc.  If I turn my back for even a second he is on top of something.  We call him the 'danger ranger,' and Jack will run into a room shouting 'danger ranger, danger, ranger' to alert me to Owen climbing something he shouldn't be.

He loves taking baths and playing with bath toys.  We constantly have to tell him to sit down, but he loves the water.

Owen's favorite books are the touch and feel books.  The sticky pads on the frogs fingers in one of the books weirds him out a bit.  He always has a shocked look on his face.

The only way to get him to sit still for even a second in the house is to give him a snack trap with cheddar bunnies.  He'll sit on the couch eating them quietly.  His other top favorite snack is graham crackers, but he eats those on the move.

It's hard to pinpoint a favorite food, because he just loves food in general.  I would have to say his favorite foods are blueberries and pear.

Owen loves to destroy anything that Jack builds.  Owen can stack 3 blocks on his own, but he definitely finds more joy destroying towers.  Jack will be playing something, and Owen just comes over, arms swinging, and will wreak havoc. 

Owen is not a very cuddly baby, but we call him the buddy baby.  He doesn't want to give a lot of hugs or snuggle with you on the couch, but he likes to be held constantly and be a part of things.

He likes wrestling around with Jack.  They are going to be trouble together in the near future, because they love to rough house with each other already.  Jack uses some crazy brazilian ju jitsu looking moves on Owen, and Owen does superman leaps on top of Jack clawing at his face…all while giggling.

I think that covers all the major stuff. For those who don't get to see Owen all of the time, it's just a glimpse into who he is :).