My Two and a half year old

Height - 36 1/2 in. (61st Percentile)

Weight - 31 lbs 4 oz (72nd Percentile)

Owen is growing up SO fast and he is at such a fun age right now.  Sure there are the 

stubborn, obstinate, strong willed parts of the terrible twos that we would like to pass quickly....but there are so many other great parts too!  In my opinion the good far outweighs

the bad.  Or maybe as I'm writing this, we're just in the middle of a good day so it's easier

to have a more positive outlook.  ;)

One of my absolute favorite things about Owen is how outgoing and friendly he is.  Going

for walks with him always puts a smile on my face.  Everyone we encounter is typically

greeted by my sweet little red head with a "Hi guys!" or "Hi kids!"  And don't even think

about not responding because he will continue to repeat "hi......Hi.....HI!!" with a growing

intensity until he gets the response he is anticipating.  And then as we pass by he might

address you again with "Bye guys.  See you later!"  It warms my heart to see how

much he loves talking to anyone and everyone.  I hope he never grows out of that

outgoing and confident personality.

And speaking of confidence, taking him to his first drop off school has showed me just how confident of a little boy he is.  It is only an hour and a half per day on Mondays and Wednesdays, but he does so well!  99% of the time, he walks right into the classroom barely

looking back to see if I'm still there.  We only had one teary exit, but he didn't stay upset

long.  The class is later in the morning and I honestly think he was just super tired that day.

But he's doing a great job listening and taking direction from someone other than Ryan or I.

In fact, sometimes I think he listens better to his teachers.  I've gotten to know Miss Kelly,

his main teacher, really well over the past few weeks.  She is so great with Owen.  I am fully

aware that Owen is a ball of energy and can be a handful.  She understands him and works

so well with him.  I love going to pick him up from school.  The little kids are all eating snack

when the parents arrive and Miss Kelly calls each student individually.  When she calls

Owen she always reminds him to use his "walking feet".  No surprise seeing as how

everywhere he goes he practically sprints.  I watch him come from the snack table with the

most exaggerated walk I have ever seen.  It's looks like a foreign movement for him.  He is

so excited to come see Joe and I but he's doing his best to follow his teacher's directions.

It is so cute to watch and just another reason why I love him so very much!    

On our drive home from school I ask him what he did that day.  Without fail the answer

I receive is "cars."  Then I might ask if he did anything else at school to which he

replies "big cars" or "trucks."  I think it goes without saying what his favorite things are to

play with these days.  We're slowly starting a Hot Wheels collection.  He goes to bed with a car or two on his dresser every night.  He carries them with him all the way up until it is time

for bed and then only agrees to release them if we put them on the dresser so they are

there for him in the morning.  Once the cars are secure Ryan and I get our good night hugs

and put him in his bed.  We cover him up with his big fleece Cars blanket, tell him good night and that we love him.  Ryan has taught him how to respond when someone says "I love you," so we get a "Wuv you too, Da-ee, Mommy."  Then as we slowly walk out of his

room and close his door he calls out "Bye Mommy, Da-ee.  See you waiter.  See you waiter

Mommy."  It is just another one of his super cute bedtime routines that he's started.  

I always walk away with a smile on my face.   

 

Then when he wakes bright and early at 5:00AM it's right back to playing with his cars.

We've tried different things to get him to sleep in a little later, but nothing seems to work.  I

guess it's true that sometimes kids have an internal alarm clock and there really is no

messing with it.  No matter what happens the night before, Owen is typically up between

5:00AM and 6:00AM.  The days we pass 6:00AM we feel like we've won the lottery.  :)

Thankfully for Owen, I'm a morning person too and don't mind getting up early.  I guess

maybe he gets his early tendencies from me.  And Joe seems to be following in both

of our footsteps, so our entire household is generally up by 6:00AM.  If the early

bird gets the worm, then we are never going to go hungry!    

 

The other thing that impresses me daily with Owen is how smart he is and how fast his

language is improving.  He can use full sentences, can count to 10 (he especially loves

reciting 6, 7, 8, 9 10), knows his colors, and is learning new words left and right.  He also

recognizes where he is and where places are that he's been before.  We were driving in the

car and passed by his doctor's office.  Without me saying a word he piped up from the backseat and said "my doctor."  I was thoroughly impressed.  He has also finally started

saying his own name.  When asked who we are he can tell you "Mommy's name, Mommy.  Daddy's name, Daddy"  And then when you ask him what his name is he replies "Onin." 

The other person whose name he's known for quite some time is Joe or Joe Joe as he calls

him.  If we're out and about and I have the two boys in the double stroller Owen always

introduces whomever we meet to Joe.  He points to him and says, "That Joe Joe."  You can

tell that Owen truly loves Joe.  He gets so excited when I come downstairs in the morning

with Joe.  He runs right over to us and gives Joe a big good morning hug.  He loves to play

with him but hasn't figured out that he needs to be a little more gentle than he's used to.  I've
walked out of the room and come back to find Joe on his tummy and Owen riding on his
back like a horse.  Joe just laughs at him, but I definitely have to keep my eye on those two.
Overall it seems they truly enjoy each other's company.  When we're in the car, Joe

is constantly looking over towards Owen's carseat to see what he is up to.  They always 
have their eyes on each other and I know they're going to be the best of friends.

Some of Owen's Favorite Things

Favorite Toys - Cars, Trucks, Duplos

Favorite Movies - The Croods, Turbo, Cars, How to Train Your Dragon

Favorite Sports - Soccer, Baseball

Favorite Games to Play - Tackle, Chasing ("Mommy, I get you!")

Favorite Foods - Fruit, Fruit and more fruit

Favorite Treats - "patch kids" (Sour patch kids), cookies, cake, donuts

Favorite Snacks - "Two Pretzels" (pretzel rods, but he needs two), "Nu Nacks" (Fruit snacks)

Favorite Breakfast  - "Waffles in a bowl in the room" 

Translation:  he wants a bowl of cut up waffles on his couch in the living room

Speaking of his eating habits, this little boy has a sweet tooth that could rival his mom's.  :)

It doesn't matter what time of day it is, it could be first thing in the morning and I ask him

what he'd like to eat and his answer is "Nu nacks."  I have to explain to him that we don't eat

fruit snacks for breakfast and try to steer him towards something more appropriate. I've also

had to relocate my Sour Patch Kid stash.  There have been more times than one where I've 

been upstairs with Joe and I notice Owen is being uncharacteristically quiet.  I go downstairs

to check on him and find him sitting on the floor tucked behind the door of the cabinet where

I keep my stash.  He has both hands fist deep in the sour patch kid bag.  As soon as he

sees me and before I can even get a word in he grabs both fists full of candy and stuffs as

many as he possibly can in his mouth.  It's all I can do not to burst out laughing.

I'm just glad I finally found two vegetables he'll happily eat.  Baby carrots and Snap peas.
For a long time it was nearly impossible to get him to try any vegetables.

Owen is such a loving and empathetic little boy.  He gets really upset when he sees anyone
else cry, and Ryan and I can barely raise our voices at each other without him yelling at us
to stop.  He's actually a great little reminder to be calm with each other because most of the
time one of us is just overreacting anyway.  So thanks for keeping us in check Owen.  We
love you so much and grow more and more in love with you each day.  You impress us daily
with all of your new skills and knowledge.  It is so fun watching you grow and we look
forward to the next 6 months and what they'll bring.