Owen's well child check-up was on Friday, May 15 - also my last official day of maternity leave. I went back to work part-time, taking Wednesday and Friday off for two weeks. I managed to schedule both boys' check-ups on my days off and for some reason thought it'd be no big deal to take both to Owen's appointment. Holy cow, why didn't anyone tell me that taking two kiddos under 18mo to the doctor was a bad idea? I had Owen gripping me so tightly and wailing whenever a nurse came near him and Jack crying because he woke up hungry and mommy didn't pack a bottle. I was a hot mess to say the least but somehow we made it through with all our limbs still attached and only a few complete meltdowns from both boys. At least Owen thinks Dr. Menke is the bee's knees. As I mentioned before, Owen DESPISES the nurses coming near him or doing anything with him so his stats are what we could get with a crying child who just wants mommy to hold him.
18-Month Appointment (5/15/2015)
Weight: 23 lb
Height: 30.5 inches
15-Month Appointment (2/20/2015)
Weight: 20 lb 13 oz
Height: 31 inches
You'll notice that his height measured shorter this time around too. He is so darn wiggly we can't get a super accurate reading but I know for sure he's grown because the pair of pants of his I love the most are becoming too short! His next well child check-up will be in November, just before his second birthday. With his eating habits, I'm guessing he'll be close to 25-26 pounds!
Speaking of eating, Owen eats like a monster! I still can hardly believe how much this little nugget can scarf down. Less and less of it seems to hit the floor these days which is nice but we tend to feed him more in the kitchen since the food we're serving him is a bit more messy. His current favorites are bananas, applesauce, toast with peanut butter, PB&J, quesadillas, french toast, spaghetti, fish sticks, grapes, cheese, peas, green beans, corn, baked ziti......pretty much everything we put in front of him. Owen is also doing pretty well with utensils. I have to help him with a fork occasionally because he doesn't seem to push down hard enough yet. Owen still loves to throw his sippy cup of milk on the floor which is pretty annoying but we're working on it :) Because he no longer gets any bottles, including the one before bed, Owen's dinner has moved to when we all would eat - around 6-6:30 p.m.
You'll notice that his height measured shorter this time around too. He is so darn wiggly we can't get a super accurate reading but I know for sure he's grown because the pair of pants of his I love the most are becoming too short! His next well child check-up will be in November, just before his second birthday. With his eating habits, I'm guessing he'll be close to 25-26 pounds!
Speaking of eating, Owen eats like a monster! I still can hardly believe how much this little nugget can scarf down. Less and less of it seems to hit the floor these days which is nice but we tend to feed him more in the kitchen since the food we're serving him is a bit more messy. His current favorites are bananas, applesauce, toast with peanut butter, PB&J, quesadillas, french toast, spaghetti, fish sticks, grapes, cheese, peas, green beans, corn, baked ziti......pretty much everything we put in front of him. Owen is also doing pretty well with utensils. I have to help him with a fork occasionally because he doesn't seem to push down hard enough yet. Owen still loves to throw his sippy cup of milk on the floor which is pretty annoying but we're working on it :) Because he no longer gets any bottles, including the one before bed, Owen's dinner has moved to when we all would eat - around 6-6:30 p.m.
Gary and I love to take photos of Owen eating spaghetti. He is definitely a child after my own heart but I don't like to share like he does :)
Owen officially has 12 teeth with the addition of his first molars in the middle of March. Though he still chews on things, we haven't seen any canines or second molars pop out yet. I have a feeling we'll get a sighting in the next month or two. I've noticed a few separate instances where I felt he was teething but his discomfort seems to go away overnight. Owen really enjoys cool teething rings and we are working with him to not bite books which seems to be getting better and better.
Owen has also gotten so much better with letting us read to him too, which we do a lot of before naps and bedtime. His nightly routine includes brushing his teeth, changing his diaper and clothes, reading at least three books and then getting put down in his crib. We haven't been the best with brushing his teeth but we are getting in the swing of this important habit - we use non-flouride toothpaste and help him out a bit so that he doesn't simply bite the toothbrush. The book choosing has become quite the event for Gary and he's pretty convinced that a select few are Owen's favorites. Though I agree with some of them, my guess is that they are really Gary's favorites. They include: If I Were an Owl; Goodnight Goon; Colors! Colors!; Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb; Baby Cakes; Ten Tiny Toes; and Scaredycrow. After we read and put him down, Owen seems to play for 5-10 minutes and then we usually don't hear a peep from him until morning, usually about 11-12 hours later. It's beautiful :) I love to burst into his room in the morning. He then giggles because he knows I'm about to attack with him tickles. On special days and he seems especially cheerful, I'll get a big hug as I pick him up off of the changing table. Other days, he seems to just jump off the ledge into our arms. It's pretty adorable.
Owen is still a pretty energetic and adventurous little boy. He is completely content to play and run around all day long. Owen loves to be outside and we've made every effort to go out as much as possible since Jack was born. Lots of playtime with daddy, lots of walks with mommy (and then some more with daddy too!), playing on his slide, walking in the grass, picking up sticks, you name it. He loves it all. I need to invest in a pair of sunglasses too but I'm pretty certain he'd just pull them off. We are looking to buy Owen a little pool and/or water table because I KNOW he'll love that since he absolutely loves bath time.
Other activities Owen enjoys is throwing and playing catch with balls, driving his cars, talking on the telephone, crawling through tunnels, stacking things, putting items in something and then taking them back out, playing hide and seek, being chased, climbing and of course looking out the window.
Other activities Owen enjoys is throwing and playing catch with balls, driving his cars, talking on the telephone, crawling through tunnels, stacking things, putting items in something and then taking them back out, playing hide and seek, being chased, climbing and of course looking out the window.
Owen doesn't seem to have a lot of words in his vocabulary yet but he sure loves to talk. The words we can tell he says are dada, mama (but not nearly spoken as much as dada), kitty (which sounds more like titty....), baby, hi (said with a lot of inflection), and buh bye. I feel like his speech will continue to grow and grow because of daycare and we often hear his baby gibberish when he's busy playing. Owen loves to wave, give high fives and can give knucks too! Animal noises he can make include lion, monkey and sheep. I'm still working on snake! And though he doesn't say this word yet, Owen knows where his head is. I'll ask where his eyes are or his nose is and he'll also point to his head so that's a work in progress too :)
The most exciting moment of the past three months is when Owen became a big brother! He wasn't all that interested at first and pretty much keeps his distance, but Owen loves to point at Jack and say "baby!" or come up close to him and point or poke. He's not all that gentle so there's a lot of monitoring whenever they are in close quarters. And bless Jack's heart, he somehow manages to sleep right through all of Owen's extremely loud noises (for the most part :)).
The most exciting moment of the past three months is when Owen became a big brother! He wasn't all that interested at first and pretty much keeps his distance, but Owen loves to point at Jack and say "baby!" or come up close to him and point or poke. He's not all that gentle so there's a lot of monitoring whenever they are in close quarters. And bless Jack's heart, he somehow manages to sleep right through all of Owen's extremely loud noises (for the most part :)).
Thank you, sweet Owen for being such an amazing little boy. We are so darn lucky to be your parents and Jack is so blessed to have you as a big brother!
