Tuckered Out

Grandma had a hard time setting this sweet baby down for his nap. She really wanted to hold him and kiss his rosy cheeks.

Vikings Fans

Football Practice

Already practicing his touchdown dance, and will probably be the only one doing the gorilla in the end zone.

Baby Signs

Just another example of how this kid is a genius...


Baby Signing Time is the only movie Owen watches and it really has helped him communicate with us. We all love it!

Baby genius

Babies learn by watching our actions. Sometimes it's not so good, like when we scold the dog for chewing Owen's toys and then he mocks us and wags his finger saying "no dog dog, no." But other times he is remarkably smart like when he picked up his tooth brush then reached across the sink and grabbed his tooth paste. Then, he acted like he was putting the toothpaste on the brush and he brushed his teeth. Genius I tell you, just genius.

Cousin Time

It was not a very long stay in Redding but Owen had a lot of fun hanging out with Cousin Stone. Aside from the minor baby attacks, they got along pretty well. We went to the Sun Dial Bridge and Turtle Bay park where the boys played in the dirt and ran around until they were literally spent. I had to stop by the grocery store to get Owen some milk and he fell asleep in my arms and couldnt even stay awake walking around. Which of course meant his real nap was doomed; the power nap only lasted 15 minutes. At the water table they took turns pouring water on Jax's head and laughing at him trying to catch the water with his mouth. Jax got put in time-out because he was climbing on the table.



Bye Bye Cousin Stone, miss you!

Is that...? No!

Daddy got a great angle of Owen playing in the water.

I can feed myself

Getting pretty good with the spoon, at least when the food is sticky like applesauce.

I wanna ride

Dad, push me on my trike again. Please! I wanna go for a ride and I am too little to reach the pedals or even climb on by myself.


I really did climb up on it like this on my own.

Baby thief

We found this spatula in my backpack when we were waiting for the airplane to take us back home. Owen had snuck it deep into a pocket when we were packing bc he wanted something to remember Cousin Liz. Little baby thief.

Good Bye Portland

Sad to go home, vacations never seem to be long enough. Thank you Evan and Liz for having us all stay for the weekend. Liz was so prepared, she had outlet covers, cabinet locks, borrowed a stroller and pack n play, and even stocked the fridge with organic milk and Owen's favorite foods. We brought the Totseat which was awesome for feeding Owen when there wasn't a high chair. Another great kid gadget, it packs up real small and can be used on any kind of chair.



Owen navigated our trip and picked out all the places he wanted to see.


And a little peek-a-boo



We had a great time, and will be back soon!

Keeping Portland Weird

Weird is quite appropriate for this town since we did see a crew of people dressed like they were going to the Mad Hatters tea party at 10 in the morning.

Owen and I had so much fun hanging out in Portland with Liz, Evan and Jess. Jess, Owen and I walked all over downtown, and I mean all over... we even found some desolate areas that we did not mean to venture into. We all ate a lot of yummy food and wine, and enjoyed the "Best Dessert in Portland" at !Oba! and it was perfect. We toured the Zoo and Owen saw his first elephant, hippo and polar bear. What a great Zoo, lots to see and do and easy to get around in just a couple hours.

We also saw the 2nd tallest waterfall in North America and Owen was showing off his water sign language the whole time.

Flying with the Go-Go-Babyz

Owen and I had our very own adventure going to visit cousin Liz and Evan in Portland. We managed a flight on our own and Owen was pretty good on the plane. The guy sitting by the window was probably not expecting to sit next to a teenage boy with a cat and me with my one-year-old. I am sure he was grumbling about it to his friends when he got off the plane. But I brought along some fun things for Owen and he was fairly content except for that one moment when I had to get into my bag in the overhead bin and I set him down alone- scary for the kid and a little surprising for our neighbors when he cried out for the first time on the flight. Owen's favorite toy was the $2 magna doodle and I played Baby Signing Time on my iPhone.
We used the Go-Go-Babyz to wheel Owen around the airport in his car seat. I would definitely recommend this for anyone traveling alone with a toddler. I asked security to wand his seat so I wouldn't have to take the wheel part off to fit it on the belt. It was a little tough holding Owen and gathering all our shoes, my backpack and other items just to have security ask me to unscrew his bottle for their explosives test. I did learn that they are patient and I can take a moment to get my kid settled before helping them. We just cruised through the airport and we were definitely traveling well prepared.

One shoe down

I lost my shoe on the run with Dad today. And I took off my sock too just for fun. We drove back along the route but didn't find it:( sorry mom, but I will lose a lot more things in my lifetime.