The Middle Kid

Lest Owen start to feel neglected, I thought I would give him his very own blog post on how he is doing the summer after he turned 2.

  

Owen is an absolute sweetheart.  Even with his occasional "two-ness", he is very sweet and cuddly and kind.  I think his favorite thing is to play with his big sister Rachel.  He loves to copy what she is doing - she continues to not always find it amusing, depending on her mood.  Of course, they do have disagreements.  He is using more words these days and some of the longest sequences he strings together go something like "No, Wachel, Mah Dink/Toy/Nack" (that is, no, Rachel, my drink/toy/snack).  We can understand what he is saying about half the time these days which has greatly increased his satisfaction with life.

He also loves to play and run and climb on things.

Being tickled makes him laugh without fail.

He can identify pretty much all of his letters and numbers to 9.  He has also gotten pretty good at putting simple puzzles back together.

Owen has also learned to love watching TV occasionally.  When he is ready for it, he will sit in the glider, get the remote and ask for a "tow".  His favorites are Deego (Diego) and 'Uck (a truck show).

It is often hard to take Owen's picture because he wants to grab the camera.  I have lots of pictures with the outstreched little hand.

Owen definitely loves his 'nacks.  He is usually pretty easy to settle down at meal times because he is ready to eat.  He does not, however, love most fruits and vegetables so we have to sneak them in.  Surprisingly, even though he loves his food, he is usually willing to share with Rachel if she asks him for some of what he is having.  Often his first response is to say No and cross his arms (the sign language he has developed for every kind of refusal), but he usually reconsiders and shares.

Fortunately, he loves beans, cheese and yogurt so his overall nutrition is not too bad.

When he is being silly, he can make himself crack up laughing.  He has an infectious little laugh.

 

 

A very helpful big brother to his little "'enny".

Just a few more entertaining (to me at least) "Owen-isms":

• He just recently started to say his own name.  I am not sure why he was so slow, but just this week I found him referring to himself as "Ah-men".  It is nice to see his developing his sense of self.
• He often does not clearly enunciate the word no...although he certainly knows how and can yell it very effectively.  When he does not want to have or do something, he uses a short-cut of just "n".  Such as "n-dink" when he does not want his drink.  Also, "n-melk", "n-nap","n-share", etc.  It is cute even when he is being disagreeable.
• His favorite toys are the "tren", "carr" (with a very clearly pronounced R at the end) and "ba'"
• He often points out messes (really - he will just point and say "mess, mommy" for anything from a turned-up corner on a rug to spilled drinks) and still likes to clean things up most of the time.  He is particularly enthusiastic when something needs to go in the trash can.  Also, he likes to get a wipe and clean anything he can find.