Owen Christopher: 7 Months.

Today is a BIG day. Not only is Owen 7 months old, but we are also officially selling our home today. That's right, by the end of the day we will be homeless! Just kidding, we will be renters. I am starting to get a little sentimental about it. Mainly because this was Owen's first home. I packed up a lot of his room today and it made me sad to take his pictures and name off the wall. I am lucky I get to put them back up again in the next house, it's going to be really sad when I have to pack these things up for good.

I guess this was a BIG week. We found a house to buy a few weeks ago and after inspection and negotiating with the sellers, I am happy to say that this house is a keeper. We got all the way through the due diligence period this time without having to terminate the contract! In about 3 weeks, we will be the newest residents of East Cobb. We love the big swim and tennis community we ended up in. So here it is…. our new home…..

Now it's time to start decorating! The first order of business is to get the interior painted, hopefully before we move in. I have an appointment to meet a painter at the house for a quote. I also need to pick paint colors. We are going to have the entire main floor painted, the upstairs hallway, nursery, master bedroom and bathroom. The other rooms I am going to do myself over time.

One of the things I am most excited about about this house is the screened in porch! I can't wait to sit out there and relax with a glass of wine. We've already ordered patio furniture. It was backordered until mid June already, so we didn't want to wait a month to order it.

I plan on blogging about making updates to and decorating the house so stay tuned. Now back to Mr. Owen…..

Owen's Milestones:
- You are sitting up really good now.
- I can tell you want to start moving so badly. Please wait until we move so we only have to baby-proof once.
- We've tried sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, pears, banana, watermelon, yellow squash, apples and raspberries. You like sweet potatoes, yellow squash apples and pears... everything else you don't really care for.
- We stopped nursing... which was very emotional for Mommy. You now get 100% formula. We give you Similac.
- You can wave now. It's so fun to watch you learn new things!
- You graduated level 1 and moved up to level 2 in Gymboree.
- You love when I dance with you! I learned that by doing it at Gymboree and now we do it at home too.
- We still use your bathtub sling (for newborns) to give you a bath. We tried to stick you in the tub without using it and you hated it... I think you may not like being in water.
- You love swinging at the park. When we move I want to get you a swing for the back yard.

I thought it would be fun to add a new section to the blog to document Owen's favorite toys. I think it will be fun to look back and see how he's developed and it might be nice if anyone reads the blog and is looking for a baby gift for a baby of the same age.

1. The baby banana- This is Owen's favorite teether. It's like a little toothbrush. The peels on the side make it easy for him to hold.
2. Gymbo the Clown- We purchased this puppet at Gymboree because Owen giggled so much when he saw it during class. When I get him out, Owen smiles, grabs him and chews on his face :)
3. PipSquigz- These are great during mealtime. They suction to the bumbo tray or table at a restaurant  so they aren't constantly falling on the floor and keep him entertained. They can also be used as a bathtime toy when Owen gets older.
4. Scout- This might be Owen's absolute favorite toy. He talks and sings and is programmed to say Owen's name. Getting Scout out always puts a smile on Owen's face.
5. Oball Rattle- Owen loves balls! He is all boy. We have 2 of these... one for the house and one for when we are out.
6. Baby Einsten Jumperoo- Nicknamed "disneyland" by Owen's grandparents. I think Owen's favorite part about this contraption is that he can bounce to his heart's desire. He gets fired up bouncing and making all kinds of noises.
7. Baby Einsten Take Along Tunes-  Owen loves music and loves phones.... this was a favorite before he got #8. It's a good gateway into more complicated phone toys….
8. V-Tech Touch and Swipe Baby Phone- We just got this toy this week and Owen loves it. Owen always wants our iphones. This toy is great because it looks similar to an iPhone and it has a touch screen like our phones. He knows it's not the real thing... given a choice he would always choose to play with our phones over this, but he will accept this as an alternative if our phones are out of sight.
9. Baby Einsten Roller Pillar Activity Balls- Every ball in this set is different. Some make noise, one lights up… they are very interesting to Owen. His hands just got big enough to pick them up without having to use 2 hands. Lately Owen has been banging them together.
10. Blocks- Right now he likes to chew on them and knock them over when we stack them up. I think this toy will be a favorite for a while as he still needs to learn to stack and build with them.
11. Elephant Activity Pal-  This is our go-to toy when we leave the house. We call him Stevie Elephante and I always have him in my diaper bag. He's easy to hook onto things and Owen loves to chomp on the built in teething rings.
12- Poppity Pop Musical Dino- Owen might be a little young for this toy... but he is fascinated by it. The balls pop up inside it, come out the dino's mouth and roll all over. Right now Owen likes to grab the balls as they come out of the mouth. He doesn't know how to put them back in yet... that is my job.

Now for pictures from this month…

Until Next Time,
Tressa

6 Month Update

Owen weighed 17 lbs and 2 oz (42nd percentile) and was 27 inches long (66th percentile) at his 6 month appointment on Friday. Still long and lean. The Doctor also pointed out that Owen has 2 teeth coming in the bottom of his mouth. I feel like such a terrible mother… I didn't even notice!!!

We tried carrots today… I would say Owen liked them more than peas but less than sweet potatoes.

Eating carrots.

My carrot puree making operation.

New hat from Aunt Laurie

We met my co-worker Michelle and her son Louis who is 6 weeks younger than Owen today at Gymboree

Until Next Time,
Tressa

Happy 1/2 Year Birthday Owen!

I can't believe it's already been half a year! We have been so busy that this last month has just flown by. It is so exhausting being a mother to a 6 month old, working part-time (24 hours a week), selling a house and trying to buy a new one all at the same time. I have never been more stressed… hence I am writing this at 1 am on a night before I have to get up at 5:30 for work because I can't sleep.

Everything on the selling side house-wise has gone smoothly. We had 32 showings and 10 offers over 4 days. The inspection went smoothly and we couldn't be happier with the person buying it. We close in a month and the buyer will let us rent back for 2 months, so we don't have to be out until July.

The buying side is a different story. We are currently under contract on one, but the inspection uncovered a lot of big problems. The situation is very messy right now… and as much as I like the house, at this point it makes more sense to walk away and cut our losses. I guess on the bright side, one of the things Rich and I were really excited about the house was that it was in a particular neighborhood. So I think we have come to realize through this whole experience that this is definitely the neighborhood we want to live in and we are willing to settle on some other aspects of the house (as long as everything is up to code and the house isn't rotting). There are 2 other homes in the neighborhood on the market right now that we are going to see this weekend.


Owen's Milestones
- We tried sweet potatoes and peas this month. You love sweet potatoes and are not a big fan of the peas. Mommy made all of your food herself!
- You are a very light sleeper. We have to use a noise machine so you don't hear us get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
- You grunt when you are mad. You always have.
- Speaking of getting mad and grunting… nothing makes you more mad than seeing an iPhone that you can't play with. You have an obsession with iPhones and already know how to swipe your finger across the screen to make things move.
- You can ride in the stroller sitting up and can ride in the seat in the cart as long as we keep a hand on you to prevent you from leaning.
- You are getting pretty good at sitting up by yourself.
- You love playing in the jump-a-roo.
- I've tried to give you water in a sippy cup… but you don't understand. You make a face whenever you drink it because you are expecting formula.
- You get about half breast milk half formula these days.
- You love to make all kinds of noises! Very noisy during Gymboree.
- We switched you to your 9 months clothes at about 5 and 1/2 months.
- We go to the Doctor for your 6 month check up on Friday, I will update the blog with your weight and height on Friday.

Morning snuggles with Daddy. Owen was reaching for the glasses.

Sitting like a big boy in the stroller.

Lunch with Laurence...

And Eva!

Easter Sunday at the Country Club :)

New hat for the beach this summer!

Love cousin Nicole.

First time trying sweet potatoes.

Owen's first Easter basket. 

Owen opening his basket.

Happy boy!

Playing in the jump-a-roo.

Family Easter photo… good thing this was taken before Owen pooped all over his new seersucker shorts! And even better that Resolve Spray n Wash gets everything out!

Owen and Papa on Easter.

Now it's 2 am and I need to try to get 3.5 hours of sleep before I have to get up to go to work…. better get to bed!


Until Next Time…
Tressa

Mr. Owen is 5 Months!

Last weekend I shared my 30th birthday with little O. It's not fun turning 30, but he makes it a little better :) We just had little celebrations with friends and family all weekend... very low-key.

Spring is just around the corner. I am so excited for Owen to experience his first Spring and Summer. Right now he must wonder why we ever go outside since it's pretty much been unpleasant out there since he was born. I can't wait to be able to go on walks with him on more of a daily basis. It's been so cold and/or rainy that we've been on like 2 walks in the past month.

We've hired a Realtor and are shooting to list our home on March 26th. The home stagger came over last Friday, went through every room in our house and left us with 3 pages of "to-do's" to get the house ready to photograph and show. The biggest and most time consuming thing is going to be packing up everything we don't need before we move from all of the closets, laundry room and extra bedroom. We basically have to half-way move out and live out of a suitcase in our house. It's a little stressful, but it will all be worth it in the end. Hopefully we will have and accept an offer by mid-April and close/move by mid-May.

Owen's Milestones: (5 Months):

- You hate facing inward when being held. You want to see everything that's going on. We wear you in the baby bjorn and k-tan facing out and you love it.
- You really don't like being burped. It's like you don't have the patience for it (you get the lack of patience from mommy). To successfully get you to burp, we have to do something else while burping... i.e. walk around, have someone sit in front of you to entertain you etc.
- You have a sweet little laugh. The thing that gets you going the most is Gymbo the hand puppet from Gymboree. You loved it so much in class, we bought one to have at home. I think it's your favorite toy.
-You are getting better at tummy time. You like it when we put a mirror in front of you.
- It takes 2 spoons to feed you rice cereal because you always steal one!
- You like to suck on your thumb and fists. You still don't like pacifiers.
- You've discovered your feet this month. You try to sit up to stare at them.. especially when your socks are off.
- You don't want to lay down anymore. When we put you in the bouncer you are constantly using those ab muscles to try to sit up.
- You started sleeping in your crib!!!
- You are very social. You smile at anyone who makes eye contact with you.
- You are starting to get particular about who holds you when you get tired. Sometimes you just want your mommy or daddy :)
- You like to try to hold your own bottle when you eat. In fact, you've even started trying to grab and drink from mommy's water bottle.

I got a new lens for our camera… it takes really nice close ups.

We started eating in the bumbo instead of the bouncer…. only about 20% of the rice cereal actually gets consumed now that we are sitting up instead of reclining.

Owen's smile melts my heart!

Owen's first art project. We made a footprint butterfly planter for Popou for his birthday.

Owen at Gymboree

Owen on a walk with his shades

Ashley, Owen and I celebrating my 30th

Owen and his daddy.

Until Next Time...
Tressa

Happy 4 Months Owen!

 I might be biased… but I think our little boy is pretty darn cute! And he just keeps getting more handsome every day! These last four months have both flown by and gone slowly at the same time… if that makes any sense. Someone told me recently that with little ones the hours go by slowly, but the months fly by. I think it takes being a mother to really understand how true it is.

I feel like our house is full of baby stuff right now. 4 months is an age where you use a lot of different equipment. Owen still enjoys his gyms (he has 2, 1 for his bedroom and 1 in the living room) and spends most of his playing time in them. He still goes in his swing about once a day for a nap. We put him in the mamaroo when he's awake and happy, but we are doing stuff like making dinner. He likes to sit in it and watch us. We also put him in his bouncer a lot and it's a great place to put him while we feed him. We also have a bumbo seat and a summer infant activity seat which he isn't completely comfortable in yet but I think we will start using a lot more until he can sit on his own. If all of that wasn't enough, I picked up a doorway jumper and a jumperoo (kind of like an exsaucer) at a consignment sale last weekend. I got a great deal on them and both items can start being used at 4 months. As you can imagine… there is baby stuff everywhere! I think it's just the age though, he hasn't quite outgrown some things but is old enough to start using other things in small doses. I think in another month or 2 he'll start sitting up and then will be too big for the gyms, bouncer, bumbo and summer infant seat. He'll be too tall for the swing and mamaroo and all we will have left is the jumper and jumperoo (and we'll get the highchair out then too). At the same time… we are trying to clean and organize the house to put on the market. I hate to put things away before Owen is done with them since there is such a small window he can use them in. I guess we will just keep everything out until the day we put it on the market and hopefully the house will sell fast so we can get everything back out again.

At Owen's 4 month appointment, the doctor told us to start doing a rice cereal feeding once a day to get him used to eating with a spoon. We started right away! I mixed the cereal with formula for his first feeding and he absolutely hated it! See the face of disapproval below….

He isn't a big fan of formula. But then I mixed it with breast milk and he loved it. He kicks his legs in excitement when I feed him… making getting the food in his mouth very challenging. We have to change his clothes after every feeding… he is such a mess. At least rice cereal doesn't stain!

Owen's milestones:
- You weighed 15.3 lbs (43rd percentile) and measured 25.75 inches (77th percentile) at your 4 month doctor's appointment. So you are long and lean!
- You definitely follow me with your eyes/head when I walk around the room. You are very aware of your environment.
- You are starting to enjoy our walks outside and hardly ever cry on them.
- We went to a gymboree class… you really enjoyed watching the teacher sing and looking at the other babies. We got a membership and are going to be going weekly.
- You went into the doorway jumper and the jumperoo for the first time…you like both of them in small doses… after 5 minutes you get a little overwhelmed. I think you will be more of a fan in another month.

Until Next Time,
Tressa