Reading to my boys

When I was pregnant with Owen all of the baby books suggested reading to your baby in utero because they can hear your voice. It always felt awkward and forced to read aloud to my pregnant belly, but this time around Baby Brother gets to hear all of the stories that his big brother picks out (there is A LOT of Curious George!)

I find myself soaking up my time with Owen but also so very excited to welcome our new little guy very soon. I hope he likes books as much as his brother does, I bet he can recite them from memory already :)

{Owen just shy of 29 months and Mama just shy of 34 weeks pregnant with Baby Brother}

"More Dinosaur Museum!"

Every morning Owen either asks to go to the pool or the dinosaur museum (or both).  It was stormy and hot last week so we met up with our friends from playgroup at the dino museum on Tuesday and then went again with Daddy on Saturday.

Jeremy was on call, so he had to take a few calls while we were there but he had never seen real dinosaur bones up close and Owen was thrilled to show his Daddy his favorite 'T-REX!"

They did some collections together, this time Owen chose to collect rocks.

and Mama chose to collect spikey dinorsaurs!

Dinosaurs in the mirror are closer than they appear

I love being a boy-Mama. I absolutely LOVE it.

A Quick Visit to OHIO!

On Sunday we made the 3 hour trip to Columbus to pick-up some things from my parent's house.We were excited to meet up with Allison and her family. Uncle Scott and his partner Chris drove from Cincinnati to see us too and we all enjoyed some some ice cream and catching up.

 I cannot believe it's been FOUR years since these two stood beside me on my wedding day. I have really great friends.

Two little boys watching the trains (Owen 28 months, Soren 3.5)

No trip to Ohio would be complete without some BUCKEYES GEAR! We grabbed some drinking glasses and an adorable block O hat for Mr. Owen. He was thrilled!

This is one of the things I miss living in Pennsylvania. Oddly, no stores dedicated entirely to Ohio State stuff anywhere near here. There's no place like home :)

Big Brother Class

This weekend was Jeremy's first day off since June 9th.  It's been a long month and Owen was very happy to spend some time with his Daddy. On Saturday we headed to a class at the hospital that helps to prepare siblings for the arrival of baby brother (or sister).

O's friend Emmett was also there because his Mama is expecting a little boy three weeks after we are so it was nice to take the class with some friends. The class was from 1-2 so we were cutting it close on nap time but Owen was a very good boy. They requested that each child bring a favorite doll and since Owen doesn't have many dolls, we gave him a special Curious George just for being a big brother!

The kids went around a circle and introduced themsevles and when it was O's turn he was quite the story teller!

Teacher: What is your name?

Owen: OWEN!

Teacher: And how old are you Owen?

Owen: TWO!

Teacher: Do you have a kitty or a dog?

Owen: Dog. His name is Coco.

(Jeremy and I shaking our heads that he actually does NOT have a dog... he usually tells people he has a dog named "charkie" because Curious George has a dog names charkie)

Owen: Going on vacation!

Teacher: Oh where are you going on vacation?

(Jeremy and I shaking our heads that in fact we are NOT going on vacation...)

Teacher: Owen are you having a baby brother or a baby sister?

Owen: A Baby Sister.

(Jeremy and I shaking our heads that he is NOT having a baby sister...)

The teacher read the kids a story about a Mama having a baby in her belly and then one night Mama goes away and they next day the sibling goes to meet his baby brother. We then took a tour of the maternity ward and she showed the kids the rooms where they could come to meet their baby brother. They got to sit in the "comfy chair" that Daddies sleep in, the bed that Mama will sleep in and the clear box where Baby Brother will sleep.  George even got to try out Baby Brother's bed!

Next we went back to the classroom had a snack and watch a silly movie about all the big important responsibilities and feelings that come with being a big brother. Owen was VERY interested in the apple juice (which he spilled down the front of his shirt) and crackers. Afterwards the kids learned how to hold the baby, that we must wash our hands before touching a baby, and how to feed a bottle or give a pacifier (two things Owen never used and I'm sure had no clue what they were.)

Owen learned to diaper Curious George with Daddy's help and we managed to get a goofy smile out of him when he received his certificate.

The hospital has a turtle pond outside where we ended the class and we told him that after he meets Baby Brother Nana and Papa might take him to see the turtles again.

I honestly think he's more excited about seeing the turtles.

The class was really cute and while it is hard to hold the attention of 2yr olds for over an hour, they did pretty good. We felt like some of it was lost on O but he's really good at remembering and associating things we've done in the past so we hope it will ease some anxiety when the baby comes if we keep talking about what we learned in class.

So proud of this guy, he going to be a GREAT big brother!

A small boy with lots of thoughts

This boy is the light of my life. Every day that I am home with him he does something to amaze me. He is speaking in full sentences now and cracks us up with his requests and constant negotiations.

Owen is very descriptive and most of his descriptions involve being immensely positive about one thing or another. "I really, really like this!"  "It's SO SO good!" and my personal favorite, "It's not good, IT'S DELICIOUS!"

I think he gets this little bit of (exaggeration?) enthusiasm from his Mama ;)

Today a Katy Perry song came on the radio in the car (because let's be real there is only so much kid music one Mama can listen to) and Owen says, "Oh Mama I like this song! Makes me so, so happy!"  While his taste in music is a parenting FAIL on my part, I almost died from the cuteness.

I've been trying to do some extra special things with him, treasuring our time before Baby Brother comes. Today after I took him to the pool for toddler swim he said he was hungry. I knew we could go home for lunch and have sandwiches but I decided to take him to McDonald's instead. He loves to sit next to me in the booth like a big boy and eat his meal. At the counter after I ordered Owen looked at the lady and said, "Owen will have a hot dog."  I laugh just typing this because the cuteness NEVER STOPS.

Whenever we tell him, "No." about something as in "No you cannot have another ice cream sandwich" he looks at us and says, "Well, maybe." In his mind, everything is a maybe ;)

There are a few things that make my heart break a little.

He used to call banana's "mee-mas" and recently he started saying "banana" plain as day.

He has started saying, "I don't like it" at the dinner table, which he has never said before.

He also says, "I don't want to." --- and every time he says it I have to hold back my frown-y face

He also says, "Owen can't do it." which I am trying to reinforce with only positive feedback and encouragement. He gets easily frustrated and it makes me so sad when he says this.

He still calls tomatoes "baby-TUR-TALLS" which I absolutely LOVE.

His growing up only brings more joy, never less. Endless streaming thoughts, nothing withheld. And MORE love and sweetness than one Mama can take on a daily basis.

Ice Cream Summer

Anytime Daddy gets home from work with daylight left, we eat our dinner as fast as we can so there is still time for an ice cream adventure. Vanilla with sprinkles, sometimes watermelon sorbet or a cherry-dip cone. We're not very picky :)

Toddler Troubles: Naked time

This is how we found Owen when we went in to wake him from his nap (we are waking him now because it is taking him far too long to fall asleep at night). He took off his sleep sack, pajama's and diaper and was SOAKED in urine. His bedding, him, everything was soaked.

He is doing this before falling asleep for nap/night time or upon waking from nap/night. I've cleaned up more than my fair share of poop and pee over the last few weeks and was desperate for a solution.

Read more about it here on Kveller!

Wordless Wednesday: Dino-bath

 Meet Triceratops, T-rex and "Dinosaurus" (aka Stegosaurus)