Fall

It's officially Fall, or "time for Falling" as Natalie calls it. We are enjoying the cool weather, but with the weather change Owen got his first ear infection. He had it in both ears and was basically miserable. He spent two days home with Mom at the end of last week, and was pretty crabby over the weekend, but he seems to be feeling better now. We forgot to include in the last post that he has added "truck" to his words, and he likes to point them all out when we are in the car. He is really good at shape sorting, and he will sit and play with shapes toys and puzzles for long periods of time. He's getting more adventurous with his standing and cruising - maybe he'll walk on his own soon?

Natalie has been working on using the potty, and she's made a lot of progress. She's pretty excited about all of her new pairs of underwear, especially the Hello Kitty ones! Nothing new with Mom and Dad, just busy with work. Dad has been managing some crisis at work, and Mom has been slammed with projects from the Army Corps of Engineers.

Out of town...

Well, Mom was out of town for work last week and Dad was left alone with Natalie and Owen. Things were a little hectic around here, but everyone survived!!!! Natalie and Owen were both very good with spending the whole day at school. We were especially interested to see how Owen handled it since he's never been away from Mom, and never stayed at school all day. Everybody was happy to see Mom when she got home, and there wasn't too much picking up to do around the house when she got home (the dishes in the dishwasher were still hot - did Dad turn it on just before heading to the airport?)! Natalie and Owen were happy to play in Mom's office while she worked (and help file papers!) on Friday. Natalie dragged her piano over next to Owen's, and we had dueling pianos! Owen enjoys moving from toy to toy and emptying the toy drawers - he leaves a wake of destruction! We had another low key weekend since everyone was worn out from Mom being out of town. We did visit the playground, and Natalie and Owen had a good time swinging and sliding.

Owen is 1!!!

Well, we are behind in our blogging because we've been very busy around here. Owen turned one year old on Friday the 8th, and we had a lot of celebrating to do! Owen's big birthday party was over Labor Day weekend. The weekend before was rainy and we all just took it easy inside. Natalie and Owen took turns practicing for karaoke with the piano and microphone. Owen is holding his own in battling for toys with Natalie - in one of the "karaoke" pictures, she has her boo-boo bunny on a battle wound! Natalie also got her doll house from Eve (Mom finished painting it and fixing it up). It's a big hit! And Owen is bent on doing some demolition work - it only took a few days before he broke the balcony off. He seems to have realized he's getting to be a big boy now; he's started talking a bit more: "Hi Daddy," "cat," "that?", and of course, the favorite "uh-oh!", and he's getting more mobile all the time. He's started pointing to everything to ask what it is, and he's now standing on his own. He also started cruising well last week. Walking is just around the corner! So we had his party over Labor Day. Grandma Laura and Grandpa Roger arrived on the 30th and also visited with Aunt Karen before the partying weekend. Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Tom arrived on Friday. We weathered the wind and rain from Ernesto on Saturday, and we had the party on Sunday. Owen was in good spirits and really enjoyed his presents and balloons. He was more keen on the ice cream than the cake (after Mom's own heart!). Natalie had a little trouble accepting it was Owen's celebration, but overall, she was pretty good. It didn't hurt that she got presents too! We went to Point Pleasant Beach on Labor Day with everyone. We spent some time at the arcade to win some toys for the kids, and after lunch, Natalie enjoyed a couple rides. The elephant ride was a bigger hit than the Dizzy Dragon! Monday afternoon we went to the playground, and Natalie and Owen both enjoyed swinging and going down the slides.
This week Mom and Dad were both busy with work. On Friday we had a little family birthday celebration, and Owen had a couple more presents. Mom had a birthday pin for Owen to wear on Friday, but it only lasted about 10 minutes before he ripped it off. Such a boy! We spent the weekend doing stuff around the house and enjoying the cooler weather. Mom has to go to New Orleans for work this coming week. Dad will be alone with the kids!! We'll see what happens......