chitter chatter. that's all owen does all day long. his words are very deliberate.

"mama. ethan. say. no. to me."
"mama. i climb. on. your. back."
"buzz lightyear...beyond!"
"mama. this. my. chocolate. milk?"
"mama. can. you. get. my. tree frog?"

we started letting him offer an intention when we do nighttime prayers. every night it's: "ahhh, da pohr." unless ethan says it first and then owen always says, "no, i say pohr!" he likes to blow out the candle when nighttime prayers are all done. and then we high five him for a job well done.

he tells us stories now, too. it takes a while for the sentences to come, but it's so cute when he gets stuck and can't think of the next word he wants to use. he just repeats the last word he said over and over until the next work pops into his brain.

he is starting to be more independent. he likes to try to put on his own (velcro) shoes and he also likes to buckle himself in to whatever seat has a buckle: his booster seat, car seat, shopping cart...you name it. "no, i buckle!"

we just came back from chicago, so that's his new word. owen, where does tito porta live? "ahh...tito. porta. live. 'cago." i made him say "chicago" over and over because it was so cute.

owen has the tiniest voice. i love to hear him talk because it's such a sweet little voice. i cave a lot when he asks me for things just because it's just so darn cute when he speaks. and he's so polite! he says his please and thank you all the time. even when you clean his nose and he fusses and cries he will almost always say, "thank you, mama" through his tears once i'm done.

he thinks that orange juice is apple juice. he always asks for apple juice and then gets upset when you give him apple juice. owen, show me what you want. he pulls me across the kitchen. "that one," he says pointing to the carton of oj in the fridge. that's the other thing...the pulls you by the hand all the time and says, "come on! follow me." okay, owen. as long as you speak in that tiny little voice i will go.

he's still so little. his pants are too big on the waist, and if his diaper gets too full both pants and diaper fall to the ankles. i haven't had the energy to really potty train him. he did pee in the toilet today, so maybe the morning toilet visit can be the first thing to focus on. with him being our third boy, i have to say that the switch from cars pull-ups to toy story pull-ups is a refreshing change.

owen LOVES seek and find books. he has a gazillion. disney. diego. superfriends. little einsteins. bible. i think they are the only things in the house that he knows are his, so he clutches them in his little arms and doesn't really like to share with his brothers. in fact, i've found him sitting on the books just so he won't have to share. he does eventually share...but they ask him nicely if they can look at his books with him.

when i tuck him in at night, he gives me a hug. then he pushes my nose and i say, honk! and he pushes my nose again and says, "beep beep!" to imply that my nose is broken (noses go "honk" when you push them, in case you didn't already know that ;). he "fixes" my nose and then gives my nose a "fix-it kiss" and it's all better. my nose honks as it should when pushed.

chatty chatty owen.

he is stringing together sentences a lot now. he was the last one in the tub a few weeks ago and he goes, "what. 'bout. me!?" he was in time out for hitting ethan in the face: owen, why were you in time out? [in his tiny little voice] "hit. ethan. face." yes, owen, you don't hit ethan in the face. inside i was melting because it's just so cute when owen speaks.

my favorite is before nighttime prayers. owen, what was your favorite part of the day? "my. fav'ite. paht. day. wuzzzz. puzzles." or "bull. ride. daddy." generally it's the last thing he did that day.

it makes me so happy when owen eats his meals. and drinks his milk. he'll have a streak of a few days where he eats great every meal...but then he'll decide he's eaten enough for the week and will refuse almost everything i put in front of him. he loves broccoli. it's a really bad day when he won't even eat broccoli. i'm just thankful that he grew from his 18 month check up to his 2 year check up. let's keep it up, buddy!

2 year check up today. i really really really hoped that he gained weight since his last appointment. according to our home scale, he didn't really gain so much. we went through so much in the last year because he fell off the charts in weight...but he stepped on the scale at the doctor's office and...

23 pounds! R-E-L-I-E-F! i was so thankful that he stayed on the chart. i don't care if the 3rd percentile is the last curve on that chart, he is ON the chart in weight! phew.

he continued his efforts to remain on the chart by eating an entire paczki on his own and eating well at dinner.

go, owen, go!

happy birthday, owen! i hope you had a good nemo birthday!

owen will be 2 in a couple days. he's getting to be such a big boy (but he's still a baby!).

before i put the big boys to bed, i sneak a couple kisses to owen right before daddy reads to him. i take the red fuzzy blanket that he loves and tuck it around him. he immediately hugs me, already knowing that part is coming after i say, snug as a bug in a rug!...almost as if to rush me out so that daddy can read to him. i say, i love you, owen. he replies with, "door!" (as in shut the bedroom door) or "book!" *sigh* eric urges owen to say, "i love you, mama" and that phrase in that little voice from my sweet owen is music to my ears. i will never get tired of hearing it.

owen will be 2 in 2 weeks. he's too little to be 2! he says "get up!" and "come on!" he says "dinosaur?" and pretends to shoot them away. he points at his justice league shirt and says "batman!" or "plash!" (flash). he will always tell you if there is a picture, toy, poster, or anything else with batman on it. or spiderman. or superman. or megaman. or sonic. he loves them all. he makes silly faces and continues to tilt his head when photographed. because he's speaking more clearly, it's much easier for owen to play with his kuyas. however, because he can't always articulate his needs or wants, he often hits his brothers. mostly ethan with whatever action figure happens to be in owen's little hand. poor ethan.

eric puts the little boys down to sleep every night, and my favorite is when owen asks for a book then nuzzles on eric's shoulder so that daddy can read to him. owen LOVES his daddy.

i've been able to spend more one on one time with owen, and for that i am grateful. the other day, owen was just staring out our back window into the park showing me all the squirrels. so the entire morning, we sat on our couch looking for squirrels in the park.

he continues to cuddle with all soft toys. i caught him cuddling with xavier's turtle teether today. at least he's not picky!