I am in so much trouble

Today was the end of the concept, "out of reach." Apparently, there is nothing beyond this child's grasp.

Exhibit A:
I came out of the downstairs bathroom to find this...


















He was going after the cell phone I had put away in the cabinet. Mission accomplished.

Not an hour later, I give you Exhibit B:


















This time he was surely after the scissors I left on the table while cutting up paint chips for the walls. Thankfully, I foiled his plans when I yelled from the other room. By the time I arrived with camera in hand, he had already begun his descent from the table.

And finally, a few hours later...Exhibit C:


















This is a photo of the playroom gate that he scaled and cleared on his own. Yep, he went right over the top and dropped down clumsily on the other side. This time I was actually following him and saw the feat with my own eyes. Of course, I had to turn around, go back downstairs and return with the camera.

Yes, I know it's horrible that in each situation I stopped to take a picture. I couldn't help myself. I needed proof. This whole ordeal began yesterday. I was in the office and walked out to find Owen on top of the island in the kitchen. I was too shocked to even think about a picture at that point. I foolishly hoped it was just a fluke...a one-time thing and that he would lose interest. As if.

Times they are a changin.

Having a bit o' fun

We couldn't let St. Patrick's Day pass us by without a little nod to our sliver of Irish heritage. Owen and his friend, Caroline, spent the afternoon at the local St. Patty's Day celebration and had a big time eating ice cream, playing in the grass and rocking out to the music.











































Owen absolutely LOVED being outdoors and moving to the tunes...he couldn't sit still to save his life. If we could all live with such benign abandon! It was a joy to watch and a reminder that we should all dance like nobody's watching. Hope you all had a Happy St. Patrick's Day and found a wee bit o' Irish luck to carry you through.

Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt. Sing like nobody's listening; live like it's heaven on earth. ~Mark Twain

"Taykul pees" and other games

For those of you keeping track at home (you know, memorizing the list and all), Owen's vocabulary has grown like gangbusters. We try really hard to keep a list of all his new words, mainly so we can record the oh-so-cute pronunciation, but also because the number of words is hard to believe without actually writing them down. I wouldn't believe it otherwise! However, we may be done with the list-making since it is useless to try and keep up. That said, I give you our latest attempt at an update HERE. The words in red are new since the last vocabulary post.

The coolest language development of late has been the appearance of 2 and 3 word phrases. When the garage door goes up..."Daddy hom!" When the bowl is empty..."mo cookies!" When he drops or spills something..."mess! Key kup!" (mess, clean up) Or like this morning, an entire weather narration:

Owen: (at his table eating breakfast, looking outside) "Win!"
"Weese!" (showing the accompanying signs for "wind" and "leaf")
Me: "Yes. It's very windy. The leaves are blowing all around."
Owen: "Cold...side." (showing sign for cold)
Me: (laughing) "You think it's cold outside?"
Owen: "Cold."

Those moments where it feels like we're approaching an actual conversation are surreal.

A new family favorite is a little game that Owen calls "Taykul pees." Translated, this means "Tickle, please." He approaches with a little grin, touches his ribs and says "taykul pees." Of course this results in a full-on, belly-laugh-inducing, tickle fest that can go on forever. We tire of it far before he does. But, how do you pass up a request to "taykul pees?"

Another new game is "Get it...pees." At night, when Daddy gets home from work, Owen will ask to go upstairs to his "kib." We put him in the crib, he gathers up his pacifiers and flings them over the rail as I make some dramatic attempt to catch them. This causes Owen to 1) laugh hysterically and 2) point to a fallen pacifier and tell me to "Get it!" The "pees" sometimes comes after prompting, sometimes on its own. "Get it...pees" has become a nightly favorite. See a round of it here.

Speaking of night, another game completely created and initiated by Owen is the "nigh nigh" game. Owen says "nigh nigh!", we all drop to the floor and pretend to sleep until he says "aw done." This game can go on at different times throughout the day and is often played concurrently with a round of "get it...pees."

With each day that passes, Owen sheds a little more of his baby skin and helps us prepare for the little boy that is rapidly developing. Fingers crossed that the molting process is kind to his parents.

Got by a goat

It would appear that we have our very own Dr. Doolittle in the house. Owen loves animals, or "a-mals", as he calls them. Last Monday, we took a trip to the zoo and while the carousel was still less than thrilling (just like our visit in the fall), he absolutely loved the petting zoo. He took no time whatsoever getting up close and personal with the goats and sheep.



















































Since that visit was such a hit, we decided to make the short trek over to the Yellow River Game Ranch today. Talk about close encounters with the wildlife! Within minutes of arriving, deer were eating out of our hands (and stroller).










































Owen was in heaven. He showed no fear at all and approached every "a-mal" he could find.














































































In fact, we had to be careful about which exhibits he wanted to visit.









It was great. All fun and games, UNTIL we met the little goat that changed it all...

Owen was happily feeding this little guy some broccoli and laughing about the whole experience.









But then the food ran out. When good goats go bad...




































The kid chomped our kid pretty good and, yes, there was even a bit of bloodshed. Mainly, the whole ordeal left Owen a bit shaken and now justifiably wary of "a-mal" mouths. For the rest of the visit, he was less enthusiastic about feeding the wildlife and didn't want to be too far from Mommy when the animals were around. The only exception were the rabbits. I suppose they seemed tame enough and Owen readily fed and petted the rabbits without fear of being chewed to pieces.















































Despite our "goating accident", the trip was a success overall. We would certainly go for a return visit and we remain hopeful that Owen will forget about his run-in with Billy the Kid.