Holiday Illnesses

Since Christmas it seems that we have had at least one sick kid for every holiday or event. We always look forward to spending extra time on these long weekends and getting to do something fun but then we have a sick kid so it always gets cancelled. [Grumble] Owen has never been much of a sick kid but the past 6 months has been horrible and then add in Aiden who catches all of Owen's colds. Ugh! For some reason this year has just been a sick one, and not just for us, a lot of my friends are seeing the same. I wonder what it is. But here is a recap of our 6 months of sick holidays:
Christmas: Owen has a week long cold
New Years: Owen gets a double ear infection from week long cold
Aiden's Birth: Owen spikes a fever out of no where
Easter: Owen has a small cold
Mother's Day: Owen gets really sick, 105 fever and all. Passes the runny nose to Aiden.
Last week of school: Owen gets ear infection from previous cold (got better one day before school, woohoo)
Father's Day: Owen gets another cold, passes it to Aiden
July 4: Aiden gets an ear infection from said cold

But in between all those times we've been healthy, so I guess that is nice. We are just tired of sick kids over the fun holidays. Here's hoping Labor Day brings healthy kids.

First Time Entertaining

Last night was our first attempt at entertaining since Aiden was born. He has been going to be at 7:30 and usually doesn't need anything until 1:00 or so. With this new bedtime we thought the evening would go smooth but he threw a wrench into our plan. Aiden has an ear infection, diagnosed on Thursday. That night we started the medicine and he slept much better than anticipated and seemed pretty decent all morning so we figured on still having the party, as I had a lot of food. But I think he is having a bad reaction to the medicine and was up at 8:00. So that my poor guests could eat soon while Omer and I handled the kiddos, I had to ask a friend to step in and finishing grilling. Sad because just got a new grill and was excited to break it in, but I did get to grill other stuff later. So after about 9:00, we were all done and finally got to enjoy some time with friends. It was wonderful! But sadly Aiden woke at 12:00 to feed again and then every 2 hours after until the morning. It was a loooooong night for me and was very tired, but so worth it to get to have some time with our friends.

I also have to include when everyone got here Owen was in super excited mode and wanted to only play with them. He would tell Omer and I, "No I am playing with Erica." Then later he took each lady out to the garden to pick a flower for them. The one guy there at that time did get a weed. :) Owen is a true ladies man. He had a blast with his girls and even then next morning he said "I miss Erica." How cute!

So our first entertaining experience since Owen didn't go quite as I had planned but we still had a wonderful time and everyone got to eat eventually.

Chasing Mommy

One thing I really miss since becoming a mom of two is one on one time with Owen. On the weekend when I could get some one on one with Owen he usually wants Daddy because he knows his time with him his limited. After they took a walk to the playground Owen told me he wanted to play with me. Yeah!!! So Aiden went to get some Daddy time while Owen and got to hang out. We had so much fun and ran around the yard a lot. Chase is still a favorite game.

Being Daddy

Owen LOVES his daddy and every morning he asks whether it is a work day. When Omer responds with yes, Owen always says "ahhh" in a disappointed tone. On Thursday Omer came home early and we were outside playing when he arrived. Owen looked and squealed "DADDY" while running as fast as he could down the lawn to his car. What a welcome. :)

Then this morning I had already dressed Owen but then Daddy came downstairs in his Nike shirt and Owen said "I need to have my check shirt too." I of course changed him and he was so excited that they had matching shirts. So adorable to see the joy on Owen's face when he's with Daddy.

Reenactment

The lot has sold next to us and the house construction has started. This morning a front loader was out there working hard. Not shocked but Owen wanted to go check it out. We watched the truck work for 30 minutes. He decided before we left that he needed to take some construction rocks back home. While I nursed Aiden, Owen pulled out his front loader, construction rocks, and even construction worker and reenacted the construction site work. It was a lot of fun to listen to his whole story.

Gathering rocks in the bucket.

Pushing the rocks up the hill.

The truck was pushing rocks to the other construction worker.

Big Boy Seat

Owen has pretty much outgrown his original car seat so we have bought the Graco Nautilus which is a car seat that becomes a booster up to 100 lbs. Owen was excited when it arrived in the mail and helped me put it together and enjoyed trying his new seat out. He really loved the drink holder and cubby holes for his stuff.

Family BBQ & Pool

My family had a gathering at Josh's house to enjoy some family fun at their pool, some amazingly delicious food and to celebrate Josh, Jenni's and Stephen's birthdays. We all had a blast and Owen LOVES his cousin Nicholas. He follows and copies him on almost everything. Both Omer and I really enjoyed getting to dive in and swim a little at the pool, just never get to when watching the kiddos. It went very well considering we had to wake both boys from their naps to get down there and then got home about an hour after normal bedtimes. It is always good to hang out with my family, just don't get to see them that often.

Owen started his pool fun playing animals with Grandma on the edge.
Aiden enjoyed eating Jenni's hand.

And getting lots fo Grandpa snuggles

Owen, Nicholas and Michelle

Daddy and Aiden watching the pool fun.

Owen is not very brave with the water but after some time he just decided to step in to the real water to Grandma's arms. Nicholas and Owen's animals were chasing Jenni's dog.

Me and Aiden (he just wouldn't look up)
Two Peas in a Pod

Family BBQ

After dinner, Owen really wanted to go back in the pool, so much so that he stepped in with his shorts on. He was following Nicholas into the deep section. So we got his shorts back on and vest on and he sat on the deep step with Nicholas.

Then all of a sudden he decided it was okay for Daddy to take him out for a swim.

He loved it, and even kicked his legs laying on his belly. At one point he allowed Daddy to let go and hung on the side. I was very proud of my boy.
Kick, Kick, Kick Tired Aiden got some more Grandpa snuggles.

Picture Perfect

One of my favorite pictures of Owen was him smiling on the changing table. Well Aiden does the same and just reminded me of Owen and had to get a picture of Aiden as well. And did they ever turn out super cute. What a smiley little face.

Owen, 2 months & Aiden, 4 months

Aiden, 4 Months

Had Aiden's 4 month appt this morning and the doctor said he looks fantastic. I already knew that. :) He is growing fast and is very strong. He has now rolled from back to belly once and does that hunched over sitting, which is the first stage of actual sitting. He loves to stand up and push with those mighty legs. He has become VERY grabby, I am beginning to be careful of what is in his reach. And he is a true chatterbox and loves to talk with us, he mimics our sounds. But Owen still gets the most attention and laughs from Aiden, he is truly fascinated by his older brother.

I have altered my diet, and not having any dairy or soy products, and it made a tremendous difference in Aiden's gas problem which led to a very fussy and bad sleeper. He is now super happy and so very chill. I love watching his personality grow. Happy to say most of the time he is sleeping in his crib, which has been so great for me. Too much baby is a bad thing, in my opinion, everyone needs a break. He has slowly become on more of a regular routine and now has an actual bedtime.

I told Owen that Aiden was going to get shots and would be upset, and Owen got pretty upset when the nurse came in. He kept telling her "Don't give Aiden the shot. He'll be upset." It was sweet. And while Aiden screamed from the shot, Owen stood nearby with wide eyes and a pout. He would whisper, "It's okay Aiden." It was a nice big brother moment.

Weight: 13 lbs 14 oz (35%, down from 50%)
Height: 25.5 in (75%, up from 50%)
Head: still 50%

We Need Friends

We have seen no one since last Saturday. Owen has been sick and even spiked a fever for two days, so no other human interaction. I thought I was the only one that was getting bored but this afternoon we planted some more herbs (the old ones are dead from too much rain) and Owen found a worm. He took the clump of dirt along with the worm to the porch. And announced to me that he was going to play with the worm and that "I am just talking to my worm." This did not mean he was going to really play with the worm rather than drive cars "with" the worm. I missed it but Owen gave the worm and motorcycle to drive and gave a jeep to the dead dragonfly on the bench. We need to see some friends!!!!

Owen also brought all his dragonflies to hang out with the dead dragonfly.

Owen, the worm and clump of dirt

He was excited to put it on his hand.

"Worm on my hand!"

Worm Excitement

Owen's new friend, the worm

He then put the worm his bike bucket....

...and took the worm on a bike ride.