16 months going on 16 years...

Owen is growing so quickly these days, it is hard to keep up! He is quite the sophisticated little guy...

He eats with a fork:

Yummm... banana kabob!


He cleans up after himself:

Ok, really he just likes brooms but despite the lack of a role model, he picked up this one pretty quickly and we are very encouraging of this behavior! :)

And he's already asking to borrow the keys...


More later...

Boulder, CO April 17, 2009

No joke... today we got MORE snow!!  So much for Spring!  The snow has been falling since last night.  It was wet enough to make a snowman which, of course, Sean did...

(Marisa added the mustache)

Not fazed by the wetness and cold, Owen still wanted to go for a ride on his favorite toy ever:

Afterwards, Marisa was able to bribe both boys into staying inside with the promise of fresh juice.  Ok, it was Sean's idea but it was still fun (and tasty)...

Owen being Owen

Owen has entered the fun, playful stage. He loves kicking and throwing balls, going for rides on his fire engine, and flinging himself backwards onto the couch or some other surface (he's still learning that it hurts if that surface is hard), running around naked, trying to squeeze through tight areas, and pizza. Oh, and we taught him to throw his head back when he laughs. We'll have to capture a video of that because it's too cute. But here are some other cute pics and videos of Owen being Owen...

Spring Snow and Vovo's Visit

The past few weeks (ever since the Emmers left), despite the fact that the calendar says it's Spring, it has been a veritable winter wonderland in Boulder.  On March 26 we got 18 inches of snow in the "blizzard of '09".  Sean was away and Owen's Vovo Yol was visiting.  Owen and I both got a snow day and we had lots of fun (and some not so fun) moments...

The next day, the sun came out.  It was a beautiful bluebird day...

Sean came home Friday night.  By Saturday, much of the snow had melted so we took Vovo to Pearl Street:

And the snow keeps falling!  We've had two more days of snow since (not enough for a snow day but enough for sledding and snow-swinging!  Though, I think, deep down, we're all ready for the warm weather!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Ogden, UT with John Armstrong

Last weekend, the family headed off to Ogden, UT to visit John and Weber State University.

Utah is beautiful! Just look at this photo from the plane:


Owen loved running around the rental car area at SLC International Airport.


On Friday, Marisa and Owen went to check out the railway and car museum at Ogden's Union Station:



They had real trains too...

but Owen was not a big fan. I think they were too big. He's used to toy-size trains.

While we were playing, Sean was giving a public talk at WSU


On Saturday, John showed us some of what Ogden has to offer. There's Lindquist Field, home of the Ogden Raptors (the Rookie League affiliate of the LA Dodgers):

And a super fun Children's Museum. Owen had a great time at the museum. He played with the life-size chess set (he was a pawn but he took the black knights and king down!)


He worked hard in the Oval Office with President Obama ("now, where do they keep the crackers in this place?!")


And he played with John:


We took part in celebrating the Children's Museum birthday with some cake.


Ogden also has an indoor skydiving center but we thoought Owen might be a little young for that! :) Though, I think Owen's favorite place in Ogden was our hotel. We highly recommend the Hampton in Downtown Ogden!

Owen is a walking machine: Eldo

About 3 weekends ago, Owen decided that crawling was for babies! Literally, overnight, he went from a "I'll walk when mommy and daddy are there to cheer me on" to "I'll walk when I feel like it and I feel like it all the time!"

Exhibit A: We planned a hike in Eldorado Springs. Owen was all snug in his backpack. Within 10 minutes he wanted out...

Quick lunch break.... mmm.... peanut butter sandwich and bananas!

Then it was back to walking!

Kitchen Adventures

Owen has recenlty become highly interested in the kitchen and we have spent lots of time with him there, mainly playing, watching us cook, or keeping him away from the wine rack.

He loves checking out the fridge -- it's like a magical kingdom of food to him (and to me also, but I am the king!). He is surprisingly good at taking smaller jars or yoghurts off the shelves, and he usually puts them back close to where he found them. He also tries to climb up as far as he can but so far he still can't reach the top shelf or two. I let him play in there for about 10 minutes one morning while I was getting things ready to take him to day care and he didn't make any mess! In 10 whole minutes! He must get that from Marisa's side of the family....



The boyo is also very keen on the dishwasher. He likes to take stuff out, mainly from the silverware thingy, and he also likes to climb up on there and check things out. We have to remember to get any sharp stuff out of there quickly so he can rummage through the rest like a bum sifting through a stolen purse -- he kind of looks like a bum in the photo on the right, doesn't he?



But he is often helps me unload the dishwasher too:


Marisa set up a sensory game with black beans and play-doh and a broken toaster.


Here is a movie of the action:


Finally, he likes playing with the pots and pans.




Over & Out