Future Baller?

Who knew Barret and I would create a giant?  Owen's 4 month appointment was today and we learned that he is 26.5 inches, putting him in the 91st percentile for height.  Perhaps Barret's dreams of coaching Owen in soccer will be squashed by him being a natural at basketball.  However, I am guessing that his growth will just start to level out over time.  But this height does explain his gigantic feet.

I may need to start cutting out the toes of his pajamas because his feet are scrunched in his 6 and even 9 month pj's that he is currently wearing.  He is weighing in at 16 pounds 10 ounces these days - so not long and lean.  Perhaps a future offensive lineman would be more appropriate.  What is crazy - he is nearly doubled in weight since being born and has grown 5 inches.

In addition to growing way too fast, Owen is learning to hone his fine motor skills.  So far, his favorite action by far is to punch.  He punches anything that crosses his path - books, dogs, toys, my face.  I thought it would be cute to give him a little stuffed animal to cuddle with, instead he just punched it in the face and then stuffed some of it in his mouth.

Owen and Murphy are becoming buds - even though Murphy steals his toys and lays on his blankets.  Owen gets him back by punching at his face every now and then.  Owen will smile at Murphy though when he comes by to give him some licks and seems interested in what Murphy is doing (which is usually just looking out the window or rolling around and growling at his rawhide).  I am curious to see what happens to this relationship once Owen becomes mobile. 

Speaking of smiling... not sure what we did to get such a happy baby.  Owen will smile at any and everybody.  He is also laughing now, which is quite possibly the cutest noise I ever heard.  Thus far, he gets most excited at yoga when he gets to look at the other babies.

My mom came this past weekend to help with Owen while Barret was at the Birkie.  I treated her to a fancy meal from Noodles on Friday.  I discovered that Noodles in Fitchburg is the spot to be on a Friday night.  The parking lot was full and I had to wait 20 minutes for my order.  So after perusing Facebook on my phone, I engaged in my favorite past time - eavesdropping.  I lucked out and had some high schoolers nearby.  I was somewhat horrified by what they were saying and the girl told a story of saying something awful to another girl (made me happy to have a boy), followed by "what it's ok to say it on twitter but not to her face?"  It got me thinking how different high school will be for Owen than it was for me.  It took us like an hour to get onto the internet and venture into some sketchy chat rooms.  We still found ways to be mean to one another though, just couldn't transmit it to the world in seconds.  Thankfully, Owen only knows how to punch a computer at this point.

Home Alone...Ahhh

The fateful day when Barret was going out of town for the weekend and I was left home alone with Owen.  Unfortunately, this weekend happened to coincide with me coming down with a bad cold.  I was not surprised to learn that being sick with a baby is pretty terrible - although not as terrible as being sick with a sick baby - thankfully that did not happen.  Anyway, we survived the weekend and give extra kudos to single moms, not sure how they keep their sanity.  I also hope there is a special place in hell for people like Kevin Federline and other scumbags that leave their pregnant wives.

The biggest obstacle was actually dealing with Murphy and the blistering cold without Murphy (I am behind on this blog and was on my own not this past weekend, but the one before - the one where it was like 1 degree all weekend).  I felt bad for Murphy so figured should take him at least around the block.  However, it was not only cold, but we had also gotten a couple inches of snow.  So the stroller would not have worked, since people like me decided not to shovel their sidewalks all weekend.  I decided to throw Owen in his snowsuit and strap him in the Bjorn and walk Murphy that way.  I thought I was extra smart to have Owen facing out so he could look around.  Everything seemed fine, until we got home and I noticed his face was beat red and that it was below 0 outside with the wind chill.  Basically, I felt like a terrible mother and it didn't help that he started crying as soon as we got home.  I like to think Owen is a Minnesota baby and can handle the cold - but may have pushed it.  Murphy only got the one walk until Barret got back from his trip.

Not only was I left home alone with Owen for the first time recently, but we also left Owen home sans parents for the first time.  It was Barret's birthday and his parents watched Owen for the evening.  No phone calls were made all night and all parties survived.  We went to 43 North for dinner - which I would recommend if anyone is looking for a nice place for dinner in Madison.  I was going to post a picture of the food there, but Barret made fun of me for taking the picture and then I watched Parks and Rec this week and solidified me not posting pics of food from restaurants - I'll stick to Owen and teen moms.

Owen is definitely in the stage where everything goes in his mouth.  He is still trying to get both fists, but has moved onto other objects - such as anything that crosses his path.  His new favorite seem to be his burp cloths, which is sometimes helpful but he gets a bit possessive.  Owen is also super into his exer-saucer.  Murphy is also super into Owen's exer-saucer.  He is always lurking around looking for some spit-up to clean from the saucer, which there usually is.  It is disgusting.

Speaking of Murphy, I think he is going through a "I'm not the baby anymore" stage.  He has always been a bit of a weirdo, but not sure why he decided to sit like that and stare at me tonight.  Murphy also knows which toys are Owen, but I was ignoring him so he got pissed and grabbed Owen's octopus.  Not pictured:  Murphy placing octopus in his little treasure chest of his stuffed animals.  We are also missing Owen's favorite rattle and I am guessing that Murphy buried it in the snow out of resentment.  That said, Owen seems to be liking Murphy now and smiles and gives the occasional giggle to him.  I think once Owen starts eating solid food, Murphy will be in love.