This month was pretty big and full of changes and firsts!
We celebrated our first christmas as a family of 3! It was fun to watch Grandma Ireland help Owen open presents and watch him wonder "What's going on?". The day after christmas, Brad, Owen and Ferol packed up and started the long trip to Minnesota to spend quality time with all of Brads immediate family. I wasn't able to go because I couldn't get the time off work, but I welcomed the alone time. I was excited to sleep in, eat warm meals and watched what I wanted on TV. Brad was a champ and took on the task of traveling as a single parent. The first lag of the flight was from Billings to Portland, Portland to Seattle, where they met up with my folks for a quick dinner and visit. Then the next morning at zero dark thirty, they caught a flight from Seattle to Minneapolis. I guess Owen did pretty good on the 3 hour flight and the hour drive to Tim and Kaley's house. Tim and Kaley had never met Owen, so this was a first for them. Of course they adore him . . . who wouldn't? ;-)
As they were getting settled in, I was blissfully reminded what life was before children. Not to say I dont love my son, but it was nice to have some alone time. Just me and the dog.
Some of Owen's milestones reached this month include:
*His bottom tooth is there! AND there is a second tooth coming up right next to it! :-)
*He can pull himself up on furniture and your legs. This makes laying him down to sleep tricky because all he wants to do is stand.
*He has tried mashed potatoes and loves them.
*He also enjoys toast, my nanner pancakes and nummy toast.
*He has mastered the art of the army crawl. He crawled from our front door, through the living room and around the corner to the kitchen.
*Grandma and Grandpa Ireland got Owen a walker/wagon for christmas and he has really taken to walking with it. He doesn't need anyone behind him when he walks anymore. He just takes off!
*He knows who Dakota is and looks for her when he wakes up from naps. They also play really well together.
*He makes a clicking sound with his tongue.
*He claps his hands.
*He snuggles more.
*He is very shy - stranger danger!
*He has finished his first set of antibiotics after having a nasty head cold for almost 2 months.
*He sleeps solidly from about 9:30-5:30
*On a good day he has 2 naps.
*He gets excited for facetime with Granny Smith
*He throws really good temper tantrums.
Brad and Owen made it home safely the day before new years eve and I don't think I was ever so excited to see them! :-) I loved my time alone, sleeping in and not having much responsibility, but I also missed my boys tremendously! Brad and I have decided that we are officially old because we didn't go anywhere or do anything special for New Years Eve!
The first of the year has been pretty uneventful so far. We sold our Honda . . well, MY honda this week! It was sad to see it go. No tears were shed (much to Brad's dismay) but I made some pretty great memories in that car. I bought it just after I had met Brad. I traveled to and from Spokane-to see brad- in it. I got my first ticket in that car (on my way TO spokane) with Ashley and Raul, who were just dating at the time. Now Ashley and Raul are Owen's Godparents! :-) I got married with that car, drove to Montana and started my new life with that car. It was a great purchase! I'm sure going to miss it.
My parents seem to only drive out and visit us when it's sweltering here in Montana, so they've decided to drive out next week when it's a comfortable temperature. I'm pretty excited to spend quality time with them out here. We traditionally drive to Red Lodge and have lunch at Bogart's and then walk a few doors down to the Red Lodge candy store. Something else pretty big is going to happen while my parents are here - Owen's first hair cut! It's finally long enough to warrant a trim. He has been batting at his ears because his little hairs bug his ears!
The month of february looks pretty relaxed for us and then the chaos starts with our 4 year wedding anniversary on March 20th! I can hardly believe I've been married to Brad for 4 years in just about 2 months!! Yikes! Where does time go?
**On a quick side note, the other night, as Owen was crawling around our living room he spotted Dakota's bone that she chews on. I had looked away from him for not but TWO seconds, and he had it in his hands and on his way to his mouth!! With that said, he is also interested in her KONG ball and we have to be careful about that. Dakota is also really interested in some of Owen's toys that HE chews on. Needless to say, they both love their chew toys!
