Mi Cuerpo

In Owen's classroom they have been learning a lot of Spanish as I mentioned before. They recently put up this station to learn body parts. They traced out a body and Owen got to be the head!!!! I know, this is a totally cheesy proud parent moment, but I think it is so adorable and am really proud of it:)

Trip to Toledo

This past weekend we took a trip to Toledo to visit family and friends.

On Friday night we went to my best friend Amy's house for dinner with her husband and two boys. The boys had so much fun playing together. Owen thought Cooper was asbolutely hilarious.

On Saturday we attended the wedding of someone I used to babysit for. Yikes, it made me feel SO OLD. I babysat for her brother too who is in his senior year of college. He was in diapers still when I first started babysitting them...

Lindsay looked beautiful and the wedding was SO elegant.
On Sunday before we headed home we decided to stop at an apple orchard for some fall fun. There were pony rides and train rides, both of course Owen had to do.

It was his first time on a pony and he LOVED it. He wasn't afraid at all. The sheer joy on his face in this first picture tells it all.

Owen loved taking a train ride with Nonni Pat too.
After these festivities, we went apple picking. Owen really enjoyed it. Here he is with Daddy and Papa Jim.
And we made one last stop to look at the pumpkins before we headed back to Chicago.
Such a fun weekend!

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Things Owen did this week:
-Owen is now beginning to count to 10 in Spanish. He is also learning a lot of other things in Spanish so Brett and I might need to brush up on things ourselves...
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Owen Sing Along

We didn't do much this weekend, just relaxed. Owen loves playing with the squirt bottle and recently learned how to pull the trigger. To avoid all of my furniture (and the cats) from getting wet, I decided it was going to be a toy that can only be played with in the bathtub. Didn't seem to bother Owen at all!
Here are some cute videos of Owen enjoying playing in the tub. I tried to get him to sing his ABCs, but he didn't get too far. It's really funny to hear him sing it all the way through. He gets tripped up in a few spots but overall he does really well.

This morning I was able to catch him singing "Old McDonald." It is hilarious and so adorable. He is singing a lot more now and we often hear him making up songs.

We did go see the Harry Potter exhibit at the museum yesterday. It was pretty good, although I wouldn't say it was great and it was a bit overpriced. But, Owen's Godfather Ryan came over to hang out with him so it was nice to get a few hours to ourselves.

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Things Owen learned this week:
-He has finally learned how to respond by shaking his head yes!!!! And, he's learned how to use it in the right context. Much better than getting "no" all the time.
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Florida Fun Part 3

Friday
On Friday we were still recovering from all of the sun on Wednesday, so we laid low. We tried to go to the mall to ride the train but apparently the man was in court that morning so he was running late. Nice.

In the afternoon, we hung out and just had fun in the backyard.

The big news of Friday was that Owen learned how to climb out of his pack-n-play. I went in to get him in the morning and he was just sitting on the floor playing with his toys looking at me. I tried not to even act like I noticed, hoping that it was just a one time thing. Wrong.

In the afternoon, Owen was taking a nap and I was in my bedroom down the hall on the phone. When I got off, I walked out of my bedroom only to find Owen standing there! Not only did he climb out again, but he opened the door and closed it behind him. I guess he gets some points for leaving things how he found them;)

Of course that night I was paranoid that he'd get out of his pack-n-play and out of his room to do God knows what in the middle of the night. So, we rigged the door with some string and tied it to the banister so at least he couldn't get out!
I tried to get a video of him climbing out, but this was the best I could do. Still pretty funny.

Saturday
On Saturday morning we got up bright and early (thanks to Owen's new found love of climbing out of his pack-n-play and a very soggy diaper) so we began the day playing outside and hunting for frogs. This was Owen's favorite thing to do with Papo while we were in Florida.

He also really enjoyed pushing the Palm tree fronds around.
After breakfast, we took one last trip to the beach. Owen conked out and we got to enjoy some time just relaxing before it started raining.
After the beach, it was back home to play with more froggies and lizzards. Owen had a lot of fun catching a froggie on his hand.

Sunday
On Sunday it was time to go home:( Thanks for a great trip Nonna Barbara and Papa Mo!!!!

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Things Owen did this week:
-Owen can now recognize the entire alphabet. He gets hung up on just a few of the letters (he calls W, double-vee) but other than that he's doing really well. I feel like it's too early for him to know all of this. Maybe it's just because I'm not ready for him to grow up...
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Florida Fun Part 2

Tuesday
On Tuesday we decided to try out the pool instead of the beach. Owen had lots of fun swimming and splashing around. He especially enjoyed playing on the steps since he could stand while playing in the water.
For dinner we had wonderful Crab Cakes with chocolate covered strawberries. I'm pretty sure I'm going to gain at least 5 pounds on this vacation;)

Wednesday
On Wednesday we ended up going to the beach ALL DAY! This wasn't really planned so we were kind of crispy critters by the end, but it was so much fun and great to soak up all the sun.

Making sand castles with Papo

Wearing Papo's shirt home from the beach

In the evening we went to visit a family friend.

Thursday
After Wednesday, we decided NO BEACH to give our skin a rest. We just hung out and relaxed. Owen and my Dad played with his firehouse garage and had lots of fun.

In the morning we also went to Penzy's to get spices. It is a great store with a great selection of unique spices. If you have one by you, I recommend you check it out.

In the afternoon, we played with bubbles and the big and little wagons.

We even convinced my Dad to get in the wagon so Owen could pull him:) It was hilarious.
Owen has a weird phrase he says, "Budap," and we don't really know what it means. Sometimes he says it when he crashes his cars, other times he just says it. Anyway, it's really silly so we wanted to capture it on video.

My Dad's house has all of these cute little frogs that hang out on the kitchen windows at night because the light attracts the bugs and they can easily eat them. Owen is fascinated with them. Here he tells you a little bit about them...

And what little boy's life would be complete without lizards. They are so tiny and cute. But, that doesn't mean I want them all over me as you'll see in this video!

In the afternoon, Barbara and I decided to do some crafts and made me a cute diaper pouch that I've been wanting for a while. Normally I just throw a ziploc with some diapers and wipes in my purse but this is MUCH cuter!
For dinner we had yummy meatloaf and mashed potatoes. So good.

We are having so much fun and we are sad that our vacation will be over in a few days:(

Fun in Florida Part 1

Friday
We have arrived in Florida for a fun-filled getaway. On Friday we arrived around 4:30 and just hung out having fun with my Dad and stepmom. We had yummy chicken parm for dinner and my Dad's fresh baked bread! He's trying out this new book Artisan bread in just 5 minutes. It really works and is so good.
Saturday
On Saturday we got up and headed straight for the beach. Owen's new found love of the sand and ocean still held up and he was so excited to play in the sand.

Owen really enjoyed smashing the sandcastles. Not sure about his demonic voice...

Later in the day, we hung out at the house and played in the back yard. This is the view of the marsh from my Dad's house.

Owen is fascinated by bugs.

And bubbles.

Sunday
On Sunday we headed back out to the beach for a little while. Owen and Papa Mo enjoyed making sandcastles on the beach. Owen also had fun playing in the water for a bit, that is until a big wave washed over him and Daddy. Which caused him to puke all over Daddy. Yuck. At least they were near a lot of water!

At night we went out for a yummy dinner. I just love all of the fresh seafood. Gotta love Owen's tongue in this picture as it is exactly the same thing that Brett does:)
Monday
On Monday we decided to take a break from the beach and went to the Jacksonville Zoo. I have to say, it was one of the best zoos I have ever been to. It was beautifully laid out and the variety of animals was great. We didn't even get through it all.

We started out on a train ride of course which Owen was super excited about.
We saw an ostrich.
Some monkeys.
Elephants.
At the end of the elephant exhibit they had some big metal elephants to take pictures on. Owen looks so small!Cute family shot. There was a lily pad pond. For some reason I just love these.
Lions of course.
Some really cool looking bird.
Bongos. (Not to be confused with the instrument of course!)
Rhinos. And one of the highlights of the day was the giraffe exhibit. For $2 you could feed a giraffe. Money well spent! Look at the baby giraffe, so cute!!!!!
Waiting in line to feed the giraffe. Owen was a bit tentative at first. But then he got into it.

Enjoy my Dad's lovely bit of parenting advice;)

Their tongues were so long and velvety feeling. So cool.

Another major highlight for Owen (probably the biggest actually) was petting the goats. I think that he must have come to like them during the petting zoo at school. I thought he would be afraid in the beginning but he just went right up to them. He really wanted to look them in the eyes for some reason. It was really adorable.

They had a big treehouse area for kids. Owen had fun going down the big slide!

Contemplating life...

And of course we had to go on the carousel before we left. The first time around Owen rode on the Manatee. Then on the second round he rode on a lion after much deliberation and trying 5 different animals (including the lion which we tried twice.)

Here Owen and Papo explore the birds.

There was a Jaguar of course since this is Jacksonville.

BIG Fish!Pretty ParrotsOverall it was a really fun day. After the zoo we had to take Brett to the airport so he could go back to Chicago:( At night we had wonderful spaghetti with white clam sauce and just relaxed. It was great. Owen and I will be here until Sunday so check back for more updates.