Owen's 1-year update

A little late, but here it goes!

For Owen's 1st birthday, we had a barnyard theme. I found the decorations when he was about 3 months old, so I've been planning this for a while! In attendance were Grammy, Aunt Diana and Braden, Grandma, Grandpa, and our neighbors, The Walworths with Baby Kate, and Stephanie with Baby Cale. We had a great party and I was very pleased with the cake and everything else. We had his birthday a few weeks late, on August 8th, and he had just started walking within the last week. Definitely my latest walker at 12.5 months!

We had his one-year check up on July 30th, so he was ~ 1 year and 10 days old. He weighed 20lb 14oz (19th%), was 29.8 inches tall (47th%) and his head was 47cm (67th%). Since his weight has continued to steadily fall, she recommended having blood drawn again. We did this at his 6-month check, and everything was normal, with a borderline iron count. Thankfully, the only thing that was abnormal was low iron, so she put him on an iron supplement. We'll retest again at 15 months to see if the iron has improved. She said this could contribute to slow weight gain. He looks big to me, but I guess not compared to other 1 year olds!

While he doesn't have any real words yet, he babbles up a storm constantly. He always points to something and starts babbling, so I know he's trying to communicate with us. He does have a few signs, but doesn't do them on his own yet. When I ask if he's all done, he'll wave his hands for all done. If I tell him to say please, he'll swipe his hand across his chest to sign please. He knows the signs for more and nurse, and gets very excited if I do them, but he hasn't done them consistently by himself. Just yesterday, I noticed he's started waving his hand when I say, "bye bye!" He is SURE to let you know if he doesn't like something. He has become quite the screecher and throws a big fit if we have to take something away from him.

He still sleeps through the night most nights, occassionally waking once to nurse, usually around 6 or so. He'll go back to sleep for a few more hours. Some mornings, he wakes around 7 or 7:30, and then he's usually up for the day. If he gets up early, he will usually take two naps. Otherwise, he'll just take one. He's a pretty good napper, though. He usually sleeps for at least 2 hours.

He will eat just about any table food that's soft enough to gum. He has four teeth on top and two on the bottom, with another one or two coming in on bottom. He's finally getting into fruits. Loves banana, blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, oranges...just about any soft fruit. He didn't care for the soft baby apple chunks, last time I tried them. He also loves veggies and beans. LOVES meats and crackers. He doesn't like to sit in the high chair, though, so I have to make sure his tray stays full to keep him interested. He has become straw crazy the last few days, and gets VERY excited when he sees me with a drink with a straw.

Still in size 4 diapers and size 12-18 month clothes. He can wear a few 18 month things, but I think he'll still be in 12-18 month pants to start the winter. I finally started putting shoes on him. He can SQUEEZE into the size 3 Baby Nike Shox that I bought and forgot about, but he fits pretty comfortably into the size 4 tennies. The size 4/5 Crocs are still a bit big. I was afraid it would be a hassle to get him to keep them on, since he isn't used to them, but he seems to be happy wearing them!

His hair is so gorgeous and I can't bring myself to cut it, other than two bang trims. He's about ready for another trim. I wonder how long he'll stay a toe head. For a while, I hope!

He loves to play with the big kids. Fortunately, he doesn't seem to put a lot of things in his mouth (Gabe was the same way) so we haven't had too many issues with him putting the kids' toys in his mouth. He loves to play at Reese's train table or in Gabe's room. LOVES to play outside with them. Especially loves anything with wheels that he can slide back and forth on the floor. His favorite game is shaking his head. I'll have to post a video of that soon.

In short, he's healthy, happy, and we love him so much!

Camping at Skiatook

We left Thursday night and drove to a casino in Catoosa. We parked there for the night. In the morning we drove to Skiatook and made camp (after breakfast at the kids' favorite place, Cracker Barrel). We were lucky because most of the spots were reserved, but we found a very nice one in the woods. Far and away the most fun we had was when we rented a WaveRunner. Even Reese had fun, although she did fall asleep riding it.