- Your weight is 16lbs 2oz. WOW!!
- Your height is 25 inches.
- You wear mostly 3-6 month clothing, but have worn several of your 6 month outfits already and they fit perfectly! It has been sad to pack up more pieces of your adorable wardrobe.
- As of February 5, you drink 6oz of formula five to six times a day.
- Since February 15, you have been wearing a size 2 diaper. The ten packages of size 1 diapers that you were not able to use are going to be passed along to another mommy!! It's never too early to learn how to share!!
- You are sleeping well. There have been several nights that you slept 9-10 hours and even a few where you slept 11-12 hours between feedings! We aren't sure if this will last or if it is just because you have been a little under the weather the past several days.
- You got your first mini-cold this week. Mostly, you had a stuffy nose, lots of sneezing, and drainage. You never were fussy about any of your symptoms, but Mommy felt bad that you had some slightly labored breathing at times. Thank goodness for that nasal aspirator, huh? Well, to be honest...you hate the thing, but Mommy is glad she can use it to help clean out that adorable nose of yours!!
- You love taking baths and seem to really enjoy the warm water and "together time" with Mommy and Daddy. Mommy has been brave a couple times and bathed you by herself...and it really wasn't too hard.
- You smile ALL the time. Your morning smiles are the best! You seem to be saying "Thank you, God, for this brand new day!"
- You had your first haircut this past month. (We wrote about it in the last post!)
- You met some new people while you were in Odessa last weekend. You were a big hit...but that is no surprise to Mommy!! You thought Mrs. Patty was pretty cool!!
- You sat in your Bumbo seat for the first time yesterday. You seemed to like sitting by yourself so we will continue to give you some Bumbo time each day. Now that you are sitting up so well and holding your head up (as you have done since day 1), we will probably start introducing you to more of your toys this week and next!! We are looking forward to seeing just how much fun you will have!
- You are not a big fan of tummy time, but we still give you small doses of it so that you can begin learning how to roll over, push yourself up, etc...
- You like to "stand up" while holding onto Mommy or Daddy's hands. Before long, you will be standing on your own...and walking...and running... Please-oh-please don't grow up too fast!!!
- Mommy is sure there are more highlights, but at the moment, they escape her. You are such a happy, cuddly, loving boy, and we cherish our time with you. You are loved more than you could ever possibly know. You amaze us with your sweet personality and heartfelt smiles! We love you, Little Man!!
The four pictures above were used in a collage for some Valentine cards from Owen to help celebrate his first Valentine's Day!!
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My new favorite picture of the little guy!!!
Happy day to all,
:) Carianne
As of January 18, Austin and I have made some changes in our diet and are really making better choices when it comes to food. Neither of us is calling our habit change a “diet” for fear of failing, but we are looking at it as simply “a lifestyle change.” We have paid more attention to the things we put in our mouths and this awareness has made a world of difference. I have lost just under 10 pounds (but foresee that being a little less coming off this weekend --- as a result of family coming to town as well as the big game!!) I will be giving myself a couple days to get back on track before I weigh this week and hopefully the results will be good! What seems to be working for me is keeping a food journal. I write down everything I put into my mouth, so that keeps me accountable. I also make sure to drink plenty of water. Unfortunately, I have been unable to fit exercise into the equation. I have several options for working out at home, but so far, I find myself only having enough time in the day to run around tending to sweet Owen, the chores, and my students. I will definitely be working exercise into my jam-packed days, somehow…sometime, but for now, I am keeping busy and active in other ways.
Over the weekend, my older brother, Joe, brought his family to Lubbock for a visit. They arrived late Friday evening and returned home to Odessa on Sunday morning. We did lots of eating, visiting, game-playing, shopping, and laughing. It was such a nice treat to have them here for the weekend. Joe and Cindy have 3 amazing kids: Kristina/Nina is 15, Morgan is 13, and Deuce is 5. We had the cameras out quite a bit, but Nina and Morgan didn’t make it into any pictures! When I go to Odessa Thursday, I am cutting Nina’s hair and styling Morgan’s for her Valentine’s dance…so hopefully I can snap a picture or two of their beautiful faces! You can see Deuce with his baby cousin in the picture below. We had all just crawled out of bed and decided to take advantage of a cute picture opportunity! 
For the Super Bowl yesterday, we had a few friends over to enjoy the game and some homemade goodies. Below is a picture of all the snacks (with the exception of our yummy bacon-parmesan breadsticks that were still in the oven at the time of this picture!!) What you see is homemade banana pudding, oatmeal chocolate chip bars, Fiddle Faddle, a variety of chips, five layer dip, veggie pizza, and Austin’s homemade salsa! Mmmmmmm. A nice time was had by all!!!
Ok, now for what you have all been waiting for: some Owen updates. Goodness gracious! This little boy is incredible. He smiles ALOT and just makes life so much more special and meaningful. His personality is getting more and more wonderful with every day that passes. At about two and a half months old, he is in the beginning stages of giggling, so of course we do everything we can to make him make those sounds! We talk to him as much as we can and long for the day when he will be able to talk to us, ask us questions, understand all the things we say, etc. Of course, we aren’t rushing him to get to that point; we are just curious and excited about his ever-changing growth and development. I often catch myself wondering “what will his personality be like?” or “what will his little boy voice sound like?” or “will he love bugs, cars, animals, or all of the above?” or “what subject will he like the best in school?” and so on. It is fun to think about his future and how we will all be growing and changing together as a family! What an exciting and awesome time to be alive.
Little Owen got his first haircut a couple weeks ago! You can see in some of the pictures below that he got the front "point" trimmed as well as the area around his ears. I also trimmed the back, but that is not visible in any of the pictures. I saved the little pile of hair for his baby book!
On Saturday evening, we introduced Owen to a super soft little blanket attached to a monkey head that reads “I’m Bananas.” He LOVED it. It was a gift from a sweet little couple from our church. He has snuggled with it several times since Saturday night and was even caught “petting it” for several minutes on the way home from church yesterday. We named him “Naner” (NAN-er) and think Owen looks so cute with his new, cozy, soft friend. What do you think?
Well, I better get going for now. Time to start uploading the pictures I have chosen for this post.
The first two pictures were taken on Owen’s 2-month birthday in the evening AFTER I posted his 2 month post on January 20.
And up to this point, this is my ALL-TIME favorite picture of the little guy......................
Happy day to all!!!
:) Carianne
