Happy Thanksgiving

Carrie, Owen and I were over at my dad and Carol's place for Thanksgiving. We had a significant chunk of my dad's side show up and it was great to see them all. Almost everyone met Owen for the first time and I'm very happy that now so many people who I love and care about have been able to meet my son.

This trip has been interesting for us because we're back where we grew up and we have a kid. In Phoenix it's easy to follow the continuum that led to Owen and it has little relationship to our youth. But when we step into the time capsule that is Federal Way, we're reminded of the lives we lived when we were young and we look down and there's Owen. It adds another dimension to parenthood. In Phoenix we really only think about the present and future, but here the parenthood experience is infused with the past. It's good; I guess you can go home.


The Thanksgiving dish up.


Fun with pastry.


There's a new crop on the grow and I'm so happy that my grandma gets to know them and vise versa.

See You Soon

Carrie and I have been busy packing and neglecting the blog over the past couple of days. We're a little nervous about traveling with a baby, but I guess everybody has to be that person with the baby that you wish wasn't near you at some point in their lives. I'm glad that we get be those people together.

Nala's no dummy and she knows when the suitcases come out she's flying solo for the next few days. She can come up with some pretty ingenious schemes to avoid this; luckily Carrie and I put together are smarter than a cat and can foil her dubious plans.

A Different Side Of Owen Emerges

Up until now, Owen has mostly been a pretty agreeable little guy. The other day, however, when he came home from playing with the Duke of Wellington (Owen has a time machine, you see), I didn't like his attitude one bit. He demanded Grey Poupon with everything - to an irrational degree. I mean, Grey Poupon and bananas, what's with that? Further, he kept on calling Carrie and me commoners and spent two whole days with this look on his face:



I have half a mind to unplug his time machine.

Have You Ever Had One Of Those Mornings?

When you wake up and there is a pirate in your bed? This was one of those mornings.

He Gnaws

The first two teeth are in, but it would appear that's not where we're going to stay for long. Owen has been massaging his top gums a bunch lately. He will shove his palm into his gums or the best was when he got his sockless foot up to his mouth and hooked his big toe in there and went to town. He's at his happiest these days when he has something to rub against his top gums so some of the old favorite soft toys are out and things like wooden spoons are in.

Our Usable Floorspace Takes Another Hit

The high chair's in, the bouncer's out. Lately when we put him in the bouncer he gets all upset and arches his back. Strapping him in to prevent him from sliding out only aggravates the situation. So, from here on out Owen is an upright baby and he seems to be enjoying his new viewing angle of the place. With him upright he gets tired after a little while, kind of like the little chair we have for him, but he enjoys being in them and we figure they will help him get stronger.



Many thanks to my mom and Jack.

What The Deuce?

Introducing Mrs. Carrie Ann Wilhelme, AICP

Carrie passed the American Institute of Certified Planners exam today. The AICP is to planners what the CPA is to accountants or the BAR is to lawyers. She passed on her first try, I might add. This is a huge accomplishment and I am so very proud of her.


Hut, Brad, Carrie and Joanie, official members of the unofficial Coalition of the Cool.


One of the best aspects of Carrie being a city planner is getting some perspective on Godzilla's point of view. From here it just make sense to knock all these buildings down.

Owen's Getting Big

You don't really notice change on a day-to-day basis, but Owen is changing. It kind of trips me out that the blob we took home in April is going to be a fully functioning person one day. It's kind of like getting sea monkeys and having them actually turn into the Lost Citizens of Atlantis shown on the packet or having those sponge capsules really turn into an object 900 times its size. I suppose there is a lesson to be observed here; a baby is not really comparable to a product available at the 99 cent store. Oh, and the kid's getting big.


See Carrie for scale.

This One Goes Out To Thelma

The other day, I met a bear,
With tennis shoes, a dandy pair.

He looked at me, I looked at him,
He sized me up, I sized up him.

He said to me, "Why don't you run?,
I see you ain't, got any gun."

So I did run, away from there,
and right behind, me came that bear.

Ahead of me, I saw a tree,
A great big tree, oh golly-gee.

The only branch, was 10 feet up,
I'd have to jump, and trust my luck.

And so I jumped, into the air,
But I missed that branch, away up there.

Now don't you fret, and don't you frown,
'Cause I caught that branch, On the way back down.

The moral is, no shocking news,
Don't talk to bears, in tennis shoes.

That's all there is, there ain't no more,
Unless I meet, that bear once more.

The end, The end, The end, The end,
The end, The end, The end, The end.

Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie

Owen is really starting to like toys and his Funky Monkey from Cousin Jen is high up on his favorites list. That and...


the wooden spoon and...


the emery board.

What can we say? The kid is a cheap (play) date.

The Importance Of Pretending To Fly

An important element of any childhood is imagination. A simple example is pretending to fly. Whether this imaginary ability comes from powers within a la Superman, or from innovative assistance a la Iron Man, there are important mentalities at work.

The "from within" model instills a confidence in a node within that will one day express itself and allow the accomplishment of feats considered beyond the self. This won't be flying, obviously, but by the time a boy figures that out, the concept of power from within is already there.

The "through innovation" model reinforces the notion that you can do anything you put your mind to. This type of play is a precursor to setting and achieving goals, practicing self-reliance and expressing creativity.

So, whether Owen wants to pretend that he has super-powers or that he is using super-advanced technology, Carrie and I are teaching him how to fly.

Those Are Teeth - You'll Just Have To Trust Me

I know they're a little tough to see, but those are teeth in there. I always interpreted the song to mean all the kid wants for Christmas is his two front teeth back, presumably because he's having a tough time eating beef jerky, but I bet Owen would be just fine with having the first round in and for them to stop hurting.

Pretty Cute From The Side Too

We noticed that we didn't have that many pictures of Owen in profile, so we dug a couple up.





Carrie is sick and when one of us is sick the first thing to go is usually the blog. We'll be back at it more frequently soon.

Post-Halloween Fun

Owen is this your tree?

Don't do it.

Fat guy in a little tree, fat guy in a little tree.

Don't.

Fat guy in a lit-tle tree, fat guy in a lit-tle tree.

Take it off [dad], I'm serious.

Owen, what's happening... uh oh.

For those of you outside of my humor styling, enjoy:

Guess What Owen's New Favorite Word Is

There is no end to how much this kid can talk about his mama. Ever since discovering the word this weekend, all he's been saying is mama this and mama that. Mama mama mama. That's all that comes out of his mouth. I'm trying to teach this guy new words like dada, monkey and Optimus Prime but they just don't seem to be sticking. Owen is keen on his mom and I think we're going to be hearing all about it for the next little while.

Pictures Of Owen Sitting Around

Ah, to be a baby, where by virtue of sitting on your butt doing nothing but looking cute you're actually performing a recordable action. I suppose it's the looking cute bit that's more significant than the sitting on the butt bit. I could probably put a bunch of pictures up of me sitting on my butt and none would be all that cute.



We're getting all the use we can out of this outfit because it's socially unacceptable to wear Halloween outfits after about the 2nd or 3rd of November.

Owen's First Word

In true Wilhelme style, Owen uses his first word as an opportunity to ridicule Carrie's taste in music. It was on tape, no less. We were recording him laughing and he busted out with that little gem. Well played, son.