North and South

Southwest
It sure is quiet without the boys. I think the time I notice them gone the most is in the morning. Getting ready for work without them is ...well.. a little boring. No little baby feet kicking me in the head to wake me up. No semi-grouchy husband stumbling around for coffee. No husband trying to coax a little baby to eat some cereals and bananas. Yes, it's too quiet.

I did take advantage of a baby free weekend though. I did some shopping. I cleaned the house without a baby strapped to my chest. I took a really long shower. Finally, I went to Spring Training, drank some cold beer and relaxed with some good friends in the sun. It was kind of nice (shhh - don't tell the boys).


Western Alumni Game - 3rd year we've gone. They've cut out the free beer. Sad. So sad.


Seattle's beloved Griffey. Wasn't his best game but everyone cheered loudly nonetheless.

Northwest
Just a couple shots of the Ed and Owen Road Show. I do wish I was there but it helps to know I will be seeing a lot of these folks in a few weeks.


The boys hanging out at Great Grandma Miller's.


It's nice seeing Owen playing with his cousin. It's these things you miss the most when you live far away.

Every Tool At My Disposal

Hello O-wen, my name is Gro-ver. Your Dad and I are good friends. He asked me to talk to you about a big ad-venture you two are going on tonight. You and your Dad are going to get onto a big a-ro-plane tonight and fly to a place where ma-ny people love you. It is going to be soo much fun O-wen. Sometimes when I get on an a-ro-plane I get scared and fussy. But take it from me, your friend Gro-ver, that there was nothing to get scared and fussy about on the a-ro-plane. So, what you should do to-night is get on the a-ro-plane and have a quiet look around. Make sure you are com-fort-able and then just go to sleep. A-ro-planes are not scary at all, but they are not in-ter-esting either. The best thing for you to do tonight, O-wen, is get some sleep so that you are happy and well rested when you see all of the people who love you soo much. You are such a good boy, O-wen, I know that you are going to be fan-tastic tonight and on your way back home to see Mommy and Nala and your new friend Gro-ver again.

And For His Next Trick

I think it's the physical therapy that's helping Owen out because he's taken up every exercise we've been working on with aplomb. In fact, he likes planting his feet so much, he has decided to stand up while doing so. If you'll notice, I'm stabilizing his hips but from below his waist, and I'm not bearing any of his weight. This is all him. If he puts together he can stabilize himself by holding onto stuff, I don't think he's going to need Carrie and me around anymore.


I can see him with his stick and bindle wobbling down the street now. That's impressive, though. He's not even one yet and with a little effort he could already pass for a pretty drunk hobo. That's my boy.


He's just so happy when he does these new things. It's exceptionally fun to watch this guy develop.

Five on Friday

Five little updates on Owen and memories I want to remember....

1. Owen is turning into a little chatty Cathy. He's conquered dada and is now onto 'gaga' and 'baba' and seems to be slowly easing into 'lala'. Sadly mama has dropped out of his vernacular but Nala has stayed. The cat officially beat me.

2. Owen has something he is incredibly scared of. No, it's not the vacuum or the garbage disposal, things you would think a baby would fear. Instead, he is scared of a baseball hat. If I try to wear it, he gets his big frown and starts crying. If I try to show him it's not scary by having him hold it, he starts screaming. He doesn't calm down until the hat is out of the room. It's too bad. It's a pretty cute hat. I would have enjoyed wearing it.

3. Owen was working with his physical therapist when he slowly started lowering his head to her hand. Noticing what he was about to do, Ed says "Watch out." Therapist says "Uh oh, is he going to bite?" Ed says "Nope, he's going to lick you." {{As Owen starts licking her hand.}} Therapist says "Hmmm... now that's kind of different."

After explaining that Owen has started rejecting foods he once really enjoyed, that he seems to like new spices and flavors, and that despite not liking people messing with his mouth, he really enjoys getting his teeth brushed, the therapist explained that Owen is a sensory thrill seeker.

4. He's started to pant like a dog. Literally he sticks out his tongue and pants. My kid is very cute and a little odd, which just so happens to describe my husband so I know where he got it.

5. Owen loves to play peek-a-boo. Absolutely loves it. Sometimes he will start playing it but not really tell you that he started the game. I'll be cleaning up and I will start to hear giggling. I look over and Owen is in his swing or high chair with a blanket over his head waiting for someone to say "Where's Owen?" I'm never sure how long he has been like that but I think sometimes it's for up to a minute. He seems to think it's hilarious that his silly parents take so long to "find" Owen.


And just because we can't post without a picture, here's an oldie but a goodie. Happy Friday!

Function Over Form

I think if there is one difference between Carrie and me it's that I tend to value function over form and Carrie tends to value form over function. I'll leave it to you to decide who was behind the purchase of Owen's new Bibbit brand bib.


Food misses mouth.


Food is recovered from pouch.


Food goes in the mouth.

Some may say this is one step closer to eating from a trough, others may argue that the kid doesn't have a lap full of noodles with red sauce when he's done eating anymore. Again, I'll let you decide who represents which philosophy.

Saturday in Scottsdale

Scottsdale has been trying to get a farmers market going in the Downtown. We try to head down on Saturday mornings to show our support with the added bonus of getting fresh vegetables for a great price. It's kind of a nice way to start the weekend too. Afterwards we headed over to Civic Center Park to sit in the grass and simply enjoy the day by doing nothing.


Owen chatting it up with a goat. Little more exciting than a cardboard baby head but not much.


Supporting the local farmers.


Owen loves celery. He was pretty content sitting in the grass just eating his celery.


Very content actually.


And Carrie was pretty content hanging out with Owen in the park. Very content actually.

Owen Makes A Friend

Or, more accurately, we make Owen a friend. Having Owen at home definitely has its advantages, but one shortcoming is that he's not around many other babies. Well, I fixed that. I cut out the baby from the Costco diaper box and now Owen has a buddy (notice that even Costco babies are twice as big as babies you find everywhere else). I know it's not the real thing, but it's super-low maintenance and one real baby is enough for me, thanks. Plus, they do a bunch of stuff two real kids would do together.


They tell each other secrets.


They play hide and seek.


They give wet-willys.


And they suplex each other.

A Visit From The Mysterious Brain Freeze Fairy

Hmm, should I - Shouldn't I - Should I - Shouldn't I? It's new and funny looking, yet oddly appealing.


All right, I'm in. Proceeding carefully, ready for the unexpected.


Pretty good, kind of grapey. Really cold, but I'm hardcore. I think I like this.


Wait, somethings awry. It was a trap!


Ahh, my brain, the one place I didn't expect an ambush.


You got me guys; that was pretty good. Hey, you know what I could go for? Some grape popsicle.

Testing Owen's Tongue Impressions

Owen has decided that he's going to go around here with his tongue out all day. Given that he's already sticking it out, I thought we could work on some impressions. He did surprisingly well.

Okay, buddy, show me bad-ass rocker Gene Simmons.


Good job Owen, that's a spot-on impression.

Now a little harder. Show me physicist Albert Einstein.


Nice, Einstein can be tricky but you nailed it.

Okay, now a toughie. Show me Mr. Winkle.


Bravo, young sir.

200 And Counting

Carrie and I have been thinking about what we wanted to do for our 200th blog post and we decided to put up some of our favorite pictures that never made it on here. We put them in chronological order to show the different stages he's been in. The guy has changed a lot.

Also, we want to thank all of you who read our blog. I know it helps everyone stay in touch with what we're doing in our corner of the world, but it also helps us to know that so many people have gotten to know Owen a little despite the distance.

Without the encouragement we have received this blog probably wouldn't have made it very far, but now I can't imagine having it unavailable. 200 posts have come and gone pretty quickly so if you guys will keep eating 'em up, we'll keep cookin 'em.


This was not long after he was born. Oh the days when any one of us could have dropped off at any given point in time.


I think this was at about two or three months. Again, sleep seems to be the theme of the early months.


Maybe six months. This is when he was growing out of his spherical head.


This was right before Thanksgiving. I can't remember why I was dangling him upside down, but lets face it, it's never exactly necessary to dangle someone upside down. So I'm guessing it was for fun.


This one was a few weeks ago. This is one of the first times Owen got a top-down view of his toys and it looks like he was enjoying himself.

Swinging to Sleep

The nightly ritual used to be that Owen would fall asleep on my lap. But the past few days, he gets antsy when I try to put him to sleep. It seems he prefers to fall asleep in his swing. After a couple minutes of swinging, he's out for the night. Can't really blame him. It's probably the baby equivalent of falling asleep in a hammock. But still, I'm starting to miss having him in my lap.

Guess Who Made It Into The Society Pages

We got a text from our friend Susan last night saying that the transportation department needed people to show up at the Giants spring training complex this morning dressed in baseball garb. They were promoting the trolley that runs through Scottsdale and apparently makes a stop at the stadium. A local news crew was there to film us getting off the trolley excitedly and (off-camera) heading in the opposite direction of the entrance. Anyway, it was a good time and fun for me to meet some people who work for the city but not directly with Carrie. Here is a picture of us waiting for the cue to look like we're stoked to be going to a ballgame, but since it was a live feed, keen observers would undoubtedly notice that we were five and a half hours early to the game. I like to think that I gave the impression that we're just that die hard and not that we were doing a cheesy photo op.

To Grandpa Miller

This one goes out to William Owen Miller, my maternal grandfather and Owen's namesake. It would appear that Owen inherited more than simply his name, as my grandpa was a popcorn aficionado if ever there was one. I once said that I was going to miss my grandpa later in life more than when we initially lost him. There have been a few moments since I spoke those words when that prediction has rang particularly true, and sitting down eating popcorn with Owen ranks among them. People come and go from our lives for many reasons and I believe that the way to keep those who are most missed near is to share the things you enjoyed with them with others.


That looks good.


Let me just help myself.


No, buddy, I have to bite off the scratchy parts and give you the puffy parts that dissolve on your tongue.


Hey, it does dissolve on my tongue.

Bucket of Fun

Owen's new favorite pastime (and by pastime, we mean he stops screaming while he's doing it) is digging through his toy bucket. He takes each toy out one at a time, tastes it and then tosses it to the side. Though this past week, since he has been teething, he more gnaws on each toy and then tosses it.


I know that teething ring is in here somewhere.


Score! Here comes sweet relief.

Postscript: I'm looking over the past couple posts and I think I see a pattern. We sound kind of tired. It's been one of those weeks and our normal, Steve Perry filled posts will return soon. Cause this will end soon. Right? Right.