"Good Job Daddy!"

You probably have noticed that most of my posts lately have been about me and Owen.  Paul has been busy working on our deck, so I thought I'd show some photos of the progress!  We have a long way to go, but we've come a long way.

Today as Paul was working, Owen yelled out, "Good Job Daddy!"

 The "guts" of the roof

 Can lights installed and the guts of the fan installed

 Little man making sure Daddy was working hard!

 The shingles are on!

 The posts are in and the picture framing is in!

 It looks like there is a gap on the right, but that is just an extra board sitting on the deck

 A view of the deck from inside the house

Good job Daddy!

Clifford, Curious George and Trucks...Oh My!

Our photographer that we have used since Owen was born moved to California with her husband, but last year she set up four different times that she was going to be back in town for a week, and scheduled photos with her regular clients.  Today was our day!  So we started out bright and early at my cousin's farm, getting our family pictures taken.  I love seeing Joyce and Dawn in action with Owen - they get him to smile and giggle and grin.  It's amazing!  But now is the hard part...waiting for the photos!  I am so anxious to see them.  Thanks to Donn and Bonnie for allowing us to capture our special memories at their house!

After our photos, Owen and I went to the "Big Truck" day at the library.  We saw lots of fun trucks and saw a few of Owen's favorite characters too!

Checking out "George A Monkey" while he danced

 Even though he looks like he is pushing George in the picture, he was really giving him a high-5!

 And then a little snuggle!

 And don't forget a hug for Clifford...

 He told Clifford, "You a nice, red doggie Clifford!" while patting his nose.

 Driving a big orange plow truck

 Here he was inspecting the scoop on the digger.  He "fixed" it with his hammer.

 We waited in a really long line to get up into the fire truck.  He did really well and waited patiently, but once he got in, he was bummed that he didn't get to be the driver.  He's looking up in the front seat to find the steering wheel.

Fixing the flatbed trailer with his hammer

He saw other kids climbing these, but it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be

He was a little nervous about all the honking, but he did pretty well this year.

Testing Boundaries

So daycare drop off is going much better - no more tears.  He has fun at Heidi's and doesn't want to leave when I pick him up in the afternoon. He still has been peeing his pants instead of telling us or Heidi that he has to go though.  It's so frustrating!  He was doing so well, so I know that he CAN do it, he just won't.  Speaking of won't, he's been testing boundaries a lot these past few weeks.  Anything that I tell him not to do, he does and whenever I try to get him to do things, he won't.  Where is my good boy!?!  In his place, I have a defiant little guy who won't listen.  Grrr!  He is constantly in time out and in tears.  Some days I'm right there with him (with the tears part, not the time out part!)

Some funny things that he's saying and doing right now:
-He sings Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Farmer in the Dell, You Are My Sunshine.
-He sings the ABC's, but always skips L and M.
-He often says, "No you sing Mommy, just me sing!"
-At breakfast last weekend, he was counting in German.  He can count to 10 in Spanish and German!
-He ALWAYS wants to read a Little People Christmas book right now.  On one page, a little girl is getting licked by a dog.  The other night, he turned around, grabbed onto my face like he was going to kiss me and he tried to start licking me like the puppy!

Here are some photos of Owen from last night.  Thursday night is our date night.  We go to dinner and then head to school. 

So proud of his new backpack, he had to bring it into the restaurant

 Who took my BABY and left this big BOY!?!

 His school is in a building that has an indoor park, complete with waterfalls

Stacking

Painting

Today when I picked him up at Heidi's, I surprised him by taking him to the park to meet Sully for a playdate.  Ronda even came to watch them play!  He was very excited to see "Sully Boo."

School - Week 2

Tonight was Owen's second ECFE class.  Thursdays are a bit hectic for us, but it's just one night a week, so we'll make it work.  I picked Owen up at Heidi's and the kids were all playing in a jump tent in the yard - all except Owen.  He was off riding as many of the different bikes as he could.  Heidi has a big patio with all kinds of trikes, big wheels, crazy coupes - you name it!  Apparently O likes it when he has them all to himself and was taking advantage of everyone else being busy in the jump tent.

We don't have enough time after I pick him up to go home and make dinner, then get back up to school, so Thursdays are going to be our "date nights."  He and I will go out for dinner or bring a picnic and eat it in the indoor park in the building where his classes are.  Tonight we ate dinner, then headed to class.  Here are a few pics - yes, I was THAT mom, taking pictures of my kid at school!

Playing with the kitchen

 The sprayer is his favorite part!

 Building "a castle" with some blocks

 Decorating a paper balloon with paint markers

 Then off to the motor room to ride "trike bikes"

 Hoarding them in the corner...

 Fixing the rocket ship

 Fireman Owen!

Fun at Heidi's House

Well, this week has been a little better!  I think we've started to turn a corner.  Owen doesn't cry at our house or at drop off anymore.  He had a great potty day yesterday - he was day all day!  But then today, he peed in his pants every single time he had to use the bathroom.    Hopefully that will start turning around soon too.

He's learning a lot and comes home telling us what things start with the letter A and how to hold up two fingers.  On Sunday morning, he was counting to himself in German!  (They put the date up on the calendar each day, then count from one to whatever number the date is in English, Spanish and German.) 

Heidi keeps a blog and posts photos of the kids doing their thing, so here are a few photos.

 This was a day that they learned about the number one.  He came home chanting "We're Number One!"

Last night I told him it was time to start picking up his toys and he burst into song singing, "Clean up!  Clean up!  Everybody Clean up!"  I think he's going to do just fine at Heidi's!

The Apple Orchard with Auntie Pammy

The guys who built the "guts" of the deck have finally turned it over to Paul to do the finish work, so that means that Owen and I are going to be getting out of the house a lot in the next few weeks. Or else Owen would be face planted against the window wanting to be out helping Paul "fix" it with his tools. This morning, we went to the apple orchard.  We sent a very last minute invitation to my friend Pammy and she met us there.  Owen and I were both excited to see her!

 I swear the heavens opened up and he heard angels sing when he saw this!

And he had to try out all the different types!

 Even the ones he was way too big for....

Then we went on the Honeycrisp Express!

 And he set his sights on a hay ride...

 Owen and Auntie Pammy

After nap, Owen and I headed over to our friend Jamin's 3rd birthday party.  His mom always throws the best parties - the details are amazing!  From train tracks drawn on the front sidewalk, to train shaped cups for the kids to drink out of, to incredible decorations, Jamin's train party was a big success.  Here the kids were scampering to fill their bags with candy after the pinata broke.

 Owen being the conductor with MaKenna looking on

 It's a "steamy" mommy (they use this term on Thomas a lot)