Bloggogriff

So much for blogging on a more frequent basis. The Christmas holidays are drawing to a close, and I am nowhere near done grading my final exams. But I don't want to write about that any more than I want to think about it... Owen hosted a play date this morning for his friends J.J. and Patrick (ages 4 and 2.5, respectively). Patrick goes to day care with Owen, and J.J. graduated from their day care last spring. Owen more or less worships J.J. as an idol, so this was a Very Big Deal. He was in fact so overwhelmed at their presence IN! OUR! HOUSE! that he wouldn't leave my lap for the first half hour, while they played with all his toys. After that he chilled out a little and we made oatmeal cookies (I had measured everything out in bowls, with the dry ingredients already mixed, before they arrived, so it was just pour and stir). Three kids making and eating cookies together with no fights and no tears = successful play date. But that's not all... after the big boys went home ...

So I pretty much abandoned this blog about six months ago in favor of the much shorter-form content of Facebook status updates. I think I was sort of bored with the way this blog had turned into all-Owen, all the time. While Owen continues to do many, many cute things (see below), I do have other things going on - mainly the fact that we're moving to Scotland next summer. So I am going to try to get back into blogging on a more or less regular basis. However, FB is so much better than Blogger for posting pictures that I will probably be doing mostly text-only here. Now for your Owen update: at 18 months, he has just learned to walk backwards, and he is working on walking on his tiptoes and trying to figure out running. He does a very amusing power-walk, bent slightly forward at the waist with his arms straight out behind him like a skier on a ski jump. He just added "uh-oh" to his working vocabulary, bringing the total spoken words up to five (the others are mama, cookie,...

He hasn't started walking or speaking (English, anyway) yet. But today, he did a real head shake for No. Not as a means of avoiding food or anything, but as a purely symbolic gesture. Here we go...

Two major developments in food this week. Number one, we concluded a successful 13+ months of nursing. My boobs are back to decorative purposes only. And number two, Owen discovered the secret to 90% of party foods - that is, the joy of using a rigid, flat piece of food to scoop up a soft, mushy food. He is currently the world's worst-offending double dipper, as he generally just eats the mushy item off the surface and then reuses the intact cracker for another round. Here are some shots of him using his new dipping skills to polish off last night's guacamole. In the picture taken from the side, he is creating a new taste sensation by pairing guacamole with strawberries. Iron Chef America, look out.

Yes indeed, yesterday was the Big Day. There were cupcakes at day care (and a second one at dinner), and he opened all the presents from his extended family in the evening. We are saving the ones from us for his party on Saturday. We will get the official height and weight stats at his checkup on May 7, but for now here's a snapshot of Owen at one year: Language skills: no words yet, but he babbles up a storm. Social development: he is FULL of hugs and kisses and has recently become very mom-attached. Gross motor skills: Pulling up on everything he can find. Around the end of last week he figured out how to sit down, so that's gotten easier on us! Sleep: 2-3 naps a day. Nights are still erratic, though (sigh). Fine motor skills: He can use a spoon to feed himself, and he's working on the fork. Eating: Everything in sight!!!