Owen's Three!

Mr. Owen turned the big 3 last month!  I don't know how the last 3 years have whizzed by so quickly, but I'm sure a lot of it has to do with how busy this little guy and his big brother keep me!

On his actual birthday, we watched some home movies from his newborn days, had some birthday cookies, and a special package arrived from Grandma and Grandpa B.  Wouldn't you know it contained Cars character race cars, a Cars launcher and a movie (though the Cars 2 movie has since been banned at our house - what was Disney THINKING?  That's a whole other post though).   He and Eli spent the rest of the evening having car races across the kitchen floor. 

My big boy still loves to get his snuggles in though, and talked me into wrapping him up on his special day.  It was kind of hard to do with the rather large BUMP on my front at the moment, but he had some fun taking pictures of ourselves.

Owen's party was an intimate affair with a few good friends from the weekly playgroup we've been a part of for the past couple of years.  Owen was thrilled to have Grant, Lydia, and Iris Mueller, as well as Emory Tilghman come and celebrate with him. 

 

 He was particularly over the moon about his racetrack birthday cake... complete with a green race car with the #3 on it!  He'd been asking for a race car cake, and this was the simple alternative that his non-gifted-baker mama came up with.  In case you can't tell, the top is covered in crushed cookie so it looked a little bit like blacktop.

 

He definitely knows what to do about presents at this age! He ended up with Bendaroos (waxy craft building sticks) from his friends, and  Playdoh kit, Hotwheels cars, a Hotwheels launcher, and a jumping frog game from a combination of Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa K and Great Grandma K. 

It was a fun night playing with all the toys!  The friends all pitched in with the toy testing, and after they went home, the boys and Daddy got to stay up late putting together hotwheels track and launching cars through a loop de loop. 

We sure love our "Little Big Boy!"  He is very excited that he is going to be a BIG BROTHER now, and he loves to look at my growing belly and try to feel the baby kick. Owen is quite  a hoot to have in our family.  He's been very verbal from an early age, and is already mastering the art of sarcasm and cracking jokes.  He loves to tease and be funny, and definitely has his own strong opinion on just about everything.  Some of the things he comes up with to say lately have had us laughing our pants off... I'll have to write some down and get them posted up here!

He is Mr. Independent as well and is never afraid to try new things.  He managed to potty train before his 3rd birthday as well, much to my relief!  He learned how to potty #1 in just about a day over the summer, but potty #2 was pretty stressful.  I remember one day after multiple trips to the potty over a several hour period, and lots of crying, and finally a potty mess on the floor thinking he was never going to get it.  Less than a month after that, he was taking himself completely independently to the potty, using toilet paper, and washing his hands afterwards all by himself!  I am still kind of shocked, but that's Owen.  Once he gets it, he goes forward full steam.

Owen's latest accomplishment is being able to say family and meal prayers all by himself.  He offers the sweetest prayers, and loves to be the one to do it at dinner and bedtime - he also likes every person to take a turn saying one.  He has also transitioned to being able to fall asleep at night without Mom or Dad snuggling him (though he still gets to sleep next to Eli in their big bed).  He is "mostly" off his binky, though still goes searching for it in times of distress or nightmare waking (of which he has had a few lately - must be that three year old imagination!).  He had his first dentist appointment and was brave enough to go through a real cleaning!

In general he is just a fun loving and sweet kid.  It has been a little tough on him that Eli gets to go to pre-school 3 mornings a week this year, but it has also been nice for us to have some one on one time as well.  He has become quite the little grocery shopping helper, and we make regular trips to the library together where we get to snuggle and read one on one, and pick out special things to bring home.  I know that I will probably look to him to be even more "grown up" in the coming months when our new addition arrives, so I am trying to cherish every moment left of his time as the youngest "baby" in the family.  I sure do love my Owen and can't say enough good about him!


The Basics at Three:
Height: 40 inches - 93rd Percentile
Weight: 38.4 pounds -94th Percentile
Clothes: In size 4T to 5T shirts and 4T pants - Eli's clothes from just last season!  Catching up fast!  10-11 shoe.

Favorite Foods:  Owen does not suffer from the picky eating syndrome like his brother.  He is not afraid of strong flavors, and I think has inherited my tastebuds.  He can down 3-4 pickles in a row and ask for more.  He is not afraid of vegetables, and would often eat them raw out of the garden this summer.  He loves steamed broccoli with feta cheese on top, salmon, and all the basics like pizza and burgers and chicken nuggets.  In fact, I'm not sure I can pinpoint a favorite food because he just enjoys eating, and always seems to have room for more!

Favorite Activities: As evidenced by his birthday gifts, Owen enjoys playing race cars a lot right now, though it's not his single passion.  He also enjoys trains, and in general loves to run and play with his brother.  His imagination has kicked into full gear, and he and Eli can cook up some interesting and often mischevious plans (most recently - flushing toys down the toilet and clogging it to the point we had to buy a snake). He upgraded to Eli's old tricycle this summer and enjoys strapping on his helmet and going for a ride around our circle.  He loves digging in the garden, playing in the kitchen and bathroom sinks (plenty of mischief there!), playing playdoh, reading books, and going to gymnastics.  His favorite time of day is when DADDY comes home!  He loves to wrestle and rough house with his Dad, but he also loves to snuggle and read with him in the evenings.  He brightens up our lives so much - we LOVE you Owen!