Owen at 1 month

It's hard to believe that you were 1 month old on Saturday.

Our little boy is growing so fast!

This 1st month has brought so many exciting changes & so much fun:

• You had a few more visitors last week-Grammy & Grampy (who know wishes to be known as "The Big G") came back to see you, you met mommy & daddy's friend Hollie, & Auntie Cheri came back to see you as well.
• We took you back for a 1 month weigh-in since we had issues with your weight gain. You weighed 8 lbs. & 6 oz....what a big boy! We're still feeding you every 3 hours during the day, but every 4-5 hours at night now...whew!
• You're about to outgrow the majority of your newborn onesies. There are a few little newborn outfits you can probably wear for another week or two.
• Mommy started the cloth diapering adventure last week. We're using Pampers only at night now or if we're going on a long errand around town.
• When it hasn't been rainy (not often) we've gone on a few adventures around town-lunch with Auntie Cheri at the Puffy Muffin (you slept through it!), a trip to Costco, & several walks around the neighborhood.
• We started carrying you in the Baby Bjorn. We carry you in it for walks & Daddy carried you around Costco in it on Saturday. We love it & you seem to too!
• You have really discovered that you can do things with your hands. You love to sit in your infant-toddler rocking chair & swing your arms to try & reach the toy bar. You love to swing at the yellow lion on your entertainer mat too.
• You love to focus on our faces. It's so fun to think that you know we're your mommy & daddy!
• You also love to stare at your face in the mirror. Sometimes you'll reach out & try to touch the mirror too...so cute!
• You love music. I'm pretty sure your favorite song is "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" because you usually will stop fussing when I start singing it.

Here a few of the most recent pictures:

Watch me grow...

In addition to the hundreds of pictures we've been taking of our Owen, each week on his "week birthday" we take a picture of him in the same chair with his little chalkboard birthday sign.

Owen was 4 weeks old last Wednesday (wow!), so here are the pictures from the 1st four weeks of his life...

1 Week

2 Weeks

3 Weeks

4 Weeks

I promise I won't be taking weekly pictures forever...I imagine they'll fade to monthly pictures very soon!

Thanks Dolly!

Owen is one of the newest members of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.

I had never heard of the Imagination Library until we moved into our house in September & started receiving books in the mail each month addressed to the little boy who lived here just prior to us. I tried sending the books back, but kept getting them back & decided to keep them for Owen.

One day I thought to go online & find out about the Imagination Library...
Basically Dolly Parton established a program almost 15 years ago that allows any child in a participating community to receive a book in the mail each month until the child is 5 years old. The best part is that the books are gender & age appropriate!

After Owen was born, we signed him up as a member of the Imagination Library.
So, thanks to Dolly Parton, Owen will have another 60 books in his library by the time he turns 5!!!

You can find out if you & your child live in a participating community by going here: http://imaginationlibrary.com/.

Thanks so much Dolly!

Owen at 3 weeks

Owen was 3 weeks old on February 8th...time is just flying by!

In your 3rd week of life:

• You had your 3 week check-up & everything looked great except you weren't gaining any weight :-(. We started giving you formula supplements temporarily & you gained 8 oz. in 3 days. Dr. Rauth said you were a rockstar!
• You had more visitors-Mommy & Daddy's friends Claire, Laura, & Meghan, and your Auntie Abbey returned for a fun weekend visit!
• You & mom made your 1st solo trip out to Harris Teeter & Whole Foods...success!
• You have found your feet. One afternoon you were in your swing & I looked over just as you ripped your socks off your feet & then laid them across your belly. You definitely do not appreciate socks!
• You have fallen in love with your bath time. We sit you in the sling inside of the infant tub until you get a bit bigger, but you often figure out a way to throw one of your legs over the side of the sling to get it down in the water.
• You love to stare at bright lights. Your eyes will always find the overhead lights in any room.
• You've come to love your 'binky' & have learned how to grab it with your hands. Unfortunately, all you do when you grab it is yank it out of your mouth. We're going to have to work on teaching you how to put it back in!

A few pictures from your 3rd week of life:

One happy little family!

Playing with my feet

Hanging out with Auntie Abbey

Chilling out in the bath

Owen at 2 weeks

Owen was 2 weeks old on February 1st.

Highlights from his 2nd week of life:

• Grammy stayed with us until you were was 9 days old. Having her here was simply amazing & to say that she was helpful would be an understatement.
  
• Katie Mosley came to shoot newborn photos on day 9...so can't wait to see how the pictures turned out. We had such a blast with her!
  
• You had had lots of visitors-grandma & grandpa, Boo Boo, Big Nana, Aunt Erin, great grandpa & Marion and mommy & daddy's friends Kim and Kyle & Scott & Sarah.
  
• You had your 1st tub bath on day 11. You didn't love it at 1st, but by the end you were pretty content.
• We know you can't see much, but that doesn't stop us from showing you everything we can. You've definitely started focusing on our faces a little more this week. You reached up & touched Daddy's beard one night!

A few pictures from Owen's 2nd week of life:

Still love your swing!

We've started laying you in your crib to play & for a few naps here & there...sometimes you love it & sometimes you hate it.

If we leave you in your crib for more than about 3 minutes, you turn your upper body over onto your right side...clearly you didn't get the memo about "Back to Sleep"!

You can definitely focus on things a bit better, but focusing usually makes you go cross-eyed. You love your fun, yellow giraffe!

We love you so much Owen!!

i just can't get enough...

Owen-

I just can't

get enough

of your...

little full & pouty lips,

round little cheeks,

super cute tiny nose,

soft, soft hair,

baby soft skin,

most precious fingers & toes,

sweet baby smell,

& every single little detail of who you are!

Owen's First Week

Owen,

The 1st week of your little life just flew by!

I wish we could stop time & keep you this little forever.

But, time keeps moving so I want to try to document things we learn about you as you grow.

In your first week of life...

• You got the hiccups at least once a day...luckily, they don't seem to bother you!
  
• Everyone comments on your perfect skin complexion...you definitely do have beautiful skin!
  
• You love to keep your hands near your face. We weren't too surprised by this as you had your hands over your face for the majority of the 3 of the ultrasounds we had.
  Keeping your nails filed is the challenge so you don't claw your little face to pieces
  
• We're working on getting you to take a Soothie pacifier (your "binky") because if not, I'm convinced you'll be sucking your thumb or fingers for years to come. So far, you take it ok, but when you want to suck your hand, you won't even entertain the binky. Time will tell...
  
• You eat about every 3-4 hours
  
• Nearly everyone comments about how much you look like your Grampy...your hair, your coloring, many of your facial expressions-it's quite wild!
  
• You got a bit jaundiced (a little yellow in your eyes & around your nose & chin) starting about day 4...Dr. Rauth wasn't worried
  
• In the 1st week of your life you met your grandma, grandpa, Grammy, Grampy, Auntie Cheri, Auntie Abbey, great-grandpa, Pastor Jon, Pastor Todd, & Mrs. Shannon Simon.
  
• You went for your 1st week check-up at Dr. Rauth's on 1/26...you weighed 6 lbs. & 15 oz. (the same you weighed on Friday when we brought you home) & she said you looked perfect!
  
• You don't love tummy time, but you don't absolutely hate it either
  
• You absolutely love your swing. It doesn't matter if it's on & swinging, if the music is just playing, or if you're just sitting in it...so happy tou like it!
  
• You are a noisy, noisy little sleeper...who knew babies could make so many noises. You coo, gurgle, squeak, whimper, whine, and sometimes it seems you are almost laughing.
  
• We love to watch your facial expressions when you sleep...sometimes it looks like you are smiling, sometimes you just peek out of one eye ("the pirate look"), & you have a very serious look too when you furrow your little brow!
  
• You absolutely love, love, love to have your hair washed but don't so much love our little sponge baths.
  
• You've already earned yourself 2 nicknames-
  
  1) "Scooter"- You are such a wiggler...you don't like to have your arms or legs too contained & during tummy time you are already digging your feet into the play mat to get your butt up in the air. We imagine you'll be semi-rolling over in no time!
  
  2) "Shooter"-On your 1 week birthday, you entertained Grammy & I by peeing all over everything during a diaper change. You peed on the wall, the closet door, the floor, the picture hanging above your changing table. It required some major clean-up, but was hilarious & priceless (as long as you don't make a habit of it!)!
  

We have absolutely loved everything about the 1st week of your life & can't wait to see what next week holds!

Coming home...

Owen & I were realeased from the hospital on Friday around 1 p.m.

We couldn't wait to get home!

We got the little man all dressed & snuggled in his car seat & we were off...

Owen seemed to love the ride home & never made a peep from his car seat.

We arrived home to Auntie Cheri & Auntie Abbey anxiously awaiting to meet little Owen.

They had blue balloons tied to our mailbox & a sweet "Welcome Baby" banner & balloons decorating our carport to announce Owen's arrival...it was so cute!

You can't imagine all of the "ooohhhing" & "ahhhing" that started as soon as Chris pulled our car under the carport.

It was a super cute moment when Owen's aunts saw him for the first time.

We finally made it into the house & within minutes Owen was meeting Auntie Cheri & Auntie Abbey more up close & personal.

I think it's fair to say that everyone was sooo happy & instantly in love.

Thanks to my sisters for making our return home so special!