Sorry for the absence, but Owen decided not to take a nap the last two days which meant I have been busier than usual! I hope this isn't the harbinger of things to come... I have begun to truly rely on his nap time as the only moment of the day to myself.... goodbye free time ( and uninterrupted shower time and email time and work-out time and all those other things I try to squeeze into his afternoon nap time).

Well, we were originally going to be out of town this weekend, but we postponed it until next weekend, which worked out better for everyone because that meant that Owen got to go to his special friend Kaylie's 3rd birthday party yesterday!
that's a lot of sugar!!!!!!!!!!

I hope to post more pictures this week...

dirt, dirt, dirt!!!

Digging, piling, smearing, getting wet, filling buckets, pouring into pots, moving from one side of the patio to the other....

Owen has definitely stepped up to the "I can entertain myself " stage of toddler-hood. Hooray! I swear we were in our backyard for all of 1 minute, and I turned around and Owen looked like this:

What is it about boys and dirt?

Owen's Top Ten List*

*Or, what Owen loves today:

1. Mommy ( well, it's my blog, I can be number one!!!!)

2. Daddy (of course!)

3. Thomas the Tank Engine
4. Tofu, Green Beans, Broccoli (seriously the kid loves healthy food).
5. Ice Cream (sadly, this is also an obsession of his)
6. "Moonshadow" by Cat Stevens
7. any music by Dan Zanes
(this is a picture of Owen meeting Dan after a REALLY COOL concert called Jamarama Live.... the picture is from Paul's phone so its a little blurry)
8. Playing Guitar

9. Knock-Knock Jokes
10. Being Owen

a sunnyside sunset

Here is a view (not done justice by my camera) of the sunset the other night off of the Ocean Beach pier. If you look really closely you can sort of see Owen on Paul's shoulders as they are walking down the pier. It was a beautiful night.

Owen thinks sunsets are called "sunny sides". I think he's under that impression from the song "Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side, keep on the sunny side of life." I love his interpretations of things... its clear his mind is working so fast trying to catch up and use all the new information thrown his way. Sometimes he doesn't quite get it right, but his malapropisms are so much fun!

on lullabies....

oh, its time for a little sentimental post ....

Owen has a a cd he likes to listen to (well, he has MANY) and there's a song in this particular cd that every time he hears it it makes him cry. It's a beautiful little lullaby, very sweet, very happy. But, when Owen hears it, his eyes well up, his lip starts to quiver and and he starts weeping. Seriously weeping. Today, Paul and Owen were listening to it as I was making dinner, and when this song came on, it happened again. Flushed cheeks, tears welling in the eyes, sniffles, the whole works. Paul said "It's a happy song, doesn't this make you happy?" And through his tears, Owen replied "Yes, I'm happy." He was just overwhelmed with emotion at the song. It was so sweet and incredible that he could be so deeply affected by such a simple thing.

the funny thing is, he knows it makes him sad and I think he enjoys feeling that because he'll ask to listen to it again as soon as its over...

by the way, here's a picture of me when I was a little older than Owen is now.

like mother, like son.

Top of the World, Ma!

What a fantastic weekend! As a celebration of the fact that I don't have rehearsals, shows or any obligations all weekend ( for the first time in a long while) and Paul had Friday off work, we decided to have a mini vacation right here at home. Yesterday we took the ferry to Coronado under inclement skies. Owen LOVED the boat ride, which he kept calling a "Hairy" (instead of a "Ferry"). Cute.

And today, after our regular Sunday breakfast at a local bakery, we explored a lovely little hiking path in Bird Rock... where we met quite a few doggies and one especially adorable puppy named Jake who took a real liking to Owen..

.

All in all, a fun Easter weekend!

Back to normal

Well, as sicknesses go, that one was the shortest one on record. 24 hours later, it was like he was never sick. Whew!

So, today we got out of the house and went to the Nature Center/Trail near our house and went on a "hike" by which I mean we wandered for about an hour with frequent ( !!!) stops to sit down and get dirty.

I wouldn't really call it exercise, but at least we were out of the house!

Here's both of us completely covered in our hermet-like anti-sun get up:

It finally happened...

Owen has had his fair share of colds, flus and viruses over the past 2 something years.... but we have been very lucky and avoided the dread vomiting sickness. Well, today that luck changed.

Let's just say that I will not include any pictures with today's entry, nor will I be eating carrots any time in the near future after witnessing the massive amounts of partially digested ones that came spewing from poor Owen's mouth today. I seriously don't recall him eating that many. All together now...."Ewwwww!!!"

Now Paul and I are just biding our time to see if we're going to catch this thing too. I don't see how I can avoid it after comforting Owen all afternoon... (that's a euphemistic way of saying I had to change clothes twice and I have washed his bedding three times since this afternoon).

Here's hoping Owen waits another 3 years before catching another one of these stomach things. Ugh.

Paul is exceptionally proud of his ability to cut Owen's hair... and rightly so. (see exhibit). Here's a picture from the day after one of his recent haircuts.

Today we were at the park with our playgroup and one of the moms who has an older son (age 6) named Owen told me in a broken hearted tone of voice "It is absolutely over for Owen". Then she told me that in the past two months she has met or heard of 12 (!!!!) kids under the age of 5 with the name Owen. Yipes. We thought we were being at least mildly interesting by choosing this name, but it looks like we were just riding the meme machine..... I feel so unoriginal.

Welcome to Owen's blogworld!

This is my absolute favorite picture of him (well, from the last few weeks). This picture captures him fresh from his nap, when he has that rosy glow on his cheeks and peaceful look on his face that just makes my heart melt.

And, I felt I should share this picture because the warning is only going to be true for a few more months, since he is turning 3 far too soon... I hope you will enjoy visiting us here to see pictures and hear what's going on in his life.