Poll: Mom or Dad?

Let's mix things up with the ol' blog here!
Dan and I have heard a lot of different things lately as to who Owen resembles. Some think he looks exactly like Dan. Some day that he is all me. A few have even asked about the milkman. Either way the kid is totally screwed (just kidding!...uh...I hope). So who does Owen look like? Go to the poll to the right to vote. DON'T cop out and say both without an explaination! Leave me a comment!

Where does the time go?

Ok - I'll just come right out and say it....My mother was right! She told me how fast the time would fly when it came to raising Owen. In the beginning weeks of Owen's life when I was struggling with breast feeding and not getting any sleep, I tended to disagree with her. Time couldn't have been moving slower. Now, I look at the recent picture of Owen and am flabbergasted! When the hell did this kid grow up? Scary.

The past two weeks haven't been so great for the poor guy. He's been fighting a virus and has been pretty miserable. This virus acutally landed us in the ER on Monday. Owen was lethargic, had no appetite, a fever, diahrrea and vomiting. I was afraid of dehydration so my mom and I took him in (Dan was at work). He was dehydrated and diagnosed with the flu. We were able to avoid an IV though because as it turned out, Owen LOVED the Pedialyte they gave him. He kicked back an entire bottle in the ER. What a wacko! It wasn't even the flavored kind! Owen's almost back to normal now, thank God! I couldn't take any more of that kids crap. When I say that, I mean it completely literally. The diarrea was well...I won't go into detail!

Today is Owen's 8 month birthday and he weighs in at almost 17 lbs and measures 25 1/2 inches. His head size is 18 1/4 inches. I'm not really sure what percentiles that puts him in, but I have pretty much stopped worrying about where Owen falls on the normal charts.

Owens physical therapy is going really well and the strides he has been making are astounding! Even Dan and I have managed to keep the screwy schedule straight (knock on wood). Owen is now sitting up for 2 to 3 minute intervals all by himself.



Owen is also bearing weight on his legs. He is able to stand supported by the couch for about a minute a time before his legs get wobbly! He really loves standing for some reason. He's not so much into the sitting thing, but standing seems to be the cat's pajama's.

Another exciting development is the emergence of...drumroll please...TEETH! Finally! I think the teeth are my 2nd favorite milestone next to smiling. As you can see in the pictures, they are just so frickin' cute! i actually think he's been trying to show them off too. He tends to stick out his bottom lip a lot more now.

Speaking of teeth, let's talk for a bit about the food. Owen loves him some food. For the most part, there is nothing he won't eat. He even likes the really odd tasting foods like pickles, lemons & prunes. We've recently started him on toasted bagels. Let me clarify...Dan has started him on the bagels. As of yet, I have been unable to remain calm when Owen is around finger foods. I am terrified he will choke. It's pathetic. Even with those dissolvable little crackers, I'm ready to give him the Heimlich maneuver everytime he lets out a little cough. What a lunatic!

That being said, we have however, found Owen's one true weekness. Orea cookies. I think the pictures explain themselves.

Adorable? Yes Smart parenting choice for nutritional value? Not so much. Notice the "Oreo Goatee".

That's not the only excitement Owen has been having. Last weekend we went to the cider mill with Grandma and Grandpa Merciez. Despite the 85 degree wheather and Owen's crankiness due to illness, it was a great time!

Heartbreaking News

Andy and Clare Dungey are one of the families that I have been following throught their blog postings. They have been anxiously awaiting the birth of their son Theodore, diagnosed with achondroplasia, any day now. Sadly, Theo was born with serious respiratory complications and did not survive. This was crushing to read as the couple had been writing about the impending birth with such joy and enthusiasm. It was entirely evident how wanted this child was. My heart goes out to Andy and Clare. You can read their blog by clicking the link Little Dungey

Missing my sis

I really miss sister Anne and my nephew. All of the hullabaloo with Owen overshadowed the amazing circumstances under which Drew was born. A little back story to catch everyone up. Anne and I had a ...let's say "on and off" relationship when we were younger. We loved each other but we were essentially bratty sisters who picked at each other all the time. As we grew up and moved on to high school we became closer and closer. By the time were young adults we were absolute best friends. Anne can make me laugh harder than anyone and we are together, we have our own world going on (it can be kind of annoying). The only problem that we have is that we never seem to be in the same place at the same time. Because either Anne or I was in college, we have never had a significant amount of time together. The consolation was that we were never more than a few hours apart. A few years ago however, Anne moved to Florida due to the lack of teaching jobs in Michigan. What a blow for me! It was hard to watch Anne begin to build life for herself in another state. She had a great job, a wonderful boyfriend and an amazing new group of friends. She was aquiring everything I hoped she would have, but at the same time these things were cementing her life in Flordia. Flash forward to June 18th 2006. I had just found out I was pregnant a week earlier and had flown to tell Anne in person. When she picked me up from the airport, Anne told me she was a week late and thought she may be pregnant too. We went from the airport to the drugstore, came home and took a preganancy test (yes, I did too just to make sure I was still pregnant!). I will never ever forget the look on Anne's face when she walked out of the bathroom. It was a mixture of panic, hysteria and shock. We both sobbed and called our parents. My parents were unfailingly supportive as they have been our entire lives. So 9 months later, Anne and I are both very pregant and living in different states. Anne and her boyfriend Steve were living together and preparing for Andrew James "Drew". She managed to find surrogate family in her two best friends (and fellow mothers) Ellen and Stacy. Stacy was also pregnant and due in February. It wasn't easy however for Anne to be away from her family. I think the lowest point for Anne was when she received the news that Owen would not make it. Because she was so close to her due date, Anne could not fly to be with me. She was devestated on 2 counts. Not only was she going to lose her nephew, but she couldn't be with us to grieve. Luckily everthing worked out and 6 days after Owen was born, Anne went into labor. Anne's first experience with childbirth - not so great. I won't go into the gory details but let me just say - my mother called me after the birth and she sounded like she had been through a war. She had nightmares about it!! It was pretty bad. Now my sister is happier than she has ever been, engaged to be married to Drew's father and the love of her life (they are the same person in case that wasn't clear)and has one of the two most wonderful babies in the entire world. Through all the uncertainty there was never a consideration that this baby would not be brought in to the family. The strength of character it took for Anne to, not only overcome the bumps in the road but to not even see them as problems in the first place, is something that I could never do.I miss her and my amazing nephew everyday and wish that Owen and his cousin could grow up as close as their moms were. I am however, so proud of my little sister for being the extrordinary woman she is. I love you Annie Banannnie!

The Week In Pictures

It was a great week for pictures! Dan was home a lot this week now that the summer concert season is winding down. Here's the week in review! On Sunday, we headed down to the 1st anual Grand Blanc Family Fun Fest. We got Owen all bundled up and walked over to the carnival site. Unfortuneately Owen was too little to really do anything and we missed the beautiful baby contest. The day wasn't a total bust however. Dan was able to enjoy his favorite carnival culinary delights - french fries with malt vinegar and elephant ears. They were of course prepared with the utmost dedication to sanitary procedures and chalked full of nutritional value.

Owen getting raspberries from Dad. He has become a big daddy's boy lately! I'm thinking about bribing him back to me somehow. When can you start giving kids mass amounts of chocolate? Finally! I good picture of Owen and I! It helps make up for the fact that he's 7 months old and I haven't taken him to the studio for professional pictures yet. Dan and Owen managed to get their own great picture in too. Of course, Dan had to one up me by getting a great outdoor shot! For some reason, still unbeknownst to me, Dan put Owen in the front seat of the car. Now don't start calling me Britney Spears yet! We didn't actually drive anywhere! Owen seemed to love the view from the passenger seat however!

Dan's birthday was on Saturday! Owen got him a special "Daddy and Me" cake. He even got to eat a little too. Dan loved the cake. Here's the problem I didn't anticipate. In order to eat this stupid cake I have to slice right through Owen's head! Now, it wasn't so hard cutting through Dan's side of the cake (it was theraputic in fact), but we now have this cake in the refridgerator with just Owen's head on it. I don't think it will ever get eaten!

Whew! What a week!

OC's PT is A OK!

Uuuummmm...yeah, I'm not even sure what I just wrote!

Owen Christopher started physical therapy last week and it seem to be working already (of course this is from a strictly objective point of view!). What may not work however, is the weekly PT schedule that Owen is on. Get this...

Every Thursday at 8:30 am, Owen has his hour long PT "class". This is outside of the home and it allows him to socialize with other kids his age. One morning a week seems easy enough to remember right?! Well - we're not done yet...

Every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, we have a 2:45 appointment with Carol to do an in home PT session. Ok, that will definitely have to be written on the calander. Bet even now, we are still not done.

Every 1st and 3rd Tuesday, Deb comes to our home at 8:00 am to do another in home session. YIKES!! OK, that really complicates things! Actually come to think of it....is that even right? Maybe Deb is on Wednesdays and maybe the Tuesday appointment is at 2:45. Are Wednesday's the 2nd and 4th or 1st and 3rd? Maybe Tuesdays are the are the 1st, 2nd and 7th weeks of the month! Wait!!! There's not a 7th week in a month! Aaaaarrrrrggggg!!!!!

Anyways - you get the point.

Oh well. We'll roll with it and try to address the inevitable schedule screw ups as they come. Anyways, on to Owen's first day of class! It will be easier to show you a pictorial of the day.

Owen arrives for some playtime! Basically the 1st 1/2 hour or so is supervised fun activities!

This is Gwynda (or Gwinda) one of Owen's physical therapists. Owen LOVES her!

Owen loves to stare at the other babies. You can tell how happy he is to be around other kids his age. (well, I can tell!)

In the next 1/2 hour, the kids sit in chairs and have music time! The physical therapists (there are 2) play music (obviously), play games, and blow bubbles.

Much to Owen's delight, they played his favorite game - patty cake!!!

The Cutest Baby of All Time

There's not too much to report so I'm substituting words for pictures of the cutest baby in the world!

I had to shop this weekend so I broke into the Oshkosh B'Gosh gift certificate that I was saving for 12 month clothes. Ooops! Oh well, he's so damn cute, it was worth it! Bedsides, with a grandma like Owen has (my mother), he will NEVER lack for clothes at any point in his young little life. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Grandma dresses him straight through to college (stock up on hoodies and togas ma!)

My homeboys fo' shizzle

The two cutest boys ever and their both mine. Sorry ladies!

Below is a picture of Owen and his...3rd cousin? He's my cousin Kara's son (6 weeks old by the way and on a side note - you wouldn't believe how great Kara looks. It's almost not fair). I suppose that makes Owen and Charlie 3rd cousins right? Whatever, let's just call them little cutie patooties! Can you believe this many good looking genes are packed into one family?!

United in cuteness! We take no prisoners!



Am I obsessing about the cuteness or what?!