Category: Parental Observations

Here’s our latest list of interesting Owen anecdotes. Also, FYI there are new photos up at http://owen.baya.net/gallery/

“Bonk” & “Ouch” – Last week Owen was testing out his new boots and was stomping about the house. He eventually stomped on Emily’s foot and she exclaimed ‘Ouch!’. Owen immediately stopped stomping and pointed to his head. We realized he thinks the word ‘Ouch’ (and as it turns out ‘Bonk’) are synonyms for head, since whenever he slips and “bonks” his head he say things like “Did you bonk your head?” or “Ouch! Did that hurt your head?”. We wonder what other blurred vocabulary associations are gelling in his head, could make for some interesting conversations once he starts speaking. 🙂

Leaves – A few days ago Emily was outside with Owen and raked up a pile of leaves. Owen, who has never encountered a pile of leaves before, or seen anyone else interact with one (at least to our knowledge), immediately dove into them and rolled around. Guess it’s just a natural instinct to pounce on a pile of leaves. Who knew? How does Darwin explain that one?

High Chair – A few weeks ago Owen started trying to climb up into his high chair. He usually does this when he wants to eat more, in fact on more than one occasion he’s grabbed a bib in one hand, just in case we didn’t get the hint. More recently he has actually succeeded in climbing up into his chair, which while exciting for him, makes us a bit nervous. He hasn’t fallen (or jumped) off of it yet, but we’re keeping an eye on him. He also climbs into other chairs, and will roll his ‘car’ around the house so he can climb up on this too (see above reference to his bonking his head to see how this usually ends up:) )

Chasing Oberon – Oberon, our 175 lb dog, and Owen continue to work out their own personal dynamics. It started with Oberon avoiding Owen whenever possible, to the point where he would get up and leave whenever Owen crawled into an area where he was. Of course with Owen now toddling and noticing things, like a dog getting up and leaving when he arrives, this has gotten more interesting, with him occasionally chasing Oberon around the house, quite a sight to see. Of course, Oberon has also decided that Owen is interesting too, especially since he often drops food from his tray or toddles around with a graham cracker or a piece of bagel in his hand, so occasionally we’ll hear Owen scream as Oberon steals his food, or starts licking his face excessively. Owen has even figured out an ‘anti-lick’ defense by literally charging Oberon with his head pointed down so Oberon can’t get his tongue on his face, kinda of a running headbutt attack. They’ll get this all figured out eventually, right?. Seeger, our other (smaller, 120 lb) dog, continues to let Owen crawl all over him, like a giant stuffed toy.

Belly Button – Owen now knows where his, daddy’s and mommy’s belly buttons are and will often point at our stomach’s until we say ‘here’s my belly button’, then he’ll point to the other parent to do the same, then to his own belly, and back to the first parent. We’ve also taught him how to ‘foof’ or ‘zerbit’, where you put your mouth up to someone’s belly and blow air making raspberry sound. So if you see him, keep your belly out of reach or he might strike when you least expect it.

School Bus – Every weekday morning just before 7 AM the school bus arrives to pick up the kids that live across the street. This is a major highlight of each morning which involves getting in the chair near a window to get the best view, intense staring and babbling at the bus, and even waving as it drives off (usually). After the bus has gone by any car going down our street that he hears is worthy of being pointed at and talked about. Earlier this week a big dump truck went by just after the school bus left, and then a motorcycle, he was ecstatic.

That’s all for now, stay tuned, who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow.

-Emily, Matt & Owen

OK here are a few more Owen stories, those these aren’t as humorous as the last batch but they are good glimpse into the Owen of September 2004. (16 months)

Hitting 🙁 – Much to our chagrin, Owen has recently started hitting things with his hands including us, the dogs, the cats, his toys.. just about everything at times. He’s pretty strong and should he get you at the right angle it can hurt, though most of the time it’s just surprising and mildly annoying. We’re doing our best to try to stop him from doing this without getting angry, or worse laughing, but seeing as we cant really communicate with him much yet, it’s difficult to get the point across that this isn’t something we appreciate. Yesterday when he was hitting Emily she tried telling him exactly what we tell him when he starts hitting our cat Goblin; ‘Gentle’. He immediately stopped hitting her and started petting her arm lightly (just like we’ve shown him you’re supposed to do with the cat). Of course 5 seconds later he started trying to hit Emily again, but it’s progress.

Trash Can – Right now our kitchen trash can is just a tall plastic one. We’re realizing the benefits of the type of can that has a more complex release to open it as Owen has taken to throwing lots of objects from around the house into it. This morning I had just changed the garbage bag (luckily) when Owen took several of the pots, pans and lids he had so helpfully emptied from the kitchen cabinets and tossed them in there. Who knows what other items he’s put in recently that we didn’t know about. I know on several occasions we’ve found cables to my computer, books, magazines, his toys etc. in various cans around the house. Of course, he is also very good at removing things from the trash that should be in there, like dog hair, wrappers. Oh and our recycling bins have to be kept glass free, since they are emptied often. Large 1 liter soda bottles are particularly fun to take out, hit things with and then stuff into the garbage. I guess Owen doesn’t believe in recycling, just reduce and reuse.. then toss.

Graham Crackers – Owen LOVES graham crackers. He regularly goes over to the cabinet we keep them in and points at it and grunts, jumps up and down, flails in the direction of the cabinet and does anything else he can think of to get our attention pointed in that direction. He jumps up and down and giggles when we give him one. However, once he gets them he doesn’t eat them right away, he’ll carry it around with him for a while, eating it slowly… savoring the moment I guess. This works fine except when he passes within range of a dog (often one that for all intents and purposes appears fast asleep), at which point he is prompty disarmed by a fast snout and greedy tongue. This of course infuriates him but makes the dogs very happy. Thus we give him another graham cracker, now with the dogs actively sniffing him and do our best to defend him and escort him into his fenced off dog-free play area, affectionately referred to as the ‘O Zone’. I think he’s getting better at keeping the crackers off the dogs radar but still occasionally forgets.

That’s all for now.

-Matt