OWEN

My sweet little baby now seems like a giant to me! When we went to the doctor last week he was 44 lbs and 44 inches tall. As Owen said, "Hey, just like I'm 4, those numbers all have 4's." His favorite thing to do is anything involved with arts and crafts. I know that most kids feel this way, but he REALLY loves it. He will work on a project for hours at a time and get a kick out of picking who he will give it to. We need to get better about actually sending it to whoever he chooses! It's usually for one of his second cousins that he barely remembers even meeting, or his cousin Kierstyn. He also loves the outdoors. The first picture is a lookout point about half the way up to Mt. Lemmon. We stopped there after sledding with Ryan and Brandon (Colin's cousin and his son).

Bri gave Owen glow-in-the-dark skeleton pjs last fall. And she is a genius for doing this! I think he liked them more than any present he's ever received. He immediately asked to wear them for Halloween. Yes! This is a pic of him at his school party.

Here he is in his snow gear at Mt. Lemmon. I will try to post a video of them sledding later. It was awesome! I couldn't believe how much fun Owen had. He did not whine or complain about anything all day... with all the walking, climbing, falling, getting wet, being cold, etc. I definitely was expecting him to. He was a happy trooper all day and couldn't believe how exciting it was to play in the snow. I wish we could have done it more this winter. Darn the whole no snow in the desert thing! I think it's 90 degrees out today!

Owen is 4, going on 14! Sometimes he reminds me so much of a teenager it's scary. Actually, now that I really think about it, just one particular teenager... my brother Rory when he was younger. (Absolutely no offense, Rory, I mean this in the nicest way possible!) Most of the time he is a huge sweetheart, especially towards his brother. He is learning so much in preschool that it is amazing! He really likes to learn when he feels like he is getting it, and will work on something for hours at a time if he is doing well. However, if he feels like he doesn't get something, he gets instantly embarrassed and does not want to finish. He has a "no" attitude and his favorite phrase right now is "I can't do it." I thought 4 year olds were supposed to want to gain independence. If Owen had his way (and he way too often does) I would dress, feed, and help him go to the bathroom all the time! I'm trying to help him gain the self-confidence to want to try to do things for himself, but it has definitely been a struggle lately! Going to school and having a lot of friends there is helping. It's so sad to see him get hurt, because he feels the pain of embarrassment way more than the physical pain. The first thing he says when he falls down is "I didn't fall".

He wants to take Karate lessons so badly! We've told him he can start when he's 5. He is fine with this and talks about how he's waiting until he's 5. But, he's taking the waiting so well and is so darn cute when he's practicing, we might cave before then.

Here he is on the Heisey's quad. He loves it! But don't worry, he only rides with Colin and they go about 5mph on the dirt lot next to our house.

Here is Owen at the lake last summer. Another of his favorite days ever!

Colin's dad gave Owen a shovel for his first Christmas (He was 2 months old). Owen has been waiting to use it ever since (But not as much as Greg and Colin have been waiting for him to use it). This summer he definitely got his use out of it. He had a lot of fun with it around the house.

Owen and his baby cousin Ellie:
She is adorable!