What Owen's Been Up To

So enough about trips...what has Owen been up to lately? Well, a lot has happened in the last 2-3 weeks.

!!!Breaking News!!! We have teeth...er...tooth. Friday a tooth appeared! And it looks like the other one is working on popping out any day now. Owen can't wait for the second one to come out because it's driving him batty, which has made for a long week for Tara! If what Dr Rayne (our pediatrician) says is correct, Owen will be a righty. Dr Rayne says that a majority of the time the side the first tooth comes in will be your dominant side. Way to be like the majority of the world, Owen - originality is overrated!

Movement - good grief the child will not sit still. Why did we ever say we couldn't wait for him to become more active?! And the crazy thing is that he's not even crawling yet. He's lunging for things, occasionally rolling around, but constantly moving. He can support himself on his hands and knees now, but he's not real interested in it.

This is the look of a child whose mother just put him in a position that he didn't like. And you all thought Owen was a little angel all day long. Don't worry, there's a picture below that will make you believe that again.

As much as he does like to move, there are some spots where he will stay put for a while. One of those is at the door. Tozer doesn't like it though because that's usually his spot.

Words/Sounds - It's now official that Owen's first word is "DaDa." (obviously tonight Ryan is writing this post since the word "official" was used instead of less definite words like "maybe," "it seems," or "probably.") Yes, he does still use it as a babbling noise, but it is noticeably directed to Ryan. It seems that he's even learned how to talk about the dog before his own mother! He calls Tozer "t" - as in the sound of a t. It's really hard to write down what that sounds like so I hope you understand. Despite our best efforts, there is still no progress on the "Mama" front.

Sign Language - In the last 2 weeks sign language has caught on around our house - but it's our own version. While in Iowa, Gale taught Owen a trick to hold up his hands when she said "Owen is so big!" At the same time we were trying to teach him how to sign "More." Well, the hands above the head quickly morphed into "more" and it's so stinkin cute, we couldn't correct him (see below). So, it stuck. He's also learned "all done" but he doesn't fully grasp the concept yet. And just this week he's figured out waving, although you have to prompt him to do it. But all good progress.