Ahh, this is the last time that I’ll be referring to Owen’s age by months. In a few weeks, he’ll just be “2”. It’s a bittersweet moment for me. It seems like just yesterday that I was wondering when I could start giving Owen’s age in months instead of weeks.
In the past month, Owen has adapted older sibling traits – namely, he’s bossy. Very bossy. All day long he makes demands:
Sit down, Mommy!
Come on, Mommy!
Go away, Mommy!
Outside, Mommy!
I want pudding, Mommy!
Up, Mommy!
Down, Mommy!
Eat, Mommy!
But when someone else tries to tell him what to do, he’s not having it. Richard says “Go away” back to Owen and Owen responds “You’re bad. Bad Daddy! No!”
Little O does not lack confidence when it comes to his sense of humor. He thinks he’s hilarious, laughing at himself constantly. He makes a weird face, then laughs hysterically and says “It’s funny!” He throws a ball, then giggles and yells “It’s funny!” He spits out food, laughs loudly while spitting out more food and exclaims “It’s funny!” Almost everything he does is declared “funny.”
But sometimes the things that come out of his mouth really are funny. A couple weeks ago at church, he looked at a man in a wheelchair and blurted out “It’s a bike!”
Owen’s language skills are improving rapidly now. I can no longer keep up with the words that he knows. A few weeks ago when his toy whale wouldn’t light up, he told me that it needed batteries. Batteries? I had no idea he knew anything at all about batteries. It’s almost unnerving how much he notices and how quickly he picks things up. Nothing gets past him and he remembers everything. Kind of creepy.
Owen is inching closer and closer to potty training. This month, Owen “taught” his Caillou doll how to use the potty. He pulls off Caillou’s shorts, sits him on the toilet (while making some farting noises), then wipes him with a little toilet paper (which he calls “paper towel”) and flushes the toilet. This whole process is highly entertaining to Owen. As a result, I’ve never spent so much time in the bathroom in my life.
Along with his current fixation on the potty and pooping, Owen has developed other obsessions recently, including:
- Throwing away trash. Something about tossing a used napkin in the trashcan really thrills him.
- Buckles and straps. He pulls out his portable booster seat and plays with the straps. He loves the buckles on his high chair. He plays with the seat belt strap and the car seat straps. He can easily hook buckles now and sometimes he can even undo them and escape, much to my dismay.
- Water. He loves the ocean. He loves rinsing stuff in the sink. He loves running water from the bath faucet.
- Fans. Preferably oscillating ones. Turning them off and on is mind-blowing.
But his absolute favorite thing this month was the computer mouse. He demands that we give him the mouse, yelling “I want MOUSE!” He then takes the mouse and sets it up on the coffee table with a mouse pad and his toy laptop. Then he pulls his little sand chair out of the closet, unfolds it and sets it up by the coffee table, sitting there like he’s working at a desk. Most of the time this activity takes place while he’s only wearing a diaper, because he’s classy like that.
So here’s our little man, clicking and scrolling with his mouse (but dressed appropriately):
But working hard on the computer is exhausting:
Owen went to his first carnival this month, checking off another thing from his “to do” list. Owen loved going on the rides with Mommy and Daddy. He also loved picking ducks from the duck pond game and winning a giant inflatable fish from the world’s easiest ball toss.