“Hey, Owen, what are you doing?”
“I cut!”
Archive for the ‘Owen’ Category
14 Oct
Owen Fix
It’s not easy to get a good shot of this one lately—he’s usually just a blur in the corner of the frame. But, here he is, pretending to sleep (snores and all!), as he seeks to avoid to a diaper change.
Two remains my very favorite age.
30 Sep
Smith family fix
The kids and I met Tom and Katie downtown for the KU homecoming parade Friday night. Up next, we have plans to see a home game (I hope!).
22 Sep
Weekend update
Last week was A Challenge. It would have been a comedy of errors, if not the for the tragedy that made its way in midweek. While we nursed sad hearts, life around us went on–though perhaps not as we’d have preferred.
The hermit crab died on Sunday, Ava spent the first part of the week with strep, then Owen came down with a virus that took up residence in his trachea. We had more than one middle-of-the-night discussion about ER visits due to breathing issues, and an acute lack of sleep to make it a little more difficult to deal with everything at hand.
I’m not entirely sure what happened with the crab—a few weeks ago, she seemed to want to change shells, but wouldn’t commit to the extra we had tucked into her substrate. I bought three additional shells in varying sizes, but by early the next week, she’d stopped burrowing. When I told Olivia that she didn’t make it, she was devastated, upping the Smith family pet body count to six (a guppy from Girl Scouts, four county fair goldfish, and now the crab). She looked at me accusatorially and said, “How is the CAT, Mom? Is SHE okay?” Ava handled it a bit better, noting that she’d been doing research on chinchillas.
Ava’s illness–the third one related to her tonsils in as many months–netted her an appointment with an ENT. Next week, they’ll evaluate her for a tonsillectomy. She’s thrilled; she’s heard you’re only allowed ice cream and popsicles for days. She didn’t miss any school, though only because classes weren’t held on Monday. By Friday, she was glad to attend the KU volleyball game with me and and her friend Sophia. Come that Friday morning, Owen was perhaps the sickest he’s ever been, and his swollen trachea made it hard for him to breathe. One strong dose of steroids and a lot of ibuprofen helped substantially, and by Saturday morning, he was feeling much better. While I had to miss a substantial part of a very busy work week, I will admit that the downtime spent holding a sweet baby made it a bit less stressful.
Ava and Olivia marched in the KU Band Day parade on Saturday morning with their Girl Scout troops, but the rest of the weekend was blessedly quiet aside from some yard work and errands. Given the work missed last week, I sent my event coordinator in my place to our Texas events, which start today. I was disappointed not to travel, but it seemed to make more sense to stay at home. We will head to Nebraska on Wednesday for Thursday services. Despite the circumstances, I’m very much looking forward to seeing our families.
15 Sep
“Bed? What’s that? No, I’m not doing that.”
With credit to Jim Gaffigan for the above, let me share a list of diversionary tactics from Owen’s pre-bedtime routine this evening, and how they were met:
“I need a banana.” (Provided a banana.)
“I need milk.” (Provided milk; required a second trip downstairs.)
“I need Daddy.” (Assured him Dad wasn’t necessary.)
“I want to go to bed in Mommy’s bed.” (Snuggled in my bed for a bit…mostly because I’M tired.)
“I need ‘Lassie.’ One more time.” (Sang “Lassie” for the third time; noted Owen doesn’t yet understand the difference between “again” and “one more time.”)
“Daddy! No. Mommy.” (Sighed deeply. Resumed singing.)
“No ‘Lassie.'” (Quit singing.)
“I need Daddy.” (Admitted defeat. Called for Bryan. Continued to rock.)
“Light on.” (Ha. Nope. Not falling for that.)
“‘Lassie.’ One more time.” (One more time, just until Daddy arrived.)
Sweet dreams, little buddy.
8 Sep
With love from Kansas
There’s a sunflower field in full bloom just northeast of town, and it is gorgeous. We visited at sunset on Saturday night, along with the rest of the city (it was hilariously crowded–we’re lucky they’re not in these shots, too). Hard to pass up such beauty, I suppose. Kansas is amazing.
It was a nice nod to the close of a gorgeous summer. Now, football’s underway, temperatures will drop to the 60s late this week, and there’s a closetful of sweaters and boots just begging to be worn. The best is yet to come.
27 Aug
At the depot
On Sunday, Uncle Tom noticed the Amtrak train was running about 12 hours behind, so instead of arriving at 5:45 am, the schedule was much more reasonable for a visit by his train-obsessed nephew. It proved to be further delayed, but Tom and Owen watched videos of train arrivals to pass the time as we waited at the depot downtown.
Owen was incredibly excited and clearly understood what was about to happen (also, he was super cute).
When the train came into view, he actually shuddered and didn’t say a word.
Owen and Tom were in good company. While there were a number of people at the depot, only one boarded—the rest were there to watch the arrival.
Owen regained his composure in just enough time to wave at a conductor and say, “Bye, bye, train,” and “Thank you, Uncle Tom.” (Indeed, thanks, Tom!)
17 Aug
Overheard: A sampling from the weekend
Owen, immediately upon waking Saturday morning: “I need milk. I need a bowl of cereal.”
—
Olivia, to me: “Why do you always wear shoes? Shoes steal joy.”
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Bryan, to the girls: “It’s not okay to fight, let alone draw blood.”
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Owen, as he’s trying to remove Katie’s iPhone case: “I need that.” (Points to a hammer.)
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Ava: “Mom, Owen’s doing something dangerous! Look, Dad!”
Bryan: “Owen, get down!”
Ava: “It gets worse, Dad. Watch.” (Owen tosses himself off the back of the sofa, from a standing position.)
Owen, gleefully, a moment later: “I fall down!”
—
Ava, after I asked her to check on her brother shortly after he showered: “Owen was just watching the neighbor mow his lawn.”
Rebecca: “On the deck? He’s naked.”
Ava: “Yes, I know. He was on the deck butt naked, watching the neighbor mow his lawn. Naked.”
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