Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
21 Month Update
Owen had his wellness checkup he is 70% for weight and weighed in at a whopping 29.5 pounds. I was beginning to wonder why my arms felt like I was carrying around a very heavy lead weight when taking him down our stairs to the car...it was because I WAS carrying around a very heavy lead weight! He stands at a height of 33 3/4 inches tall, bringing him to 75% for height. His McCarthy melon is still almost off the charts, allowing for a 90% head circumference. Now that is a large head..though we really don't see this large head the doctor continues to confirm that he has, but I guess it's there.
Owen celebrated his second Halloween and this year actually got the gist on how it all goes down. Darren found a great Everlast Boxer costume and we decked him out with authentic AllStar converse kicks on his feet. I dressed up like Owen's personal trainer. Owen's boxing name was The Great White Hope. As personal trainer, I made sure he gathered up lots of candy and didn't dilly dally walking up to the houses in the neighborhood. He was on a strict and strenuous training regime...we were not messing around. I mean candy was involved! But all in all he did great and even said "treat" and held out his basket when he walked up to the door. When we got back I stole all of his candy out of his basket and filled it up with carrots and healthy stuff. Owen pulled out a sugar snap pea and looked at me and said, "Hey"...he was a little pissed his candy went missing! I don't blame him.
Owen and I have been attending story time at the library. It is definitely a work in progress. He has not quite mastered the want or need of sitting down quietly and listening to a stranger read a book. Instead he likes to get up during the quiet time and walk behind the teacher and giggle until I get up to try and bring him back to his seat. This doesn't always work as planned and a lot of the time he plays a game of run away...which of course is awesome for me. I get to chase him behind the teachers chair, around the table and as soon as I get close enough to grab him, he takes off the other way and hides under the table. Giggling at me because he thinks that this is a really fun game we are playing! I remind him that when I actually do get a hold of him he is in deep trouble, but again this does not seem to bring any sense of fear into his eyes as I would hope it would! Like I said earlier, a work in progress!
Owen's favorite phrase is now, "No WHY". Now where in the hell did he learn that? Whenever he wants something and you don't give it to him, or you try to convince him that changing his diaper is a good idea or tell him that it is time to get ready for bed, he replies with a rather loud and whiney, "No WHY?" It just makes us laugh every time. I thought the word "WHY" happened a little later on in life. Though we should have known with this kid, things tend to happen a lot earlier.
All in all Owen is still a very happy child. He loves to play hockey and make us score or as he likes to say "core" with him in a daily basis, watch his few favorite cartoons in the morning while drinking his milk, chat on the phone and say hi to anyone that will listen and continues to be a very detailed and organized individual by lining up all his cars and animals in a straight lines while playing.
We are looking forward to some more turkey for Thanksgiving in a week and wish everyone a Happy Turkey Day!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
20 Month Update
At 20 months, Owen's bed routine now includes a good 10 minute session of shoo-shoo baby. Thank you to Grandma Karen for that one. After reading a zillion books, we put him in his crib that is filled with twenty stuffed animals, pillows (p) and blankets (bay's) to go night,night, and he won't let you leave without a session of shoo-shoo baby. You ask, what is shoo-shoo baby? Well it is when Owen rolls over on his belly to go to sleep and you have to sit there for 10 minutes patting his butt and saying shoo-shoo baby. It is very cute for the first few minutes, but after those few minutes pass and you can't leave the room because he is grabbing your hand and putting it on his butt saying in almost a complete sentence, "No here Daddy, shoo-shoo baby" it gets a little less cute. But nonetheless his parents are suckers for a spoken sentence that is as cute as "No here Mommy, shoo-shoo baby", so he gets a good session of shoo-shoo baby most nights.
A smile still crosses my face when Owen locates a school bus in the immediate area while driving in the car. He will now say, "Ghoul Bus. More Ghoul. Kids...Yeah Goul." I can't help laughing every single time, especially when he goes, "Yeah Ghoul".
Eating meals is usually something to not look forward to. Owen has turned into a picky eater and I have gotten really good at hiding mushed peanut butter and jelly sandwich bites in strawberry yogurt or distracting him with discussions on how fun it is to play with choo-choo trains and that the moon is out in the sky only at night time and that playing with kids at the park is so much fun. The rambling of exciting and fun words allows me to stuff a spoonful of turkey and rice down his throat without him putting up a fight. He also needs his own spoon (poon) to eat and we cannot touch the bowl we are feeding him from or he will voice his displeasure. He also can only eat cereal and crackers (sur-real and ga-ga's) from the actual bag they came in, taking a few out and putting it in a new bowl no longer works. This is awesome because usually the floor is filled with 1,000 rainbow colored goldfish crackers because he spilled them all over the place. Gotta love independence!
Owen already has two AHL hockey games under his belt. He sat like a well behaved Midwestern toddler and screamed "Hi Steve" when his uncle was in sight and "Score" when appropriate. He even asked the beer man for a beer. Now that's our kid! Check out the video below of Owen saying "Hi Steve" to Uncle Steve playing hockey on TV.
We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, carrots, stuffing and gravy. We showed Owen the benefits of being both Canadian and American...turkey twice in a month! And we also celebrated Darren's 32nd birthday with mint chocolate chip ice cream cake that Owen would not stop talking about. He told the checkout guy at the grocery store about cake, the babysitter Thelma about cake and woke up the day after eating the cake, still in a deep sleep saying the word cake. He must have been dreaming about the damn cake all night long. Needless to say, we need to keep the kid away from cake or we may have a slight problem in the future!
We love and miss you all! Hope you are enjoying the blog!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
19 Month Update
Owen's days are filled with going to the park and playing with all the "kids" as he calls them. Our walk to the park, typically a 5 minute walk, has turned into a 20 minute walk because Owen now says, "Down", so he can get out and walk on his own. We stop to smell the flowers, pick up sticks, throw the helicopter seeds and indicate where "ca-ca" is at all times. Ca-ca is one of those terms that can mean anything that might be dirty, look like garbage or sticks on ones hands or clothes. So nonetheless we see a lot of ca-ca throughout our walks.
Owen's vocabulary is expanding everyday. He loves to try and repeat everything you tell him, which is not so cool when a curse word slips out every once in awhile. But overall he has a vocabulary of many, many new words and phrases including, "Hi there", "Where Are You?", trucks, bus, cars, go-go's (motorcycles),pretty much anything boy related with wheels and is powered by gasoline.
He loves to spot out buses and garbage trucks while driving in the car. The other day we saw one school bus and he automatically says, "More". So I tell him to keep his eyes open and we will look for more school buses. He tells me, "Eyes". So we continued to drive and didn't see any new school buses. 10 minutes went by and I moved onto a new game and form of vehicle entertainment, forgetting about the bus game. All of a sudden Owen says, "Right there!" and starts squealing and clapping that he found another school bus and tells me "Kids" because kids go on the school bus...I mean, you gotta love this kid.
Owen's nights are filled with wrestling, throwing balls of all shapes and sizes, shooting hockey pucks and playing hide and seek with Darren. Owen really gets into it, and Darren isn't so bad either! Owen definitely has sweaty head and body when he is done playing and a sore belly from all the laughing and giggling he did and Darren gets a good work out of tossing him around and chasing after him.
The pictures above are Owen and I at a ride in Kiddie Land. Aimee and I took Ashley, Jenna and Owen to Kiddie Land one last time before it closes for good. Owen had a blast and loved all the rides. Owen also is frosting cupcakes at his main squeeze Meika's first birthday party, he was really getting into it and the last picture is Owen giving a flower to Liv, my friend Shannon's daughter. Liv was Owen's first kiss. Don't forget to check out the video below. Owen was getting the ride of his life and cracking up the entire time and the other video is Owen looking for the Squirrels at the park....
Hope all is well with everyone!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
18 month update!
Our baby is a year and half, going on 5. Wow how time flies. We have had an extremely busy month of August, full of fun, family and more fun! Besides Owen turning yet another milestone of meeting 18 months of life we had a wonderful family visit from Gramps and Grand Mo. Mo and Danny came and alternated between the McCarthy families. They got to spend lots of quality time with their kids and grand kids. We sure enjoyed having them and didn't want them to leave.
As always we packed in the fun. We went to the Arlington Racetrack, as you can see by the video below, Owen had a blast and caught on to cheering for the horses rather quickly. We also spent an evening at Ravinia, an outdoor music theater and took in the Doobie Brothers. We had so much fun! We spent some afternoons at the parks, going for walks, watching movies, visiting downtown and Buckingham fountain and eating home cooked meals by Chef Mo. We already miss them dearly and can't wait for them to come back...can we get you for Christmas this year too...maybe?
Owen, Darren and I vacationed in Arizona after Mo and Danny left. We spent 5 days of traveling throughout Arizona visiting the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona and Scottsdale. Owen cooperated and allowed Darren to hike him around as the Grand Poo-bah in the hiking backpack. We figured out that if you gave the kid an apple he didn't mind sitting in the hiking backpack. So we not only got to see the Grand Canyon but also Indian cliff dwellings, a meteor crater, swam in a creek in the middle of beautifulness and thoroughly enjoyed the very plush Hyatt in Scottsdale. Darren and I also celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary on the last day of vacation and my grandma celebrated her 92nd birthday (what a woman!)!
I started school the Saturday we got back. I am attending Northeastern Illinois University to get my masters and teaching certificate in Special Education. It will be a long and difficult road but as a plan B to my career path, I think it is a good one!
Well as always, we miss all who are not near and can't wait to see you soon! Take care!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
17 Month Update
At his 16 month doctor checkup Owen weighed in at a whopping 26 1/2 pounds and a little over 31 inches tall. He is average on all scales except for his head, which continues to top the charts at 80-90th percentile. Good McCarthy melon...large head, large brain....right? Isn't that how the saying goes?
We have been thoroughly enjoying our summer, but still patiently awaiting the warm summer weather. We have been frequenting the parks in the area, especially the ones with a splash pad. Owen loves to run in and out of the water, play in and of course eat the sand, and run around with all the other kids in the park. He is not shy by any means, and will go up to every kid in the park and try to strike up a conversation, one that usually consists of the word "Hi" over and over and over again.
He will belt out a very loud ear piercing scream every now and again, usually when he is not getting his way or is dissatisfied with the outcome of a ball or toy being taken away from him. Darren and I were beyond words but have figured out a solution to the once horrific problem. When Owen starts to scream his blood curdling scream, you have to say to him, "Use your words, tell me what you are trying to say." He then will begin talking to you in his Japanese baby language and will use hand motions and facial expressions to tell you all about the events swirling around in his brain. This is great, because he is learning how to communicate even more and we don't have to listen to the annoying scream. Win, win situation.
My mom and dad just got back from a long Alaskan vacation cruise, we are happy to have them back home safe and sound and Owen is happy to have his babysitter, Gram back!
We are looking forward to Grand-Mo and Gramps visit in a week. We have been looking forward to this all year...Owen is ready to get spoiled even more and can't wait to spend some time with them! Love and miss you all!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Happy Canada Day!
Happy Canada Day!
I was trying to be a better Canadian wife since I am married to one and my son is half Canadian. I told myself last year I was going to be prepared for Canada Day this year...ummm yeah...didn't happen. I got a call from Darren saying, "I have been waiting all day for you to call and wish me a Happy Canada Day and is Owen dressed in Red and White?...."
So I will redeem myself, don't you worry. I printed out Canada signs to hang around the house, Owen will be dressed in red and white upon Darren's return from work and I even printed out a "Are you a True Canadian" quiz to test Darren's knowledge of his homeland! So even though I did not remember when I first awoke this morning, I am a good Canadian wife after all!
Anyways - enjoy your Canada Day everyone! We love and miss all you Canadians!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
16 Month Update
Reading baby books and baby articles they always talk about the dreaded "Terrible Two's". Having a name such as Terrible Two's, one would think that this time of a babies life would begin at two years of age. Well I think Owen is taking on this title a little early. When he does not get his way he is beginning to throw temper tantrums. Note to self: steer clear of large head that will be thrown backward at a moments notice, smashing anything in it's path.
Besides being a little brat on occasion Owen has now found his love for reading. Our little scholar to be. Darren and I are creating a nightly ritual of asking Owen if he is ready for bed. He says YES by nodding his head. We ask him if he wants to read some books. The YES head shaking gets a little faster and he proceeds to make a run for it directly to his room. It might be the cutest thing we have ever seen. He gets so excited for book time at night. We sit on his bedroom floor, he picks out a book and then he does a backward shuffle walk and squats down to sit on our laps to read the Tickle, Tickle book (one of his fav's) for the 100th time. We just can't get enough. It is our favorite time of day!
We brought him into the sprinkler for the first time last night. He was not too keen on it at first but then realized this could possibly be a great source of summertime entertainment for years to come. I remember growing up, living under the sprinkler and slip and slides during the summer months. Darren on the other hand, remembers days down by the crystal clear river with views of mountains in the near distance...he did live in "God's Country" after all. So Owen on the other hand will have to make due with a backyard and a sprinkler attached to the hose! :) That is until we one day move back to Canada and show Owen what nature is really all about!
Owen is in love with my Grandma, GG. You can see by the video above that he knows where the good stuff comes from. Dayne, my nephew graduated from High school and we had his party last weekend. Owen stood by GG's side until the chocolate cake on her plate was no where to be seen. The boy likes his sweets. They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!
Owen is such a little boy now. He is getting bigger everyday. He seriously is such a cute kid. We take him for walks at night and he will say hi and wave to every single person that we pass. And I mean EVERY PERSON. He waves to people of all ages...little kids, joggers, people in cars, grandma's, men, woman, garbage men, dogs..it doesn't matter. If you are passing him by you will get a wave and a little "Hi" if you want one or not...our son...the politician....
Well we love and miss you all in Canada and hope to see you sooner then later! We hope everyone is finally enjoying their summer with the warm weather that has taken too long to get here! Love you all!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
15 Month Update
We just got back from our "first official" family vacation with Darren, Owen and I. We spent the week in sunny Marco Island, Florida. Complements of my Uncle Ken and Aunty Sue's beautiful 2 bedroom condo right on one of Marco Island's many canals. We had such a fun and relaxing week and we both know Owen truly enjoyed himself.
We woke up bright and early every morning, thanks to the O-Dog and had some breakfast out on the lanai. Then slathered on the sunscreen and head out to the beach which was less then 5 minutes away. Owen enjoyed playing in the sand with his shovels and building sandcastles with Dad. He also was getting good at sneaking a scoop or two of sand every so often into his mouth. Yummm. Good stuff going in, even better stuff coming out! Owen also loved the very nice pool their complex has and floated in his floaty and found much fun in filling up and dumping out the pool water in a plastic water bottle. While of course taking a gulp or two along the way. Oh to be 1 year old again!
We had great lunches at several of the Marco "hot-spots" chickee bars and sat outside to listen to live music, smell the ocean water and ate some very good fresh fish. We spent a day in Naples, drove to the Corkscrew Conservatory and watched several breathtaking sunsets. All in all it was a wonderful and memorable family vacation! Thank you again to Aunty Sue and Uncle Ken for sharing their condo with us. We had a GREAT TIME!!! Don't forget to take a peek at all the vacation videos I posted before and after this post!
Owen is really turning into a "BOY". I guess that was going to happen, huh? He is starting to look like a little boy now and not so much like a baby. Which of course makes his mommy very sad! His hair, as I always say, is starting to come in (yeah right) as a mixture of light brown and light blonde, so not sure what the final color outcome will be.
He is starting to have a mind of his own when going in his car seat when he doesn't want to be there. He will scream at the top of his lungs to show us his displeasure. We turn up the car radio and Owen screams louder. Not sure how that is even possible, but he does it anyways. Is there a way to stop this insanity! :)
We are looking forward to the summer this year! Can't wait for the warmer weather to begin! Love and Kisses to you all!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
14 Month Update
14 months and smart as a whip. Owen is really beginning to pick up on things. His athletic abilities are really coming into play. I ask him to grab his hockey stick and to hit the ball and "play hockey". He goes into his massive pile of toys and finds his Atlanta Thrashers hockey stick and then gets down on the floor and sticks his bum in the air trying to find his missing ball under the couch. After he gathers both he starts his stick handling, which is quite impressive. NHL, here we come. Check out his hockey video below!
The other day he was being a crabby little man and was non stop whining. I put him in "time out" and he cried some more. So he got up and came back into the kitchen whining and crying at me. I said, "Owen do you want to go back into time-out?" and what does my smart kid do? He turns around, still crying and walks to where time out is located and sits down. HE PUT HIMSELF INTO TIME OUT. I mean...he is 1 year old! After that his whole demeanor changed. He was done being crabby and then started playing.
Speaking of playing, he loves to play with the barn animals his Aunty Lauren bought him. He lines them all up on the couch like they are his army. If he is missing one of his animals I ask him to go find his cow, or find his sheep. He turns around and starts to look for the missing animal. When he finds it he lines them up next to all his other barnyard friends. He gets a kick out of it, so does Darren and I. He is also beginning to love the concept of the large legos. He can now stack them onto each other. We are only at level one, one block on another, but I can see that changing very quickly!
Owen had a nice second Easter and somewhat picked up on the tradition of hunting for Easter Eggs. We colored a few eggs and hid them with his Easter basket in our house and sent Owen off for the hunt. He ran around the house trying to pick up all 6 at one time and then I caught him taking a bite out of the egg. Blue colored eggshell, all in his mouth...yummm!
We also went to visit my friend Landeck's baby,Greer. Who is such a cutie - her picture is above and Lauren, Kaeden, Meika,Owen and I went to the Brookfield Zoo. They have a dinosaur exhibit that is pretty realistic, the kids liked it. MC, Matthew, Corrie's son also had a birthday. The big 1. Owen had a good time at his prince and princess themed party! Owen has found his love for GG, my grandma. I mean, who wouldn't. She is one of my favorite people of all times as well, so he is a smart kid once again. When he sees her he just lights up and can easily point her out in a crowd. It is really nice to know that he shares a special bond with her. It makes me more then happy to know that she has had the opportunity to spend time with him and create such a nice relationship. My mom has been watching Owen twice a week and she is wonderful with him. She makes him laugh by putting stuff on her head and then his head. It doesn't matter what it is, a stinky sock, a t-shirt, a paper bag, she does it and he cracks up. She is great with him! And he also loves to see his Gramps and Grand-mo on the computer. We skype them and when their picture comes up Owen gets all excited and starts to show off. Whatever he does he looks back at the computer to make sure they are watching. Too cute!
He is getting so big so fast. I wish it would slow down a bit. We are loving every minute of it!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
13 Month Update
The weather is beginning to change and we have had a few nice days for Owen to be able to play outside. He thinks he is "Really Cool" when he gets to walk up and down the block. We look for all the birdies and make a chirping noise at them and we also like to hunt down squirrels and make funny noises at them. They dart up the tree to steer clear from the one year old chasing after them.
We brought Owen to a few parks and put him on a swing - which he is not quite a fan of. I am sure that will come with time and warmer weather. Last weekend Darren, Owen and I spent two nights in Grand Haven, Michigan. We had so much fun relaxing and we must have walked 500 miles throughout the town. We watched the sunset from the boardwalk and ate a nice dinner at a restaurant along the water. We sat at a table near the entrance and Owen was the perfect host, greeting all those that entered and left. The hostess was beginning to get upset because Owen was doing a better job at her job then she was! He is quite the "ham" and grabs the attention of all those around him! He had hours of fun with the plastic colander and climbing in and out of the cabinets. It doesn't take much to keep this kid happy!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
1 YEAR OLD!
Our baby is already one year old. How did that happen? I swear I just had him not too long ago. So one year old and so many firsts. Owen has such a sweet soul. He has an infectious laugh and a smile that brightens up any room he enters. He has a love for the outside world and enjoys shopping trips and taking in all the people watching. He patiently sits in the shopping cart and will flirt and eye all those that pass. He gets quite the response from passer-bys. People actually stop us quite a lot to tell us how adorable he is. And I mean how can Darren and I possibly disagree? He has a thing for the check out girls and will sit, wave and talk to them. They just eat it up. There was one lady in the grocery store the other day that Owen kept waving and saying hi and bye to. As we were walking down the long aisle he was still waving and saying goodbye. He started to really belt out the bye as we got further and further away from her. It was quite comical!
He has many teeth and still likes to take a quick bite out of your finger if you are dumb enough to allow it to go anywhere near his mouth. :) He loves to give big, wet, open mouth kisses when you ask for kisses and still loves a good face mush every now and again. His vocabulary is expanding each and everyday. He is repeating words and sounds and now understands the cause and effects of toys and games. It is amazing to see how his brain processes new tasks and how he thinks things through and eventually figures out how to be successful. Our little baby is getting to be a big boy!
We celebrated his first birthday on Sunday, 2/22. We had a nice party at our house. Owen's birthday party theme was a red, white and blue party. We superimposed Owen's face onto Uncle Sam and his invites read, Owen wants YOU at his red, white and blue first birthday party! Everyone came and wore their red, white and blue. Owen was a true show boat. He worked the room like he was a politician trying to get your vote! He would enter a room, walking of course because he is now a pro and greet people with a hi, wave and smile and when he felt like it was time to move on - that he did. Onto the next bigger and better crowd!
He received wonderful presents from all of our generous friends and family and then it was time to strip him down for his birthday cake. We sang Happy Birthday and he got really excited clapping and squealing with glee and excitement. He did not disappoint when it came to his own chocolate cake. He went to town and did a very good job getting his sugar high that we ended up paying for that evening when he didn't want to go to sleep or sleep in his bed. It was all worth it! Owen, Darren and I want to thank all of you for thinking of us on his FIRST birthday. It turned out wonderful and is one to remember! Love you ALL!!!
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