8 Months and He is Mobile!

It has been a crazy busy month for us. Owen celebrated his first Christmas as you read in my last post, and since then, he has been knocking off the milestones one by one. I can't believe January is about to end, and before I know it he will be 9 months, then 10, then a year! I guess I should stop there before I cry! Needless to say, we are loving every moment with our little guy. He is so curious and interactive right now, and it is amazing to watch him learn and grow every day. Here are his latest achievements.

The weight gain has been a little slower this month. He put on another half pound bringing the total up to 18 lbs 15 oz.

He is crawling! This milestone has changed our lives dramatically! Just before Owen turned 8 months, Luke helped him learn how to get up on his knees, move back and forth, and eventually take the lunge forward. It was as if Owen decided it was time to move and off he went. Now he is crawling everywhere and getting into everything. Naturally, Luke and I weren't quite prepared for this quick change in mobility, so we have been following him around the past week finding all the spots in our house that are not baby friendly and trying to figure out a quick solution.

Since Owen reached the crawling milestone, his movement and coordination have rapidly increased. It was not long before he was easily going between his tummy, crawling, and sitting, but what he really wants to do is walk. All I have to say is yikes! He has only been crawling for one week, and in that time he has learned how to get up on his knees, balance himself, and is desperately trying to pull himself up into a standing position. He tries to pull himself up on everything in sight, the couch, ottoman, chair, wall, door frame, dresser, crib, mom and dad. . . It is a non-stop effort! As a result, we have suffered a few spills, and I am reconciling myself with the fact that I can't prevent every bump and bruise.

In the few weeks after Christmas, Owen had three more teeth come in. I knew he was working on at least one top tooth, but little did I know that all three were trying to come in at the same time! No wonder we had some sleepless nights and one cranky little guy for about two weeks. I thought we were in for a break, but in the past week, two more top teeth have come through as well, making for a total of 7 teeth (4 on top and 3 on the bottom). I have decided that he is going to have all of his teeth before he turns a year!

Owen is now clapping. This is one of my favorite milestones from this past month. I just love watching his face when he gets excited and the hands start going. When he first learned the skill, he clapped non-stop for a few days. Mealtimes were a little more interesting with his new found skill. I felt like I was trying to pass through a gauntlet just to reach the prize at the end.

Since Christmas, Owen has enjoyed playing with all of his new toys. One of his favorites is a sit and ride toy that has a steering wheel. His favorite thing to do is have Luke push him around the living room while he spins the steering wheel around. It is fun to watch him transition into this new stage of play. Don't worry though, he has not completely moved on from his traditional play. He still loves to throw, bite, and bang his toys, and of course, wrestle with his daddy.

My Two Boys

Here are a few pictures of the face Owen has been making lately. It cracks Luke and I up every time.

The Holidays

Luke and I are so blessed to have wonderful families on both sides! The only difficult part of that situation is being away from one side or the other on any given holiday. Someday we will win the lotto, buy a ton of land, and build a Walker/Maissen family compound where we can all live happily ever after. Until then, we will continue to rotate Thanksgiving each year and split Christmas break in two so that we get time with both families. This year we spent Thanksgiving at the Walker's. Bekah wrote a great post about the highlights of that 5 day vacation which was aptly titled "the Owen show". Click on the title and you can read her lovely writing and see a few pics from the weekend. Silly me didn't take any pictures while I was there!

Christmas felt like a whirlwind! After a 36 hour stop in Spokane the week before Christmas to visit my extended family, Owen and I returned home to find Luke sick with the flu. He spent the next four days on a pedialyte diet while the rest of us enjoyed a breakfast feast prepared my Dad, a pioneer woman themed Christmas dinner, and Bev's famous sugar cookies. Despite missing out on some good fixen's, Luke was a great sport and joined in on the family fun whenever his energy allowed. For the second year in a row we made our way up to Seattle to enjoy Christmas Eve service with Jennie and Chris at their church. We then gathered down here Christmas morning to open presents and partake in LOTS of eating. Of course Owen stole the show this year. All 9 adults just sat and watched as he ripped at paper, chewed on boxes and bows, and paid very little attention to the new toys he had just received.

The day after Christmas, Luke and I packed up and made the quick trip over to Bremerton. While we were there, we enjoyed some quality family time, daily homemade lattes, and of course a few extra helping hands with Owen :). This extra help was quite handy since just a few days before we left Owen decided that it was high time to start teething again. This time around however, he wanted all of us to know that the top teeth are a lot more painful than the bottom. Needless to say, Luke and I didn't get much sleep at night, but Bev, Rick and Bekah were always ready the next morning to take Owen and give us a little more time to rest. It is pretty hard to leave that kind of help behind so we didn't, and our short visit quickly went from four days to six. Before we knew it, New Years Eve was upon us and we were gearing up for another long night. But for the first time that week, Owen decided to go to bed early and actually stay asleep. Since we were all pretty tired, we slowly made our way to bed one-by-one. Luke and I were the last to go at 11:30, and just as we were about to crawl into bed, Owen decided it was time to wake up, of course. So Luke, Owen, and I rang in the New Year nestled in bed listening to the fireworks outside. It was kind of a nice way to start a New Year.

Now we are back home, everyone is healthy, and Owen's tooth looks like it could pop through any day. I hope your holidays were filled with family, food, and wonderful memories just as ours were.

Walker family picture on New Year's Day

Pictures from the East vs. West Basketball game. Owen's first time watching his Grandpa play!

Pictures from Christmas day - Owen is eyeing another box he can chew on

Pictures of the kids/grandkid (Maissen side)

Maissen family picture