Owen: 2 and 1/2

It is pretty obvious when you come over to our house that we have an energetic, fun loving, entertaining toddler running through the place.  It is incredible to think about how much Owen has grown and learned in the past 6 months.  Here are some of the things he is doing and enjoys since my last dedicated Owen post.

• He is one lean kiddo.  Last time we weighed him he was just 29 lbs and that was with his shoes on.  I attribute his low weight to the fact that he is ALWAYS on the go.  This kid can run circles around us, and he usually does.  Due to the fact that our little man is so skinny, he is still mostly in his 2T clothes.  He could use the lenght of some 3T but we have had zero luck finding 3T pants with a small enough waistband.  Even the ones that are adjustable are still falling off my lean little dude.
• Owen loves to talk!  He is capable of full conversation now and is easily talking in more complex sentences.  We have certainly entered into the time frame where we need to be careful about what he hears.  He can and does repeat anything which has created some pretty comical moments.  I need to start writing down his funny sayings now that he is speaking his mind so freely.  Everyday he seems to be coming up with new and interesting thoughts on the world around him.
• His imagination has exploded.  He is often making up new stories and talking about his adventures.  For a few weeks, he was certain a dragon was living behind his curtains.  I think it was more of a ploy to skip nap time.  But we had many dicussions about the dragon being friendly, and how Owen was very brave to share his room with this imaginary creature.  Every once and while the dragon still pops up around the house.  It has become a fun form of make-believe.  In addition to hunting for his make-believe dragon, one of Owen's favorite games right now is "shadows".   We turn out the lights, grab a flashlight, and make shapes on the wall. My friend Brittany even made him shadow puppets for Christmas so now we can really go crazy with the make-believe.
• Owen also loves playing with cars, trucks, and trains.  Several times we have found him lining all his cars up along the living room windowsill.  He still likes to sleep with at least two to three hotwheels at night.
• Owen was semi potty trained just before Thanksgiving.  He really trained himself.  Since we had just had Beckett a couple months prior, I wasn't really ready to start the training process.  However, he started taking off his own diaper and using his little toilet in the bathroom.  Needless to say, we figured it was time to start the training process.  He trained rather quickly with hotwheels as an incentive.  However, he got sick over Thanksgiving and in the midst of his illness he lost all interest in pottry training.  Unfortunately, he is still asking for diapers over underwear, and we are simply waiting until he seems a little more ready once again to tackle the potty.
• Owen has always enjoyed watching his "shows."  We really try to limit how much we let him watch, but it is fun when he gets excited about a certain show.  Some of his favorites include Calliou, Dora the Explorer, and Diego.  He is pretty quick to pick things up and has a decent memory when it comes to music and he can sing along with the lyrics and many of the songs on the show.  It is pretty cute to here him sing and get excited over certain episodes.
• Owen sings songs almost as much as he talks.  He has always enjoyed music and now regularly puts on shows for us in front of the fireplace.  I am always surprised at which songs he has picked up and how quickly he learns them.  He learned Jingle Bells from watching an episode of Caillou.  It is fun to watch him perform and try out funny changes to the song.