An awesome visit!

Nana, Papa, and Aunt Tanya came for a week in early June, and they and Owen had a blast. Hikes, trip to the zoo, and lots of other small adventures. And plenty of conversation as Owen is talking up a storm these days. He was completely fascinated with Aunt Tanya - to the point where they were at new seasons market and Tanya went to a different aisle from Owen and Nana and he started calling out very loudly, "Aunt Tanyaaaa!!!"
GREAT visit, and we can't wait to see them all again!

Mr. Personality

Here is Owen's report from daycare today:
"Good morning, James. Good morning, Tina. Good morning, Yaya (Laura)." Owen made sure to greet everyone this morning. He painted for a bit, but much preferred getting down and dirty on the playground. He lay down in a puddle on his stomach and blew bubbles. Soon all his friends followed suit."

Messy toddler

For the last few Sundays, we've been taking Owen to the "Messy Toddler Class" at the Children's Museum. For the toddlers, this is awesome - they get to play with dirt, sand, pain, water, goo, shaving cream, and all kinds of other things. For the parents, this is wonderful because their kids get to play with all kinds of messy things and then we don't have to clean it up!

Messy toddler fun from Kevin Skurski on Vimeo.

A Big Month

Wow, another month has gone by. And I've been a slacker on the blog. Here are some photos from the past month...starting with a Duke national championship and Easter. We took a weekend trip with friends to Sun River were Owen got to enjoy a ton of a few of his favorite things - riding in the bike trailer, going through tunnels ("walk tunnel" he says as he walks through them dozens of times in a row), and the park. He does a lot more running and climbing these days and his face often shows it!
He likes to color and help in the yard & garden where he occasionally samples the dirt.
And, he got his very own bike this past weekend and he was excited! It is a balance bike - no pedals, lower to the ground, so his feet can touch the ground and he uses them for moving the bike. So far, we're just going up and down the hall on it. Before he got on it the first time, he looked at us and said, "helmet!" so I went out to the garage and got that for him so he could be a good, safe rider.

Priceless

We had one of those unforgettable moments last night. Wearing only a pair of dad's swim goggles around his neck, Owen ran down the hall with a book about fire trucks in hand, shouting "thanks, mama" over and over again because he remembered that about three weeks ago, she had fixed that book with duct tape. He is pure joy.

First Trip to the Zoo

Back a few weeks ago, Owen went with Mama and Dad, Mimi and Popop to the Portland Zoo. He LOVED it. It brought to life so many of the characters from his books, puppets, and stuffed animals.

First Trip to the Zoo from Kevin Skurski on Vimeo.

Such a Toddler Now

With his hair getting long (took a while), his conversing, running, climbing, and his sense of independence, Owen is all toddler now. Seems like every phase has been more fun than the one before it, at least we find ourselves saying that often. Some of Owen's favorite things to do now are climb on anything (especially things we tell him not to climb on), tackle/hug Clemmie, run being chased, swim, read books, and play at the park.

And he is a little word machine. It seems like he has a new word every day. Lately, of course, his favorite word is "no." As in,

Us: "Owen, would you like some blueberries?"

Owen: "No."

Us: "Really? Blueberries are your favorite. Do you want some?"

Owen: "Yeah."

He just wants to say no. The good thing is he has started saying "yeah" or "yes" just about as much.

Here are some pics from the last month...