You are eight months old today. 8 whole months that you have been here. It seems like only a handful of days and it seems like you've been part of our family forever. You and your daddy are exactly what I always wanted. I thank God for you every second of every day. You mean more to me than you will ever understand (you might get it a little when you have your first baby - but I still think it's different for mommies and daddies). Being your mommy is the best thing that I've ever done and I hope that I'll be able to be the mom you need me to be - I know I won't always be your everything because you, boy, are crazy loved...by everyone you meet. My students all agree that you are the best baby that there is and they love seeing pictures and videos of you, but they always call you "baby Owen" and never just Owen - first name baby last name Owen - just like they think Mommy's first name is Mrs.
You are full of tricks. You've been officially crawling (hands and knees) for about 3 weeks now. You've been standing and trying to walk holding on to our fingers for months, but you just figured out how to pull up on things and stand up all by yourself (always holding on to something). You constantly jump in our laps and you desperately want to climb. I'm sure you'll be walking in no time. Then, just this week after all this motor development you started babbling up a storm. The thing you say most consistently is "dadadadada" so it's only a matter of time before we get an official "dada" as your first word, but you're really starting to use intonation with you babbling like you're really talking to us. Mommy is so excited to be hearing your voice!
You're a big boy - 95% for height at your 6 month checkup and I'm sure it will be about the same next month when we go for your next doctor's appointment. You weigh 20 pounds and 6 ounces. At Momma's house (my mom) you were a size three diaper, but at home you are in cloth diapers all the time - size two Thirsties with the rise all the way unsnapped and one size Bumkins with the rise undone as well - but you still have lots of room to grow in the waist. Long and lean - definitely not skinny - but all muscle, although those little thighs are growing. You are wearing some 9 months clothes and a few 12 months - guess Momma was right and I shouldn't have bought you a 12 month Halloween costume for next year - oops!
You eat like a champ. You usually have about 4 oz. of fruits/vegetables plus a serving of baby oatmeal at each meal plus you've started to eat some puffs for snacks in between. You're also still nursing in the morning before I go to work and 2-3 times in the evening and I pump twice/day at work for your bottles while I'm gone. With all that eating, we've had some zany poop adventures recently, but I'll save them for another post. You love our dogs and are really starting to learn to pet them softly instead of pulling on their fur. You think you're Aunts are beautiful and love to stare and you think Daddy and Uncle Johnny are hilarious! You never laugh at Mommy like you laugh at them. You're also starting to get a little possessive of me and never seem to want anyone else to hold you, but I miss you too after working all day/week and we need our snuggle time (I hope you stop dissing Daddy though - it really makes him sad).
I love you soo much, little boy, and I can't wait until the end of this school year when I will get to be with you full time. We have so many wonderful adventures ahead. I'm sorry I didn't start keeping track of things better before now, but I hope to do more of this. I feel like I've already forgotten so much - but even so, I have cherished every second I've spent with you so far and I can't wait to see what God has in store for our family!
Love you, Owen, more than you know!
Mommy
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My little boy is growing up way too fast! I can't even begin to express how amazing this is. It seems like just yesterday he was rolling around inside of me and now he's been an outside baby for almost 3/4 of a year. Here are a few of my favorite 6 mo. pics from our friend and amazing photographer Amy. She has taken pictures of Owen for us every three months and it's been amazing to see him grow through her lens. I love photography, but I have a long way to go before I can figure out how to make the image in my head actually translate to "pictures" that other people can see too.
