Oh My Oh Oh

My last few posts have been about Collin, so now it's time for the spotlight to shift to my blondey bear. He is just changing so much every day. I think it's natural to expect sort of the same things from your second child as you got from the first, especially if you have two boys or two girls. But, as any experienced parent will tell you, they are far from identical. Owen is much higher-energy than Collin. It is so hard to get him to sit still or to be quiet. He is currently going through a yelling phase and we have to constantly explain that there is no need to shout when the person he's talking to is 3 feet away. He also like to put on his super high and squeaky voice which prompts Daddy to ask if he needs some WD-40.

Owen and I have been working off and on with his letters for about a year, since he was 18 months old. Some of them he picked right up and then other times he was just more interested in throwing the flashcards up in the air. We backed off a lot before the holidays because of the throwing thing I just figured he wasn't ready for it. We started back up a few weeks ago and he is improving very quickly. I'm so proud of him! He can tell me the name of 17 letters! The other 9 that he can't name he is still able to pick out of a group. It's hard work learning all that stuff when he just wants to run and play. We "play letters" several times a week and we have two different games. First one is the standard where I hold up the card and he tells me what it is and the second one that he likes better is the "go get it" game. We put all the cards on the floor and I call out a letter and he goes to find it. That helps him still be able to move around while he plays and learns. It's great Mommy and Owen time.

I'm starting to think it's time for potty training. Owen does not agree. He will tell me when he needs a diaper change and will even say "I go pee now" as he's going. When I suggest that we go try the potty he completely freaks out! It's like torture to him just to think about that potty. He is not interested at all in his little potty chair, the big toilet or the kid seat that goes on the toilet. He will scream and cry (real tears!) at the mention of underwear or pull-ups. I'm thinking I will just have to wait for a nice spell of warm weather and let him run naked for a bit and see how that works. There is no real rush, but I just think that if he can tell me that he needs to go he should be able to go in the potty.

I made up songs for both of the boys when they were babies. Owen loves his song and it's a popular bedtime request. I should explain that Oh Oh is just one of the many nicknames we have for him. Collin actually started calling him that when he was about 3 weeks old.

This is to the tune of Oh My Darling Clementine......

Oh my Oh Oh, oh my Oh Oh,
oh my Owen you're so cute.
Oh my Oh Oh, oh my Oh Oh,
and you're precious to boot.

Here he is playing in the tree this afternoon.
*Note to my mother - I know I cut off the top of his head in the picture, and I'm upset about that, but I was trying to get his feet in the shot too. I should have scooted back a bit. But ya gotta love that smile! :-)