Thursday, January 30, 2014

Our Little Characters

Owen and Maren are at such a fun age.  I thought I would be sad to come to the end of the baby stage, but I am loving watching these two little ones turn into crazy toddlers.  They are so different from each other, and we get to see more of their unique personalities every day.

Owen is our smiley guy!  He is very affectionate and loves to give kisses (which are actually bites).  He has started to play independently really well and loves to figure out how all of his toys work. He is currently obsessed with Cooper, cheese, books, Pat-a-Cake, baths and roaring like a lion.  He can easily stand and will take steps using his Stride-and-Ride Puppy, but he still prefers to crawl.  He is an amazingly fast crawler!

Smiles!

This sweet guy is always excited to see his sister.

Owen walking with his puppy


Maren is our feisty little girl! She will do anything to make us laugh.  She has this fake chuckle that she knows will make us laugh every time.  She is also very curious about everything.  If she points at something, someone better tell her what it is right away!  She is currently obsesses with books, mirrors, putting on her make-up (lotion for her chapped cheeks), dancing and standing like a big girl (independently). She likes to walk using her Stride-and-Ride Puppy and will also take 2-3 steps on her own.    

This is Maren's thinking face. She picked it up from Grandma Colleen and expects you to say "Hmmmmm" when she makes it.  

Maren walking with her puppy

I said she was feisty. . . 





One Year Old

On January 8, two special little kiddos turned one!  The big birthday came with just a wee bit of chaos, which is part of the reason the blog has been so neglected lately.

Here's the long story. . .

Our home repairs (from the storm on August 6) were scheduled to be completed the second week of January, so the week of the big birthday, we all moved into a hotel.  We did have a two room suite, but we filled this up very quickly with all the equipment that comes with two babies.  Most people can imagine all the ways in which living in a hotel with two babies would be difficult, but here are some things that were surprisingly fun at the hotel:

1. It was still decorated for Christmas, so Owen and Maren had a few extra days of gawking and pointing at Christmas lights and ornaments.

2. There was a swimming pool that was nice and warm, so we were able to do some swimming.

3.  Dinner was provided by the hotel every night.  It wasn't the most amazing food, but Josh and I are not in place in our lives to turn down this convenience. 

4.  We could take walks on very cold, winter days.  When we all started to get a little stir crazy, we would put Owen and Maren in their stroller and walk the hallways.  This may not sound particularly exciting, but it was a much needed "outing" for all of us.

5.  New Toys!  The kitchen in our suite was stocked with a set of plastic bowls and wooden spoons.  These were more exciting than any of the toys we brought with.  

On Wednesday, January 8, our week in the hotel took a turn.  The morning of Owen's and Maren's birthday, we had scheduled their 12 month check-up.  They survived their exam, three shots and a blood draw and are perfectly healthy! That evening Maren was a little fussy and ended up throwing up three times.  We assumed it was just a reaction to her shots since she was perfectly fine the next day.  The next night, however, I found myself sick, and it became pretty clear that a stomach bug had found it's way into our home (hotel).  It made its way to Owen and Josh the very next day, which made the last day at the hotel and the move back into our house  more difficult than anticipated.  A very sick family also resulted in a cancelled first birthday party, so we will be having a 1 year and 1 month birthday celebration soon.  Hopefully, they will enjoy the story of their eventful first birthday years down the road!


12 Month Stats


Weight
Percentile
Height
Percentile
Head Circ.
Percentile
Owen
23 lb 2 oz
56
31.8 in
95
18.8 in
86
Maren
21 lb 8 oz
59
30 in
82
18.3 in
86


Tearing into their presents. 

Trying out his new pop-up toy.

Playing with Maren's new mirror. 

The Birthday Girl!
The Birthday Boy!

Swimming with Daddy!

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

First Christmas

We had a very busy Christmas!  We celebrated with a lot of family, sang  Jingle Bells approximately 8,000 times and enjoyed a quiet day at home on Christmas Day opening and playing with our presents from Santa. 

Celebrating with the O'Keefe Family



Too much Christmas!

 All ready for Christmas Eve at Grandpa Dave's and Grandma Colleen's.  We partied in our PJs!



Someone found the presents right away!


Someone also tried to eat wrapping paper!


 Playing with new toys.

Too much Christmas (again).

This guy didn't need a nap.  He celebrated all night long!
Christmas morning at home.

They spotted the presents under the tree right away!


Santa remembered Cooper, too!



Playing with new toys at the Behrens' Christmas. 


Hanging out with Uncle Timothy. 

A Christmas highlight for Owen - playing with a very sweet service dog in training.  



Christmas Spirit

I'm embarrassed to be putting up Christmas pictures at the end of January, but they're too cute to skip. Owen and Maren absolutely loved Christmas.  They were so excited by Christmas Trees, lights and other decorations, so we took a Pre-Christmas trip to the Mall of America to see all of the amazing decorations there.  

They were having such a nice time looking at that tree, and I had to go turn them around for a picture.

Posing near Santa.  This is close enough when you are in the stranger danger phase of life. 

 Instead, we checked out Santa from the floor above. Owen thought this was hilarious!

-

This picture just sums up what these two are all about.  Owen is lounging with his feet propped up, and Maren has her ankles neatly crossed.  

Maren eventually fell asleep.

While his sister was sleeping, Owen hinted at what he wanted for Christmas.

And had a snack.