What We've Been Up To

Josh was out of town for work for a few days recently.  This was the first time he's been gone when the kids were really verbal and able to ask questions.  I answered a lot of "Where Daddy?" and "Daddy Home?" In the meantime, we're lucky to have family nearby that is willing to come provide some entertainment and help. 

Uncle Eric kept these two busy with just a couple stuffed animals and the ceiling fan. 

When Josh did make it home, he (unknowingly) had a sparkly sticker on his shirt.  There is no escaping Maren and her stickers. 

Other than surviving a few days without Josh, Owen and Maren spend their time repeating and learning new words.  In the last couple of months, language has really taken off in our house, and it is amazing!

Maren is really working on stringing more words together.  She asks a lot of questions, "What happened?" Where (insert name)?" and ""What name?" are her favorites.  When reading a book, Maren will ask "what name?" of every single animal or person in the book.  She will generally repeat the name right away and surprises us all by remembering most of them.  Maren is a bit of perfectionist and works really hard to pronounce words correctly, but some of her most adorable words are the ones she hasn't quite mastered. "Otay" (she answers with ok instead of yes), "smoodie" (smoothie), "nuggle" (snuggle) and Pooper (Cooper) are a few of our favorites.

Maren 'nuggling with daddy.

Maren and her "bubble mitten."

Owen is more of a take-it-all in kind of guy and often lets his sister talk for him.  He's starting to speak up more and more each day.  He tends to say the last part of each word "ooper (Cooper), "Apa (Grandpa) and "Homas" (Thomas the Train). He says the whole word when it's really important.  "Cookie," for example is crystal clear. Another word we hear multiple times a day from Owen is "walking!"  He absolutely loves to take walks outside. He is perfectly content holding a hand and just walking up and down the street.  His other favorite thing right now is the alphabet.  Both he and Maren can identify letters and are working on numbers, but I think Owen would be totally happy sitting on a lap and working on his alphabet flashcards all day long.  

He loves to snuggle after nap.

Mr. O showing off his bedhead.