Thursday, July 26, 2007

12 Step Program

Due to the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as well as much craziness at work, it's taken us a while to capture Owen walking on video. Without further ado, Owen walking.


Owen-July__20070726_450

Friday, July 13, 2007

Walking!

Owen took his first steps today! Much like our ancestral forebears Owen has evolved from a crude means of locomotion based on all four limbs, to full fledged bipedalism. I was upstairs in the bedroom with Owen and we were playing the game where he runs while holding my hands. Owen was running toward his reflection in the mirror, I let go, and he kept moving! He took a full five steps before reaching the mirror, turning around, and giggling to his heart's content. Elaine rushed upstairs, and Owen kindly took a few more steps for mommy, but refused to repeat his new trick for the camera, so the video will have to wait ;-)

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

From Devils to Angels

After a week gallivanting around Murder Lucifer Mounds (aka, Kill Devil Hills), we decided that a cleansing of the spirit was in order and so immediately headed off to Iowa for Owen’s baptism. Having already been thrown in the ocean, the baptismal pool failed to intimidate our little man, who so enthusiastically embraced the sacrament that his Great Uncle Bernie had to eventually take away the holy water. Following a brief Excorcism, Owen was anointed and blessed by Bernie as well as his Godfather/Uncle Steve, Godmother/Aunt Katherine and the rest of our family and friends that were able to celebrate Independence Day in this non-traditional manner.

Later, we all headed to Cold Spring Pond, site of our wedding and numerous Fawcett gatherings for a little bbq and some additional dunking in the pond. Owen got to visit with his great grandfather Pop Pop Pop, play with his first cousins Olivia, Maura & Sam Zimmerman, and meet his second cousin Ethan Fawcett for the first time, as well as numerous Grady relatives. There was a lot of splashing and eating, but not nearly enough sleeping from Mommy & Daddy’s point of view. Maybe when we’re back in Iowa for Christmas…

(click here to see all the pictures)

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Owen Takes on the Atlantic Ocean

Owen visited the ocean for the first time last week during our biennial Outer Banks beach trip. We were joined by Joe and Cate and the future baby Mettenburg at a lovely little house called the Guilford right on the boarder between Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. Due to a series of unfortunate events we weren't able to get the whole crew back together this year as Chris & Elise, Nabeel, Megan & Kaden, and Billy all couldn't make it, but the good news was that with just the Fawcetts and Mettenburgs at the beach we had the perfect number for plenty of Bridge!

For Owen's first encounter with the Atlantic Ocean (or any body of water bigger than our bathtub for that matter) we lathered him up with sunscreen, stuffed him in his life jacket and waded into the surf. In retrospect, we probably should have taken more time to ease him into the water. Between the waves crashing around us and the sunscreen seeping into his eyes, Owen was not too thrilled about floating in the Ocean at the mercy of Poseidon.

After the first encounter, we wisely set up a wading pool on the beach for Owen to play in, and spent the rest of the week letting him run around (holding his hands of course, he can't yet run on his own) in the surf. By the end of the week he absolutely loved having the surf wash up around his feet, and even a thunderstorm on Friday afternoon couldn't dampen his enthusiasm for the beach.

On the developmental front, Elaine and I have long thought that Owen might start walking around the time of our beach trip. While he didn't start walking last week, he did take his first step. Standing up in his wading pool, Owen picked up one foot, moved it few inches forward, and put it back down. His expression made it clear that he wasn't too sure about this new development, and with the rather uneven bottom pool, he clearly decided it was best to sit right back down in the water. Since he didn't start walking at the beach last week, clearly he'll take his first steps this week in Iowa ;-)



(click here to see all the pictures)