Monday, October 22, 2007

Fountain of Youth

Owen and I walk to work every weekday morning. Upon arriving, we drop his stroller off in my office and then make our way to his daycare. This latter half of our journey can take almost as long as the first. See, to get to daycare we have to pass by the trophy case with a mirror. And the ladies room (oddly, the men's room holds no allure). There are strategically placed hand sanitizers along the way and a number of interior doors with vents, both of which beg to be touched. People wave, elevators open, telephones ring, all of which are distracting to Owen.

But the biggest hallway attraction by far is the water fountain just outside my office door. Owen loves pushing it, except when Mommy tries to get a drink, then he loves to not push it.

(My apologies for not keeping things perfectly in frame -- it's hard to videotape yourself and a 14 month old from the side.)

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Austin


Since Texas won the college poll, we decided to take Owen down to Austin over Columbus day weekend. We had a great time taking Owen around to all our old haunts (the Econ department, Changos, Club de Ville, etc...), and visiting friends and family. We stayed with my Aunt Janis & Uncle Truman, and Pop Pop was there too. Owen had a great time chasing their dog Brandy, and I'd be convinced he had the word 'doggy' down pat if he didn't call so many other things something that sounds suspiciously similar. When he wasn't chasing the dog, Owen was playing the piano or playing catch with his great grandfather.

On Sunday we had to amend our plans for a bbq over at Channing & Kelly's when their son Calder came down with pink eye. Instead, Kelly and Calder dropped Channing off at Trudy's to meet us and Ned & Amanda for lunch. Hopefully next time we're in Texas Calder will be up for a play date. That afternoon we took Owen on a tour of campus, and a visit to the LBJ library. Thankfully there weren't too many people at the Library just before closing time on Sunday afternoon, because Owen had a great time running around, watching the animatronic LBJ, and listening to the echo of his own laughter. I'm not sure if all the archivists in the family should be proud or horrified ;-)


(click here to see all the pictures)

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Eugenia Mary Mettenburg


Eugenia Mary Mettenburg (not McConnel as Joe wrote in his first email, which would have been a particularly odd choice since Cate's last name is Mconnell with two l's), 6 pounds 11.8 ounces and 20.5 inches long, was born forty minutes past midnight on Saturday October 6, 2007. We're very excited for Joe & Cate, and we can't wait to meet Gigi! Now we just need to convince Cate (one of our blog's most loyal readers) to post lots of pictures ;-)

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Leaps & Bounds

Over the last month or so Owen has been constantly surprising us with his newfound communication skills. He has a few words now, most notably "uh-oh," "da da," "ma," "ball," and "book" (which sounds remarkably similar to ball). He's also started using some baby signs, which are much more useful for actual communication. When he's hungry, he signs eat, he makes the milk sign when he wants to nurse, and he'll rub up and down on his chest when we take him upstairs for his bath. The best part of all these signs is that they really make it evident that he's trying to communicate -- when he's talking, we have to work a bit harder to figure out what he's trying to say.

In other developmental fronts, Owen is figuring out how everything works. When he plays with keys, he tries to put them up to the door knob; when he plays with the watering can, he tries to water the plants; and he tries to put his shoes and socks on his feet. It's a fun time watching him develop into a full fledged toddler (and a little sad now that he's not our little baby any more).

Monday, October 01, 2007

Okkervil River

Thanks to Jen, who came through in the clutch to baby sit while all the grandparents were out of town, Elaine and I went to our first concert together since before Owen was born. One of our favorite Austin bands, Okkervil River, played a mere three blocks from our house at the Rock & Roll Hotel. It was a great show, sold out and packed with enthusiastic fans singing along with all the songs. It almost felt like we were back in Austin, rocking out at Club de Ville, Red Eyed Fly, or the Hole in the Wall.

(click here to hear a recording of the concert on NPR)
(click here to see Okkervil on Conan O'Brien)