Take Me Out to the Ballgame

We took Owen to his first Cubs game on Sunday. He had a blast. Fittingly the Cubbies lost. I think I better raise him as a Nats fan.

Parting's Wet Sorrow

Grandma & Grandpa Z left this morning. We figured Owen was going to take it hard, having had them as constant companions (and pretty much exclusive companions on Monday when Mommy & Daddy went to work first and then to the Okkervil River/New Pornographers show that night) for the past six days. After all, Grandma & Grandpa were always happy to take him to the park, pull him in the wagon, sing whatever song his baby einstein caterpillar spit out, wash hands, dole out grapes and applaud such impressive feats as successfully extricating his arms from the high chair straps.

However, we really didn't think Owen would literally try to drown his sorrows by sitting in rather than on the toilet at daycare. Ms. Jackie, his new teacher, quickly rescued him though his outfit didn't fare as well. Hopefully he'll survive until our next visit...

Welcome to the Monkey House

Owen's first trip to the zoo consisted primarily of us eagerly pointing out animals while he looked bored and vaguely annoyed. The second trip he universally ignored all animal life in favor of the metal railings enclosing them. The third time was apparently a charm as Owen loved the whole experience, particularly with Grandma & Grandpa Z there to share it (the power nap right before we arrived probably didn't hurt either). Grandpa discovered a secret monkey sculpture garden (perfect for giving monkeys high fives), Grandma taught Owen how to say, "emu," and they both got us a zoo membership so that we can repeat the experience in the near future (though without them it won't be quite the same).


Updated: We have a video of Owen running around giving all the monkeys high fives that originally didn't make the cut for the blog. However, Owen now insists on watching this video every morning when he wakes up, his first words of the day often being, "Ee Ah Ee Ah High Five!" Given Owen's love for this video (and thinking we may need access to it away from home one day) here it is.

Grandpa Hand More Outside

Elaine's parents are in town for a visit and we all went over to Mom Mom's house for dinner last night. Owen of course loves having his grandparents around since he's a bit of a ham and his grandparents are all easily impressed. His favorite part of the evening was probably when he thought he was finished with dinner (grilled lamb which Owen thought was delicious), and tried to squirm out of the high chair. Grandma Z asked him to put his arms back in, and he dutifully slipped his arms back in the straps. This somehow elicited a round of applause from all of Owen's grandparents, which he just ate up. Not one to leave well enough alone, Owen repeated the trick until diminishing marginal returns set in and the ever weakening rounds of applause was no longer worth the effort.

My favorite part of the evening was watching Owen interact with all his grandparents: Grandma and Grandpa Z, Mom Mom and Grandpa Don. He was giving out kisses left and right, and he set an unofficial personal record with a four word sentence. One of his games was to take everyone on a lap out the back door onto the porch, down the stairs onto the patio, around the porch to the side of the house, up the stairs, in the side door, around to the back door, and back inside again. He called this game going, "outside," and after playing it once and not noticing any diminishing marginal utility of this game, he would announce his desire to play again by saying, "more outside." After he wore out one playmate he would search out his next victim (grandparents are always an easy mark, especially when you say their name in an adorably cute voice) and ask to hold their hand so he could lead them on an adventure, "Grandpa hand more outside?" How can you say no to that?

The Kite Runner

Nothing really happened this weekend, but last weekend was a cultural bonanza in the District: there was a marathon, a kite festival, a cherry blosson festival and opening day for the Nationals. We managed to hit them all and even picked out new tile for our kitchen. Owen wasn't particularly interested in the marathon runners that passed by our street (though he seemed to enjoy the resulting traffic jam far more than Mommy or Daddy), and only Daddy made the Nat's game, but Owen was all about watching kites at the Washington Monument. Or rather, the kites made a nice backdrop as he climbed marble benches and chased random doggies while dodging tourists.

(click here to see all the pictures)

Tales from the Crib

Last night Owen climbed into his crib all by himself. For weeks he's been hanging onto the railing as part of his bedtime routine, but last night he found some additional footholes, stood over the top of the railing, pitched forward into a somersault and collapsed into giggles atop his stuffed lion. He quickly wore out as Allen and I begged him to do it two more times since we'd missed the initial volley, but apparently enjoyed the excercise so much that, refreshed from a night of sleep, he climbed into his crib for at least 10 minutes this morning and tried to climb back out -- even throwing out a bevy of stuffed animals to cushion his landing -- though I kept intervening. I suspect it's just a matter of time before he gets his way and that Allen and I will have to revise our timetable for moving him into a big boy bed.

(editor's note: Now with video!)