Anyone There?

Did we fall off the face of the earth? Some days, I wish I had. But no, we are here, busy as ever. I think about updating the blog almost daily, but actually getting around to it is a different story. One reason is our crazy little 15-month-old.

Owen is a doll. Just a really active doll. He is a little daredevil who still gets into everything and leaves a disaster trail wherever he goes. He is dang cute, though, and that is what saves his life.

His vocabulary is growing. He says "mama" and "dada" (although I'm not sure he connects the words to us), "a-ga" (all gone), and others I can't think of at this late hour. But by far his favorite new sound is growling. He loves to growl and he's pretty good at it.

He blows kisses (adorable!) and he loves to walk backwards and plop down on anyone's lap, no matter how accessible it is (or is not). He especially loves to sit on Evan's lap whenever Evan is sitting on the floor. And laps are the best place for reading books, one of his new favorite activities. He will try to do anything and everything anyone else is doing (he loves copying sounds/words).

His lack of fear is a bit alarming. He just decided he would try out the slide in the backyard the other day (the very same slide Evan was hesitant to go down only a few months ago). He loves it ... even the part where he falls back and hits his head at the bottom almost every time. He also tries dunking his head in the bath water. Yeah. He's a maniac.


Here is some of what we've been up to:

School carnival at Deerfield Elementary (where T'Em teaches)

(Evan chewing gum for the first time and trying to blow a bubble.)

One last hoorah with the sprinkler (this was the end of September, by the way)
and cherry tomatoes from the garden

Evan helping daddy paint in the studio



The praying mantis on our screen door handle that I almost grabbed in the dark one night (gives me the willies just thinking about it)



Visiting our cousins the Hullingers (and Aunt Carol, who was visiting from CA) in Payson



Casey's birthday (thanks for participating in the poll, everybody ... I owe him an expensive art book) :)

(I love how Owen is trying to copy Evan's silly pose here)

Halloween PJs (don't be fooled by Owen's ... he's not a monster in training; he's a full blown monster)


And today we went to the zoo. I'll try to post pictures of that sooner than later.