We have been really thrilled with Owen's recent progress and wanted to dedicate a post to him. He is still not quite ready to crawl (but showing more interest in getting around), but he is doing a lot of other fun things. In the last few weeks he has started clapping, and does the same gesture when he wants to sign "more." He will clap when we sing 'pat-a-cake' or 'If you're happy and you know it,' and if we say 'yay.' He is still waving 'hi' and 'bye', which is often the first thing we see each morning. He gives nice kisses too.
The cutest development is that he is playing "peekaboo" of a his own initiative and hiding his own little eyes. If we say, "Where's Owen?" he'll totally hide and sometimes pause for a good while before pulling his hands away and smiling as we shout "peekaboo!"
He will dance upon request too, and sit or stand in our laps at our command. So receptively he seems to be doing quite well, and all of this really is amazing to us because it's quite different than his big brother at this age. Another difference has been his choice of reading material. Lewis' favorite writer is Karen Katz, and Owen loves those books too. But recently his favorite is the Sandra Boynton book Moo, Baa, La La La which Lewis never liked! Both boys like it now, and Lewis will attempt the animal sounds when I read it to Owen. My sister, the artist, always claimed that Lewis prefers certain types of illustrations more than others and I think she's right. Owen goes for books that rhyme and sound interesting. Honestly, it's just nice to have a variety to read.
Here's a video of Owen working on his new skills. We are grateful for such a happy baby boy, in such a fun stage of life.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
lewis and owen tales
Reading the Sunday paper is a Shepherd tradition that Lewis has recently taken hold of. He spent a great deal of time checking out this ad in particular.
We drop into Spencer's on a regular basis too, especially when Justin is there. Owen had a good time hanging out with Jenny recently.
Lewis like to explore the space and help out behind the counter. Here's a video to give you a better idea. (If you listen carefully you can hear some of his verbal attempts).
We stopped by the library that same day and Lewis tried out the chair out front.
This is Owen in a soccer uni that Justin picked out just after Lewis was born.
Here's Lewis in the same outfit a couple years ago.
The funny thing is that Lewis looks much chunkier....but the reality is that Owen loves to eat so much more than his big brother. Here's another video, this one of Owen trying to get Lewis' Veggie Chips.
Finally, a couple of pictures of Lewis with his duck. He loves this duck so much that he is now sleeping with it at night. Justin made up yet another game involving the duck swimming and going to bed, so Lewis has been spending much time with the duck, and even brushing its teeth.
We'll leave you with a clip of Lewis humming. He is humming "Happy Birthday to You" also....(not shown) & not always on key, but it's a start!
We drop into Spencer's on a regular basis too, especially when Justin is there. Owen had a good time hanging out with Jenny recently.
Lewis like to explore the space and help out behind the counter. Here's a video to give you a better idea. (If you listen carefully you can hear some of his verbal attempts).We stopped by the library that same day and Lewis tried out the chair out front.
This is Owen in a soccer uni that Justin picked out just after Lewis was born.
Here's Lewis in the same outfit a couple years ago.
The funny thing is that Lewis looks much chunkier....but the reality is that Owen loves to eat so much more than his big brother. Here's another video, this one of Owen trying to get Lewis' Veggie Chips.
Finally, a couple of pictures of Lewis with his duck. He loves this duck so much that he is now sleeping with it at night. Justin made up yet another game involving the duck swimming and going to bed, so Lewis has been spending much time with the duck, and even brushing its teeth.
We'll leave you with a clip of Lewis humming. He is humming "Happy Birthday to You" also....(not shown) & not always on key, but it's a start!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
outdoor adventures
We've been getting out a lot lately because of the warm weather. These are some pictures from a recent walk around the neighborhood, and from a visit with our friend Cyrus, who came to play on Mother's Day weekend.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
random videos
Here are a couple random videos we haven't posted for whatever reason. This one is Lewis dancing to Justin's guitar playing.
The next is Lewis wearing his shirt all crazy and watching our DI, Krista, driving away from a session. He's been trying to take his clothes off lately, but has not been altogether successful, which might be a good thing!
This week's good news: Lewis got a medical card FINALLY after 3 1/2 months of work aquiring the HCB (Home & Community Based) waiver through Medicaid. He also got into the Big Red School at WKU for the summer session in July. We were on the waiting list for about 8 months for that one! Having Medicaid should allow us to get some additional therapies which could be really helpful. Oh, and Lewis has started humming the tune "Do Your Ears Hang Low?". We should have a video of that to post soon too.
The next is Lewis wearing his shirt all crazy and watching our DI, Krista, driving away from a session. He's been trying to take his clothes off lately, but has not been altogether successful, which might be a good thing!
This week's good news: Lewis got a medical card FINALLY after 3 1/2 months of work aquiring the HCB (Home & Community Based) waiver through Medicaid. He also got into the Big Red School at WKU for the summer session in July. We were on the waiting list for about 8 months for that one! Having Medicaid should allow us to get some additional therapies which could be really helpful. Oh, and Lewis has started humming the tune "Do Your Ears Hang Low?". We should have a video of that to post soon too.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
road trip--day 3, millennium park
Our last day in Chicago took us to the Shedd Aquarium where Lewis got to see a whole lot of fish. We had been telling him about it and when we got there, it turned out to be kind of a process to get into the place. We had to take an elevator up to the main entrance, and Lewis was getting very frustrated and kept signing "fish" very adamantly. Once inside, he had fun until he ran out of energy! Due to the low light we didn't get any good pictures. You'll just have to take our word for it!
Anyway, after that we ventured out to find some food which turned out to be somewhat of a saga. We ended up at Qdoba which isn't typical or touristy by any means, but they allowed us to bring our strollers inside so we had a great meal there listening to some great 80's hits over the sound system. Owen seemed to really enjoy the song 'Footloose' and showed us some of his dancing skills while we ate. Check it out here:
After a ton of fun in there, we headed over to Millennium Park to check out the bean and the video fountain. Since beans are among Lewis' most favorite foods, we knew he would like to see a giant bean that is also a huge mirror. He loved it! It was kind of scary because he was running around so fast through the crowd of people there were times we thought we might lose him, but he never got too far away.
Here's a video of Lewis' running around under the bean trying to make new friends.
He was having a great time there! We finally convinced him to walk over to the water with us. This was a picture I grabbed off a website that shows the fountain. There are these huge video screens of peoples faces (one on each end of a huge water drenched area) and they look around for a few minutes and then their lips form a pucker and water starts spewing out like they are spitting. It seemed like a great combination of video and water and we thought Lewis would get a kick out of it, but the screens are so big, he couldn't wrap his mind around it and didn't even 'see' them.
He did enjoy walking around with Beth in the water.
All in all it was a great time. We are grateful for the dual DVD player system that the Wilsons let us borrow! Lewis does great in the car, but Owen struggles and he really benefitted from a whole lot of Signing Time during the long ride. We had a great trip back though. We left Evanston at 7 a.m. and made it back to BG by 4:30 p.m. We had a long stop in Louisville for a break, but otherwise kept things moving. Hope you enjoyed this long summary of our trip! It was a nice break from reality for us.
Anyway, after that we ventured out to find some food which turned out to be somewhat of a saga. We ended up at Qdoba which isn't typical or touristy by any means, but they allowed us to bring our strollers inside so we had a great meal there listening to some great 80's hits over the sound system. Owen seemed to really enjoy the song 'Footloose' and showed us some of his dancing skills while we ate. Check it out here:
After a ton of fun in there, we headed over to Millennium Park to check out the bean and the video fountain. Since beans are among Lewis' most favorite foods, we knew he would like to see a giant bean that is also a huge mirror. He loved it! It was kind of scary because he was running around so fast through the crowd of people there were times we thought we might lose him, but he never got too far away.
Here's a video of Lewis' running around under the bean trying to make new friends.He was having a great time there! We finally convinced him to walk over to the water with us. This was a picture I grabbed off a website that shows the fountain. There are these huge video screens of peoples faces (one on each end of a huge water drenched area) and they look around for a few minutes and then their lips form a pucker and water starts spewing out like they are spitting. It seemed like a great combination of video and water and we thought Lewis would get a kick out of it, but the screens are so big, he couldn't wrap his mind around it and didn't even 'see' them.
He did enjoy walking around with Beth in the water.
All in all it was a great time. We are grateful for the dual DVD player system that the Wilsons let us borrow! Lewis does great in the car, but Owen struggles and he really benefitted from a whole lot of Signing Time during the long ride. We had a great trip back though. We left Evanston at 7 a.m. and made it back to BG by 4:30 p.m. We had a long stop in Louisville for a break, but otherwise kept things moving. Hope you enjoyed this long summary of our trip! It was a nice break from reality for us.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
road trip--day 2
Lewis got up kind of early the first full day in Evanston. Beth had some really cool toys to play with, including a ball that glows in the dark and changes color every few seconds. He loved looking at it with a glitter ball right next to it.
Another funny thing was Lewis' new name for Aunt Beth. He kept doing the sign for 'aunt' (the letter A next to his chin') for Aunt Ellen. But by Saturday he was pairing that sign with the sign for "bath" when speaking of Aunt Beth! It really cracked us up because the words do sound similar, and he was very consistent in referring to her differently. He stills does this when I ask him about her......so cute.
Beth is a gifted tour guide for the Chicago area. We have visited many times and always do different things. This time we went to the Kohl Children's Museum in the suburbs. It was a lot of fun. Lewis didn't like all of it, but the parts he liked, he REALLY liked. The first part we saw was all about water. He would've stayed there all day, but we forced him to check out a musical section,
some fake construction equipment,
and a train exhibit where Owen got to have his first experience milking a fake cow. Notice how much is in the bucket!
Lewis loved the train exhibit, which was sponsored by Brio. This was a temporary exhibit, but he had a blast pushing buttons and making train sounds like a real conductor.
They had a more scientific area. This thing below had a button that controlled air coming out of this cone. It had a whole bunch of foam shapes that kids could try placing above the air to see which ones would float. We discovered that only the egg shape would work,
and the sphere. Lewis had a blast with this thing!
Another area was a mini theater where kids could dress up and put on a show in front of a camera. Under the camera was a TV so they could actually watch themselves perform. This is a really cool idea if you ask me, and Lewis really enjoyed singing songs (doing the motions) and watching himself jump. Notice Beth in the top right of the photo frame getting crazy in front of the camera. We all liked this one!
The museum featured a pretend store with little grocery carts to push around and a mini daycare...lots of other cool things. The last part was an area with cars. Lewis and Beth spent quite a bit of time sending cars down a ramp.
The rest of the day involved Thai food, a trip to Trader Joe's, a nap for most of us, and some more time at the play ground.
Another funny thing was Lewis' new name for Aunt Beth. He kept doing the sign for 'aunt' (the letter A next to his chin') for Aunt Ellen. But by Saturday he was pairing that sign with the sign for "bath" when speaking of Aunt Beth! It really cracked us up because the words do sound similar, and he was very consistent in referring to her differently. He stills does this when I ask him about her......so cute.
Beth is a gifted tour guide for the Chicago area. We have visited many times and always do different things. This time we went to the Kohl Children's Museum in the suburbs. It was a lot of fun. Lewis didn't like all of it, but the parts he liked, he REALLY liked. The first part we saw was all about water. He would've stayed there all day, but we forced him to check out a musical section,
some fake construction equipment,
and a train exhibit where Owen got to have his first experience milking a fake cow. Notice how much is in the bucket!
Lewis loved the train exhibit, which was sponsored by Brio. This was a temporary exhibit, but he had a blast pushing buttons and making train sounds like a real conductor.
They had a more scientific area. This thing below had a button that controlled air coming out of this cone. It had a whole bunch of foam shapes that kids could try placing above the air to see which ones would float. We discovered that only the egg shape would work,
and the sphere. Lewis had a blast with this thing!
Another area was a mini theater where kids could dress up and put on a show in front of a camera. Under the camera was a TV so they could actually watch themselves perform. This is a really cool idea if you ask me, and Lewis really enjoyed singing songs (doing the motions) and watching himself jump. Notice Beth in the top right of the photo frame getting crazy in front of the camera. We all liked this one!
The museum featured a pretend store with little grocery carts to push around and a mini daycare...lots of other cool things. The last part was an area with cars. Lewis and Beth spent quite a bit of time sending cars down a ramp.
The rest of the day involved Thai food, a trip to Trader Joe's, a nap for most of us, and some more time at the play ground.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
road trip
The boys and I traveled to Chicago at the end of April to visit their Aunt Beth. Thankfully, Aunt Ellen came with us. We stopped in Louisville to pick her up and had some time with Grandma & Grandpa Reitmeyer.
We spent the night at Ellen's and got up early so that we could stop in Lafayette, IN to visit our friends, the Powells. Corrie was playing outside when we arrived. Lewis jumped right in and started splashing in her water table. The kids are bigger, and there is a new Powell we had not met before (baby Mary), but otherwise it was almost like no time had passed. Lewis especially seemed to be very happy there. Corrie was quite the hostess and quickly offered to give us a tour. Lewis was thrilled to see some of the toys he used to love playing with. :)
Honestly, I was really encouraged to see Lewis interacting with Corrie. She was always more persistent in making effort to play with him, but he was so much more responsive on this visit than he's ever been. They spent time jumping in the guest room, playing outside etc., and despite Lewis' quiet demeanor, they had a great time.
Corrie also had fun playing with Owen.
We were glad to see Brian during his break for lunch, and grateful for Carrie's good cooking. After lunch, Corrie, Ellen and Lewis took a rest on the comfy couch.
This was the only picture I got of Mary....sleeping in the swing. Oops! I wasn't feeling the best that day and tried to keep my germ spreading to a minimum, which resulted in this lone photo of her. She's a sweet baby!
It was great to see the Powells in their new home! It's so cute and the area suits them so well. Of course, it made me sad that they are not closer, but it is great to be able to visit like little time has passed.
About 4 hours later, we pulled in to Evanston. The boys were soooo happy to get out of the van. Beth has a playground next to her building and they were thrilled to get out and play.
Lewis did great climbing on the equipment.
A video of Lewis that first day.
We spent the night at Ellen's and got up early so that we could stop in Lafayette, IN to visit our friends, the Powells. Corrie was playing outside when we arrived. Lewis jumped right in and started splashing in her water table. The kids are bigger, and there is a new Powell we had not met before (baby Mary), but otherwise it was almost like no time had passed. Lewis especially seemed to be very happy there. Corrie was quite the hostess and quickly offered to give us a tour. Lewis was thrilled to see some of the toys he used to love playing with. :)
Honestly, I was really encouraged to see Lewis interacting with Corrie. She was always more persistent in making effort to play with him, but he was so much more responsive on this visit than he's ever been. They spent time jumping in the guest room, playing outside etc., and despite Lewis' quiet demeanor, they had a great time.
Corrie also had fun playing with Owen.
We were glad to see Brian during his break for lunch, and grateful for Carrie's good cooking. After lunch, Corrie, Ellen and Lewis took a rest on the comfy couch.
This was the only picture I got of Mary....sleeping in the swing. Oops! I wasn't feeling the best that day and tried to keep my germ spreading to a minimum, which resulted in this lone photo of her. She's a sweet baby!
It was great to see the Powells in their new home! It's so cute and the area suits them so well. Of course, it made me sad that they are not closer, but it is great to be able to visit like little time has passed.
About 4 hours later, we pulled in to Evanston. The boys were soooo happy to get out of the van. Beth has a playground next to her building and they were thrilled to get out and play.
Lewis did great climbing on the equipment.
A video of Lewis that first day.
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