Owen is 2.5 years old!

      Owen turned 2.5 years old on October 1. I haven't done monthly updates in a while, but I thought I should do one at least every six months for him now. 

Eating:
Owen is a pretty good eater and will eat pretty much anything that we ask him to. He does have his toddler moments where he suddenly doesn't want to eat a food that he normally loves, but he will be back to eating them again the next day. He sometimes takes forever to eat and we wind up sitting at the dining room table for centuries. His favorite foods are fruits like bananas and apples and turkey, cheese, and pepperoni sandwiches. He also loves string cheese sticks. 
      Owen prays before mealtime frequently. It is really cute and brings a smile to our faces as we listen to his precious prayers. Mostly he thanks God for "Mommy, Daddy, baby brother" and then he looks around for more ideas of things to thank God for including cars, pillows, the vacuum, and my all time favorite: the breast pump. And it ends, "In His name we pray. Amen."

Feeding himself is always a messy fun experience.

Sleeping:
Owen is a great sleeper. He sleeps for a good 12 hours a night and naps once a day in the afternoon for an hour to two hours most days. He refuses to nap sometimes and is normally really grumpy and weepy in the evening because of it. He still sleeps in his crib because he has shown no interest in climbing out of it yet. We will move him to his big boy bed once we need to put Graham in the nursery. In the last few months Owen has taken to needing all three of his warm fleece blankets in bed with him at night. In the past few days, he has shown some fear of what might be in his closet. He also sometimes cries in the night because according to him, "I was crying because I wanted my mommy to come back." 

Learning:

Owen loves being read to and will also spend tons of time looking through his books on his own. He has many of them memorized so it sounds like he's reading them himself. His room typically looks like a library exploded in it because of this. His favorite books at the moment are "The Lorax" and other Dr. Seuss books, "Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site," "Cleo's Alphabet Book," and pretty much any book with trains or animals. 
      Owen talks very well for a toddler his age and can string together sentences with many words. People constantly remark on how well he speaks for his age.
      Owen can easily recognize all the letters of the alphabet and is now learning the different sounds that each letter makes and what words begin with certain letters. He frequently asks, "What does a [insert letter here] start with?" which to him means, "What words start with the letter [insert letter]?" He is learning and remembering a lot of words and what letter they begin with. 

Reading can occupy Owen for long periods of time. 

Playing:
Owen loves playing with all things that have wheels. He loves cars and has tons of them. He likes to talk about which cars belong to which family members and where they are driving to. Nine times out of ten, its to the grocery store to buy apples. He loves his Lightning McQueen ride-in car, but prefers to push it from behind around our yard or have us push him in it. He also likes riding in his wagon and exploring the yard. 

Pushing Daddy in it is also fun.  

Owen also loves putting together puzzles. He has moved on from the chunky wooden puzzles to jigsaw puzzles and puts his 12-piece puzzle together several times a day. 
He likes playing pretend food and enjoys feeding me imaginary foods and pretend cooking. He also really loves helping me cook in the kitchen. I let him sit up on the counter with me and he can help stir and measure. 

In this photo, Owen is helping my mom snap asparagus for dinner.

Owen likes building things with blocks and Legos, but neither hold his attention for very long. 
He loves music and dancing. We have dance parties several times a week. His favorite songs of the moment are "The Fox" by Ylvis and "Roar" by Katy Perry. He also loves singing along to my CDs in the car (we do not listen to kiddo music typically) and his favorite CD right now is Imagine Dragons "Night Visions." I love hearing his little voice singing in the backseat of the car. This summer, he loved watching "So You Think You Can Dance" with us sometimes and would request to watch "The People Who Dance."

I look at this photo and see glimpses of a teenage Owen. 

He is interested in all the baby paraphernalia and wants to sit in the bouncer seat or Rock and Play and lie down on the playmat. I also catch him trying to put his brother's pacifiers in his mouth since he doesn't remember ever using them himself and finds them fascinating. 

I can't lay Graham down on the play mat without Owen joining him. 

Owen, like most kiddos, loves TV and technology. We try to limit his exposure to both. He likes to play games on my Nook, including Monkey Preschool Lunchbox and a train game that teaches his about letters. He loves watching TV, but I try to limit it to one 30-minute episode a day (though he doesn't watch every day) unless we're having a rough day or baby brother needs some extra attention and I need to keep Owen occupied and contained. He still likes Thomas the Train, but his absolute favorite TV show is Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. After getting tired of watching and rewatching the same Thomas episodes, I let Owen watch several shows from PBS to find out what he liked best and Daniel was the winner. Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is a great animated show based on the old show Mr Roger's Neighborhood and it teaches him lots of lessons like obeying his parents, waiting patiently, trying new foods, and not being afraid of the doctor. It has lots of cute little songs that we sing with Owen after watching the show and talk to him about what he learned.  
Owen really loves going to the park and playing on the playground. He likes running up and down ramps, swinging, and going down the slide. 
Owen enjoys helping me with chores around the house, like folding laundry and unloading the dishwasher. He also likes to help me with stuffing his cloth diapers and throwing them in the laundry basket. I am trying my best while he is young and doesn't see it as work to teach him to help around the house. For now, he thinks we're playing. 

I don't have the heart to tell him that this isn't exactly helpful. 

We took Owen to his first movie in a movie theater in August and he had a great time. We took him to see Planes as a special treat before his brother was born. I definitely recommend going to an early matinee because there are tons of kids there and people don't mind if your kid talks a little. Though Owen was pretty quiet and sat through the entire thing in either Tim's or my lap. 

My handsome boys.

Owen became a big brother in August and is doing a great job adjusting. He loves his brother and wants to hold him or kiss him a lot. He also makes shushing noises when Graham cries or brings me his pacifier. 

Brotherly love is so sweet.

Other Things I Want to Remember:
Owen wears size 5 diapers when he is in disposables. He loves wearing cloth diapers and enjoys picking out which diaper he wants to wear next. Potty training is still not happening. Not while we have a newborn and Owen also still shows no interest in using the toilet or even telling me when he has used the bathroom in his diaper. 
He is wearing 18-24 month and size 2T clothing. Size 2T is still pretty big on him in most brands and I have to roll up the sleeves and pant legs, but I feel silly buying the smaller size in winter clothes since hopefully he will be able to wear the 2T size later in the winter. Baby Gap size 2T actually fits him the best of most of the brands I have tried out. 
He is wearing size 7.5 and size 8 shoes. 
We are working on obedience still (obviously this in an ongoing lesson). Lately when I ask him to do something that he doesn't want to do he will say, "Mommy, don't say [insert whatever I'm asking him to do.]" He doesn't really say "No" to things. For a little while there when he wanted to do something that he knows he shouldn't do he would ask us to leave the room. 

Isn't he such a handsome boy?