A visit with the Mrs. (Owen's future Mrs... that is)

My mom came with Owen and me down to Morgantown today to visit Virginia and Lily!! She is nearly four weeks old, and looks exactly like her mommy. It was only the second time I have driven to Morgantown and it wasn't that traumatic. I think Owen liked being in Lily's presence. He was extremely pleasant, laughing and smiling all day!

On the way back from Morgantown, I had the bright idea to go shopping at the outlet malls, because I have been dying to go for the past month, and it was only about 10 minutes out of our way. I bought four new pairs of crocs. (One pair was for Clint!) and some stuff at Old Navy... and a pair of sandals from Bass for my mom's birthday. It was too hot to stay long. The only relief was a peach and banana smoothie and air conditioning the entire ride. Owen was a major fussy pants. He cried from Washington to Wheeling... Almost a solid 20 minutes. Fantastic.

And... my. skin. hurts.

It's been a long time.

First off, I should apologize to my faithful reader(s) - Virginia, who informed me that she is disappointed every day when she looks at my blog and I have not updated. I'm sorry Virg.

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind. The most exciting thing is that Owen is sleeping like a champ. At 10 weeks we started his bedtime routine, and since then, he has started sleeping longer and longer, and he has been consistently sleeping 9-10 hours each night. So, we had said that after 2 weeks of sleeping through the night, we would try out putting him in his own room to sleep at night. We had been preparing for a couple weeks by putting him down for naps in his own room, so he's not confused when he wakes up, he knows what room he is in. So, we actually ended up waiting 3 weeks to move him to his own room (I think it was an accident, because there was no reason to wait longer). So, last Friday (April 10, at two days shy of 3 months), we put him to sleep in his own room. We fully expected to have him wake up sometime in the middle of the night. We laid him down, put on the wombs sounds bear, and I turned on this little "under the sea" lamp that projects a bluish light. We did not hear a peep out of him all night. Since Friday, he has been sleeping in his room, sleeping ALL night, and not even crying in the morning. When he wakes up in the morning, he just sucks his thumb and makes little grunts until we come check on him. He always gives us a really big smile when he first sees us. It's incredible. This morning, he slept almost 12 hours. I put him in bed around 9:15pm last night, and we didn't get him out of his crib until 9am. He does this funny little thing, he shoots his legs straight up in the air and sort of twists himself around. For instance, one night I put him to bed laying longways in his crib, and he must have done his little thing so many times, he was laying shortways. I had to ask Clint if he moved him in the middle of the night.

He also seems to really like his bumper.

He is also making other little milestones. He smiles in response to voice and other smiles. He yells when no one is paying attention to him! If Clint and I are having a conversation in the kitchen and Owen is in his swing, if we don't talk to him for a couple minutes, he yells so we look at him! It's so cute. He has started sort of laughing, more like an attempt to laugh. He hasn't had a giggle or a full-on belly laugh just yet, but I think it's coming any day. He saw himself in the mirror for the first time last week. He has also started reaching and grabbing for things he wants. He will hold onto something for a good 5 minutes at a time. He also wants everything in his mouth now. Big strides.

We also had his first Easter. We went to church in the morning and had dinner at my mom's. After that we went to visit my great aunts. He got a basket from us and a basket from my mom. He got some books, Pinocchio, some lotion, a little horse stuffed animal, a bunny and a little whale bank. He actually seemed interested in his Easter basket, which was cute. I of course took a million pictures.

We also had a breakfast date with Owen's best friend Alexander, who is exactly 4 days older than Owen and Erin, my new thrifty, coupon clipping, green-tastic friend.

We also had his 3-month photo shoot on Easter, which was really cute.

Owen also excels at being adorable.

Clint is home for another two weeks. No big news on his job front as of yet. I continue to find little ways to save money by using coupons and trying to obtain free things (like a $25 gift card to Rite Aid just for transferring a prescription). It's becoming such a challenge, it's so fun, like a game. I also have been buying coupons (technically not buying coupons, but buying the time it takes for the person to search for, clip and ship the coupons) on Ebay. I bought $68 dollars worth of Kashi coupons for $6.50. Yes.

This weekend, I had an excellent shopping experience. I used my Rite Aid gift card to buy like 10 things, and I only had to spend $6 out of pocket. I bought a ton of food things and some baby stuff, toilet paper and paper towels at Target. After $10 in coupons and a $25 gift card, I spent $17!!!

We watched Marley and Me, and Clint and I both cried like little girls. So good.

I have to get ready for work. Blah.

How about some pictures?

Owen on his first walk, which he loved. He took everything in with quiet contemplation, feeling the breeze on his chubby cheeks. And then....

He fell asleep and slept through the rest. My mom making him smile and trying to get him to make noises. So cute.

I love his expressions.

Playing in the bumbo.

He's not sure about this....

Frank does his share of babysitting time...

So silly.

Good times.

A better day.

So Tuesday was better than Monday. Monday at work I kept thinking of his little smile and missed him so much that by the time I got home from work, I could not wait to snuggle him, and he was fast asleep. :(
Tuesday, work was pretty busy, but I got to take my lunch break at 5 and I came home for the break. Owen was awake and I was able to finish feeding him and then he fell right asleep on Mommy's shoulder. Then I had some soft tacos that my mom made for us and got back to work in plenty of time. I would like to come home for lunch more often. Then when I got home at 9, Owen was awake again and really pleasant, so I spent about 20 minutes just talking to him and giggling and smiling and hugging. Then I fed him and he slept from about 10:15 (after several tries to go to sleep) and slept until 2! Yeah! Then he was asleep again by about 2:30. He woke up briefly around 4, but he was just frustrated cause he couldn't find the thumb. Whenever he wakes up but doesn't actually open his eyes, I give him a few minutes to find the thumb, and if he just keeps getting frustrated, I get him out of his bed and rock him for a few minutes on my shoulder and he usually falls right asleep. He woke up for good around 5:40.
His 2-month doctor appointment was today at 8am, thank you. He weighs 12lbs, 13 oz and is 23.25 inches long. His lungs sound good, and his ear infections have cleared up! He didn't look congested in his nose and she said he's perfect! We can cut back slowly on the breathing treatments now. He's reaching all his milestones! She said he held his head up really well! I asked how long it should take for his coordination to improve enough for him to find the thumb and keep it in his mouth. She said if he is acting that determined about it and is that happy when he finds it, it shouldn't be long. Unfortunately, his shots had to be postponed because of the antibiotic. I used the sling to carry him between the doctor's office and the car. That went well. I hate lugging around the carseat everywhere. It's so heavy! He was wide awake the entire car ride from home to the hospital and didn't fuss once! Making progress here!!
My mom watching Owen seems to really be working out. She said the first day he was fussy, but yesterday was better. She said that she was able to sit him in the kitchen and do some stuff and he was patient for a while. My mom also offered to make dinner a few times a week. Last night I was able to come home so she made tacos. Tonight she is making barbecue ribs. It's not that Clint isn't capable of making himself dinner, he made burgers Monday night, but this way, my mom gets dinner too. She doesn't cook much anymore, because she doesn't think it's worth it to cook for one person.
I got up really early today, and I am essentially ready for work, so I am going to take a nap I think.
I have to take Owen's 8-week picture today. I can't forget.