M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

This year's vacation is officially booked and we are off to Disney World this summer. I know that you may think that we are crazy since Owen will only be 9 months old, but there is good reason why we chose this year. Greg has started a doctoral program through Nova Southeastern University, which is located in Florida. It is required that all first year students attend a four day seminar there. There is no way that Greg is going to Florida without us so we used our tax return to help finance Gavin and Owen's first trip to Disney. My parents will be traveling with us since there are times that Greg will be unable to partake in the fun, but he will be there for most of it. I have to admit that all of us are excited since me and my family were last there in 1992 and Greg was last there in 1994. Though I don't want time to go any faster, I can't wait to see Gavin's face and though Owen will be young, I'm sure that there will be plenty for him to enjoy as well!

4 Months Old

On Tuesday, Owen turned 4 months old. Time is flying by. I feel extremely grateful to have made it to this day. Unfortunately, Gavin spent his 4 month birthday in the hospital - I don't even have a 4 month old picture of him :( - so we feel blessed to have gotten to this point healthy. Hopefully this will continue for both our boys.

Here are some things that Owen is up to:

• Stats: Height: 27 inches (96 percentile) & 14 lbs. 14 oz. (61 percentile)


• He has been eating his rice cereal twice a day. This is going pretty well and we will be tackling peas for the next couple of days. I have ventured into making my own baby food. We'll see how it goes.


• He takes his amoxicillin like a champ (I think this may be the best part of his day).


• Owen loves to roll around and when he is on his belly, he loves to scoot backwards. I can't believe that he is so mobile already.


• He sleeps on his belly. Despite all my attempts to keep him on his back, he always rolls over and sticks his butt in the air.


• He has started teething. He drools all over the place and sticks his entire fist in his mouth. Teethers do help but most of the time, he prefers his hands (especially his left. Could we have a lefty?) This is new for me


• He loves when Gavin plays with him, but he is content to watch Gavin play from his exersaucer. That thing is a life-saver. Luckily, for right now, Gavin also loves to play with Owen though I am sure that in the future this will change. I will enjoy it for now!!

Cereal!

I can't believe Owen is so big already, but when we went to the doctor she gave the green light to start trying some cereal. Tonight's first attempt wasn't horrible, but it is definitely going to take some time to get used to a spoon!

More interested in his hands than the spoon!

Wait a minute, this thing is food! YUM!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is always special, but it was exactly one year ago that Greg's Valentine's Day present was a positive pregnancy test. It was very nice timing!

Sunday - Gavin and I spent the day baking. We made cookies for his Valentine's party at school and a cake to take to my mom's house for supper. We also spent a considerable amount of time writing out valentine's for the kids at school. It was a lot quicker when I just wrote them out, but since Gavin loves to write his name, he had to put his signature on every single one. He got a little sloppy by the 43rd valentine but I am proud of him for choosing and signing each one! He is growing so fast!

Monday - Gavin went to school to party and little Owen and I chilled out together. Unfortunately, Owen's first Valentine's Day was the day he got his first major illness. Poor little bug has an upper respiratory infection and is taking medicine. Luckily, he is such a trooper and takes his medicine like a champ. Also, despite feeling pretty crappy, he managed to muster up a smile for the photo albums.

Owen giving smiles despite his sickness. His hands are always in his mouth. I can't believe this kid won't take a bink!

Choosing the right Valentine for each friend at school.

Writing his name on every single card! I was tired watching him.

Mixing the food coloring into the icing.

Spreading the icing.

Enjoying the benefits of icing the cake!

Snow Tubing

We have been trying to have special Mommy, Daddy, Gavin time at least once a month since Owen has been born. Luckily, he does love Owen and loves to help with him and play with him, but he misses having us all to himself. So far we have gone to Toy Story 3 on Ice, a Susquehanna basketball game to see one of my former players, and on Saturday we went to Eagle Rock for some snow tubing fun.

We are lucky to have a very adventurous child. On the first run, we weren't quite sure how to hook the tubes together properly so Gavin ended up flipping and I caught him on the way down. (Adrenaline can give a Mommy superpowers!) I thought that he was crying, but it turns out that he was laughing all the way down the hill. All he could say was "AGAIN!"

Daddy making sure Gavin's gloves are on before going down.

A little scared before the first run.

Coming down the hill. I have to admit that I was a little scared myself and am very proud of Gavin and his fearlessness.