The Worm

"The Twins" (as we affectionately call them) had a little farming expedition in the yard today. They eagerly dug for worms and then had a lengthy conversation about their new little friend. Here's a snippit:

Tali: Oh Owey! Isn't he soooo cute? He's soooo lih-tul!

Owen: Yah, Tal. (Then Owen starts poking the worm with a stick and it begins to burrow underground again.)

Tali: Oh, Owen!!!! He DOESN'T like that. That's skay-ween him, Owey. Now he's leaving. That's so sad! Oh, Owen. Isn't he just so cute? Do you like worms, Owey?

Owen: No, Tal. I DON'T like them!

Tali: Hey, how about you be, "Farmer Owen," ok?

Owen: No! (In disgust.) I'm not "Farmer Owen." I'm dust, "Owey."

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Loving My Two Year Old

Pretty much everything that Owen says right now is cute. He is just flat out adorable to me and I love to hear him talk. Here are some quotes that I've been storing up from my boy:

O: Mommy? Kin you please take dat monstuh boe-uhd out of the liveen woom?
Me: Honey, it's not a monster. It's just the ironing board. I know you don't see it very often.
O: Way-ul...kin Gwamma pweese take huh boe-uhd home wif her?
Me: Well, it's not Grandma's ironing board, it's Mommy's.
O: No. It's Gwamma's.

(You don't need me to tell you who does the ironing around this house.)
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O: Wayd uh secind! How'did dis gid in he-uh?
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O: Mommy? I miss you. Oh! Dare you ah!
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O: Oh! Ah-dee's eyes ah black! Dey look like boo-behwees!
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Me: Owen, Jesus can help you to obey right now.
O: Yah. Becuz he suffuhd and tempted.
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O: Oh no! Tahlee is gwumbuling!

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Do you like "haps"

This is a great conversation that Owen and I had this morning:

Me: Perhaps. "Perhaps" means "maybe."

Tali: Oh.

Owen: Daddy has "haps".

Me: He does? He has haps?

Owen: Yah, in his cah. He has haps in his cah.

Me: Haps in his car? Hats? He has hats in his car?

Owen: No, Mommy. Haps! An Daddy has jazz, too.

Me: Do you mean that Daddy has "hip hop" music in his car?

Owen: Yeah! Daddy has hip hap hip hop.

(p.s.- When Owey saw this picture of himself he said, "I sink I was sayeen 'OH' in dat picshuh.")

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Stockpile of Quotes

I've been storing some up to post so here are a bunch of random ones from my kids...some funny, some sweet:

Me: Tali & Owen, did you know that you're honoring the Lord right now by being so kind to one another?

Tali: Yah. I have fun with my bruh-thuh.

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Tali (talking on the phone to Grandma): Well...I've juhst been use-een Momma's nuh-seen (nursing) cuh-vuhs and she has two but I don't have any and I have lots and lots of babies so...can you sew me some? Because I need some for my babies.

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Josh has been helping Owen not to grumble when he's getting wiped off from dinner or when he's getting a diaper change by telling him that it's "refreshing." :) So the other day I started to change Addie when I heard him say, "It's ok, LuLu, dohn cry. Lu says, 'Oooh! It we-fweshing!'"

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And to continue to crocodile saga...last week when our friends, Angie & her boys were over...

Angie: Owey, do crocodiles live in heaven?

Owen: Um...I'm not willy shuh. (long pause) But Jesus goes in heaven!

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Just in Case You Wondered...

"I tink dat kwok-uh-diles wiv in heaven. And um...aligaduhs live in...um...I'm not willy shuh what I'm talking uh-bout. But...maybe dey live in duh grass." - Deep thoughts by Owen

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Early Morning Thoughts From Owey

This morning I heard Owen calling from his room, "I wanna seep on Mommy's pih-low. I wanna seep on Mommy's pih-low." Knowing that we'll have a newborn soon makes me want to savor the moments with my little "almost 2 year old" baby all the more. So I brought him in.

He quietly sucked his thumb for a while, then glanced over to Josh sleeping beside him and whispered, "Can I look at him?"

"Sure, buddy, you can look at him," I laughed.

Owen began softly touching Josh's beard and quietly whispered, "Oh! Daddy ih bue-duh-ful. Daddy so bue-duh-ful!"

I couldn't agree more.

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Some Owey Quotes

Our little sweet boy is full of words these days. He's just recently started speaking in sentences more than just small phrases. Here are a couple of my faves:

Oh Mommy! So cite-een! So cite-een! See gah-bidg man!

Whenever we ask him if he wants a snack or some food, he'll say with great excitement in his voice, "Oh yahs!"

Josh taught him what jazz music is and now Owen wants to listen to "Jas music." The first time Josh played a Duke Ellington cd for him, he listened for a bit and then shouted, "I LOVE it!" A couple minutes after Josh had turned it off, Owey sadly asked, "Pee-ah-no go? Dums?"

This one kind of shocks me but he's also started coming up to me at appropriate times and saying, "I poopy, Mommy. Change me."

I was chopping up some tomatoes for dinner tonight and Owey looked up and said, "What you cook-een, Mommy?" And then during dinner to Josh he broke out a question that I will often pose to my husband while we dine, "What you tink-een (thinking) bout?"

Every time I give him something to eat, whether it's one more strawberry or a plate-full of food, he always says, "Tank you, Mommy."

He's also started talking with Tali a lot more. If he sees her playing with something interesting, he'll often plop down on the floor beside her and say sweetly, "Can I pay, Tah-ee?"

And the phrases he says most often are:

No, peas (please), Mommy.

Have it!

Daddy, ware ah you, Daddy?

May pie (I) peas?

Go ow-side!

Have snack!

Go new van!

We head to Door County on Sunday. I can't wait to see what he has to say during our time there. And we can't help but think of Tali's famous phrases that emerged during our vacation there last year:

"What a bess-een!" and "I NEED finch-fyes!"

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Owen at 16 Months

Tomorrow I turn 28 (I know, I'm a youngster!). On Friday, Owey will turn 16 (months old). Where did the time go? My baby is getting to be such a toddler and I can hardly believe it. So that I don't forget, here's a bit about what's going on with Owen right now.

New Words/Phrases or just my favorite things that he says: Have it, Daddy ah you (Daddy, where are you?), Mummy (Mommy), too (whenever he wants to do something too), shur (share), rob-bee (robin), skul (squirrel), Pay (pray), may-men (amen), owie hut (owie hurt), beece (please), wuhvul (shovel).

Favorite Foods: lunch meat, green beans, crackers, popcicles

Favorite Book: "I Love Trucks" by Philemon Sturges (His constant refrain around the house for this book is, "I Luh! I Luh! Beece!")

Favorite Toy: He loves playing with our flashlight (wite-wite), anything that's in the mayt-ment (basement), and anything that Tali is playing with.
Favorite Song: Ring Around the Rosy (he just started turning in circles on his own singing "Rin Ro"). Oh and for basically any music that he hears, he raises his hands high in the air to "worship." :) It could be "Jesus Loves Me" or "Bob the Builder" or even "The Wheels on the Bus," it doesn't matter to Owen. He will immediately put his hands in the air. I think we've got a charismatic on our hands. :)

Favorite People: Daddy, La-La (Tali), Mummy, Grandma, Papa, May-me (he talks about Aunt Amy a lot), Teak (Mr. Teak's been doing some awesome work for us and he is a hero with our kids), De-dub (Caleb).

Disposition: He is really sweet and a big snuggler. Often he'll just start sucking his thumb and walk over to me with hands held high. He'll sit on my lap with his head on my shoulder, sucking his thumb and rocking with me. He also has very little self-control right now and gets angry quickly when he doesn't get what he wants (pray for the Lord to help him here!). Overall though, he's a happy little guy.

Health: His reflux is GONE!!!!!!!! Praise the LORD! He's intolerant to dairy so if he eats something with dairy in it, he will spit up a ton. Otherwise, it looks like he is healed of that nasty stuff. What a relief for him and for us!

We love Owen so much and thank God for his life!

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It's Rough Being a Little Brother

Owey's face pretty much says it all. His sister is constantly trying to brush his hair, give him hugs, have him eat her pretend meals, hold his hand, put clothes on him, have conversations with him, etc. This poor little guy is such a good sport, even when he doesn't always enjoy her attention.

Despite all that, Owen and Tali really are good buddies. I absolutely love it when they make each other laugh or when they play ring-around-the-rosy, or when they dance together. Tali's been trying to talk to Owen a lot lately, too. "Hi Owey! How's ya day ta-day, Owey? What chew do ta-day, Owey?" It's so sweet when she does this but I feel bad for her because she doesn't get why he's not responding to her. "Mama, he's not an-suh-een me! Why's he not talkin ta me?"

Also, Tali loves to "hold" Owen's hand in the car. Except her idea of "holding" his hand is really like squeezing the life out of his poor fingers. The other day we were in the car and I heard Owen say, "Han, han! Oh-wee!!! Oh-wee!" (Hand, Hand, Owie, Owie)

These kids are just so cute.

Oh, and today Tali colored all over the wood floor and I was explaining to her not to ever do it again. She said, "Yes, Mama. Mama? Will you fuh-give me?" She's too sweet for words...

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Little Chef

Owey's really into pretending that he's cooking. He and Tali spend much of the day standing at her play kitchen, stirring and loudly banging pots and pans. Today I noticed that Owen was vigorously stirring in this little bowl, occasionally saying, "Yum-Yum!"

Me: Owey, that looks good. What are you cooking?
O: Eggs.
Me: Eggs? I didn't even know that you could say eggs!
O: (With a big grin, holding the spoon out to me) Bye? (bite)

Seriously. I have a chef on my hands.

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Favorites of the Day

Just another ordinary day over here. I don't want to forget the little things though. Too much sweetness to take it for granted.

Today I said, "Tali, I'm going to go vacuum. Do you want to come with me to the living room?"
Her response: "Oh shuh, Mommy. I'd love to!" (this is a very typical answer that she gives)

After "resting" in her room for a couple hours and never falling asleep, I went up to get her. When I walked in she said, "Oh Mommy! I'm phew-wee! Tan you change me?"

And then there's Owen. He thinks everything that Tali does is just hilarious. Their new thing is to make a spitting sound together and then crack up. It is funny except when they are doing it at the dinner table and food goes flying everywhere. Oh, and he also thinks it's really funny to put his hand over his mouth and fake laugh. It's great.

We had dear friends staying with us this past weekend and before they left my friend, Angie, said, "I've never met anyone like Tali before." Amen. I think that same thought about every single day. I have a feeling that Owen is following in her footsteps though...

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Speaking his Mind

Owey with his Papa ("Bapa" as he affectionately shouts!)

Owey has just been overflowing with cuteness lately and I don't want to forget some of the particulars. Here's a couple of my faves:

* We went to a friend's house the other morning and Owen was in their highchair eating. Tali ran into the room and then quickly ran out again. Owen looked at me with wrinkled brow, lifted up his hands and said, "Goh? Goh? Ssssss?" (Sssss=Sissy)

* Today before his nap, he walked over to the pantry and started banging on it. Then looked at me and said, "Nah! Nah!" I was a little taken aback so I said, "O, do you want a snack?" He got a huge grin and said, "Beee." (please).

* Despite his earlier "incident" with the stairs, this boy always darts for them whenever the gate is down. He was making his way to the danger zone when I scooped him up and put up the gate. He started screaming in anger. Attempting to distract him, I said, "Do you want to go read a book instead...or no?" He started violently shaking his head saying, "No. No. No." Needless to say, we didn't read.

I am spoiled by having super verbal kids. It is so much fun to know what they are thinking so early on.

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This Isn't the Time

So much I'd love to post, but my friends, this is not the time! Of all the priorities in my life as I seek to serve the Lord and my family during this Christmas season, the blog's got to go. Hopefully, I'll be able to follow up on more posts about what the Lord's been teaching me regarding marriage in the new year. Maybe over the next week I'll have a chance to post some updates about the kids...you know-posts that take little time and can just be plopped up here. We'll see!

A couple Tali quotes from today:

To Owen as he stood up on his own: "Oh, duhd, dob, bruh-duh! I'm powd of you!"

To Owen when he got up from his nap: "Oh, hi bruh-duh! Hi, baby bruh-duh! How wuz yuh nap, Owey? It wuz duhd? Whud you do up dare in yuh trib?"

To her baby and blankie, "Oh baby...oh bane-kee...I dust love you sooo muts!"

"Oh Lord...oh Lord...you an-suh my pay-uh!"

And my favorite quote from Owey today. He was signing it and saying it while looking out the window at the beautiful white snow falling down: "N-OH!!!!! N-OH!!!!!" (snow)

I look forward to updating about his chattyness sometime...this boy is following in the footsteps of his sissy and talking up a storm!

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