August Snippets (21 months)

• Last week, Owen pooped in the toilet for the first time! Dave and I weren't even considering potty training Owen yet, but perhaps he is more ready than we think. That night, I went to the store and bought a potty chair. Unfortuantely, there hasn't been a second successful attempt -- yet.
• This month we took a vacation to visit Dave's family in North Carolina. Owen loved spending time with his cousins, aunts, uncles and Pappy and Grandma! We spent a day at the ocean -- Owen's first time really spending any time in the water. He loved swimming with Dave and I as well as having the chairs at the shoreline, so he could kick the waves as the came up to his feet. We spent another day at the aquarium. It was a short, but fun trip.

• Owen usually calls Otis by the name, Puppy; Cooper (Coops) by the name, Oops; Gracie by the name, Kitty.
• Owen recognizes my parent's neighborhood, and yells out, "Papa's house" when we turn onto their block.
• We celebrated 22 months by getting Owen's first haircut. He tried so hard to be brave for mama and dada, but a few crocodile tears slipped. So long baby curls, hello toddler!

• The word "no" has finally made its way into Owen's vocabulary. Morning conversations with Owen often go like this:
• “You’re going to go see your friends today.”
• “No.”
• “Don’t you want to see your friends?”
• “No.”
• “Put your paci in your crib.”
• “No.”
• “It’s time to put your shoes on.”
• “No.”
• “Do you want me to get your neck?” (tickle his neck.)
• “No.”
• “Do you want your train?”
• [silence] (hasn’t quite figured out the word for yes yet.)
• Owen's understanding of language keeps growing every day, and it's really remarkable to watch. He follows instructions when he wants to (brushes his teeth, leaves Baba and paci in his room, puts trash into the garbage). He is also starting to put two words together at a time -- some examples: Dada bye-bye, bike loud, Papa house, Dada bike
• He got new shoes for fall, and he loves wearing his socks and shoes.

J.B.