Dinner

Tonight I made Owen dinner and decided to use the cute new kiddie plate I picked up at Target for $1. You know, it's one of those plates that has little sections for the different foods - so you can keep them separate. Because it's so gross when your peas take a swim in your applesauce. (Side note: Mom - why didn't you buy me one of those plates when I was a kid? I'm pretty sure they made them 30 years ago.)

I put all of the different elements of Owen's dinner on the cute little plate. He was in his highchair. I put the plate in front of him and he started eating. Awwww, so cute! He likes the plate!



I turn to the sink to do some dishes. I look back over just in time to watch him dump the contents of the plate onto his tray. Given the fact that the sink is a mere three steps from his highchair, I was able to catch the plate before it hit the floor. THANK GOD. It was a long day and I wasn't about to spend the night mopping the kitchen floor. I guess we'll stick to the tray for now. Maybe we'll try utensils for awhile.

Owen's first year

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Belated birthday celebration

Steph and Scott invited us over to their house today so we could all get together and celebrate the kids' birthdays since they missed each other's parties. We ate yummy Red, Hot, and Blue BBQ with all the fixings and then the kids exchanged gifts. Sarah Catherine gave Owen a really cool wooden block set to build towers with and an animal puzzle that makes animal sounds! (We'll just have to keep him away from the cow piece since he cries everytime he hears a cow moo!)





After lunch we drove over to their local bowling alley to throw some strikes. I threw mainly gutter balls, but had so much fun nonetheless. The babies enjoyed the lights, music and watching us bowl. We got to watch the first half of the Tech game too on the huge TV's the had at the end of the lanes. Owen and I were decked out in our Hokie gear. It was such a fun way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon. Thanks so much Steph and Scott for having us over!

Another visit to the zoo

Ben took some time off this afternoon so we could drive into DC to go to the zoo again. Last time we went, Owen was 9 months old. This time, he was much more excited about seeing the different animals. The best part was when we went into the gorilla house and the Mommy gorilla brought the new baby (8 months old) right over to the glass so we could get a good look at her. It was amazing to see them so close up!

Summers in Hershey ~ next year

Congratulations to my Mom and Dad! They just signed a contract to buy a condo in Hershey! It will be their summer home ~ a place to get away from the heat of south Florida. It is a 1-minute walk away from my Grandma's place in Rockledge (technically Palmyra, but really it's the edge of Hershey).

We are so happy for them and are so excited that they'll get to spend more time with Owen as he grows up.

GiGi, Owen and Grandma


Grandma, Owen and Grandpa before they left after their visit this week

We're entering a Mommy Blog contest ~ Please vote for September Baby!!!

Hello to all of our dedicated readers out there! I'm excited to announce that we're entering our blog in a Mommy Blog contest on TheBump.com. We need your help to make it to the finals and have a possibility of winning! We're entering September Baby in the "Best Baby Journal Blog" category. Here are the details:

To nominate, go to: Best Baby Journal Blog and leave a comment with the following:

- Name of the blog (September Baby)
- Short description of what it’s about/some of its features
- Why you love it
- The URL (www.futuremarshallbaby.blogspot.com)

The nomination period will end on Friday, October 9, when TheBump.com will pick their favorites to compete for top honors. They'll then announce the finalists for each category on Tuesday, October 13, and leave it up to TheBump readers to vote (as many times as you'd like) for their favorites.

If you love reading Owen's online journal as much as we've loved documenting it, please take a moment to nominate us! We would really appreciate your nomination!!! :)

12-month checkup

Owen had his 12-mo checkup this afternoon. Here are his stats:

Weight - 24 lbs ~ 75%
Height - 32" ~ 97%
Head - 19" ~ 90%

He's a big, growing boy! And a strong boy! Ben and I both had to hold him while the nurse gave him his shots ~ 4 of them!!! UGH. It was heartbreaking. He screamed and cried until I gave him a sippy cup of water/apple juice that I brought. He goes back in December for the second half of his flu shot. Not looking forward to that one.

Owen's 1st Birthday Party

Owen and I were fighting colds, but that didn't stop us from having fun at his 1st Birthday party today!

Ben was hard at work in the kitchen (as usual) cooking up chili on the stove and burgers and dogs on the grill. Grandma Marshall made two yummy summer salads and a salsa with fresh tomatoes from her garden. Ben also baked the chocolate cupcakes, but Mommy did the frosting and decorating! :)

Everyone came over around noon and we caught up and had lunch. The weather could not have been more perfect! After lunch we all gathered around Owen's highchair to sing him "Happy Birthday".

Poor little guy wasn't a big fan of all the attention and started crying when everyone was staring at him waiting for him to smash cake in his face! Once Owen recovered from the cupcake fiasco, he smooshed it all over his face and hands.


Then it was time for presents! Kayla was a pro at present-opening since her 2nd birthday party was last weekend, so she showed Owen the ropes. He received such nice gifts from everyone!



Thank you so much everyone for making Owen's 1st Birthday such a special day!

1st Birthday - Look who's WALKING!!!!

He has made it so easy for us to remember his milestones since he always seems to do them at an age (sitting up at 6 mo) or on a special occasion (crawling on Father's Day and walking on his birthday)!

Rocknoceros

Every Thursday morning at the Dulles Town Center, a children's rock music group, ROCKNOCEROS, puts on a free concert. Free! Did I mention that it's free??? You know how much I LOVE free stuff. TONS.

Rocknoceros is super cool. Think Guster meets Sesame Street. Only cooler. They sing about fun things like colors, counting, and going potty. Can't wait until I can put the potty song to good use. :)

We found out about the concert when we struck up a conversation with some cool moms we met at the park last week. They invited us to join them last week and again this morning, so we went and Owen had so much fun. Owen crawled up to many random kids and grabbed their toy instruments right out of their hands. I guess I learned that I need to get him some toy instruments and I need to remember to bring them to the concerts!



At one point, he almost crawled right up on stage. It was awesome. You'll know where to find us every Thursday morning at 11am from now on.

Show me your tongue

Babygarten

My baby went to his first day of "pre-school" today!!! We were lucky enough to get into the extremely popular Babygarten program at the library and today was the first class. He has the same teacher who teaches his music class at the library on Mondays. Today he was much more attentive, as he had taken a somewhat decent nap before class.



We sang nursery rhymes, read a book about animals and the sounds they make, played with maracas, and at the end got to play with a ton of toys that the teacher poured onto the carpet. He had a ball! Looking forward to next week's class. :)

After class, we met Daddy at PartyCity to buy some decorations for Owen's little birthday party. I swear, I feed my child. I was opening the door to the backseat to get him out and give him a snack when I caught him snacking on something else:

Lunch w/ Heather & baby Colin

Heather is one of my oldest and dearest friends. We met back in middle school in Hershey and stayed close even though she had to move away before highschool when her dad got a job in Maryland.

Heather and her husband Dan just had baby Colin about 10 weeks ago. He is so incredibly adorable! On Tuesday Owen and I finally got to meet him in person! He slept during lunch, but us mommies had great conversation.



Heather's neighbor Susan and her son Sutton (who is 11 months and so cute!) joined us too. Here is a picture of all the babies after our walk.

Music class

WARNING: This video contains babies making lots of racket.

Kayla's 2nd Birthday party!

This morning we attended Kayla's 2nd Birthday party! Kelly and Matt did a fabulous job planning and the kids went on a Dora the Explorer adventure! (Owen unfortunately missed the adventure due to a diaper change.) I wish I would have taken more pictures, but I was chasing the little man around half of the time we were there. A good time was had by all. Happy Birthday Kayla!!!

GO SKINS!!!

New bath toys

Our long-distance friend Hazel sent Owen a fun birthday present. We tried to wait until his actual birthday to open it, but we couldn't wait. He had so much fun playing with (and chewing on ~ they double as teethers!) his new bath letters and light-up toys! Thanks so much Hazel!!!

Playgrounds

Lately Ben and I have been discovering some pretty cool playgrounds in our neighborhood. There are two within walking distance from our house that we have been going to fairly often these days. Here are some pics:

Dancin'

Lately we've been noticing that Owen likes to dance when he hears music. It's prompted me to sign him up for a music class at the library which starts next week. I'm wondering if someday he'll pick up a guitar like his Uncle Mike???

(Notice how after the song is over he picks up his "wee blocker"!) Yes, we still have it lying around, but luckily haven't had to use it since he was a newborn. Since he is turning 1 soon, I should probably pack that away with his baby stuff, huh? :)

Happy Birthday Grandma! (one day late)

Yesterday was Grandma Killi's birthday. Mommy remembered to send flowers and a card, and called her mom to wish her a happy birthday on her special day. Owen also wanted to send his birthday wishes to his Grandma. I meant to do this blog post yesterday on her actual birthday, but the day escaped me, so here it is today. We got the picture on the very first try!

My 'lil OshKoshB'Gosh-wearin' baby