A week of go go go!

It has been a very different week. Owen has developed so quickly in a number of areas it amazes me. The gate is up on his bedroom door frame and I must say that I feel so much better popping upstairs to the loft and not fearing that he will fall down the stairs. He has become so active in such a short time. The carpets slow him down but when he gets going on the tiles and laminate he is a real speed monster. He loves sitting in his feeding chair, holding a toy over the side of it and watching it drop to the floor. He finds it even more amusing, once he wails that he doesn't have a toy in his hand anymore, that mom bends down to pick it up EVERY TIME! The small things that he does makes me realise just how much he has learned in the last few months. Less than 2 months ago we started using his next level car seat. Now when I unbuckle him and the straps spring back he lifts his little arms so that I can remove them and he be lifted out. Amazing. Even when he is engrossed in playing with his toy he still does that. He holds his sippy cup really well and insists that he holds his bottle when it is milk time too, even though he has been a breast-feed baby! Marina (in the next street) took him for an hour the other day and commented on just how independent he is as he did not cry once I had left & was so curious about every detail in their house. Jip, that's our little Owen.

Today was a rainy day so we managed to pop out for a 30 min walk in the morning. There was lots of playing going on. Owen loves positive praise. He takes all 4 plastic rings off the fisher price stacking toy and glows when I clap my hands and call him a clever boy. Daytime sleeps were a struggle and totalled only 1h15m. After one of his sleeps I heard him making a noise in his cot so I went to check on him and got the fright of my life. He was sitting up in the cot playing with "Mickey Big Ears". He has never gone from lying to sitting before. I guess he must have pulled himself up using the bars. Needless to say Owen & the mattress were out of the bed in a matter of minutes and I was adjusting the height of the bed to make sure there were no accidents.

Dinner was a gamble. On Sunday one of the ladies from the church gave me 15 pots of deluxe baby food (Eur 3.50 for 2 pots nogal!) The only problem was that there are only two varieties - ratatouille & chicken curry (baby strength). So tonight we tried chicken curry with mom's trusty faithful home-made pots in the fridge on stand-by. The first couple of spoons made him shoot me a "you've gotta be kidding" look. After a few more spoons and Rudolf the Red nose Reindeer song he finally decided that it was good stuff. Dinner ended off with a lolly shared by both of us. I enjoyed teaching Owen how to eat it. I would take a bite and go "mmmmmm" and then hold it out to him. He would take a suck and look at me and smile although I could see he was battling with the new cold feeling. What a funny boy.

The baby monitor has been banned from our bedroom during the night now. Owen is such a wriggle-pot every move used to wake me up. He does sleep on his tummy now which concerns me but I just have to trust the Lord that he will be fine. Owen doesn't get me up in the morning anymore. The sound of the neighbours house sitters alarm clock at 5am and Brabant accent calling the bulldog "beauty" inside the house is what gets my day started. Never have I wished the neighbours a speedy return from their holiday like now.

I must say that I am REALLY looking forward to Brendon being home tonight. Not to physically help with Owen but for me to mentally have a rest. Lets see what the next week brings.