Is my two front teeth? Maybe in Owen’s case. His first tooth broke through this past Saturday (Oct 20th), just as he passed the 5-month mark. He really beat his brother to the punch on this one. Ayden was 5 months old at Thanksgiving 2005, and although we gave him his first “real food” then, he had yet to have a tooth arrive. Anyway, it was Owen’s bottom left tooth… and maybe he’ll get the right one by Christmas to fulfill the song’s Christmas wish! I’m definitely NOT voting for more teeth anytime soon, since my fingers, as well as his own, are already suffering from his one little egg tooth! Chomp!
P.S. I have yet to get a photo where you can actually see the tip of his pearly white, but I’ll keep trying. The photo here in the post shows Owen in his “Itsy Bitsy Spiderman” costume for Halloween!
The youngest Whisler has completed his fifth month! Five months old! This event triggered a walk down memory lane for me. Is it too soon to be so nostalgic about Ayden? After all, he IS only 2 years old. I searched back through some “old” (2 years old) blogs and photo galleries about Ayden to see how Owen is progressing in comparison (probably dangerous territory, I know). Wow, they really do look a lot a like. People say so all the time, but I usually just don’t see it. They are each so unique and individual to me, but when you look back at Ayden’s 5-month old pictures you can really see the resemblance! Owen is trucking right along with his baby benchmarks; he’s flirting with the 18 pound mark, smiling easily, almost doing a real laugh (though still pretty stifled and not truly from the gut yet), tries to use both hands together to bring things to his mouth, putting everything he can manage to grasp in his mouth, biting ferociously on fingers and toys (though still no imminent signs of teeth coming), lots of loud hollering with variations in tone and volume, tracking fast-moving objects both near and far (his brother and the cat are currently the most fascinating objects in the house), enjoying evening baths with Ayden and Daddy (when he watches the bathtub filling up, he smacks his lips like he’s thirsty - so cute!), and the most landmark event of his turning five months old… drum roll please… he’s able to reach the bug toy that hangs from his car seat handle bar - and for the first time today, he was able to get a solid grip on it and pull it down over and over again! I remember when Ayden first did this, Patrick and I practically crashed the car with excitement that he was finally able to do it! Owen didn’t command quite the same fanfare, but I was sure excited! Poor kid will always be the second child!
Ahhh, how I love the Fall… cool crisp mornings, colorful foliage, watching the garden critters scurrying about the yard in their winter preparations, harvest season (pumpkins, squash, corn, apples, YUM!), the return of comfort food, an extra quilt on the bed, cozy sweaters and socks, not having to be a slave to my garden, Halloween, the anticipation of the coming holiday season. There’s just so much to look forward to!
Our first official event of the season took us to the Baggensto’s Farm Store. This is a family farm about 5 minutes away from our house, complete with farm store, pumpkin patch, hay bale and cornfield mazes, pumpkin bowling, tractor/hay bale wagon rides, and farm animal displays. It was a perfect Fall morning this past Saturday and we had a lot of fun riding in the wagon, running through the pumpkin patch and shopping for goodies at the farm store (baked Acorn squash - Yummy!). There are lots of good pics in the new Mid October 2007 gallery.
Our next event will be this coming weekend when we’re at the annual MOMS Club Halloween Party. Ayden is going to dress up as a lion (he’s been wearing the costume around the house ROARING at everyone and everything!), and Owen will be the Itsy Bitsy Spiderman. Pictures are sure to follow!
Now that we’re fully settled into our new home (and loving everything about it!), we’ve found it very easy to spend lots of time together here! There isn’t one other place on the planet we’d rather be than HOME. Something you should never do though is calculate what you pay for your house on a “per day” basis (factoring in things like mortgage, insurance, taxes, utilities, etc), because then, like us, you’ll find it difficult to justify ever leaving home! We pay good money for this house, and it’s worth every last red cent! 
I’ve just uploaded some recent photos in the Late September 2007 gallery, many of which are of activities around the house; not the least of which was Owen’s first haircut. It was time. We were getting compliments complaints about the well established mullet that Owen had acquired. I was hesitant to chop it off because, after all, it is his baby hair. We’ve also been in the process of deconstruction in our kitchen in preparation for granite counter tops. Yippee! I’ve always wanted granite. I’ll post before and after shots when the project is complete. Ahh, there’s no place like home…