So I’ve just finished a marathon of photo uploading from the past month, the highlight of which was certainly the nice long visit from Nanna! The photo above was taken at the end of Nanna’s visit, the last time all the cousin’s were together for a photo op. There are more pictures in the gallery, which also includes some photos from the 4th of July holiday. The next gallery has a selection of photos from a fun trip to Oaks Park Amusement Park’s preschool morning (held twice weekly during the summer) that we took with the Boisvert’s and our friend’s Bridget and Everett. The kids get the chance to ride on a train, go on amusement park rides, and the morning concludes with story time complete with milk and cookies. The last gallery includes a fun family trip to the Oregon Zoo we took a couple weekends ago to show Daddy the dinosaur exhibit finally, the fun and festivities at the biennial family reunion “farm party” (Patrick’s mom’s side of the family), and some silly pictures from hanging around in the family room here at home. Enjoy!
Time to play catch-up once again! Sorry folks, consistency is not my forte these days! Owen turned 14 months old (geez… a week and a half ago already! What kind of mother am I???). He’s still not walking, though really should be. He has the strength and balance to do so, but he just hasn’t taken it upon himself to become that independent… still likes to hang on Mama’s leg and whine to be picked up ;-) Thus far, it’s working - the whining, not the walking. He has pushed through both his eye teeth, though none of his molars, which the pediatricians says is a bit unusual and out of order - as usual, Owen does things his own way and by his own schedule. Always has, always will. His funny little personality is getting bigger everyday. He has mastered the “fake” laugh (HA HA HA) which he uses when he hears other people laughing… which makes us laugh even more! :-) He believes fully that every furry animals makes the sound “Meow!”. He uses the hand sign for ‘all done’ properly after meals and when he’s finished all the snacks on his tray. He loves taking showers with Daddy and big brother and doesn’t mind all the water running down his face while he sits on the shower floor playing toys. He can climb up onto Ayden’s bed and Mommy and Daddy’s bed via step-stool without help, much to our chagrin. Owen’s a much more adventurous and fearless little climber monkey than Ayden ever was, which makes it that much more difficult to keep the bumps and bruises at bay. He’s very much a music man and will enthusiastically rock back and forth or clap and smile when he hears peppy, upbeat music playing. It’s adorable to watch him choose a car, truck or train toy and orient it properly on the floor, then crawl along, pushing it as he goes, making his own “engine” sound as drool pours from his mouth! He’s also learned the sound of the garage door opening when Daddy arrives home in the evening and he’ll squeal “DADA!!” and make a beeline for the garage door to greet him. He is a total riot and he makes us laugh every single day. What a beautiful little spirit! He just gets more and more fun as the days goes by!
As for the statistically significant medical update, here’s how that played out:
Height: 32.5″ (95th percentile)
Weight: 24lb 6oz (60th percentile)
Head: 49.5 cm (100th percentile)
In summary, tall and skinny. His next official doctor visit is at 18 months.
Ayden was busying himself with a colorful pile of large Legos in the middle of the rug in the family room. He had used the square lid to the Lego storage tub as a foundation for his current work of art. He had carefully stacked Legos all around the perimeter of the lid and about three or four blocks high. On one “wall” he had placed three blocks perpendicular to the rest. This was the point at which I looked over to see what he was up to and asked as much:
Me: Hey Bud, whatcha building over there?
Ayden: Um, it’s a bathtub.
Me: Oh, a bathtub. That’s very clever! And what are those three blocks on that side?
Ayden: These are the faucets.
Me: How come there are three?
Ayden: [pointing to them one at a time] This is the “Hot”, this is the “Cold”, and this is the “Very Refreshing.”
Come on… you just can’t make this stuff up! 
Kids really do say the darnedest things! It doesn’t get much cuter than that!
My Ayden Thomas is now THREE YEARS OLD! So hard to believe that three years have flown by already! It is utterly impossible to remember life without our little boys any longer! Ayden’s third year has been full of growth, change, fun, excitement, challenge, learning, discovery, wonder, laughter, love and all of the other things his little world should be full of! He can no longer remember life without his little brother, and it’s so fun watching them interact more and more as Owen becomes a little boy too! Nothing better than having a built-in playmate!
To celebrate Ayden’s third year we threw a shared birthday celebration with our friends (met through the MOMS club) the Clough’s - Everett is pictured above with Ayden. The boys are only a week apart in age and are as close to “best friends” as you can get when you’re three years old! The Clough’s generously offered up their home to host the party, which was very well attended by many mutual friends from the MOMS club, in addition to a few family members and other friends. We managed to pick a day with record high heat (I think we ended up hitting the 97 degree mark that day), so we went with a water theme out of necessity. We had several pools set up in the backyard, as well as a Slip And Slide. We also gave each child a large squirt bottle as part of their ‘goodie bag’ which proved to be a hit! Bridget (Everett’s mom), in her eternal craftiness, homemade an adorable Thomas the Train cake, complete with three cargo cars made out of ice cream sandwiches. The entire cake was delicious and entirely devoured! There are many photos of all the festivities in the new gallery, in addition to some random photos from around the house during Nanna’s visit over the past few weeks.
After the party, we headed back to our house (with the cousins in tow) to open presents. For the first time in his three years, he has actually switched from being entirely truck/tractor focused to a very recent and extreme dinosaur fascination. I think this was triggered by the exhibits at both OMSI and the Oregon Zoo. For about a month now, he has not been able to get enough dinosaurs! This made birthday presents both fun and easy - and he was totally thrilled! As a side note, this is again something I’m having to come to grips with as a mother of boys. There are just some things you never expect to really know in great detail, including, but not limited to: parts/pieces/models/types/styles of tractors/trucks/heavy equipment/chainsaws/tools, scientific names of dinosaurs including the pertinent information about habitat/diet/behavior. I’m sure we’ve only scratched the surface. 
Ayden’s 3-year doctor appointment is scheduled for the 17th, so I’ll have all the customary and statistical (though otherwise useless) information to report then.
