{ 24 hours }

How can it be that in 24 hours my baby became a big boy!! Last night he pulled up on the couch for the first time. This morning he started crawling forward (we've been doing backwards for a week or 2). And this afternoon I found a tooth on the bottom! HOLY COW. My little man is on a roll. Maybe tonight he'll sleep through the night! haha

First Hair Cut

Some people save the first haircut for when "they have a lot of hair", and that's exactly what we did. Owen was born with a ton of hair, lost very little, and kept growing more!

The night before the big cut!

We took Owen to Pigtails and Crewcuts . It was such a sweet little place. We put him in the police car and he just sat there like a champ! He loved getting sprayed with the water bottle and thought the buzz of shaver was too funny.

Before the haircut Owen had medium brow hair with a lot of red in it. But once we chopped all that dark hair off we found strawberry blond hair hiding underneath. It'll be fun to see what color he really ends up with.

6 Month Updates

How is it possible that you are 6 months already. We had fun celebrating your half year birthday!!

Some Stats:

Weight: ALMOST 21 pounds (95%)

Height: 28 inches (Over 100%)

Clothes: 9-12 month

Diapers: Size 3

Food: Still Breast Fed (we are doing great most days!) and you love your solids. We started solids and 4 months and you just love eating real food everyday. Some favorites include: Sweet Potato, Apples& Pears with Cinnamon, Peas, and Yogurt (any flavor will do). I am making all you food and that has been a lot of fun for me.

Sleep: You still love sleeping with mommy and daddy. If you sleep in our bed you will sleep anywhere from 3-5 hours at a time. But if you are in your crib or pack and play you usually only sleep about 45 mins - an hour. That's ok though. Because we LOVE having you in bed with us. And you still are eating 1 time at night (normal around 1ish).

Activities: Jumpy! Jumpy! Jumpy! It doesn't matter if you are sitting or standing, you are Always bouncing up and down. Your favorite toy is a musical tool bench. You love to sit in front of it and hit it with all your might. You will purposely knock it over and then scoot on your butt up to it (so you can hit it some more).

Favorites: You still LOVE playing with Grandma and Uncle John. They can always get a big smile out of you. Whenever you see your Great Grandma, you never fail to give her your flirty eyes! You seriously love playing with animals. We have to remind you to be gentle (even though you don't know what that means yet). You try to catch Kitty when she run by (and she hates it) and you love playing with Snoop Dog at Grandma and Grandpa's (and she LOVES it!!)

First Katy Rodeo! We can't wait for you to be big enough for the Stick Horse race and Mutton Bustin'

Milestone: Sitting! You started sitting independently at 5 months and 2 weeks. And mastered it by the 6 month mark. Your doctor was surprised at how good you are at it! We knew you were super strong and wanted to be independent asap!

Super Bowl Party Anyone??

Firsts: You got you first haircut! You loved sitting in the special seat and getting your hair sprayed with water.

Great Grandma made you a "fishing shirt"

This and That!

I know, I know... I failed at a weekly posting. But this time it's not my fault. My computer has been all messed up. I've revived it to some fuctional capacity, but certianly not where I need it to be. Therefore we will be brief and hopefully get caught up soon.

Sweet Owen has a rough couple weeks. He's been battling a yucky cold, reflux, and just found out he has a double ear infection. Ouch buddy! Poor little man hadn't slept much, but he is finally trying to get all caught up!

Sweet Boy getting a steaming from the shower.

We have also started going to Baby Bootcamp in the mornings. It's really a great group of women who are trying to get into shape (or stay in shape) while being able to bring the babes along. It's been a lot of fun and have got to meet some wonderful mommies!

Lots of fun in the works! Getting started on craft projects, a blog update, and home revamping! A lot of This and That going on in the Skalka house. I'll do my best to share with you all very soon.

2012 Accountability

I've decided it's time to get life organized! There are things I keep saying that I'm going to do but always find a reason not to do them. 2012 is a time for change! I fully intend on these things to be my minimums- but I MUST accomplish them. No more excuses.

Eat Healthier

• Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day
• Eat at least 7 servings of fruit/veggies a day
• Eat only 1 sweet a day
• Things to consider: limit soda, limit "snack foods", limit fried food. My hope is that these things will dwindle on there own as I develop healthier eating habits

Get FIT

• drop 2 pant sizes
• exercise at least 3 times a week
• park in the back of parking lots
• get back into "miss" clothing. No more "women"- yuck!
• run a 5k
• Remember: Lose weight & you get new clothes! Must get into a health lifestyle now in order to provide a positive and healthy role model for Owen.

Personal

• hair and makeup done at least 4 times a week
• blog at least once a week
• volunteer at least once a month

Budget

• Only eat out lunch once per week
• cook one meatless meal a week
• use a coupon for every "non-grocery" item (toothbrush, toilet paper, soap, etc)

Projects

• Master bedroom
• Laundry room
• Guest bedroom
• Owen's 1st year photobook
• 2012 photobook
• scan all hard copy photos into digital form
• update backyard

I certainly am capable of all of these things! Now the trick is just to do it!

What are you going to accomplish this year?

Month 4 You've Been GREAT

Happy 4 Months baby boy! You are such a joy to be around. And we can't thank God enough for allowing us to be your mommy and daddy!



Height: (This will be updated next week at your appointment)

Weight:

Food: Still nursing big boy! We have had to give you a few bottles and learned you are eating 4-6 oz. You are quite picky about your bottles. It took us awhile to find a combo that you would use. But once we did you rocked it! We also let you start trying cereal. You have so much fun eating. But we did stop for a little big because it made your tummy hurt. But we are going to go full force with food starting next week.

Clothes: Holy Growth spurt! You wear anything from a big 3 month (and this is snug) all the way up to 9 months. This has meant lots of shopping for mommy. Your typical outfit is Jeans and a Onsie (either pocket-t or polo shirt) OR a Tshirt Onsie and some BabyLeggs (cute leggings)

Activities: You love talking to "Simon" ,your lovey, and "Hoot", the Owl hanging on your car seat. Staring at ceiling fans makes you smile. And of course bath time still. We are certian you are going to be a water baby.

Holiday: Christmas and Hanukkah were amazing. Everyone had so much fun celebrating with you. We celebrated with both the Huttenhoffs and the Skalkas (All the boys were able to make it in town for at least 1 night). And a special visit from your Great Aunt Kathy and Uncle Paul.

Quarter of a Year (aka 3 months)

What a fun month. Owen is starting to play, explore, talk, and truely recognize people.

Weight: 16 pounds

Clothes: 3-6 month.  I look super cute in my blue jeans- but I won't move around in them as much.

Sleep: you continue to be a decent sleeper. Typically you sleep 3-4 hours at a time. And about 9 hours a night. You are still sleeping in the Rock and Play Sleeper. To fall asleep you like to either be horizontal with your bumm being patted, a consistant "shh shh shh shh", and a little bounce in mommy's step OR you will happily nurse to sleep.

Eating:  you still nurse (except for the occasional bottle when we are out and their is no good place to stop). You are quick and silly. Grandma thinks it's funny that you grunt when you are starving. And when you are finished you let out a very satisfied sigh. It's very funny to anyone around.

Favorites: Bath time is still the best. You splash & kick & laugh for as long as we let you stay in. You also love to play with your tounge. You like to stick it out, roll it in your mouth, have it rubbed, whatever you can get :)

Firsts: You celebrated your first Thanksgiving. It was at our house and everyone had a great time. You wore the cutest shirt that mommy and grandma made for you.

Holy Behind Batman!!

I've decided that I am quickly becoming the worst blogger! But as the New Year has started up I'm determined to jump back on the Blogging BandWagon. My ultimate reason for wanting to blog is to keep a great journal for Owen to look back on. I'm actually starting his 1st year book using a lot of the information that I'm writing down on here. So it's time to get cracking!

Happy New Years to everyone. I hope everyone has a great 2012. I can't wait to see what today has in store for us.