Hallelujah!

8 hours of sleep.
In a row.
No feedings.
No diaper changes.
Aaaahhh :)

Sooooo Big!

Owen had his 2 month check-up yesterday and it proved that he is growing like crazy: 15 pounds 8 ounces, 25 inches long. He's in the 98th percentile for both height and weight. Owen also had his first round of vaccinations, which did NOT make him a happy boy. (Jeremy and I had to get shots, too.) He's had a fever since yesterday and he slept all day today. He finally got a little energy this evening, enough to do a little baby kung fu.

It's official- we have a thumb sucker!

Practically overnight, Owen has started sucking his thumb (instead of his fingers or fist). Notice that he appears to be a lefty, much to Jeremy's delight :)

Jeremy SO wishes he wasn't at ComiCon, right?

When Daddy's away...

Jeremy asked me to send him pictures of Owen while he was in San Diego for ComiCon, and luckily Owen decided to be super cute! Seriously, how can he stand to be away from such cuteness?

Now that I'm caught up to date, here's what's new at 9 weeks old:

• Owen has discovered his feet. He can't quite reach them but he certainly tries.
• He's loving his new car. Oh who am I kidding, he probably can't tell the difference, except that he gets jostled around a lot less now that he's cruising around in a 4-door.
• The hand sucking is in full force. It's nice that he self-soothes, but helloooo orthodontics!
• Owen still fusses at tummy time, but now he at least tries to push himself up a little bit.
• He is grasping things with his hands (or at least trying to).
  

Owen "petting" Sydney for the first time. He's also starting to seem to notice her more.

Reaching out for Marley

Owen and his grandpa

Portraits with the Cousins

It's an Averill family tradition to have portraits taken with all the cousins whenever they are all in town together. Jeremy and his cousins did it every year, and now the next generation is continuing the tradition. Owen did remarkably well, even though he looks like Jabba the Hutt because he can't hold his head steady yet. I thought he'd end up fussing and crying, but instead he wanted to fall asleep. These are some of my favorite pictures of the day.

All the kids: Daniella, Madilyn, Madison, Brianna, Brennan, and Owen

The boys- Brennan and Owen


Hey, who left that baby in the middle of the road?

7 weeks old

What a happy boy! Owen is at a point where he doesn't cry very often, and even then it's only when he needs something. Lucky us! He is sleeping about 8 hours at night now (with one quick bottle and diaper change in the middle). He's starting to be interested in toys and other objects. He's holding his head up a little bit, although it's still pretty wobbly. He is so alert and curious about the things around him. Up until now his world was pretty small, but it's starting to get much bigger now.

This week Owen went to his first grown-up party and his first birthday party. He was so well-behaved at both events, and liked being in new places. Life is good for little Owen!

That smile melts my heart


He is reeeeally concentrating on his baby kung fu


A-choo!

Time for a nap!

Play time with Sydney and Grammy

6 weeks old

Like father like son- Jeremy and Owen watching The Empire Strikes Back (Owen is rocking his Spiderman onesie)

Owen and his grandma

I had to put this on here. Robin and Matt went to this website and took Owen "from zero to fabulous" and made him a drag superstar. Oh, he's gonna kill me someday.

5 weeks old

And the fun begins! Owen started smiling on his 5-week-old birthday, and he hasn't stopped since! For me, this was the moment when he stopped being a person I had to simply take care of, and started being a fun little boy. Now it's fun to see what kinds of things will make him smile.

One of Owen's first smiles

Owen's pensive look; I think he looks like Robin (as a baby) here


Owen in his bathtub--yes he is actually asleep! That's his fishy towel, which keeps him nice and warm in the tub.

4 weeks old/Father's Day

Owen missed Mother's Day by a week, but he showed up in time for Father's Day. Owen was too little to celebrate this year, but I hope he knows how lucky he is to have a dad like Jeremy.

3 weeks old

Just some random photos from week 3...

Owen and his daddy (thank you Uncle Dustin for the awesome pic)

A visit from Auntie Robin! The irony of his shirt is not lost on me.

We call this his "boo-hoo face"

My favorite pjs! Spaceships and stars and moons!
(See if you can find Owen amongst his many blankets)

We don't have any pictures of Owen's first bath. That's because he was screaming his head off and it took both parents to awkwardly attempt to bathe him. But since that first bath, Owen has learned to live with the fact that he has to get wet if he wants to be clean. This picture shows Owen all bundled up in his puppy towel after his 3rd or 4th bath.

2 weeks old

Owen's first real visit with Grammy Nancy!!! She was sick whan he was born and had to wait sooooo long to hold him.

Owen's first non-hospital outing: lunch at Tomie's Deli (outside = a "safe" place for the parents of a ticking time bomb, aka a crying baby)


Looking handsome while I shot photos for his birth announcement

1 week old...

...and starting to show some signs of personality.

9 days old- on his mama's birthday!


Jeremy, diaper-changer extraordinaire...everyone should have a husband like him :) (Sorry Owen, it's likely that this picture will come back to haunt you in your teenage years.)


Owen stopped crying for about 10 seconds to take this picture


Our blue-eyed (not for long) boy


Owen and his Grandpa Illingworth


An attempt to have Owen sleep in his bassinet- with pjs, 2 receiving blankets, a swaddle-keeper, and a hat. And he was probably still chilly, too.

Owen's first week at home

Owen didn't do a whole lot at first...just eat, sleep, poop, cry. He loooooved being swaddled nice and tight. He got cold really easily. He would cry if he didn't have a hat on. He would only sleep in his bouncy chair. How strange to look back and realize how little we knew about taking care of a baby (and we knew we didn't know anything) and how little we knew about Owen.

Owen asleep in his bouncy chair


Me with Owen, feeling pretty clueless about how to take care of a baby

Owen Paul Saliba: Born May 17, 2010

After 18 hours of labor, Owen was born at 9:34 in the evening. Upon seeing Owen, the first words out of Jeremy's mouth were, "He's huge!" What a surprise; I didn't know I was carrying 9 lbs 12 oz of baby. My advice to pregnant women everywhere: get the epidural! It made labor and delivery a breeze (well that's my story anyway, and I'm sticking to it)!

"Little" Owen


First family photo

Owen has a blog!

Owen is growin' so quickly! We've had multiple requests from family members begging Jeremy and me to "post more pictures on facebook" but we didn't want to inundate facebook and alienate all our friends with picture after picture of our little man. Seriously, do you really want us to be those parents? So for those of you who really mean business and who are interested in the minutiae of Owen's everyday existence, this blog will document his important (and not-so-important, but still cute) moments.

Owen at the hospital during his first hour of life out in the world.
(May 17, 2010)