| Previous Week | Back Home | Next Week |

Journal Key:

Green = Steve | George = navy | Janet = Purple | Evelyn = Black

1/16/14 (Thursday)

Today was cupcake-decorating day! Bizarrely, it was also chicken-parm-night, so there was a lot going on in the kitchen. Really, there was so much that, except for dinner, I barely saw Owen. The cupcake stuff didn't start until after dinner, while Steve was putting Owen down. I was very inveested in Owen not seeing what was going on and wanting to help. He did come downstairs a couple of times while exciting things were happening, but apparently he didn't notice.

The cupcakes were monsters: we bought little sugar eyes, and we iced the cupcakes in a lot of different colors and used gels and sugar to make goofy monster faces. It occured to me, partway through, that it's possible to just make cupcakes and ice them, without having to pay individual attention to each one. It's a good thing Steve helped; between the two of us, we were done by ten.

1/17/14 (Friday)

Today Owen got to take his cupcakes (which he enjoyed but did not fully appreciate) to school, along with goodie bags, and we got pizza for all of the kids for lunch. He had a wonderful day and told me about the monster cupcake he'd eaten while we were on the way home. It felt strange to pick him up without his lunch box: none of the other kids were at all interested in me as we were leaving.

The goodie bags were a complete surprise and delight to Owen, in spite of the fact that he'd been about ten feet from Cara and Steve when they'd filled them last night.

1/18/14 (Saturday)

Happy birthday, Owen!

We had a very relaxed and enjoyable party. No one came who wasn't used to seeing the house in its natural state, so there wasn't a lot of stress in the preparation. (We did clean, though!) Steve ordered a lot of wonderful balloons; the mylar ones are huge and have had to be tied to very heavy objects to keep them down. There was also a bunch of latex ones, all unique and exciting. Several had polka dots, some were swirly, and one had a moustache. Those ended up all tangled together in a huge bunch, which was actually very pretty.

Owen was delighted to discover, when we first got them home, that if you pull on the string, the balloon comes down; if you let go again, it bounces on the ceiling! How amazing.

He and PJ both really, really, really enjoyed his wrestler, who finally came up from Grandmama's house. PJ included some trash talk in his assaults. Owen claimed to be a Ninja. He certainly punched and wrestled with the wrestler, but he also tended to sort of end up falling down and lying on his back, kicking him.

He's really turning into a big boy, in a lot of ways. He blew out all of his candles, without help. I feel like just yesterday he couldn't even make them flicker.

He had a great time opening presents. My favorite was the beanbag chair Claire bought. I brought it out of the basement, and at first I thought Owen wasn't excited about it. I'd expected him to dive right at the thing. Instead, he took his time to get ready: he had to pick out a few books to look at, and then he came and sat down!

It was a very low-key day, really, but at one point Owen did say that this was the "best birthday ever."

1/19/14 (Sunday)

The kids slept over in Middletown last night, and they spent today hanging around the house. We set up the bed tent Owen got for his birthday; that was the most exciting thing that happened. It's very cute and practical, and he was excited about having books in it before his nap. His nap was a failure. Eventually we let him out, instructing him that he had to be quiet and occupy himself; Steve and I were both doing things for college. Owen started to sing to his barrel of monkeys, who were still out from the party. I had to shush him so that I could hear an audio presentation. He was actually good! "Five little monkeys," he whispered, "jumping on the bed. One fell off and bumped his head. The Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, no more monkeys jumping on the bed."

He also played with his Turkey Launcher, a little, sticky, rubbery, really gross turkey that can shoot across a room. He shot it, and then he was distressed because it was lost.

Me: Who can find it?

Owen: Nobody can find it!

Me: Well, you'd better split up and look for clues.

Owen (brightening): Yes, I should!

He did. It worked. He found it.

Now he is off to sleep in his tent for the first time. We hope.

1/20/14 (Monday)

It's nice that Owen's birthday is a three-day weekend. Well, it's a three-day weekend for most of us. I dropped him off at YBR this morning. He had picked out several action figures to bring with him in the car, but then he'd changed his mind and gone for some of the monkeys from the barrel. Swiftly, those were replaced with a big book of superheroes that he'd gotten for his birthday.

I parked on the street and got out. Owen was reading his book. I got the top part of his buckle undone; it was hard to reach the real button because of the book. He's never swift to get out of the car. It was a nice morning. I could hear birds chirping. I heard something falling. I looked up. There was an entire flock of birds in the tree above our heads. Well, above my head and the car. The birds were pooping. It was on the truck behind me. It was on my car. I looked down. It was on the ground. Owen was still reading.

In a scene worthy of an action movie, I said something along the lines of "Oh my god, Owen, get out quick--there are birds pooping on me out here!!!" I backed off to a place that seemed to not be under any birds, which may have been the middle of the street. Owen, to his credit (and my surprise), immediately tossed his book over to Cara's seat and realized that he was basically still buckled. I went back and pressed the button. He got out more expeditiously than he's done in . . . well, ever. We escaped unscathed. I thought about asking Miss Vina to check my back. When I got back to the car, I got in fast. The car is very speckled. I'm looking forward to precipitation.

This evening Owen ate a good dinner and then wanted a treat. He's big enough now to know that, for instance, fruit is not a "treat." He's not big enough to know that five M&Ms is not the usual serving size.

The kids have been enjoying a Loony Tunes dvd from Netflix. Owen really likes the one about the roadrunner and that werewolf.

1/21/14 (Tuesday)

It's a snow day! Well, the snow started this morning, so after Linwood closed early I picked Cara up at her early closing, and then the two of us went and got Owen. We were all home by two.

The kids actually hung out together and played downstairs for over an hour while Steve and I got some work done. They snacked on apples. I cut up at least five apples this afternoon. I did have to join them eventually, to help Owen work on a puzzle. Next the three of us decamped to Owen's room to read books. We all climbed into his bed tent. Soon, Cara decided it was a little bit too cramped and wanted to leave. Owen protested. He needed "snuggles." Cara pointed out that he was, at that moment, sitting on my lap. "I need two snuggles," he told her.

All in all, it was a very laid-back evening. Many little superheroes played with their daddies. Steve gave Owen a bath. I carried him around upside down. I refused to brush his teeth while he was upside down.

Owen balked when it came time to rinse and spit, because his step stool was a foot too far to the right.

Owen: You have to move it!

Me: You sound kind of bossy.

Owen: I am the boss, because I'm bigger!

Me: Um, yes, but I am bigger than you are, and I am the boss.

Owen: But I am bigger!

He stood next to me (I was down on my knees), possibly to see who was bigger. He moved the step stool.

1/22/14 (Wednesday)

Today was the official snow day; we all stayed home. Our only outing was to the pediatrician for Owen's well visit; Cara came to get a flu shot. In the morning, Owen and I spent some time playing. He had several stuffed animals who were hungry, so we got the play food. I had to read them a book while he fed them. At one point, he mentioned that they were sick. It was a timely idea, so I got out the doctor kit, which Owen probably doesn't even remember. He had a good time making his animals better.

At the doctor's office, by the time I had picked up all of our stuff and caught up to the kids, Cara had already asked the nurse whether she could have her shot first thing and then go and watch the movie that was on in the waiting room. She abandoned me! Owen and I did fine. He was measured (39 inches) and weighed (34 pounds). He had his blood pressure checked! When you're four, they do all the big-kid stuff to you.

He got his hearing tested! The nurse explained to him about the headphones and asked whether he wanted to play. He did. She put them on him and started the machine. She would ask him whether he heard a beep. He did. Where? He would point. Once or twice she had to ask him whether he was sure about one. I was a little nervous, but apparently he did fine.

We also tested his eyes. He had to use the chart with shapes on it rather than letters, and first we went over what the shapes were. There was a weird one, honestly. One was a house, and there were circles and squares, but a fourth shape looked to me like an apple. Owen may have been calling it a heart. He had to stand ten feet back and wear cute little glasses that covered one eye at a time. Now, I don't really know how eye tests are scored, but he missed several (he was definitely guessing) and she says he's 20/30 in one eye and 20/25 in the other, or something like that.

The doctor was mostly pretty happy with him. He's at the 25th percentile for height and 50th for weight. He let her look into his eyes and ears and down his throat; he let her listen with her stethoscope. Her only concern was his speech; we might want to look into having him evaluated by a therapist. We should talk to daycare first; they have better perspective. I'm not horrified by the idea.

Owen got three shots, and he'll have to go back in a month for two more. He sat in my lap and I held his arms, but he didn't flail around or try to get away. There was no screaming. He was very brave, and the nurse said he could have three stickers.

Back at home, we had an exciting afternoon. There was a leak in the kitchen; water was coming in around the window. A guy came to look at it, and he sent a crew out to cut out a lot of the wall, which they are doing right now. The kitchen is full of guys (well, two of them) and tools and noise and dust. Owen does not seem to have noticed. He's sitting with Steve, on the couch, reading a horrible book about Dora.

| Previous Week | Back Home | Next Week |