Bluegrass babies: Owen's Growin'

Since I did an update on Grayson a few weeks ago I thought I would do the same for Mr. O. Owen is at such a great age right now. I wish I could bottle him up and keep him like this forever. He is a little person who loves to explore, invent, learn and is most of the time is sweet and snuggly. Don't get me wrong, Owen still has his moments where he throws fits and definitely tests my patience but from where he was a year ago, he is now a dream child.

Owen is independent and we have found out that he thrives when we let him make decisions for himself. Hmmm....I wonder where he gets that from. Actually I am very similar in this way and therefore I will need to keep that in mind as Owen continues to grow.

While Owen is very independent he still loves to play with other people. He definitely misses his friends from Kentucky. Normally in Lexington when we would go to a park or to the pool we would be meeting other friends there like Parker, Mary, Claire or Molly. Now, while we are meeting some new friends, we often go to parks by ourselves. Owen asks if his friends will be wherever we are going. So we have been having a lot of discussions lately about meeting new people and how to ask others to play. Owen often sees kids his age and tries very hard to jump in and join in their activities. Sometimes little ones want to play with him and sometimes they don't (break my heart) but it is a great learning experience for him. He has become really good friends with the twin girls that live right behind us (Lily and Stella). When he sees them playing in the backyard he will often run right over to them and say "I'm here, I'm here". And they seem to love him as well.

Here he is with Stella...

And playing in our driveway with Grayson and our neighbor Jude...

And of course he is lucky to live with his best buddy Grayson...

Owen is loving all the new playgrounds and splash pads in our area...

Owen took swim lessons at the Monon Center this spring. He has become quite the little swimmer. If you could have seen him at swim lessons over the years you would not believe this is the same person. Laura, you know what I mean. Owen used to scream bloody murder whenever we would get near the pool for swim lessons. Last fall I had to walk out of the pool area and leave him with the swim instructor because he was chasing me around and holding onto my leg for dear life. However when we arrived at the Monon Center Owen got right in and went to the swim instructor without blinking an eye and he loved every minute of it.

What was a great about this pool is that Grayson and I got to play in the pool while Owen had lessons. There is no way Grayson would be happy watching Owen swim without being able to get in for 45 minutes.

Because Owen loved swim lessons so much I assumed this year would be a much more comfortable year in the pool and I was right. Owen is much more adventurous and is working hard to learn to swim....

Owen loves our new neighborhood. For opening day of the pool, our neighborhood hosted a breakfast at the park, a bike parade and a fire truck came so the kids could get on and check it out. Owen took ownership of his double tricycle and rode like a pro.

Owen is also loving the bike trailer and the Monon trail. He asks to go for a ride almost everyday. We ride to Carmel's little downtown arts and design district several times a week. We go to the donut shop for breakfast, we ride to the farmer's market and often ride to dinner or just for ice cream in the evenings.