owen william



owen william vaughan.

one year old as of february first.

I remember being pregnant with him ... the excitement and utter amazement of our second child.  the pregnancy milestones.  the difference in the pregnancies between the first and second child. the similarities in the two.  the contractions starting in the mid twenty weeks ... thankfully, even after weekly doctor's visits starting at that same time, all was well.  the wondering if a VBAC would work.  the Lord, as he always does, taking care of things on His own so induction and c-section did not present themselves (as in, this happened hours after I wrote a post about it ... go back to Jan/Feb 2010.  so ironic.).  the Lord watching over owen, me, gary.  Him giving me strength through Gary as an incredible coach to birth owen via a VBAC and naturally as we intended.  and if our "plan" didn't work out, we all would have been just fine as well. 

here's what I have learned about planning ... each day is truly a gift.  a gift.  one more time, a gift.

planning, making arrangements, thinking ahead, there is nothing wrong with that at all,

but do not make the plan more important than the gift of the current day.

owen was dreamed of, then in utero, then born, then he became a few days old, a few weeks, a few months, and blink.  there he was, turning a whole year.  what a gift he is.  what a blessing each day with him is.  not every day is perfect; it is not supposed to be.  there is no perfect person; there is not supposed to be. 

but how wonderful that owen is alive and he is the owen that he is.

owen loves most anything henry does.  he is a terrific little brother.  he is a good eater ... when he's hungry (which is most of the time), he eats.  a lot.  some days he eats as much as henry.  watch out henry, your little brother is going to be a sturdy, growing, and strong boy.  owen weighs 21.7 pounds (just under 50th %) and 30.5 inches tall (80%).  he has been off the bottle for a while and on whole milk for the last few weeks.  bye bye formula!  he eats mostly whatever we are eating.  his favorite foods are bananas, oatmeal, beans, yogurt and chili.  he signs better on some days, worse on others.  he loves to move his feet when he is really excited (mainly about food!).  he loves balls.  some children are drawn to certain things ... for henry it was cars.  for owen, it is balls.  loves them!  owen loves books that are age appropriate ... he is not so much into the books henry reads yet.  his favorites right now are goodnight moon, goodnight kisses and animal sounds.  he loves dogs.  he can say dog; "dog" may have been his first spoken word.  he loves cosmo the lovey giraffe and can say his name as "COS-meh."  it is quite cute.  he is starting to get a little stranger shy, but who knows how long that will last.  this shyness is different because owen has never met a stranger and has been so "whatever!" the past twelve months.  he can cruise with the best of them ... he could walk just fine on his own, but it is all in his head.  we have been saying since october that he will be walking any day.  who knows what he will decide.  owen loves to be in the middle of whatever it is you are doing; he does not like to be left out.  he has eight teeth, four on top and four on bottom.  dark brown eyes.  brown hair.  chunky baby feet.  loves to be outdoors.  loves to play.  when he is tired he does enjoy being rocked.  every mother loves this {smile}.  he chews on most everything, including his crib.  his crib looks like a beaver has taken a go at it.  he is a good sleeper and usually goes to sleep quickly.  still taking morning and afternoon nap ... bedtime is 6:45ish and wake time is 6:45ish.  squeals a lot with delight ... laughs sometimes, smiles a lot, squeals the most.  he is a loud little gent!

owen william is one.   life's little mysteries lie ahead for o.  moments lie ahead for o ... capturing the entire spectrum of emotions, of that I am sure.  what a gift to be a part of each day with him.  with owen william.