He was quite the little helper planning his party. He even picked out the theme. Although he was tempted to have another train themed party like last year, with a little hint from Mom he quickly changed his mind to another one of his favorites... dinosaurs!! I went online and found the cutest baby dinosaur plates, napkins, everything we'd need for a party. Ahhh...aren't they cute...
After ordering the supplies, he became fascinated with looking at them on my computer. I guess he was REALLY excited to get his party supplies. He would ask me every night, "Mom, can I look at those dinosaurs?" I was a bit concerned that he thought they were toys and not just plates and napkins. So I'd explain that they were just for eating with at the party, but I don't think he cared that they weren't toys. He just loved looking at them!
When the party supplies arrived, Owen of course didn't want to wait to put them up. He kept asking over and over, "When can we decorate for my party?" You could just see the excitement beaming out of his eyes! But somehow I was able to persuade him to hold off on the decorations by giving him a dinosaur napkin to play with. Owen has such an imagination that often his favorite toys aren't toys at all, and the napkin did the trick. He carried that napkin around for a couple days, until he finally misplaced it and became distracted with something else. Gotta love almost 4 year olds!!
When we started putting up the decorations, Owen would declare "Wow! This is going to be the best party ever!" He loved watching the house quickly become overtaken with dinosaurs. Soon he was running around with a handful of dinosaur decorations. For some reason the paper dinosaurs were more fun to play with than his plastic ones! Soon Owen had them all setup and asked me, "Mom, what's that T-Rex trying to do to that Brachiosaurus?" I would reply, "He's just asking him to play." And Owen would respond, "No Mom! He's trying to eat him!" There's no fooling him!
We celebrated his birthday with a big party on August 20th. Nearly all of our family was able to come and Owen was so excited to see everyone. He loved showing off all his dinosaur decorations.
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| HELP! The T-Rex got me! |
The decorations were his favorite part of the party, that is, until he caught his eyes on his presents! We was very eagerly awaiting the addition of several new trains to his collection and just couldn't wait a moment longer. So Mom picked out a present that was sure to please and Owen ripped it open and exclaimed "talking Thomas and aquarium cars!"
With a few new trains in his hands, we were able to convince him that it was a good time to have lunch. We all settled in for some tasty pizza from Fresh Picked Pizza (our favorite little pizza joint down the road). After pizza, Owen excitedly ripped open the rest of his gifts. As you can tell from most of these photos, he's had his share of posing for Mom's camera!
Then it was on to the pinata. This year instead of a pull-string pinata, he wanted one he could hit (he had just watched an episode of Curious George where George was swinging away at a pinata). So Shane hung up the pinata in the yard and bam, bam, bam! Owen smacked away at the pinata, but try as he might, it did not break. So we had to bring in the big dogs (and a baseball bat!) to get the job done. Soon there was candy flying right at my face!
Next it was time to cut the cake. P.J. Murphy's, a great little bakery in St. Paul, had made a wonderful dinosaur cake, but Owen wasn't impressed. He was a bit upset. He kept saying "I wanted that other cake." Then he finally explained, "I wanted rocks on my cake!" Ah ha! My very observant little boy had noticed the difference between the photo that I had given the bakery and the cake that they had made. He is sure into the details! But after one dip of his finger into the frosting, he realized that his cake was yummy!!
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| "See my chocolate covered dinosaurs!" |
After cake, Owen got to do some digging for dinosaur bones. Although he lost interest while Aunt Laura and I struggled to piece the various dinosaur bones together. Eventually Uncle Jason had to do the rest of the excavating while Owen played with his new toys.
That evening, Owen got to open his present from Mom and Pa...his very first bicycle! It was brown and blue and featured Tow Mater from the Cars movie. The look on his face was priceless as he set his eyes on his new bike...
By the end of the day, Owen was a pro riding his bike all over the neighborhood with Pa running behind him!
When August 24th rolled around, Owen was so excited to finally be 4! To celebrate, Owen, Cole and I spent the day at the Jackson Street Roundhouse. We all had a wonderful time, especially my little train lover! We were able to go inside several old passenger cars, play with some train tables and even ride around in a circle on a real turntable! The only negative was the rather loud railroad crossing bell that the kids kept ringing. Poor Owen! He did not like the loud bell at all and kept plugging his ears whenever it would go off!
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| The boys hiding out in a passenger car to escape the loud bell |
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| "I just LOVE playing with trains!" |
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| The boys relaxing in a passenger car |
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| Riding around on the turntable |
After our trip, Owen was excited to have one of his birthday cupcakes. He didn't really care about the cake part, he just wanted to eat the frosting!
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| Preschool Class Photo 2010-2011 |
This past year has been one full of some big accomplishments. At the beginning of September 2010, Owen was fully potty trained and started his first year of preschool. It was his very first time away from Mom and quite an adjustment for all of us. But as the year continued, school became something he would look forward to with excitement.
Throughout the year, he celebrated many more 'firsts'. He took his first trip to Florida and saw the ocean for the first time. He had his very first school photos and his first Christmas program in front of a large audience. It was his first time not crying when he sat on Santa's lap. He finished his first swimming lessons without having a parent in the water with him and took his first ice skating lessons. He helped make his first Valentine's box. He finished his first 5K (although he was carried most of the way!) He went on his first field trip to Pinehaven Farm with his preschool class. He finished his first summer camp and attended his first Spanish Immersion class. And just this past week, he rode a bike for the first time.
It has been a year jam packed full of firsts. And many, many favorites. It's hard to whittle a list of Owen's favorite things down to just 10, but here it goes...
Owen's Top 10 Favorites Things...
10) The car wash - My boy just loves the car wash! But not just any car wash, it has to be the one by our Target. We can't drive by it without Owen wanting to run the car through the wash - even if it has just been cleaned!
8) Water - Owen is a big fan of water. Whether it's in the shower, the bath, the pool, his water table, or a hose, he will be found laughing and splashing away! This summer was his first time swimming in a lake. He was a bit apprehensive at first, but it didn't take long and he was swimming (well, really walking) everywhere!7) TV - Like most other kids, Owen can become quite captivated by the television. It's as if everything else around him as disappeared (TV has a similar effect on his Pa!) If the TV is on, you are unlikely to get an answer from him. We have gotten into the habit of turning the TV on first thing in the morning while everyone gets ready for the day. So the minute Owen wakes up, he of course asks to watch TV. PBS is the only channel he watches, so luckily he can actually learn something. He shouts out letters at the TV during Super Why and learns all about dinosaurs from Dinosaur Train. He's also a big fan of Curious George. Just recently he was watching an episode and came running up to me and said "Mom, did you know owls are nocturnals!?!"
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| "Look! A sign what you can't do!" |
5) Bars - Owen is addicted to granola bars, but not just any granola bar. It must be Nature Valley Sweet and Salty Nut Granola Bars. Owen will ask for a "bar" at least once a day. It's become somewhat of a night time routine for him to ask for a bar in bed. As you can imagine, his blankets are sticky with granola bar crumbs. Recently he decided he only likes the bars with the almond butter coating. He will look at the picture on each box until he finds the one with the white coating. And he makes sure to tell you which flavor he wants, "I only like the white bars now!" 
4) Dinosaurs - Owen loves dinosaurs, as you can probably tell from his party! He loves playing with his dinosaur toys and watching Dinosaur Train on TV. He likes dressing up in his T-Rex costume and running around the house. His imaginary friend Baby Dinosaur still visits us often. Owen tells me that he's a yellow, green, blue, white, brown and black dinosaur. But whenever I ask him what kind of dinosaur Baby Dinosaur is, he responds, "He's just a dinosaur, Mom." Not only does "Baby Dinosaur" visit Owen often, but so does "Baby Dinosaur's friend". Our house is packed full of dinosaurs!3) The Cross - Owen's passion for the Cross still runs deep. One of his favorite activities is to march around our deck carrying a rake or broom, which he pretends is a cross. He thought it was very cool when we visited Grandma Schatz's house this summer and he was able to carry around a real cross! He even had his Nana Bev walking behind him as they processed throughout the house, each carrying a cross. With all this practice, some day Owen is going to be a terrific alter boy!
2) Froggies - Owen is still very much attached to his little green froggy security blanket. We have three of them laying around the house. I bought two of them as back ups just in case Froggy #1 was inadvertently forgotten somewhere. But now each night when Owen goes to sleep, one froggy is just not enough. He needs at least two!
1) Trains - Owen's most played with toy is his train set. He loves his trains! He will build elaborate train tracks all over the floor complete with bridges and tunnels. But he doesn't even need a track to keep himself entertained. He can spend hours on the floor just playing with his engines and freight cars. His favorite place to sprawl out on the floor is of course, right in the middle of the kitchen. Needless to say, we are always stumbling around trying not to break a leg on one of Owen's many trains.Owen has grown up so much over this past year. He is a very curious young man, always asking questions. His talking is non-stop and if he's talking, you'd better be listening...or else! His energy level is off the charts. He loves to run around the house jumping from couch to couch, doing somersaults, attempting head stands, you name it! He is very enthusiastic - and you WILL KNOW when he's excited as he can not contain his high pitched ear-deafening screeches! Owen's imagination and creativity is amazing. From his imaginary friends to his self-composed songs and lyrics to the dialogue between his trains, he is always coming up with something unique and imaginative.
Owen is a very caring and loving boy (at least when he wants to be!) He likes petting his kitties and giving them kisses. He'll ask them in the sweetest voice "Are you feeling okay?" When we had to leave Eli at the vet for an afternoon, you could see the look of concern on his face. He kept asking "When can we get my Eli?" His little brother is also on the top of Owen's list. He is always very concerned about Cole and wants to know where he is and what he's doing. He doesn't even like it when other kids touch or talk to HIS Coley. He's already a very protective big brother! 
Looking at our adorable little boy, we know how truly blessed we are to call ourselves his parents. We are so very thankful to FANA and all the caregivers who took such wonderful care of our son during his time there. And to Owen's birthmother, the brave courageous young woman who first chose life for our wonderful little boy, and then made the most loving selfless sacrifice and chose adoption - mere words can not express the gratitude we feel. Over the many miles that separate us, we hope that somehow, somewhere, God has given her a sense of peace in knowing that our son is happy, healthy, and loved more than life itself.Happy birthday Owen! We love you!
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