Owen the "not so ferocious" Halloween lion

I know...I know...there are still two more days before Halloween, but on the north side of Chicago, the costumed kids were out in full force this sunny Sunday afternoon, including your favorite little king of the jungle.

Brecken, Owen, and I met up with several of Owen's little friends to enjoy lunch and to escort them on their first trick-or-treating expedition.

Here is a quick shot of Owen the Lion with his pals Lucy the Ladybug and Joey the Lamb.Today's take did not include any full sized candybars, but there are still a few more days to go, and thus a few more opportunities to take Mr. Ferocious out on the town. For those of you waiting near your front door on Tuesday night, you better watch out...

...Owen wants your candy.

(for more pictures, take a look at the Halloween link on the right)

Chutes, No Ladders

Taking advantage of one of the first sunny days in the past few weeks, Owen and I spent some time at the park. In this video, he is showing off his sliding skills. He has gotten very good at turning himself around to go down the slide, get off the couch, and even begin to go down stairs. However, it looks like we need to work on his braking skills.

Countdown to Halloween and trick-or-treating is now at 6 days. Hopefully we can find the neighborhoods that hand out full-size candybars...Owen loves the Butterfinger.

Get your dance on!

If there is one thing that I hope Owen does not inheret from yours truly, it is my two left feet. Absent liquid refreshment and dim lighting, I'll take my overbite to the sideline anyday.

In an effort to prevent this from happening to Owen, Brecken is on a mission. On a daily basis, she and Owen embark on a dancing adventure. Owen loves it!
In fact, almost everyday, when Brecken arrives home from work, Owen now crawls to the iPod speaker and begins bouncing. It is one of the most humorous things we've seen him do, and yet I think it also makes Brecken melt. Even the toughest days at the office are instantly whisked away by the moments on the home dance floor.

Bouncing, dipping, pointing, and singing, these two really tear it up. Go Owen! Go Owen!

Taking a Stroll

In an effort to dispell any "yeah right he started to walk" concerns, I thought a video would be most effective. No one was hurt in the filming of this video. I promise.

Left...left...left right left

In the spirit of using the blog to mark events in Owen's active life...

Today he finally had the courage to let go of the wall and the chair and the boxes and the toys...to take his first steps across the living room floor. Now, I'm not entering him into this weekends Chicago marathon, but on several occasions this afternoon and evening, Owen managed to traverse spaces beyond his outstretched arms. We're talking wobbly steps without any assistance to cover 4-5 foot gaps. His confidence is growing each day, and the crawling is fading away.

I'll try for some photo evidence tomorrow.

Turn that frown upside down.

Brecken and I are pretty fortunate, knowing that a majority of the time Mr. Owen is a pretty happy-go-lucky little dude. Of course, if you are following the blog, you would probably guess that Owen does nothing but pose for the camera and smile his days away.
There are those moments, however, when the little guy loves to pout and exhibit a little attitude for not getting what he wants. A few such moments were captured digitally over the weekend.

Both of these reactions were in response to my unwillingness to give him the camera. If you look very closely at the second picture, you'll notice that my attempt at technological substitution (TV remote) was terribly unsuccessful.

It probably doesn't help that Brecken and I sometimes laugh at these little outbursts. Antagonism never really hurts, does it?

Cheers!

Head of the Class

Okay, okay, I know there are dozens of different ranking sources out there, but it would be silly not to at least make mention of the latest poll to hit the press. Business Week released their bi-annual rankings of the top MBA programs last week, and none other than the Chicago GSB found itself at the top of the list. While school officials are yet to credit Owen's presence around campus with the recent climb in the polls, I'm sure it will come out sooner or later.

For those interested in MBA programs or further details on the rankings, check out the following: http://www.businessweek.com/pdfs/2006/0643_bschools.pdf.

Back to the homework!

Ohhhh - Eeee - O!

Alright, Brecken and I commonly use the "Oh-e-oh" jingle when trying to get Owen's attention, but on Saturday afternoon, we broke out the celebratory chant for the ex-White Sox player turned Tiger, Magglio Ordonez, as he clinched the American League pennant with a walk-off dinger.

7 straight wins in October will never hurt you...the Tigers are heading the World Series!We're going to have to find some new Tigers attire for the little guy, as his current jersey, last seen back in June (above), is way too small. The World Series match-up with the Mets or the Cardinals should be interesting. As Owen's uncle Dan pointed out, the Tigers-Cards match-up would be a rematch of the '68 fall classic. We could go for that...and a similar result.

Owen (and his dad) are accepting World Series tickets now! Go Tigers!

11 Months

Amazing how quickly time passes, but we hit the 11 month mark on Saturday. The little guy is all excited about the upcoming Halloween holiday and his big birthday.
He's so excited that he has been telling Brecken all about his birthday wish list. Xbox 360, World Series tickets, a bb gun, at least one win for the Lions...
Funny how she doesn't roll her eyes at him when he asks for the same things that I do.

One month to go O!

Sidenote...this weekend also marks the one year mark for Baby C & The GSB! Thanks for following along with Owen and my anecdotes.

Culinary Adventures

Eating with Owen continues to be entertaining. While he attempts to consume rather than wear his meals, Brecken and I try to stay out the way of flying noodles, peas and milk.

Here is a quick example of Owen at work:
Meanwhile, Brecken and I have begun looking for protective gear. Owen was nice enough to try on Brecken's face protection before a recent meal. Stay tuned, but don't hold your breath, for pictures of Brecken wearing this at the table.
Cheers!

Surf's Up, Dude!

Even though it is freezing cold outside, and even though we live hundreds of miles away from the ocean, Owen seems to believe it's time to do some surfing. In each of the past two days, Brecken and I have witnessed Owen concentrating on his X-games championship form.

I guess this could also be considered a skateboarding or snowboarding pose. Regarldess of the X-game you favor, it is not clear where this move was learned. Clearly, I'm not well versed in any of these activities. Maybe this is further indication that Owen has a different father. Once again, the culprits that come to mind include Jed "my hair is curly again" vP, Ryan "da Super Bowl Shuffle" C, and Peter "I could be the best snowboarder on the penninsula" M.

P.S. Brecken just reminded me that this little "other father" conspiracy theory is getting very old.

What happened to the fall?

Just as we were beginning to enjoy the sunny warm autumn days, falling leaves, and cool evenings, Mother Nature decided to fire an early warning shot of winter over Chicago. Similar to many of Owen's fans living in the Midwest, we saw our first snow flakes on Thursday.

It may be hard to see them in the photo, as we didn't really have any ground accumulation, but Owen was mesmorized by the falling white stuff.

The snow fell for most of the morning before giving way to sunny afternoon skies. We enjoyed watching the snow, but we could all do without the 30-35 degree temperatures this early in the season.

Cousin Bekah's Weekend

For each of the past four years, Owen's cousin Bekah and I have enjoyed an uncle-niece camping adventure. Exploring destinations all over MI and IL, we've had a great time simply finding reasons to laugh and have fun. With the arrival of Owen, our camping adventure took on a new twist.

It was a beautiful weekend around Chicago, making it perfect for Owen, Brecken, Bekah, and I to enjoy a little time in the tent without being too worried about the cold.

Bekah arrived on Friday afternoon with Papa and Grandma C, both of whom had to spend a little time with Owen before leaving the weekend campers.The adventure with cousin Bekah officially kicked off during the visit to the playground. It is unclear whether Bekah was squeezing Owen too hard or whether he simply was less interested in this hugging encounter.

How about a little time on the slide instead.

After a full day of travel and outdoor activity, Bekah settled in to the holiday spirit and an overly-frosted batch of cupcakes. Mmmm.

The next day was fun-filled, complete with a visit to a different playground. Bekah discovered very quickly how tiring it can be to keep up with a 10.5 month old.

After ice cream, pizza, playgrounds, and a visit to the zoo, Bekah spoiled herself with a little pedicure pampering with aunt Brecken. Oh yeah...I guess I should qualify this "camping" excursion.

There was a tent...but it was securely set up in Bekah's guest bedroom...just steps away from indoor plumbing and a comfortable mattress. Like I said, a new twist on a fun family tradition.

Bekah, thanks for visiting...we had a great time!

My first toolbox

Appropriately, grandpa L bought Owen his first toolbox. For the past several months, the toolbox has sat quietly on the shelf in his closet. However, two weeks ago, during Owen's explorations in the closet, he found the little yellow box. The rest is history, as the little boy and his tools are seemingly inseparable.

Unlike most toolboxes, packed full of wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers, and loose nails, Owen's toolbox is full of triangles, circles, stars, and hexagons.

Owen loves to work through the different shapes, matching pieces to the locations in the box.Like a behavioral psychology experiment, Owen responds favorably to the flashing lights and music that accompany a successful match.

Based on the success of this gift, it is unclear of who is more excited by the prospect of introducing real tools into the mix, Owen or Grandpa L.

Cheers!