One month later...

...Owen has learned to crawl on his hands and knees (belly completely up off of the floor), feed himself finger foods and take bites of things like graham crackers and Nilla wafers, be a little more picky about bedtime because he's realized he can protest and be heard, say "Uh oh" when he drops something, imitate little sounds (like Emma doing an opera sort of singing voice...they played it back and forth for a while one night...), give Daddy "five", hang out with Emma in his Exersaucer or play with toys on the floor in the bonus room with Sophie long enough for me to grab a shower, and just generally has woven his way into the general fabric of our daily lives. The girls adore him. Now and then they resent the amount of time he demands of me, I know, and will even say as much...but more often than not they just love him. One night after his bath they were literally arguing about who got to put lotion on him. I told them they each got a leg and an arm. Sophie hollered, "I call the torso!" I settled that by splitting it up front and back. I also think all little girls could benefit by having a little baby brother or family member to see, um, in his natural state. The mystery's over. So that's all it is??? We let Owen have a little naked time and he was enjoying crawling around on our bed. Emma was pretty well flabbergasted. She finally asked, "Did I have one of those when I was a baby?" Definitely good fodder for healthy, open discussions!

Speaking of Emma, she's been such a wonderful caretaker for Owen. Everytime the van stops, there she is to unbuckle him. She loves the little umbrella stroller because it's a nice size for her to push him. I love these photos of her with him...I didn't get great shots of his face because the sun was pretty intense, but I love how she's hovering over him, shielding his eyes, looking at him adoringly, just caring for him. She didn't want me to put him down for a nap today because she wanted to keep playing with him. Such a sweet relationship.