On the way back home, we stopped off and saw our good friends Melodie and Greg. The waves of maternal feelings pouring off of Melodie was almost overpowering. Luckily I'm bigger than her, so I managed to get Owen out of her hands eventually!
You can view her blog under the "Holden Tracks" on the right...

At the party, we also hung out with Lisa's sister Linda and of course, J'OE! Is this the cheesiest shot ever, or what? 

We spent the weekend down in San Clemente, welcoming Lisa's cousins back from the Peace Corps (in Tonga.) First, however, we rented a Surrey (yes, with the fringe on top) to ride around the beach.... 

A big thanks to Bismuth

For introducing me to THIS application. An online, ever-improving music streamer that plays music YOU like. Free to create your own account (or you can pay a tiny bit for ad-free) - and you tell it what music you like - then it suggests other music you might like! Very cool stuff.

Gleefully stolen from Marie in Karou...

Is this fun site! You have to try to mix the perfect Cosmopolitan. After you hit "Serve", the bartender tries your drink - watch all of his expressions! My high score so far - 7025!

Above the window in Owen's room, we've put up some animal letters. The "w", "e" and "n" are all from Lisa's childhood! The "O" was handpainted by Lisa's Aunt Marcella - she made it into a snake!

You can see the detail on here - little pop-out eyes, and a ribbon tongue! Very cool stuff! 

Owen is just learning how to chew on his hands. As you can see, his aim is a little off... 

Remember I said our neighbours had a little girl on the 11th? This is Pete holding Owen and Don holding Sydney. You can't really tell but she has a TON of hair! 

All tired out from a big day at Grandma's... 

This tummy time is not all it's cracked up to be... 

Owen hanging out on the couch 

Napping on Dad again... 

At last - some vindication!

About Role-Playing!

Lisa looking lovely, but Owen looking stoned again... 

Is this a great shot or what? 

In response to Lisa's friends asking for more pictures of her, here we go... 

Gleefully stolen from Mrs Bismuth (Erin)

is this neat site. What do you think of me?

Or, conversely, what do you DISLIKE about me?

Higgy and Owen hanging out in the office. Just ignore the mess behind me.... 

Update du jour...

Well, another small list of lessons learned and various facts:
1. Owen had his two-month checkup today. He weighed in at 10lbs 14 oz and 24 inches long! My incredible expanding son.
2. Finally getting that privet stump out of the ground has opened up all sorts of new plans for the backyard. All we need now is to keep this string of fabulous weather going.
3. Unfortunately, at the 2 month checkup, you also get the first round of innoculations. 5 shots, all in the thigh muscles, one right after the other. He cried so hard he shed his first tear. I also got pretty misty-eyed. Good thing Lisa was there or I'd have punched the doctor!
4. I'm amused beyond belief at both Freecycle and Craigslist (the free stuff.) Apparantly, spelling and punctuation are unnecessary if you're giving something away for free..
5. We bought some Children's Tylenol after the doctor's visit, because we were told to give Owen .6ml every 4 hours if he developed a fever or was in pain from the shots. Lisa thought he prescribed 6ml every 4 hours and bought 2 bottles of the stuff!
6. I got devoured by mosquitoes while digging that damn stump. I swear, blood (from the saw and pick), sweat (obviously) and tears (well, when the sweat gets in your eyes it stings) went into getting that thing out of the ground. The victory dance and muscle-man posturing that went on was both necessary and embarrasing.
7. Owen has 7 more sets of innoculations to go! Sheeesh. I might have to send Lisa alone on those doctor's visits. Nahh, I'll go. I'll just look away as they use my son for a pincushion.
8. The weather is so nice, I've been in shorts for over a week. Not the same pair! Give me a LITTLE credit!
9. Owen has already outgrown all of the 0-3 month socks, and several of the 0-3 outfits. He's in the 3-6 month socks because of his massive feet!
10. Next up in the backyard - planting the lemon tree, levelling the rest of the dirt, laying down the ground cover fabric, and running the rest of the irrigation. Then the planting can begin! WOOT!

Short Update

Our neighbours, Don and Liz, had a little baby girl on Saturday, 2/11/06 at 12:01pm. Sydney Ann was 7lbs, 6oz and 20 inches long. Don actually got to deliver her! I'm astonished and amazed at him - I don't think I would have trusted my hands at that point in time!

Grandpa using Elena as a pillow..... 

DING DONG THE STUMP IS DEAD! This is after my 5 minute victory dance around the yard and repeated yells of "Who's da man!?!?!?!" 

Me all sweaty and nasty dealing with my nemesis.... This has only been the weekend activity for what, 4 months? Ok, so we had a baby in that time, but still... 

My nemesis, the privet stump.... 

Fast asleep on the couch - talk about your milk coma! 

How comfy am I? 

In the Pack N Play with my buddy the dragon.... 

Taking a nap on Dad.... 

I went to the dentist today...

And I'm all numbed up. I hate feeling like this - in case I bite my tongue or cheek, I don't know if I'd know it. Anyway, some more lessons that we've learned in the last couple of days:
1. If Owen doesn't poop for 3 or more hours, he's liable to have an atomic-bomb diaper at 4am. Lucky Lisa got that honor this morning.
2. The privet stump has almost got me beaten. I borrowed a come-along from Frank (my father-in-law) over the weekend, and if that doesn't work, I'm calling in the professionals. I worked on it Saturday and I'm still buggered today.
3. Laundry can really sneak up on you if you don't watch it. All of a sudden, we had like a bajillion clothes to wash all at once. Lisa has bravely tackled the mountain today.
4. Our neighbors, Don and Liz, are moving. The "For Sale" sign went up recently - they're asking 15% more than what we paid for ours. Just goes to show how much house prices have gone up in 2 years. We're going to miss them.
5. I'm now up over 600 pictures of Owen. 9 weeks, 600 pictures, hmm...
6. For Xmas, I got a Best Buy gift certificate - I used it yesterday to buy 4 DVDs. There was a great sale going on, so I snorked them up!
7. Dear Lord, it's Wednesday already. Time has really flown this week/month/year. Oddly enough, I didn't have any trouble this year changing from 2005 to 2006. I wonder what that means.
8. I mowed my grass the other day. I felt guilty that it was so shaggy next to Don and Liz's. If you want to see the front of my house, then according to Tamara, you have to ask me and I'll send you a picture. Telling folks to go to a site with my neighbour's address is apparantly bad. Who knew?
9. We ordered a blind for the kitchen window. With 75% off, it still came to $150! Obviously I'm in the wrong business!
10. It's gotten so warm here, I'm wearing shorts! WOOHOO - roll on summer!

I'm getting used to this car seat gig. Let's go! 

Have you ever tried taking a picture of your baby when he's in the baby bjorn on your chest? It's harder than it looks!