11-Month Tornado!

We lost the 11 month tie during our move from our house to the road, so the 10 month tie
got turned into an 11 month 

Owen is 11 months old! I feel like this month, I have learned so much about Owen. I am around him 24 hours a day,  7 days a week, but I still am learning new things about him. He keeps me on my toes, for sure. This month, Owen is motoring around our room even more. He climbs the stairs fast, and can open and close doors and drawers. The worst thing he learned how to do this month is open the refrigerator. AHHHHH!!!!!!! Two times this month, I ran downstairs to get an onion or potato from the pantry items house mother provides, and came back upstairs to see Owen sitting in a puddle of broken eggs. Yes, Owen pulled a flat of eggs on himself twice, while dinner was cooking. He was so happy to be sitting in a puddle of eggs, though. So now, our eggs go high enough in the refrigerator so he can't reach. 

Taking off his tie

Owen loves to take things out and put things back. He spends a lot of time emptying my drawers and the toy bin. One day when I got out of the shower, I found him inside of the bottom kitchen drawer. He was stuck and having trouble getting out! Luckily, he is equally interested in putting things in containers as taking them out. He stacks rings and un-stacks them. He still uses furniture to stand up and cruises, but holds on less. He also can stand up from the floor, but doesn't do it very often. He crawls really fast on his knees, and crawls on hands and feet on scratchy surfaces, like grass. He can get down off of high surfaces, like the bed and couch, backwards like a champ! It only took a few times of rolling off the bed and falling off the couch before he learned. He also can go down stairs, although the loft stairs are long, steep, and are open so he is not going down those by himself! Owen loves books. He will sit and flip through them for a few minutes by himself each day. If we say we are going to read him books, he grabs either That's Not My Dinosaur or Goodnight Moon. I am the first to admit that we have not been as consistent at reading with him as we are with Landon, because he's the second boy, so I'm glad he picked up the love of books somehow!

One interesting thing I've noticed about Owen is that he likes to try to fix things, or put things together if they break apart. I first noticed this when he flung his sippy cup across the room from his high chair, and the handle part of the cup popped off of the cup part. He found both parts, and then tried in vain to put them back together. He also does this with broken crayons and other toys. What's funny is Landon doesn't even notice that things are broken most of the time, but Owen is bothered by it and wants to make it right. Along with this new habit, for the first time, I know that he's paying attention to everything I do and knows what some things are for. He takes my phone and babbles as he puts it to his ear. When I ask him if he wants to read a book, he grabs a book and brings it to me. When he's hungry, he opens the refrigerator and rummages around until he finds food, or someone gets him food. 

He loves to clap!

Owen is babbling up a storm. He says some words, but mostly he is speaking in his own jibberish, but full sentences with intonation changes and voice changes. My favorite is when he lifts his pointer finger up in the air, and starts babbling. That's when I know he's giving some great discourse on a subject- I just wish I understood what he was trying to say! He still yells for "Andon" at the top of his lungs, and says "mom" so pitifully when he wants me in the middle of the night, or screams "MOM!" when Landon has hurt him. He says "Da" (dad) and "da" (dog), and "done". He also learned to make different noises with his mouth this month, from clicking to fishy-face smacks to blowing raspberries. He loves to clap when someone cheers, or to say "more".  When he wants something, he reaches for it with both hands and makes a insistent "uh,uh,uh" noise. When we guess what he wants, he smiles and stops making noise. He is really getting his point across these days! 

I love this picture. 

When Owen gets hurt, he gets over it pretty quickly, but for a few minutes, he is beside himself. He screams once, then there's a pause where he is working up the oxygen for a terrible, high pitched, very loud scream. He cries and big tears roll down his face. If I get to him quickly, he will calm down quickly. If not, then he is very sad for a long time. This month more than ever, we realized that Landon as a baby was not ever as happy and giggly as Owen, but he was also never as sad and crying/screamy as Owen. Our second boy has a wide range of emotion from super duper happy, to very, very sad.  Most of the time, he is happy, but when he is unhappy for any reason, watch out. He is also developing a little bit of the younger brother complex, where he starts to cry or whine before Landon even hurts him, or makes a terrible fuss if Landon takes a toy away from him. Something I really appreciate about Landon is that he is very conscientious of choking hazards, and other toys Owen is not supposed to have. He takes away choking toys from Owen and lets me know if he is going up the stairs or doing something else dangerous. I really appreciate it!

Thinking...

 Physically, Owen is big. At last weight, he was roughly 25.5 lbs. (on a bathroom scale, so it is probably not accurate). He is growing out of 18 month clothes, and 24 month clothes are a little big. In Korean sizes, 36 month clothes are a little big, but 24 month clothes are way too small. Korean baby clothes are so adorable, soft and comfortable, and since the seasons are changing, I have bought him a few things to keep him warm. Owen's eyes are still dark gray, and his hair has turned this improbable shade of strawberry blond. In some types of light, it looks like I dye my baby's hair. He has some really long strands that Korean mother and grandmother at our pension keep telling me to cut, but I know I would butcher his hair, and Austin doesn't want me to cut it, so we're leaving it for now. Something kind of funny is the Koreans never can tell if he's a girl or a boy. A lot of the boy's clothes here are not very masculine, and his hair is long, but they always ask "Yoja?" which means girl. I reply, "No (I should really say "Ah-nee-o" but I always forget), Namja!" They are always so shocked, and say something to the effect that he is too pretty to be a boy. I guess we'll take that as a compliment. After a slim-down period, Owen's cheeks and thighs are back and better than ever. His legs are getting seriously strong from all the standing and cruising he does!

Fishy face

Standing up

Handsome boy

Owen loves all food, but especially table food these days, like he will refuse to eat puree from a spoon, and will eat from pouches if he is really hungry. He loves pasta, blueberries, string cheese, mini sausages, apples, bell peppers, bread, rice cakes, eggs, grapes, and meat of all sorts. With anything that has a peel, like sausages or grapes or apple, he will take a bite, somehow get the flesh off of the peel, and then expel the peel. He's like a little beaver or something, it is funny to watch him work. Lately, he wants a utensil on his tray, preferably one he can stab food with. When we give him a plastic fork, he stabs things with it, and then uses his hands to get the food off of the fork and into his mouth. He really wants to do what the rest of us are doing when it comes to eating! 

Landon crashing Owen's monthly pictures, as always...

Pension/house/Korean mother spoils us completely rotten. She went above and beyond this month and rented a BMW car that runs on either remote control or foot pedal. So, Landon can drive it around the streets of Samgilpo, or I can put Owen in the car and control it with the remote. When Owen gets in, he moves the gear shift and puts a hand on the steering wheel. If I push buttons on the steering wheel, songs play and Owen sways to the music. He loves to drive around in his car! That reminds me, Owen loves music. We were watching LDS General Conference this past weekend (we do it a week later here in Korea) and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir came on. Owen raised his arm and started conducting the choir. If we put music on, he will conduct it for a few moments. It is so cute!

We're not sure where we will celebrate Owen's 1st birthday, but I can't believe that it is next month. At this point with Landon, I had his birthday almost completely planned out. What should be the theme of Owen's party? Any suggestions?