Wandering Browns

How can my little baby Owen possibly be one?! Here he is as a brand-new little baby. His hair was so thick and dark for a newborn. It started to lighten up in Chicago, but it really lightened up in Korea to be a very improbable shade of strawberry blonde/auburn by his birthday. Since he looks so different from Landon, I thought that he looked just like a Livengood baby. Now, looking back, at pictures from his first year of life, I see both Livengood and Brown features. It will be interesting to see how he looks as he loses his baby fat and grows up. Owen never lost his hair completely, just had some bald patches along the way. I did not cut his hair until two days before his first birthday. I was not planning on having it cut, but Landon asked for a haircut and I at least wanted Owen's evened out a little. He had hair, at that point, that was long enough to get in his eyes and get caught in his eyelashes. Koreans thought he was a girl. So it was time. Owen's eyes are still mo...

 Going into the month of November, I had no idea where we were going to be for Owen's birthday. For awhile, it was looking like we were going to be back in California, and then as we got further into the month, that we would still be in Samgilpo, Korea, but leaving shortly thereafter to go back to the United States. Then, we got staffed to go straight to Vietnam, and we had to be all packed up and ready to leave Korea two days after Owen's birthday. Needless to say, it was a hectic time and I'm just happy we did SOMETHING for his birthday.  First off, though, we took a bunch of passport-style photos to try to get one acceptable enough for our visas to Vietnam. It was a process, and we took way too many pictures. The website for visas kept saying our photos were unacceptable, but not telling us why. Very frustrating, but we got some really cute documentation of Owen's funny faces, so enjoy: Pre-hair cut bangs in his face... Cute, happy boy! Look over...

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 t...

OWEN! How has another month passed already? This month, Owen proved that he is a rascal, but a sweet rascal! He learned to climb up stairs. He can't get himself back downstairs safely, but he loves to practice going upstairs to Landon's loft. To him, it's like the ultimate hang out! He can also open the baby gate that we set up to cover the stairs, so we really are in trouble. For now, I follow him up the stairs and then have to be super vigilant to make sure he doesn't topple down the stairs or through the railings (covered with fishing net, but still, I worry). Owen also loves to unplug things, his favorite being the wifi cord. So if my phone or computer's internet turns off, I always check the wall first. He loves to play with our shoes in the shoe cabinet by the door and pull things out of drawers and off of shelves. Owen is standing for a few seconds independently and has even taken a step before falling. He is getting better leg strength and is able to slowl...