Playdate fun.

Owen, Genevieve, Niko and Addie all met up last Wednesday for a playdate. The four kids decided to let their rents join in the fun too. We all enjoyed a 2+ mile walk in St. Paul, ate lunch and played together all afternoon. Thanks Smillies' for hosting. We had a fantastic time!

Steve & Carrie watching the stroller parade.

Genevieve and Owen wondering where we're going next and hangin' out in their strollers.

Addie & Niko (9 months old) happy as can be.

Note: Check out Niko's outfit. We made all 4 kids these screen printed onesies as honorary Kicky Schroeder's. Go Kicky's!

Happy 2 months.

Last Monday marked Owen's 2 month birthday. What a fantastic ride. With every passing day we fall in love with the little guy more and more. Some highlights from this last month? Owen's been rolling over from his tummy to back, he can hold up his head while on his belly for about 15 seconds, he laughs and smiles all by himself, and he's dropped one feeding a night (we're down to 2-3 instead of 3-5). Here's some pics to show his progression. By our count our guy isn't so little anymore. He was born at 8lbs, 22.5" and by our scale and tape measure he's coming in at 14lbs and 25" long!! His 2 month doc appointment isn't until two weeks from now, so we'll update you with his official stats after that. Until then, enjoy!

Owen at 3 days old. Notice his socks don't quite fit...

Owen at 1 month. You'll be seeing his two-sided monster friend at every month b-day.

Owen at 2 months. Socks are no longer having a problem staying on by themselves!

Pub Ride 2008.

Every year, our friends the Smillies put on a Pub Ride through the beautiful streets of St. Paul. Steve-o coordinates a route as well as food/drink specials at each of the 8 pubs on the tour: Shamrock's, Happy Gnome, The Glockenspiel and many more. Afterwards, we adjourn to the Smillies' place for a little bar-b-que and a lot of goofing off. This year's Ride was a total monsoon-- I was so soaked that I had to wring out my socks at the last bar. Definitely, a memorable one. K & O joined us at the post-ride BBQ with O wearing his cute, new outfit. -T

Couples night.

This past Saturday we got the chance to see the Neerlands' new home and have Q.G.T. (Quality Genevieve Time). Genevieve is one of Owen's new girlfriends so it was good that he got the chance to spend time with her (or is it the other way around?). Anywho, we had a really nice time catching up with friends and watching the kiddos squirm around on the floor. More playdates/trysts to come, for sure.

The Diner.

We took Owen into Hoptown (Hopkins) for the first time on Friday morning since Daddy had the day off. We ate at this old 1950s diner called "Hoagies." Normally this wouldn't be blogworthy material, but we had to share these pics of our little "Donut Tycoon." Dude is getting a big belly.

Big town. Big boy.

Last week Owen and Katie went downtown twice to visit some of our work friends. What an adventure. Mom was a little nervous, but had several bottles and diapers in hand and knew everyone would be super cool if Owen decided to have a special "moment." Thanks everyone for such wonderful visits. We'll have to do it again!

Two Friday's ago we stopped by The Studio, Katie's new work at Target Headquarters, to visit Travis and to participate in a work bridal shower for one of Katie's coworkers. While Katie whooped it up during the lunch hour, Owen hung out with Travis. When the shower was done, all Katie had to do to find Travis and Owen was to follow the "coos", "oohs" and "ahhs" of excited Targeteers! Needless to say, Owen was a hit and met some new friends. Here's some pics from our first adventure.

Owen stretching after a long day of work at The Studio. Good thing he remembered to wear his badge!

Oh, yes, can't forget that Owen had his first elevator ride. Judging by the size of his eyes, he was very curious and yet pleased. Nickelodeon World here we come!

Then, last Wednesday, Katie and Owen went to visit the design firm she used to work for, Little & Company. Katie worked there for nearly 6 years, so you can imagine the amount of catching up they had to do... they were visiting for a little over 3 hours! Owen was a champ and loved, loved, loved visiting with everyone. He was full of smiles, giggles, and cuddles.

Owen chillin' with Monica and Jamie. Monica even spoiled Owen with a toy from the toy closet. Thanks again!

Rachel 'urping Owen after his second snack of the day.

Checking out the design area with Schacherer.

Owen trying on his Halloween costume. He's going to be Schacherer.

T's Seester visits.

Around Labor Day, my sister Tausha, husband Rick and my niece and nephew, Jordan and Braden, all made a visit from St. Louis. We took the kids out on the lake for their first "tubin' adventure" courtesy of the raft nicknamed The Super Mable. Lots of high-pitched screaming, and laughs too. Good fun. It felt great to introduce The Owen to his new Auntie, Tausha. 

Oh, and check out the little man's plaid-a-palooza outfit, a gift from the Bakers. It was a big hit! Big boy definitely made a statement out on Lake Minnetonka. -T

Giggle, giggle.

Big boy has been smiling and laughing up a storm lately (we've moved beyond "gassy smiles" and into the real deal). It's been so fun and rewarding for us parents to watch. Happy Monday, everyone.

Kickball!

As many of you know, Katie and I have been playing adult kickball in the St. Louis Park league for about 5 years now. The Kicky Schroders, named after sitcom star Ricky (Rick) Schroder (of course), are all about kicking balls and taking names on Thursday nights. Our first game was a spanking of a team called Preferred One. I'm pretty sure that's the name of a mortgage company. They had spirit, yes they did, but they ultimately met their fate with a 13-1 shellacking by the Kickys. 

But the best part of all was the appearance of our 2 new mascots: Owen and Genevieve (G's dad plays 3rd base and her mom usually plays 2nd base). 

Check out Coach's game day office attire.

Baby-Q.

A bunch of our friends dropped by to throw us a BBQ and to see the lil' oompa loompa. We had an absolute blast. There were people taking care of the boy, grilling up dinner for us and serving us drinks. We didn't know what to do with ourselves. It was like a magical nanny swarm. And we loved every minute of it. Thanks to Dawn, Jeff, Char, Jim, Karl, Jess, Will and Kristen for dropping by. And to Dax for admiring the Squirrel Bungee. 

Representing Team USA.

As many of you dedicated bloggers already know, one of my dearest friends from high school participated in this years Beijing Paralympic Games (Past posts: Golden. & Award Winning.). We're BIG Melissa fans at the Robertson household.  Here's an update on how our girl did in each of her 3 races.

Event #1 - 100 Butterfly

Previous PR: 1:17.94

Previous World Ranking: 17th

Prelims Time: 1:22.09

Prelims Ranking: 18th

Event #2 - 100 Freestyle

Previous PR: 1:10.03

Previous World Ranking: 22nd

Prelims Time: 1:09.55

Prelims Ranking: 17th

Event #3 - 400 Freestyle

Previous PR: 5:03.08

Previous World Ranking: 8th

Prelims Time: 5:09.89

Prelims Ranking: 11th

Although Mel didn't make it to the finals, we've been told to start saving our money for London 2012! Mel & her husband Dick are looking for a cheering section of 50 next time! This year they had 20 strong supporters in the stands. Here's a great video from the New York Times that sums up Melissa in this years Paralympics. Actually, you have to watch it. It's excellent.  

And now yesterday marked the end of the Beijing Paralympics. Remarkable as this entire experience was to watch from thousands of miles away, we're continued to be blown away by this remarkable woman. We recently found out that Melissa was nominated by her fellow Paralympian Peers to represent Team USA as Flag Bearer for the Closing ceremonies. Wow. As her Dad was quoted, "What a finish for Melissa. [Here's a picture] of her carrying the flag into the closing ceremonies. Her smile says it all."

Congratulations Melissa! You are a true American hero. Great job, you did the U.S. of A. proud.

If you'd like to read more about Mel's experience in Beijing check out her blog documenting the entire experience.

Walk, man.

Well, we're finally getting caught up on our posts this week so you'll notice a mix of updates. We'll be dipping into our time machine to show you happenings from the past month while also sprinkling in a few freshly-snapped photos of The Owen, like you saw in yesterday's post. Here are a couple pics from our first family walk. Owen was cashed out while Mama Bird and I took a stroll through the 'hood. Ahh, fresh air. 

And I'm sorry, I love the usefulness of the Baby Ba-journ, but man is it a lame look. :)

Missing: Zzzz's.

Hello good people. It's around 1:00 am. Travis and Owen are fast asleep and I can't seem to find my Zzzz's. Every time I close my eyes I start singing a nursery rhyme song called "Yeah, it's snack time, yummy, yummy snack time..." It just repeats in my head through the "yummy peach" and "yummy cherry pie" verses! So, I thought I'd put this time to good use and update the blog.

This week our little man is 7 weeks old. He's had a fun filled life thus far including laughing and smiling non-stop since Labor Day weekend, rolling over at tummy time, play dates and visits downtown (will blog about this later). We're also putting this time to good use and having our daily lessons like practicing our words such as: ma, ti, do, da, bzz, bab, and so on), looking at pictures, listening to mommy describe what we're doing and what things are, reading, enjoying the great outdoors and much, much more. Here are some of our favorite moments from this last week. Enjoy the extra blog goodness!

Tummy time.

Mr. Owen is working out his muscles during tummy time. He's starting to get the concept of why these weird stuffed animals are dangling above him. With every day, he's starting to interact with them more and more.

First play date with Mr. Connor.

Our good friends Jee and Connor came over late last week to play, eat and sleep. Mom and Jee had a nice time chatting and even enjoyed some lunch. Not quite sure if the boys understand the concept yet, but it was a wonderful visit!

First Vikings Game.

Last Monday we enjoyed a lovely evening with our Viking/Packer crew - Char, Jimmy, Dawn, Jeff, Karl, Jess and Will. (Last year we went to the Viking/Packers game in Green Bay with this group one month before we found out we were expecting... good times!) Owen was exhausted learning about football (and tired of watching the Vikes lose the season opener), so he took a visit to snoozeville.

All smiles and laughs.

One of the first things Owen does when Daddy comes home from work at night is to giggle, get over-stimulated and show off his big gummy smile. Breaks our heart every time. It's tough having a kid that's so unhappy!

First Grammy Langer lunch date.

My mom and I went out to Macy's (as known as Marshall Fields, as known as Dayton's) restaurant for lunch. It was high time Owen was brought into the tradition. Us girls love our lunches! Owen was pretty excited and happy to be asked to come along. Below is one of my favorite pics of the week. By the way, Owen slept through the entire lunch! Oh well, just means more yummy popovers for mom and I. Thanks for the awesome visit, mom.

Getting curious.

We received a fun parent tip from one of my college roommates Matt and his wife Mindy. They told us to place our floor length mirror behind the changing table so Owen can enjoy looking at himself. Sounds vain? Not at all. Owen actually loves using the mirror to look up at mommy and play one of our favorite games, mimicking. We like to take turns sticking out our tongue, blowing bubbles, making raspberry sounds, smiling, laughing and cooing. Good times. Thanks Matt and Mindy for the great tip! We love it!

1, 2, 3, 4...tell me that you love me more.

Owen is smiling a bunch these days so that's been fun for Mom, Dad and everyone he flirts with. There's nothing cuter than a "gummy smile." On Sunday night we nabbed these 11 shots in a row.