Thanksgiving at the Van Ackeren's

Here are a few pictures of Owen with his Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunts:

Grandma & Owen

Grandpa & Owen

Aunt Gen w/ Wakely, Em w/ Owen, and Aunt Ang w/ Halo

I think Wakely may have ran off before this picture was taken.

Mom & Owen ("Can they get my pants any higher?")

He's A Natural

It didn't take him long to figure out the whole "eating from a spoon" skill.  What can I say, "The Dude" is a fast learner.....and he looks cute doing it.

"Act like you've been there before"

"What are you looking at?"

Eatin' good, and lookin' good doin' it

Look, Ma.  No hands!

Phantom Screams

Picture this:

Emily is at the gym and I'm watching Owen until she gets back.  I have to take a shower and get ready for me to be able to leave when Emily comes back.  Owen is very fussy and wants to be held.  Finally he falls asleep in my arms.

Now is my chance.

I put him down right where we are in the basement on his playmat area, and I rush upstairs to take a fast shower while he sleeps.

I finish brushing my teeth and run to the basement door to see if he is awake. 

He is still asleep.

I go back to the bathroom and take a shower....quickly.

I finish and run back to the basement door......still asleep.

I decide to risk it and decide to try to shave my face. 

I put the shaving creme on my face, and with the water running....I swear I hear him screaming.  I hear it distinctly.

I decide to continue shaving because A) letting him cry a little bit isn't the end of the world, and B) if I don't finish I'll have shaving creme all over my face and he'll want to be held.

I finish as fast as I can, clean off my face, and run to the basement door.   Still Asleep.

This phenomenon has happened often....and it has happened to Emily too.  We swear we hear him crying/screaming....but when we check on him nothing.  (thankfully). 

Maybe we just hear him so often in that mode....that we hear it in our minds.  Who knows?  It's a wonder.

4 Month Check-up

Owen's 4 month check-up was yesterday and everything looks great. 

He grew 4.5 inches since he was born (if he keeps this pace up...he'll be 7'4" by the time he is 5 years old).  He is in the 80th percentile in height.

He is now 13 lbs 3 oz which is still in the normal range for his age, but he's in the 15th percentile in weight.  Looks like he'll be tall and skinny like his dad was (Note: past tense).

The nurse inaccurately stated that he was in the 99th percentile for cuteness.  He's clearly at 100th.  (We might be having a talk with the doctor about getting that nurse fired.)

Here are a couple pics of the dude that we took in the last couple weeks:

The Dude having fun in his Bumbo

Hanging out in the "Man Cave" with Dad

"What are you looking at?"

Doing his best impression of a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon

Rock-a-Bye

Today Owen was a little fussy all afternoon.  He is generally a very good baby, but today, I think, he just didn't get the regular amount of sleep in his naps for one reason or another. 

I tried everything to get him to stop whining (he wasn't full on crying....just a constant tired type of whining).  I tried all the usual things, sit him on my lap and pat his back, stand up and walk with him on my chest, walk with him while cradling him....everything.

I don't know how I thought of it...because I hadn't used this before....but I started to sing to him, and it worked!  (Even my voice.....which ain't great.)

The funny thing is that I started to sing "Rock-a-Bye Baby".....and I couldn't remember the words.  I must've sang that song a few thousand times in my life, but for the life of me I kept messing up the lyrics.  (After about the 15th time - because Owen would start whining again if I stopped singing - I got the correct lyrics.)

I decided to look up the song on Wikipedia to find out if there was any stories on why the lyrics to that song are so terrible.  (Have you ever thought about what you are actually singing to a baby when you sing that song?)

One theory is that the song was written by an English immigrant who witnessed the Native American women rocking their babies in birch bark cradles which were suspended from tree branches.

Another theory is that it is about Betty Kenny and her husband (Luke) who had 8 kids and lived in a large tree where a hollowed-out bough served as their cradle.

The last theory is so crazy I have to copy and paste it straight from Wikipedia:

Yet another theory has it that the lyrics, like the tune "Lilliburlero" it is sung to, refer to events immediately preceding the Glorious Revolution. The baby is supposed to be the son of James VII and II, who was widely believed to be someone else's child smuggled into the birthing room in order to provide a Roman Catholic heir for James. The "wind" may be that Protestant "wind" or force "blowing" or coming from the Netherlands bringing James' nephew and son-in-law William of Orange, who would eventually depose King James II in the revolution (the same "Protestant Wind" that had saved England from the Spanish Armada a century earlier). The "cradle" is the royal House of Stuart.^[4] The earliest recorded version of the words in print appeared with a footnote, "This may serve as a warning to the Proud and Ambitious, who climb so high that they generally fall at last",^[5] which may be read as supporting a satirical meaning. It would help to substantiate the suggestion of a specific political application for the words however if they and the 'Lilliburlero' tune could be shown to have been always associated.

Whatever the song means...I have come to 2 conclusions:

1)  They lyrics will always be a little "deranged" in my mind.
2)  That song works like a charm

Decide for yourself

There have been many people who claim that Owen looks like his dad.  Words such as "twins", "identical", "exact" have been used to describe us. 

However it has not been unanimous.  They will remain nameless but there have been a few people who "just don't see it".  So, in that spirit, I give you a side by side comparison of me (at 6 months) and Owen (at 3.5 months).  Go ahead and compare us.  Look at our chins, lips, eyes, ears.....whatever else you can, and tell me what your thoughts are about if we look alike or not.