Don't Blink, You'll Miss a Milestone

It has been a huge week for Owain. On Monday the 15th of Sept. he finally cut his first tooth. I had been closely monitoring the swollen gums on the bottom so imagine our shock when the tooth that actually cut through first was one on the top. Yesterday the bottom left popped though and today the bottom right showed itself. Poor kid, three teeth in one week! Also on Monday Owain took his first step. Since then he has been trying longer distances, he can do about three or four small steps unaided. He is also pointing to things and clapping and lots of waving now. The only downside of all this progress is the disruption of sleep. I didn't realize that learning to walk could make a baby not want to take a nap but there you go! He did the same when learning to crawl.

Bad, bad birthday cake

A week and a day ago John turned 35. Let's just say it wasn't the best day ever. First, I tried to make a chocolate cake from scratch, which I did just two weeks before and it turned out ok but this time I must've been distracted or something because I forgot BAKING SODA. Oops. I went ahead and put candles in it even though something didn't seem quite right and then we tasted it. YUCK! That was Monday night before the big birthday. Tuesday morning John was getting ready for work and couldn't find his wallet. We searched the house from top to bottom and finally came to the conclusion that it must have gotten lost sometime during the weekend. I spent the day calling all the restaurants, bars, and shops we went to over the three-day weekend, no luck. While John was at work I had planned to buy some presents and cook lasagne for dinner. He got a compost bin and we ordered pizza :( 36 will be fantastic I promise!!!

Thankfully the wallet was found before we ordered a replacement Green Card. Owain had gotten a hold of it and wedged it down between the stereo speaker base and the tv stand. John only found it because he discovered Owain trying to stuff something else down there.

We got some great photos of Owain at the park swinging. And at the bottom is a video of Owain stuffing a golf ball in his mouth, good stuff!

If there are large spaces in between paragraphs or this post just looks messy in general its because I GIVE UP trying to make it look pretty. I am missing some sort of technological know how.

PAX

Yesterday, we went to the Penny Arcade Expo downtown. It's a game festival organised by some local cartoonist. I got passes through work for Heather and I. Owain sneaked in without paying and headed straight for The Guild booth to have his piccy taken with Felicia Day.

This is Vegas wasn't actually on display at the show but there was a Midway booth showing games like Wheelman, a high-octane driving game that is most notable for enlisting the help of A-list mega-star Joe Borthwick Vin Diesel.

In general, I found the show every bit as impressive as the European Computer Trade Show that used to take place in London. But now, I'm just an ageing, jaded programmer whose life (and blog) has been stolen by a bald, tubby mute with no social skills or bowel control (yet somehow twice as much charm as me). He, on the other hand, had his eyes popping out of his head: everywhere bright lights and strange sounds and slightly funky-smelling people passing by in a continuous procession. Pity he won't remember any of it in a few days. I suppose we'll have to go back next year.

Not Much News

But I better blog anyway or I will hear the wrath! I'll just post a little about what Owain's been up to. He is able to walk all over as long as he's holding onto something with one hand. Lately he's been stealthily hugging the walls like he's in some action movie trying to sneak up on the baddies. He has been waving but he'll never do it on command. And he gives kisses but only when he feels really lovey. Just yesterday and more today he has started to give John and I things. He will place a toy in my hand, of course he immediately wants it back but I think the fact that he will actually put something in our hand and let go of it is a big deal! Also tonight he put a rusk (baby cookie) in John's mouth. I can't get over how cute I think these things are. If that's not enough cuteness here's Owain getting a bath in the kitchen sink from Daddy.

He was absolutely FILTHY DIRTY after the PEPS bbq we went to yesterday. It was at Carkeek Park which was a surprisingly lush forest only a 10 minute drive from our place. Owain crawled all over without even caring where we were. I'm pretty sure he ate his fair share of dandelions and grass/bark/sticks/dead leaves. It was a good time. Too bad I didn't bring my camera. I'm sure I will get some pics from the other moms.

Mmmmm Avocado

Its been a fun-filled week already and its only Thursday. Monday my Dad and Leroy arrived. They are on their annual motorcycle road trip. This year they'll be on the road for five weeks or more. While they were here they checked out our local bars the Viking and the Copper Gate and spent time watching Owain be his cute self. Speaking of the young sir he is doing something new. Dancing!! As soon as I can capture it on video I'll post it. My Dad left yesterday, they are off to Northern Washington, then Idaho, and Montana where they plan on attending the Testicle Festival. Those guys know how to have a fun. As Leroy says,"Its all good!"

Long Awaited Restaurant Review

I think this may be my new favorite picture of Owain. We were at the seafood festival last weekend and it was a hot day and poor O was late for his nap but he sure is cute even though he was being a bit of a sourpuss. I just realized that I never followed though on the promised review of How To Cook A Wolf. Let's see if I can actually remember anything from 2 weeks ago. We got there at 6:30pm and were told that there was a 2 1/2 hour wait so we gave the maitre de our cell phone number and went off in search of drinks and an appetizer. We ended up just down the street at Opal, another fancy restaurant. We ordered an appetizer each and a regular portion of pork belly to share. That was delicious and it also came with trotter fritters (fried pig's feet) YUM! We still had some time to kill so we found a cafe that served beer and wine and then of course 2 sips in the phone rang, our table was finally ready. We sat down at a comfortable table but the restaurant is pretty small. It was all copper and light wood the lighting gave it a warm, cozy feel. The menu consisted of appetizer-like selections the idea being a table of four might share 6 dishes which is exactly what we did. Anne and I hogged the scallops and heritage tomatoes, we also had some pasta, paninis and a lot of wine because I can't remember what else we ordered. It was a lovely evening and I'm glad we decided to spend our rare night out with new friends and try a restaurant that would have normally intimidated me.

I must include one more picture of the wading pool. It would be remiss of me not to.

Splish Splash

Owain went for a dip in the wading (paddling) pool at Green Lake Park today. Owain loves the water.