Owen Bragging

I am going to brag a little so if you have a weak stomach you may want to skip this one.

Owen is such a good boy. Every night I try to take a little time to cuddle, sing and hand out tons of kisses and mushy words…like Mommy loves you, before I lay him down. Almost every night he will smile and giggle during this process and when I finally put him into the crib he just surrenders to it without a sound. He lays there quietly while I put his comforter over him and then I leave the room and he goes to sleep completely on his own. I love this! Actually I think he plays back there for quite a while because I always find his socks and anything else that he has the ability to heave over the side of the crib, on the floor the next morning. Last night just before Kris and I turned our lights off I heard a low giggle coming from the direction of his room, so I know it wasn’t complete surrender back there. This I don’t mind, not when he’s happy and quiet enough for me not to hear him.

Today, I went to Bible study and then on the way home decided to drive into Old Hickory to see if anything has progressed since the last time I drove through. They have cleaned up the burned down flea market finally and it looks much better. There is still a little building on Hadley that houses a flea market and I decided to go ahead and take a peek. Owen got out with me and very obediently walked into the store. I was watching him closely because I wanted to see how he would handle the freedom of walking through a junk store on his own. He wanted to touch things of course but if I said anything, he immediately removed his hand or changed directions according to command. I was so pleased. He has begun affirming himself when he obeys. I usually say something like “good boy” or “good job” and evidently I’ve said “yeah!” a few times, if he follows orders. Now…if he is doing something he shouldn’t be and I say “stop” he will back away and immediately say “yeah!” because he has obeyed. There was also a giant stuffed giraffe in the store that was actually sturdy enough to hold him on it’s back. Owen walked right up to it and said “raffe” to my surprise. I had told him what a giraffe was but the fact that he remembered so well impressed me. The store owner heard him and offered to put him on it. He loved it for a second or two and then sort of realized how high up he was and wanted to be put down. When he was ready to go…he marched to the door, looked at me and said, “bye”. I wasn’t quite ready but he waited patiently and then we walked to the car.

He loves to walk outside, on sidewalks and in parking lots. I only let him if there’s no one around or I can grab him easily. He does not like to hold my hand. There is no fear in him whatsoever and holding my hand seems to be too much of a restraint for him. I’m not sure if I should force it or not. Obviously there are times when he needs to hold my hand and when I try, he sometimes screams…this is not good. I have spanked him for this behavior and I usually just pick him up if he still refuses to cooperate, then he’s lost all freedom which makes him scream louder, but I can get to the car faster. I don’t know if all kids are like this when they first start walking or not, but I’m working on the whole independence thing slowly but surely. Today…I didn’t need to hold his hand as he followed verbal orders very faithfully.

He is now napping and I’m thinking about indulging in some pillow time myself. I’m very tired. Maybe I’ll just give myself a few minutes to rest my eyes and then get back to reality.