LOVE and TRUST

Yesterday, Owen's mom and dad, Mark and Kristin had a wedding to go to in Edmonton.
Rather than taking Owen back and forth, his Auntie Erin babysat him overnight. Being only a year old, we were not sure how he would react to this long a separation from his parents.

Early in the afternoon, Owen was dropped off at Erin's place. His parents just brought him in , said goodbye and left. No big fuss about him being left. Which is as it should be.

He and Erin played all afternoon, both inside her condo and on her patio.He didn't have any toys with him and yet, he did not get into anything that he shouldn't. He left her plants alone as well as her laptop. He loves computers.

Erin phoned Mrs. Moose and she went in to bring him some toys from our house. While there they put him in his stroller and took him for a walk. There is a lot of construction going on and with the rain we had yesterday, the sidewalks in some places were very muddy and slippery. The wheels on the stroller caked with mud in no time. How to get it off? Easy. Go through the puddles and it will wash off. It worked going away but coming back, they just caked up again. What to do? They didn't want to get mud on the carpets in the condo building so down into the garage below. Right beside Erin's parking spot is the power car wash. Erin and her mom took poor Owen into it and power washed the caked clay off the wheels. Did they take him out of the stroller to do this? NOOOO! While they were doing this , another owner came by and just looked at them like they were nuts. I wonder why?

For supper, they had pizza. Owen can eat at least one piece by himself-onion, green pepper, pepperoni, cheese. He loves food. They ate outside on the patio.

He is fascinated by doors whether it be ordinary doors, elevator doors or patio doors. He can say DOOR very clearly and loves to open and close them. He has even figured out how to open and close a sliding patio screen door. When he goes out, he closes it behind him. When he comes in, he closes it behind him. I know adults who have not mastered this concept.

Of course, he also had to have a bath before bed. Mrs. Moose says he loves to splash and drink the water from the edge of the tub. As you can see from the pictures he certainly enjoyed himself and other people enjoyed him. He is a little devil.

Since both my wife and I are former teachers, we do know something about children. With some of the things he does, he is certainly advanced for his age. For instance, he sings. Most children at one year do not do this. He also initiates actions. Most children at this age react to actions and copy them. He has a great sense of humour and loves to tease.

Back on track. When he went to bed, in a playpen at nine o'clock, he had been up all day without a nap. It didn't take long for him to conk out.

Apparently he slept until 3 in the morning and then woke up. He only cried a little and Erin brought him into bed with her. He soon fell asleep again and cuddled right up to her. He even took hold of her hand and patted her arm in his sleep.
When he woke this morning he just played on the bed until Erin also woke up. He had corn flakes for breakfast. He loves corn flakes.

When Mark and Kristin got him , he just smiled when they came in and went back to playing with his toys. No big deal. No fuss.It was "Hi Mom, hi Dad, I'm having fun playing ! "

Mark and Kristin have done a terrific job of raising a boy who knows he is loved and loves in return. He also has a terrific Auntie Erin who loves him with all her heart.