Beach Blog 2010: Day 1

Well, we're here at the beach! This year, we got a rental on the bay in Sea Isle City, NJ for the week. The property is very nice - not a bad choice for just viewing some pictures over the Internet. The view from the decks is amazing - a nice view of the bay, the salt marshes, and the intracoastal waterway right outside. We can watch all of the boats sailing by. We have a dock... so we might rent a boat later in the week. We're also close to the downtown area with lots of restaurants and the boardwalk. And only a 4 block walk to the beach. But because of our rental's nice spot on the bay, we might just hang out here on the decks and swim in the bay!

It was a very warm day when we got here. So, we unloaded the car and just hung out on the deck for a while. But as the sun started to go down, we took Owen for a little walk around town. And we stopped by the beach to take Owen down to the ocean for the first time. We stuck his feet in the water. He was very interested by the waves!

The sunset from our deck was beautiful, which made us ask why haven't we stayed on the bay before? After the kids went down to bed, we had a nice evening sitting out on the deck on a warm Saturday night (low in the 70s). We watched a lot of boats and a few booze cruises float by and listened to a little music, but were pretty exhausted after a long day of getting down to the beach and settling in. But we have a nice week ahead of us!

Owen's Baptism

Owen's baptism was this past Sunday. Owen's godfathers are his Uncle Rick and his Uncle Chuck. Owen's godmother is Phil's cousin Sarah. We originally were planning to have Owen baptized in May, but that weekend didn't work out because it was Chuck's graduation from Law school. Unfortunately, Chuck still couldn't make it up this weekend because he's busy studying for the WV bar exam, but the rest of the Hudson family made it up. Grandmom and Grandpop Smith, and Mommom (Owen's great grandmother) were able to make it up, which is nice because Mommom is friends with the Dean of our church Tony, who was involved with the baptism ceremony.

The church service was a very nice. It was a special occasion because of the baptisms, but also, because they were recognizing the 50th anniversary of ordination of one of the past deans of our church. He gave a very nice homily about the continued importance of our baptismal vows, particularly, loving your neighbor as yourself and respecting the dignity of everyone. Owen had a nice white christening suit to wear - with a little bow tie! He was very well behaved during the baptism part. But Kathleen did learn why most people get their children baptized when they're a little younger - Owen is a monkey right now, so he was climbing all over the place in the front of the church. He really liked being up at the front of the church - he could look over the pew and see everyone behind him! Owen's friend Mark (who was born one month before him) was at the service to congratulate him on his big day.

Ricky was having fun playing the theme from The Godfather on his cell phone all weekend, including once right after the church service, which really confused some of the nearby churchgoers.

After the church service, we had everyone back to our place for a small get-together. Food was served by Phil's Catering Service. There was a Greek food theme, featuring moussaka, pastitsio, grilled lemon-dill shrimp with feta-dill sauce, and a summer zucchini soup. Needless to say, Phil was exhausted after the party, but everyone enjoyed the food.

On one last note, we'd like to say that we're really glad that Mommom was able to make it up here with her driver Aunt Eileen. They had some trouble getting here because of their GPS system which always tells them to drive on 309. We keep trying to give them alternatives, but Kathleen's family seems determined to take this route. We are teasing, though. We are happy to see them whenever they get here!

Here comes the family

Well, this past weekend was Owen's baptism, so we had a lot of family coming to town. This weekend was really special, because it was the first time that Uncle Rick had a chance to come to Bethlehem to see our town. He did a great job taking care of Owen and playing with him while everyone else was getting food ready or cleaning up before our guests came. They both had a great time together!

Papaw brought some really nice toys for Owen with him! The coolest one was a Thomas train that Owen can sit on and be pushed around on. If you press the buttons, it makes sounds and lights up. And the best feature: when you press one of the buttons, the train rumbles and shoots balls out of its smokestack. Owen loves that! He really enjoys being pushed around on it!

Coolin' Off

In the middle of the heat wave last week, when the temps were getting up near 100, we took Owen to our friend Nicole's house to swim in her pool. The water in the pool was really cold (much colder than our neighbor's pool), so Owen was a little upset at first. But after he got used to it, he started having a good time. He really enjoyed playing with an inflatable floating drink holder with palm tree on it! He also liked banging on the side of the pool, which, as he discovered, made a lot of noise.

Happy 4th of July!

Owen had a nice 4th of July. Our friends Wendy and Brian and their daughter Abby came over for dinner (some gumbo and salads). Owen didn't have enough in him to stay up for the Bethlehem fireworks that night. But we did light some sparklers for him, which he really enjoyed!

After Owen went to bed, the rest of us watched the fireworks from our backyard. It's so nice that we're able to just let Owen sleep and watch them from the yard!

Heartthrob

Hot Holiday Weekend

The Saturday of 4th of July weekend, we were in the middle of a heatwave here on the East coast. So, we decided to get out early on Saturday morning before the heat rose too much and take Owen to the Lehigh Valley zoo. We had a nice walk around the zoo - Owen enjoyed watching the penguins (I think he was most interested in the water), the zebras, some hot, tired camels, who were lounging in the shade, and a few kangaroos - two of which had kids in their pouches.

Later in the day, we took Owen by Rock-n-Joe's coffee shop to see a little live music. Owen really enjoyed climbing all over a leather chair and listening to the music. He was having a great time. Too bad he ran out of steam and got sleepy.

Owen Speak

Owen has been pretty vocal since he was little, but more recently, he's had a little more to say. Owen's first real baby word was "Dadadadadada." Mommy says that Owen keeps repeating that all afternoon until Daddy comes home. He seems to say it when he wants he's excited or he wants to play. And sometimes, he says "Dadadadadada" with his old man voice, which is really funny.

Owen also says "Maaaaaa" when something's wrong or he wants something - like for Mommy to pay attention to him, or to stop rubbing suntan lotion all over him. Mommy wishes that Owen would say "Mama" more nicely, rather than crying "Maaaaa" all the time.

The other baby word that Owen says a lot is "Babababa," which he says when he's hungry and he wants his bottle. He really wants to say "Betsy" - but all he can get out is something that sounds like "tse." Recently, he's been hissing a lot (like a snake) and making a clicking sound with his mouth. We didn't realize how much fun it would be to watch him trying to make all of these new sounds!

Sicky Pants

About two weeks ago, Owen caught his first bad sickness from daycare, and brought it home for the family. He had a high fever at daycare on a Friday and got sent home. It spiked up on Friday, and then remained a bit lower for a few days. He didn't have much of an appetite, which is very unlike him. So, we all hunkered down for the weekend at our house and took care of Owen to make sure that he healed quickly. And despite being sick, he still wanted to play and would still stop to smile at the camera!

And Owen gave his cold to Daddy, who ended up with a fever and a bad sore throat and had to stay home from work for two days!

Climbing the Step

After learning how to crawl, Owen's next big hurdle was the single step between our TV room and the living room. Early on, he would pull himself up onto his knees with his hands on the step, bounce up and down, and squeal. Eventually, he learned to push his butt up and stand on his tippy-toes. But he had trouble at first moving his legs closer to the step, so that he could scoot up. Eventually he learned how scoot his legs over and to easily climb up the step. And every time that he climbs up the step, he's thrilled with himself! He goes tearing off into the living room squealing with joy!

Final Tunes at Twilight

Here are some pictures from the last Tunes at Twilight for the season - there was some nice blues for the final night. We had a really nice two months of concerts this year. We were able to make it to each Thursday night, and Owen had a great time!

Cheerio Soul Patch

Owen's Attorney: Betsy, Esquire

Now that Owen is crawling around, there's now a lot of trouble he can get into of course. There are a ton of things that Owen wants that he's not allowed to have. So, Mommy has to tell Owen "No" a lot now - and that drives Betsy nuts! She doesn't like to hear the "N" word. So, she typically runs up to Owen and gives him kisses to try to get him to stop doing what he's doing wrong. We call her Owen's Attorney since she's always on the scene trying to defend Owen when he's doing something wrong. Owen's not doing anything wrong in the picture below, but there's Betsy in the background - nearby, in case there is trouble!

Owen does enjoy his time in his play yard also - where he can't get into trouble. Betsy likes to play games with Owen through the mesh. We caught them giving each other kisses through the mesh one day!

On the Move: Freedom!

Well, ever since Owen took his first crawling steps forwards, he's been crawling all over the place. His first crawling game was to crawl back-and-forth across the room as Mommy and Daddy watched. He also was thrilled when he "escaped" from the room and made it out into the hallway.

He soon started chasing Betsy around which freaked her out at first. But soon, she started playing with him a little: bringing toys to him, playing tug-a-war, and kissing his face as he crawled across the room.