tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2 2010-03-11T03:40:56Z A catch-all for all baby related news. Movable Type 3.31 tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.243 2010-03-11T03:35:09Z 2010-03-11T03:40:56Z

Another day, another batch of videos....

Jibble http://www.jibble.net Another day, another batch of videos. Owen's Vocals Okay, so maybe Owen doesn't have words yet. He does, however, have this.

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Demands Max likes to ask for these. We just like how he says it.

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Hi! We see a lot of this around here. Owen always looks like he wonders why we're not helping him escape.
And that's it for today. See you tomorrow!]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.242 2010-03-10T02:10:30Z 2010-03-10T02:19:24Z

Video week continues with more action from the boys. I even manage answer the question my father asked me over the phone today: "Where's Owen?"...

Jibble http://www.jibble.net Video week continues with more action from the boys. I even manage answer the question my father asked me over the phone today: "Where's Owen?" Moving Getting the house ready for showings is a team effort.

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Snowman Even when a snowman is very small, you can still use a little help.

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Rolling Owen is learning new skills. Max is doing his best to help him learn proper form.
]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.241 2010-03-09T04:17:48Z 2010-03-09T04:23:16Z

We're still not quite up to date on our photos and our stories, but things are still a little crazy so we thought we'd dig through the video camera and at least bring ourselves up to date on videos. Little...

Jibble http://www.jibble.net We're still not quite up to date on our photos and our stories, but things are still a little crazy so we thought we'd dig through the video camera and at least bring ourselves up to date on videos. Little did we realize that we'd have enough to fill up another week. Salt Don't ask me. He likes to help out, and this was his chosen reward. No, he's not actually eating it.

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Tape Measure Sometimes you're torn between wanting to stop him and wanting to grab the camera. You can guess which option won here.

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Getting Ready We showed you the photos a few posts back, but somehow it's just better in motion.
]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.240 2010-03-04T02:12:21Z 2010-03-04T03:08:26Z

Two weeks ago brought us to Sherman for Valentine's Day. The grandparents offered up their babysitting services, so we decided to take advantage....

Jibble http://www.jibble.net Two weeks ago brought us to Sherman for Valentine's Day. The grandparents offered up their babysitting services, so we decided to take advantage.

Holder JoAnn.

Holder Steve.

Holder Pappaw.

Actually getting a chance to go out was nice, so big props to Mimi and Pappaw for keeping an eye on all the kids for us. Thankfully, they were able to keep them out of the snow for the evening. After the thaw finally happened, Max had a chance to make up for the Valentine's Day party he missed at school. Unfortunately, not many of the photos turned out due to his decision to give us a little bit of this.

Shark shirt, stink face.

Aside from that, the week was spent hanging out with the boys around the house.

This is not helpful to the dressing process.

Mmmmm. Elephant foot.

Pretty sure Max is enjoying this more than Owen.

Pretty sure Max is enjoying this more than mommy.

We have to keep reminding him to squish little. Doesn't know his own strength sometimes.

That week also saw us starting down the path to buying a new house for our expanded family. The blame for this rests squarely on Christy, who did not heed my advice to stop looking at Realtor.com while feeding the baby late at night. I also blame Barack Obama. Who am I to resist low interest rates, a house that meets almost all of our search criteria, and free money from the government? And now you know why we were two weeks behind again. To see the rest of the photos from Valentine's week, you can click here. One more post, and we'll be back up to date. Guess we'll see how the house selling impacts my ability to post.]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.239 2010-03-02T03:53:31Z 2010-03-02T05:29:01Z

When last we left off, I suggested that we might get two posts finished during the rest of the week. Clearly I have proven myself to be a liar. Again. But that doesn't matter, because we took the photos for...

Jibble http://www.jibble.net When last we left off, I suggested that we might get two posts finished during the rest of the week. Clearly I have proven myself to be a liar. Again. But that doesn't matter, because we took the photos for Owen's 5 month on his actual 5 month old day, so it doesn't really matter when I post them. Neener.

Every month? Seriously?

Yes. Suck it up, buttercup.

But I can't sit up by myself.

Fake it.

Okay, okay. Do you do this to all your kids?

Yes. Max had to deal with it too. It builds character. For the backtalk, I require a cavalcade of smiles. Go!

One.

Awesome. Now, coy.

Two.

Excellent. Now, cute.

Three.

Fantastic. Last one. Super cute. Go.

Done.

Good times. He's still eating his rice cereal like a champ, though he does tend to get a little fussy if it gets the least bit runny. Looking back over what his brother was up to at this point in his life, the two of them seem to be pretty close. Max was a little better at sitting up (though I think his belly had something to do with that), and a little bit more talkative (Owen can't get a word in edgewise around here), but beyond that, same as it ever was. Christy and I were exhausted then, we're even more exhausted now. Max was figuring out new and clever ways to cover everything in whatever bodily fluids he could, Owen has taken his rightful place at the throne. Rice cereal? Check. Cute smiles? Check. Sleeping? Hrm...maybe not so much. Can't get it all. At least we can hope he gets his brother's sunny disposition. To see the remainder of the photos from the 5 month shoot, click here. I'll try to play catchup as soon as I can to get some new photos out there. It may be a while before we're back to doing videos, though. Much to do in the Larkin household this month.]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.238 2010-02-17T03:13:24Z 2010-02-17T04:54:03Z

As you may know already, we had ourselves a little weather event in North Texas this week. Over the course of a few days we saw plenty of snow that actually stuck to the ground, leaving us with an extremely...

Jibble http://www.jibble.net As you may know already, we had ourselves a little weather event in North Texas this week. Over the course of a few days we saw plenty of snow that actually stuck to the ground, leaving us with an extremely excitable two year old.

"I build a frosty the snowman?"

Done!

Second order of business?

Two frosty the snowman. Duh.

Then what?

Throw snowballs at daddy, naturally.

Meanwhile, back in the warm house, it was cold enough for the little guy to show off his fleece pajamas.

Ahhh, toasty warm.

Interestingly enough, it continued to snow throughout the day and into the night, to the point that we woke up to several more inches on the ground.

…and on the snowmen.

So it began anew. We bundled everyone back up...

All of this goes on me. Now.

Me too!

...and headed back out for more.

Christy helped him build a snow fort.

He defended it well.

Then, as is his nature, he destroyed it.

Seriously, you cannot leave me here while you play. NOT COOL.

Frosty's cousin, Stalky the Snowman.

Christy kindly requested that I take the little man out one last time to get some pure-white background photos of him in his winter gear. I think they turned out pretty well.

You will give me snow ponies.

Many, many snow ponies.

Obligatory shot of the front of the house.

By now the snow has nearly melted away, leaving just a hint of the snowmen behind. Max has moved on to bigger and better things, like hanging out in our bathroom so he can spend some time "getting ready" (his words). We're not sure what he's getting ready for, but I think it's best left to the imagination.

He did this to himself. Yes, that's a headband around his neck.

Stole the shoes out of my closet. As for the barrette…

…yeah, he figured that out too.

He also spent a little more time harassing his little brother.

HI BABY OWEN! HIIIII! HIIIIII BABY OWEEEEEEEN!

No, no, don't help me. Just take pictures. Thanks.

Owen (while not being smothered by his older brother) continues to learn all kinds of new things.

Yoga, for example.

…and how to look surprised.

Quite the weekend, really. Feels like this is going pretty long so I'll wrap it up. To see the photos from the snow days, you can click here and here. To see the rest of the photos of Max "getting ready" and annoying his little brother, click here. Obviously I didn't get to the videos last week, so I'll see what I can do for that this round. We also have an update coming for Owen, who turned 5 months old yesterday. We'll see if those both get done this week.]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.237 2010-02-11T02:24:26Z 2010-02-11T02:45:23Z

It feels weird after so long to post an actual up-to-date blog. Thankfully, we had Nan and Papa up this weekend to help out with the boys, which means we have a smidgen of free time this week somewhere in...

Jibble http://www.jibble.net It feels weird after so long to post an actual up-to-date blog. Thankfully, we had Nan and Papa up this weekend to help out with the boys, which means we have a smidgen of free time this week somewhere in all the crazy that is raising these two.

We provide the wardrobe, he provides the cute.

Nan and Papa took full advantage, of course.

Buy me candy!

They were kind enough to wake up early and hoof it out here to make it in time for Max's visit to one of his new favorite places.

The gym!

"Here, throw this at daddy."

I'm doing what, exactly, with these?

Unfortunately they couldn't stay for long, but they did manage to observe Max's obsession first-hand.

I poke it.

After their departure, we settled in for a nice evening of chilling and watching the game with the boys. Max was lucky enough to be able to take advantage of the lax rules in place for major sporting events.

Pizza on the couch! What kind of pizza? Cheeeeeese!

I'm not sure how it came to this, but at some point we even let Max hold the little guy for a short period of time. He took full advantage of that as well.

Good luck being taller than me now, baby Owen.

One last amusing note for the week. Max has been having some trouble with getting bitten at day care, and I think he's settled on a way to handle it. We were horsing around and I pretended to gnaw on his arm. His response? "Daddy, I'm not food." I have to admit, it's clever. To see the rest of the photos from this week, click here. We have a whole bunch of video hanging around waiting to be offloaded to the blog. If we have a good night sometime in the next few days, maybe we'll find the time to get them out there. Have a good week, everyone!]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.236 2010-02-06T04:27:15Z 2010-02-06T05:09:43Z

Every so often, we get to the point where we just have to take care of things. Sometimes it's a bout of cleaning, sometimes it's catching up on the blog (last one!), sometimes a little boy's hair just gets a...

Jibble http://www.jibble.net Every so often, we get to the point where we just have to take care of things. Sometimes it's a bout of cleaning, sometimes it's catching up on the blog (last one!), sometimes a little boy's hair just gets a little too out of control.

Before.

After.

After (sans stinker smile).

He actually seems to enjoy getting his hair cut now. We no longer have to coax him with electronic devices to gain his compliance. I think it has something to do with the fact that they give him a toy after his haircut. Ahhh, bribes. We've been talking about getting some kind of routine started for our Saturdays, since it's been sort of a catch-all lazy day of late. We fixed that right up with a trip to a nearby kid gym.

I think he's too tall for these. Bonus: See if you can spot Owen and daddy in the background.

This is a climbing tower sort of thing. One try and he was hooked for the rest of the session.

...and that's how we wound up with a membership to a kid gym. We'll see if we can keep it up. Hey, remember that other guy that hangs out around our house?

So kind of you to mention me. Thanks.

He's been working hard on keeping us in a perpetual state of sleeplessness. His will is strong, and our eyes are drowsy. We shall see how the saga turns out. Meanwhile, he's starting to show signs of replacing his brother as my comedic foil. Observe.

Wait for it…

Ta daaaa!

I'm guessing I have about another 12 months or so before he learns that he doesn't have to be my joke puppet. I shall cherish the remaining time. As he grows towards his freedom, he begins to take on new and exciting tasks. One of those for this week was actually eating rice cereal.

I think he likes it. Hard to tell.

To top off the weekend, we decided to invite Max's buddy Mikey over for some play time. This included the standard routine where one child brings a toy and they both spend the entire time trying to play exclusively with that toy.

They're some kind of weird balls that transform into monsters. I believe they are fighting each other.

We decided to short circuit that a little and offer up something they could share nicely.

Cookies! Universal solver of ills.

'twas a good time for both of the kiddos. We spent the rest of the evening out at the mall, eating bad food and riding the carousel (sadly, we forgot the camera). Not a bad week, if I do say so myself. If you want to see the rest of the photos, you can click here. See you next week, when we have a real life up-to-date blog post for the first time in what seems like forever. Have a good weekend, everyone!]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.235 2010-02-02T03:53:06Z 2010-02-03T02:37:01Z

We're still rolling along, trying to get things caught up around here. We're only a week behind now, so we should be able to pull it off if I can get two posts this week. I guess we'll see. Enough...

Jibble http://www.jibble.net We're still rolling along, trying to get things caught up around here. We're only a week behind now, so we should be able to pull it off if I can get two posts this week. I guess we'll see. Enough of that, though. On with the show.

Did I mention he's obsessed with Owen's belly button?

Can't keep his hands off it. I think he's cleaning it.

Owen is still progressing in his skills, and has pretty much mastered tummy time.

…and all the cuteness that entails.

Not that he always enjoys it. Mastery does not bring entertainment, since he usually only lasts a few minutes before he starts getting fussy. Luckily, he has other skills to work on. His hand coordination is getting pretty good, as is his desire to eat things that he manages to get in his hands. Unfortunately, sometimes that turns out to be my finger. He's also pretty much accepted that bathtime is going to be part of his regular routine.

Again with the belly button. At least he's washing hair while he does it.

Of course, it's not all work around here. Sometimes we chill with the boys for a little entertainment.

We still have to work on Owen's drumming.

As you may know, Christy had herself a birthday last weekend. She and I took a little time to head out to a movie and left the kids with their grandparents. They took the opportunity to let Max have some fun with the sprinkles in our pantry.

All of them on top. Nicely done.

When we got back, we found that we had a few new visitors to the house. Max took advantage of the moment to make sure that everyone knew about his big kid bed.

I play here and sleep here. It's pretty sweet.

Owen, on the other hand, found himself a safe place to hide from his cousin.

This photo does not convey how upset she was that she couldn't get to him.

Good times for all. Thanks to Mimi and Pappaw and Mendi and Steve and the kids for coming out! If you want to see the rest of the photos from this week, you can click here to see the set.]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.234 2010-01-27T03:50:43Z 2010-01-27T05:16:49Z

Almost caught up. I can sense your excitement, really. We're at 10 days out now, which means that the time when then will be now will come...soon... Anywhoo, on with the photos....

Jibble http://www.jibble.net Almost caught up. I can sense your excitement, really. We're at 10 days out now, which means that the time when then will be now will come...soon... Anywhoo, on with the photos.

Okay, so she's cheating in this one a little. I saw her walking, I swear it.

She also remains fascinated with this baby we keep bringing to her.

A good time was had by all, and I shall choose to illustrate it with photos rather than words.

Cupcake!

Cupcake, too!

Cymbals!

Football!

Happy birthday, kiddo. You've a lot more ahead of you. We spent the rest of that weekend chilling with the kids at home.

Yay home!

Yay babyplane!

Amazingly enough, we went from snow last month to a 71 degree day on that Sunday. This meant that I got to spend nap time assembling a Christmas present that had been languishing in storage. Max was pleased with the results.

Yay bike! (and thanks, Mimi and Pappaw)

To top it all off, we took the boys down to the park so Max could do some running around and sliding. This afforded daddy the opportunity to play with his new camera (thanks, Christy).

Christy loves it when his hair does this.

Speaking of Max, we figured we'd jot something down here for posterity so we don't forget how much of a stinker he can be. He's started to slyly reject food at the dinner table. Instead of the direct approach (which he knows doesn't work), if you offer him something he doesn't want to eat right then, he will say, "I have something in my mouth." And what happens, you ask, if he doesn't actually have something in his mouth? He immediately stuffs something in there. He may be a stinker, but he's no liar. To see the rest of the photos from the birthday weekend, click here. See you next time, when we'll hopefully find ourselves all caught up.]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.233 2010-01-26T02:24:17Z 2010-01-26T03:38:12Z

Yes, yes, we're two weeks late on this. Some day we'll catch up, really. Just a few more posts and we'll be there!...

Jibble http://www.jibble.net Yes, yes, we're two weeks late on this. Some day we'll catch up, really. Just a few more posts and we'll be there!

Like a doll, more or less.

A very snuggly doll.

Our scheduled visit to the Doc showed that he's certainly growing up (just under 27" now, which puts him around the 95th percentile). Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be growing out quite as well. At 13 pounds, 9 ounces, he was a little under his previous curve. Thankfully, that explained the frequent night wakings that were starting to get closer and closer together. We upped his feedings and finally seem to have gotten him back up to speed. At the very least, he's finally getting back to longer rest periods at night. Of course, another month means another comparison photo. This month he's actually starting to sit up on his own a little.

Hey now. Be nice. It's picture time!

Better.

With that, we'll head off to bed. The swaddle-free baby awaits us late in the night.]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.232 2010-01-19T02:36:45Z 2010-01-19T03:52:19Z

We're almost entirely caught up on our blogging. We'll try to get two up this week and then we'll be back up to date on everything. Today we have a little New Year fun and a whole lot of change...

Jibble http://www.jibble.net We're almost entirely caught up on our blogging. We'll try to get two up this week and then we'll be back up to date on everything. Today we have a little New Year fun and a whole lot of change for the big guy.

Happy New Year!

Once we'd rung in the New Year by falling asleep about four hours before midnight, we decided to make a trip up to Sherman to haul the rest of Max's Christmas loot home. Max took it as an opportunity to show off his new robot friend.

He learned all the controls pretty fast. Especially the ones that make it shoot little discs.

I believe Casen found the "dance" button.

After chilling out with the family, we headed home and hung out with the boys for one last bit of rest before going back to work. As mentioned in the previous entries, we spent the following week fighting a house-wide plague. It wasn't all bad, though. Max learned a new trick!

I turn on the TV!

Good for him, at least. It's been an interesting time trying to explain to him that there are times when the TV needs to stay off. The rest of the week, we started to talk to him about the possibility of moving up to a "big kid" bed. It quickly became the only thing he wanted to talk about. Within a few days, he would wake up every morning asking, "I have a big kid bed?" A quick trip to the hardware store to replace some missing parts (it's been two years, some of it was bound to go missing) and a scouring of baby stores later, we had what we needed. Max was happy to help.

Thank you, Max. Good work.

Note: There is no screw on that side of the frame.

Owen maintained a safe distance. Probably a good idea.

No more ABC sheets!

Arummmm num num ROBOTS!

All tucked in.

He's actually been really good about the new bed. He stays in there all night and doesn't bother trying to escape. We think he just hasn't realized he can hop right up whenever he wants. Hopefully that'll last for a while. Owen, on the other hand, has finally moved out of our bedroom and into his crib (hooray!). His reactions were mixed.

He's hard to read.

And that brings us up to last week. Join us next time when we head to a cousin's birthday party and celebrate 4 months of the little one. To see the rest of the photos from Sherman and the move to the big kid bed, you can click here. See you next time!]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.231 2010-01-14T02:57:37Z 2010-01-14T03:40:38Z

Today we continue with our Christmas posts, with a little bit of random Owen-ness tossed in. We already covered the time up in Sherman, so we'll wrap it up with our trip to Houston....

Jibble http://www.jibble.net Today we continue with our Christmas posts, with a little bit of random Owen-ness tossed in. We already covered the time up in Sherman, so we'll wrap it up with our trip to Houston.

It could be anything...

Cheese!

Owen looks like he loves it.

Then, of course, the playing...

I bet Papa is still sore.

Daddy is too.

Owen play is a little less strenuous.

"That's Madicat!"

Cheese!

Again, we somehow managed to get a decent family photo.

Even Owen is looking!

Max and Emma spent a good portion of the day together, which meant lots of entertaining photos (and some video, which I'm sure I'll get around to posting in April or something).

Dancing!

Sharing!

Hugging!

Cheesing!

Cooking!

Owen found all of this incredibly exciting.

With Nan again?

Ahh, that's better. Aunt Jenn stole you for a while.

Hooray! Papa, too.

Did I mention the dancing? There was a lot of dancing.

…with Santa this time. Last time was with a dancing robot. Seriously. Not joking.

After all that, we headed home to try and relax for the rest of our time off. Didn't quite work out the way we wanted, but at least I got a chance to play with my new camera (thanks, Christy!) and snap some good shots of the little guy while his brother was at school.

Not much to say. Just cuteness.

Cuteness in transit.

Cuteness with feet in the background.

Aaaand lastly, cuteness with strong neck muscles.

With that, we're all caught up through Christmas. Next time we'll move along through New Year's and maybe even catch up to this week! If you want to see the rest of the photos from The Woodlands (and a few more from home), you can click here, here, and here.]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2010:/baby//2.230 2010-01-11T02:57:02Z 2010-01-11T04:12:26Z

You know those movies with the zombies that shamble aimlessly around, murmuring and staring about with their sunken eyes? That's pretty much what it's been like around here since the end of December. Max got sick, I got sick, Owen...

Jibble http://www.jibble.net You know those movies with the zombies that shamble aimlessly around, murmuring and staring about with their sunken eyes? That's pretty much what it's been like around here since the end of December. Max got sick, I got sick, Owen got sick, I got sick again, Max got sick again, and Christy was pretty much sick through all of it. That's why it's been so long since we posted. We'll try to catch up with our ridiculous backlog this week, possibly doing multiple posts when we're not seeking out sweet, juicy braaaaaaaains.

…to chill with Mimi...

…and give stinkfaces to Daddy…

…and spread some love for Cindy, the baby whisperer…

…and be attacked by decorative cousins…

…and make Cindy jealous of Steve, who has the altitude babies need…

…and try to get ONE PERSON to look at my camera…

…and unwittingly share presents with our cousins…

…and put obligatory bows on our heads…

…and meticulously remove every last square inch of wrapping paper from every single present…

…and drag presents to places they may or may not belong…

…and pass out…

…and throw snowballs at Casen…

…and somehow manage to get a decent family photo…

…and get the boys ready for one last awwwww before we go…

...and then head home and pass out...and wake up to find that Max is glued to the back door for some reason.

I go outside?

…ah, that's why…

He never just throws the snowball…he has to run at me like a maniac and slam it into me.

Okay, time to come in, Frosty.

Aaaand rosy cheeks for the finish.

Sheesh, too many photos, and that's not even all of the ones we took. We'll pick this up again next time, when we move on to Christmas in The Woodlands. You can see all the rest of the photos from Sherman and Dallas in the snow if you click here.]]> tag:www.jibble.net,2009:/baby//2.229 2009-12-23T02:48:55Z 2010-01-11T02:56:51Z

Video week seems to have gone over well, and with the holiday coming up we're probably going to find ourselves away from our computers for a while. As such, we figured we'd give you a little taste of holiday cheer...

Jibble http://www.jibble.net Video week seems to have gone over well, and with the holiday coming up we're probably going to find ourselves away from our computers for a while. As such, we figured we'd give you a little taste of holiday cheer before you settle in and wait for Santa. Snow It may have happened weeks ago, but it's still relevant. Because I say so.

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Cookies Getting him in the holiday spirit with some gingerbread. He says he's making cookies for Emma because he saw her making cookies on her blog.

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Owen Gotta take advantage when you have the ear of the big guy.

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Christmas Songs Not too shabby. Guess we'll have to do some singing for the grandparents.

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Alright, that's it for now. Maybe something next week, maybe not. We'll have to see how crazy Christmas is. Merry Christmas, everyone!]]>