Owen at 18 months

Unbelievably, Owen is 18 months old!  A year and a half!  Crazy.  So here are a couple of stories to illustrate how shockingly old he is.
#1 earlier today he walked into the kitchen and said "piece, bum" and I was like "what?" and he repeated it a couple of times and I was about to check his diaper because he said bum, but then he started pointing at the cupboard where we keep gum, so I said, very surprised, "you want a piece of gum??" and he was like "YEAH!" his really big YAH that he says when we figure out what he's trying to say and he's really happy.  But really, did my baby just come ask me for a piece of gum out of the blue?? Wow.
#2 Yesterday I was making enchiladas for dinner and I put Owen on a chair next to the silverware drawer so he could play- that usually keeps him happy while I make dinner.  So then I had mixed up the sauce for the enchiladas and set the bowl on the counter, then turned around to flip a tortilla and when I looked back Owen had stretched over and gotten a spoon in the bowl to "help me" mix it. And I thought, "what the heck, might as well try it" so I put a tortilla next to him and asked him to put some sauce on.  He did a great job dabbing sauce on it for a minute, so I decided to let him put the black beans on, and then the cheese, and he did this for all of the enchiladas!  He was so cute and I kept praising his efforts and it was so fun for both of us!  When Eric came in Owen said, "Daddy, me heppi!" like "Look dad, I'm helping!"  It was SO cute.
#3 He recognizes music notes and whenever he sees them on a page, like an actual songbook or just in a story or something he says "song! song!" it's so awesome.  He's trying to sing little songs, like the Itsy Bitsy Spider and We are a Happy Family, and the other night when I was singing him to sleep I started falling asleep and I remember singing "...I'm just...going..." and then a few seconds later when I was almost asleep I heard him say the last word "...home."  Then I had to wake up and laugh and kiss him, the little cute-face. :)
#4 He can say over a hundred words and he's adding more daily!  A couple of weeks ago I started writing down everything he could say on his own, not just copying me (because he will try to copy anything I say!) and I got to 80 and gave up.  The doctor said "we hope for about 8-10 words by 18 months." So yeah, he's a little talker!
#5 Two of my favorite things he says are his sisters' names: "Nit-ney" for Whitney and "Kate" or "Kat" or "Kakey" for Katelyn.  Adorable.

He loves to read stories "sories" and wrestle and play ball/catch with Dad.  He loves to go outside and he's gotten pretty fast on his little push car thing.  Yesterday he just started riding it up the street and didn't look back!  I followed him, but he didn't turn around and see me until he was almost a block from our house!  I asked him where he was going, and he said "dance cass"--he was planning to ride all the way up to the city Rec building (a mile away)?!  Silly.  So I said "let's go!"  We got over another block away (uphill) before I convinced him to come home and get a drink. :)  Apparently he's got some endurance!  He likes to play with cars and trains and megablocks and he LOVES to color!  He'll carefully draw long lines, then short lines, then swirly circles, he usually doesn't just scribble, it's like he's actually trying to make something. :)

His favorite food is cottage cheese.  The only vegetable he likes is peas.  He occasionally asks for rice and cheese for breakfast. He loves cords and laces and carries around small appliances like the iron or blow dryer.

We love love our Owen and hope he stays this much fun forever. :)