He might look cute.....

But this boy has turned into trouble. It's a good thing he's so darn cute or I might send him off to live with the monkeys! (Is that actually a saying or did I just make that up...if so, what in the world is that supposed to mean?) Owen is a master at getting into trouble. I decided to share a few examples here just so they would be recorded for posterity...you know, so that when my kids complain about their kids I can say, "Whoa, I totally got ya beat!"

Item of mischief #1.
Owen can get out of anything......I really do mean anything. Case in point, today while we were running errands I had Owen in the seat of the cart (not strapped in, so sue me) and while I was looking at something he managed to get to the back of the cart with out making a sound! I still have no idea how he did it. Quite impressive. He can get himself out of his stroller with enough wiggling and is not the least bit worried about falling or getting hurt. I need this boy to acquire a sense of fear!

Item of mischief #2.

A love of cups. I know it doesn't sound like a bad thing, but I hate giving Owen any of Ainsley's "big girl" cups. This is what he looked like one day after using one of her cups with a lid, a built in straw, and a little air hole. After a decent amount of blowing there was milk all over the place, including his face. He begs for cups and sometimes I cave during a moment of sheer weakness and without fail I end up with a soaking Owen, soaking floor, soaking high chair, you get the picture. Today I made him wear his soaking clothes until they dried. I mean, he only has so many outfits. Is that mean?

Item of mischief #3.

Aggression has reached new levels around here. Owen has found a way to vent when he is frustrated, angry, hurt, or just wants your attention and your not giving it to him. He hits. The worst part is that he just hits what ever is in front of him. A lot of times it's Ains. She's just not fast enough. I need to teach her to move out of the way faster if she's going to survive a brother. We've been trying to discipline Owen by removing him from the situation and making him have a "time-out" every time he hits, but it just doesn't seem to be working. I keep trying to teach him nice and mean things, like hugging vs. hitting. But we still haven't made much progress. Although he is getting good at saying sorry and giving whoever he hit a hug after his time-out. I really like watching him walk up to Ains slowly with his arms outstretched to give her a hug, and she's so forgiving that she's always ready to give him one back...for now. I wonder if he had more words if he wouldn't be so aggressive? Until then, time-outs for us, unless any of you have any magical suggestions.

Item of mischief #4.

AKA the current cause of my greatest daily grief. Owen loves the pantry and spends a good portion of his day here. You would think I would have gotten a child proof handle by now. But to tell you the truth, I have a hard time with the darn things and was hoping to avoid it. Owen rarely eats meals. He plays with his food, throws it on the ground, gets it taken away, and then sneaks into the pantry when I'm not looking. There are only a few packages that he can get into, but he'll eat anything in there that he can get open. He's been found eating a bag of Honey Bunches of Oats...what 1 year old likes Honey Bunches of Oats? Today he chewed through the plastic wrapper of a fruit roll up to reveal the goodie inside, not an easy task, but my son can get into ANYTHING! I swear I'm sweeping or vacuuming up his cracker messes at least 5 times a day, and this is on top of my after meal sweeping. Basically I'm sick of sweeping!

Item of mischief #5.
Lotion/greasy things. I have now had Vaseline and lotion on my carpet. Thankfully not in the same day. This morning Owen grabbed my big bottle of lotion out of my bathroom so quickly that I didn't notice even though I was standing there getting ready. A few moments later I heard Ains screaming and found Owen covered in lotion, along with my carpet. He had somehow gotten the whole pump unscrewed in order to get out the most lotion possible in the shortest amount of time. Smart kid! I'll bill him later for my carpet cleaning bill. (Sorry no picture.........would you have stopped to take a picture? I think not!)


Item of mischief #6.
Water...including toilet water. Owen has a love for all things liquid. He loves it when we water the garden or the yard. and has yet to come inside not completely soaked when we have been outside and there has been water involved. He's not a little wet mind you, you'd think he'd been sitting in a swimming pool by the amount of water dripping off of him.

He also loves the bathroom sink. More specifically, he loves a cup along with the bathroom sink. That makes a bigger, wetter mess and is therefore more fun. We usually have to lock bathroom doors to keep Owen out of the sink. This poses a problem for poor Ains when she needs to use the bathroom. Which brings me to my deal breaker of the day.

Now Owen has played in the toilet before, this is nothing new to us, but today he took his mischief to new levels. Which, unfortunately brought my anger to new levels and earned Owen his first true spanking. Not a proud mommy moment. But I truly lost it when I heard Ainsley in the bathroom screaming and went in to find her going to the bathroom and a sneaky Owen, who had barged in after her, playing in the toilet WHILE she was going to the bathroom. I was disgusted and angry and, well, hence the swat. I'm sure I'll think this was funny someday...maybe!


FYI: All of these things happened today except for the milk on the face...I'm exhausted!


And a side note for poor Ains. She has struggled to find the fine line between being a helper, a tattle, and sometimes just being in the way. She has really been good and helpful through all of Owen's new discoveries. I'm just grateful that she has been patient with me because sometimes it's hard to vent anger in all the appropriate directions. She's been a great kid for putting up with a mom that is grumpy due to a busy toddler.