Little Mr. Big Man

 Owen at a hockey game, being carried by the team mascot.  Of course he was.

 Owen and Mommy in the photo booth at Main Event during the week that brother and sister started school, but Owen's preschool had not yet started.  That is always a fun week of Mommy and Owen time.  He loves the arcade game where we shoot pirates together (he's quite the marksman), and air hockey.

 Meet The Teacher day at preschool.  Enjoying the toys already.

Spiky hair - I love my spiky hair!

Little Mr. Big Man.  The biggest personality in the smallest body.  Owen has a way of getting in the middle of ANYthing and EVERYthing.  I know it sometimes bugs his siblings, this way he has of gaining favor and getting things from people.  He is a master of charming people in order to benefit himself.  As a mother, I can see the value in it - I know he will always find a way to get by in life.  If he had been my sibling...well, I can certainly understand how it could rub a person the wrong way.

I have lost track of all the things he has been given in stores, restaurants, everywhere.  There was a Mexican restaurant we frequented when he first came home, and a certain waitress there would always spot him and come running over to either 1) offer him ice cream (& no she didn't offer the other 2!), or 2) apologize for not having ice cream.  I think all that started when he was barely talking and he asked her for a treat.  At Main Event once a girl let him pick a treat out for free (in the area where they are supposed to use the "points" they earned at the arcade games) if he would just wink and give her a thumbs up like he did to someone else.  The list goes on and on.  The good part for me is that I generally hate talking to strangers or asking for things, so I can use him for that.  If any of the kids gets a toy at McDonalds and they whine to me that it is something they don't like or already have, Owen will go ask at the counter for an alternate toy.  I always thought they just had one toy choice per week, but I've seen the Latina ladies behind the counter giggling over him, and taking 10 minutes to go in the back and find something else.  Even his siblings can appreciate this, because my response would normally be "You get what you get." but if Owen is willing to bargain, I'm okay with that.  What can I say - he has a gift.  So when he went to a hockey game with Jim the other night for a baseball teammate's birthday, did it surprise me at all to get a text of Owen being carried around by the mascot?  No, it did not.  Sometimes I want to tuck him under my arm and carry him around, myself.