Owen Michael

Owen Michael (2.33), a.k.a. “O’Mike” has the most loud and gregarious belly laugh of all my grandchildren, and it has been this way since he could first laugh as an infant.  People would look and stare incredulously before asking us “How old is he?”

O’Mike loves to laugh, loves to be tickled, loves to play, be thrown, and to be rough-housed; and this last part is not for the faint of heart.  He has a pain tolerance that would make Alfredo Molina blush.  Who's that?  Oh he's just a guy from Costa Rica that is one of baseballs greatest catchers ever, who happens to play for the World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinal's; who doesn't think a broken knee cap should keep you from kneeling to catch for 9 innings, or a broken elbow should keep you from throwing out a runner trying to steal 2nd, or broken ribs should keep you from swinging for a home run.  The guy is TOUGH. 

Owen is by nature loud, proud, and in your face.  He takes no prisoners, and likely never will, especially when you see him with his perfect posture, tall stature, shoulders back, and then marching (or running) into a room as if to announce “I’m here!, take a number if you want to see me.”  I see another type A growing up before my very eyes, which incidentally, on O’Mike, are shaped exactly like mine . . .

Owen has his Mom’s nose, the Mace shaped head (also like his Mom), and his Pappy’s eye shape; and when you put it all together, it’s pretty spooky to see someone that looks a lot like me, so much so, that he is sometimes referred to as Mini-Me. 

Steven (his Dad) looks nothing like me of course, and Jackie (his Mom) is a virtual clone of her Mom (Nini Pam).  So, how does O’Mike look like me?  Well, it’s that DNA thing again that I’ve talked about before.  My 25% just happens to show up pretty substantially in him. 

Life with O’Mike is anything but quiet!  Wow, this little boy is Loud and Busy, with the capital L and B.  He runs, marches, skips, hops, jumps everywhere; walking was/is too easy.  I don’t think I’ve seen him take but 4 normal walking steps this past year.  It’s run, march, hop, skip, run, march, hop, skip; that’s O’Mike, no leisurely walking anywhere for him.  That’s too easy. 

When he wakes up, he is ‘on’, no slow wake up time needed for him.  It is look out, give me a ball, any ball, just give me a ball and get out of my way because I am coming through.  Oh, and by the way Mom, where’s my food; don’t you know you’re supposed to have my food ready when my feet hit the floor?  He says to himself "when will she ever learn?" . . . 

O’Mike is a big ‘un, but not fat, and he actually looks pretty lean when he is butt naked, but it’s just the way he carries himself that makes him look so big.  Right now though, his height is off the charts, somewhere in the hundredth percentile.  No one believes us when we tell them he is only 2, as he towers over most all of the other 2 year olds, and is on par with most 3 year olds. 

There is a lot of height on both sides of the family, so it is quite possible that Owen will be a tall one too.  Counting males, there are eight (8) known male relatives that are 6’ tall or taller, with two (2) of those topping out at 6’ 3”.  Counting females, there are three (3) known female relatives that are 5’ 7” or taller.  If he stops growing at 5’ 5”, no one will be more shocked than me; but I’m betting on 6’ 3” which is much more likely.

Unlike the rest of the Kueny clan, but like most of the Fournier feaster’s, Owen is a BIG eater; somewhat persnickety in his choices, but a big eater of things he likes.  He easily out eats his brother WP on a regular basis, and we definitely see big food bills lining up in front of his parents once he hits the teens.  (Mom, always remember, if he works for McDonald’s as a teen, your food bill will be cut in half, so keep a job applicable handy when he hits 15.) 

For a long time now, Owen will ‘test smell’ his food before placing it in his mouth.  If it smells good, it’s going in.  Otherwise, who knows where it will end . . ., just like the flying tortillas at El Tequila, he has been known to hurl his food with tremendous skill if it doesn’t smell good to him.

His speech and comprehension will blow you away if you spend any time with him.  These type of skills have not been seen since his cousin Ava’s days of yore as a 2 year old.  Owen’s word count is probably well over 200 by now.  Plus, he has his Nini’s adroit skills of people watching and perception.  We witnessed him observing/reading lips and people’s behaviors before he could even sit. 

And babble.  Wow, does this little boy babble or what?!  Now, at 2.33, he will say almost anything you ask, and routinely speaks in full sentences.  He is literally only weeks away from being in fully understandable conversation mode; which is a full year ahead of language skills for most boys his age.

O’Mike’s smarts will get to you.  Owen thinks he is older than 2, and the way he will carry on full conversations with you, he truly believes that you understand every word that he is speaking, because he certainly understands what he just said.  He will ramble / bumble / babble for minutes on end, and you'll understand about half of it, but O'Mike understands everything of what he just said.  And if you asked him to repeat it, he gets ticked off.  That is one amazing brain at work.  I love you Owen Michael.