He enjoys soccer, playing with his toy cars, trains, airplanes and excavator. He loves reading all sorts of books. He is absolutely head-over-heels for anything related to Disney/Pixar’s Cars franchise including pajamas, Crocs™, scooter (with matching helmet, kneepads, elbow pads and gloves), and, of course, all the actual toy car characters from the movie.

I love this age.

Here is the headshot.

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I was impressed with how well produced and coordinated everything seemed and the variety of topics and audience participation activities. Accordingly, I highly recommend Yo Gabba Gabba Live to any family lucky enough to have the YGG come to town for a visit.

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Here is the headshot.

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However, it is also due to my recent move to the Windows Phone Division from the Developer Division. Good thing I began my switch to Windows Phone when it debuted last year, eh?

I spent my entire 13 years at Microsoft in DevDiv working on a litany of platforms and tools developers have used to build consumer and enterprise applications for mostly desktop computers and servers. Now, I am off doing pretty much the same thing, building application platforms, but this time targeting mobile devices. Phones are obviously an exciting place to be with all the buzz and tremendous growth surrounding iOS and Android. Having worked on several seminal products—including Visual J++, ASP.NET 1.0 and Silverlight 1.0—I am accustomed to being the underdog in the highly-charged race to woo developers to nascent technology. Perhaps I will start a series on what I think makes Windows Phone special having spent the last few years as an iPhone devotee. Stay tuned…

In other news, Owen started playing soccer in Arena Sports Lil’ Kickers. He’s in the Thumpers (2-3 year old) group where they mostly run around, kick stuff, and learn to follow the coach’s instructions. It is really funny watching him develop and a good way to get the family outdoors each Saturday morning.

Owen’s First Soccer Practice

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Spring 2011 – Beta Gamma Chapter from John Ledbetter on Vimeo.

Alpha is more than the pledging, the stepping, the strolling, the chanting, the signs, the gear, the partying, the debauchery, the brotherhood, the service, the academics, the secrets, the history. Yet, it is all those, too. I share this video because it captures the essence of Alpha better than I can and does so with no words. Now you know.

In the process of preparing to write this post I realized it is quite conceivable that, in sixteen years, Owen could be that skinny kid, standing with his line brothers in the rain, Alpha Phi Alpha emblazoned on his chest. How powerful would that be?

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Owen has had several major developments this month with his independence and maturity being the recurring theme. First, he refuses to sit in his high chair preferring a barstool at the kitchen island, instead. Second, he thinks he is too old to wear a bib though the messes he creates suggest otherwise. Third, he walks down the stairs without holding onto the railing. Also, he started calling TB and me by our first names. Lastly, he is starting to speak in 3- and 4-word sentences.

It has been amazing watching our little guy grow and we hope you have enjoyed following his development through his second year. The Owen picture posts will be fewer and farther between from this point forward. Getting him to sit stationary is nearly impossible and I imagine it will only get more difficult—well, at least until he is 25.

Here is the headshot.

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Developmentally, Owen has become quite the conscientious and helpful toddler. He likes order and enjoys helping out. These are two of his toddler traits we hope he never outgrows. His favorite words are “no thank you”—typically punctuated with a stiff arm—when someone attempts to help him do something he wants to do himself or take something away he wants to keep. TB says he’s such a boy now: running instead of walking, climbing on and jumping off everything, throwing balls down the stairs, etc.

His favorite song is “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas (groan!) and he consumes berries and yogurt like a Dyson.

Here is the headshot.

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Here is the headshot.

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We have regressed with weaning him from his binky due to a terrible stretch of teething caused by his molars. Surely we will get him off the binky before he heads to college.

Here is the headshot.

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“It’s never too early to introduce your child to Star Wars.”

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