Rowan's Baptism

We had Rowan baptized on Father's Day. He was fantastic for the whole ceremony. There were two other boys baptized the same day. Pastor Perry Fruhling officiated (the same pastor who baptized Viv). 

Proud cousin Ryker...

He was the best dressed baby there! If I do say so myself...sporting his new hair do as well. 

He conveniently spit up all over Nathan's shirt right before the pictures...so we had to strategically place the burp cloth. 

With the Great Grandparents...

We hosted lunch at our house after church and had vanilla and chocolate cupcakes for dessert. Gma Julie made the awesome cake toppers. 

His sponsors...Aunt Teresa, Uncle Adam, and 'Uncle' Jason...

5 months

Five months down...17 years and 7 months to go! Do you think he'll be smiling this big when he's 18 and I'm taking his picture? Probably not...Rowan probably weighs over 18 pounds right now and is soon going to be into 9 month sized clothes. He's still in size 2 diapers but he's about grown out of those too. He officially started rolling over yesterday...and he went both ways. Nathan scared me to death because he nonchalantly told me yesterday morning when we he went to get Rowan up for his bottle that he was on his stomach! So we immediately started doing tummy time yesterday and that night I put him in his crib on his stomach to go make his bottle and when I returned he was back on his back. I flipped him back onto his stomach and he rolled onto his back at least 3 more times. Of course, I can't get him to roll when he's on the floor because Vivian is usually laying on top of him. He is starting to sit up with support from the boppy pillow. He's eating solids a little better...he seems to be getting more into his stomach rather than on his bib. He really seems to like pears and I've been mixing his oatmeal cereal with whole milk instead of formula. He was gagging every time I'd try to feed it to him mixed with formula....can't say I blame him! I can't say enough about how laid back and easy this little guy is. Viv can hardly stand it she wants to play with him so bad. She now wants to show him all her toys....I'm definitely ready for him to start interacting more with her. He belly laughs at her frequently when she starts in with her antics. I hope they will always remain best friends.  

Taken Way Too Soon

One of my favorites of his senior pictures...RIP

3 month pictures

Oops...the plight of being the second child. I forgot to post his 3 month pictures. We had to shoot them twice because he was sick the first time...he came down with a nasty GI virus and wasn't his usual smiley self...but luckily Aunt Bridget was able to work us back into her busy schedule once he was back to normal. 

4 months

His little laugh and smile are infectious. Rowan is so ticklish! I don't remember Viv being that ticklish as a baby...maybe on her feet but not like this guy. He absolutely loves having one on one attention and having people right on up in his face. He just beams and squeals when you talk to him. He loves it when Viv gets in his personal space....until she bites him! Sigh.....

He had his 4 month appointment today, his current stats are height 26.5 in (89%), Weight 16# 12 oz (68%), head 42.8 cm (85%). He had a great check up. He's well into his 6-9 month clothes and those seem to almost be too small. Still in size 2 diapers. I'm struggling with his feeding schedule a bit since we started solids. He's starting to take after his sister and isn't quite as food motivated as he once was. It takes him FOREVER to finish 8 oz and he's not sold on the oatmeal cereal. He seems ok with some fruit...pears and apples seem to be a hit so far but most of the time he still ends up wearing most of it. I tried to go up a size in nipples and that was a huge mistake....it gives him horrible gas pains and he cannot handle the flow. 

He is still sleeping through the night and is still a champ in every other aspect of life! Ha! He's wanting to sit up more and more and has started to grab onto toys when he's on his play mat. I started a new Bible study and so I drop the kids off at the nursery and they both have been great. Viv was of course a bit shy at first but this last week she couldn't have cared less where I was at. Rowan has also done fantastic...I distinctly remember her having 'stranger danger' even at this early age....but Rowan is so laid back, he doesn't seem to care who is holding him...or just hangs out in his car seat. 

Viv came to get me while I was getting ready the other morning and said 'Baby gogies'....she kept repeating the same phrase and I couldn't understand what she was talking about. Then I realized she had been playing with her glasses and I decided I had better check on Rowan...and sure enough, she had put her glasses on him. She was so proud! 

He wasn't distressed at all! 

She just can't wait to show him her toys, etc...

With GG Streeper at the cyclone tailgate tour. 

First time trying cereal...I don't think he was too impressed. 

Hanging at the splash pad...

Viv is now asking all the time to 'hold baby'. I tell her to sit down, which she does quickly. She loves to hold him and now she sits and says 'cheese'! He always takes it in stride and never fusses...even when it appears she's going to drop him!

Here she's just being sneaky...she really just wants 'blue mimi'...

Hanging out at Gpa and Gma's house while we went to Florida....

Gma gave him a teeny tiny mohawk...

Post bath smiles...

Something to Talk About

Viv's vocabulary continues to grow every day. For awhile she was repeating the same stuff all the time and we would have the same 'conversations' every day. But it seems like just within the last two weeks or so she's picking up new words and phrases and using them accordingly. I know I'm not going to remember everything that she says and I wish I could type it in the way she says it...but I'm just considering it a 'win' that I'm remembering to document what I can. 

She still pretty much asks for 'Baby Boy' the second she wakes up. Her favorite item still remains 'ink mimi' or 'purple mimi'. She loves all her 'horseys' and plays with them frequently. She constantly asks for 'black dia' (iPad) so she can watch her shows...Wrigley is 'giggly' and Mickey is 'gigi' with a hard G sound. We've discovered the movie Finding Nemo and so now she asks to 'watch memo' all the time. She also likes to tell me in the most pathetic little voice when 'Baby cry'...and usually she's the reason Rowan is crying! We recently checked out a new book at the library called Little White Fish. She loved this book and knew the story within a couple of reads....so she would sit and 'read' it herself...basically the story is that the baby fish is crying because he can't find his mother...so he looks at each sea creature and asks if that's his mommy. Viv liked to talk about how 'baby 'ish cry' and 'mommy 'ish'...and when asked if each sea creature was his mommy she would say 'nnnnnooooooo'. She loved the book so much I ended up getting her a copy. She's also loving Dr. Seuss books right now as well as the Goldbug book. 

We are on the verge of potty training as she does tell me after she's gone potty and says she's 'potty in her kicks'...I've come to learn that 'kicks' are pants/clothes. She also tells me she has 'rocks n kicks'...meaning she also has a dirty diaper...and I follow up with asking if she has rocks in her pants? She loves to name the colors of everything..especially cars. She's finally started to say orange but still won't say red...or it comes out as 'gong'. She's very into labels and every older person is either a 'Papa or Gaga', everyone our age is 'mommy or Baba' and every person her age or younger is 'baby'. She still hasn't attempted to say her own name. She refers to herself as 'baby'. When we sit down to family dinner she has to name everyone. 

We had some big knock down, drag out fights over saying 'please'..she has said it for a long time but when I started requiring her to say it we had some power struggles...but guess who won? Now its onto getting her to say thank you consistently. 

We are working on counting but she refuses to start at the beginning and ignores 1-4... her counting starts at 5....5,6,8,9,10... and she conveniently leaves out 7. She recognizes all the letters of the alphabet but doesn't sing her 'ABCs' yet. I bought her some number flashcards and to my surprise she knew all the numbers too...so we'll work on the counting. 

Most mornings we try and get out of the house for some reason or another. If we aren't going anywhere she's been asking to 'go'. She asks to put on her 'ho-hos' (shoes) and her 'kitty-kitty coat' (Hello Kitty coat). She's also been asking to wear her hat and sunglasses too. 

And every night before bed she asks for 'cookies and 'ilk'...graham crackers and milk. I'm loving that I can finally communicate with her but I will miss her toddler talk!

3 months

Rowan has been sleeping through the night for about 2 weeks now. While Nathan was at the Rolex I transitioned him to his crib and so now has been sleeping in his crib for about 10 days or so. Hooray!!  He's suddenly gotten himself on a schedule...I'm not quite sure how it happened...it all just sort of fell into place. He gets up anywhere from 7:15-7:30 in the morning and has 8 oz of milk, eats 8 oz again at noon, between 4-5 pm and again around 8-9 pm. He's been napping really well in the afternoon- anywhere from 1-4 pm and then takes a short nap in the morning and right before bed. Bedtime is usually anywhere from 9-10 pm. Generally, he doesn't have any problems falling asleep but does sometimes need his pacifier. I can't say it enough...he just continues to be the most laid back baby! He hardly ever cries and just grins all the time. He's not a big talker/cooer unless you are right in his face. But he does like to laugh! He's probably well over 15# by now...we don't go back to the doctor until 4 months. He's already out grown the size 1 diapers but we still have a few left to use up. I think I only bought one box of size 1. His 3 month sleepers are already starting to show a little 'stretch' and so it won't be long before we need 6-9 month sized clothes. His sister still LOVES him and is the first person she looks for and asks about in the morning. He isn't spitting up quite as much through his nose but he drools all the time and still lives in a bib. His hair has grown back and all stands up on end...I feel the nickname 'Butch' is coming soon from Papa Terry. His eyes are slowly turning more brown and his hair is very light brown/blonde. He has a lot more eczema than Viv did but his skin has cleared up a lot since he was a newborn. We just love this little guy and he was the best addition to the family!