Big Boy BOB and More

SO much has happened since Rowen's 4 month B-day. Today Rowen went on his first real stroller ride without the car seat. We cruised around our neighborhood and talked with all the folks in our little cul de sac. Everyone was out enjoying the early spring weather. It was a lot of fun.


However, the last 2 weeks have been filled with other no so fun firsts. Almost two weeks ago, Monday Rowen got his second set of vaccinations. This went reasonably well. But for the next day or two Ro had a low grade temp. Then on Wed he started to have more of a crude head (Mommy's term for snot in the nose). On Thursday we picked him up from a fussy day at Ms. Kate's house. When we came home I noticed he was coughing more. During bath time, he seemed to be working hard to breath. After a brief phone consult with the Dr. we were headed for our first trip to the ED. I guess it was the second trip to the ED if you count the time we went when I was 13 weeks pregnant with pneumonia. But I digress.


In the ED Rowen received a breathing treatment and seemed to have a moderate response to this. Because he was not febrile (with fever) and was oxygenating well- we were cleared to leave and to head to Wisconsin for our planned trip to visit my family and celebrate Bryan's 40th birthday!!


On Friday, he seemed about the same- maybe a little bit better. We headed to Wisconsin at 4pm. Rowen was a total champ on his first plane ride. The second plane was delayed, past Rowen's bedtime and did not go as well. At one point he was screaming....screaming....screaming as loud as you could image. I had a prolonged and vivid series of all the moments in my life when I thought "Geez, what kind of parent lets their kid scream like that on a plane" Or "What is wrong with that kid" or "why don't they calm him down"... etc. There are others, but you get the idea. I had no idea that much of the time it is out of one's control. May this be my public apology.


So the weekend in Wisconsin was great. Friday night was however awful. Rowen was up most of the night. On Saturday, we headed to Madison sans Rowen with Amie and David. Grandma Benz and Papa had a night with the grandkids, which they enjoyed. The parents went to the film festival and saw 3 movies and went out to dinner. It was delightful.



Sunday, Rowen had a great day playing with Cousin Lucie, Aunt Amie, Uncle David, Grandma Benz and Papa. In an effort to streamline out luggage- we did not bring a camera. But, soon Amie is going to send us some pics to share (for those of you on face book- you can check it out on Amie's FB page). Monday we traveled home and everyone commented on what a great baby Rowen was. We were beaming proud parents. Sure it was a direct manifestation of our parenting and not the fading illness that transformed our grouchy air traveler to a pleasant and admired infant in arms.



Unfortunately by Tuesday night Rowen appeared to be having some issues again. Wednesday was the pinnacle- when Ro cried every 25-40 minutes from 7:30 pm until 2:45 am. Thursday we were back at the doctor to rule out an ear infection. Our doctor was out of town and the experience left much to be desired. The bottom line was "bring him back if he gets sicker".


Fortunately, he got better and seemed to be on the mend. However, last night was another set back. And today, he is more of a crude head. It is hard to be little. He did roll over for the first time from his front to his back. But, we have yet to see a repeat performance.


Below are some videos of Rowen- sitting and talking. I have mentioned Rowen's loud voice before. We have captured some of it here. Take a look.

Reading this back- I realize only Rowen's mother would be this interested in the details of his ongoing crude headedness. But at least I gave you videos!