Lions and Bubbles, Oh My!

This week has been very hectic for Mommy but slow and steady for Rowen. Rowen had 3-4 good days without any signs of infection. However, over the past 2 days he has been having a runny nose and cough again. ARGHHH!!! We are going back to the doctor's office on Friday, so we will have an update there.

He does not seem to be to bothered by this recent illness. Since there is no fever this time, the runny nose could be in part due to teething. Rowen has 6 teeth on the bottom and seems to be getting one more. He still has his 4 on the top, but I think the top molars are on the way in. I do not know if baby teeth predict orthodontics....but Rowen appears to have some crookedness going on! I guess this is no surprise since his Mom had braces TWICE and his Dad is still trying to get his teeth straight with envisilign.

Rowen has continued to acquire language skills. He now knows that doggies say Woof Woof. If I say, "should we put on some music?" He walks right over to the stereo. Today, we got out his bubbles and without prompting he said "boobals". He continues to know Elmo and Zoe. He will sometimes use Elmo for other sesame street characters.


Although Rowen is on the small size, Ms. Anna at daycare informed Bryan that Rowen is very apt to stand up for himself when the bigger boys come around. Go Rowen! He has begun to go outside and play on the playground at day care. He loves the toy house they have and will stand for a long time, just open/closing the shutters. He is constantly on the move at home and loves to explore. He is really fascinated by new textures. Touch the bark of a tree always results in a little giggle. Last night on the way out from the restaurant he went over and touched the stone building side with amazement. He does not want to be carried much anymore, preferring to walk himself. Although this is an important step for Rowen- it certainly slows things down!

Below are pictures this morning with Rowen and the never fall over Lion and Bubbles outside. Today it is 73 degrees! Amazing. Spring is here. Enjoy the photos.

Get in my belly!

Here are a few quick videos. Yesterday we could not believe how big Rowen's belly was?? It seems like he is eating us out of house and home. He was running around before getting his jammers on- rubbing his belly. It was hilarious!

Another video from today- What does the Dino (Dinosaur) say? ROOAAAR!!

We have created a whole little person!

It is amazing to see Rowen grow as he becomes his own little person. He has likes and dislikes. He has a sense of humor. He is easily amused both by others and himself. Today when Bryan picked him up, Ms. Anna said "Rowen laughed all day. He finds the whole world amusing!"

He remembers things and will seek out previous experiences. It is really amazing. It leaves me filled with both the desire to stop time and fast forward time. I want to know what he would say - when he can talk. At the same time, I know this will be fleeting and we will think back and miss this precious time in his life.

Updates--
Check up: Rowen had a check up last week. He is now 30.25 inches tall and 21 lbs heavy. This puts him in the 10-25 percentile. His head continues to measure in the 5 percentile. Measures small. But Dr. Maughan and us agree -- he looks "normal". So we have decided not to worry. Following this, he did have some really difficult nights and we suspect he had an ear infection. He is on antibiotics now and appears to be doing better. This is his fourth episode of infection requiring medication. But, Dr. Maughan says this is still in the "ball park" for normal. Rowen also got his first Trim. Mama cut his bangs. We are still deciding when we should do the first "official" haircut.

Language: Rowen definitely has a growing understanding of language. Both sign and spoken. Today in the grocery store he pointed to a banana and said NaNa. He see's ELMO everywhere and loves him. Very strange. He loves the Elmo books that Bubbe and Zadie got him that play music. He also says Dino and Doggie very routinely. He has begun to say Mama and Dada pretty regularly. He does not "call" for us. But will point to us and say our appropriate names. He always say "HI!!" when he first sees you. Super adorable. He has added school, snow, and shoes to the repertoire. It must be an "S" week. He has mastered the use of signs for drink, more, and all done and uses them regularly.

Motor: He walks everywhere. He is able to get up and down the stairs quite proficiently. He is working hard on his fine motor skills and likes to "practice" with the fork and spoon. Most of the time, however, he hands it to me and makes his little "feed me" birdie face.

Cleverness: Tonight we were up in the bed room and Rowen was over by my clock radio which we play CDs in each morning. He was playing quietly with this. All the sudden we started to hear music. We have no idea how he figured out how to turn it on and make it play! Amazing. We are still a little dumb-founded by this one!

No: He does say No all the time. He clearly knows what he wants. Tonight in the car riding home I started to sing Itsy-Bitsy spider, Rowen "No". OK, I started to sing, Patty Cake, Rowen "NO". I started to sing Twinkle Little Star, Rowen "No". I finally got it right and began to sing an old camp song I have sung to him before. Rowen- silence, smile, clapping along. Some much easier when he can say- "camp song Mommy!"

Here is a short video from this weekend exploring out side. You can hear Rowen say Thank you and No. And some Rowenees that I have not yet been able to translate.