Liam is 3!!

So Liam is officially 3 years old now! We decided to have their party early because some family members would be of town during their actual birthdays. Anyway, we had our party at Arete Gymnastics. We had the whole place to ourselves for 1 hour of playtime, and then 30 min. to have our cake and gifts. The kids had a great time playing!  All his cousins were there as well as one one of my friends little boy.   We had a Curious George theme, and we ordered a monkey cake, similar looking to George, but they did not have the kit to make it. So we had to pick a different design at the last minute, and we ended up with Finding Nemo...so we called this theme 'Curious George Goes Scuba Diving'. We put 2 monkey's on the cake, one for Rowan and one for Liam!  Right before we lit the cake I was looking for Mike to make sure he had his camera to take pictures, and while I wasn't looking poor Liam lost his balance on the bench and fell backwards onto the concrete floor! He hit his head pretty good, and I felt so bad. He cried for a bit, but he was OK thankfully. We sang happy birthday to the kids, and enjoyed some cake. We let Liam open his gifts, but we were pretty pressed for time, so we took Rowan's gifts home to open later. All in all I think the party was a great success!

It's kinda funny to think back a year ago when Rowan was just born, and Liam did not want anything to do with her.  And now, he is such a great big brother.  He loves her so much, and loves to play with her.  He hugs and kisses her and is always concerned about how and what she is doing.  There is a little rivalry mixed in there, but overall he just adores his little sister, and we couldn't ask for a better big brother.

He loves being read to, and also 'reading' his books.  He hasn't been the easiest kid to potty train, it's still a work in progress because he can not be easily bribed.  But, he will make an excuse to sit on his potty to read a few of his favorite books...already taking after dad!!  He also is loving to help his grandma and dad cook.  He doesn't cut or use the stove yet, but loves measuring and mixing stuff!  And we have also noticed that he is more likely to try something if he has helped make it.  So we will have to make that more of an activity for him.

He's really been into his cars lately. I got him a car suitcase, and he loves to take them in and out to organize them.  He is really excited for Christmas, and had a great time decorating the tree.  In fact, he insisted on re-decorating it for several days after too!  It's kinda funny, a few months before Christmas, we asked him who Santa was, and he said it was Mom and Dad...not sure if he even knew what he was saying, but we thought that was pretty funny, but really didn't want him telling kids at school that.  Even before we had kids, I had been so conflicted about telling our kids about Santa or not.  I really have a problem making up stories (aka lying), so we kinda just decided to let it happen naturally...hearing it from other people, on TV, at school.  We did not tell him about Santa flying in his sleigh, or coming down the chimney.  We just casually talked about him like we would any other character on TV.  I think it worked out well this year.  He got a little magic of Santa without it being a whole elaborate story.  

Other than potty training, our other trial lately has been bedtime.  We have always left one light on in his bathroom, so it's not completely dark, but now he also insists to have his room light on too.  He has been crying and clinging to us when it's time for us to go.  We are guessing his imagination is getting more intense by the way he talks about monsters and such, so it is probably just a phase. Anyway, we take the good with the bad, and are always grateful to have such a wonderful boy in our family!

Rowan is 1 Year Old!

We just can't believe that a whole year has come and gone, and our little baby is 1 year old already?! She turned 1 on November 26th, and we got her a small cake, and sang her happy birthday.  It was in the evening and she was a little tired, so she cried a bit when we offered her the cake.  I put a little of the frosting on her mouth, and she actually decided she liked it!  Liam helped her open her presents.  She got a Fisher Price talking/singing tea set, an Abby Cadabby 'P is for Princess' DVD, and her first doll.  She is constantly doing new things and surprising us, so I had to hurry and write down all the new things she's doing lately before she goes and changes on us again.  She is still not walking on her own,but she is getting close, and she is climbing on everything!  She loves Liam's Cozy Coupe Car, and she can open the door, climb in, close the door and move it backwards.  She LOVES playing in it, and we think it's her favorite toy right now.  She had her 1 year Dr.s visit on December 3rd. and we were a little surprised given that she is more social than Liam was at this age, that she scored low on a few sections. Although we weren't concerned since they always seem to start doing most of them shortly after we fill it out. And sure enough about a week after she started pointing at things she likes or wants like Cherrios, and lights and trying out words for the items.  She now weighs an even 20 lbs., 33.04 percentile, she is 28.8 inches, 41.29 percentile, and her head is 18.25 inches, 84.62 percentile.  A couple of super cute things she's been doing lately is what we call the claw wave, where she will open and close her thumb and pointer finger, kinda like a lobster claw.  And the other one is clapping when we say 'Yay', or clap when we sing a song with clapping in it. Everyday we just marvel at how wonderful a baby she is, and feel so grateful to have her in our lives.  We love you Rowan!

Rowan: 50 weeks/11.5 months

This is such a bitter sweet moment to write this last update on our little baby before she turns 1 years old on November 26th?!?!  Where has this year gone?!  It doesn't seem that long ago that she was born...Kids really make time more relative.  So here is our update on our cute little girl.  She is still cruising a lot, and standing for a few seconds at times.  She has tried a handful of times to take a step, but she is a very cautious baby, which is quite the opposite of how Liam was.  It is kinda nice to be able to just let her play, and not worry too much about her falling yet.  Plus we have never met a baby that is so interested in playing...we think that is part of the reason she isn't in any hurry to walk.  She has started to say 'What's that?' a lot.  She says 'bye' sometimes, and has started to wave and blow kisses with her hands.  She sometimes will mimic on command too, it's pretty funny.  At night time when she gets loopy with Liam she likes to kneel up on her knees and free fall right onto a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor. She doesn't like to keep her socks on, so I think we will need to get her some shoes, since the first pair of shoes I have for Liam are still too big.  We had a combined birthday party for the kids on November 13th at Arete Gymnastics.  She had a lot of fun in the foam pit with dad!  We are going to get her a smash cake and have a little celebration for her on her actual birthday.  I am happy and sad she's turning one already...I just want to keep her this age forever, but I know that is just impossible!  We love you Rowan!!

Liam: 2 yrs. 11 mo.

Wow, this is the last update on Liam before he turns 3 years old?!?!  Congrats to us, we have survived our first round of the 'Terrible Two's'. Liam continues to grow and change on a daily basis.  He is really loving school now, and is even excited to go and see his teacher and friends.  He has started to lecture us on things we have lectured him about.  For example, we have had some mice sneak into the house, and we have told him not to touch the traps because he could get hurt.  One day Mike was home with the kids and Liam started to lecture him about the mouse traps.  He said something like this ''Dad,  look at me.  Listening and be patient.  No snap the mousetraps.  They will snap and give a bad booboo.  Be a good boy and no touch the mousetraps". It is the funniest thing!  He has also started to negotiate.  He will ask for something, and we will say you can have 3, and he will say, how about 5, and so on.  He has a steel trap memory on certain things.  For example, I took down one of his pictures in his room so that I could hang a Halloween picture.  A few weeks later when I was putting him to bed, he asked to have his old picture back, and he asked for it by the title 'The Waiting Room'.  We have only told him that title maybe a couple of times, and it had been several months since we told him...We were shocked to say the least!  Then later as we were driving we drove past where I had mentioned seeing a dead bunny about a month before and he talked about how sad it was that the bunny got smashed by a car.  Also if I change my route driving to work and back he will say "Going a different way".  His attention to details just amazes us!  Lately his favorite snack has been Doritos, and he calls them 'Doraydose'.  He asked dad to get them at the store one day, and that is all he asks for now, so that will probably be the last bag for a while.  On the bright side, he does like a soy nut mix that is healthy, and soyjoy bars. 

 

He has also discovered the joy of Halloween this year.  He actually was very excited to go trick-or-treating this year. He was very good about putting on his costume too. The first time we got it though it took a little convincing. We ended up putting Rowan's Flower costume on first, and just showed him how cute she looked, then he was fine putting it on. He was a dragon this year, and a very cute one at that! Halloween landed on a Sunday this year, so our state decided Saturday would be the Trick-or-Treating day...but unfortunately, it also was cold, windy and rainy! But thankfully Liam's costume was warm, and we had an umbrella. I took him to handful of houses, then we went home to warm up. After he ate some dinner, Mike took him to several more...the rain had calmed down, and he kept saying one more house, one more house. The next day he wanted to go again...we told him that it was over, but we could do some Trick-or-Treating in the house. It got pretty late and he needed a bath, so I asked Mike to have a few pretzels behind one door, and his milk behind the next one. He knocked on the first door, and dad handed him some pretzels, and then he said 'I want some candy'...such a funny kid! Anyway, it was pretty fun watching him enjoy Halloween!

Liam: 2 yrs. 10 mo.

Liam is doing really well in school.  We had a parent/teacher conference at the end of September.  It was also a meeting with his new teacher, Miss Farrah.  (Miss Emily is no longer his teacher).  Miss Farrah is really nice, and told us that Liam is really good in class.  She said that he is kind of the 'leader' in the class.  If she needs the class to do something, she will ask Liam to set the example because all the other kids will watch and follow what he is doing.  He also gets along with all the kids, and plays with everyone.  As far as his 'studies' go, she says it's kinda early to say since school just started.  But she did say he is a little shy when it comes to saying his colors, numbers, and ABC's.  Hopefully he will warm up and not be so shy because we know he knows all that stuff!  We also got Liam's school pictures back, and they are so cute...we got one of him, and a class picture too...we were surprised how they got 8 kids to sit still long enough for a picture...an amazing feat. 

Liam is starting to tell stories, and his imagination has started to get more enhanced.  One night he was scared of monsters in his room, so I decided to spray some 'Monster' spray (aka Fabreeze) and it worked like a charm, thankfully!  

He has been into Trucks and dinosaurs lately.  He loves to watch shows on them and read books, and since it's Halloween this month he has also loved watching 'Nightmare Before Christmas'.  He has started using the 'I love you' hand sign while telling us he loves us.  Dad also taught him the peace sign, and hang loose...so cute!  He has been a bit more sensitive to 'boo-boos' lately and we think partly he just loves the attention it gets him.  

His favorite dessert has been Popsicles.  We get the all natural fruit ones so hopefully not too bad for him or his teeth.  Ever since I started brushing his teeth when he was a baby it has been a fight.  I got him an Elmo book on it, and also started to talk about getting the sugars off, so FINALLY over the past few months he has started to let me brush his teeth without a fight.  Since he actually lets me brush now, I was able to see that he had a chip in one of his back teeth.  I got a recommendation for a dentist from Mike's cousin, and got him an appointment.  I had no idea if he would be good or not, but figured we should attempt his first visit.  He did amazing!  He sat there and watched 'Charlie Brown' on the TV that was on the ceiling.  The dentist said that his tooth is not decaying, so we will just leave it for now, and just keep an eye on it.  He didn't have any cavities either, so glad about that. 

Last week we took the kids to Pumpkinland to pick out some pumpkins.  We thought of taking him to the activity part, so we started to go back to see what was back there.  He left the cornered off area, and was going toward the road.  We told him to stop, but he gave us his defiant face.  Dad had to run after him...we decided that we didn't have enough time to do the activity that day, so we left.  On the way home, Mike explained to him why going in the road is dangerous.  He told him that he would get a bad boo-boo, and could die.  A couple of days later I saw a dead bunny in the road.  I said how sad it was, and Liam put together the fact that it got smashed by a car, and had a bad boo-boo, and needed a band-aid.  It is so interesting to see how the lessons we teach them, they can process it and talk it out (well as best they can for their age).  It was a good opportunity to talk again about not running out in the road...I'm sure we will need to repeat that one over and over!

Rowan: 45 weeks/10.5 months

Rowan continues to grow and change right before our eyes.  Rowan is now 10.5 months...She is getting better at cruising, and is a really fast crawler.  She is starting to get brave and take steps, but seems she prefers crawling so far.  She has gotten a lot better about eating her fruits and veggies too.  She absolutely loves applesauce, so I decided to put her vitamin/fluoride in there so I wouldn't deter her from eating her other food.  She has started to wave, and say ' Bye, Bye'.  One night I swore she said 'Night, Night'.  Mostly she says 'Da-Da, and Ma-Ma'.  She is pretty independent now, and loves to just get down and play.  She likes to see what Liam is playing with, and likes to get a reaction from him when he gets upset.  Sibling rivalry is already beginning!!  She loves to play and crawl so much, that it is nearly impossible to change her diaper and clothes.  Although at night time when it's time to read a story, she calms down and sits in my lap and listens to the story, and points at the pictures.  We are so happy that she likes to be read too, like Liam does.  Her hair is getting thicker, and it seems to be staying a light brown color.  We just can't believe that she is almost a year old!  The time just goes too fast : (

Rowan: 41 weeks/9.5 months

Wow, where does the time go?!  It is getting increasingly harder to get anything done now because Rowan is really mobile now.  In the last week or so she has started to stand, and cruise!  She is into everything, and wants to play with everything!!  So this means we spend a lot of time now in our playroom where it is safer and easier to watch after her.  But this also means that I can't get any house work done, or work on pictures, or pretty much anything for that matter.  Rowan has also settled more or less into a schedule.  She generally has 2 naps a day now, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon.  When we are home with her, we try to get her to take her second one when Liam does so we can have a break...sometimes this works, but sometimes it does not, which is a bummer because we need a break too!  Anyway, Rowan turned 9 months old on August 26th, which was when she also turned 39 weeks, her IN/OUT day (the day when baby has been out in this world as long as in).  She had her 9 month Dr.'s visit on Sept. 2nd, but I have misplaced her stats sheets, so I will need to find them before I can post them.  I did however write down her weight which was 18 lbs. 1.5 oz.  She had her iron levels checked, but thankfully didn't need any vaccines this time (except I opted to get her a flu vaccine)...so just one this time.  She did very well...meeting all her developmental milestones too.  She LOVES to play with Liam.  She just lights up anytime he is around, and she likes to follow him around too.  She has started to clap, and wave good-bye.  Her two top teeth are coming in now, so she won't be our little vampire anymore. They have quite a wide gap right now, so she might look like Anna Paquin for a while! She loves to eat her cereal and really loves her yogurt, but isn't much of a fan of her jarred food.  I'm not sure if she just doesn't like the taste of it, or if she just isn't very hungry when I feed it to her, but I sure hope she starts eating a better variety of food soon...we already have one picky eater in the house!  We started to feed her some Gerber puffs which she chews well and likes.  I tried a small pear the other day though, and she gagged on it and spit up some food.  Guess we'll need to keep practicing with that one.  The time is just flying by, and she is going to be one year and walking before we know it?!?!

Liam: 2 yrs. 9 mo.

This past month has been so busy and crazy it's been hard to keep up with everything.  Liam started preschool a few weeks ago on August 24th.  The week before school they had 'Meet the Teacher' day, but Liam had a bad cold so Mike and I went to meet her.  Thankfully he was feeling better when the first day started, and he was able to go.  They had some toys out for the kids to play with while the parents dropped them off in class for the first day...a few of the kids were crying, as to be expected. Liam looked rather confused, and a little withdrawn. This is the first time he's been in a setting like this with other kids. The room was pretty chaotic, and I stayed with him until class started. I'm not sure he even noticed me leave the room...he sat here playing with the toys.  When I picked him up he seemed happy to see me. Some of the things he said he did was play with crayons, saw some kids...he also mentioned that he made Miss Emily cry, which I hope is just in his 2 yr. old imagination!  The second day they asked us to use the drop off system in the back of the school.  Liam was really shocked that someone came to get him from the car.  He cried, and my heart sank.  He was OK when I picked him up though...happy to see me.  It's been a bit of a rough adjustment for him going to school as far as his naps go.  He is usually tired by the time school starts, but he is doing well so far.  On the days he has to go to school he usually says he doesn't want to go, and that he doesn't want to see Miss Emily, but after I pick him up he is happy, and then wants to go back on the days he's off.  Funny kid!  We will have a parent teacher conference at the end of the month, so it will be really good for us to see how he is doing....we just don't have a clue how he is really doing because he's 2.5, and his story changes all the time. 

 

Liam has been so sweet with Rowan.  Now that she is mobile, crawling and standing and playing with toys, he has become more interested in playing with her.  Sometimes if she is standing he will come up behind her and hold his hands behind her to spot her.  He sometimes will get jealous if we bring a new toy out for her, and he will want to play with it, but after the novelty has worn off, he will play together with her.  He is always telling us how Rowan is doing, if she is happy or sad or silly or crazy...he tells us how cute she is too!  The older Rowan gets the more we realize how similar their two personalities are, and we are thinking this could mean they will clash more as they get older, so we are enjoying how much they love each other now as much as possible!!  And maybe we will be wrong, and they will always be best buds...one can hope anyway!!

 

Here is a list of some cute things Liam has said lately: 

'Dad is kinda crazy'

'Deelicious'

'Humoungous'

'Ummmm...yeah'

'Nooo....maybe'

'Whacha doing?'

'What's the matter mom?'

'Yes, I did'

 

He is starting to use personal pronouns, I, me, you, they, him/her etc.  It's kinda crazy how things change, and you realize...hey, when did that happen?  When did he start using that word or phrase...everyday/week/month just blends into the next, and sometimes you just have an 'Ah hah' moment and it sinks in that a certain part of their development has arrived and you just have to savor that moment...that is why I HAVE to keep this journal for the kids because things change so quickly, and it's so hard to remember every little thing they do.  One thing that has changed recently is Liam has been MUCH better about me brushing his teeth.  I told him that we had to get the sugars off, and ever since then he has been better about it.  As far as potty training, well he lost interest in it, and bribing doesn't work with him, so we are just taking a break from it and will start up later.  We can't believe that he is going to be 3 soon!  Just crazy!!

Rowan: 37 Weeks/8.5 months

Oh my goodness...this girl is just like Liam and is trouble with a capitol 'T'.  Now that she is mobile she just wants to go-go-go and get into everything and anything!   She is starting to get stranger awareness, and sometimes will cry with someone new.  We got Rowan's DVD, and the pictures are adorable.  We wanted to get them taken a little earlier in the month, but the photographer was on her honeymoon, but thankfully we got them in the nick of time because she started crawling the day after, and she was starting to get the stranger anxiety when we did the pictures.  I couldn't figure out why she wasn't smiling as easily as she used to....I thought she was just tired, but I also think she wasn't so sure of the new person.  But thankfully, we still got some super cute and pretty pictures of her.  Mike's favorite is the family one where both of the kids are crying!  We bust up laughing whenever we see it, but Liam just gets sad, and says 'Liam and Baby Rowan are crying'.  The pictures are in the mail, and I will post them as soon as I get them.

Rowan's top teeth are coming in now.  Two of them are the side ones, so she probably will look like our little vampire for a while.  I didn't start brushing Liam's teeth regularly till after he was one years old, and it has been a battle, so I vowed that I would start brushing her teeth when she got them...and I have been very good at it.  I use the finger brush, but she has such a bite I can't put it on my finger.  She was pretty unsure about it at first, but now she knows what's up and is really good about it.  I just hope it lasts!  We also started nightly story time with her, and she just loves it.  This is also something we started later with Liam, but are glad to start early with her.  Anyway, our little girl just gets cuter by the day!

Liam 2 yrs, 8 mo.

Liam has been having more temper tantrums lately.  He will want something, then we will give it to him, then he doesn't want it, so we take it back and he freaks out.  It goes round like this for a while until we just give up!  I was reading online about temper tantrums, and a big reason they happen is because around this age the child starts developing different and new feelings, and they don't know how to express or deal with them, so they often freak out and hence the temper tantrum.  Ever since I read that, I have had a lot more patience and empathy when Liam has one.  And it really makes sense now because he has been more sensitive to things, and is starting to tell us his feelings when he is sad or scared.  For the longest time Liam has been pretty much fearless!  He wasn't scared of new places or people, but as of late he has started to get those feelings. He also is starting to make associations with things, like if he sees someone that looks like someone else, he will say something like so and so is kinda like so and so.  He will also say it about things too, like if he sees a bug that is similar to another, he will say 'it's kind of like a roly poly'.  It seems his imagination is coming on line too because we have heard him talk about his dreams over the monitor.  He even told his dad one when he went in to get him after a nap.  He told him the grasshoppers were eating his hair, and monsters were with mom and dad.  He woke up one time and told the monsters to go away, and leave Liam alone.  He has been very good about potty training...he has been going pee in the potty for a majority of his awake time.   I didn't think he'd be ready this soon, but he is very enthusiastic about it, and is just so proud of himself, and we are too.  He has been into trucks and cranes lately, mainly because we see a million of them on our commute to and from work everyday.  I ended up finding a really cute truck book at the store that he just loves!  We are so glad he loves to be read to, and are excited for him to start learning how to read himself...he is going to be starting preschool in a few weeks, and we just can't believe it's so soon!  His teachers name is Miss Emily, and we get to meet her soon.  We hope everything will work out well!

Rowan 35 weeks/8 months

Rowan turned 8 months on July 26th, and she is a whole new baby now...it started when she learned how to sit up on her own from her tummy, and now she is crawling EVERYWHERE!  It took her about a week from the time she started to crawl to the time she got fast!  Now that she is mobile she hates to be confined...which means time in her jumper, chair or playpen is very short, so it makes for getting things done so much harder now!  She insists that she is entertained to be happy now...the same thing happened with Liam when he got mobile too!  She will be standing soon...she will get up to something, and will look up and put her arms up...it's just a matter of time and a little more strength.  She babbles a lot, and screams too!  She interacts with Liam, and we are convinced that he is her favorite person on this earth.  She is eating a TON still!  She likes her fruits and veggies, and yogurt...and of coarse still loves her mommy's milk.  We had pictures taken on July 23rd, and are anxious to get those back...She is getting pretty big too...it will be interesting to see what she weighs at her next appointment.  Her hair is getting thicker, and is a light brown/blondish color.  It's hard to say if will stay that color or get lighter? darker? as she gets older...but either way she is just so CUTE!

Rowan: 33 Weeks (7.5 mo)

Rowan is now 33 weeks!  And a few days after I wrote her last update, she made some huge changes...for one around the 4th of July she started sitting like a champ!  She is also eating a TON!  At first I guess I was just catching her at bad times or something, because she would just purse her lips closed, and I had a hard time getting her to eat, but lately she has been very good about eating, and she isn't making faces as much either.  She also has started to hold her own bottle.  She can take it out of her mouth, and get it back in with no problem!  Her schedule is harder to predict now because her tired cry is very similar to her bored cry.  Sometimes I think she is ready for a nap, but then she just cries in her crib which is unlike her, so I take her out again, and try to entertain her and she is fine.  Her naps have been shorter than usual, and we think it's because she is sleeping like a log at night time.  She usually goes to bed around 5 or 6 pm, and doesn't wake till we get up at 6am the next day.  It has been very nice, and we hope she keeps that up!  In fact this morning I went in her room, and she was still asleep...I had to wake her for the first time.  She is really pushing up on her hands and knees and we know she is so close to crawling, but we hope she waits till at least after her pictures next week!  Once she starts to crawl, we know life as we know it will change all over again...we will have 2 fully mobile kidlets!  Anyway, she is such a delight in our lives and we can't imagine life without her.

Liam: 2 yrs, 7 mo.

OH my goodness the list of things that Liam has done this past month is sooo long!  He is just constantly changing and coming up with new things everyday!  He is really starting to put ideas and concepts together.  He will see something, and talk about it, and ask questions...lately his most common phrase is 'What's that?'.  He will say it for everything, even though we know he knows what it is.  We suppose this is a 2 yr old phase that is part of learning and developing.  We always try to teach him manners, so we will ask him to say please and thank you.  We will say 'Say Please' , then he will say 'Say Please' back , or we will say 'What is the magic word?', and he will say 'Magic word Please'...it's pretty funny.  He loves singing, and loves to dance with the drum.  He is starting to listen more to us, whether he follows our direction is another story though.  It certainly is nice when we have to do something for Rowan, like give her a bath, and he will 'help' out.  And by help out, I mean he will stick by, and not get into too much trouble.  Although the first time we had her in her sit up tub upstairs he decided it would be fun to get in her tub when she was done with his clothes on, it was pretty funny!  He will hand me diapers when I ask him, which is very nice!  He is really good on the stairs now too!  Although, he still needs a spotter, he can go up and down all by himself now.  He has been a lot better hanging out with us on the main floor lately, and generally will listen to what we ask him, although he still does not understand 'Don't run in the house' !  We can even leave him for brief moments without worrying too much that he will get into too much trouble.  He loves to ride his trike around, and is starting to peddle better, although he gets really distracted by all the bugs and small things on the ground.  He has to stop and check each one out!  He is really into bugs too, and his favorite movie this month has been 'Bugs Life'.  I got him a book about ladybugs, and snails, and he also has a book on different bugs, and can identify them all.  He has been loving summer, and has some new sandals, a new hat, and new sunglasses...he loves running around in the back yard and getting into the garden and picking strawberries.  We have not been pushing the whole potty thing, but if he asks to go we will let him try.  He has gone pee a few times in the Elmo toilet.  He generally likes to go in the bath tub.  He is starting to get a few fears.  He is now scared to ride the pony at Thanksgiving Point, and he also is scared to go down the slide at the park...Both we think will be short lived phases, hopefully!  We just can't believe that he will be starting preschool in a month!  Our little guy is just growing up so fast!

Rowan: 7 Months

Happy 7 Months to Rowan, she turned 7 months on June 26th.  She is growing and changing so quickly too.  Her bottom 2 teeth are coming in...she was sore for a few days, so we needed to give her a little Motrin, that seemed to help.  She is more expressive with her face now.  She likes to scrunch up her face, it is so cute! It seems she just wants to skip sitting all together, and start crawling! She is pushing up with her knees and arms, and she is pivoting and scooting all over to get things she wants. She has really quick and grabby hands too, we really need to be careful what we leave out around her now, especially with a toddler in the home too!  We are scheduled for professional pictures mid July, and she needs some more help with sitting.  She does OK for a minute or so, but then she topples over...I ended up getting her a Bumbo to help get her stomach muscles in shape.  It seems to be helping so far. 

 

She is talking a lot more now!  She is now saying 'Dada' and all sorts of other sounds.  She also gets more bored, and likes to play more now.  She just loves everyone, and will smile and be happy with a perfect stranger.  She is pretty much on a predictable schedule now too which is nice so we can plan more around her naps, and when she cries we pretty much know what to do for her.  She was really starting to dislike her bassinet that we had in our bedroom, so when she turned 7 months about a week ago, we moved her upstairs, and she will sleep right through the night now, close to 12 hrs.?!  We can't believe it, we have been so lucky so far...I'm sure that will change when she starts teething more, but for now we are quite enjoying it, although we do miss having her near us!  But it's nice because we don't disrupt her sleep in the evening.

 

At around 6 months something changed with her eyes because she started to squint with the camera flash.  We had been thinking about getting a new camera anyway, so with this new development we decided to go ahead and do it.  It would be sad if all your baby pictures after 6 months were squinty, so we are glad the new camera is super fast, so her eyes are nice and wide open. 

 

Another big change this past month is we started to feed her some food!  We started out with some Rice cereal, and she did pretty good.  Then we had some left over jars from Liam that were still good, so I gave her a taste of Mangoes...it was a little too tart to start with, but the faces she made were priceless!  Mike got some more tame flavors at the store, and so far she has tried; bananas, carrots, peas, pears and butternut squash.  Usually she takes 2-3 feedings to finish a jar, but she plowed her first jar of butternut squash the other day, we were so proud of her.  She is kinda funny still about eating though.  She even makes faces eating rice cereal...Liam was more of a gagger, but Rowan is more of face maker!

 

I just can not believe how fast this last month flew by!  Most of the month I was healing from having a mole taken off of my foot, so we really didn't do much, but the kids managed to grow and change regardless!

 

Oh, and one last thing...I was just looking over Liam's 30 week post, which is how old Rowan was this past week, and ironically 'Auntie' Heidi came to visit him the same exact week!  We got some really cute pictures, and will have to post them together to compare sizes : )  He seems so much bigger!!

Rowan is 6 Months!

I know I've been bad lately on Rowan's updates...things just get so busy, then last Friday I had a mole removed from the arch of my left foot, and I have a lot of stitches there now, and I can't walk!  It is horrible, but I am grateful for my husband who took care of me all weekend, plus the kids and house. And I'm also grateful for my mom, and mother-in-law that are helping me with the kids when Mike has to work. Anyway, Rowan turned 6 months old on May 26th, and she is cuter than ever.  She also had her 6 month check-up on May 28th.  

Here are her new stats: 15 lbs. 8 oz. (39.86%)
Length: 25.5 inches (40.74%)
Head: 17.25 inches (85.05%)-as you can see her head is still BIG, just like Liam's!

She is starting to sit, and just this past weekend she started 'talking', saying 'Baba' and 'Mama'.  We also fed her some rice cereal.  The first time was pretty messy.  We mixed it up really soupy like it says to on the box for their first time.  She seemed to know right what to do, she grabbed for the spoon and pulled it to her mouth...then she started blowing bubbles on the spoon.  Overall she did pretty good for her first time.  We have tried a couple more times since then, and she is really starting to get the hang of it.  We look forward to trying some new flavors like apples and carrots!  She has been sleeping through the night most of the time now, we feel so spoiled.  Although, she is almost outgrown her bassinet, so hopefully my foot will heal soon before she needs to move upstairs.  Anyway, we love this little girl so much, and are so grateful to have her in our family.  Happy 6 months little girl.

Liam is 2-1/2 years!

WOW, Liam is 2.5 years old today!  He is growing into such an adorable little boy, and it is exciting to see all the things that he learning every day.  He has such an amazing memory, and is really good at forming ideas together.  For example we were driving home the other day, and someone had a bike strapped to the roof of their car, and he said 'Bike on the car'.  I have been going to the Dr. to have several moles taken off, and he has been very concerned about them.  He points to and counts the ones that are left, and calls the ones that are healing 'boo-boo's'.  I had mentioned to him the other day that dad would be staying home with him, and I would be going to the Dr. to get some more moles taken off.  The following morning, he told Dad that I was at work, and at the Dr. getting some moles taken off.  He just amazes us how much information he can take in, and remember later on.  On the way home from work we drive by the school he will be going to in the fall, and I pointed it out to him one day.  Then one day when we drove by, he recognized it, and said 'Liam's School'  Although, he has a few variations of his name. It took him until recently to start saying his own name, and here are a few ways he says it; 'Jaeon', 'JeeJum','YayYum'.  I suppose the sound Lee-um can be hard for a 2 yr. old, but the funny thing is he can say pretty much anyone's name you tell him...we think it's pretty cute though!  He can say 'L' sounds, so when he's really tired we will say he's getting loopy, so he will say 'Jaeon's getting loopy', it's pretty funny.  He likes to talk about 'his people'.  He will count the people in the room, or he'll say something like 'lots of people', or 'Rowan is a people', 'Mama is a people', and 'So and So is my people.'  His favorite movie is Peter Pan still, and he will pretend to sword fight when Peter Pan is fighting with Captain Hook.  He also likes to find his shadow on the wall, like Peter Pan does.  His favortite book lately is his Dr. Seuss's ABC book, and a funny word he likes from that book is Googoo Goggles for the letter 'G'.  It is a fun word to say, and he even has a pair that Grandma B. found for him to wear.  He finished up his gym class last week, and I think I'm going to check out another one that is in Lindon once my foot is feeling better.  He just loves gym class!  Just wanted to follow-up on the hurdle that we had last month.  We decided to go back to having his milk in the car when I pick him up to go home, and he hasn't fought me too much about his car seat since then, thankfully.  A few things he did this past month was he helped dad plant the garden, we saw the Penguins at the Aquarium and he took a ride on Thomas the Train.  He had a great time!

Anyway, I will leave this update with an e-mail from Grandma B. about Liam:

Hi guys,
I forgot to tell you this cute Liam-ism.  I was changing his pants and he was talking in a super high, sing-song voice.  I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I'm talking Rowan",  leave it to a kid to know that babies have their own language.  I don't know if I told you this one, when I asked him if he wanted to see the neighbor's chickens, he said yes,...and the cow.  I told him they didn't have a cow and he said, OK, how about a zebra?

Gotta love that boy.
Love ya,
mom

HAPPY 2.5 years Little Man!

Rowan: 24 Weeks (5+ mo.)

OK, so much for trying to write every week...it is so hard to carve out a few minutes when there is already so much to do!  Anyway, I just want to jot down a few new things that she is doing before she changes again...I would say about a week after she rolled back to front, she started rolling front to back...she can now roll over in both directions with ease.  She definitely prefers to sleep on her tummy now that she can roll over...Liam was the same way.  I just have to make sure she is in a good position as to not suffocate.  She is tucking her knees under and pushing her bum up too...she will be crawling before we know it!  She is eating a ton!  Mike bought some rice cereal, and we will be trying that very soon...She is grabbing things very well now, and especially likes to grab things she can chew on...She has officially outgrown her size 1-2 diapers and onto size 3.  I can't believe she will be 6 months in just over a week...time is just flying by too fast.

Liam: 2 yrs. 5 mo.

I keep a list throughout the month of all the new things that Liam is doing so that I can remember everything for his monthly update....this month has to be one of the longest lists yet!  He just continues to grow and change in so many ways....So where do I start?  How about we start at the top of the list and go down...One day I made a video of Rowan, and I played it back right after...he saw Rowan on the floor and on the screen and said 'Two Baby Rowan's'...Also one night I was getting him ready for bed, and he saw me in the mirror and said 'Two Mamma's'.  He is starting to count people in room too.

The weather is warming up, and we took him in the back yard to play.  He saw the garden, and pointed to where the strawberries were last year and said 'Strawberries'.  We were quite amazed and surprised he remembered them from over 8 months ago!  He has quite the memory.  

We took the kids to the tulip festival.  I wanted to get some macro pictures of the flowers, and all he wanted to do was RUN!  Mike chased him around the whole time, he thought it was a fun game to run and be chased...and man is he fast?!  For safety sake, he will need to learn very soon that he needs to stick by us.  

Grandma and Grandpa P.  had a spare 'Cars' trike at their house, so they gave it to Liam to have at our house.  We ordered him a matching helmet.  I thought for sure we would have to fight him to get him to wear it, but to our surprise he put it on, and we took him out for a little ride.  He quite enjoyed it.  While on his ride we came across a roly poly that is like a bug in his new bug book.  Dad picked it up, and it rolled up into a ball.  I had never really looked up close at one, and I was really amazed at how detailed they are.  We let Liam look at it for a while, then dad put it safely in the grass.  We thought it was a nice little learning experience for him.  

A couple big hurdles we have been dealing with over the past month has been getting him to sit in his highchair and his car seat.  He will do a few moves where he will either make his body limp, we call it the 'limp noodle', or he will stiffen his body, we heard it called the 'stiff hot dog'....apparently this is something that is common for kids his age, and we just have to deal with it!  The other big fight we have had lately, and this has been going on since we started, is brushing his teeth.  The ease of it comes and goes, but it seems to be more difficult as of late. I am just hoping it starts to get easier sometime soon.  

We took Liam to a couple of gym classes for a trial run, and then signed him up at the one closest to us.  He loves it!  He especially likes to jump on the trampoline, and jump into the foam pit, and swing on the rings.  We do think that we might sign him up for another session, but at the other gym ( I will write more on that later, probably on my other blog). 

He has been talking a ton lately, and will mimic back a lot of the stuff we say.  He can say every one's name, and is starting to say his name, but doesn't really say it well yet, but the funny thing is if you ask him to say Mississippi, he can say it perfectly.  He still pronounces yogurt, logurt, which we find very cute.  His favorite new movie as of late is Peter Pan, and he calls it 'Pie Pins' or a variance of that...We love all his mispronunciations : )  Anyway, this is getting really long, and I'm at the end of the list, so until next time...We LOVE you Liam!!

Rowan: 22 Weeks (5 months)

Rowan turned 5 months on April 26th!  She rolled over one day before turning 5 months, just like her brother!!  She goes through phases where she sleeps more, and eats less and then eats more and sleeps less...it is all just part of having a baby that is growing and changing so quickly.  I have been looking at some of Liam's video's from when he was her age, and it's so interesting to see how he was.  Rowan was with me in the office while I was watching a video of her, and she got sooo excited!  She started smiling and kicking her legs, she definitely likes other babies!  It doesn't matter how bad of a mood you are in, if she smiles at you it ALL goes away!

Rowan: 21 weeks

I was looking over my posts for Liam when he was a baby, and I was doing a weekly update for him...so I thought that I really need to be better about posting more updates for Rowan while she is still a baby and changing so quickly.  I think part of it is that you notice a lot more new stuff when it's your first time experiencing it. Part of it is taking care of a 2-year old as well as an infant is very time consuming, and it's hard to keep up with everything that needs to be taken care of.  Anyway, earlier this week we were talking about how she would be starting to blow raspberries soon, and sure enough that evening, she started doing it.  She also has found out that she can suck on her toe, and it has become her new favorite chew toy.  Over the weekend, she slept a lot!  I had to pretty much force feed her during her awake times.  We think she is getting ready for a new milestone, probably rolling over.  I also read in my post on Liam that around this time his appetite started to get more than I was able to produce, and I didn't have much stored in the freezer either, so we had to start supplementing with formula...I'm not sure what is different this time, but I don't have that problem at all...in fact, I have so much stored milk, that I have to keep rearranging the freezer to make room for more.  She is still eating a lot too...I'm hoping this trend keeps up, and we won't have to buy formula at all!  Another thing I noted, and I'm not trying to compare our 2 kids, but just note is that she isn't as verbal as Liam was at this age. But she is definitely more social as far as laughing and smiling goes.  Every baby is so different, it is interesting to notice their unique qualities.

Rowan: 4 months (4.5 months/20 weeks)

I am so behind this month on Rowan's update.  I just have not been right since the time change, and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed lately.  Rowan turned 4 months old on March 26, 2010.  She also had her 4 month check up on March 31st.  At that time she weighed 13 lbs. 13 oz. (51%), her length was 24.3 inches (48%) and her head was 16.4 inches (67%).   I weighed her on the home scale a few days ago, and she has topped 14 lbs. now.  She is definitely growing right before our eyes! She is now a pro at drinking from her bottle, and is also weaning from nursing.  She gets too distracted with what is going on around her to sit still long enough to have a good feed, but thankfully if she wakes at night she will still nurse, so that is nice.  She is full of smiles all the time, and basically you just need to look at her and she will smile.  She is starting to laugh and giggle too which is just adorable.  She can roll over with a little assistance, like with gravity or if she pulls on something, but she hasn't quite done it on her own yet, but very close!  She has recently discovered her legs and feet.  She will hold her legs up and play with them and her feet too.  She is starting to outgrow her swing because she is starting to sit up in it and hold onto the sides and the swing will stop, so we brought up the Jump-a-roo the other day, and she loves it!  She took to the jumping right away.  Although, I can tell when she gets tired because she will lay her head on the side.  She absolutely adores her older brother, and you can tell she already looks up to him.  We just are amazed on a daily basis just how cute and wonderful she is, and are so thankful she is a part of our family.

Liam: 2 yrs 4 months

Liam is turning into such a cute little boy.  I look at him all the time now, and am a little sad that he isn't our little baby boy anymore.  He has really caught onto reading other people's emotions, and displaying some of his own.  He not only will tell me that 'the baby Rowan' is crying, he has concern for her too.  Liam has gone from cold, to luke warm to fully warmed up to his little sister.  He just adores her, and loves to play with her.  He hugs and kisses her, and always is talking about her.  He has met and gone beyond our expectations of what a great older brother he would be!  One thing that he has been lacking, and we have been concerned about is he doesn't get a whole lot of socializing with other kids.  His only contact with other kids has been with his cousins.  When he gets around other people or kids, he just wants to run wild!  So we have taken him to a couple of gym classes to see how he liked it.  The first week we went to Gymcats, and he loved it!  He got to try a bunch of new stuff like walk on a balance beam, and slide into a foam pit, and climb a rock wall!  Then we went into the larger gym area and he got to hang from some rings, and a rope and jump on a trampoline.  The second week we took him to Little Gym.  He ran wild there too, but had a great time as well.  We ended up signing up with Gymcats because they are closer, and they also offer a shorter 7-week class commitment, which we like because summer is coming, and we'd like to do other things on that day.  Another big thing we did is sign him up for preschool in the fall.  The place is called Kids Village and it's very close to my work.  He will be in the Little Sprouts class, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  One new thing that dad taught him to do this past month is to catch a ball.  He loves to toss a ball back and forth now.  He has also discovered that he likes to take a shower, and have dips with his food, like ketchup, bbq sauce and ranch dressing.  He also likes a bit of heat and/or flavor with his food. He likes the veggie buffalo wings now which are a bit on the hot side...we were pretty surprised! He constantly is amazing us with all the new things he is doing and learning!

Liam: 2 Years 3 Months

As crazy as it sounds, things have been easier for Liam since I returned to work.  For one, he has been having more regular naps.  He gets up earlier, and I leave work earlier (around his nap time) so he falls asleep very easily in the car, and then when I get home I take him quietly to his room and he sleeps for a couple of hours.  And two, he isn't as bored.  He gets to hang out with both his Grandma's during the week, and has 2 or 3 days where he also gets one-on-one attention from them too.  The variety of activities and attention gives him the right amount of stimulation.  He is really starting to be able to communicate with us a lot better.  He's putting sentences together, and mimicking us.  He consistently is saying 'Hi' and 'Bye' at the appropriate times...He is also learning the different vehicles on the road, and will point them out on our rides.  All trucks were the garbage truck, but I'm teaching him new ones...he's got the diesel truck down, and I also taught him the school bus.  He is also very polite.  He says 'Thank you' and 'Please' most of the time now.  A very new thing he started doing recently is dancing.  It seemed a lot of younger kids were doing that a lot earlier, and I wondered when he'd catch on to it, but he just kinda started one day...very cute!  He is really bonding with Rowan.  Most of the time he so sweet with her.  He will let me know if she is crying.  He kisses her on the head, and plays peek-a-boo with her.  When I pump milk, he will say 'Mama milk for baby Rowan'.  Just adorable!!  One really funny thing he did yesterday for the first time was he was playing with dad, and Gretchen was in her kennel barking, and he stopped got really serious, and told Gretchen to be quiet, and shushed her with his finger...the best part is I also got it on video!!  It is hilarious, and once we figure out how to share the HD video's we will post it online.  Anyway, he is growing so quickly, and I just need to make sure I document the highlights of his adorable life!

comment by gaylene on 03/20/2010
Liam is adorable and you can tell how loved he is from this post. So glad everyone is doing well.

Rowan: 3 Months

I am back to work now, and a little behind on my update for Rowan.  She turned 3 months on February 26th.  She is getting so BIG!  I weighed her on our new home scale and she is about 13 lbs now.  I know I mention this a lot, but she is such a smiley baby!  It doesn't take much to get her to smile either, she is just so happy!! In fact, I'm pretty certain I heard a giggle out of her yesterday when I was giving her kisses! She has started to take an interest in toys, and is also starting to grasp and hold them.  She is also starting to take a bottle better since she kinda is forced to while I am at work.  Although she still will not take a binky!  She has moved from sucking on her hands and fingers, to just her thumb now.  I'm not sure how I feel about it, since the habit will probably be harder to break her of than taking a binky away, but I do admit it is pretty cute right now, and it gives her comfort which is a good thing.  She absolutely just loves people, she is a very social baby and just loves being with 'her people' and she especially adores her older brother, Liam.  We can tell they are forming a special bond with each other already.  Liam likes to play 'peek-a-boo' with her too.  One thing that she started doing recently that is both frustrating and adorable is she has started to 'sing'.  But, the reason it is frustrating is because she will do it between nursing. She will nurse for about 4 or 5 minutes, then she will just look up and start singing....I love it, but would like if she waited till after her feeding to do it because she really didn't get much to eat over the weekend...but she also slept a whole lot, so we think she might be going through a different phase in her growth...anyway, she is just a sweet, wonderful baby, and we just love having her be apart of our family!!

comment by Star on 03/10/2010
Bailey still sucks her thumb but not nearly as much these days. Killian did the same thing but grew out of it on his own. It is so cute when they do it at such a young age! Now I had a sister that sucked her thumb till she was 12 or 13!!! What broke her was my dad took a picture and hung it on the fridge for all to see.

Rowan is 11 weeks, going on 12 weeks

Well my time home with the little ones is coming to a close.  Rowan is 11 weeks now, turning 12 weeks on Thursday the 18th...also the day I go back to work.  We just can't believe how much Rowan has grown and changed in the last 11+ weeks.  She is such a smiley baby, and sometimes when she's 'talking', it sounds like she is saying 'Hi'.  She is such a 'people person', and just loves  to be held and talked to.  She loves to look at our faces and coo and smile back at us.  She has also discovered her hands.  She moves them and holds them, and she especially likes to suck on them.  One thing she did yesterday that surprised me was she rolled over.  Granted she was on a bit of on incline on our bed, but it wasn't much and she rolled right on over.  I guess she's about that age, but since Liam was a preemie he didn't roll over until he was 5 months old, so it was pretty surprising to see her do that at 11 weeks!  Usually a baby that is early to roll over is also early to crawl, so we are in trouble, with a capital 'T'!  Anyway, I have really enjoyed my bonding time with our kids, and will really miss them when I go back to work!

Liam is 2 years and 2 Months

I know I say this practically every month, but it's true that Liam's personality continues to grow!  He is even becoming more affectionate.  He will give us hugs and kisses, and he will even say 'I love you' back to us sometimes.  He tries to do the hand sign for it as he says it too.  He's been eating better.  When he likes something he will say 'Mmmm this is tasty good', or he'll say something like 'Mmm tasty good strawberries'.   He's had a bit of an apple pie obsession lately.  He doesn't get a whole lot of sweets, so we are unsure where it came from.  But he talks about apple pie a lot.  He is still a bit unsure of Rowan.  He tends to get more interested in her if we have her on her play mat for playtime or tummy time.  But part of that could be he wants to check out her toys!  If we ask him to, he will give her a kiss, it's so cute!  He is getting better about sleeping in his bed.  Some nights he will actually sleep in his bed, although he does tend to end up on the floor sometime during the night.  I have ordered a guard rail from the company that made his bed.  The color won't match since there wasn't one made for his model, but we don't care...we just want him to be able to sleep soundly without falling out of bed.  The adjustment from his crib to his toddler bed has been quite interesting to say the least.  There have been a few bumps along the way, but overall he's done well.  One funny thing that happened was one morning when I went to get him, I found him running around his room completely naked!  Thankfully, he wasn't poopy that morning.  Now if I put on his footed pj's, I put a onesie on underneath.  As far as language skills, he continues to get better.  In fact, I was mentioning to his dad recently how much easier it is now to understand what he wants and doesn't want.  One cute thing he said this month was 'What's that?'  Dad was downstairs hammering something, and he stopped what he was doing and asked 'What's that?'  He really gets into his shows now too.  When they are doing letters and spelling he says it along with them.  If an action is going on, like if George is running, he will say 'Run Georgie, Run'.  And if something is intense or scary he gets scared too.  He was watching 'The Incredibles' and he screamed when something scary happened...it was so funny!  One thing that has developed over the last few months since I've been home with him is he climbs EVERYWHERE!  He is a little monkey...And another not so nice thing that he's started doing is spitting.  We are not sure how to deal with this new phase, but we tell him 'No' and now I make him clean it up...hopefully, he will stop that soon!  At the start of my maternity leave, I felt a little overwhelmed staying home, but I adjusted to it, and bonded more with Liam.  It is going to be so hard to return to work this month!

Rowan is 2 Months!

Rowan is now 2 months old, and she is blossoming into a beautiful baby.  Her baby acne and dry skin has cleared up, and her new hair is growing in.  It looks like she might be a blond after all.  She is starting to kick her arms and legs, and she can nearly hold her head up all by herself!  She will sleep in her bassinet at night now, which is good since she's nearly outgrown her lounger.  She is happy to hang out and check out her surroundings, and especially loves her swing too.  She looks into our eyes, and will smile back at us, and also 'talks' and coo's.  She started to regress in taking the bottle, but we are still practicing and she has been better the last couple of times we tried.  Today, I took her to the Dr. to have her 2 month check up, and she is now 11 lbs. 3 oz., and is 22 inches long.  She is growing so quickly!  She is wearing 3 month clothes already?!  And her 1-2 diapers are getting small on her too!  She continues to amaze us at how alert she is...she is such a sweet baby!!

Liam is 2 years and 1 Month

Since Rowan was born I have been home on maternity leave for the past 6 weeks.  It has been a mix bag being home all the time.  Apart of me likes being home, but apart of me is going stir crazy!  It has been nice to have more time with Liam, although he is going through his terrible 2 phase, which also is mixed with some jealousy of the new arrival.  Overall I would say he's doing pretty good considering his situation, but he's had his share of meltdowns...which basically means he's a normal 2 year old.  Since he's been stuck at home for more than he would like, we've been giving him some time to run around on the main floor, and I mean he RUNS.  Our main floor is open, and not really kid friendly, so we have to watch him like a hawk.  He gets into anything and everything that he's not supposed to.  But it's good for him to have a change of pace, and it burns off some energy.  We got him some snow pants and a winter jacket a few weeks ago.  We've tried several times to put them on him, but he just fights it.  I had to bribe him with a piece of chocolate the first time we got it on him.  But then he wouldn't put gloves on, so he was only able to go outside for a few minutes.  Every time since then he just refused it, until yesterday.  He's been watching Curious George plays in the snow DVD, and I asked him if he'd like to go outside and play in the snow.  He actually agreed, and didn't fight me at all putting the pants and jacket on.  He did a little with the gloves, but did put them on after a little convincing.  He was able to play outside for about 20 min. or so, and he had a blast!  Hopefully he will continue being good about that in the future too, he really needs that outlet.  Over the past month or so he has really improved his steadiness on the stairs.  We are there to spot him, but he can go up and down without any assistance now.  And if he's paying attention to what he's doing, he has avoided falling by sitting on his bum and going down that way.  His language continues to grow, and he's starting to better be able to communicate what he wants.  He is also very aware of the sounds around him.  If he hears a truck outside, he will run over to the window to look at it, and he will say 'truck'.  Also if he hears a plane above us, he will say 'airplane'.  He got a kitchen set for Christmas, and since it's a toy the water from the sink is pretend, but he thinks it's broken, we thought that was pretty funny!  He's pretty good about play cooking, and it's fun to watch him.  His other favorite play time activity is play-doh.  

One major milestone he had over the past month was he started to climb out of his crib, so we had to change it to a toddler bed.  This has been quite the challenge for all of us.  He doesn't like being left in his room, and he doesn't quite understand the idea of staying in bed and going to sleep.  He usually cries when we leave the room then plays with his quiet toys until he gets so tired he just flops over asleep on the floor.  We sometimes will go in after he's asleep and put him in his bed, but he just falls out onto the floor shortly after. This new development has also created a problem for nap time.  He often will take 1 -2 hours to fall asleep now, which means he's sleeping till about 5pm in the evening.  Most of the time he wakes up mad and cries for up to an hour sometimes.  And then he's not tired at bedtime, around 8pm, and it takes another 2 hours to fall asleep making it 10pm! Then he sleeps in in the morning, making him not very tired when nap time comes around at 1pm. We are not sure what to do about nap time.  We know it's important, but it messes up his bedtime.  We have been doing 'quiet time' where he is offered a chance to take a nap or play 'quietly' in his room.  This also gives me a break to either take a nap or get some much needed stuff done around the house.  Anyway, this issue will change when I return to work in six weeks because he will be getting up earlier, and might be tired by nap time again...time will tell.  I have realized being a mom over the past 2 years that when issues arise they tend to go away so quickly because the child's needs change so quickly!

Rowan is 6 Weeks!

Before Rowan was born, I thought I shouldn't compare the two kids, but I have to admit it is quite interesting at how different they are.  For example; Rowan has dark hair, Liam has blond.  Liam had a hard time breastfeeding at first, Rowan took to it right away.  Liam took to the binky and bottle quickly.  Rowan still won't have anything to do with the binky, and we are STILL working on the bottle with her.  He hated tummy time, she loves tummy time.  Anyway, those are just a few things we have noticed about the two kids.  One thing they do have in common is they both grew soo fast.  Rowan is gaining weight and changing so quickly it seems she changes right before our eyes.  Her double chin seems to be doubling, and we can tell she is getting heavier by the day.  She has already outgrown the newborn diapers, and nearly outgrown all her newborn clothes.  Sadly she started her phase of baby acne about a week ago.  Liam's only lasted about 2 weeks, so hopefully hers will clear up soon!  Although lately it has been looking less like acne and more like a rash or eczema.  We are hoping it is only acne, and nothing more serious.  Her hair is starting to thin a bit, and it also is looking like a lighter color is coming in.  It will be interesting to see what color her hair ends up being...as well as her eyes.  At first they were pretty dark, so we thought maybe she would have brown eyes, but they are looking more blue-ish these days, so she may end up with blue eyes like her big brother.  This past week she went 5-1/2 days without pooping?!  Apparently this can be normal for babies, although we were quite relieved when she finally did, and we're sure she was too!  She is also getting really strong.  She is holding her head up much better, and she is moving her arms and legs.  When we put her on her belly she can kick her legs to where she is nearly moving her body.  We think she will be early to roll over and possibly crawl!  We have noticed in the past few days that she has become more aware of her surroundings.  She looks at us in our eyes, and moving objects are catching her eyes like the ceiling fan and the TV.  She also has been smiling a lot lately...she is much more smiley than Liam was at this age  (but he was also 4 weeks early, so that could be part of it).  Thankfully, she has also been more content.  She hasn't had as many fussy hours, and she has let me put her down for a few without crying right away, which has been nice. Anyway, it just amazes us just how quickly they change in the beginning.  You really need to pay attention or it passes before you know it!