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!