Randomness from the grocery store

So you know how I said I always get stopped at the grocery store, it happened again today! This time however I thought I would share some of the conversation since it was a new one.

The women stopped and told me how cute Rowan was ( of course he is, duh!) and then asked me his name. I said Rowan and she asked me how we came up with that name. I gave her a short version (she was a little creepy!), but I'll share the full story of Rowan's name with you all.

Ryan and I have talked about baby names for years, like before we were engaged years. We have had a girls name picked out for quite some time, but never really could come up with a good boys name. Shortly after we got married I came up with one based off of our fathers. It was important to me that our first male child would be named after our dads. Both of our dads are very important to us and have helped shaped who we are so I thought it was a good way to honor them. I came up with the name Weston Robert. Ryan's dads name is Wesley and my dads is Robert. It was perfect and I LOVED it. Needless to say I said it aloud once around Ryan's family not thinking anything about and then his sister got pregnant before us with a boy and named him Weston. I was a little sad at first, but it totally fits him and I love that Jessica got to name her first born after her dad.

So the hunt was on again! After we found out we were having a boy we seriously started looking for names. I bought a book (of course) and we started making a list. Ryan made his and I made mine. Rowan was a name I had heard before and really liked, but I liked it for a girl. I put it on my list anyways. After we both had a decent sized list we compared them and crossed names off we didn't like and made a new list with similar names. Ryan didn't really like Rowan so it was taken off the list. After several months went by of adding and subtracting names I put Rowan back on. Something about it I just really liked.

When we had about a month left before my due date we had narrowed the list to 4. We COULD NOT get it any narrower. There was something we liked about all four names. We had decided not to tell anyone the name since we found out the sex, but since we couldn't narrow our list any further I emailed my oldest brother for some advice. I knew he would keep our options a secret and give some honest advice. After a couple days he got back to me with exactly what I was hoping to get. He gave us his initial opinion when he first read the names, then his opinion after thinking about them for a couple days, and then his opinion after talking about it with his wife. It was great advice and helped us narrow our list to two. Here is a list of our top 4 in no particular order:

Eagan

Rowan

Avett

Quincy

At the time we had four I really liked Rowan and Eagan with Eagan probably being my favorite. Ryan really liked Avett and Eagan. After my brother's advice and a little more discussing we narrowed it down to Avett and Rowan. Avett was after one of our favorite bands the Avett Brothers and Rowan was just a name I liked. It happened to be a type of tree and coincidentally I have an obsession with trees.

Going into the final days we decided to just wait and see how we felt when he was born. Neither of us could make a definitive decision so that was the plan. I was really hoping something spoke to me when he was born cause I really didn't know if we could make a decision otherwise!

Once I was in labor and at the hospital I think we both were thinking Avett. It was unique, but not so unique it was weird. It had a special meaning for us and it seemed to fit. We had decided long ago that Wesley Robert would be the middle names in honor of our fathers. That's what I was thinking when the nurse said it was time to push...then he was born.

After he came out and I got to hold him, the nurses took him because he had swallowed a lot of fluid. Ryan was over with him and I could hear the nurses all talking about his red hair. I was thinking red hair, how in the world did he come out with RED hair! When Ryan came over and told me he really did have red hair I instantly said his name should be Rowan. The tree has red leaves and berries and the Gaelic form of the name means little red one. It was perfect.

Rowan Wesley Robert

aka:

Ro-bug

Ro-Ro

Rowie

Ro

There you have it, the story of how Rowan got his name (because I know you all wanted to know).

-Nicki

Half a year!

Are you kidding me!?! It has really been 6 months! My precious little boy has been in our family for 6 whole months, I can't imagine what it would be like to not have him around anymore. I am more and more amazed everyday with the new things he learns to do. It is crazy how a child develops and learns, he picks new things up all the time!

Here are his new stats from his appointment on the 25th:

Height: 26 1/4 inches (43%)

Weight: 16lb 13oz (35%) (the old ladies at the grocery store who tell me my baby is huge should take note of those numbers!)

OFC: 44 1/2 cm (69%)

Rowan did great at his appointment. I was a little nervous about the shots because last time he cried for awhile and I couldn't get him to calm down, but he took them like a champ this time! He only cried for a few seconds and as soon as I picked him up he was good to go. The pediatrician said everything was great and that we could start giving him whatever we eat and a sippy cup with water. I about croaked when he said that! If I do those things then my little baby isn't so much of a baby anymore! Needless to say I am NOT giving him whatever we eat, but he does eat whenever we do. Usually it is rice cereal, but once a day it is some sort of fruit or vegetable. I still have not found anything he does not like so that is a plus. I did try the sippy cup with water though. He didn't really have a clue what to do with it and when I would help him and he would get some water he just looked really confused! I didn't even know if he could hold a bottle himself since we don't ever give him one, but I asked the sitter and she said he can for the most part. We pretty much just keep the sippy cup out and let him play with it and eventually he will figure it out on his own. There is no rush from me!

Speaking of figuring things out on his own, he is working really hard at pulling himself up. If he gets close enough to something he grabs as high as he can and pulls. Usually this results in him falling over, but occasionally his feet get under him and he can get himself all the way up. This freaks me out a bit because of the concrete floors, but I have turned our living room into a blanketed play area for him so that helps. He has figured out that if he stands up by his jumper and shakes the strap it will make noise. It is quite funny to watch his facial expressions when he does this.

Rowan is also getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. He can get up on his toes as well. He has started getting really frustrated when he can't reach whatever toy he wants and just rocks and rocks. I don't think it will be long till he figures out how to move his legs and hands together. He is a champ at going backwards and in circles! He still prefers to be sitting over laying on his back or tummy. Whenever I'm at the grocery store I either hear "how old is he? He is big!" or "he sits up so well for his age". I have never been stopped by so many people in a grocery store. It is crazy how candid people are when it comes to babies!

It was in the grocery store recently that I have experienced probably one of my favorite memories thus far. We were strolling through the store looking for deals and Rowan reached up for me! I almost started crying, but thought better of it! I am absolutely loving this age now that he has started to recognize Ryan and I. It is awesome! I love when Ryan comes home from work and as soon as Rowan sees him he gets a big ole grin on his face! It melts my heart. Rowan definitely has mommy or daddy days. You can tell when he wants me and when he would much rather have his daddy. I love watching Rowan and Ryan interact. Ryan can get him to smile or giggle with just a silly face, it cracks me up!

We went to Nashville the last weekend in October to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary. My wonderful parents and brother drove down as well and watched Rowan Saturday night so Ryan and I could go to dinner alone. It was a great weekend and I am so thankful that we have such wonderful families! While we were there we went to a park since the weather was so nice. We let Rowan play with some leaves and he was so enthralled by them! We can't wait till we are back in a house with a yard so he can play outside more often! Speaking of that, we have been looking for about a month now and we have one strong front runner. It was under construction when we saw it last week so we are going back this weekend to check it out again. As long as the kitchen works for us I think it will be the winner! I can't wait to start moving (the unpacking and decorating, not the packing!) and to get a Christmas tree up. Our lease isn't actually up till the end of December, but I really want to get a Christmas tree and decorate it with Rowan so we are hoping to move the first of December. I'll keep you updated!

Rowan loves baby faces so I got him a book with a bunch in it. He absolutely loves it! He smiles every time we read it to him. The last page is a mirror and he tries to "kiss" the baby in the mirror, it is hilarious! He would sit and look at that book forever if he could. He liked the mirror page so much I brought out our full length mirror and leaned it against our ottoman. He loves to sit in front of it and look at himself. He really likes it when you get down there with him and he can see you too! He is such a cutie!

Rowan is quite the chatterbox! He loves to jabber away especially in restaurants. He gets quite loud which we think is funny, but I'm sure in a few years that won't be the case! In the car he will start "talking" and I will repeat what he says and he will make a new noise and I repeat it and he will keep doing that for a couple minutes. I wish I could record it cause it is pretty funny.

I think we may have a drummer on our hands already. He loves to bang on anything he can and when Ryan "drums" with him he is all smiles! He also likes any sort of "beat" Ryan makes. I found a baby and family music class today that I think we are going to try and go to. I think Rowan will really like it and I am eager to meet some new people. I am not meant to meet new mom's though! I have been to 3 different free play-groups and I have been the only person to show up at all of them. I'm going to move on to library story times next and hopefully other mom's show up!

We didn't have plans for Halloween since I had class, but I thought it would still be fun to dress Rowan up. I didn't want to spend any money so we made him a toga out of a pillowcase and a headband out of some leftover brown ribbon and green construction paper. I was super happy with how it turned out and everyone at Ryan's clinic loved it!

We are only a few weeks into this month so I'll post more pictures later. We have a wedding next weekend and then Thanksgiving so there will be much more to come! I can't believe how fast time has been going, but I have never been happier with the direction my life is going. I can't wait to see what Rowan has in store for us in the coming 6 months!

-Nicki

5 months

So I started writing this post 2 weeks ago and I'm just now getting back to it! I really should be doing homework, but this is way more interesting and fun! I can't believe Rowan is 5 1/2 months old! It's crazy how fast time really does go.

I don't have any official new stats, but I think the growth spurt is over. This is good news for my sleeping and eating habits! As I said in the previous post Rowan stopped sleeping through the night about a month and a half ago. I attributed it to a growth spurt, but I think that ended a couple weeks ago. For the most part Ryan or I get up about every 3 hours to roll him back to his side and put the pacifier back in. I haven't needed to feed him the past couple weeks, but since he can't roll himself from his back to his belly we have to do it for him and he prefers to sleep on his side. We are currently on day 2 were he has gone back to his old sleeping habits of 9+ hours straight so hopefully that continues! I'm not holding my breath though cause he did 3 days a few weeks ago. Both nights though he has put himself to sleep on his back and stayed that way all night so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed!

We got to get all dressed up for Ryan's cousin Bri's sweet 16 party. We had a great time with family and it was fun getting Rowan all dressed up in his onesie tux, vest, and hat! He was such a cutie!

As I said Rowan doesn't really roll over on his own. He can roll from his belly to his back, but he doesn't do it very often. This last week though he has been trying pretty hard to roll from his back to his belly so hopefully he figures it out soon. I'm not worried about him being behind developmentally, but it would be awesome if he would figure it out so we don't have to go roll him over during the night! He probably spends about 30 minutes or more on his belly each day, but he has no desire to try and roll over. He just cries until we help him sit up. He is however starting to pull himself up on to all fours. When on his belly he can turn himself completely around and go backwards so I won't be surprised if he starts crawling in the next month or so. He is really starting to get his knees under him and his butt in the air so it's only a matter of time now! I'm pretty sure he is going to crawl before he masters this rolling from back to belly thing. He is also pulling himself up to a standing position we he sits on our lap. He can also use the couch to pull himself up. I'm more then ready to be out of this apartment before he figures this out completely though. Concrete floors will not be to kind to his little head!

Speaking of moving, we have started looking for a house here in Lexington so that is exciting! Since we still own the house in Pennsylvania we are just going to rent here till we can get rid of that house. It's fun to look at houses again, but this time we are looking for more kid friendly amenities! I really want to be close to a park so I can take Rowan to play. We went to the park for the first time this past weekend when my parents were here. Rowan loved the swings! He didn't really know what to think of the slides, but he really liked watching all of the other kids. Hopefully we can make it there more often before the weather turns cold.

We also went to the pumpkin patch while my parents were in town. One of my favorite traditions growing up was going out to the pumpkin patch and picking our own pumpkins from the field. I was really excited to be able to do this will Rowan this year and I was glad my parents could be involved as well. The weather was gorgeous and we had a great time!

Rowan is eating great! We started solid food last month and we have been trying new things weekly. He really figured out the whole eating process very quickly and he loves his food! We have tried sweet potatoes, green beans, bananas, avocado, pears, carrots, and plums. The plums were just in the mesh bag we have so really he just sucked on the juices. He has liked everything so far. We made the green beans with the beans we got from our weekly share. They were string beans and we couldn't get them quite smooth enough so he wasn't a huge fan, but he still did pretty well. He loves banana in the mesh bag to suck on, but also likes them all mushed up. We do the avocado the same way. He devoured the small jar of pears and carrots. I've pretty much just been giving him a new food and then waiting till he has a nice poop before trying something new. We do rice cereal in between those times. We have only been feeding him solids at night for dinner, but I think we will add one more meal in the afternoon in the next couple of weeks. He is still nursing every 3 to 4 hours and that is also going great. I'm really glad I stuck with it even though it got really hard and uncomfortable. Rowan and I have both figured out what works best for us and it is an enjoyable process now. I'm still having trouble pumping so Rowan gets a bottle of formula when the sitter is here three days a week. She is only here a couple hours each day so if I can time it right he doesn't get a bottle at all from her.

All in all things are going fantastic and I couldn't be happier with my little boy. He makes me smile everyday and I can't wait to see what he does next!

-Nicki

4 months!

I have TERRIBLE time management skills so school is killing me right now and I had to put the blog on the back burner for a little bit. I can't believe that 4 months have gone and past with my little man! He will be 5 months on the 23rd! Here are his stats:

5/3/11: Height, 20.5in (55%) Weight, 7 lb 3 oz (21%) OFC, 35.5 cm (28%)

7/11/11: Height, 24in (66%) Weight, 12 lb 4 oz (42%) OFC, 40.5 cm (43%)

9/6/11: Height, 25 3/4in (67%) Weight, 15 lb 2 oz (43%) OFC, 43 cm (59%)

Rowan is changing everyday and learning something new all the time. He still hates laying on his back or stomach, but has gotten much better on his tummy. He will play for about 10 minutes on his belly before getting mad. He still doesn't really roll over much, but I'm not concerned. He loves to be sitting up and seeing what is going on. The baby bjourn is a good friend now!

We got out the jumper my brother and sister in law got Rowan and he loves that as well. He is not quite tall enough to reach the floor and be able to bounce so we put a box underneath to give him a boost.

He is sitting up by himself pretty well and we have even started to put him in the seat of the shopping cart. He is quite the flirt at the grocery store, all the old ladies love him! We are still working on a tooth. He puts everything his mouth and just chews and chews.

We also started rice cereal this week. There isn't much to it, but he is doing very well on learning to eat. We still spit a bunch out, but he is getting better. We have also been giving him a frozen blackberry in this mesh bag thing. He just sucks on it or gnaws on it and gets some of the juice as it starts to melt. He really likes this! We are just going to work our way up to real foods and take our time trying new things.

For some reason he has stopped sleeping through the night. He went from sleeping close to 9 hours straight to waking up every 3-4 hours to eat. I'm guessing a growth spurt but not sure. He of course started doing this right when I went back to school and can't take naps with him throughout the day, the little stinker!

This past Sunday was his first Chicago Bears game. Ryan was beyond excited to watch the game with him. We don't have cable so we usually go to a bar to watch the games, but now with a baby I didn't think that was very appropriate so we went to one of our favorite restaurants that has TV's and watched it there. Rowan did great, he slept through the 2nd quarter and then sat with us the rest of the time. Check out the onsie Ryan made him for the occasion!

He LOVES bath time. He is a splashing machine! I am usually pretty wet by the end of it. I've been having him sit up in our little bathtub the last couple times just to see how he does. He likes it, but when he tries to kick his feet he falls over so I'm going to leave the backrest in there for now.

Our good friends Zach and Jenna and their baby Orson came over and stayed with us for a few days and then we stayed with them labor day weekend. The boys could really care less about each other now, but we know they will be good friends someday soon! Such cuties!

Rowan has discovered the dog. He really enjoys watching her walk around and she has taken a fondness to him as well. She is a mouth licker anyways, but she especially loves Rowan cause he opens up wide for her! We try to not let that happen very often, but both of them are pretty quick. Rowan has been grabbing on to her when she gets near enough and she just stands there and takes it till either he lets go or we make him let go. I wasn't sure how she would handle him grabbing her, but she is doing much better then expected!

We haven't been doing much, just trying to get back in the swing of things, but I'll keep updating and posting pictures!

-Nicki

In Remembrance

Life is eternal, and love is immortal,

and death is only a horizon;and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.

~Rossiter Worthington Raymond

Wayne, We will never ever forget your big smile, sarcastic remarks, and all the love you had for everyone. We feel very blessed that you got to meet Rowan and spend time with him. I am thankful to you for raising your son to be my best friend and an amazing father. We love you. May you rest in peace and enjoy those legs!

2 month pictures

We had 2 month pictures done of Rowan back in Illinois in June and have had them back for some time now, but I never got around to sharing my favorites. We had these done by Jamie at Ember Mae Photography which is who did our maternity pics as well. Hopefully we will be able to work it out to get 6 month pics done in October by her as well. We highly recommend her, check her out on facebook! Here our my favorites, enjoy!!

Biiiiiigggggg Stretch!

this is the necklace Ryan and Rowan got me for my first mothers day

one of my absolute favorites!

I love love love little baby bottoms!

I'm getting this one on a canvas...LOVE!

my barefoot boys!

-Nicki

The whirlwind...

Things have been very crazy around here in the past month. As I mentioned before Ryan's father is sick and has been put on hospice. We have been spending as much time with him as we can so we have been in Illinois for 3 weeks. We already had several weekend trips planned to Illinois so we kept those intact and just traveled back and forth from his parents, my parents, and our weekend destinations.

Since I was unable to go to Florida with my mom the previous week, I spent the following week with my parents while Ryan went back to Kentucky to work for a few days before he returned back to Illinois. My mom and I just hung out with Rowan and did some shopping. It was a nice relaxing weekend that was much needed.

Rowan, Ryan and I then returned to his parents to spend time with his dad and help out where needed. We have been here since then. It is relaxing and exhausting all at the same time. It has been really nice though to be spending time with his family and Rowan really helps put a smile on everyones face.

On weekend we went up to Chicago for a friends wedding. Ryan was the officiant so he went up a day earlier then Rowan and I. It was a beautiful wedding with an even more beautiful couple.

The next weekend we were back up in Chicago again for the Rock n Roll half marathon. This was Ryan's first half marathon and he did great. His goal was to complete it within 2 hours 10 minutes and barefoot and he did both! Rowan and I cheered him on and are so proud. We took a little time after the race to spend time as a family and walked around the city to see the sites.

Rowan's 4 month appointment is September 1st, but I never updated on his 2 month appt so here it is. He weighed 12lbs 3oz and I think 24 inches (it was so long ago I can't remember for sure and the paperwork is in KY). He did great with his shots and only cried for a few minutes. I got a little nervous cause the doctor listened to his heart for a really long time, but in the end she said everything was fine.

He is our little bundle of energy. He is always moving his arms and legs and hates laying down. He sits or stands at every opportunity. The bumbo has been a lifesaver! Once we are back in KY I am going to get his walker down so he can sit in that. He has really started to track everything that passes by him and he knows Ryan and my voices.

In the past few weeks something switched and he doesn't mind belly time anymore. He will play with his toys for a solid 10-15 minutes before getting irritated. He will roll over on his own if we put his arms under him, but he hasn't done it completely solo yet. He is trying to put everything in his mouth and we have broken out a few of the teething toys. He seems to like the coldness so I think he may be cutting teeth soon. He is a drooling fool, but I know that babies go through a stage where they produce more saliva then they can swallow and he is for sure there!

He turned 3 months on the 23rd of July and I can't believe he will be 4 months in a week! Time really does fly.

Once things settle down again I promise to give more consistent updates. I love writing about how much our little man has changed from each post and I hope you guys enjoy reading it!

-Nicki

Quick Update

Just wanted to put in a quick update of where we have been. My father in law has been sick so Ryan, Rowan and I have been in Illinois for going on 3 weeks now. I promise to try and blog about Rowan's progress in the near future. I will say he is what is keeping everyone going here and we all love his smile more then words!

Nicki

Vintage Pearl Giveaway!

Check out The Vintage Pearl website today for a giveaway. They have really unique jewelry especially for mommas! http://www.thevintagepearl.com/blog/

-Nicki

Our Maternity Pictures Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Vacation and 2 months

We just got back from a long weekend at Kentucky Lake for a family reunion, a week long vacation to my parents in Pontiac and then a weekend in St. Louis. It was a whirlwind two weeks, but we all had a blast. This summer is flying by and we have a few more trips planned. I feel like we are dragging Rowan all over the place, but he does really well. When we first found out we were pregnant Ryan and I talked about how our lives would change when our little boy arrived. We decided that we didn't want to stop traveling just because we had a baby. Traveling is one of our favorite things to do together and we want Rowan to love it as much as we do. We want him to experience as many places as he can and learn as much as he can from our travels. Granted we have not been anywhere without family or without our car, but we are learning and becoming more comfortable with traveling with a baby. I know everything will change once he is mobile and this is a good age to travel with a baby, but I am glad we haven't been holding back from traveling this summer. I hope we can continue to travel and hopefully we can plan a trip farther away soon!

Rowan got to meet a LOT of family members at the reunion and Ryan and I hardly held him! He also had his first swimming experience at the resort and he did great! I thought the water was going to be to cold, but he didn't seem to mind. In fact both times we went he just fell asleep right away! I am super excited he likes the water because I love water and plan to spend lots of time at the pool or a lake in our future. Hopefully he continues to enjoy it! We are going swimming with some friends tomorrow so we will see!

The week in Pontiac was very relaxing and we used it to catch up on some sleep and hang out with my oldest brother, his wife, daughter, and my younger brother. They flew in from Colorado for the reunion and stayed for the week. My niece Isabella just turned 1 and is a bundle of energy. She started walking while they were there and it was so neat to see her and spend time with her. She is quite the cutie!

Rowan got to go out to TPOC (the camp Ryan and I worked at) for the first time. Ryan was volunteering out there for the week so he got to meet lots of our favorite campers and they really seemed to like him! We also had Jamie Sutter of Ember Mae Photography take pictures of Rowan. She is a camp friend and did our maternity pictures which we LOVE. We can't wait to see the results, she is very talented! I'm going to share the book I made in another post.

After Ryan was finished volunteering out at camp we went to St. Louis with my family for a Cardinals game. My oldest brother had not been to the new stadium and wanted to check out a game. It was supposed to be raining all weekend, but the weather turned out pretty good for us. It rained during the game, but it was the last inning and we were under an awning so it didn't bother us. I was excited to take Rowan to his first baseball game even though I knew he wouldn't remember a thing! I am a big Cardinals fan and Ryan is a huge Cubs fan so there is always some friendly competition going on between us during baseball season. We had a good time and Rowan was very well behaved even though it went right over his usual fussy time. The worst part was that I had to breastfeed him in the bathroom which was pretty gross. I felt bad I was making him eat where people pee, but I am having a horrible time pumping (I will talk about this later) so that was my only option. I would have just fed him in the stands but I didn't think the college aged boys behind us which was really above me would like seeing my boobs! We went for a late dinner on our way back to the hotel and we were seated in a corner so I did feed him at the table there. Feeding in public is something that I don't mind doing, but I don't want to make other people uncomfortable and I haven't quite mastered it so they could get a show!

We also went to the zoo on our last day in St. Louis. The zoo is free and really nice. It was HOT and sticky, but we still had a good time. Rowan slept through the entire thing but I enjoyed seeing all the animals! I can't wait till he is old enough to be interested in the zoo cause it is a favorite place of mine! At the end of the zoo we said our goodbyes to the family and headed back to Kentucky. Along the way I got my first ever speeding ticket. It was totally bad luck cause we were a mile away from switching drivers and two cars had just passed me going quite a bit faster, but they got me and one of those cars instead. Silly speed traps!

My new problem is pumping. I haven't really been doing it because I don't have a need to, but with all the traveling I thought it would be nice to have a bottle or two on hand for dinners and it would have been nice to have one for the baseball game. It has always taken quite a bit of time for me to pump and I usually have little to show for it. I was doing some research on it and found out that it should only take 15-20 minutes for both sides. I was spending at least 30 minutes on one side with only an ounce or two to show for it! I have been getting really frustrated with it and pretty much gave up. I talked with a doula/lactation consultant today about it and she gave me some ideas to try so I'm going to give them a whirl in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully they help! Any suggestions are welcomed!

On the 23rd Rowan turned 2 months, but I forgot to take pictures so I took them when we got back to Lexington. He was supposed to have his 2 month well check on the 23rd, but we were still in Pontiac so I rescheduled it for July 11th. I can't wait to see how much he has grown since we were last there!

He absolutely loves sitting up and he has great head control. We have even started to put him in the bumbo and he does really well. He absolutely hates tummy time so I rarely do it. I know I need to do it more so he can build up those muscles, but after about 30 seconds he just starts screaming and I can only put him through the torture for a minute or so. When he lays on his stomach on our chests he does a great job pushing himself up, but he won't do it when he is laying on the floor. Hopefully he will start to like it more so he can learn to roll over and crawl, but at this point in time he has no interest! He has started drooling like crazy and I think I am going to have to break out the bibs soon. He also blows a lot of spit bubbles which I think is funny! He is starting to master the pouty lower lip as well, which I also think is super cute and funny! I'm pretty sure he got that from me! He is also trying really hard to suck his thumb. He shoves his whole fist in there till he finds his thumb then he sucks till it pops out a few seconds later. Its pretty cute! His favorite "game" is pull-ups. We lay him on our lap and have him grab our finger and then pull him up. He loves it and smiles with every pull- up.

He is still sleeping like a champ. We don't have a super set routine, but somewhere between 9 and 11 he gets a bath and I feed him. Then he hangs out with us till he falls asleep then we put him in the pack n play till we go to bed. I was waking him up to feed him when I went to bed around 12 or 1, but I have stopped doing that cause he wasn't really interested. He sleeps till somewhere between 6-9. He will get a little fussy somewhere in there and I just give him his pacifier and he goes right back to sleep for another hour or two. When he wakes up the second time he eats and we start our day. Ryan and I are both night owls and not morning people so keeping him up a little later at night works great for us. Also, Ryan sometimes doesn't get home from work till 8 so he wouldn't ever be able to see Rowan if I put him to bed any earlier.

He is still sleeping in our room for purely selfish reasons. I love having him so close to me and it is much more convenient. He doesn't wake up during the night and neither do I so why move him? He is starting to get a little big for his bed in our room so I know I will have to move him soon for that reason. He won't have an issue sleeping in his crib so I'm not worried about the transition. I put him in there today for a nap and he did great. I'm going to have more of a problem then he is! He is also eating well. He eats every three hours unless we are in the car during feeding time, then he just sleeps through it till we get home. He is such a good baby! He continues to smile more and more and keeps getting more "talkative". I fall in love even more every time he looks at me and smiles!

-Nicki