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
Great post Nicki! I love hearing about everybody's baby updates :) So proud of you for sticking through breast feeding. I still have my days when Abbie frustrates the heck out of me and sends me into tears. The good days are definetly more than the bad though and continuing to increase in number as she gets older. Pumping wise I have little advice. I used to be able to pump a bottle in 5 minutes. Now it almost seems as though my body expects her to nurse to get rid of the milk so it takes longer to pump. Plus I have had 2 plugged ducts since being back at work....I don't know that they were fully plugged but the start of and that is just irritating cause it causes a temporary decrease in supply so then I feel like I need to supplement with saved breastmilk to make up for it. I think I too may have to call a lactation consultant again to see what all I can do to help. I thought I was done with them but evidently they are your best friends the entire time you nurse :) Anyway, sorry I am not much help but hang in there. I have days where it is just so fricking hard but in the end I know its worth it to stick it out. Feel free to vent if you ever need to!
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