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