Sunday, October 23, 2016

Happy Birthday One-derful Rowen!

Happy Birthday Rowen! You turned the big ONE on August 30th!
What a quick year has passed since Rowen joined our family! He really fits in quite perfectly...at least nothing unexpected with his personality. Rowen reminds me a lot of Reina. He babbles and tries to mimic the tone and talking of others. I don't think he will have any problems picking up conversation at an early age just as his older sister spoke clearly and in sentences by the time she turned two. We have FINALLY started getting strict about him not sleeping in our bed. It's pretty bad. I do blame myself for allowing him to sleep half the night in our bed. Usually I am just too tired to deal with the repercussions of taking him back to his bed and hearing him cry. I am a sucker for babies crying more than a few minutes. Because of this, Paul has done most of the sleep training.

We aren't at the point of Rowen sleeping completely through the night yet but he is definitely getting closer to soothing himself to sleep sooner and easier! (UPDATE as of October: He sleeps in his crib! After nursing we have a routine of the night-time rainbow light getting turned on and Baelor's old glow-worm with music. It took a few nights of 35-45 minute cries but he learned pretty quickly that no one would save him. It was excruciating for me, but happy that Paul was the strong one.) In the long run (actually just about four nights) it was TOTALLY worth it. Even Rowen seems happier about bed time!
Some of the things we love about Rowen now that he is ONE:
He is a happy baby! Really the only times he cries or whines is wanting comfort to sleep or if he is hungry. Even now at 13 months he does not walk. He can. He has taken at least a dozen steps at a time but still prefers to crawl as he can get to his destination much quicker.
These were taken exactly on his birthday...will climb but not walk
Rowen is a climber! I lucked out and found a play structure in a garage sale with a slide for only $5 and have kept it inside for him to climb on. It's funny how he'll climb the step-ladder 3 feet high and be perfectly stable, yet he doesn't desire to walk! All of our children are sure-footed kids though. They make sure that they can feel the next rung of a ladder or step on the stairs before they put their weight down. I'm glad about this so I'm not constantly having to watch him every minute.
Rowen's FAVORITES:
Besides climbing, he has his "special" toys in each room in the house. If he is in the kitchen, he likes to pull all the tupperware lids out of the drawer, and of course get into the dishwasher if it's open for half of a second! In the dining room it's the plant. I know he's been in there if there is dirt all over the floor or around his mouth. Even blocking it off with chairs doesn't seem to help. I need to figure out a different home for my large plant. In the office he likes climbing onto the printer tucked under the desk and dumping all the pens onto the floor. In the bathroom we have to be vigilant about keeping the toilet seat closed and I had to switch the toothbrush holders so that he can now only reach HIS toothbrush! He'll climb Baelor's bed and find his nighttime water cup, or sing teeter-totter in Baelor's rocking chair (this is SUPER adorable). He doesn't go in Reina's room for some reason. In our bedroom he likes going into the bathroom and pulling whatever he can out of the cupboard or finding the toilet brush which now has a pretty home on the counter (ew). He does play with toys too. Some of his favorites are magna-tiles, balls, and any collections of small objects. Sometimes we'll find these small collections stuffed in my decorations. Awwww.
Rowen has an excellent appetite. He'll eat anything and a lot of it. This lucky boy gets homemade soups pureed instead of jarred food. We have switched over to cow's milk now but he still nurses at least 4 times a day.
We celebrated his birthday with family and a few friends at home.
Oh, and not to forget, Reina is now in second grade with her first male teacher, Mr. Westom. Lucky girl also has BFF Lily Wright in her class.