A Strange Little Bird

I've always said this but now it's official - Rowan is JUST like Jason.  Rowan has always been very similar to Jason but it's even more evident now.  He loves to paint and color but somehow it always ends up very messy, as evident in the pictures below.  Thank goodness for washable paint.

Rowan isn't satisfied with only one color.  He will pick each one up, use it for a bit and then move to a new one.  During a few desperate moments, I've even handed him a pen and crumpled up receipt and he's happy.

Now to change subjects...for as many meltdowns and temper tantrums Rowan has, he's also had some very sweet, endearing moments.  Any time he sees a picture of Jason or I, he points to it and says "Mama" or "Dada" and smiles really big.  Several times over the past few days, he's asked "where's Dada?" if Jason is gone.  I've learned to take the good and bad behavior together.

His vocabulary is rapidly expanding but he still doesn't like to talk.  You can point to something and ask him what it is or flip through flash cards, and he will identify everything correctly but he doesn't in turn use the words.  I guess I'll have to ask the pediatrician about it.  Although he is stuck on calling any animal he can't identify a "cow" and continues to call a tree "a house."  He's really good about saying "thank you" but he sometimes says it when he should say "excuse me."  For example, he bumped into me with a car tonight, looked up and said "thank you!  I keep reminding him to say "excuse me" but he's stuck on  thank you.

Oh well, at least he's learning manners.

"Little" Rowan and Learning to Let Go

Take a look at picture below.  What do you see?  A happy little toddler at the splash park?

I see a little (almost) 22 month old wearing a pair of size 18 month swim trunks that are obviously falling off.

It's no secret that Rowan has always been on the small side, and at one point, really small.  Even though he's always been very healthy, it's been hard for me to move past his small size.  When you have friends with kids the same age who weigh almost 30 pounds, it's hard.  I've tried lately to pinpoint exactly why I can't move past it.  It's sounds silly but I can vividly recall the day at his pediatrician's office when Rowan was labeled "failure to thrive."  It's such a loaded term that conjures up images of sickly, thin babies who aren't being cared for properly.  It mad me sad to think my child was being lumped into that group.

Fast forward to now and a toddler who will barely sit still long enough to eat.  Some days he eats well and some days he doesn't, and I've realized there isn't a single thing I can do about it.  He will eat when he's hungry.  He will be fine.  And in the meantime, thank goodness for adjustable waist shorts from Baby Gap!

I'm Back!

There are no excuses. Life and work and poor time management just got in the way. But I'm making myself do it now, if for no other reason than to remember the funny, sad, cute, incredibly frustrating things that happen on a daily basis around here.

For example - the fact the the post below written in November of last year could have been written yesterday. Except now Rowan gets up even earlier, like 5:30am or 6am. I can't ignore it like before, when he would just whine some from his crib. He would usually drift off back to sleep for another hour or so. Yes, I admit it. I was one of those moms who let her child whine for a bit before getting out of bed.  But I'm also a believer in cry-it-out for babies, so I guess it all goes hand in hand. Now that Rowan is out of the crib, he just gets out of bed, opens his door and comes into our room. Then he stands next to the bed and taps me and says, "mama, mama, mama" over and over again until I roll over.

Have you ever seen the "Family Guy" episode where Stewie drive Lois crazy? It's kinda like that.



Several people have suggested I just put him in the bed with us and let him go back to sleep. Yeah, that's not going to happen. Rowan can't be still when he sleeps and I would probably end up with a black eye from getting kicked or something. I assumed the early mornings and lack of sleep would have ended by now. I obviously assumed wrong. Hopefully this is just a phase and will pass soon. My lovely mom always says, "This too shall pass."