~Rowen Sits Up~

Yesterday while in the process of changing out bedding, I decided to take some new pictures of Rowen, primarily as his "I'm sitting up" pictures.  He started sitting up this past week and now that is the only way he wants to be so he can see everything around him!  He hasn't quite gotten the hang of balance yet but he is getting a little less startled when he falls over. 

A couple of these pictures are from when he fell over and all of them are in black and white.  Never did I think I would have a brown eyed baby but I sure do love those big brown eyes! 

oh the drool....

The tongue out is a Wallace Family trait, he gets it from me...

This one came out a little blurry, but may be my favorite of the bunch...

~My Other Babies~

Sometimes, more often than not, I forget about my other babies.  I knew that when Rowen came along it was going to be hard balancing my time attention between him and Jack and Lola, but I don't think I realized how much it would pull at my heart every time they look at me with their sad eyes.

And I understand why they give me those eyes.  I was THEIR mom first.  Especially my Jack, Lola will take attention from anyone, but Jack has always been a momma's boy.  I have this picture of Jack in our kitchen, next to Rowen's first picture.  I think of all the pictures I took of Jack as a puppy, it is my favorite.  It was the first time Tara and I took him to spend a day at the beach, he wasn't a big fan of the ocean, but he loved the sand.

I think I keep this picture out where I will see it everyday to remind me that he was my first baby.  The most easy going, easy to train, smart little puppy, that was content to go with the flow and hang out with us wherever we took him.  For our small group in Charleston, he was everyone's puppy, there was always someone who wanted to cuddle him.  

And then we decided he needed a sister, very similar to the way we humans decide we want another baby.  Lola has always known that she is the little sister, and from the day we brought her home she has been the troublemaker, in as much a way as a golden retriever can be.  But even she sometimes wants my attention, over her dad's, and I remember she is my baby too.

When we brought Rowen home they were interested.  Not as interested as we thought they would be but curious as to who this new creature was.  As Rowen grows, their curiosity grows.  He smiles and coos at them and crawl their way on to the play mat and smother him with kisses.  Its then that I see all of my babies together and not a single one of them is trying to get my attention.

I really should be grateful that Jack still looks to me.  I know that some day soon, maybe when Rowen starts crawling, he will shift from being my dog to being Rowen's dog, and it will remain that way for the rest of his life.   I will still be his mom, but Jack will have a best friend in Rowen, who will always want to play, and always accept all of the sloppy kisses he wants to give.  I have to remember this on the days when Jack sits next to me and gives me the sad eyes to pet him because when he stops doing that I know I will miss it.

Lola on the other hand, will remain the only sissy for time being and give her affections to the highest bidder (she is kind of a snob like that).

~5 Months Old~

Dear Rowen,

Last week you turned five months old, it amazes me everyday how big you are getting!  This month last year was when we found out our lives would be blessed with the arrival of a baby, but I never could of imagined that baby would be the happy, silly, loud, little baby you are!!

We went to the doctors the other day and you weighed 18.1 lbs and are 27 inches tall, which puts you roughly in the 75-80%.  You have been wearing your last wears of many of your six months clothes which also happen to be your summer clothes, and your nine month fall clothes are all washed and folded waiting for you.  We just transitioned over to size three diapers.

This past month has brought a lot of change for you in the food department.  I will admit I was very hesitant to start foods with you, not so much because I didn't think you were ready, but rather I didn't feel well prepared for the process.  I finally gave in when I caught you watching us eating and you were moving your mouth.  So far you have loved the change.  We mix either a fruit or a vegetable in with your cereal three times a day, and you don't seem to dislike anything we have tried.  I think apples may be your favorite, but we have also tried bananas, pears, green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash.  You still take at least four bottles a day of at least eight ounces, you are a healthy eater!

You continue to sleep through the night, but lately its a battle to get you to sleep, you fuss and thrash and if we put you in your crib you put your butt up in the air and cry.  You usually fall asleep after ten minutes, and I know picking you up won't do anything (believe me I've tried), but for those ten minutes its hard to let you work it out sometimes.  Once you are asleep we don't hear a peep from you until we wake you up in the morning.  This past weekend you let us sleep in until 830 on Saturday and that was pretty amazing.

Every day you seem to get stronger.  You now roll back and forth from your back to your belly, and a lot of times when you are on your belly we will see you rotating yourself in a circle.  You are sooo close to being able to sit up on your own, we have been practicing and I think once you figure out how to catch yourself from falling backwards we will be good to go.  The Jumperoo remains your best friend, you would spend every waking minute in it if we let you.  In addition to moving around like crazy, you are turning out to be quite the chatterbox, which isn't a surprise to me!!  You love to lay on your mat and coo and babble to all of the sea creatures and it is precious!!

A few firsts for you this month aside from food, your first Hurricane Irene, your first earthquake, and your first Baseball game!

Happy five months Chicken Little, we love you so much!!

~Take Me Out to the Ball Game~

This past week we took Rowen to his first Dodgers game.  It isn't often that the Dodgers travel to the east coast and are in the DC area, so I knew tickets to the game would be the perfect anniversary gift for the hubs.  I bought these tickets back in July and we have been anticipating taking Rowen to the game ever since.  I completely forgot the camera at home, but I was able to get a few decent iPhone pictures!

If you are living in one of the dryer areas of the country then you might not know that we have been bombarded with rain this week.  I would of thought they would postpone the game, but the Nationals' pitcher Strasbourg was coming back so it was a pretty big game for them and they were trying to do whatever possible to not cancel the game.  

It was kind of crappy weather, and cold, which meant Rowen had to wear a hat for the first time of the year!  I haven't really stocked up on hats and this one was given to him by his Aunt Cici, and we ended up loving it so I am ordering it in a few more colors in preparation for the cooler temperatures.  It doesn't exactly match Dodger blue but I figured it was better than nothing! Have I mentioned I can't wait for fall and am already decorating my house in leaves, we will save that for another time!

We only stayed for about five innings because the rain picked up, but we had great seats for the game!  While we enjoyed watching, little man did some of this (despite a three hour nap prior to the game)...

We had debated just skipping the game because of the weather but I'm glad we went and had a good time, and I can't wait to hopefully take Rowen again next year when the Dodgers are in town and he is a little bigger!!

~What We've Been Up To~

I've been MIA for a little while, for no particular reason.  We have been staying pretty busy so I thought I would do a quick little recap of the odds and ends of right now.

~Last week Fallyn went home, with a trach indefinitely.  Not knowing what exactly poisoned her makes it difficult to determine the best solution so for right now she is safe, happy, and back in the pool....

~ Last week we also had a very special visitor in town, Auntie Kelley.  I am very grateful that her family shares her time here with me, and we sure do wish that Texas was only down the street.  This is the best picture I got of her and Rowen so please excuse the robe....

~Dunkin Donuts recently started selling K cups for the Keurig!  It pretty much has made my morning and I have made my own iced coffee everyday before work.  I'm pretty sure the only place you can get them right now is at an actual DD but they should be coming to grocery stores soon...

~In case you didn't know, we had an earthquake here yesterday!  I  was in the city picking up some papers on my way home when all the sudden the building started shaking.  I thought maybe a plane had flown too close to the building but when it lasted for about 45 seconds I guessed it was an earthquake.  Cell phones were crazy and luckily nothing in my house was broken!

~Rowen is starting a new daycare in a few weeks.  Spots at military daycares around here are pretty hard to come by and unbeknownst to me you are supposed to get yourself on the waiting list pretty much the second you find out you are pregnant.  I have chickened out telling our current daycare we are leaving, so I am waiting for Rudy to do it when he drops Rowen off on Friday.  Every time I go to pick Rowen up I feel like I have been cheating on them :/.  Aside from the feelings of guilt we are pretty excited about this new daycare, close to work for us, opens early which means we can get into the city early, excellent facility, and even better we don't have to bring formula (yes, you read that right, they provide it! Anyone use Good Start before?).  We will see how the transition goes....

~The past two days Rudy has been in Mississippi for work and it has been just me and the little guy.  While we miss him greatly, I kind of like these little times with Rowen that remind me of when I was on maternity leave and it was just me and him.  He is growing so fast and sometimes I feel like I miss things by being at work so its nice once in a while to have him all to myself (Rudy comes home today and we can't wait)...

~My lovely Erin Condren planner arrived last week and I am in love with it!  Last night after I put Rowen to bed she and I sat down to hash somethings out over a wine cooler and I already feel a little bit more organized going into the next couple of weeks (sorry about the glare)....

Hope you all are having a great week and are ready for the Hurricane!

~4 Months Old~

Dear Rowen,

Today you are four months old!!  I still can't believe you have been with us for four months but I also can't believe how big you have gotten!!  Every morning I creep into your room before I leave and I am still amazed at you are the same tiny baby that we brought home.  It used to look like you were getting lost in your crib it was so big compared to you, and now I feel like you will outgrow it soon at the rate you are going.

And speaking of growing, you keep going!  It is actually obvious that you are getting taller based on your jumperoo as your feet are now touching the ground and two weeks ago when we set it up that was not the case!  You wear almost all 3-6months clothing and have some 9months mixed in there.  I'm slightly afraid that the outfits we bought in nine months for October won't fit you!  This month we also gave up on the size one diapers and switched you over to size two.

You continue to be a great eater, and actually eat more than is probably normal.  I base this assessment on the fact that you drink TEN ounces when taking a bottle and there is only one brand of bottles that actually makes a ten ounce bottle!  We have also started experimenting with Cereal, and you had your first tastes of bananas and carrots the other day and you loved both!

You are still sleeping through the night, and are getting better about your naps.  You still won't take a long nap at daycare, but usually come home and take a two to three hour power nap!

One thing I have to mention about this month is your relationship with Jack.  I'm pretty sure you and Jack are going to be best friends, I can already see him becoming your dog each week!  You both have very distinctive eyebrows so I can understand the bond, and I know he is just waiting for the day when you start moving around and he can start following you!

This month you had a few firsts~

~Your first trip to the National Zoo and your first trip to the Aerospace museum!  I sure hope you like planes because your dad is pretty excited about taking you back when you are bigger to see all of the planes!

~Meeting part of your West Coast family for the first time!  I think when your cousins were here this was the first time you started tracking people around the house and you were fascinated with them!  Your cousin Emily is only a year older than you and I'm sure she will be pretty happy to have a playmate next time you see her and are a little more mobile!

~Your first big road trip and meeting the East Coast family!  I will admit, I was very afraid about taking a nine hour car ride with you based on previous forty five minute journeys in which you screamed the entire way.  That being said, I was pleasantly surprised when you literally slept the entire way both up to Massachusetts and back to Maryland.  I'm still not exactly sure how that happened, but I am very grateful!

While you were home you got to meet many of your aunties and cousins and spend some extra quality time with your G'ma who misses you terribly.  You were also introduced to the traditional Grateful Dead Box of Rain dance with your G'pa.  Every baby that has come into the Collins family has been rocked to that song and you are no different.  You may be a Rivera but you are still a Collins too!

And because my heart can't stand how big you are, here is a  month by month break down....

Happy Four Months Chicken Little!!

~Saturday Morning Scene: 4 Months!~

 

This morning we are celebrating Rowen's four month birthday!!  This time in April we were just starting the induction process and little did we know that in less than nine hours we would meet our little boy!  Happy months Chicken Little!!

Getting some birthday love from Lola...