Sweet end to a fun visit!

A Day Brightener

There's nothing better than a sweet little baby to cheer you up in the middle of a difficult week. So we brought Rowan down to visit Grandma Michelle, Grandpa Rob and Uncle Scott last Wednesday.

Rowan and Grandma Michelle had lots of fun playing peekaboo!

And Rowan actually let Grandpa Rob rock him to sleep (a RARE event!).

Enjoy a DQ Blizzard on Thursday!

Thursday, August 10 is Miracle Treat Day! On Miracle Treat Day, all participating Dairy Queen locations will donate proceeds from every Blizzard sold to Children’s Miracle Network. In Minnesota, Children's Miracle Network supports Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul. Gillette cares for children who have disabilities such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida and epilepsy.

So tomorrow, support children with special needs by enjoying a blizzard (being a do-gooder doesn't get much easier or tastier than that)!

He can't take a bad picture, eh?

Everyone says that Rowan ALWAYS takes such wonderful pictures. Well, here are some pretty hilarious (and cute in their own way) pics of Rowan after he woke up from his morning nap. Kyle and I can't stop giggling whenever we look at them -- especially the second one!!

Cool World Breastfeeding Week Post

For those of you who like to keep tabs on celebrities, Celebrity Baby Blog has a cool post about stars who chose to breastfeed their babies. Check it out!

Random cute picture

Here is one more post from Kyle. I took this picture of Rowan quite a while ago, but I just got the film developed. I think it’s pretty cute. Now that I'm blogging too, I can post it.

Angie=167 Kyle=2

Bath Picture

Angie is too busy making soup tonight, so I am posting to make sure we get something cute on this site before people forget how cute Rowan is. I think this is probably my first post. That makes 167 posts for Angie and 1 for me. She better look out or I might catch up.

World Breastfeeding Week!

Yesterday marked the beginning of World Breastfeeding Week (WBW)! So, you'll have to forgive this non-Rowan post for a little bit of activism. For those not interested, there will be more picks of our cutie pie coming soon!

The theme of WBW this year is “Code Watch: 25 Years of Protecting Breastfeeding.” The theme refers to the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. The code prohibits aggressive marketing strategies, such as promoting formula through health-care facilities and providing free samples to new mothers.

Violations of the code are widespread in this country. After Rowan was born, I received free Enfamil formula at our birth center and free Similac formula at our pediatrician’s office. Then I received another box of free Enfamil in the mail! (How did they get my address?) By the time Rowan was two weeks old I had so much formula you’d think I hadn’t told any of my health-care providers I planned to breastfeed!

These freebies are, of course, aggressive marketing tactics used by the big formula companies to boost sales. They foster the assumption that health-care providers recommend certain (expensive) formula brands and formula feeding in general. They also give the impression that even women who breastfeed need to supplement with formula.

While I recognize and respect that not all women are able to breastfeed, I wrote letters to our birth center and pediatrician's office encouraging them to stop giving out formula advertisements (and pseudo-endorsements) to new mothers — particularly those planning to breastfeed. I feel it’s a conflict of interest for doctors to help formula companies advertise their products — especially since the American Academy of Pediatrics advocates exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months (to be continued with the introduction of solids for one year or longer) to promote optimum infant health and development.

If you want more info on World Breastfeeding Week, visit http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/.

For more information about breastfeeding, visit http://www.lalecheleague.org.

Coming up tomorrow: super cute bathtub picks of little Rowan!

Copycat and Cut-Up

Rowan is becoming quite the copycat! He likes to brush his hair and his teeth, just like mommy and daddy! He's not quite as effective as we are, but that's OK.

He's also developing a great sense of humor. He sneezed yesterday and I started laughing. He loved the reaction so he started making funny noises just to get me to laugh. Talk about a role-reversal!

He also thinks it's really funny when things are out of order or don't make sense. For example, we usually put his plastic mail in his little mailbox for him to find. When we put other things in the box (oven mits, spoons, etc.) he thinks it's sooooo funny and starts giggling immediately. He looks at us like, "Hey, that's not what goes in here! You're crazy!" He also thinks it's really funny when I talk gibberish to him. He can totally tell I'm not saying real words and thinks it's the most hilarious thing ever.

Oh, how I spend my time these days! It's a different pace, but I'm loving it. Rowan's personality is blossoming so much and he's becoming a pretty darn cool person to spend the day with!

Water Fun!

We met another couple from our Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) class at Heart of the City Park in Burnsville. It was so much fun! The park has lots of cool splash pools and fountains (designed to look like a babbling stream) for kids to play in. Rowan and his little buddy Ethan had a great time crawling and splashing in the water.

Kyle took this cool picture. I love the reflections off the water.

Here's Rowan and his buddy Ethan, who is 11 months old.

Here's Rowan and I walking in the water. It was so funny to watch him try to crawl in the water. He wasn't sure about the texture of the concrete (even though it was smooth), so he'd crawl with only one knee! He eventually warmed up to the crawling, but he loved walking from the get go.

Visit From Uncle Paul!

Paul was in town from Seattle, so Kyle's highschool buddies got together on Thursday. Rowan did pretty well, but he was a little shy (pretty close to bedtime).

Here's Rowan with Paul, Kyle and Kyle.

Here's Lukas (Joslyn and Corey's little boy) giving Rowan a hug. Luke's such a little sweetie!

And here's a sweet picture of J. Kyle holding R. Kyle.

Nine Months!

I know, I know... I'm WAY late in giving this update. So I threw in some extra pics to make up for it. ;-)

Rowan hit the nine month mark on July 12! He gets more and more fun (and CUTE!) with each passing week.

He can now cruise very well around our furniture and even stands for brief periods. He also took a few steps at my parents' house (he was leaning on Scotts leg, then lunged foreward before falling). He LOVES walking while holding onto our fingers.

Rowan's favorite place to be at our house is under the kitchen table. It's like his own personal jungle gym! He also loves crawling up our steps (any steps, actually). I suppose pretty soon we'll have to teach him to go down steps backwards on his belly.

Rowan's favorite foods include fruits (squished blueberries, watermeon and peaches are his favorites), little bits of meat, O-cereal and toast. He's still getting most of his calories from nursing, but he's starting to eat more solids. It's funny to watch him as he gets full. He'll go from putting bits of food into his mouth when he's hungry to throwing large quantities of food on the floor when he's full.

Rowan has six (SIX!) teeth now. We had some rough times as the four top teeth came in, but nothing too serious. They're all through now and he seems to be sleeping a little better.

At his nine-month check-up he weighed 18 pounds, 1 ounce and measured just over 28 inches long. Our pediatrician said he looks happy and healthy as can be! Rowan even showed her a couple of his tricks (waving and clapping).

We think he's pretty great! I guess we'll keep him after all!! ;-)

My Baby Brother is 21!

Kyle, Rowan and I celebrated Scott's 21st birthday with the family on Sunday. As we drove to my mom and dad's house, Kyle reminded me that he was at Scott's 10th birthday (can you believe we've been together that long?)!!!!

We had a great time, and Rowan enjoyed playing with his Uncle Scott. He even took a couple of steps while leaning against my parents' long sectional sofa!


Rowan might be learning lots of new things, but he has a long way to grow before he's as big as his Uncle Scott! By the way, Rowan took a couple of steps just after this picture was taken, but abruptly fell over as soon as he realized he wasn't holding onto anything. Yikes!

Fun With a Canadian!

Rowan met his Great Auntie Pam (Grandma Connie's sister) for the first time at Grandpa Kevin's retirement party. She was visiting all the way from Canada! The last time she was in town was three days before Rowan was born.

Quick Snuggle with Uncle Jason

Uncle Jason got one of Rowan's rare wake-time cuddles at Grandpa Kevin's retirement party.

Rowan Goes to the Zoo!

We took Rowan to the zoo last weekend! He looooooved the farm exhibit. It was, by far, his favorite part of the zoo. We bought a membership so we'll be going back frequently throughout the next year.

Rowan and daddy get up close and personal with a goat!

Rowan peeks at one of the baby goats.

Rowan watches the little piglets nurse.

Rowan gets a piggy back ride (tee hee)!

Rowan and mama check out the roosters and chickens.

4th of July Parade!

We took Rowan to the 4th of July parade in Cannon Falls on Tuesday (he's pictured above with Uncle Jason). He did pretty well until two giant semi trucks drove through with their horns blaring. He cried immediately and found no relief until the trucks drove (WAY too slowly!) out of earshot. We could see lots of mothers comforting their babies as the trucks drove by!

Rowan also had his first Cannon Fair experience (oh, the excitement...). Kyle and I ate cheese curds while the carnies tried to goad Kyle into winning a styrofoam-stuffed toy his "little safari man." Oh boy, why did we even bother?...Oh yeah, the cheese curds!

Assisted Walking

This week Rowan has really taken to assisted walking. We used to try it and he would just want to fall to his knees and start crawling. Now, he likes to go 'round and 'round the island and up and down our little hallway. We're even walking around outside, where the uneven ground is quite a bit more challenging! It's fun, but I wish he was a little taller so I wouldn't have to bend over to reach his cute little hands!



In other news, Rowan added "so big" to his repertoire. He started doing it a couple of weeks ago, but it just recently became more consistent. When he does do it, he's so proud that he immediately starts clapping to congratulate himself! Now I've been blowing him lots of kisses hoping he'll pick up that cute little gesture too. So fun to know he's watching and listening!

Man, what did we do with all of our free time before we had Rowan?!?!

Electrical Hairstyle

I guess we should have put those safety plug thingies in the electrical outlets... (ha ha!)

Hangin' With Uncle Joel and Auntie Courtney