We brought Rowan to see the farm babies at the zoo last weekend. It was a glorious day! I'm so loving the spring weather!

Hmmm...what can I get into first?

I know! I'll free the baby chicks!

Then I'll feed and pet the mama and baby goats!

Next, I'll see a little hairy piglet up close!

And before we go, I'll say hi to the pretty white horse!

Meet Avery Elizabeth!

Avery Elizabeth was born today (Tuesday) at 9 a.m., weighing a healthy 8 lbs, 2 oz and measuring 20.5 inches. Avery is cute as can be with a full head of dark hair. Courtney looked great and is recovering well from the delivery.

It was so fun to go shopping for Avery today before our visit to the hospital. I finally had a reason to buy frilly girly baby clothes! During our visit, I had the honor of being the first person Avery spit up on! Boy did that bring back memories of Rowan's super pukes.

Rowan can already say Avery (Avie or Avwie). He wasn't sure what to think of her at the hospital. He was a little overwhelmed by all of the people and attention. He said "baby" and "Avie" frequently after we left, though. Now he has two buddy cousins!

Here's sweet little Avery with her eyes open.

And here's the new family of three!

Congratulations Courtney and Joel! Avery is absolutely beautiful and so lucky to have you two for parents.

Waiting for Daddy

Life's a Zoo!

Wow, three new posts in one day! Can you believe it?!

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We've been using our zoo membership like crazy over the past couple of weeks. The weather has been so beautiful! Kyle, Rowan and I were at the zoo on Saturday and it was crazy -- parents, kids, babies and strollers everywhere! We tried to stay outside where we had a bit more breathing room.

We did, however, go inside long enough for Rowan to visit Discovery Bay! He loved seeing (and touching!) the fish in the low pond. Kyle had to keep him from jumping right in!

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Heidi, Maddox, Rowan and I went to the zoo AGAIN Today! It was even warmer and more beautiful outside! We lucked out because all of the outside animals were pretty close to the viewing areas.

Rowan enjoyed admiring the tiger from afar...

But he REALLY liked it when the tiger came up close to the glass!

We've had a great time enjoying this spring-like weather! The fresh air and sunshine have been the perfect cure for our cabin fever!!

Grandpa's Silly Face

Every time we visit my mom and dad's house, my dad reads Rowan a story in which a grandpa makes a goofy face for his granddaughter. Now Rowan makes that same goofy face all the time and says "Bumpa!" So cute!

Waking Up is Hard to Do

It can take Rowan a little while to fully wake up from his naps. Sometimes he needs to rest on the couch for a bit until he feels ready to play. Here's a photo progression to illustrate:

Ugh...I'm still a little groggy mama!

Maybe I'll just cuddle with my baby for a little bit.

I'm feeling much better now! Let's play!

Me and My Little Buddy

I've realized lately that because I'm always the one behind the camera, I have very few recent pictures of me with Rowan. We'll have to get better about that. I don't want Rowan thinking I was never around when he was growing up!


Here's a picture of the two of us that Kyle took during our trip to the zoo over the weekend.

Snow Baby

Rowan has been a little under the weather, but that hasn't stopped him from getting out on a few different occasions to enjoy the snow. On Saturday, Kyle was outside shoveling. When Rowan noticed him on the deck, he said, "Bood, bood! Mama! Bood!" Translation? "Get my boots on me, Mama!"

16+ Months

I’m way overdue to post about what Rowan’s been up to. It’s just soooooo hard to find the time. It’s also really hard to sum up what’s going on with him at this stage in a concise way. When he was a little baby, it was big news if he could touch his hands together. Now, he’s saying lots of words, and being silly and playing little pretend games. So here’s my best attempt!

On the Communication Front
I originally started working on this post when Rowan was just over 15 months old. At that time, I had a pretty good list of words he used on a regular basis. Just in the last few weeks, however, he’s started to pick up new words like crazy! I’ve created a very incomplete list below. He seems to pick up something new every day now, copying the words that we say. Often, only Kyle or I can understand his intentions, but we’ve become pretty good at deciphering his language. The sign language helps too.

AWESOME New Phrase:
I love you (Ilaauooh. He just started saying this two days ago!! He usually gives a kiss after saying it – just like mama!)

Other Words He Uses:
All gone (gah gone)
Apple/pineappole (papoh)
Ball (bough)
Baseball (ba bough)
Bath (ba, with his tongue sticking out)
Blueberry (bloobleoobleoobleoobleooble – he will keep going until he gets a blueberry!)
Book (buh)
Boost (boo, to get a boost onto the bed or the couch)
Bubble (buboh)
Car (cah)
Cheese (cheece, he also uses this for cheeks)
Chocolate chips (cheecey peecey)
Cold (code)
Corey (coh)
Cracker (Kahkuh)
Dada
Eggs (Ehs)
Elmo! (uh oh, someone has been watching some Sesame Street! We’ve also heard Big Bird and Oscar)
Football (fuh bough or buh bough)
Grandma (maaama)
Grandpa (bumpa)
Heidi (Highdle in a really high voice)
Jason (Jitso)
Juice
Maddox (Maaah)
Mama
More (muh)
Pasta (pata)
Poo poo
Scott (Cott)
Uh oh
Up
Water (bah bah)
Yeah

That’s all I can think of right now. He’ll pretty much try to repeat any word you say (not always clearly) but the above are the ones he uses most frequently. He’s also starting to put some words together. For example, if his cup is empty he’ll say, “Bah bah gah gun” (water all gone). So that’s cool! He still makes lots of animal noises when he sees animals that he recognizes. He’ll bark if he sees a dog or moo if he sees a cow. He also shakes his head yes and no say “yeah” or “nuh” after you ask him a question, which I don’t think he really did at 12 months.

Signs:
All done
Milk (which we use for nurse)
Help
Eat
Drink
Diaper change
I don’t think we’ll add many more signs at this point. The ones above are the most useful and he seems to be picking up words and learning other ways to communicate now as well. We’ll see…

On the Motor Front
Rowan continues to run faster and faster. He also loves to shake his booty and dance -- especially in his diaper! He started doing "sort of" summersaults about a month ago. I'll say, "Can you do a summersault?" and he'll bend over with his head on the floor. Sometimes he'll flip over by himself and other times I'll help him. It's all around pretty cute! He loves to climb, which is getting a little scary. I think we need to do a new level of toddler proofing around here! He also still loves spinning in circles and kicking and throwing balls.

On the Eating Front
Rowan's eating more and more different types of solids. He LOVES spices! He dips little pieces of fruit in pumpkin pie spice or little pieces of veggies or meats in cumin. I tried this one day in a desperate attempt to get him interested in sitting still to eat for more than 10 seconds. The novelty worked! Dipping in general is enjoyable to him. He dips crackers and thin apple slices in yogurt, and fish and meat in sauces. Sitting still is still tough for him, but as long as we keep things fresh and new, he's pretty good to go. He also loves "on the go" foods like raisens and cheerios that don't require table sitting.

Other Stuff
Rowan is just overall such a cool, funny and cute little person now! I loved him as a baby, but now I feel like I have this interesting little buddy to hang out with every day. We play games and read books. He pretends to feed his baby and change its diaper (baby is becoming a pretty important friend around here). He pretends to be a dog or a cat. He hides from me and then jumps out and says "peekaboo" in a really excited voice. He's just SO FUN! I love him to pieces and I hope he never forgets that!

I thought this picture looked a lot like pictures of my dad when he was a little boy.

Here's a cute one of Rowan with his baby. He looooooves his little baby!

Here's Rowan with one of his favorite toys -- books!


And a sweet one of Rowan with baby and Teddy.

My little sweetie! How did we get so lucky?!

Just Ducky!

Rowan got some sweet Valentine duckies from Grandpa Kevin and Grandma Connie. He just loves them and has quite a bit of company in the bath now!

Not for the Squeamish!

I'm posting this video against Kyle's orders! He thinks it's just too gross. BUT I think it's also pretty hilarious (possibly in that "only a mother would laugh" sort of way). The setup? Well, let's just say Rowan likes to "fake" sneeze, but sometimes still produces results.

Enjoy...or not...hmmmmm...not sure what's appropriate here...

-Angie

Will You Support My Mama?

You know what they say about babies and puppies: CUTE SELLS! So here's a little shameless (and ADORABLE) exploitation to encourage you to support me in raising funds to participate in The Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk. I need to raise $2,200 to participate in the event in late August.

I'm walking with and in honor of my mom, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2006. In the months since her diagnosis and treatment, our family faced the additional tragedies of losing both of my mom's parents to cancer and stroke. This walk is not only a way to support a noble cause, but also a way to prove that the past five months haven't crushed our spirits!

I'm documenting my journey along with my mom, her sister Kris and my sister Heidi on a new blog! Check it out and consider supporting me with a financial contribution today.

Love,
Angie

*Coming soon: Rowan's long-overdue 15-month post (well, maybe it should technically be a nearly 16-month post!)

Animal Noises

Consumer Reports Retraction

Hi all-

Just wanted to let everyone know (if you haven't already heard) that Consumer Reports is retracting its carseat study. A full article can be found at:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/AUTOS/01/18/car_seat/index.html

It's so frustrating that carseat safety is so difficult for consumers to research! Who can you trust? I just wish we had higher standards and better independent testing!

-Angie

Such an Old Man!

Rowan turned 15 months old on January 12. He acts so funny when we tell him he's 15 months old. Here's a cute video showing some of his antics. Notice the funny walk he does after we tell him he's sooooo old.

He also attempts to hold Maddox in this video. Quite funny since Maddox weighs a whopping 17+ pounds!

What year is it?

We broke out some of Kyle's old clothes from when he was Rowan's age (in the 70s!). Rowan looked so cute in his oversized collar and slim pants. He's since had his hair cut, but a shaggy style really compliments his vintage duds, don't you think?

Christmas Eve Recap

Oh, I'm so behind on my posts! Life with a toddler seems to be much busier than life with a baby.

Before I move on to more recent happenings, I have some more Christmas pics to share. On Christmas Eve, we had brunch at my mom and dad's house and opened presents. I was really surprised how much Rowan enjoyed opening his presents. I thought he'd still be too young to care, but he LOVED it! Every time he pulled out a toy, he'd start frantically doing the sign for "help" so that someone would get the toy out of its packaging (why is there so packaging!?). We had such a fun and relaxing morning!

Grandma Michelle helping Rowan open a present.

Rowan with his new Legos.

Rowan with his new wooden block train.

Rowan with his beautiful new push/pull sled from Grandma and Grandpa. We've only been able to use it once so far (what's up with winter?!).

In the evening we traveled to Kyle's Uncle Brian and Aunt Jenny's house to celebrate with Kyle's dad's side of the family. Rowan had a fun time running around Brian and Jenny's new house and opening MORE presents!

Rowan with his new football (foo bough, according to Rowan) and mini picture of Great Grandpa Obert and Great Grandma Alice.

Rowan with his new John Deere tractor.

Christmas Day Recap

On Christmas day, we went to Kyle's mom and dad's house to have dinner and open presents. Rowan enjoyed yet another day of wrapping paper and brightly colored plastic! But he especially loved climbing on the presents before we opened them (see picture below).

By the end of the night, Rowan was down to his skivvies and taking rides in the new Radio Flyer wagon he got from Grandma and Grandpa. What a wild night!

After the pajamas finally went on, Rowan got another ride in his littler wagon. Cozy!

One of Kyle's favorite presents was the "big guy" "little guy" shirt set that he and Rowan received. Kyle can't wait until Rowan is big enough to fit in his "little guy" shirt.

Infant Car Seats: Buyer Beware!

I received a Consumer Reports e-mail alert today about infant car seats. Apparently, only two seats (Graco Snugride and Babytrend Flex-loc) performed well. All of the others they tested FAILED! We used the Snugride with Rowan and are now way beyond the infant car seat phase, but I thought some of you might be interested in seeing the article and ratings.

Here's the article (copy and paste the URL): http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/babies-kids/child-car-booster-seats/car-seats-2-07/overview/0207_seats_ov.htm

Here are the ratings (copy and paste the URL): http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/babies-kids/child-car-booster-seats/reports/child-car-seats-ratings/ratings-child-car-seats/latest-ratings/index.htm

Frankly, I'm horrified that NONE of the seats got an "excellent" rating. I'm also more than horrified by how rediculous and inadequate our testing standards are (30 mph? what would happen in a highway collision?)!! Europe has much tougher standards and the car seats sold there are WAY safer than the ones sold by the exact same companies in the U.S. Makes me want to order a car seat from England! Oh wait...using European seats is prohibited in the U.S. (how convenient).

Sometimes I really wonder about this country...

-Angie
*On a Rowan-related note, I promise to post the rest of my Christmas pics and about a few more recent happenings soon. I've had a bad cold and haven't been very motivated lately (Rowan keeps me upbeat, though).

Christmas at Grandma Adeline's

We celebrated Christmas at Grandma Adeline's on the day before Christmas Eve. Many (but certainly not all!) of the great grandchildren gathered for a group picture. Rowan was a little slow to warm up to everyone. The party was during his usual naptime, so he was tired and a bit overwhelmed by all of the people.


He wasn't too fond of Santa, either. But that's to be expected from a 1-year-old. Maybe he'll have more fun next year!