I think I have said this at every age but really, I think this is my favorite age. Rowen is so full of personality and soaks everything in. We couldn't be more amazed with our Rowen on each end of the spectrum. Meaning he amazes us with his genuine silliness, happy giggles, loving ways, language skills, curiosity, independence and physical growth while also blowing us away with his quick temper, emotional outbursts, and frustrations over anything. We wouldn't change a thing about him. Every part of Ro is precious and I don't want to forget a thing!
Physical Growth:
Weight: 37 lbs (wasn't given a percentile)
Height: 41 inches- 95%
Rowen is solid. He is long and getting skinnier and skinnier but if you try to pick him up he feels like a ton of bricks. He is looking more and more like his Daddy- face and other physical features too- shoulders, chest, tummy. It is funny how you can see those things at such a young age. I often am struck by how his walk is just like my brother's and my dad's yet has a touch of Eric's in there too. I was watching Rowen and Eric walk toward me the other day at the park and I couldn't help but giggle at how they move their arms exaclty the same way. One stays almost still while the other swings. Ro is a bit pigeon toed like his Papa and has a bounce in his step just like Uncle TJ.
Rowen has learned to ride a big boy bike with training wheels. He has become very interested in it once Grammy showed him how to make skid marks with his tires. Now we have to go on bike rides at least a few times a day so that he can make skid marks all over the neighborhood sidewalks. Daddy made a huge impression recently when he drove his 67 Chevelle into the drive way and make skid marks on his way into the garage. Rowen was quite impressed. Rowen and Daddy have taken a few drives around the block in the Chevelle as well this summer. Rowen loves to listen to the engines deep sound. He calls the Chevelle "Daddy's race car" even though we have explained many times that Daddy doesn't race his car, he drives safe (right Daddy? :)).
Ro is also getting better at throwing balls, kicking balls, hitting golf balls with Grammy and Papa, and hitting balls with his bat.
Rowen has completed/passed the Pike swim class at the Y. He took the class 3 times and is now much more confident in the water. In the photo above Rowen is sitting at the end of the line of kids in the black and red shorts. We didn't take very good photos of swim lessons this time around :).Language:
I think this is the area that blows me away on a daily basis. Rowen wants to talk about everything and anything. He pretty much can hold his own in any conversation that comes up and if he doesn't know what we are talking about he knows just the right question to ask to figure it all out. The word WHY has taken on a whole new dimension in our world. He truly wants to know the "why" of everything. We could talk forever it seems about a topic with Rowen simply asking "why?" after every explanation we give. It is not only the word why but "why does it do that?", "why did he/she say that?", "why does his/her face look that way?", you get the idea. Much of the time I really have to think hard to come up with an answer for him and he knows when I try to get out of it!
Rowen also frequently asks what words mean. If he hears us say a word he is not familiar with he will ask what it means immediately- before we can go on any further. We love this about him but some of the time it takes us off guard. As adults we use words so freely so I have to think carefully about my explanations to him because believe me, he will remember exactly what I say and remind me of it later if I try to change it.
Example: Recently Rowen heard Daddy use the word "unlikely". Rowen wanted to know what that meant. Eric and Ro had a lengthy conversation about what unlikely means and what likely means. After much discussion Eric started to give Rowen scenarios and then Ro had to decide if each scenario was likely or unlikely. Rowen got the hang of it and figured it out. A few days later Ro and Eric were playing something together and Rowen used the work "likely" in the correct way. Grammy overheard their exchange and was amazed :).
Ro is extremely interested in what mommy and daddy were like as little kids. He asks both of us questions about our childhood on a regular basis. I am always amazed at how well he can articulate what he really wants to know. Here are a few examples:
Mama, when you were little kid you want to be a teacher when you grew up?
Mama, did you teach your kids at school dinosaur facts?
Did your daddy take you to bed mommy? Did he rub your back? Did you like it? Did you ever cry at bedtime?
Mommy, what toys did you play with when you were a little girl? (I told him I played with dolls mostly). Mommy, did you want to be a mommy when you were a little girl? (I told him that yes I did and then when I grew up I became the luckiest lady ever because I got to be his mommy! He smiled and hugged me.).
Daddy, when you fell off your bike when you were little did you cry? (I told him I still do sometimes)
Daddy when you were little did you have a lightning car to drive? (There was something called "Power Wheels" when I was little and no I didn't have one and now I know why)
Life skills:
Rowen can take off and put on his own shoes and socks. He can undress mostly (those shirts are a booger!) and mostly dress himself (the shirt becomes a problem again :)).
Rowen has been fully potty trained for over a year now and it is still smooth sailing!
He gets his own water out of the fridge door, often serves mommy and daddy water too.
He can wash his own hands and face in the bathroom sink after every meal.
Now that he is such a big boy he takes showers about half the time. He likes to stand in the shower and wash himself for the most part.
Cognitive skills:
Rowen loves to tell stories and for us to tell him stories. We often start with "Once upon a time....". We tell stories about everything and anything and Ro loves it. He especially likes to do "add on stories" while we are driving. We will start a story and then he will add on something then stop, then we will add something on then stop, and so forth. Grammy started this with him months ago. We think he likes Grammy's stories the best of course!
Rowen knows how to spell and write his name. He can do it with very little coaching. He is getting very good at writing R's using the curved and straight lines.
Rowen knows all of his letters and sounds. He often wants to write words on his own so I will say the word aloud and ask him what sounds he hears. He is pretty good at hearing at least the beginning and ending sound of words and he can write most letters with a model.
Ro is also drawing more complex pictures. Recently he drew a picture of a creature. It was fairly detailed and looked just how he had described it to me prior to drawing it.
Rowen loves to count things. We have some fun, simple math games that he is pretty good at. They practice adding and subtracting in a very simple way. He stays focused on these games for quite some time.
Waiting to be a big brother:
Rowen is very excited about the pending arrival of his baby brother or sister. He never forgets to say "my baby sister or my baby brother" when talking about the baby. He doesn't really call the baby a girl or a boy very often.
"The baby can ride in my Lightning car with me. I will go real slow."
"The baby is going to be soooo cute!"
"Hi baby. How are you doing in there?"
Rowen asks me at least once a day how the baby is doing. He will say, "How is the baby today mommy?" or "Is the baby doing okay today mommy?"
Now that the baby's room is almost complete he likes to take any visitor in our home up to the baby's room to show it off.
Other delightful things:
Rowen has become very interested in how and when he will lose his teeth. This partly comes from watching a specific episode of Dinosaur Train where a T Rex loses his teeth and partly from knowing that his cousin Charlie has recently lost his first baby teeth. Ro is quite inquisitive about the entire process, he just can't wait for this exciting milestone to happen to him. I tell him to slow down, I don't want him to grow up too fast.
One day while I was driving Ro and I home from a play date, Rowen was quiet in the back seat, obviously thinking about something. All of a sudden he says, "Mommy, I am trying hard not to grow but I can feel that I am."
Rowen has recently told his Daddy while they were out on a bike ride that he would like to live at Grammy's house. Earlier that same evening while in the car with me, Rowen told me that he wants to be able to live next to Grammy's house. I told him that he is such a lucky boy to get to live so close to his Grammy and Papa and Nana and Grandpa, that it only took us minutes to get to see them. He wasn't convinced. He told me that he wanted to be able to see Grammy's house from his house. Rowen is in love with all of his grandparents but Grammy and Rowen have a special relationship for sure. She really seems to understand who he is and what makes him tick. They can banter back and forth and talk for hours about anything.
Rowen saw his first movies in the theater this summer. First, Eric and I took him to see Cars 2. He enjoyed it but it was a bit too grown up for mommy and daddy's taste. We were pretty disappointed in the violence (guns and bombs) and grown up conversation (characters talking about Lightning needing to be "killed" and needing to "die"). Needless to say Rowen didn't take any of the negative stuff away from the movie and only really focused on the fun stuff thank goodness. He also saw the new Winnie The Pooh movie with Grammy. He loved this movie so much that we have been talking about it for about a week now. I think Rowen has analyzed the entire movie, asked us every question possible about things that happened in the movie, and we have reenacted most of the major scenes using his Winnie The Pooh stuffed animals plus added Ro's own twist to things. We love this part of Rowen, he is so creative and imaginative.
There is so much to say about Rowen at this age. I am sure I will be coming back to this post to add things. Mostly, we just want to remember how much fun our boy is. He is certainly one of a kind!
