Guitar pajamas

I recently bought Rowen a new pair of pajamas that have guitars on them. He loves playing the guitar with daddy so I knew he would love them. I was right! He was thrilled with the design on the fabric but a bit confused with the style. You see, Ro has been wearing two piece pajamas for quite some time now and he has connected footy pajamas with babies.

This video is hilarious! Ro danced like this for over 20 minutes. He talks about his good buddy Cooper in this video... it is pretty cute. Enjoy :).

Guitar PJ Jam

Rowen at 2 1/2 years old

• Can put on a SERIOUS temper tantrum show. It is awful and funny at the same time.

• Is very interested in emotions right now. He will ask us what our face means when we look concerned or frustrated. He has also asked me in these words... "What does scary mean?" and "What does angry mean?". This has been interesting for me to come up with definitons that make sense to a 2 1/2 year old.
  
• Uses the term, "last week..." as in "I played with Cooper last week" or "I lost that car last week". It is always funny to hear him use this term because he doesn't use it exactly right but he is always referring to the past so he is close :).
  
• Says, "Good end" at the end of every book we read. I think that is perfect because every book we read is pretty good :).
  
• Tells us he loves us often--"I wuv you mommy." Walks up to hug my legs and gives me kisses throughout the day.
  
• Points to words in books, on boxes, on anything that has words and says, "Whats this say?", over and over again until I have pretty much read the entire book, label, etc to him.
  
• Wants to climb into his car seat all by himself- says, "I climb like a monkey, mommy" and takes his sweet time getting into his seat.
• LOVES summer... swimming in his little pool, going to the lake, playing in the sand and dirt, spending lots of quality time with Grammy, etc.
• Has a HUGE imagination. He makes up stories, talks for all of his toys, Big Hungry Bear is still a big part of his life (goes everywhere with us- Grammy and Papa's house, the lake, in the car, over to Cooper's house, etc.)
• Loves to sing songs- ABC's; Twinkle Twinkle; Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Not sure he likes bugs very much
• Talking like crazy- telling us about everything and anything (see the Rowenisms on the side of the blog here)
  
• Has a great memory- don't try to get anything past Rowen because he WILL remember
• Likes to act out his favorite stories and Nursery Rhymes. He often acts out Humpty Dumpty with his Humpty Dumpty stuffed toy. Another favorite to act out over and over again is Goldilocks and The Three Bears with Grammy.
• tells us he is "strong" and we agree
• still loves cars and books more than anything but is becoming more and more interested in building with blocks and legos
• recently "learned" to play the harmonica (videos to come)
  
• more to come... I will add to this as I think of things

PS- I thought it would be fun for you, the reader, to add to this list- leave your additions in the comments and I will add them here :). What do you notice about Rowen at this age?

Father's Day 2010

I know that this photo is really dark but I think it shows just how much Rowen wants to be just like Daddy! Eric has been playing his guitar a lot lately. If Rowen hears as much as one strum he goes running to participate in the fun. Rowen has a few guitars of his own. On this particular night he chose his play guitar and Ro and Daddy rocked out!

Happy Father's Day Daddy! We love you.

Summer 2010 has begun

Summer for our family means....

going to the lake as much as we possibly can.

Hanging out on the boat with our favorite camping pair...
Papa and Grammy.
And exploring the wonders of the lake.

Doing a little fishing here and there.

Relaxing together- playing, reading, snuggling.

Riding the Ferry Boat across the lake and back.

Getting dirty!
(sometimes in our pj's :))

Playing in the sand.
Being together and laughing.
Soaking in the joy of it all.

And sometimes summer means...
getting naked on the beach!
Don't worry- this ONLY involves Rowen.

Rowen's first imaginary friend

For Rowen's 2nd birthday his Aunt Sharon, Uncle Kory, and his three cousins gave him their favorite children's book, The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and The Big Hungry Bear, knowing that he would love it just as much as they all do. Well, he has an interesting relationship with the book- sort of a love/hate relationship. He wants us to read it to him often but he isn't sure if he likes it. Ro is a bit concerned about that BIG HUNGRY BEAR. We decided to stop reading the book to him in an attempt to squelch the obsession but Rowen came up with his own way to bring the book to life. I can't remember how it exactly started but the gist is that Rowen and his daddy pretend that the Big Hungry Bear is coming to our house to eat our strawberries. Rowen and daddy stomp on the floor and knock on the door to surprise each other. It is really cute and very imaginative of Rowen. Daddy is a great sport, he plays along perfectly and Rowen is in seventh heaven during their play time.

Today at lunch I set out the strawberries on the counter. Rowen immediately said, "I hear the Big Hungry Bear. He is hungry!". I played right along and stomped my feet and went to knock on the door. Rowen came with me and we opened the door together. Rowen said, "Hi bear. Come eat lunch with us." I continued to play along thinking this was adorable but that he would get bored of it very soon- I should have known better- Rowen doesn't give up on anything very quickly!

Rowen climbed up into his high chair and I invited the bear to sit in one of the chairs. Rowen quickly said, "Mama bear is here too. She sit next to him?". This went on for almost our entire lunch. Baby bear joined us as well and we all talked about how yummy our lunch was- the strawberries, the peppers, the dip, the ham, etc. As you can see, Rowen's imagination is delightful!

I am sure this is just the beginning of Rowen's imaginary friends. I can't wait to see what is next :).

A dumptruck, lots of rocks, a new sand box and nothing on but underwear... what could be better?

Daddy worked tirelessly all day long on various projects around the yard... the garden, the sand box, the sprinkler system, etc. Mommy also worked all day on various things around the house... laundry, cleaning, laundry, more laundry etc. Rowen worked hard all day playing, playing, playing and getting VERY dirty in the process.

Most of the day Rowen ran around the house and yard in only his Lightning McQueen underwear. This is because Rowen had a huge "aha" moment today... he went both potty and poopy in his toilet today!!!! He is thrilled with himself and so are we. As soon as he finished the deed he asked to wear his underwear and of course we said yes! He has several pairs to choose from but not surprisingly he chose the Lightning pair :). He is far from potty trained but this is an exciting first step. He tried a few more times throughout the day and we praised him for all of his efforts.

Ending the day with a little ice cream :)

You are my Rowen...

The "cheese!" smile :)

Sung to the tune of "You are my sunshine"


You are my Rowen.
My only Rowen.
You make me happy when skies are gray.
You'll always know, Ro, how much I love you.
For I'll tell you everyday.