Rowen's 5th Birthday... a little early

Rowen's 5th birthday celebrations started in mid December at preschool. I was the "helper" that day and Daddy took the morning off to take care of Paxton then come for the last hour of preschool when we had treats and circle time. It was a bittersweet experience. This is Rowen's last year in preschool with his beloved teacher and this group of amazing kids. I treasured every minute of that morning.

Ro LOVES Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer so when I found these fun treats on Pinterest I knew we had to take them for his preschool birthday treat. Rowen helped me make each and every one!

After treats Rowen chose a special birthday gift out of his teacher's treasure chest and received a heart felt birthday card from her as well. The whole class sang "Happy Birthday" to Rowen and he got 5 BIG hugs from his teacher.

Happy Birthday video

 Rowen asked me to read him the card from his teacher again. He LOVES his teacher!

 

 We participated in circle time- singing one of our favorite Christmas songs, Jingle Bells, with bells to jingle the whole way through! Rowen loves this and so did Pax. Then we listened to a story and watched Rowen fill in the daily calendar with his teacher.

What a fun morning for our entire family!

A few days later it was time to PARTY! We invited Rowen's entire preschool class along with a few of Rowen's closest buddies to celebrate his 5th Birthday at Jump and Bounce.

 

I was dreading the opening of so many gifts! But I have to say that this was the best part of the party for me and I am pretty sure for Rowen too :)! Rowen received such thoughtful, nice gifts from his friends. I was amazed at how well all of his friends know him. It helped me to see once again what amazing families and kids we are lucky to know. Ro received many lion themed gifts of course and lots of art supplies that we have been having a great time using on these cold January days. Rowen did such a great job of looking to see if there was a card to read first, thanking the gift giver and then opening his gift and thanking them once again. I was very proud of him.

Mommy and Daddy gave Rowen this large stuffed lion. He sleeps on Rowen's bed each night (along with about 6 other stuffed "big cats" ;)).

 Grammy made Rowen's birthday cake. She did such a great job!

We sang Happy Birthday and enjoyed Rowen's adorable lion cake.

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY ROWEN!

 Rowen, enjoying his cupcake (no frosting of course!).

 Pax enjoyed his too :).

Rowen had a fabulous 5th birthday party experience. This was his first BIG party that didn't include only our family and close friends. It was a big bash for a very special birthday boy.

Rowen's 5th Birthday- December 27, 2012

The night before Rowen's birthday Eric and I decorated his door with wrapping paper and balloons (balloons are a BIG deal in our house, both boys LOVE them). I wrapped a RED (Ro's favorite color!) Superman shirt and placed it in front of his door as well. I couldn't wait to see/hear his reaction :).

  The Birthday Door

Rowen didn't wake up too early on his birthday but it was early :). He came into our room at a full run, stood right next to my head and whispered, "Mom, there is birthday paper and balloons on my door!!!". I said, "Happy 5th Birthday sweetie! Daddy and I did that." Then he climbed into bed and snuggled up with his mama. In my opinion, it was the perfect way to start his 5th year.

Soon after, Pax woke up and we all got out of bed to make a birthday breakfast. But before heading downstairs Rowen noticed the birthday gift sitting in front of his door.

 The Birthday Boy opening up his first (of many) birthday gift for the day.

A little big but it will last him through the summer- maybe :). This boy is growing so fast, I can't keep up on the clothes. He can't wear 5T in very many brands anymore but the boys xs or s are just a tad too big.

We enjoyed pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Soon after breakfast, Grandpa came over to give Rowen a birthday gift. 

Mid-morning, Daddy and Rowen went to see a movie. It was a huge hit- mostly the popcorn and candy though! 

We had a healthy lunch with Grammy, then Uncle TJ, Aunt Erin, and Henry came over to spend a few hours with us and to give Rowen a birthday gift. Uncle Shon also came over to say Happy Birthday and to give Rowen a gift. Gifts galore! We played the rest of the afternoon and evening.

It was FINALLY dinner time!!! Rowen chose french toast with peanut butter and chocolate chips on top! His all time favorite food. We put candles in the french toast, sang Happy Birthday and then enjoyed our very sweet dinner :). Rowen was beyond thrilled- the point exactly!

 And it wouldn't be a birthday without a chocolate dessert, right?! Brownies and a BIG 5 candle!

It was a very special day. Rowen brings such energy, imagination, and of course LOVE to our family. We are amazed by this little boy each day. We love our 5 year old!

Rowen's 5th Birthday- Family Party

On the 28th we celebrated Rowen's birthday with Grammy, Papa, GiGi, Uncle Chris, Aunt Nina, Liz, Matt, Charlie, Logan, and Olivia.

GiGi just recently moved into a new apartment complex that has an indoor pool and a movie theater. Rowen was thrilled when GiGi offered to have his party there.

We started off with lots and lots of swimming. Rowen is becoming much more comfortable with the water and is doing all sorts of brave things ;). the pool is anywhere between 3 1/2 feet and 4 feet deep, so he can stand up on his own throughout most of it (for some reason it is just a tad deeper in the middle).

Rowen and his cousins had a blast playing with all the pool toys.

 Here, Rowen is swimming with just a little bit of help from mama!

 Pax LOVES the water! he had a great time playing with daddy.

 Our family :)

Everyone got tired and a bit chilled so we all ended up in the warming tub.

After we all got dressed it was time to eat pizza and salad then open gifts!

Rowen got this superman costume from Grammy and Papa. He LOVES it! He has worn it almost everyday since. Check out those muscles!!! Rowen received other thoughtful gifts from the rest of the family. He is such a fortunate little boy!

GiGi gives every grandchild/great grandchild a "ball of gifts". Rowen had a great time unraveling his ball and finding all sorts of fun stuff- candy, cars, balloons, etc. Rowen shared his new loot with his cousins!

And finally it was time to break open that Lion pinata that Rowen spied at the 50% off card shop months ago! When it didn't break open after hitting it several times we decided it was best to keep it in tact to save. I dumped the candy out and all the cousins got a few pieces to take home.

 Next, we had brownies and ice cream cones. I can't believe I don't have a photo of Rowen eating his birthday treat!  Pax sure enjoyed his :).

 Last, we all relaxed in the movie theater to watch The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (the 1970's cartoon version). This was Rowen's choice. He enjoyed every minute of it.

What a fun 5th Birthday Party this was! Thanks to GiGi for making it all possible.

Pax at 14 and 15 months

I am feeling so guilty right now! I haven't kept track of Paxton's developments for over 2 months :(.  And I really can't remember the amazing things I know I want to remember. This makes me sad and reminds me how important it is to keep up on this. My baby is growing WAY too fast and I can't remember when his teeth came in, when he started saying certain words, or when he started doing all the funny, adorable things he does. I am going to try my best here to remember what I can...

14 Months  

• About 22 1/2 lbs
• Wearing 12-18 month clothing. Most of the 12 month stuff is getting too small.
• Very affectionate. Gives us lots of kisses throughout the day. My favorite right now is all the leg kisses I get while doing the dishes or laundry. Pax comes up to me and pulls up on my legs then gives me lots of smooches on the backs of my legs. I love this sweet boy!
• Walking some. He can take about 4 steps but he still prefers to crawl most of the time. 
• Loves to help me with the laundry. Pax likes to add things to the laundry while I am not looking (toys, other clothing, etc) so I have to go through the load before starting it :-).
• We are currently going through a nap transition. He doesn't really need 2 naps anymore but it is tricky! If he takes a morning nap he doesn't want to take his afternoon nap until late into the afternoon/early evening and this messes up his bedtime but if I keep him up all morning and put him down for an afternoon nap at 12:30ish I can't really take him anywhere in the car in the morning or else he will fall asleep and/or he isn't really taking a very long afternoon nap if I do keep him up all morning so it doesn't really feel worth it. Oh well, it will all come together eventually! I remember this same thing happening with Rowen and eventually it all works itself out.
• hair is still really light blonde with a hint of red and the curls are darling when his hair is wet 
• still saying "uh oh" the most, says "up" every now and then
• is crazy about the song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and loves to listen to it on our iPads; he has started to say "up above" when he wants to sing the song or listen to it- pretty cute!
• points at all the lights wherever we go and grunts
• LOVES to read books

15 Months

• 24 lbs
• Cries as soon as we enter a doctor's office :(. This is so different from his big brother that I am still surprised each time. 
• Wearing 12-18 month clothing but should be moving into 18-24 (clothes are getting pretty snug :))
• Teething has been tough this month; 2 more teeth came in- 2 more on the bottom on either side of his two middle teeth and towards the end the month one of his one year molars came through making the total count 9. I am pretty certain that the other 3 one year molars are working their way through because Pax rubs his cheeks with his fingers often and chews on his fingers and sippy cups all the time. Poor guy! 
• Drinks an 8 oz bottle at about 7:15 p.m. each evening.
• Takes one nap each day usually around 12/1:00 until about 2:00 or 3:00; goes to bed around 7:45/8:00.
• Walking all the time now but so clumsy! I am amazed at how many times he trips and falls each day. He runs into all sorts of stuff too.
• Saying "up" more clearly; we hear "bye bye" every now and then; says "uh oh" all the time; signing for "more" and we are working hard on "please" and "thank you" but so far he hasn't tried to do it on his own; sometimes says "no, no no" after I tell him "no" or shake my head at him; still says "up above" when he wants to listen to/play with the nursery rhyme app on the iPad that has Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on it.
• Still loves reading books; we read 4-5 books before nap time and bed time each night and then several others throughout the day.
• Loves to use our iPad (we keep it in a case); his favorite apps are a nursery rhyme app that plays nursery rhyme music and an abc app where her touches each letter and it says the letter name and then plays the abc song over and over.
• Pax had a check up appointment with the ENT this month. The doctor found one of his tubes had come out and was lodged in his ear so he had to pull it out with all sorts of awful tools under the microscope. Pax was pretty upset about this and so was mama :(. After the tube was pulled out he had a hearing test and it was normal. Pax sitll has one tube in.
• Very ticklish
• Likes to "wrestle" with daddy and mama and papa
• Gives us lots of kisses right on the mouth! We love this so much.
• Wants to play anything and everything big brother is playing; he likes his own "baby" toys but really loves a few of Rowen's toys (Fur Real baby bear, car tracks, trains, stuffed animals).
• Gives Rowen hugs and loves to play "chase" with Rowen for awhile before getting fed up then he just starts screaming if Rowen gets too close to him. Paxton's favorite game to play with Rowen is jumping on the bed. This is scary and perhaps a little dangerous but we are very careful of course.
• Misses big brother when Ro is at preschool. It is pretty sweet to see his face light up when Rowen gets home.

Paxton,
We can't get enough of your full face smiles and happy giggles. You are a delightful little guy. We love watching you grow and learn each day. You bring such happiness to our family.
Love, Mama

And he's five...

just like that.
My precious boy.
Happy 5th birthday!

Santa 2012

We visited with Santa at Stanek's Nursery on December 1st. It was really the perfect experience for both boys. There were about 2 other families in line ahead of us. It was very quiet and laid back. We will remember this for next year!

Rowen went right up to Santa and talked to him for quite awhile. Santa was very sweet and really took his time with Rowen. He told Rowen that the kids that go to bed the earliest get their presents delivered first. Rowen has been telling me all week that he wants to go to bed early on Christmas Eve :).

 

As we expected, Pax was not fond of that scary looking guy so we had a family shot taken. Eric just loved Santa snuggling up to him ;).

We left with gifts! Santa gave me bulbs, Eric a candle, and the boys candy canes. We also saw two of Santa's reindeer at Stanek's. Rowen was sure one was Comet and one was Dancer.