Rowen at 2 and 3/4

Rowen at 2 and 3/4 is quite multidimensional. That is the best way I can put it into words right now. He is at one moment very happy and chipper, laughing, loving life in every way and then the next he is frustrated or angry, screaming and/or crying. Oh wow! Most of this age is delightful and fun while the rest (which truthfully often feels like the majority of the time) is very challenging for Rowen and his determined mommy and daddy.

Personality:

• Still very loving and affectionate. Tells everyone in his family (parents, grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts) that he loves them multiple times a day. I get many hugs and kisses throughout the day and Ro is still a snuggle bug which I hope never goes away!
• Wears his heart on his sleeve. We can tell instantly with a split second glance that he is hurt, sad, upset, angry, frustrated or blissfully happy!
  
• Has a temper. Simple as that! I am thinking that this is really NOT a terrible two thing for Rowen. I have a gut feeling that he will have to work on this in the years to come but I am confident that he will figure out how to control it because he is already showing us that he is learning what to do when he gets really upset. Rowen truly just feels very deeply about everything!
• Has a fantastic memory like his father. I can't believe the things he brings up out of the blue that happened a LONG time ago.
  
• Has a great sense of humor. He says and does things on purpose to make us laugh. He also is laughing more and more at things he sees other people do that are comical. We have noticed that he reacts best to people who are a bit more refrained in general. I don't know exactly how to explain that but he doesn't seem to react well to people who are super outgoing, friendly, loud, etc. I am sometimes surprised at what he thinks is funny and what he doesn't.
• Very serious in new situations. Likes to sit back and watch for awhile before joining in.
  
• Becoming more friendly with children. I have noticed that at the park and at preschool he has started to approach kids and start up a conversation (2 year old style of course) or ask them to play something with him. This is so sweet and makes my heart melt!
  

Most commonly used phrases:

• "That's cool."
• "I'm good." -when he doesn't want something that is offered to him. Mommy says this too so I am sure he has picked it up from me :).
  
• "Good idea"
• "NOT a good idea!"
• "I don't like it!"
• "I can do it!"
• "I'll give you one of these bees"- when he sees a bee, he makes a fist and then says this. Grandpa taught him this :).
• In a tone that could make any parent cringe, "I'm mad!" or "I'm NOT happy!" or in a very chipper and sweet voice, "I'm happy!"
• "I'm super duper!" when he does something well.
• When he thinks something is too challenging for him I will hear, "I'm just little mommy"; then seconds later when he wants to do something different, "I'm a big boy mommy!"
• "When I'm really big I will _____________", be a daddy, drive the car, etc, etc. Then the next second says, "I will be a baby someday!". We think this is funny so that is probably why he says it so much.
• "I will vroom it!" when he wants to run over something (rock, dirt clump, bug, etc) with his tricycle.
• "But I just woke up!" when we say it is time for a nap or it is bedtime.
  

Other developments:

• Riding his tricycle like a pro!
• Growing out of his 2T clothes and fitting into his 3T clothes for the most part.
• Going to co-op preschool with mommy every Thursday morning and loving it!
• Makes up songs ALL the time. He will make up his own lyrics to familiar tunes, mostly Twinkle Twinkle and ABC's. Ro sings about everything... his cars, what he did that day, his garden, what he is eating, what he sees outside the car window while we are driving somewhere, etc. This reminds me of my brother when he was little!
  
• Hasn't looked back since becoming fully potty trained in July. We are amazed at how well he does with this and we are so proud of him!
• Becoming more interested in letters again. He wants to play ABC games all the time and is beginning to remember some of the sounds letters make.
  

Continues to love...

• books- being read to and "reading" to himself and us
• dinosaurs
• cars
• trains (really loving Thomas The Tank Engine right now!)
• music- currently loves the song "Octopus" by Charlotte Diamond
• wrestle with daddy and Papa
  

Loves to go to...

• "Moebeemus" or Mobius in the downtown mall
• the park in our neighborhood and to Manito or any of the parks in Cheney
• Nana and Grandpa's house
• Grammy and Papa's house
• Gigi's house
• visit his cousins
• preschool
• visit his friends Bennett and Cooper
• the library or the bookstore to pick out new books
  

Bookworm

Rowen has always loved being read to. Over the past several months he has started to do the "reading" himself from time to time. He chooses old and new books to read to us. The new books he uses the pictures to make up his own story and the old books he repeats/retells the story, sometimes almost exactly word for word. We get a real kick out this because we love to hear him use book language- it sounds so funny coming from a 2 1/2 year old mouth! In this video he is "reading" one of his favorite books to his cousin Liz (she is sitting next to him in the car). I have a hard time with this particular book because it is certainly not at all quality literature but Ro loves it so we read it over and over again!

Rowen reading his Mater book

reaping the rewards...

from our garden!

watch Rowen stirring our salsa

A bit behind...

I am a bit behind on blogging. We have been super busy with school starting for mama, two ear infections for Rowen, stomach flu for Rowen and a touch of it for mama and daddy, a terrible cold for mama, preschool starting for Ro, one last camping trip, etc! I think we might all be on the road to getting healthy again. We will be back soon. I will leave you with this darling image of our Ro :).

The best of friends

Rowen and Cooper have spent many fun filled hours together over the past year...

playing cars, talking about their beloved cars, eating lunch, snacks, and dinner together, taking warm baths with lots of fun toys to play with, riding in their strollers while their mama's chatted away behind them, watching Elmo and Thomas The Train together, playing in the sand box and pool together, going on fun outings to Mobius, River Front Park, and much, much more.

You see, Coop and Ro only live a few blocks away from each other and their mamas are the best of friends too! Their mamas had the exact same work schedule last school year and of course have all the same vacations since they are both teachers in the same district! We got together at least 3 times a week to play- maybe only for an hour or maybe for an entire morning. The boys adore each other and so do their mamas! It is easy to be together... we just all fit together so perfectly. Often we would hang out in our jammies until lunch time and the mamas rarely took a shower or put on makeup before nap time. In fact, the mamas were usually in their jammies too OR if it was a good day, their work out clothes! We go together so well- it is just simple and natural, meant to be.

Ro, saying "cheese" while on one of our summer outing with Dev and Coop.

Our favorite playmates- Devri and Cooper!

The perfect summer evening... playing outside under the sun.

Could their be a cuter pair? These two worked tirelessly for hours on the lawn.
Ro mowed and Coop pulled the wagon across the lawn over and over again!

So, to Coop and Dev, thank you for being our best playmates! We couldn't ask for better friends. We know that our schedules are changing but the good times together are only going to get better and better!

Such a big boy!

Our Ro is such a big boy! As of July 16, 2010 Rowen has been diaper free all day and all night! We have had our ups and downs but overall he has just blown us away with how well he has done! Yes, we used m&m's and stickers to motivate him, along with a few other things in the "poopy" department. We couldn't be more proud of our boy! Way to go Rowen. We love you!

Oregon Coast Trip 2010- Part 2 NEW INFO

After our morning at the zoo we headed into downtown Portland for some lunch before heading to Corvallis to stay with TJ and Erin. TJ told us that he had heard of a place called Voodoo Doughnut, and that he wouldn't mind if we brought one or two with us for him to enjoy later! So, of course we had to check it out- not just to take TJ doughnuts but to enjoy a few for ourselves. While looking for the doughnut shop I noticed three separate groups of people walking along the streets of Portland carrying bright pink bakery boxes. I thought, "there must be a great bakery around here somewhere"- duh! Sure enough, as soon as we walked into Voodoo Doughnut I saw the bright pink bakery boxes stacked on the counter- I know, I know- those boxes hold special meaning but this is a family blog :).

The little mini doughnut bus

Some of our crazy Voodoo doughnut choices- they were all VERY good.

These are the famous Bacon Maple Bars. I didn't taste it. For some reason I just couldn't do it- I LOVE both maple bars and bacon but together like that just gave me a weird feeling. I am told they are really delicious!

Once we arrived at Erin and TJ's place we relaxed. We had dinner on their patio and then went for a walk on the OSU campus after seeing where TJ is working in the Chemistry Department. It was great to see the office/workspace where TJ is basically going to live for the next 5 years while he earns his Master's and PhD.
While we stayed with TJ and Erin, Rowen went swimming in the pool with Grammy and Papa- have I mentioned that Grammy and Papa seem to have oodles of energy?! Rowen seems to have the same energy so they are the perfect threesome :).


The next day we headed to Newport. We spent that day on the beach playing and relaxing, had some great seafood for dinner and we all crashed hard that night after so much fresh air all day.






The next morning we headed to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport.

Rowen's favorite part of this day was the "touch pool".
In the photo above he is touching a sea star.

We watched the sea lions eat breakfast!

Rowen climbed all over the sea creatures in the play area.

After the aquarium, Grammy and Ro headed back to the hotel for a nap. Since beer is kind of a big deal in our family, the rest of us HAD to go to the Rogue Brewery for beer and appetizers. We all had a pretty good time as you can see below :)! I can't believe I don't have a photo like this of Papa :(.

TJ and Erin had to head back to Corvallis for work but the rest of us stayed another day. We spent the next day at the beach again before heading back to Corvallis for one more night at TJ and Erin's.

Ro with his favorite playmates!
These two grandparents kept Ro so busy- he was thrilled and so were mommy and daddy!

The photo below of Rowen on the beach pretty much sums up how the trip went... fantastic! Ro was an amazing traveler, slept really well in the car, in hotel rooms, and at TJ and Erin's place. He maintained his "potty trained" status the entire trip with zero daytime accidents and only 2 night time accidents out of 5 total nights away from home! We all had so much fun and created lasting family memories together. Thank you to Papa and Grammy for making this trip possible! We all love you so very much.

HURRAY!