Rowan's First Meal

Rowan had a grea time eating his first meal today! It was a fine menu of Organic Rice Cereal mixed with a hint of breastmilk! He was so funny and did not quite know what was going on. He still has the reflex where when anything goes into his mouth he sticks his tongue out to inhibit anything from entering his mouth! Needless to say most of the cereal ended up on his bib and his chin. He did take a few good bites but that was about it. Unfortunately when I was nursing him right after he had the cereal, he ended up spitting up the cereal. We'll try again tomorrow!!!! Good job Rowan, we'll keep working on it and you'll get the hang of it in no time-Love, Mom.

RJ Meets Uncle Eli and Aunt Jodie

Rowan got to meet his Uncle Eli-Theo's brother and Aunt Jodie last weekend! Eli and Jodie live in Portland, OR and came for a visit on their way back from a vacation/friends wedding in Cancun, Mexico. I am jealous of their beautiful suntans!

Eli and Rowan share a special bond-the same middle name-James. We are confident Eli and Jodie got a fantastic dose of birth control after babysitting Rowan for an evening in Sierra Vista (w/Gma and Gpa) while Theo and I went to watch the Cardinals beat up on the Falcons. As those of you with babies/children know, they like their routines and when you mess with that their whole world gets turned upside down. Not only did Rowan miss a nap in the afternoon/early evening but he was all out of sorts when given a bottle an hour and a half after being fed. It was not quite bedtime, nor was it time to eat. Poor guy was confused as to what he was suppossed to be doing at that time. The last feeding of the night means bedtime, but not at 6PM, usually more like 7 or 7:30PM....what's a baby to do? CRY and CRY and CRY!!!! Poor Eli and Jodie and Ken and Carol...sorry for the confusion and stress of not knowing how to deal with an upset Rowan! And thank you for trying your hardest to make it alright for him.

Rowan is IN LOVE with his new jumper seat, courtesy of our neighbor. I get such a chuckle watching him jump in it and play with all the toys surrounding him.

He wants soooooo badly to sit up and I know he'll be doing so in no time at all. In the bouncy seat I can prop him up so that the harness holds him from falling forward.

More next time.......

OOOPS

OOOPS

Rowan First Christmas

What an adventure we had travelling to the midwest this Christmas! Rowan was a dream baby on both our flights. On the way to MN he cried a little bit when I tried to give him a cold bottle, but then gave him the real thing and he was great. He fell asleep during take off and slept the whole way there. On the way back he was awake more, but never got too fussy. He did however blow out his diaper and changing him was a bit of a challange! We were seated in row 35...the very last row and right out the window was the engine....it was so loud!!!

Just prior to leaving, RJ had a slight mucus back up in his nose. I didn't think too much of it and certainly didn't think it was something we needed to cancel our trip for. Day 2 in Minneapolis just prior to driving to rural NE Iowa, we decided we should take him to the Dr. since his symptoms were getting worse and he had starting wheezing. Diagnosis-RSV a serious respitory virus. Long story short.....life consisted of cuddling, nursing every 2 hours, taking him in the bathroom and letting the shower steam up and rubbing his back to get him to cough, and treating his fever. Thanks goodness Aunt Dianne and Larry have such a comfortable house! I was able to hunker down in there ever-so-warm and comfy basement to care for RJ. However, in my stress and lack of sleep caring for RJ, I ended up with a terrible cold....as most of you know I don't do sick very well especially when I can't take medicine. By day 2 for me I had called RJ's pediatrician begging to know what I could take. Although I had always read and been told "no antihistimines" his Dr. gave me the go ahead but informed me to drink tons of water as it can dry up your milk. Finally I had some sweet relief!

Unfortunately the illness messed up our plans to see the family and spend more time with RJ's great grandparents. In hindsight I am just glad they got to meet him.

Once over in IL we had a great time at my folks. Santa came to visit Rowan on Christmas morning! Unfortunately my brothers family all got the flu and couldn't come from KY to meet RJ.

Oh and the weather was also FREEZING! One day it was negative 30. Theo and I made a pact to never complain about the weather in Phoenix again!

Needless to say I am glad to me home and so thankful we all made it through our illensses.