{21 months..}

my dearest little girl,

     i look at these pictures and just want to cry! you are growing up so quickly. these past few months you have definitely made the transition into being a little girl- there is no more baby in there! your personality is blossoming and you have us rolling over laughing all the time at the silly things you do.

- you got one more tooth the past few months. total = 16

- the last few months, maybe even longer, you would say "aiy" (like irish) for yes. it was such a funny thing, i dont know where you learned it. 

- you are learning LOTS of new words. including; yes, apple, na-na (banana), poop, "mo" (no), ga-ga (drink), show, baby, and hep me, (help me). you know alot of the names of family members: poppie, mammie (grammie), haws, coo, tat. you know what some animals say like; duck, fish, dog, cow, cat, horse. and you have started to put words together like "no momma". even though its naughty. and "momma, a show" and my favorite that you say is " i wan dis." (i want this). 

- these past three months were filled with halloween, thanksgiving and christmas. for halloween you dressed up as "honey boo-boo" it was hilarious. trick-or-treating was so fun and you did awesome going from house to house. thanksgiving was yummy of course and christmas was magical. you loved opening presents and seeing all the "pink" things that you got! the holidays just get more fun with you rowan girl!

- you have figured out how to navigate through my iphone like its nobody's business. you can turn on baby einsteins yourself, you can unlock it and go through my pictures and play video's, you change my wallpaper quite often to a picture of yourself, you go through apps and play music, or look up trailers to movies. it amazes me.

- you will pretty much do anything for a treat! one of the very few things you got from your momma.

- you have especially turned into such a girlie-girl. you love strollers, babies, purses, bags. and you love to color- its one of your favorite things to do. you love taking care of your baby. you wrap her up and put her to sleep, you pat her back, you share your food, you take her on walks in her stroller, and you even try and change her diaper. it makes me so proud to see you be such a good momma to your baby.

- im pretty sure that you are a lefty! which grammie is very happy about. so far you do everything with your left hand. if i hand you something, you grab it with your left hand. it still could change, but that would be fun to have a lefty!

- you love playing "pretend". I set up a little kitchen in your room and you love playing tea party with all the cups and plates and you pretend to eat and drink and i think its the sweetest little thing.

- you are definitely my little shadow. you love to follow me around all day long. you don't ever stay in a room by yourself, you always have to be where momma is. and if i fix my shirt, you fix your shirt. if i'm doing my hair, than you fiddle with your hair. its quite funny.

- you love to open and close doors. 

- the lip-syncing and dancing is at its best. for reals, its one of the funniest things i've seen in my whole life. you are so dramatic about it and have me laughing all the time.

- your favorite show is tangled. you could watch it 5 times a day. (and almost have)

- momma finally got brave and started letting you feed yourself! (besides finger foods). and you are pretty dang good. i havent been brave enough for things with liquid, like cereal. but mac & cheese and things like that, you are getting it all by yourself! good job sweetie.

- you are obsessed with the color pink. any little bit of pink and you have to have it. its hilarious going through a store like target with you cause every two seconds, you say "MOM!" and point- and i have every reason to believe that you're pointing at something pink. you just love love love pink. and the funniest part is that you developed that all on your own. im not a very girlie-girl and dont have alot of pink- so i think its funny that you are obsessed with it!

- you have been sleeping pretty good. a 2-3 hour nap during the day, and sleeping about 12 hours at night.

- with all the silliness has come some pretty good tantrums. we are definitely making our way to the terrible two's pretty fast.

- we finally moved back into our own place! its amazing. we now live in Pleasant Grove. you are back to having your own room and that is a wondrous thing in itself. 

- one of our first days in our new house, you had woken up a tad bit early. so i went and got you and brought you back in my bed. i told you that momma just wanted to sleep for one more minute, so i closed my eyes. you laid down about 1 inch from my face, and you just rubbed my arm and moved my hair out of my face. it was such a sweet moment for me because thats what i do to you when you are going to sleep. i literally almost started crying at what a tender mom moment it was. you are so sweet rowan.

you are seriously such a big girl- and sometimes, it makes me sad. but other times its so fun that you understand so much, and can now talk to me and tell me what you need. I love being at home with you all day- i consider it one of my greatest blessings! love you to smithers little bug.

the world is yours rowan,

love momma.

--this is pretty much a frame-by-frame video of your personality. so funny--

all of rowans monthly journals can be found here.

{18 months..}

--these pictures were taken on our recent trip to california for uncle Matty's wedding to Katelin!--

my dearest little peach,

    18 months! i can hardly believe it. what a fun milestone for all of us. saying that you are one and a half now is so crazy. the last few months have been quite busy for us and you are growin up way too fast for my liking ;) some fun things that you are doing, and have learned:

- we moved in with gramma and grampa staples at 15 months, and im not sure how long we'll be here. but its definitely been a hard transition for all three of us, mostly because you sleep in our room. and since SO many people live in the house, (Gramma and Grampa, Matty & Katelin, Lu-lu and Parker, Us, and Cousin Chris.) its a hard battle with a toddler living there. hopefully it wont last very long. But for the time be, you get lots of attention from LOTS of different people.

- you got three more teeth in the last couple months. total = 15
- some new words: fish, shoes, please, ball, blue

- you transitioned to taking just one nap around 15.5 months. i like this schedule a little better, it allows us to get out a little bit more!

- we tried 'piggies' for the first time at 16 months. i never thought i'd be a fan- cause they just make you look so darn oldie! but its fun to be able to do things with your hair now.. even if it means you're a little girl, and not by little baby.

- you took your very first step on your own at 16 months! it was about time you made the transition. we got you a walker and you loved it and i think that's what finally did the trick. again, you do things when you are ready.

- at about 16.5 months you started becoming interested in watching "shows". you love tinkerbell, that one is your most favorite. its nice that you can just watch a show on momma's bed while i get ready for the day.

- you went to nursery for the first time at 17 months. There were only a few kids in there, so they said you could come early. and you DID NOT like it! it was very hard for you- which made it hard for me. We could hear you screaming and screaming on the other side of the church. (so sad!) I'll never forget after the second week of you going to nursery, i came to pick you up. i opened the door and saw that all the other kids had already left. you were sitting at a table with your head down, and the teacher was trying to talk to you. I quietly came in and said "rowan?" and you looked at me and i saw that tears had just been streaming down your face. It was one of the most heart-breaking moments that i had ever had. You have your share of loud outbursts, but this was the saddest cry because it was silent and you were by yourself. I totally cried on the way home from church wondering if it was too early for nursery. My heart was seriously so broken. But daddy told me that it would be okay. and you have been getting better and better every week!

- you started walking at 17 months! at first you were still a little wabbley, but you were up to 20 steps on your own. SO awesome little girl. (its about time....) but we are still so proud of you. 

- we went to our annual Nelson family reunion over labor day. (just over 17 months). it was a weekend full of storms, but one of the very scariest storms we ever have encountered happened on the first night. your daddy and i laid awake just holding eachother and freaking out because we thought for sure the lightning was striking just feet above our heads. but what was the funniest thing is that you didn't wake up AT ALL. pretty much all 60 people in our campground were all awake, terrified of this big storm. but not you, you slept through the whole thing! (we were floored. and so grateful too!)
- 17.5 months, you're a full-blown walkin girl! no more falling down and being wabbley. 

- you had your first big fall at 17.5 months. a massive goose-egg. so sad. but i knew it was just the beginning.

- you got your first real haircut at cookie cutters at 17.5 months. you were less than thrilled about it.

- we went on a fun vacation last week (right before your 18 months) to california to celebrate uncle Matty's wedding to Katelin! it was such a fun vacation. we stayed in a big beach house with everybody. you fell in love with your cousins Madison and Sophie because you are usually surrounded by boys on the Nelson side. But you loved being with the girls. We played at the beach, we went to disneyland twice!, and we had fun with the wedding stuff. scratch that, you didn't have fun with the wedding stuff- you were actually quite naughty. but the trip was so much fun!! 

- you love love love babies. you are so sweet in sharing with your baby too. you put the corners of your blanket in her mouth (which i know you still love, so it must be quite a sacrifice for you.) you try and share treaties, you hold her and wrap her up in a blanket. its so sweet.

- you love treaties... so much. you definitely got that from momma.

- you are a singin and dancin girl still. but you have learned to "lipsync" and its pretty much the funniest thing i have ever seen you do. you are very dramatic about it and have everyone DYING laughing.

- you still love to watch people, but especially kids. you are definitely getting more shy in interacting with them, but you love to watch.

- you have taken a particular interest in reading books. you could read 20 at a time. (and sometimes we do!)

- still such a daddy's girl.

WOW! that was a lot. the past couple months you have grown like a weed and we love watching you learn and grow, bug. you have our hearts completely.

the world is yours rowan,

love momma.

{growin too fast..15 months}

i took my little bug outside of our house and snapped a few the other day. 

she's just growin up so darn fast.

i know, im obsessed.

dearest little bug of mine-

       the past few months have been so much fun! it was the last three months we were in bountiful, cause now we live at gramma sug and grampa joe's house for awhile. I was so excited for this summer because last year you were still so little that we didn't get to do much (that you appreciated, at least.) we played lots at the pool, we played alot outside, riding bikes and having picnics in our little yard. And we also went to the park alot. It was so much fun.

     here are some things that you have been up to lately;

- you are still taking two naps. both are around 2 hours each. and you sleep about 12 hours at night. you are still such an amazing sleeper.

- you got 4 new teeth since you turned one. (a few sleepless nights, they must have hurt!) total teeth= 12

- some new words in the last few months: hi, bye, mom, dad.

- you decided to show your first signs of becoming mobile! you started crawling the day before your first birthday. and you have been allllllllll over the place. i love seeing you come around corners, you get so excited. thats all you did for a couple months until 14 months when you decided to climb stairs all by yourself. it was just something you decided to do! and then two days later, after a little practice, you could turn around and crawl back down the stairs. you picked it up so fast! and then just a couple days after that, you could stand up and walk along furniture. i was so amazed you did all of that in such a short amount of time. but it proved to your dad and i that only when you are ready, that you do things!

- we had a bit of a really bad week this last week when we discovered you had C-Diff. It took alot of time to figure out, and it was quite frustrating for the three of us. you have been very sick for about 6 weeks and we finally figured out what it was- and boy, was it a fiasco! but im happy we figured it out so that we could get your better.

- you just learned how to wave! and you love to wave to everyone.

- you are such a people person. you love to watch people, you love to interact with people, and you smile at just about everybody that you see. its so fun to take you to stores because you are so entertained by just seeing people!

- you are the funniest little dancer. the first beat of a song, you start movin and groovin! i have a few videos and its just hilarious. dancing is definitely your thing.

- you love to read stories! and you turn the pages all by yourself.

- you are such a daddy's girl. and i dont mind one bit. i love that you love your daddy sooooo much.

you are the funnest and cutest little girl around little bug! we are so grateful you are ours. love you to smithereens sweetie.

the world is yours rowan,

love momma.

{12 months...}

april 1, 2012

my sweet little rowan girl,
one year old... how in the world did this day come so fast? part of me feels like you have been one for awhile, because i feel like your personality is way beyond 12 months old. but the other half of me is in shock that my baby came to be one year old so quickly. i remember sitting in that hospital bed, one year ago from right now wondering how i could have been so blessed to have such a beautiful and perfect baby. and i can honestly say little miss, that my feelings haven't changed one bit. you are the most beautiful little girl and seriously, the most perfect baby. you are every mothers dream-of-a-child, and have been from the very beginning.
a couple nights ago i walked by your bedroom. you had been asleep for a couple hours, but the second i passed your door i just missed you. so i quietly walked in and watched you sleep for a minute, but then i wanted to hold you. (forget the golden rule of never wake a sleeping baby). i picked you up and you moved for a split second, but immediately fell asleep on my chest as i walked over to our rocking chair and just rocked. i just couldn't help but cry, anticipating your first birthday, of all that we have been through the last year. you have changed your daddy's and my life completely. it was impossible to know that love i had in my heart before you came into our lives. your smile lights up an entire room and grabs everyone's attention. you have about a million and a half different faces that you make, and can show all of them in about 2 minutes. you are so friendly with everyone around you, unless someone has crossed you- then you definitely let them know about it. ;) you have many tricks (and learning to crawl 2 days before your first birthday was the best one.) you are incredibly entertaining and love to have the attention on you. and i, like a true mother, feel like you are the smartest baby around. one of my favorite and most rewarding things to experience as a mother is to watch you learn [i cried the first time you did sign language back to me]. and i just feel so blessed to be able to be in such a position that i get to watch you learn and progress. i love to hear you giggle, i love to see your face light up when you see me in the morning, i love when you cry on my shoulder when you get hurt, i love to see you start rockin your body when you hear a beat, i love to see your face when your daddy walks in the door, i love to see you smile at people in a store, i love to hear you talk jibberish all day long- and you know exactly what your'e saying, i love to see you cuddle your blankets, i love to see you bark at dogs, oh the list could go on and on.
i just want you to know my baby love, always, but especially on your first birthday, how much you are loved. you have such a wonderful life ahead of you and you are loved and supported by so many people. my heart aches for the first time you will scrape your knee, or get your feelings hurt. but i want you to know that your daddy and i are always here for you, and will always love you. I also want you to always know how much your Heavenly Father loves you. Never forget who you are, Rowan. Never. I thank Heavenly Father everyday for sending you to us. I'm the luckiest momma in the whole world! You are the light of my life baby girl, and that will never change.

Love you forever and ever. happy first (and golden!) birthday sweet little bug,
love, momma.

12 month stats:
weight: 18.7 lbs (28%)
height: ? (85%)
head: ? (55%)


okay... and i know im all sorts of emotional today, but i totally bawled reading my little sisters letter to rowan. i am so grateful for such a loving a supportive family. rowan is a pretty lucky girl..

look how my little babe has grown!

zzzzzz  <------------ rowan just typed that. apparently she had something to say. ;) 

{11 months & sledding!}

my little rowan girl,

11 months old.. wha? how is time flying by so fast. i cant believe you are turning one in a few weeks. it's just insane. well, i must say, you went from 10 to 20 months this past month. possible? i never thought so. but somehow you grew up so much this past month and i have people around me saying "oh my word, she's not even a baby anymore, she is a little girl now!". stop growing up baby love!

- you have turned into a complete HAM this month. the faces, oh the faces. its just too funny. you can throw somebody a glare and then seconds later you flash the funniest and cheesiest smile. especially me. you know when you are in the spotlight and you are so entertaining!

- we started feeding you real people food, and now you are very much done with baby foods. which i didn't think would happen so fast? but you just cant stand the thought of BABY food cause you are a big girl now! you are in love with anything mom and dad will feed you off our plates. and with all those teeth you have made the transition quite well!

- one of your favorite things to do is go through the diaper bag and pull every.single.item out! it find myself cleaning up that mess about 3 times every day. ;)

- your aunt lu-lu got married this past month. yay for welcoming uncle parker into the family! we flew down to california (you didn't like that flight) and spent a few days down there doing stuff for the wedding and also spending time at the beach, and disneyland! it was your first time for all of those things, but we were extra excited to take you to d-land. you absolutely loved looking around at the millions of people we saw. and i think you even enjoyed some of those kiddie rides. your daddy and i hope we can take you often cause we love that place. it was such a fun trip!

- i cant believe that i havent said this before, but you love details. you will find a teeny string or crumb within a 10 foot radius of where you are sitting. or you will find a thread that is out of place on dad's shirt and want to find out about it. you love to play with momma's eyelashes. and you love to play with our fingernails and pick at the creases in our fingers. the list goes on and on, but you love details. i think you got that from your momma.

- you are starting to show signs of wanting to be independent- not letting momma put things in your mouth, you want to do it yourself! 

- you are very into reading books lately. you will sit through about 3 books before you get sick of them. but you love to feel different textures in your books, and you love turning the pages. i hope you always love reading little bug. 

- we're trying some sign language. and finally i think you have picked up on "more". its so fun to see you learn new things!

- you have become obsessed with the corners of your "tree blanket". they are a little bit hard, and i think you just love to chew the heck out of them. i was laughing so hard when i caught you searching for it for the first time. so funny. and so random!

- i dont know who taught you it, but you picked up chinese this month. you talk ALL. THE. TIME. and you know exactly what you are saying. its hilarious. and yes, definitely sounds like chinese. 

- you are not crawling, nor standing, nor walking... still. and really, i sometimes pretend like i care to some people because i feel like they think i should. but in reality, i dont. i know that you will- and i dont want to push you into doing things that you are not ready for. you have proved with other things that you will do it on your own time. so we'll probably leave it at that. however- i do feel like you have made so much progress within the last couple weeks. you are so close. i guess we'll see. 

- i bought a giraffe for you before you were born, as a decoration for your room. you discovered it a couple days ago, and you haven't let go of it. its so cute how much you love it! you wrap your arms around its body and bury your face in it and give it the biggest squeezes. it was the first time i thought about your next sibling (not to come for quite some time, dont be alarmed..) but i just thought of how you are going to be the best big sister. again.. when the time comes ;)

- you are showing a little bit of attitude lately. when you don't want something you will turn your whole body and head to the side and go "egh."

- your uncle jensen also got home from his mission this month. you weren't too sure of him at first, because it was the first time you guys met.. but now you are a fan. (especially because he is the only one who is into face-timing with us).

- you are still sleeping so awesome. 12 hours at night and 2 two-hour naps during the day. heavenly! (for both of us).

we were so busy this last month with alot of family things, so we are excited to chill this month and get ready to have a one-year old. (what? thats just crazy!) cause trust me, momma is gonna need the entire month to wrap my head around my baby turning one. maybe you could just stay 11 months for little while longer.....? think about that, okay? thanks for being such a fun and good baby. i love you sweetheart and you make me so happy!

the world is yours rowan,

love momma

------------------------------

it seems so funny to post snow pictures today because it was such a beautiful day outside! but then again, the 4 o'clock news said that another winter storm was comin... to whatev. still gotta post them. a few days ago when we got lots of snow, jord said "we've never taken her outside to play in the snow" so he came home from work with an infant sled and we went out to play in our backyard. rowan showed NO emotion whatsoever. no smiles, and no tears. but she was definitely fascinated with all that white stuff, 

she just stared at it. 

{10 months & no helmet!}

my widda rowan bug,
10 months. this has been a fun month too. (i'm really loving the last couple months if you cant tell!) your personality just keeps blossoming, and i love watching you learn new things.

- you have become a dancing machine this month! on about the 2nd note of a song, you are bouncin up and down, clapping your hands! a commercial, a show, a movie, your dad singin a tune.. no matter what it is, you just LOVE to dance!
- you are communicating more and more and i feel like you are beginning to understand what i say to you. especially when you are told no. you look at me and grunt. a sign of things to come? i hope not.
- you learned to love reading this last month! you love this one book especially called "Peekaboo Kisses". you pick that out above all of your other toys.
- i love hearing you say "momma!" and i think we've almost got "dadda" down. not quite, but almost.
- you developed a fake laugh. and when we hear it, we do it back to you, and you repeat it over and over. its beyond fake, and hilarious.
- you got yet another tooth this month. total = 8.
- you are doing everything you can to avoid crawling. you will roll over and over until you reach what you want, or you will contour your body into any shape so that you can reach it. and you get quite frustrated not being able to get it. come on baby girl, just learn to crawl! i swear it will make your life easier (not momma's, but it's okay.)
- you still love being able to get out of the house. you are the best baby anywhere we go because you are enthralled by everything around you.
- no more helmet! yahoooooooo. we cant believe the world of difference it made in your pretty round head. we are so grateful we did it, but so grateful its over too.
- you have gotten a little feisty in the last couple weeks. you will have moments of frustration and just grunt and yell and grab the first thing you can and bite on it as hard as you can. 99% of the time, its one of momma's fingers. yikes, how bout we put a stop to that one.
- you love playing "peekaboo", and sometimes i catch you playing it with yourself ;) funny girl.
- it was my birthday last week and you decided that you would cuddle with me for about 15 minutes. that never happens, and it was the best birthday present ever! 
- still sleeping about 12 hours every night. and taking 2 naps during the day that last about 2 hours each. you sure do love your sleep!

i'm trying not to think about your first birthday but its so hard! two months away, i can just not even begin to believe that you are almost one. oh well- i'll deal with it in two months. i'm so grateful for you baby love. love you more than words can say.

the world is yours, rowan.
love momma.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

yay! no helmet!

we went to rowans helmet check up two weeks ago, and she reached her goal!

we went in hoping that this was the apt she would get it off, 

because she had been measuring ahead of schedule and there was a possibility,

and we were so pumped when he said she reached it.

she had it on a total of 2.5 months.

besides the insurance not covering one penny of the $2,000-

(we pay hundreds of dollars every month for what reason again?)

we are BEYOND happy that we decided to get it.

cause we completely see a difference in the shape of her head....

and the pictures prove it!

--i wish we would have taken a pic from the top, cause thats where i see the most improvement,

but these pics show alot as well.----

{before}

{after}

{yes, i am aware the shag needs a haircut}

that helmet was good to us, but sianara!!!

ps. thank you for all the sweet comments on my last post. its so encouraging knowing other mom's are/have been in the same boat! love you people!

{9 months..}

my little "wowan"-
9 months old you are, crazy girl! this month i have to say, your personality has grown immensely! and actually, its pretty much been within the last couple weeks. you are so. much. fun! i truly feel like you grew up so much during your eighth month, more than any other.

- you learned a few new tricks this month! your first one was to do the "wiggle wiggle". you shake your head and body from side to side when we say "wiggle wiggle rowan!". its too funny. and you are so proud of yourself when you do it! the other trick you learned was to clap your hands. you start your hands out really wide and then you clap them together, but then keep your right hand out, and move your left hand to clap over and over. its really funny to watch. your grandma staples actually saw you doing it and pointed it out to us. it is such a big girl trick and im so proud of you! the last trick you pulled out was a dance move- and its hilarious. when you hear some good music you throw your arm up in the air and bounce it up and down until the music stops. (almost like your rapping?). good tricks little bug.
- you have developed a little laugh.. actually more like a cackle. sometimes i just hear you laughing at yourself. do you think you are pretty funny?
- you had your first christmas a couple weeks ago (and your first new years!). christmas was so fun, and you were spoiled rotten by everyone, of course. you reeeaally loved the wrapping, maybe we should have just stuck with that? but you also love all of your toys. we absolutely loved having you around this christmas, it made it that much better!
-you are very into yourself. seriously. mirrors, pictures of you (not of everyone.. just you). perhaps a little humble pie should be coming your way. ;)
- you started taking big girl tubbies. (i think momma discovered that one later than i should have ;) it is your favorite thing in the whole world and you are in HEAVEN. i bet you would stay in the tubby for hours if i let you.
- not really even close to crawling yet. its a work in progress.
-you have become very interested in everything "girlie". like headbands, necklaces, earrings (etc). if someone's holding you and has one of those items, you must have it!
- you started eating little puffs, and at first it was a little bit hard to grab them with those pinchers.. but i was so surprised at how quickly you figured it out. you also love the little yogurt bites. its so fun to see you eating big girl foods.
- you stopped nursing about a week ago. and i wasn't ready, but you were ;(
- you got another tooth this month! total = 7
- you have been a wet noodle up until now. no matter how much we tried, we could not get you to stand. and its not because you don't have strong legs- cause man, you can kick really hard. but we finally got you to start standing on the ground. so yes, now we know that you can do it.. its just a lack of desire.
- your faces you make are priceless. the most famous one is where you bend your head way down, but look at me with the top of your eyes. if you are doing it to me, its with a smile. but if you do it to a stranger, its more of a "stranger danger" scowl. oh , it makes me laugh.
- i think that you get so bored at home that when we go out, you are flirting with everyone (mostly) and interested in absolutely everything you see. you could be tired and hungry, but the second we step outside the house you are looking in every direction and gasping with your "oo's and ahhh's". you are so good everywhere we go! it makes life much easier.
- still sleeping 12-13 hours a night. from 8/8:30- 8/8:30. thaaaaank you! you know how much momma appreciates a good nights sleep. and i especially love waking up to you singing ;)

9 month stats:

weight: 17.4 lbs (21st%)

height: 28 in (74th%)

head: 17 in (34th%)

seriously baby love, after you gave me a little tight squeeze this morning, i thought "how could i have been blessed with such a good baby?" you and your daddy make my life complete, and sometimes i think my heart could burst because of the love i have for you both. i love being a mom, but i especially love being your mom. i just love you soooo much girlie.

the world is yours rowan,
love momma.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

nursing: {you can just skip this if you are less than interested ;) }

i'm totally done nursing... and im really sad about it ;( PRE- rowan, i thought for sure that i would nurse for a year. there was no question in my mind that it would last that long. but in all reality, it didn't last as long as i wanted. 

really, when rowan was about 6 months, she started nursing less minutes every time she would nurse. and i thought "maybe i'm not giving her enough?" so i tried drinking more and more and it helped a little bit, but not much. and then we had a really bad incident of biting when she was 7 months (involved alot of blood) and a few more situations after that as well. but i was not ready to stop. i dont know why? i just didn't feel ready to stop the bonding that is involved with nursing. i was even willing to keep nursing with all those chompers she started getting early. so i literally dragged it out as long as i could and finally rowan decided she would have NO MORE. for about 6 days in a row, she wouldn't even get on, she turned her head and fussed. i was so sad. and even last night i got really sad about it again. i just miss it. 

i learned so much from nursing, and im so happy i was able to get 8.5 months out of it. i wouldn't trade those months for anything. cause that bond is something i will never take for granted. i also learned that every baby is different. and just because it worked for some people, doesnt mean that it works for everyone. i gave nursing all i had but rowan had other plans. so better luck with the next one, right? i sure hope so!

{8 months..}

{describes her perfectly this month}

my little bug,

you are growing up toooooo fast, rowan. just too fast! like i said last month, this is my favorite stage of yours. you are FULL of personality! you have your daddy and me laughing all. the. time.

some new things:

- you are a legit sitter now! {finally} you love to just sit and play with toys. and its so nice to be able to leave you for a minute and not be worried that you are going to fall over, or crawl and get into something. we're in the middle of those two, and i love it.

- you got four teeth this month. you got the front two right after you turned 7 months, and you got another one on the top to the right, and another one on the bottom to the right, when you turned 7.5 months. they all came so fast! those new four make the grand total of 6 teeth. which explains your picture this month..... everything goes in your mouth. everything!

- which brings me to the next thing: we've had a few choking accidents this month. the first one happened while i was gone for a few hours (of course) and your daddy was watching you. and it was the scariest one. he ended up calling the ambulance and they came to the rescue! very scary, but we are happy everything was okay. and we've had a few after that, but you ended up throwing everything up- which was good. but you just like to put everything in your mouth and try to immediately swallow it. how about we skip this stage okay little girl? it scares the whits out of your mom and dad.
- THE HELMET. oh, what to say about the helmet?!? well, you got it on nov 3 and now you've had it for a month. and i must say that it has made all the difference in the world. we can see such a difference already in the shape of your head. and although it was not fun at first (mostly for me, you did pretty good!) we are so happy we decided to get it.

- this month was also the first time momma ever left you. sad right? i went on a trip with all your aunties to california, and although it was such a fun trip, i missed my little girl! your daddy and grandma staples were your babysitters and they did a fantastic job. and i must say, i notice such a special bond between you and your daddy now. ;) you're gonna be a daddy's girl.

- you make the funniest faces. you scrunch your nose and close your eyes, show those two front teeth, and clench your fists when you are so excited! mostly its when you see a bottle or food comin your way, but sometimes we like to tease you for a minute cause that face is priceless.

- you had your first thanksgiving last week.this was also the first month you got sick for the first time. double ear and double eye infections. and besides the goopy eyes, you would have never known it because you were still such a happy girl. you really are so pleasant to be around. everyone notices it. we love having you around these holiday's and we are so excited for your first christmas this month!

- you are still on a good sleeping schedule. you take two 2 hour naps during the day and you sleep about 8 pm to 8 am. except when you are sick, or teething. which was the case about everyday this month ;)

oh, i just love this stage. you act like you are excited about life- and it's so fun to be around you! thank you for being such a good girl, lovie. i'm so grateful to be your momma. love you to the moon and back little bug.

the world is yours, rowan.

love momma.

{7 months..}



my little bug-

7 months, i can honestly say that this is my FAVORITE stage. you are so much fun! you're not quite mobile yet, so you still can hang out. But you are so playful and happy. You are easily entertained by your daddy, you love to play games with us and you especially love music. You are such a joy in our home! A few new things this month:

- against momma's will, we started baby food this month! (i thought it was too soon, but the dr said you needed to gain weight) but you enjoyed it from the very first bite. and you love everything you have tried. So far we have probably given you about 5 different fruits and 5 different veggies- and you have never refused any of it.
-you learned to say "momma"! and i looooove it. daddy's a teeny bit jealous.
-you are still singing like crazy. its hilarious. and i love singing with you.

- you are becoming less and less interested in nursing, which makes me sad. Last week you bit momma so hard that i started bleeding. and then i tried to pump later cause it was still hurting, and i pumped a bottle of blood. gross, right? dont worry, i didn't feed it to you. i always thought that you would nurse until you were 1, but a couple more episodes like that, i dont know if we'll make it. -- i hope you are reading this during your teenage years thinking "oh, my mom must love me!" ;)
-you have become a little bit cuddly this month?!? i'm definitely not complaining about that one.

- you are almost sitting up full-time. we've been working on it, and you've gotten better. you're not quite sitting up on your own fully, but for about 15 seconds ;) we'll keep working on it baby girl.

- we've got you on a really good schedule now. you sleep about 11-12 hours at night, and taking 2 naps during the day that last anywhere from 2-3 hours. its awesome.

- you are still a screamin screamin girl! and its not only when you are sad... in fact, its mostly when you're happy. maybe just bored. but man, you have some lungs!

- unfortunately, you're getting a helmet this week. your head is a little bit flat, and we were thinking about your future and decided that this was the best thing. so i hope this month goes alright. enjoy that round head when you're older, okay?

- you had your first halloween and dressed up as a baby flamingo. i laughed hysterically when we put it on you for the first time. you didn't love getting in it, but you sure looked adorable.

like i said, this is my favorite stage. and i hope it lasts a long time. you are the happiest baby- your smile melts my heart, and i could listen to your laugh for hours! i hope you are always happy, baby girl. cause happy doesn't even begin to describe how your dad and i feel about you. love you forever and ever, little bug.

the world is yours rowan,

love, momma.

{half of a year....}

{i love this picture- it shows the utter distaste she had for making her wear the 1/2 birthday crown,

which describes her personality perfectly this month ;) }

little bug-

i will say it every month.. but seriously, i cannot believe you are SIX MONTHS OLD!! i always thought that six months sounded so old, and now that you are six months, i feel like my little infant is no more. you have grown leaps and bounds this month and your personality is hilarious. your dad and i just laugh and laugh at the things that you are doing now. crazy girl!

-you discovered your voice a couple of months ago, but something clicked in your head that screaming is fun, so you do it all. the. time. and i dont know if i've ever heard a scream at such a high pitch! man, you have lungs, rowan! even strangers will comment. (but mostly your uncle boosa comments on the high pitch, he doesn't like it so much.) and you are singing more than ever. but my favorite part is when we sing together- you look straight into my eyes and sing with me. its so funny, and so sweet!

-you are talking talking talking. not just whaaaaaaaaaaaa. its yah yah, wha, dah, gah. hopefully we will soon understand the meaning of your words. ;) the jibber jabber is really funny!

- we moved again! we finally got into our own place, and you get your nursery back. its so nice to be in our own place, although im sure grandpa and grandma staples miss you lots. we reside in the land, bountiful ;)

- you got your first haircut. it was a must. and your aunt joey wouldn't let me forget about it, so she cut it for me and it looks adorable. much more manageable.

- your aunt lulu got engaged! wahoo, we are so excited for parker to join the family!

-you are fascinated with drinks. if anyone has a drink around, you stare and stare and kick your legs.

- we got you going on rice cereal. and you were veeeery ready for it. when you started reaching for everyone's food, we knew you were ready for the next thing. at first you didn't know how to work the spoon, but now you're a pro! and you love it.

-your auntie steph and cousins madison and soph came to visit before we moved, so we got lots of cousin time with them and did fun stuff. they love having a cousin on this side. and you were so intrigued and entertained!

- its starting to get colder outside (october) which is such a bummer cause you love nothing more than being outside. you are fascinated by everything outside of our house.

- one of my favorite things you picked up this month was reaching out to momma.

- you are handling your hands very well. you like to turn pages of your books. you are holding your bottle better and better, and you can pick it up and put it in your mouth, and take it out and put it back in! i love seeing you learn new skills.

- you have become quite fiesty this month. if you like it, you want it- if you don't like it, you let everybody know about it. thats when you have me and daddy rolling over in laughs.

so your six month apt didn't go so well. we decided to bypass your shots this month, so i thought we would both leave the dr. office with smiles on our faces for a change, to no avail. i know it could have been worse, so we are feeling grateful. your six month stats were:

weight: 13.4 lbs (5th%)

height: 26 1/4 inches (65th%)

head: 41 cm (11%) 

so pretty much, everything shrunk. you are almost to the "failure to thrive" category, which made me feel horrible. so we are fattening you up LOTS this month baby girl. that metabolism of yours is going way too fast! some other not-so-great news was them wanting to send early intervention over and check you out. cause they thought that you should be crawling and talking back to me... which is a little too early if you ask me. so i put a stop to that one. and the other not-so-great news was that you have severe brachycephaly. your head is more wide, and not long enough. we knew that this was a possibility, but you have to get a helmet. so the next few months or longer are going to be a little rough. but we are so grateful that you dont have to have cranial surgery- what a blessing!

we can't wait to see what tricks you learn this month rowan. one thing is for sure, i love being your momma more than words can say. you are such a joy to me and your daddy. love you sweet girl.

the world is yours, rowan.

love momma

{5 months..}

 {a little bit late}

my sweet little bug,

5 months- man alive, time is going by so fast. you have changed so much this last month, and grown up a lot! you are turning into such a funny little girl, you personality is shining through ;) i have found myself saying "you are such a girl!" many many times this month. its quite hilarious.

a few new things:
- you have TWO teeth! you got your first tooth shortly after the four month mark. there i was, wondering why you havent slept in three weeks and all of a sudden, daddy discovered your first tooth! i dont know why i didn't think of you teething.... well actually, i didn't think of it cause i didn't know you could be teething at four months... poor girl. and then your second tooth popped out about a week ago. it must have been pretty painful cause you've had a few very sleepless nights. and you've also bit momma a couple times (YOUCH!) we are putting a stop to that really quick little girl ;)
- since you've been waking up early, you have your early morning feeding in bed with me. and after you finish, you quickly fall asleep... and so do i. i love having a little ressie with you every morning. sometimes i wake up to you scratching my back, or singing, or feeling my face. its my favorite time of the day, cause you are so so happy.
- you are laughing and giggling alot!  i love trying to find ways to get that little giggle out of you cause its the dang cutest thing in the whole world.
- you love love love blankets. it scares me sometimes that you love to be so snuggled up with them, but how can i resist when it touches your face and you instantly close your eyes?
- you are starting to realize when we are playing games with you. like peek-a-boo. and you laugh and laugh.
-we have wasted too many dollars on toys for you because your favorite thing to play with is someones hand. its funny to watch you be so fascinated with those fingers.
- you are such a smelly girl. and you have been since day #1. (your poop, that is). everyone said that baby poop is a "sweet" smell. but not yours. grammie sings the "smelly girl" song when she smells you. ha ha!!
- you have all-of-a-sudden become extremely flexible. you grab your toesies, and love to suck on them.
- you are starting to recognize familiar faces- but you definitely dont like unfamiliar faces ;) thats okay, baby girl, you learn stranger-danger from a young age, thats good.
- im calling it right now, you are going to be a singer! sometimes i will wake up in the wee hours of the morning and hear you singing in your room. not whining or crying, singing. your daddy and i think its hilarious!
- you have developed a "fit". screaming screaming screaming. hopefully that will end pretty soon. but one funny thing about your fit is that you scratch your head in frustration. we always laugh at your dad because he does the same thing when he is frusterated. just one more thing that makes you exactly like him!
-you are getting really good at focusing on something in front of your face and grabbing at it. you like to grab at anything you can get your hands on. (and then shove it in your mouth!)
-you are eating about every 3-4 hours during the day and taking four 1-3 hour naps. i feel like we have finally got you on a good schedule. it gets messed up sometimes, of course. but you are doing great with that rowan. thaaaank you!
- you are still very much a momma's girl. you can be screaming for 25 minutes until i get you, and you will immediately stop. its nice to feel so loved.

your daddy and i love watching you progress and learn new things! i can hardly believe that you are mine forever. im so blessed. and even though i might roll my eyes when you are up for the 12th time before 4 a.m., i know that i am the luckiest momma in the whole world because you are mine! thank you for teaching me so much baby girl.

the world is yours rowan,
love, momma

{4 months & a scare....}

my little bug,

4 months little girl.. i can hardly believe it. this month proved to be the most challenging (okay, maybe not as hard as the first couple weeks), but also a month where you have made lots of changes! you went through a massive growth spurt at 3.5 months where you went back to waking up every 3 hours. I just got too spoiled with you, that you needed to teach me some patience. ;) It was a veeeeeeeery long week for the both of us. and i cant explain the joy i felt when you finally got over it. But it made me appreciate you so much, little girl. We also had a scare at the doctors office at your 4 month appointment (see story below). It was really hard for me to watch you go through something that big and scary- get used to it mom, right? Your dad and I know that everything will be okay. It was just my first time, as a mom, watching my baby go through something where i felt so helpless. But hopefully that is as far as the "scariness" goes, for right now, at least.

Some new things this month:
- you rolled over for the first time! at 3 months and 3 days you were having some tummy time. I was trying to take a picture of you and you plopped right over on to your back! i was so shocked. Grammie was watching you too and said to make you do it again to see if it was an accident. NOPE! you did it 4 times after that! it was awesome. it made me sad for a minute cause it was the first mobile thing you did.. and i know its just the start of it all. but i was so proud of you rowan, good job!
- you have started throwing teeny little tantrums after you are done eating.... everytime. its really fun.
-you grab at EVERYTHING! you hold on to my clothes while you eat, you hold on to your burp cloth while you are getting burped, you hold on to your straps while you are in your carseat, you hold on to your blankie while you sleep (the list goes on). you just love to get those hands on anything!
-you are starting to suck on everything. whatever is in your hand, goes straight to that mouth! you have figured out how to grab your clothes, so we can usually find a huge wet spot on every outfit ;)
-you have turned into quite the little momma's girl. you hardly let anyone else hold you (except for dad!). you will scream and scream until i come and get you and then you are completely fine. i thought that wasn't supposed to happen for a few months?!? its hard sometimes, but it does make me feel so loved!
-your arm movements are much more controlled now and you can grab at things that are in front of your face, whether it be toys, or your clothes. its so fun to see you focus on something and grab it.
-you get startled quite easily, but never cry.
- you giggled for the first time at 3 months and 3 weeks. it was still little, but I wanted to cry it was the cutest thing i have every heard!! a few people have made you giggle since... and it makes us all laugh and laugh.
- you still hate your back to be scratched, i think that is so funny.

4 month stats:
weight: 12.4 lbs (20%)
height: 25 inches (78%)
head: 15 inches (19%)

i love you so much sweet baby of mine. even if this month was a little less than perfect, we still couldn't be more grateful for you. your daddy and i look back to before you were in our family and we cant imagine life being more full of joy and happiness without you here.

the world is yours rowan,
love, momma

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

after this story i know people are going to be saying, you freaked over that?  but like i said above, it was the first time (of many, im sure) where my baby might be going through something EXTREMELY difficult and i cant do anything about it. and maybe if anyone has gone through this before, maybe offer a word of advice?

At rowans 2 month appt, our pediatrician was booked, so we saw someone else for that month. This guy was really nice- but he mentioned to me that rowans "soft spot" was a little smaller than normal, and to keep my eye on it. In my anatomy class, we studied about babies' soft spots. the purpose of them is so that skull bones dont fuse together so that brain can grow. he told me that if they fused together they would have to basically cut/saw/drill whatever her skull open. because if they dont do that procedure.. there can be alot of stunts in the brain development. however, the dr. reassured me that he had only seen this in 1 baby in the 25 years he had worked there. i kind of brushed it off.

Since rowan was 2 months, she started sleeping 8-10 hours a night. what can i say? the girl loves to sleep. more power to her! but since she started sleeping that long, her head has gotten pretty flat in the back. when i started noticing it, i really tried to put her on her side and have more tummy time, but she finds her way back to being flat. i was nervous for her 4 month appt, because i thought for sure they would tell me that she needs a helmet. which is definitely not the worst thing in the world- but i knew she would be miserable. she hates things on her head! so at this appointment with our regular pediatrician, i mentioned the flat head and he took a look at it.

as rowan was turned to her side, he started feeling around her head and said her soft spot was about half the size of what it should be. i didn't think it was going to be that bad, so i panicked a little bit inside. and he started talking about the premature fusion of the bones as well. i told him the other doctor had mentioned that as well, but what was i supposed to be looking for? then he started telling me about "ridges". and if the bones had fused together that there would be a ridge. he started to feel around her head a little more and said "well, i think i feel a ridge right here."

instantly, im sick to my stomach.

instantly, images of my four month old baby in an operating room.. getting her skull sawed open, pop into my head.

and i dont even want to start talking about the thoughts i had of what could go wrong during on operation of that magnitude. (why do i do that to myself?)

he suggested that we head over to the hospital and get x-rays of her skull.

THANK HEAVENS jord was at the appointment with me. He wasn't at the last one, but for some reason, he wasn't working that morning, so i wanted him to come. I was absolutely hysterical leaving that office... and in the car... and sitting at the hospital filling out paperwork waiting for our turn to get x-rays. I guess i wouldn't have been as freaked out if it had been an arm, or a leg, or whatever else (although, i still would be hysterical). but it was something surrounding her brain. it just scared me so bad... i mean, I have never had x-rays done on my head. so why should my four month old child be doing this?  i was crying too much when the nurse said that only one of us could go in the room with her. so i told jord he should go in. he told me that it was a good thing i didn't go- cause rowan was screaming. getting strapped down from head to toe... who wouldnt be???

anyway, they called us back. and luckily, they havent fused quite yet. we are so blessed. it still scares me so much that this huge procedure could be done on such a tiny baby. we are keeping a watchful eye on her to do all we can to avoid that.

we count our blessings everyday.