Sunday, September 14, 2008

Two birthdays!

So, last weekend, Ingrid turned 3 and last Tuesday, Rowan turned 1! Gramma Camra gave us the best gift (for parents AND kids)....(drumroll please...)

A Jump-o-lene!

Ingrid's been wanting a "jumpoline" since we jumped on a real trampoline at my friend Jill's gym in Minnesota this summer--and we've been thinking she needs one, as she is wrecking my sofa by jumping off the arms onto the cushions CONSTANTLY! All the pillows are smashed down and the seat cushions are sunken down in the middle now... :(

Anyway, for their birthdays, Gramma Camra (in MN) sent a real live "Jump-o-lene"! That's even the official name of it! It's the best. It wears the kids out so fast! :) And it's saving my couch! Both of them love to get in it. It also came with 100 plastic balls...which are fun to clean up...but fun to play with too.

Here's a video of them the day we got it and blew it up in our living room. (excuse the boxes and mess about...I'm in the process of boxing things up to get rid of them.)



Today, we had a little birthday party for Ingrid with her little friends from church, and we brought it up to the community room and they all jumped on it! What a blast they had! And we grown-ups were able to really talk and get to know one another better. It was a good day for all.

It's hard to imagine that Ingrid is 3 already! She's so smart and funny! I think back to her first days as an infant and look at her now and wonder what's next. It's better than I had ever imagined when she was a baby...I'm sure the next few years will be, too. Here's a little snippet of Ingrid and Papa playing "air guitar." It was all over once she realized I was videotaping her. :) She wants to watch herself...



Unfortunately, I haven't been able to have a party for Rowan. We tried to have a little party one night at the farm on his birthday, but he was really tired and didn't really want anything to do with the cake we made...and Papa wasn't even there, so it didn't really feel like a party. Poor second child. But the important thing is that he knows we love him, and we had a little family party for all the September birthdays last week, so he was included in that. He's a special little boy. The world can't be all bad when he's in it... :) I hope he knows how special he is...

The other day, he picked up Andrew's old phone and put it up to his ear and talked on it! He would babble and then LAUGH! He's soooooo cute. He'll pick it up and say "Hi!" and then give it to you and say "tank too" and then "bye bye" and wave. He can also say "all done" and sign it and also sign "more." He's so smart. :)

Here's a recent video of him the other day. He's started talking a little more. Here he is saying Bella--using the L! He's starting to try using a fork, too, although not very successfully yet. I wish I could get him to say everything on command s you could see all he knows. He's pretty stubborn that way. He'll only say something when HE wants to... Makes a liar out of me every time. :) But he's such a good boy, though VERY determined. When he wants something there's very little you can do to avoid a mini-breakdown if he can't have it, but food will usually divert his attention (typical boy, right?) or a dip upside down will distract him... But he ALWAYS has time for hugs and kisses (his kisses are very slobbery, but completely heart-felt--and many times un-prompted)! He loves to be affectionate... He's my boy. :)

So, here he is! My one-year old Rowan.


Monday, September 8, 2008

My "Brown" Baby Boy

Geesh. I've sure got one for you. It's one of those stories you carry with you that qualifies you as a parent. This time, Andrew gets the medal.

I wish I could have gotten a better picture of this, but I'm going to try to see if I can download my phone picture. It won't be great, but this is priceless...

So, I was substitute teaching for Mom on Friday when I get a phone call from Andrew.

"Hello?" I said
"Heelllooo..." Andrew said in a tone that made me wonder what was coming next.
"What's going on?"
"Well, your son..." Oh, no, I thought.

So, apparently what happened was Andrew had been listening to Rowan play that morning like he does every morning until Ingrid gets awake. He was cooing and babbling very pleasantly, so Andrew decided to get just a few more minutes of shuteye until the baby started to complain--or until Ingrid got up--which ever came first.

After about 20 minutes, Rowan started to cry, so he went into his room to get him. When he opened up the door, he was greeted with a foul stench, which could mean only one thing. He had one of his messy diapers which would require a full change of clothes and possibly a sheet change. He had one of those once every couple of weeks, and he was due for another one. Luckily, we had just washed the extra sheet and comforter, so he wasn't worried.

However, when he went to the crib, he realized the mess wasn't confined to a messy diaper. What Andrew saw when he looked over the crib rail was a brown baby boy... Brown because he had taken his diaper OFF and pooped EVERYWHERE.

There was poop on the sheets, the crib bumper, the crib railing, Rowan's shirt, between his toes, caked in his hair, smeared across his face, in his eyes...and in his TEETH! Needless to say, he had rolled in poop.

Andrew called me, cleaned things up, and gave Rowan a bath... However, Rowan got a new word out of the ordeal. Now, he can say "poop."

We're so proud of his growing communication skills.

picture to come soon...