Rolling Over

He did it. Rolled over that is. I have been biting my tongue not to post this earlier since he did roll over once about a week ago on the floor. Since then he hadn't done it again until today. I put Elmo just out of reach and that was all it took to get him to try to roll over. He did it five times for me and when Esten got home from work he had to test it out too. Here is a video of him rolling over.

And I have to admit we tried some rice cereal with Rowan. I said I wasn't going to try solids until he was 6 months old but he 'begged' enough for me to crumble. When we eat he watches us very closely and tries to grab our food if you give him the chance. He was loving it the first night we (Esten, Jessica, John and I: it takes a village, right? ) tried it but since then hasn't been very interested. I'm not worried about it and we're going to take it very slow until he's 6 months old. Which by the way is only a month away and as you all know the end of May will be here before you know it.



I got my sewing machine serviced and I've been working on a little bib project. I made 16, some for friends and some for Rowan. These will come in handy for his eating solids adventure we are about to embark upon. Now I'm working on making him a pair of shoes with this pattern I found online. One shoe is done and if I must say so myself, it is pretty cute. It is made out of the same material of the bib that is hanging on the neck of the hanger in the picture below.



Next week we are going to New York for a few days to visit Ava and our friends Susan and Bruce. I had an airline credit I had to use before May 18 so why not? We'll most definitely post pictures of more firsts after that trip. First airplane ride, first subway ride, first train ride, and who knows what else.

Easter Pictures

Rowan's First Easter Egg Find. Ok, ok we found it for him but he at least acknowledged the fact that there was an egg in front of him.

And then there were three. Shortly after this picture was taken he cried. Enough is enough mamarazzi.

A visit with his cousins, Kyra and Rio. Rio thinks that you should pose with your hands on your face if you want to be really cute.

4 Months Old

Rowan is about a week over 4 months old now and doing new things everyday. He weighed 17lbs 5 oz at his 4 month checkup. He has recently started laughing and we love it. We try everything to make him laugh from pretending we are dropping him, startling him, making funny faces, etc. but the best bet is Pablo. He loves to watch him and Esten play. The rougher the better.
He has a few new toys that he loves, an exersaucer and a johnny jumper. I love them too since they buy me time.

Last Friday we took Rowan to his first bluegrass show with some friends and their baby. We saw Yonder Mountain String Band at Stubbs in Austin. We bought Rowan some earmuffs that block out noise and he wore them with pride. He took two naps while we were there but stayed awake for most of it. This was a trial run for the Phish shows we will be going to this summer in California and Washington.





He has rolled over a few times, I think accidentally, from his stomach to his back. He did it while we were playing on his alphabet mat that we have on the floor in his room.





We're heading to San Antonio and Corpus this weekend to see my family for Easter. Happy Early Easter to you!

Rowan's Voice

Rowan has a precious voice and there are still some friends and family who have yet to hear it. Here is a short video with some clips of Rowan talking, screaming and whining. Enjoy!

St. Paddock's Day

Well, Rowan managed to put up with our shenanigans once again. We've taken him to restaurants on multiple occasions and even a basketball game when he was eight weeks, but this time we decided we would get brave and drag him out for a St. Patrick's Day celebration. A couple pints of Guinness, a few green beers, and some pictures later, we have another memorable night worthy of its place in the blogosphere. He really is an angel child. No worries, we were home by 9:30pm. Thanks to our good friends Aaron and Stephanie for owning the bar, Paddock Lane, and for loving our baby. Rowan did manage to stay out later than John and Jessica.....oh snap!!

Cheers,

Esten (logged in as Shannon)

A Week of Celebrations

Last week was a week of celebrations for us. It started on Monday when our good friend, John defended his dissertation. He passed and we celebrated with champagne and cigars. I think a PhD in physics deserves a picture on our blog. (See our tomatoes in buckets behind him.)


And then Saturday was my 29th birthday. My parents came to College Station and Esten and I got to go out for a few drinks that night. It was my first time to leave Rowan for longer than 20 minutes: we were gone for at least an hour and a half. We met up with some of our friends and had a great time. Rowan did just fine too. Rowan went for his first jog this morning in our new jogging stroller and stayed awake much longer than he usually does probably because he could see where he was going. We've been running with a stroller with plastic wheels that his carseat fits into. He faces me in that stroller so facing the world instead is a huge upgrade. This stroller is a much smoother and enjoyable ride for him and run for me. Thanks Moms and Pops.
(Notice the garden to the right of the picture above.)


Sunday was Mara's birthday so we went to Austin to celebrate with the family. She's a doll and loves her cousin Rowan.



Outside of all of the celebrating, Rowan has started to sit in his bumbo for 10 minutes at a time and seems to enjoy the freedom of not being held but sitting upright. He also got a excersaucer this weekend and loves that too.



And he is just drooling like crazy. Maybe teeth are on the way.
I'm still working on those videos I've promised and since Rowan fell asleep on his own tonight I'm adding a bonus picture. Isn't he a cutie?

Not Much Going On...

There has not been much going on around here but I thought I would give a little update on Rowan. He has got to weigh 15lbs. We'll find out for sure at the end of the month when he goes for his 4 month appointment. He can now bat at the toys in his play gym and will reach up for anything interesting you dangle above his head. He really wants to grab things but the hands just are not cooperating yet. He also is enjoying talking to us and will repeat "Aaaahhh, goooo" as many times as you're willing to say it. I'm going to attempt to capture his talking and 'I'm tired, but don't want to go to sleep whine' this week and when I do I'll post some video. But for now here are a few pictures from last weekend when we went to Fredericksburg to see Moms and Pops (Esten's parents.)

Rowan prefers to stand up and pretend he can walk. Man the triceps hurt at the end of the day.



Still has the pretty blues.






Rowan and cousin Mara. Someday Mara he will play with you.