The holidays always stress me out, though I try to remain calm and cool. I know it's all about family and friends and relaxing and ultimately that is all that ends up mattering - but I can't seem to help getting wound up as the holidays approach. So of course I was extra concerned about coping with all the travel and whatnot with a five month old baby. Then a whole bunch of unforeseen stuff happened resulting in our staying in Rochester until late Christmas day. It ended up being kind of nice to have a quiet Christmas Eve at home, just the three of us. I made a fancy dinner with duck cassoulet and we exchanged gifts and watched Christmas specials while Rowan treated it just like any other evening. :)
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| *grin* |
We went to Fredonia first, arriving in time for a late Christmas dinner. Rowan also attended his first Boxing Day party and was fairly sociable. We stopped back in Rochester to regroup (and unexpectedly replace our broken thermostat) before heading to Ithaca. Rowan seemed very content with all of the family love.
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| Rowan in his favorite sleeping position with Matt. |
Rowan actually did pretty well overall considering all the unfamiliar places, sights, and smells. This kid is really a homebody. He was visibly excited to get home, looking everywhere with a big smile and talking up a storm (see below for more on "talking.")
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| This is basically where he was at by the end of the week. |
So we made it through the holidays in a rental Hyundai sedan whilst my van remains at a collision shop for going on three weeks now. This kid does not travel light and it was hard to pack without the roominess of my beloved Caravan. He just upgraded to a conversion car seat (after outgrowing his super-sized birth-one year infant car seat) and that helped make all the rides a little smoother. In fact he rode all the way to Rachael's house on New Year's Day without much complaint at all - and then he was super good and social the whole time we were there. And then he fell asleep on the way home - AND THEN he continued to nap for nearly an hour after I set him in his bed. I was afraid I had the wrong kid ... :)
But Rowan's passionate hatred of auto travel is old news - in new news, he's eating rice cereal and doing very well with it. He basically mastered eating from a spoon in one day. We make it a little on the thick side - it seems to make it easier for him to get it down his gullet - and sometimes we add a little pear juice or prune juice to sweeten it up a bit. We'll probably start introducing baby food in a week or so - and Aunt Lauren (our close friend, Ben's "best man", soon to be Rowan's godmother, former pastry chef, and current farm dweller) is SO excited to start making him some purees!
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| Perfunctory messy-baby-trying-to-eat-with-spoon shot |
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| And one more for the road |
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Rowan started cooing weeks ago, but this month he has gotten MUCH more talkative and expressive. I remember being kind of disappointed in the second and third months because it seemed like he never smiled. Now we can get him to smile all the time. Giggles are still a little rare, but much more common. It's hard to catch his awesome expressions on camera, though, because he is the most expressive when face-to-face with me or Ben. As soon as we get the camera out he just stops and stares, as evidenced by this video where I sneak up on him during a lengthy diatribe:
He makes the best faces and Ben and I are constantly cracking up. His eyebrows are always moving and he frequently arched just one, making an utterly bemused face. I'm not sure whether he is doing it on purpose. He seems to be rapidly developing a very wry sense of humor ... [side note: the video looks old-timey because I had accidentally smeared Aquafor ointment on the lens and didn't notice until afterward. Oops.]
Rowan's Likes: Either of us rubbing our head on his belly (but esp. Ben), baths, talking, "raspberries" (on his belly or just seeing us do it), standing with help, being tossed (very gently) in the air, looking at pictures or video of himself or other kids, looking at still pictures of kids, rice cereal, being naked
Rowan's Dislikes: The car (usually), being bored, any kind of discomfort (causing him to scratch violently at his head), waking up from a nap (often), getting dressed
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