Summertime + time at home

Look at that! It's been exactly one month since my last post.  We are now fully into our summer routine (or lack thereof, really) but other than my being home more, not a lot has changed since my June post.  I was pretty antsy when school first ended - I often have a hard time adjusting from being very busy to not so busy.  With the longer days and later sunsets, Rowan has been going to bed a little later at night and then making up for it with a longer afternoon nap.  At first I wasn't really sure what to do with that time, but I ended up really throwing myself into the yard.  Our vegetables and herbs are looking really good - I can't wait for the tomatoes to come.  Rowan was good about helping pick them last year, I hope he has maintained that skill.

Still no major haircuts :)

Rowan still often gets antsy or upset (or sometimes downright hysterical) when we take him to new places or he meets new people, but he is getting better.  My parent's house has finally become a comfort zone - he is just about as comfortable and relaxed there and with Grandma and Papa as he is at our house with me and Ben.  It makes trips to Fredonia generally less stressful since he accepts Grandma's house as "home base."  Rowan and I have already made a couple extended trips to the Fredonia area this summer.  Both times he did really well at Grandma's and the neighboring playground, but not so great when we tried to venture other places.  During our most recent trip I tried to take him to Angola to visit with college friends - he spent almost half the time we were there just hysterically crying.  Finally, he calmed down a little, but the only activities he was interested in were throwing rocks in the pool and running around naked.  Fortunately, almost everyone at the party had a child under 3, so they were understanding.  Of course, as soon as we returned to Grandma's, everything was fine - and thank God, because if I hadn't been able to sit in a cool bath for a little bit, I was going to start hysterically crying, too.

Yay!! Papa has a cool yard!!!

Oh, nooo! (How he refers to the sprinkler)

Hey, Little Boy Blue!

The trip before this last one (a couple weeks previous) we had the same problem - no major issues at Grandma's, but we tried to take him to Midway Park and we might as well have been torturing him.  Granted, it was very hot that day.  Maybe next summer he will feel a little braver and follow his cousins onto some of the rides.  Kevin and Kate were really great about it, though, and Kate tried to gently coax Rowan into some participation with essentially a V.I.P. tour (Kate manages the park.)  But he was just not feeling it.  However, we went back to Kevin and Kate's for a little while after dinner and Rowan was pretty relaxed playing in the backyard with Geoffrey.

One thing he DID like at Midway

Throwing stones in water - always a fave

Goofy cousins :)

Other than our Adventures in Other Counties, the summer has been pretty quiet.  We have our usual haunts - Ellwanger & Barry Park (our favorite playground in the Southwedge), Hedonist Ice Cream,  and Highland Park.  I like taking Rowan to Highland Park for walks because I can actually relax a bit - the winding path is quiet and I don't have to worry about him trying to make a break for it and run towards the street.  We tend to take our time meandering around the park, then Rowan tries to keep up with the big kids at the playground by doing crazy things like climb the rock wall (which is taller than me!)

Oh, hi.  Just meandering.

Crazy rock climbing action!

Demolishing a cone at Hedonist

Sliding at E&B park

So strong! :)

I try to mix it up a little, too, without spending a fortune on daily entertainment.  The Rochester zoo is great and actually a good place to go cool off in the summer (there's a pretty shaded playground and water play area in the center of the park.)  We'll probably get a membership when Rowan turns 2 (he's free until then.)  I took him there a few weeks ago on a Saturday morning and he actually did really well.  He was very good about getting in and out of the stroller so he could check out animals.  Actually, he was more into just running around than looking at animals, but at least he was in a good mood and cooperated with moving around the park.  He did say hello to several animals, including the tiger, the snowy owl, and the penguins.

(Rowan was busy running in circles.)

A cute little turtle!

Playing on big slides with big kids

Almost summertime + adventures in toddlerhood

Another several weeks flown by without a post - I suppose I should just be glad I am keeping any kind of record of our life with Rowan and stop worrying about how often I post.  It has been a somewhat stressful couple months, with occasional bursts of extreme stress.  We are still settling into our routines with both of us working full-time and we are struggling to get our finances in order.  I hate worrying about money when I just want to enjoy our time together as a family.  It was sunny and warm last Sunday and we spent the morning as a family in Highland Park - I hate that the whole time I felt nagged by stress.  I have had a really good year at school, but I am desperately looking forward to some time off to relax together.

Relaxing times in Fredonia

Bringing Grandma a flower :)

Rowan went to his first concert back on May 18th - Aunt Amy and I took him to the Lilac Festival to see Mikaela Davis.  He has been listening to her music since he was only a few months old and he loves her.  It was outdoors, but still rather loud.  He seemed nervous during the first couple songs, but then he recognized one of his favorites ("Dreaming") and started to get super excited.  By the end of the concert he was the cute kid dancing up front and clapping.  We did get to meet her briefly after the show, but by then Rowan was pretty burned out from all the excitement.  Still, it was a pretty awesome first concert.

Starting to get excited ...

SUPER excited!

Dancing all around :)

Rowan also had his first real trip to Aunt Lauren and Uncle Kevin's farm in mid-May.  We took him there for their wedding, but he was still an infant and spent the evening being very, very cranky.  This time we spent the night and he got to explore the farmhouse and the grounds a bit.  It was a very successful trip - Rowan was very at ease the whole time which allowed us to relax a lot, too.  I can't wait to go back soon so we can play a little longer and help with some early harvesting, too!  We also went to Ithaca that weekend to spend Mother's Day with Ben's family.  I'm incredibly glad we did because Ben's grandmother passed away suddenly last weekend.  I regret not taking any last pictures of her with Rowan, but I'm very glad we saw her recently.

Happy monster on the farm!

Playing at Ithaca Farmer's Market

Peek-a-boo!

Rowan's verbal skills have been improving at a startling pace.  He seems to get the concept of the phone now - Hi Mama! How are you? (or Good-how-are-you, one of his favorite phrases.)  He loves his books and wants to read them all the time.  His favorites rotate frequently and he has several memorized.  I have to give Ben the majority of the credit for all of Rowan's words and phrases - he works very hard on language and songs.  Rowan's "party tricks" include counting to ten in English, Spanish, AND French.  He knows his ABCs and lots of songs.  He frequently sings "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to himself and he knows it in French, too!  We joke that it's too bad we aren't wealthy Manhattanites vying for a prestigious nursery school spot.

hehehehe I LOVE MY COUSIN!!

He also still loves drawing.  He has definitely started to move beyond just scribbling to more thoughtful marks - obviously, he isn't making anything recognizable yet.  Still, he seems to choose colors, he is careful taking his caps off and putting them back on, and he makes more of a variety of lines, not just scribbles. 

Yes, there are PILES of drawings ...

Cool pencil lines - I like the mess-less-ness of pencils :)

He loves drawing outside :)

Ok, but this doesn't happen a lot ... :)

Rowan is FINALLY on board with the concept of the playground.  We have been taking him to various parks for awhile now, but he usually just ran around and got anxious quickly.  Occasionally he would use the slides once of twice if we heavily encouraged it or went down with him.  But recently my parents got him a play set for the backyard - a little climbing unit shaped like a castle with a slide.  I think this helped him get on board with the idea of climbing and sliding independently.  We have got into the habit of taking him to a nice playground in the Southwedge at Meigs & Linden.  It is shady and pleasant and there are always several neighborhood families there.  Rowan is usually really friendly with other kids, and perhaps a little over zealous at time.  I don't think many two year old kids understand personal space. :)

Sliding at Lambert playground

Yay! My own slide!

Such a sweet bug :)

Despite his fun vocabulary and new playing skills, Rowan is still almost 2 and often acts like it.  He gets frustrated pretty easily and tends to obsess over things, like closing doors.  He gets really maniacal about closing doors, including the microwave and fridge.  And he STILL sometimes pulls the "pick-me-up!!!-why-are-you-holding-me!??-why-did-you-put-me-down!!!???" insanity that makes me more than a little crazy.  We are getting outside a lot more now that the weather is getting better, but the hose is another one of those fun two-year-old paradoxes: get-it-away!-give-it-to-me!-WHY-is-the-hose-near-me?!!

Tending the garden :)

Rowan still LOVES to clap and it works well to reinforce good behavior, like eating independently, climbing independently ... basically anything independent.  We are really trying to push independence.  Obviously, we know he is two and of course he should still feel like we are there for him, but it has been hard getting him to do things like eating and playing without a lot of assistance.  I am still anxious about sending him to daycare and/or pre-K.  I am honest enough to admit that I am anxious about parting with him for any amount of time - I've still never spent a night away from him.  I know I need to get over it if I want him to be able to cope, too.  We'll get there, I'm sure.

FIRST HAIRCUT! (bangs only :)

Just a few wisps ...

Oops two months just slipped by ...

Well, I don't have time to write about everything in our lives, but this seems like a good place to start.  I took this video while I was home over February break.  It was really nice for both of us to get to spend several days together.  Ben was training at his new job all day, so it was a funny role reversal.  Unfortunately, it was a little hard on Rowan when I went back to school.  Still, spring break is right around the corner and then before we know it we will have all of July to play. :)

Rowan obviously likes paint (he likes to draw with pencils, markers, and crayons, too) and he has gotten very vocal - the sign language has helped a lot and he is starting to repeat a lot of what he hears.  Below are some of the words he says regularly:

Mama, daddy, Amy, baby, more, all done, please, thank you, milk, juice, eat, peanut butter (pee-buh), banana (nana), bread, cracker, cookie, berry, bye bye, hi (in person), hello (usually for the phone), good night, bed (he loves to sign this one), home, kitty, cat, dog, sun, outside ("aside"), play, ding dong, up, down, head, toes, belly, nose, yucky (usually followed by a spitting sound), change, gentle (ten-til), big, wow, red, yellow, green (geen), blue, purple, circle, oval, square, and crescent (seriously – he just picked up the crescent from his shape ball this afternoon and said it super clearly.)  He also repeats a lot of the vocabulary that he learns from Baby Einstein videos, and uses some of it in context.  He is trying so hard to learn to say "refrigerator" (right now it sounds like "awfrul")

He also says "Mama home?" and "how you?" and he is just starting to repeat back "I love you."  His memory for music is also a little crazy.  He sings along with a lot of his favorite songs and today he surprised me by joining in with a couple songs that I have sung to him before but hadn't in quite awhile, like my weird little Rowan song set to the tune of Frere Jacques: Baby Rowan, Baby Rowan, how are you? How are you?  Baby baby Rowan, baby baby Rowan.  I love you, I love you.

Rowan is still finicky about foods.  He still prefers purees.  He loves most soups ... unfortunately, he thinks he can feed them to himself.  It's a little problematic since he tries to turn the spoon over before putting it in his mouth.  These pictures are from a trip to Upper Crust in Fredonia back in February - the boy loves some potato soup!  He is also getting more willing with pasta, but he refuses basically all bread and bread-like things.  He loves fruits and veggies, but only as purees/smoothies (except berries and the occasional banana.)  He loves yogurt and still drinks some milk.  He loves sweet potatoes and the aforementioned potato soup, but he will have NOTHING to do with mashed potatoes (he literally acted like I was trying to poison him when I offered him a spoonful a couple days ago.)  We offer him a lot of foods, but he usually pushes it away with a resolute "no" or just wants to stab at it with a fork/spoon and play with it (or feed it to one of us ... which is cute, but can be messy and painful.)

Grinning at the indoor play space at Marketplace

Super Dude gets serious with blocks at B & N

Recent warm afternoon - getting a little sun.

Ben went back to work full time in mid-February.  It has been a major adjustment for our family, but there are a lot of benefits.  Being able to pay our bills more easily is an obvious one, but we are also back to having two cars.  Rowan has gotten MUCH better about going out over the past few months.  He is positively relaxed in the car now, a huge change from infancy.  We take him out a lot now so that he can play and socialize and also to keep all of us from feeling cooped up.  It will be great when we can mix in parks, playgrounds, and the beach - but for now while there's still snow we haunt Barnes & Noble, the play space at Marketplace Mall, and the Kid's Club at our gym.  It's even getting relatively easy to take him shopping - shhh, don't tell him shopping carts aren't actually an amusement park ride!! :)

Belly time!

Tee-hee-hee!

I definitely caught him the other day with his diaper pulled off and push down the leg of his pajamas.  He was very proud of himself.  After I checked and saw what he'd done, he pushed away my hand and re-zipped his pajama VERY resolutely, like, and that's the way it's STAYING!

MORE LATER!!! <3<3

New glasses + new tastes

Okay, the glasses aren't really NEW ... Rowan has had them for quite awhile but wouldn't wear them long enough for us to snap a picture until recently.  Though the surgery back in May was generally successful, his right eye is still a little weak and tends to list outwards (especially if he is tired) and he still has an astigmatism (though the doctor recently said it appears to be getting better.)  It's kind of funny that all the doctor's tests and exams report that Rowan has sub-par vision because he certainly has never acted like he has any difficulty seeing.  Perhaps he has just acclimated to his shortcomings, but he developed almost all of his fine motor skills well ahead of schedule, he routinely picks the tiniest little crumbs and whatnot off the floor and brings them to us, and he reacts to very small pictures and stimuli from across the room.  Whatever.  If he needs the glasses, we'll get him to wear them.  And he'll look good doing it.

Our studious little guy :)

Oh, I see what you mean ... literally!

Last winter was basically non-existent (it snowed twice) and Rowan was a cranky infant, so there was no winter wonderland-ing to be had.  This winter I managed to get him outfitted with boots, fleece-lined jeans, mittens, hats, and several coats ... and of course as soon as I had all his gear there was an immediate thaw.  Oh well, it's only January and there is some snow in the forecast.  Rowan was not to thrilled to check out the last of the snow a couple weeks ago, though, so we'll see if he actually puts any miles on those boots.  He is a July baby, after all ...

All geared up!

Ready to hit the slopes! Or at least backyard!

Yeah, this wasn't so great.  Glad Mom is here now.

I have written at length about Rowan's difficulties with solid foods.  He still rejects most things we offer him, but he has developed a few eccentric favorites.  He LOVE chevre (fresh goat cheese), though he rejects most other cheese, and he has developed a distinct taste for leek risotto with turmeric and paprika (though he turns down many other, tamer versions of rice.)  He is eating both in the picture below - it has become a common dinner for him.  See the recipe for Rowan's Risotto below.  Of course, lest anyone think I am insane, I've only made true risotto like this once - I usually just throw together an orzo version. :)  Rowan also (usually) loves raspberries, bananas, cereal bars, and dark chocolate.

Hmm, which should I stuff in my face first?

Rowan's Risotto
2 leeks, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. sweet paprika
1 tsp. turmeric
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine (optional :)
3 1/2 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth
butter
salt
grated parmesan cheese

Note: I like to use a sturdy, wooden-handled spatula due to the large amount of stirring required to make a creamy risotto.

Keep the broth warm in a separate pan on the stove.  In a deep, non-stick skillet, saute the leeks and red pepper in butter over medium heat until softened slightly. Add the garlic and spices continue to saute another minute.  Add the rice and a pinch of salt and saute another 2 minutes.  Add the wine (if using) and cook until it is mostly evaporated, stirring continuously.  Begin adding the warm broth, a few ladlefuls at a time and stir continuously (the near-constant stirring is what makes risotto so starchy and creamy and delicious.)  The rice should be cooking at a vigorous simmer.  Once most of the broth has been absorbed, add more.  Continue until almost all of the broth has been used, then check for doneness.  If you have used all your broth and the rice is still a little toothsome for your taste, just add some warm water.  When the rice is done, remove from heat and add a generous pat of butter, about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, and salt to taste.  Serve immediately.

Lots of new skills + the great march to toddlerhood

I have started to write this post in my head several times over the past few weeks.  Then something else amazing would happen; Rowan has gone through so many huge changes this month.  As recently as October I was stressing out because his eating and sleeping habits were going haywire - then a few weeks ago, Rowan basically weaned himself and then decided he was thrilled with a simple bedtime routine of saying goodnight, brushing teeth, turning out the lights, and calling it a night.  We're STILL a little weirded out by how easily he goes down now ... most nights he is literally EXCITED to be going to bed.  Occasionally he will cry a little (like when he is overtired), but it never lasts for more than a few minutes.

New Rowan is MUCH more cuddly!

Despite the weaning and increased independence, Rowan has become much more affectionate.  When he was an infant I was often frustrated by how clingy yet not affectionate he often seemed.  Rationally, I knew better than to take that personally, but it still hurt when he screamed to be picked up but then, bizarrely, continued to scream because I was holding him.  He is definitely still a sensitive kid with often ineffable wants and needs - but at least now he gives us some hugs and kisses, too.

The Christmas season came and has mostly gone.  We did go get our tree at Powers Farmer Market early in December with Rachael & Jake like we always do - but it was rainy and Rowan was grumpy so we didn't get any pictures.  However, we did have a fun time decorating as a family ...

Yaay! Lights!

And kitty!!

Our cute little tree :)

We (but mostly Ben) have been working on sign language with Rowan.  It has become a fairly common practice among parents these days.  Rowan does use some of the signs, but moreover it seems to have really increased his vocabulary.  In early November, his discernible words were Mama, Dada, kitty, doggy, hey, and yeah.  Now he has added the following words: baby, berry, bread, eat, more, night night, girl, boy, banana (and he can recognize those last three in books, too), neee (honey), oh no, all done, and his favorite: thank you.  He started "singing along" with some of his favorite songs, especially "ding dong" (the Muppets singing Ringing of the Bells.)  He also signs eat, more, and light.  We often sign light off/on, please, thank you, help, gentle, eat, drink, more, good boy, cat, dog, boy, girl, and milk.  And of course, we still get plenty of baby babble - he talks to himself and us in babble a lot, and often talks himself to sleep.  It is great that he is starting to communicate so much more and he is SO pleased with himself. :) 

Weeee! Still loving slides!

Oh, hi! I sure like this Dad of mine.

Despite the fact that he basically took himself off the bottle, Rowan is still pretty anti-solid foods.  We're pretty sure it's just the textures because he has tried and liked a lot of strong flavors (blue cheese, spicy sausage, chili.)  So he still relies on purees for a lot of his proteins and fruit-veggie-grain smoothies for more nutrition.  He does love yogurt and he tears through raspberries and blackberries like there's no tomorrow.  He eats chevre (soft goat cheese) by the handful but refuses almost all other offers of cheese (although today he did eat a piece of espresso-rubbed cheese after turning down the other two more mild cheeses.)  He does drink milk, but usually only 8 ounces or so a day, and he drinks a lot of water.  He also snacks on graham crackers and cereal bars and the occasional bit of bread.  And he is just OBSESSED with honey - if he even hears the door to the cupboard it's in, he comes rushing into the kitchen shouting "NEEEEE!"  (See above, vocabulary.) I'm sure he'll start branching out when he is ready.  He does occasionally go nuts for unexpected dishes - like the saffron rice pilaf with leeks and spicy sausage I made last week.  He ate three bowlfuls over two days.  Then turned down pancakes for the millionth time.  Weirdo.

Jogging down Lambert Ave.

Rowan really loves stop signs.

We did our usual Christmas split - we went to Ithaca for the weekend before Christmas, then drove to Fredonia on Christmas Eve.  Rowan was definitely a little more into it this year - he opened presents, played with new toys, and had fun with his many cousins.  It's always a little tough to be on the road (nap time is especially perilous), but this year was definitely smoother than last ... at least in my not-too-reliable Mommy Memory.  He is much more comfortable in louder, more crowded spaces now.  Rowan didn't try too many of the fancy Christmas foods - but he did enjoy many goat cheese-stuffed raspberries, one of his favorite delicacies.

So big! (with the Duliba cousins)

Rowan is thinking, What is this guy doing?

We are trying to take it easy for the remainder of Winter Break.  There's always a lot of stuff to do around the house ... but there is also a new cheese shop in Rochester and the ice cream shop we love right next door.  So that's what we did this morning.

Rowan's favorite is Salted Caramel.

Did I get every last bit??