And she's off!

Is this for real?!

 

 

Out and about

From the bookstore....

 

To nana and papa's house....

To a walk around the neighborhood...

 

We have got one happy girl :)

Easter Part One: Church

 

 I am breaking up my Easter posts because I need to collect pictures from my family who used a camera and not a phone (mom fail) to snap pictures all day. So Part Two will follow.

Easter morning we got up early and met our small group at church for a pancake breakfast at 8 and then went to service at 9. I didn't think there would be childcare on the holiday but there was! It was so nice to listen to the sermon and not continuously stuff snacks into the mouth of a squirmy 9 month old in hopes she would not shriek out it frustration of her confinement to a pew. Matt's family also came to the 9:00 service so we got to sit with them. After church we attempted to take some friend pictures with Noey and Roey, here is that collection of attempts. We sure gave it a boy scouts try :)

 

 

 

Don't look so skeptical Ro, you will like him one day :)

 

We are so blessed to have a church we love and our small group family, who we also love. Sitting in that old brick building with the sun streaming through the stained glass windows, while the sounds of praises rise to our God, was the perfect way to start off our Easter Sunday. Thankful for the gift Jesus has given us in his death and resurrection and to celebrate that gift with those we love.

Nine Months Old

Rowan, you are well on your way to being a one year old. 9 months seems so old to me. I remember buying a 9 month outfit on sale at the end of last summer thinking it would be forever until you were that big. Now here we are.

 

You are so beautiful. Your daddy and I tell you that all the time. We are two pretty average looking people, how did something as sweet as you come from us? Your smile is from ear to ear and includes squinty eyes and a high dimple. Your hair is getting long and thicker and has natural bangs that sweep to the side. You have a little head, 3rd percentile or less according to the charts, and that makes you seem more petite to me. Your easy going personality that accompanies your cuteness just completes the package. I look at you often and just marvel at what God created.



 

 

-You are into independent eating lately. You don't like to be spoon fed even though sometimes you like what we are feeding you. You have grown more picky as well. You will open your mouth ever so slightly to "try" what's on the spoon before you open big or shake your head and frown. Peas are an absolute no these days, zucchini and carrots are really hit or miss. All fruit, sweet potatoes, squash, and oatmeal are all usually safe bets if you want to eat from a spoon. If not, we just feed you foods you can pick up like bananas, avocado, black beans, apples and oranges. Oranges are your favorite fruit to feed yourself. We will try transitioning this month to feeding you breakfast so you will have three big girl meals a day.

-Nursing/Bottle schedule is still every 4 hours. Something like 7-11-3-7 or 6-10:30-3-7. You are only taking about 5-6 oz. I thought that would pick up the older you got, especially since you would take 6-8 at times. You don't seem cranky or hungry though so I guess that is working for you. Nursing has still been going well.

-You got your first tooth! March 23 it erupted through those ouchy gums. It is your bottom right one. We felt it before we saw it and it was sharp!

-Your other first this month was saying your first word...dada. We had been saying mama and dada over and over again around you and you finally picked up on one. I don't think you associate the word with your dad but you are proud to be imitating us.

-As seen in the last post, you can also identify certain objects. You can pick out your duck from a lineup as well as your elephant. You know words like Sophie and ball. If we ask you for something you are holding, you now look down at it, then at us and then bring it over to us. If the toy is one of your favorites or your blankey/binky, we can tell you to go get it and you will crawl over and grab whatever it is. This makes you seem so smart.

-Grandpa Gordy and Grandma Lois came for a visit and taught you how to roll your hands and throw them in the air up high. Now you do this randomly and copy us when we initiate it.

-You are now standing and cruising on furniture. You will walk along our couch and transfer to the chair or table still standing. You have even let go and stood in one place for 2-3 seconds before squatting down. Still building courage for a full out stand though :)

-You now crawl away from me. It used to be you would stay and play in whatever room/area I was in. Now if you are let loose on the ground, you will crawl into other rooms of the house and go exploring. I feel like I somewhat have to chase you around now. If I call out to you and say come here, most times you are still curious enough to come back to me.

-You and dad have a game now where he holds you up close to the fan and you hit the strings hanging down, clinking them together. He says "ding ding ding," because the metal ones at my parents' house make that noise as they clink together. You think this is so funny and put your hands up in the air when you're under the fan to signal you want to play this game.

-Watching you reach out for the strings has been the first time we have seen fear from you. A few times you were lifted up and got scared you were up so high above dad's head that you got a frightened look on your face and dove back down to him. We were pushing you high on nana and papa's swing the other day when you got scared again. These were the first times you understood danger.

-You also like when dad puts a ball in his mouth and pops it up in the air. He makes a lot of silly faces that you have started to try and imitate. You can blow bubbles/raspberries really well now.

-You are back to sleeping through the night, horray! Your bedtime is still 7, although we have fudged around a bit and it can be anywhere before 7:30. You will sleep until 6 or 7 the next morning and we set your day schedule based off that. You are up for about 2 or 2.5 hours before needing a nap.

-You take 2 naps ranging in time from 40 min to 2.5 hours. One in the morning and one right after lunch. The stretch from lunch until bedtime is long but you seem to do fine with it or take a cat nap in the car if we are driving back from somewhere.

-We have started using the words oopsie and ouch. We didn't want to be saying no all the time so we are trying to say oopsie and redirecting you. If you are getting too close to danger, outlet plugs, hot oven, cords/wires....then we say ouch and sign the word for hurt to you.

-Signing had been coming along as well as we expected. Shelby said you signed milk for her when she was feeding you one day but we haven't seen it yet. I can believe her though because I have seen you make the motion with your fist. You understand a lot more than we know. I am surprised by what you respond to. Here soon we hope you start communicating back to us.

-You have grown really attached to your swaddle blankets. Those have become your lovies and you have to have them to sleep. When you get tired you will crawl over to them and lay down, burying your head in them.

-We introduced you to bubbles this month and that was a hit. Your Aunt Leslie played with them one day while she was watching you and said you loved them. So we bought some of our own and she was right!

-Other favorite toys include a ball and circle ring. You will try to capture the ball in the circle. It slips around on our carpet a lot so you can spend half an hour chasing this elusive ball. Your standing table is still a lot of fun to play at as well.

-You officially like dogs. Aunt Leslie just got a puppy named Pip so now everyone who babysits you has a doggie, much to your delight. This works out nice because you can enjoy them there and we don't have to have one here :)

-Your Mongolian spot is starting to fade but is still visible.

-You like to be picked up by me or your dad then lunge for the other person. Then you are fine for a few seconds and lunge back to the other person. It's like you can't make up your mind who you want more.

 

Happy 3 quarters of a year! Looking forward to warmer weather this next month, playing with your out of town cousins that are coming for a visit and watching you learn and grow more. Love you Ro-bee!

Smart Cookie

She is understanding more than we think she is. I asked her this question during bath tonight expecting it to be rhetorical. Instead she responded and shocked me. So fun to see her communicate with us :)

Family Date Night

What to do with a Sunday afternoon off in the middle of winter? Go to Cabelas of course! We all needed to get out of the house d/t some cabin fever and thought Rowan may enjoy the fish. She was very quiet but stared intently at them swim by. I think she enjoyed it?

 

 

 

Then we walked through their stuffed animal exhibits. This also was captivating and involved a lot of staring. We tried going through all the animals' signs and making their sounds but I don't know how much she was paying attention to us. I think this is a good foreshadowing to the zoo being a hit this summer :)

 



Wichita Trip

Here are some more pictures from our weekend trip to Wichita....well actually our 24 hrs in Wichita. I remember a time when our lives weren't so busy and we could stay longer than a day but it seems the last few times we have seen the Drehers this has been our story. Matt worked Friday and we drove down after that. We had all day Sat and then returned home because both Gina and I worked Sunday. Even though it was a quick ordeal we managed to squeeze in going on a walk, swinging at the park, making cookies, taking Rowan's pictures and catching up. The boys also went to shoot guns out in the country. Pretty successful trip I'd say :)


This was that Friday here in KS, a whopping 80 degrees and beautiful. We went to the park on the way out of town to swing with daddy. Rocking our shades, summer dress and flip flops of course!

Then the next day the crazy KS weather is in the 40's and freezing. This state is so weird. Trying to get two kids looking cute at once, nearly impossible.

Not sure if swinging in the cold is as fun.

 

 

Now watching momma swing back and forth

 

 

Cuddled up back at home reading books

 

Making chocolate chip cookies from scratch from a cookbook circa 1890 :)

There has to be at least one spill when you are making cookies for the first time right Sutton? At least it was the flour and not the shortening!

Thanks for hosting us friends, we love you! Until next time...