How Rowan Makes Me Laugh

I thought I'd share some funny things that Rowan does/says/did that never fail to make me laugh. Sometimes I wish I could just crawl into her little head and see things from her perspective. Here is a short list:

1. Books. Rowan loves to read. It is the only time she will sit still--and it's not really all that still. But, Rowan likes to occasionally finish the sentences of books she knows well. One such book is Madeline. There is a line in the book that goes "To the tiger in the zoo, Madeline just says pooh-pooh" but Rowan always says "To the tiger in the zoo, Madeline just says pee-pee". I guess the "potty training" vocabulary is sticking.

2. Potty Training. Well, we're not actually potty training, per se, but we do encourage Rowan to go on the potty anytime we're changing her diaper anyway. This requires lots of patience and energy. Rowan will often go on the potty (yes, I am 30 years old and call it a "potty". For the record, I also say "pee-pee" and "poo-poo"), but only if accompanied by several "friends"--stuffed animals, her blanket, bathtime toys, etc. Sometimes she wants them to "bite" her feet and lately she has been asking them to sing the ABCs.

3. "Night-night". Anytime Rowan sees someone with their eyes closed, she assumes they are sleeping and finds it hilarious. For example, today at the doctor, I was having an exam which was rather uncomfortable. I was wincing and Rowan was next to me, laughing and saying "Night-night, Mommy!" Of course then I start cracking up. She also thinks any character in a book with their eyes closed (or looking down) is sleeping and will go through and list the characters that are sleeping and those that are awake.

4. Animals. Rowan loves to hide and find her stuffed animals in her bed. When I get her in the morning and after her nap, she always spends several minutes hiding and finding her animals and then cracking up when she finds them as though they were being very silly for hiding. She says their names in this funny voice when she finds them and gets all giddy. For the record, the animals she currently sleeps with are: Harry, Pig, Neigh Neigh, Other Neigh Neigh, Blanket, Raffi and Dinosaur.

5. Letters. Rowan loves to play with her refrigerator letters. She gets all excited when she finds the M for Mommy, the D for Daddy, the R for Rowan, the H for Harley and the S for Sebby. She then likes to hand out the letters to each of us and will chase Harley and Sebby around the house trying to hand them their letters. She also likes to randomly say a letter and then name things she knows that start with that letter. For example today she got the "G" and said "G Grandma, Grover, grapes, grilled cheese". When I asked her what the letter was called, she repeated the entire sequence again. She also always calls the letter z "Sleepy Z".

6. Tickling. Rowan thinks it's great to be tickled. When you tickle her, she laughs and laughs and says "No, no, no!" Then when you stop, she grabs your hand and puts it up to her neck and says "Neck, neck".

7. Singing and Dancing. Lance has taken it upon himself to teach Rowan the song "Hangin' Tough" by none other than New Kids on the Block. He also makes up funny dances and teaches them to her. She always gets a kick out of this.

8. Matt. Ever since our Hilton Head vacation, Rowan has been obsessed with Matt. She really didn't spend a lot of time with him while we were there, but since getting back (in October!) she has been obsessed. She loves to have me draw family pictures on her magnetic board. These pictures always include Mommy, Daddy, Rowan and Matt. Every day when she gets up I tell her Daddy is at work and she says "Matt work, too."
I think Lance is getting a little jealous...

9. Meat. Rowan is our little vegetarian. Anytime even a miniscule piece of meat enters her mouth, she will fish it out, hand it to me and say "No meat! No meat, Mommy!" (I did, however, get her to eat some really yummy fish with us tonight--and she liked it!)

There are so many silly, random things that Rowan does. Some make me laugh, some make me want to pull my hair out, but it's always fun to see her reactions to new things and to try to imagine the world the way she sees it.