Nice Mushroom!

A few funny things Rowan has said recently:

This morning, after three days of not shaving, Lance asked Rowan what was on his face. She said "It's a mushroom, Daddy."

Tonight, while I was wearing my white bathrobe: "Mommy, you're married already? You're wearing your wedding dress?"

Today, while taking Harley to the vet: "Will Harley's doctor give her a kiss and a band-aid?"

In the car on Saturday, after we tried to go to the end of The Pull (which didn't work out so well since it ended in 67 minutes instead of 3 hours): "Are we at the pool yet? Where's the pool? Can we go to the pool now?"

When she swings from her hook-on high chair: "I'm just doing some aerobics, Mommy."

When I ask her why she is taking off all of her clothes, which is occurring several times daily: "I'm just getting a little bit naked, Mom."

When she wants to do something with Tate that he can't do yet (play Ring Around the Rosie, eat pumpkin seeds, have a race): "Tate can do it when he gets bigger. He's getting bigger and bigger every day."

It's so funny to hear her vision of the world. She is growing up so quickly and has her own ideas of what she wants to do, what she wants to wear, how she wants her hair. She's all about hot pink, loves playing outside, going to the park, playing with (and eating) sidewalk chalk and is still quite a mommy's girl.

The End of the Roll

I guess it was bound to happen. The weather has been gorgeous, we've been really busy and somehow, last night, we finished the most recent roll of duct tape. So, after a morning at Hope's psychology department so a developmental psych class could observe the Rowan and Tate and the rest of the morning and lunch spent at the beach, I came home and tried to make do with scotch tape during Rowan's nap. But, Rowan, always the wild one, easily tore off the 6 layers of tape, threw her diaper over the side of the bed, pooped on the floor and finger painted with it. And there was a lot of it. Imagine it. Then imagine it much worse. That's what I was greeted with. Poop all over the walls, carpet and fabric headboard (which I am now realizing wasn't the brightest idea). And, of course, all over Rowan. A call to Lance at work to come home early, followed by a very, very long bath and endless cleaning and her room still stinks.

But, my rant is now done and I'll focus on the positive. I love that we walked to the park with Cooper on Monday and went to another park with Brady on Tuesday. I love that my mom and sister came over on Wednesday for dinner and ice cream. I love that it was 80 and sunny today. I love that we got to spend the day at the beach. I love that Lance took Rowan to gymnastics today and she came home and said "Mommy, we did log rolls and tuck jumps and the bear crawl" and proceeded to demonstrate each technique. And, of course, while they were at gymnastics, Tate and I went out to buy more duct tape. So, we should be good for a while.

Tate's New Moves

After weeks of trying to figure things out, Tate is finally able to get up on his hands and knees and move--albeit backward. It's still a pretty slow move, but he seems pretty proud of himself. I took some pictures, but blogger hasn't been letting me post, so I'll try to post them another time. He is pretty much as happy as could be as long as someone is paying attention to him.

We had a great weekend over here. Saturday Susan took me out for a day of shopping (where I splurged on 3 pair of jeans), hanging out in Rockford and then going to dinner at Bonefish Grill. Lance's parents came in that day and on Sunday we went to Crane's to pick an alarming amount of apples. Rowan had a blast and Tate was as content as could be in the Baby Bjorn. I think I'll be making all sorts of apple treats the next week or so. Sunday night we played at the park where Rowan loved attmepting to climb the rock wall and going across the "mushrooms" all by herself.

Today was a playdate with Cooper and Lindsay at the Outdoor Discovery Center. Lots and lots of walking outside. Maybe a bit too much. At one point I had Tate in the Baby Bjorn and was giving Rowan a piggyback ride. Then bootcamp tonight. We've been busy and have a really busy week. We're loving the slightly cooler, but still warm weather and are getting outside as much as we can.

My Little Pica

So, for as long as she's been able to feed herself, Rowan has penchant for eating. Unfortuantely her cravings are not for food. While I can sit at the dinner table practically begging her to eat something other than cheese or yogurt to no avail, she has no problem picking up random flowers, bugs, pieces of dirt and popping them right into her mouth, a special little snack. Her most recent craving, however, has been wood and paint chips from her window sill. Every morning when I hear her start to wake up, I head into her room and she is standing at the window. I give her a look and she says "Mommy, I was just looking out at the little girl." I look out the window. No little girl. "I was just looking at the trees, Mommy." But, the chunks missing from the window sill tell another story. And the paint chips on her tongue kind of blow her cover.

At first I thought it was pretty funny. But it is now getting to the point that I'm thinking she really might have pica. When I was telling stories about Rowan to some friends, an OB friend of mine said "You should really have her hemoglobin checked." So, we may just have to do it. Here's what kidshealth.com has to say about pica: "Many young kits put nonfood items in their mouths at one time or another. They're naturally curious about their environment and might, for instance, eat some dirt out of the sandbox. Kids with pica, however, go beyond this innocent exploration of their surroundings. As many as 25% to 30% of kids (and 20% of those seen in mental health clinics) have the eating disorder pica, which is characterized by persistent and compulsive cravings (lasting 1 month or longer) to eat nonfood items. People with pica frequently crave and consume nonfood items such as:

dirt
clay
paint chips
plaster
chalk
cornstarch
laundry starch
baking soda
coffee grounds
cigarette ashes
burnt match heads
cigarette butts
feces
ice
glue
hair
buttons
paper
sand
toothpaste
soap


Look for these warning signs that your child may have pica:

*repetitive consumption of nonfood items, despite efforts to restrict it, for a period of at least 1 month or longer
*the behavior is considered inappropriate for your child's age or developmental stage (older than 18 to 24 months)
*the behavior is not part of a cultural, ethnic, or religious practice"

So, on the list, she has consumed (and seems to enjoy consuming)all of these items with the exception of cigarette/match related items and the laundry starch, which she has never come into contact with.

Tate, on the other hand, is now eating baby food and loves everything we give him, though oatmeal is probably his least favorite. He gets all excited when he sees me coming with a bowl or a baby food container and is clearly upset when it's all done. Kind of like the Baby Bjorn, which I think he would hang out in all day, but he is really getting too big. He's so happy and smiley, especially early in the morning. I'll do my best to keep him away from paint chips--at least for a while.

Tate's Six Month Stats

So my little guy is already six months old. He's now a full 26.5 inches long and 18 pounds. Though that sounds enormous to me (Rowan was 18 pounds, 14 ounces at a year), it's actually about the 5oth percentile for both weight and height. The doctor said "That's just the normal amount of chub." He can sit, roll over and babble. He wants to move, but isn't quite there yet. When he cries, he sounds like he's saying "mama", though I know he's really not. Poor little thing has quite a cold, though, and has kept us up quite a bit at night crying, coughing and wanting to eat. He's getting better, so I'm hoping he'll sleep better, too!

The weather this weekend was beautiful. Lots of time at the park, doing sidewalk chalk, cheering on the Panthers and going to Carnival on the Grand where Rowan loved the bounce houses, the carousel and her first taste of cotton candy. We also found out some big news! Monica, Robert, Hope and Grace are moving to Chicago! We're so ezcited to have them close by. Though I am now wishing we had just bought the really big house we originally thought we wanted. Not sure how everyone will fit over here!

If only I had packed my videocamera...

I could have recorded the scene in my mom's kitchen tonight--Tate laughing uncontrollably at Michelle's ghetto fabulous, completely inappropriate dance moves. Hysterical.

Fleeting Moments

So, I haven't really been inspired to write lately. Not because nothing has been going on--maybe the opposite, really. By the time I fall into bed at night, I just want to read myself to sleep. So, the laptop has been collecting dust under the bed. This past week, though, Tate reached a few big milestones and I can't imagine not recording them.

Tate is now a full six months old. I can't believe it. He is getting so big so quickly. Just this morning I was in his room trying to reorganize his drawers with clothes that still fit and I realized that the majority of the clothes were too small and are now being replaced with 6-9 or even 6-12 month clothes. It's a little sad putting away those tiny little outfits and realizing that my little baby isn't so little anymore. As Rowan says "He's getting bigger and bigger every day".

This past week Tate got his first teeth, of course choosing to do so while Lance is out of town. The empty space in the bottom front of his mouth is now filled with two little pearly stumps. They're still not really visible when he smiles, so I get to soak in the gummy grin a bit longer. Tate's favorite activities are watching his sister, playing with toys, rolling over and over and over, "standing" while being held and dancing in the mirror. He also still loves to be carried in the Baby Bjorn, but as he's nearing 20 pounds, I'm not sure my back can take it much longer. I have no idea what I'm going to do them. Tate is also becoming a bit of a mama's boy. I used to be able to hand him off to a stranger without any problems, but this Sunday, I was paged in church to come get him and today he cried every time Lindsay tried to hold him for me. So, I'm trying to enjoy the fleeting moments of cuddle time with my little guy. I can already tell he's going to be busy like his sister wiith time to cuddle only if he's very sick or very tired.

Rowan has lately decided that she can only sleep with her light on. As soon as she's all tucked in and I close the door to her room, she hops out of bed and turns on her light. Tonight I didn't even bother turning it off. She's also either skipping her nap and falling right asleep at night or napping and staying in her room at night, talking to herself, her stuffed animals or me, through the monitor, until around 11. I'm hoping it's just a phase and she'll go back to napping and falling asleep at a normal time. Fortunately the silver belt is still working like a charm.

Today at our playdate with Cooper, Rowan and Cooper drove the Power Wheel around. Rowan, having never been on a Power Wheel, got quite a kick out of using the gas pedal, but clearly had no idea what the steering wheel was for. She ran into pretty much everything in their backyard and Cooper refused to be the passenger while she was driving. He got her back later, though, by running over her foot. I was crying I was laughing so hard. It's so Rowan, though, to just hit the ground running with no idea what's in front of her.

Yesterday baby Maya was born, so today I went through all of Rowan's baby clothes and packed them up to take to Andrea and David. A sea of pink with lots of flowers and an occasional duck. Unlike Tate, Rowan, who was so tiny and grew so slowly, seemed like she wore those clothes forever before moving into the next size. But here she is, two years old, growing up before my eyes. And her little brother following closely behind.