Rowan is FIVE (and a half- I started this in August) I can’t really process the memories of my tiny baby boy with the long, lean little boy that he is now. How can they change so much and still be so much the same too? Rowan is an angel child a lot of the time. He’s obedient, helpful, honest, sweet, sincere and happy. It makes me a little sad to read the since he's changed a bit since I started. He's going through a rough patch where he is more defiant, angry and unhappy. He struggles to fall asleep sometimes at night. He's really good about staying in his bed, but Ill find him awake up there an hour or more after we put him down. He’s always had a temper. I remember tiny 7-week old Rowan pulling his head away from me with a tiny vein bulging from his forehead because he didn’t want to nurse. I remember him eating solids for the first time and popping out of his bumbo growling that it was gone. He started preschool this week and had a bit of a rough start with his temper, but he’s done so much better the past few days of school. He really seems to love going and tells me all about recess, snack and the toys he got to play with. He’ll tell anyone who he meets his birthday, how to spell his name and his siblings and their birthdays and what street we live on and city we live in. Haha it's good he knows it, but WHOA on the information to strangers kid. He’s such a funny kid because he has a little social anxiety in big groups, but going someplace he’s used to will mean he goes and talks to random strangers without hesitation. He tends to seek out adults to chat with more than kids, but he does play really well with kids too.
Rowan asks for the same thing for breakfast every morning, chocolate chip oats with half an apple. He usually gets about 5-7 chocolate chips in his oats and that’s enough to sway him to eat a whole bowl. He really loves having his routine be the exact same. Rowan is so good at getting ready by himself, but it takes a lot of prompting to keep him focused. Row is a chatterbox and likes to give long rundowns of switch games or detailed descriptions of pretty much anything which again, makes the whole process of literally anything he needs to be doing extra long. He hates being late places, but we cannot manage to get anywhere on time ever.
Rowan adores his brother and sister. He loves to talk with Rocky and sing made up songs to him. A constant original hit by Row is “I’ll love you Rodrick forever because you’re so cute! I’ll love you even when you’re a grown up!” He and Lyra certainly have sibling squabbles, but they tend to get along most of the time. If I can keep Rowan distracted from "being bored" (aka just don't talk to him for five minutes), he and Lyra will go off and play for hours. They do a lot of make-believe and role play. Rowan likes to make up elaborate games that no one knows how to play and he’ll get so frustrated with Lyra when she can’t figure out his list of 100 complicated rules of how to win. They still do a lot of rough and tumble games and Row is mostly mindful of how gentle to be with her. When he does get mad at her, I know he’s going to try and hurt her when he sings this frantic tune. It’s always the same rhythm and he usually tried to squeeze her really tight. It makes me so upset, but he’s getting better at getting a grown up to help when Lyra inevitably takes his toys or does something to get him to that point.
He's incredibly selfless and thoughtful. He lost his first tooth the other day!(this is a pretty dated post) He had killed one of his front teeth falling on our stairs not long after we moved here. He called it his golden tooth and it didn't really bother him, but we were supposed to keep an eye on it to make sure it didn't develop an abecess. I feel so lucky he got to keep his tooth as long as he did because he isn't too far ahead of his peers in losing a tooth. He was really brave going in for the extraction and told the dentist the shot felt like when he eats pineapple. The tooth fairy came and he immediately felt sad the next morning upon finding a dollar. "Mom! How will I be able to buy a candy cane for Lyra and me with one dollar?" He is so quick to share and be good. It's what makes me most sad about his rage fits. People who don't see him normally only get this tiny snapshot of his wild behavior and assume he isn't the tender-hearted little boy he actually is. He can rage for hours and it's pretty overwhelming to handle. It's sadly getting worse and not better lately.
Rowan is growing quickly in his physical skills. He's always had a pretty good handle on his body, but he loves a good challenge especially if it involves using his body. He loves competition and beating himself or others. He's a really good sport too. He doesn't rub it in faces if he wins, but he does loose his cool if he was trying really hard to win. One sad/funny thing happened the other day when we were playing Mario Party for FHE. Mike creamed us all and Rowan thought the character Mike was playing was his. Row cheered at the end and then realized he had lost and erupted into tears. He ran from the room and when Set when to talk to him, Row said through sobs "I thought I was doing so good, dad" Poor kid. Hopefully, we can help curb his perfectionistic personality a little and channel it to help him succeed.
I decided to pull Rowan from his preschool last month. It was a wonderful school and he loved his teachers, but our mornings consisted of me rushing tired, hungry kids out the door and lots of shouting and fighting. We also were supposed to do a lot of traveling over the next few months. I just didn't feel like we were living our best life and it was something we could cut out for now. We started doing "homeschool" and I love it so much. It makes my parenting feel so intentional and I just love the time we spend together for the lessons. Rowan is doing AMAZING at reading and math. It's truly like magic watching him learn these things and progress. We've been using the 100 Lessons book and Rowan is on lesson 76 as of this week. I can't wait for him to dive even deeper and be able to start reading recreationally. I already know he's going to love it so much! And wow! His math skills always leave me impressed. The other day we were practicing problems in the car and he said mom "2+2+8=12, right?" I know it seems simple, but being able to do that at his age is awesome. I think math might end up being his favorite subject based on his personality.
The other day at the store, Rowan asked for a candy bar. I told him we didn't have enough money for it, to which he replied "Mom, I think it's time we get rich" Amen, kid. He also obsessively says "I love you mom or dad" over and over throughout the day. I think he does it most when he's stressed about us being upset with him. It is a good defusing method, but it's funny too because he says it so often that I don't even think he knows he's even talking. When we were driving the other day he said "I love you mom!: and I replied "I love you too buddy!" to which he replied, "What did you say mom?" I told him I was just telling him I loved him back and he said "Oh, I didn't know I was talking out loud" hahaha. Such a chatterbox
Even with his tantrums, freak-outs, yelling, kicking and raging, he's a really good kid. I love him so very much. I'm grateful for how helpful, thoughtful and sweet he is. He talks often about wanting to marry me which always makes me laugh. He actually started crying the other day saying "I just have to marry you mommy because you're just so pretty and I already love you so much" I sometimes do a ten-finger thank you list to them at bedtime and Lyra and Row both sweetly want to return the thank-you's. This was Rowan's to me the other day
"Thank you for making me food, thank you for having pretty hair, thank you for having a pretty face, thank you for being nice to me, thank you for not yelling at me today too much, thank you for letting me eat dessert, thank you for letting me have screen time. thank you for being nice to look at, thank you for being beautiful, thank you for being pretty" He loves me for my personality clearly. Haha, nothing like a tender five-year-old to make you realize how loved you are. I love Rowboat
Rowan has told me a few times he wants loads more siblings. Six total babies at minimum. He just loves them so much. When I asked Lyra if she wanted anymore siblings, she asked if we could sell Rocky. hahahah so that's a hard no from her.
