Rowan Turns One

My sweet baby is officially a toddler! I thought I would be really nostalgic and weepy, but I've found myself incredibly happy instead. I read over my monthly posts about Row and was so proud of all he has accomplished this last year. He has grown from this precious little 9 lb infant to a sweet, busy, and brilliant 23 lb kiddo. I feel like Rowan has grown at an exceptionally fast pace. He was a fairly big baby who was incredibly aware and interactive, then he kept up his exponential growth those first few months. I feel like I have a 16 month old as opposed to a one-year-old and I honestly wouldn't have it any other way.
I can't even begin to describe how grateful I am for Rowan. The other night I was nursing him before bed and realized everything I've ever hoped for, wanted, and dreamed of fit snuggly on my lap. My whole life, heart and soul embodied in an angelic little human. He defines perfection. 

Let's talk about Rowboat. This month Row has leveled up from being pretty sharp, to full-on genius. He understands so much! He learns at a frightening rate and his memory is razor sharp. I know most one-year-old's have a short attention span, but this kid can focus. This last month he went from knowing a few signs to almost 40. When I started recording the signs he knows last week, there were only 25. He adores being able to communicate with us. It honestly scares me a little how quickly he is learning. I feel a bit unequipped to teach him. I just keep feeling like I am not quite bright enough to keep up with him. I've decided to up my game on educating myself and have given up Netflix in favor of frequent library visits. Waiit, sorry getting sidetracked and talking about Rowan's understudy instead of the true star. 

Here are a list of his current signs: FAN (this is his all-time fav for life sign. Whenever we FaceTime his grandparents, all he does is sign for them to show him their fan. Is there a profession out there as a fan expert? If not, he'll likely invent a Ph.D in Fan Studies),
light, dog, cat, cracker, bean, go, car, outside, milk, drink, banana, leaf, wash hands, potty, tree, sun, bird, ball, crocodile, fish, hat/hot (he gets confused on this one and uses them interchangeably), on, baby, swing, no, socks, shoes, yes, prayer, thank you (this one is adorable! The sign for thank you sort of looks like blowing a kiss so Rowan always blows a kiss when I ask him to say thank you) , slide, grass, rain, open, magic (he just learned this one over the past 24 hours and it's hilarious. Sel started popping some of his birthday balloons with a thumbtack and Rowan was transfixed. I practiced more with him today and he couldn't get enough of it), ball, more, grapes, train, food, feelings (this one I didn't even teach him. He picked it up from baby signing time and started doing it when I was reading him a book that talked about feelings), again, please

Rowan has also started to fold his arms anytime he sits down to eat food. The other day I was at feeding him and he just stopped and expectantly folded his arms for a prayer! I had totally spaced doing one and my ever good little guy reminded me. 

This month Rowan has learned to throw his diapers in the trash! Yeah! He also has learned to throw toys, binkies, whole bananas, and my sister's cell phone in there too. 

I know most think their child is the sweetest thing on the plant, but Rowan truly is. He just LOVES people. He loves giving hugs and kisses to other kids and most kids sort of hate it. It breaks my little mom heart to see how much he wants to just share the love and how often he gets the cold shoulder. He is just so interested in playing with other kids. I've noticed the younger crowd (5 and under) seems very confused by his excitement to play with them. The biggest problem right now is how interested in he is in what another kid is doing. If another child wants to play with a car while Row is playing with a ball, Rowan will decide he wants to play with the car. Once the older child decides to move on to the ball now that Rowan is all over he/she, Rowan decides he wants to play with the ball again. I think he hasn't figured out just yet how to joint play, but he really, really wants to. 

Rowan has always been affectionate, but he hasn't even been overly snuggly. I had resigned myself to being satisfied with his brief hugs and kisses, but now I have a kid who not only submits to my demands for cuddling, but he demands it from me! Now that it is his choice when to come to me instead of being forced by a previous lack of mobility, he actually seems to enjoy snuggling up on my lap. Dad is still his favorite playmate, but he is certainly securely attached to me. When he is tired or hurt, I am his comfort object. 

Row has slowed down on growth.  He still likes food, but pretty much only snacks here and there. The things he does really love right now are grapes, green smoothies, plums, watermelon, noodles, and wheat balls(delish vegan recipie). I was concerned about his slowing, but the doc said it was normal. He only gained one pound since his 9 month (23 lbs) and one inch (30.5) which dropped him to the 75% for both. He only has two little bottom teeth which again is supposedly normal. My final question for the pediatrician became all too easy to ask when Row ran across the room and started banging his head against the wall. The head banging happens at least weekly. Guess he is normal there too. The thing he wasn't normal on was how interactive and bright! The doctor gave him a book with baby faces on it and he started signing baby! She noted his cognitive and retention abilities seem spot on. I am sure she says that to everyone about their kid, but I am chosing to believe she was sincere. Mom pride. 

I have to share one hilarious story that happened today. I was trying to unpack from visiting my parents and heard Rowan go into the bathroom. He has become incredibly interested in "the potty". He keeps throwing things in there and loves to shut the lid anytime it is open. I used my authoritative mom voice to ask what he was doing and started to make my way to the bathroom. All of a sudden, Row runs (actually runs-not just toddles about) out of the bathroom with an absolutely terrified look on his face and adorning this season's most fashionable toilet paper scarf. I bent down to scoop him up, but he arched away from me then belly flopped between my legs. He started scampering away like some wounded forest animal. He obviously knew he had done something I was not going to approve of from the look on his face and petrified running from me. I lifted the toilet lid to find a bunch of pictures I'd printed off for his birthday in there. It could have been worse, but his reaction couldn't have been better. 

Finally, what did we do to celebrate this little dude? My sister flew all the way from Utah to celebrate with us. Now that is an aunt who loves her nephew. She helped me fill the crib with balloons when he  woke up at 5:30am then we watched him play around in his new car from Grams Warden. He went back to bed  then woke up to his G and G King and two great aunties arriving to wish him happy birthday. All of his birthday wishers had to sacrifice a lot to come! His aunties drove seven hours through brutal traffic plus got a hotel room for the night, my parents are in the process of moving and my dad was absolutely exhausted, and my mom was days from having knee surgery.  Rowan immediately decided he would like to open presents when his adoring fans arrived. Holy moly this kid is one loved little guy! He is so blessed with so many people who love him. We then rented some rowboats at a nearby lake. My Rowboat hated it. The life jackets were uncomfortable for him and made it hard To see. He liked the water though so it wasn't a complete parenting fail. We also dined at Row's fav establishment that evening. His Asian BFF And him have such a cute connection. She gave him some tasty treats for free and held him for part of the meal. He was sadly exhausted by cake time. He only ate it to show his gratitude to me for making him a "plant-based" cake until the wee hours of the night on his birthday eve. I got uncharisticstivslly crafty for his big day by making his bow tie, banners, and food decorations. I felt kinda ridiculous, but I blame the King gene for that one.

I am so grateful to be this sweet, loving, beautiful little boy's mom. He is my pride and joy. He's the gift that doesn't stop giving. He's perfect in absolutely everyway imaginable.

Row's new car from his G&G Warden

The ballon crib explosion of 2015

A giant one of his pics. These are the some of the ones he plucked off and stored in the porcelain treasure chest. 

Look at that smiley guy!

I also made his ONEsie. I just ironed on some letters and had him put his painted hands on the back - so extraordinarily  gifted am I. 

Row's fav food 

More of Row's faces

Obviously Row hearts Rowing. 

LIke so much

The three people who ALL miraculously survived the last 365 days 

Daze of Rowan

I don't know if I am just overly nosey or healthily curious, but I am always wondering what is going on in people's day-to-day lives that you don't see or read about. I mean, I mostly know what my parents do everyday and Sel, but I also miss big parts of their life. Especially since Sel is pretty brief in his recount of the day and I am always getting tangled up in telling him way too many details from mine. Well since I am sure evvvveryone is wondering about every tiny detail in my life, here is an incredibly interesting and detailed documentation of a day in the Warden household.

5:45am - I hear Rowan crying on the monitor and will him with my mom psychic powers to go back to sleep. Sel's alarm will be going off in ten minutes and I know there is nothing worse than being woken up a few minutes before your alarm.

5:48 - I sigh and get out of bed. Rowan is jumping up and down in his crib saying Momma! Momma! over and over. I can't help but smile and relish the adoration of my numero uno fan. 

I sit down to nurse him. Mid-nurse he signs that he wants a cracker. I am almost 100% certain he does not actually want a cracker, but thinks that is his ticket to play downstairs instead of going back to bed. 

6:00- We stumble downstairs to eat a breakfast of crackers. Rowan grabs the cracker I hand him, then lunges into the living room. He plays with some toys for a minute while finishing his cracker. He glances over at me and I can tell he knows I am about to take him back upstairs to bed. He furiously signs that he wants to watch Baby Signing Time knowing again how to avoid bed a little bit longer. 

6:10 - I have given up hope of getting quickly back to bed and decide to make Sel breakfast like the bomb awesome wife that I am. I pour him a bowl of cereal and cut up some bananas and strawberries to put on top. I put a carton of cashew milk next to it and admire what an fantastic cook I am. Thank goodness Sel has a part-time chef, full-time model for a wife. 

6:15 I go back into the living room and Rowan wants to sit in my lap while we watch the rest of Baby Signing Time. He lounges comfortably there and pats my arm. He then reaches up to pull my head down to rest on his head. I happily submit to the morning cuddling demands. 

6:45 Sel leaves for the hospital to show off his Internal Medicine skills and I take the sleepy boy in my arms back up to his crib. He lays down happily in his crib which never fails to amaze me these days. I debate whether to run on the treadmill or go back to bed. The idea of putting on a sports bra tires me out and I decide bed it is. 

8:45 I wake up feeling like a Disney princess. I excitedly realize I can brush my teeth and go to the bathroom without Rowan wanting to assist me in my morning routine! Right as I reach for my toothbrush, I hear him yell MOM from his room. Thank goodness I didn't have high aspirations of a shower on my dream list. I go in his room and he throws a binky at me. I let him nurse again, but he rolls off my lap and takes off for the door. His favorite thing to do lately is watch the blood drain out of my face as he tries to walk down our stairs. I grab him and pin him down to take of his PJ's and diaper. Once both are off, he wrestles free and runs to the door. He starts banging on it as if I am a monster in a horror film about to eat him. I take him downstairs naked hoping he will be more compliant down there. He isn't. He zooms around naked throwing our assortment of balls. I pin him down again while he whines and wriggles hysterically. Once he has a diaper and clothes on, he signs that he wants to go outside. It rained last night so there are hundreds of puddles for Rowan to jump in. We splash around in them until Rowan tries to drink the water like the African baby from Babies. 

9:15 We go back inside. Rowan is now soaked and needs a new outfit. He signs that he wants to wash his hands. He sits on his perch in the sink playing with the soap while I scrub his hands and feet. 

9:30 I notice I have a voicemail. It's from an angel woman at Sam's who found Sel's wallet in a puddle. I look at the newly dressed baby who is most assuredly the wallet dropping culprit. I have to make a few phone calls regarding girls camp, but Rowan keeps signing that he wants me to swing him in the infant carseat. I momentarily regret teaching him sign language. I try to write on a sticky pad all the things the director is telling me while simultaneously swinging Rowan around. 

10:00 We head to Sam's club to retrieve the wallet. I let Rowan run rampant down all the aisles. I remember we are out of sugar and grab a 10 lb bag. Row is insistent that I let him hold it. He grunts while he tries to lift essentially half his body weight. An elderly man with a cowboy hat stops to watch Row. As soon as he realizes he has an audience, Rowan scrunches one shoulder up to his cheek and smiles. He then doubles his efforts to pick up the sugar. As soon a the man walks away, Rowan beelines it for a toddler walking behind her mom. Rowan walks excitedly up to the girl and wraps his arms around her while the toddler exclaims that there is "A BABY!". 

11:00 We head home after an hour of cruising around Sam's. We play ball for a little bit when we get home. Rowan signs food-which means watermelon in this household. I try to get him to sit in his seat, but he won't bend his legs. I take the tray off his highchair to better get him in there. He throws an epic tantrum. I have a genius moment and lower the highchair to the level of our table. Rowan relaxes and sits happily at the table. Once he has apparently reached a level of satiety, he begins throwing his food on the floor. I tell him no and he makes what I am guessing is an imitation of my serious face and shakes his head back and forth. I give him a small piece of banana which he immediately throws on the floor. I sternly say no and tell him he doesn't get anymore food. He erupts in tears. Time for a nap.

11:45 - Rowan goes down easy. I debate whether to do something productive like the dishes, exercise, fold laundry or to sit on the couch eating ginger carrot soup leftover and reading my book. I compromise with myself to do the dishes then read while walking on the treadmill.

12:45 - I hope off of the treadmill and swear I am going to go upstairs and shower in just one second. I just need to check my email.

1:15 - Somehow 30 minutes have vanished from my life while looking at my dumb phone. Rowan is babbling happily over the monitor. Looks like I will be trying to shower with an extremely mobile baby. Rowan and I get in the shower and I try to figure out how to block him from getting my shampoo in his eyes. Bubbles from my shampoo pile up by the drain that Rowan is sitting on. He eats a giant handful while I try to stop him. I rinse his hands and hand him a toy. He dips his face in the water and eats another bunch of bubbles. I give up and let him have at it. Bubbles for lunch.

1:30 - Rowan helps me brush my hair (whacks me in the head with the brush). I throw on some clothes then hold up two options of clothes for Rowan to pick from. He laughs and grabs them both then throws them away from him. Nudity is his preferred outfit. He signs that he wants to go outside. I slap a diaper on him and we head out to jump in more puddles.

3:00 - We somehow manage to spend 90 minutes happily playing in puddles and our miniature baby playground. While playing in puddles, a lady shoots me a dirty look when Rowan rips off his diaper and sits on the sidewalk naked. I contemplate taking off my pants knowing she is obviously disapproving of the fact that I am not also naked. Instead, I wave and she scowls back while mumbling something under her breath. Parenting for the win over here.

3:00 Rowan is on outfit two of the day now. I feel kind of sick and then remember I squandered my time to eat lunch. We go into the kitchen where Rowan keeps signing cracker while holding a cracker in each hand. Row and I share a bowl of carrot soup. He tries to steal my spoon and then drop it on the floor. I curse our landlord for putting in disgusting carpet in a kitchen. But seriously, what were you thinking?!

3:20 - I realize I need to find some manuals for girls camp. We head to the church to pick them up. As soon as we walk in, Rowan smells a basketball. He honestly doesn't even go in the gym that much when we are at church, but he knows exactly where the basketballs are kept. He squishes his face against the glass and says "ba! ba!" over and over until I relent. We go in the gym and pass the basketball back and forth. He then decides he wants to shoot. For the first time in his impressive basketball career, he bends his knees and bounces while shooting. It's so adorable I can hardly handle it. He zooms up and down the court dropping the ball then chasing it. I wonder what my life will be like attending hundreds of little league basketball games. I lift him up to grab the net and we do it over and over until I feel like my guns have been sufficiently polished. I lay on the gym floor and Rowan dog piles me. He honks my nose a few times then tries to poke my belly button.

4:20 - I decide I really ought to get the manuals we came here for. Rowan cries when I try to take him out of the gym. I take a brief survey of safety hazards and decide the numbers look pretty good for me to run to the Young Women's room while letting him play in the gym. I barely make it out the door when he cries and calls after me. We go to the cabinet together and start rifling through it. While I am occupied with finding manuals, I hear Rowan playing with a new trashbag liner. I continue to do my thing. A few moments pass without the bag making rustling noises. I turn around to see Rowan licking a piece of chewed up gum. Horrified, I rip it out of his hand and we book it for the bathroom. He happily lets me splash water in his mouth and hands.

5:00 - We have now been at the church for 90 minutes when my plan was maybe 9 minutes. Sel calls to let us know he got off early! Yippee! Nothing like having a husband who comes home before 11:00pm! Sel shows up to the church looking studly in his required button up and tie. I happily applaud whomever thought doctors ought to dress nicely while dealing with vomit, blood, and urine. At least I am winning here. Rowan seems exhausted after b-ball jr practice so we head home.

5:30 - Rowan is down for a nap and I start chopping veggies for dinner. Tonight's special is Dirty Mike's Casserole - a throwback to our young married college days together. Broccoli, spinach, onions, peppers, noodles, a box of red roasted pepper soup, and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast. I pop it in the over and walk into the living room to discover Sel is also taking a brief nap on the couch. I sit down to read my book for a bit.

6:30 - Rowan wakes up just as the casserole is done. Perfect timing little one. All three of us sit down for dinner which still sort of feels like a miracle post-step studying. I savor the moment of my little family happily eating together. We say a prayer and dig in.

6:45 - Rowan does pretty awesome eating some of the casserole. Much better than he has done lately with baby food. He signs for a cracker again. We discover due to Rowan's culinary genius that the casserole tastes mega good with crushed up crackers on top. Thanks dude. Rowan then starts throwing food on the floor and reaching for me. He sits on my lap while I spoon the last few bites in my mouth.

7:00 - Sel heads to the living room to study and Row and I head out for a walk. We see four dogs on our walk. Rowan's favorite sign of all time (other than cracker) is dog. He excitedly pets all of them and slaps his leg over and over. We almost make it back to our house before he causes internal bleeding from straining to get out. I pull him out and let him walk. Instead of walking forward, he heads toward a pile of sticks. We play with the sticks for a bit. He spots a pile of dog poop and heads toward that charming brown tower. I grab him and try to start walking back to our house while pushing the stroller and carrying my wriggling baby. I fail. We stop again a few feet away and play with the leaves and grass. I pull out my big guns and tempt Rowan back into the stroller with a binky I was hiding in my pocket.

8:15 - We arrive home and Sel is concluding his last case study. I take Rowan upstairs for bath time. I can't figure out why there are so many bubbles while the water is running. I reach for his baby wash only to realize Rowan has somehow poured the entire container into the bath. My potential annoyance is dashed away by how happy he is playing in the bubbles. This is essentially his first bubble bath. Once he switches from eating handfuls of bubbles to drinking cups of it, I cut him off.

8:45 - We play our new game of passing mom the binky while I try to get him in his diaper and pjs without a full on meltdown. He giggles and I realize I somehow birthed the most incredible, adorable and sweetest baby to ever live. We say prayers. Our at least I do while Rowan tries to pull my shirt down over and over. He feverishly signs milk while I peek at him through my closed eyes. He nurses and slips happily into his crib.

9:15 - I come downstairs and offer to make Sel a watermelon slushy (frozen watermelon, lime, and coconut milk - totally life changer) hoping it will impress the pants off of him. It takes way longer than I expect because the watermelon chunks are really frozen.

9:40 Finally, we start our "companionship study" of Preach My Gospel. My new favorite part of our time together - which has been pretty sparse lately.

10:00 - Sel says he is going to play one game of League of Legends. I go to do the dishes and watch Dr. Who while cleaning up the kitchen. Once done, I decide to get a start on our cow costumes for Chick-Fil-A free meal day. I watch an interview on the Glen Beck Show of Stephanie Nielson (author of Heaven is Here). I try to get over how much I dislike him and focus on how much I like her.

11:00 Sel says he is heading up to bed. I say I am going to fold laundry then be right up. I look at the three piles of laundry waiting to be folded and vow to do it tomorrow. While getting ready for bed, I notice Sel has sweetly taken my glasses from my bedside table and put them in the bathroom for me. I stumble around our room anyway trying to plug in my phone and Rowan's monitor. After I am positive I have disrupted Sel to the max, I crawl into bed. He grabs my hand when I get under the covers and I let sleep wash over me.

I know. I know that was probably incredibly boring to read. It certainly wasn't boring to live it though. Luckiest girl in the world right here. 

A Post About Boobs

I haven't written about breastfeeding here because I feel like the electronic world has more than addressed this topic. I felt most were already waving the pro-breastfeeding flag with enough gusto that my tiny voice wouldn't add much. 

Today I am all fired up about breastfeeding and want to loudly proclaim my thoughts on the matter. I will not apologize for anything I say in this because boobs, breasts, and nipples are all TOTALLY normal things that we should be able to talk about. It turns out 100% of the population has nipples. I hope that doesn't shock you the way it does some.  

I was grew up associating breasts with sex. When I started to get breasts a bit ahead of my classmates (sixth grade), I began to feel uncomfortable by the attention that was paid them. Cue my life-long habit of slouching to hide the biological indicators that I was a female. I then started to realize how female celebrities seemed to be revered for showing off their boobs instead of shamed. People liked that they gave the world a pretty good peep at their chest. In fact, the more a dress on the red carpet revealed, the more attention they got. Below are two pics I found when I googled "classy celebrity cleavage". 

These dresses would be so incredibly easy to breasted in! 

By high school, I had learned to embrace my good fortune of having a fairly decent pair of breasts. I liked that guys seemed to like them. They were useful and I would be a liar if I denied that I didn't mind their occasional usefulness. 

Flash forward to my current status as a breastfeeding mom. Within seconds of him being born, Rowan latched perfectly and had his first meal outside of the womb. I smiled with relief that obviously breastfeeding wasn't going to be a problem for us. Wrong. I was so wrong! Around six weeks, I developed a horrifically painful tear in my left breast. Every time Rowan would latch, I would curl my toes in pain and the top of Rowan's head would become damp with tears. I began to pump on that side and nurse Row on the other until everything healed up. During this time, Rowan started to prefer the latex texture to the texture of my skin. He began to arch away from me every time I would try and have him latch. He would scream, push, cry and make every effort to avoid breastfeeding. In my desperation, I would quickly cave and give him a bottle of expressed breast milk. This made nursing under a cover in public pretty much impossible. Since I am endowed with a healthy sized chest, I usually had (have) to help Rowan a bit with keeping everything together. Breastfeeding is mostly an all hands on deck experience for us. I would sometimes go in bathrooms at restaurants or stores and bawl my eyes out while trying to get my hungry baby to just eat already! More than once, I had it suggested that I give in to his wishes for a bottle experience. Besides, the health benefits came from the milk itself, not necessarily the instrument for delivering it to the baby. Right? 

Want to know something about pumping? It's a freaking pain. You are immobilized for 20 minute stretches multiple times a day. You then have to clean the flanges after every pumping session. You then have to worry about what temperature the milk is when you finally give it to your baby. Your baby will also have to fend for himself while you are pumping because even though you got the pumping bra that's supposed to allow you freedom to apparently take conference calls while pumping, it won't really work for you. Rowan preferred his bottles to be warmed in hot water for at least 5-10 minutes before eating them. If I took a bottle out and about with us, I had to carry a little cooler thing to keep it from spoiling. I then had to find somewhere in public where the water would get hot enough for me to reach his acceptable eating requirements. It was such a process and one my exhausted, worn new-mom self could hardly handle. I cried a whole bunch during those days. I was constantly anxious about where I was going to be able to hide away to breastfeed my "difficult" eater. 

The happy ending to our breastfeeding story is that we pushed through it. I cut out bottles and pumping and we got back to easy, wonderful breastfeeding. It's a piece of cake now and I love being able to feed Row wherever, whenever. 

Now here are some thoughts on breastfeeding in general. I still feel like I hear the strangest words associated with something so incredibly natural. Gross and weird are probably the most common. I know I certainly used those in my pre-baby days. I also thought it was sick when moms would breastfeed past a year. I mean, ewww. 

Here in lies the problem with our society's ideas on breasts. Breasts are sexual organs to us. If a baby is using them to eat, they are eating off of a sexual organ. With the idea that breasts are sexual organs, it makes breastfeeding seem borderline disturbing. They are taking something that should be saved for the bedroom and using it in public for something as unseemly as food. 

If you check out my pics above of JLo and Gwenth, you essentially see their entire boob except nipple. When Janet Jackson's nipple popped out at the memorable super bowl, we were aghast and appalled. Seeing nipples right now is something that one is only privy to private relationships or while viewing pornography.  If you see a woman breastfeeding in public and accidentally see her nipple, you essentially just saw a bit of pornography. 

Obviously the woman breastfeeding is creating an inappropriate pornographic environment for everyone around her. I mean, it really couldn't be that pornography is the inappropriate thing needing to be eliminated from our society. 

Here you see a celebrity doing something wildly inappropriate. Look at how much of her boobs you can see here! I mean, it's so much more than JLo or Gwenth. Wait, actually, now that you point it out, it might actually be a lot less. That's so wrong though! There is a baby blocking our view of her boobs! Would someone please give this woman a classy plunging neckline so we can see tasteful sideboob?!

In discussing breastfeeding in public with my sister-in-law, she made an extremely valid point. Our society is obsessed right now with the idea of healthy eating. We will spend that extra dollar for something organic from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. We talk about kale as if it is this holy manna reserved for those who want to become almost immortal through their unbelievably healthy, "clean" eating. 

Yet, there are still some who are grossed or weirded out about breast milk. The most organic, natural food ever created. I didn't even have to set foot in Trader Joe's to get Rowan his "white smoothie" packed full of protein, minerals, and immunity boosting powder.  Also, how are we not grossed out by cow's milk? You are drinking the breast milk of a farm animal and you are a human. It's totally not gross to give our one-year plus babies cows milk, but it's weird to still give them human milk. Makes sense to me (not). 

I am going to close this one up with some final thoughts. If it weren't for those voices of encouragement coming from family, friends or the rallying pro-breastfeeders online, I don't think I would have made it this far nursing Rowan. Hearing other people talk about boobs with a purpose other than turning someone on was regrettably novel to me. There needs to be a greater push to see breasts for the things they are biologically, not just culturally intended for. 

11:11 Make a Wish

I wish Rowan could see how my heart quadruples in size when I see him walk or sign or say Mama. He makes me silly happy. I know I've said it here before, but this last month has been my favorite so far. What has happened this month to make it so awesome?

* Rowan, Grandma K and I went to visit Row's great aunts in Illinois. It was ridiculously fun and Rowan got spoiled something crazy. I thought I was a spoiled baby, but Rowan is putting baby Lauren to shame. Our family room is exploding with toys, his closet is exploding with cute outfits, and my heart is exploding with gratitude. There is something so heart warming about seeing other people love on the love of your life. 

We went to a petting zoo and Rowan only cared about one thing: pushing the stroller himself. Josie was a good sport to let him 

He is passionate about stairs. 

*
Balls. Balls. Balls. Rowan is obsesssssed with balls. The first thing we do every morning is come downstairs and play with his assortment of balls. We don't have any dolls around (cause they creep me out) but we let him play with them at the store. He likes to kiss and hug them, but he goes right back to balls as soon as he shares some sugar with those plastic demons. His ultimate favorite ball is basketball. I take him into the gym after I workout so he can watch all the basketball players. He will sit on the sidelines bouncing and chasing his ball around for about an hour (sometimes more). Row really wants to join the big boys on the court. He will toddle out to the players and wait expectantly for them to pass him the ball. Speaking of toddling…

We went to a science museum and what did we play with the whole time? Balls. 

Running at the pool with our ball

* Rowan learned to walk a few weeks ago! He went from proficiently crawling to walking in two weeks. TWO WEEKS people! Why does time go by so fast once you have a kid? I will probably wake up tomorrow at his high school graduation and wonder how I got there. 

* Cars. This is Rowan's other major obsession. We spend a lot of time pretending to drive Mom's car and crying because I won't let him play with our neighbors little red kiddie car. 

Rowan cruising with his bud. 

Cars are number one! The science museum also had this fire engine so we spent half our time playing with the balls and the other half driving the fire engine. 

* Sleeping has gotten massively better since he moved back to his room. Row was hanging in his crib in our room for the last 7 weeks so Sel could rest up real well for the blasted STEP. Row now sleeps in his room and has gone down without a single tear on those perfect porcelain cheeks for five days straight. He sleeps from 8pm-9am pretty much every night. I am about to mess this perfect sleeping schedule up by dragging him to a Girls Camp overnighter. Pray for me and my wild baby. 

* Imitating. Rowan has gotten the hang of signing and pointing to communicate this month. His faves are light, fan, milk, food and drink. He hasn't really expanded much on his signs, but he has gotten amazingly better at letting us know exactly what he wants. He loves when you imitate him be it opening your mouth, sticking out your tongue, or making a noise. 

* Momma. I have been elevated to a new level of adoration. It melts my little heart. He says Momma and Dada about the same amount now (tipped a little bit more in favor of Momma since he sees me 24-7). It does break my heart though when he cries (from his constant falling lately) and says Momamamammama over and over through his tears. He is also such a good kid. He loves to explore, but he makes sure to keep me constantly within eyesight. He will even look back at me over his shoulder when deciding whether to crawl up a flight of stairs or put so,etching in his mouth.

* he is such a sweet boy! He loves to hug and kiss other babies and even shares some love with mom and dad. I can't get enough of it. I hesitate to say he is cuddly because he typically likes to be on the move, but he certainly likes to be held and doesn't overly protest when I smother him with kisses. He also is still nursing which gives me a wonderful amount of bonding time each day.

*Nursing. I still love it! I mean, we went through a seriously rough patch from 2-4 months, but it's been pretty stellar from then on. I feel really lucky to have made it this far because I was super close to throwing in the towel when Row would arch away from me and scream like I was trying to feed him arsenic. Some people have kind of asked when I will stop and I don't have an answer for them . I hope to go as long as Rowan will let us. He also only has two teeth at this point so biting luckily hasn't been a deterrent. How awesome is it that I can feed my baby anytime, anywhere using only my body!? Super awesome. Rowan has started to grabby in public though. He will tug at my shirt when he is tired and has pulled down and up my shirt on multiple occasions.

Imitating my mouth opening

Trying to hijack my ice-cream

Playing with his Dad for the first time since January 

This is Rowan's longtime crush, Adelaide. He loves her. 

Maybe a little too much

 * Rowan is still unbelievably independent. He wants to do everything himself. He has finally gotten pretty good at feeding himself with a spoon, but usually gives up 3/4's in and dumps his bowl like this. I  try to care sometimes about the mess and then realize my life is too short to care. Laughing feels better than freaking out. Goodness knows I freak out about plenty of other things to care about messy food or peed on treadmills or sprinkles spilled all over the floor

* Diapers are this kids archnemsis. He cries every.single.time we change him. It's traumatic for us all. We play games while changing, we sing, we tickle, we play with blow-dryers and we still cry and roll away. Wrangling him down is near impossible without hurting the little tyke. SO I let him be outside naked in his pool as long as I can. I like to think it is helping, but it is probably just breeding a future of streaking. 

I love this angelic little guy. I truly am the luckiest mom around to have him. 

13 Moons

I read an article a while back about how annoying runners are and I get it. I really, really do. I also have absolutely zero athletic ability so discussing my accomplishments in soccer or ultimate frisbee or absolutely anything requiring coordination, agility or speed is never going to happen. I am a runner by default. I also am damn (pardon the French) proud of myself for being a runner cause the trajectory I was following before one fatal day in 7th grade was not a pretty one. I would likely be a much larger, less healthier version of my current self. What I am getting at, is this is probably going to be another obnoxious post to those who really don't care about running. Feel free to go be impressive elsewhere and leave me to cling to my feelings of accomplishment for doing something our ancestors had to do as basic means for survival.  

Running pre-Rowan was not too much of an effort. I had to exert a moderate amount of energy to training, but I could run 10 miles if I needed to without much prep work. I also had unlimited time it felt like to run whenever I darn well pleased. Training for my first full marathon in 2011 required dedication, but I also had much less in the way of time constraints. I really sucked at training for the two halfs I did in 2013 with my cousin. I barely followed a training plan, but I still ran at least 4 times a week. 

Training for my most recent half has been a commitment. I signed up for it hoping it would encourage my post-baby bod to "bounce back". I grossly overestimated how easy it would be to jump back into running. For starters, my pace per mile was significantly slower than my "easy" pace had been before I grew a human. You would think someone who carried a child for 42 weeks then spent 42 hours in labor would have built up a bit more endurance, but I also noticed a sharp decline in that post-Rowan. 

The training program I followed was 12 weeks (3 months) and I tried my hardest to follow it. It wasn't overly demanding which is precisely why I picked it. I am not sure how I would have been able to finish the half were it not for the childcare center at the Y and our treadmill. Bless those two holy words. I essentially have no life currently outside of running and keeping my son from getting permanent brain damage. So running has been my 30-60 minute employer endowed break to encourage productivity. It's done wonders. 

I also have to give a big thanks to my FitBit. My Fitbit pals kept me running at odd hours of the night to match their steps and you can bet I wouldn't have been lugging my tired butt onto the treadmill at 11:00pm otherwise. Also, I discovered my Fitbit underestimates my mileage by 0.06/mile. That doesn't sound significant, but it is! When I was running on this rad outdoor track at the Y, I would always add an extra loop or two to meet mileage. I had been told the track was a half mile long, but my Fitbit always registered it short and I always went off of what the sacred black band told me. This also meant that I was consistently going faster per mile than I thought! 

Which leads me to my time on the half. MY goal started out as "finish". Which then was changed to a 2:22:30. They gave me this awesome arm tattoo to keep track of my pace. GENIUS! 

The day of the race was freaking miserable. I was already thrown off with my race starting at 6:00pm instead of the typical morning race. It left me really confused on how to eat for the day. How was I supposed to avoid chocolate at my parents house allll day long? It was also incredibly hot and humid. I was mostly dreading running. My saintly mother volunteered to stay at their house and watch Rowan while my saintly dad volunteered (I say volunteer when I really should be saying was coerced) to take me to my race. When my dad and I arrived at the race, a GIANT thunderstorm started five minutes before 6:00pm. They postponed the race 30 minutes and a very small part of me considered running back to my parents house and telling everyone I ran an incredible half. WHo would know, right? I am already starting to get bored writing this, so I will make it shorter. 

I ran what I thought was way too fast of a first mile (8:34). At mile 3, I contemplated asking one of good looking  EMT guys to drive me in the ambulance back home. At mile 4, I was fairly certain I was having a heart attack. I almost texted Sel to apologize for being such a selfish woman and leaving him a widower in medical school with a 10 month old baby to care for. Turns out my pectoral muscle was just cramping from gripping my phone too tightly. Then something magical happened at mile 5. I remembered that I didn't just run to fight back against my constant love of ice-cream. I ran because I liked it. I liked how my body and mind felt when I was pounding pavement. I liked when my lungs felt on fire and my legs felt like lead. The last 9 were a blur of runner ecstasy highlighted by my awesome dad cheering at the halfway point and shouting something nonsensical about me being able to break 2:00 hours. 

The guy in the red tank top was at least 60 and we ran essentially the same time. Coolest thing about running is how it doesn't eliminate anyone. Old, young, male, female, slow, fast-everyone can be a runner. Annnd people who are 60 are in comparable shape to my 25-year-old self. SO that's a confidence booster. 

I didn't quite believe the clock when I did finish. They haven't published the official results yet, but I think it was 2:02. I was not expecting anything near that time and know I could have gone faster if I had thought I could break 2:00. The last mile I could have killed. The course was incredibly hilly (which I trained on almost entirely flat surfaces-grreeeat), but the last mile had a beautiful downhill. SO CLOSE! I know am all pumped up to run another half in October with the goal to break 2:00 hours or heaven help me! Because I was really curious about my previous times (cause I totally didn't remember them at all), I googled myself for my marathon and half times. 

Marathon 2011: 4:43, 10:47/mile

Half 2013 Moab: 2:14, 10:03/mile

Half 2013 UV: 2:20, 10:43/mile

If I really did finish at 2:02, then my pace per mile was 9:18! I crushed all my previous times POST BABY! Again, shut up if you don't care because I do! My sweat and actual blood dripped while training for this. I seriously had to hustle to train for this and had absolutely no hope of getting anywhere close to this time. A tick tried to eat me during one of my previous runs and I am suspicious that it somehow played a role in me blood doping and getting this time. Some of my running buds run crazy fast (ahem Leslie), but 9:18 for 13 miles made me feel like Speedy Gonzales even if I am far from fast. 

When I saw some of the pics from my dad's phone, my first thought was how bleh I felt my tummy fat looked. Then I realized, that person who very obviously had a baby is very obviously killing it! Damn straight I have post baby pudge and I can still run a half marathon. Body love y'all. 

It looks like I am crying in this, but it's just because it was pouring buckets the whole time and I was dumb enough to wear mascara to a race. 

I couldn't finish this post without a polite nod to my sponsors. Dear Mom & Dad, this wouldn't have happened without you. It quite literally wouldn't have happened without you because I wouldn't exist were it not for you being together. I also would still be watching Lizzie McGuire re-runs and eating chips and dip had daddy dearest not forced my lazy butt to run that miserable first half mile in seventh grade. Dear Sel, thanks for watching Row for some of my runs and encouraging me even when I felt like sleeping instead. Dear Rowan, thanks for being cute and giving me a whole new sense of body love. 

Dear Reader, thanks for skimming over this while simultaneously checking your newsfeed and wishing I hadn't spent a whole post talking about running. 

Between Two Basil Plants (10 months)

I could hardly believe my lucky stars when my editor told me I was the one she wanted to get the 411 on Toledo's up and rising 10 month old, Rowan. I'l admit I was a little nervous about it at first. I mean,he technically can't even talk yet not to mention he has that smile that can make anyone's knees buckle! I was able to get over my initial worry about his lack of language at our first meeting where he was able to clearly communicate with meaningful glances and babbles. Despite being such a good looking guy, I was put at ease instantly by his down-to-earth nature. He wasn't even wearing pants when I showed up and had mixed garden vegetables in his luscious blonde hair! Celebrities really are just like us behind all the mirrors and cameras!

Me: So Rowan, you just turned 10 months old! Did you do anything fun to celebrate?

Rowan: To be honest, I didn't even know it was my 10 month birthday until my grandma told me! I've been so busy lately pushing my Y-bike around I hardly have time to learn what a calendar even is! 

Me: We heard a rumor you are really close to walking! Is that true?

Rowan: I don't know about that. I suppose you saw in the tabloids last week that I have been standing on my own for a little while now? We didn't really want it to hit the press that early, but now that it is out I might as well own up to it. I was a little late to the game with crawling, but I've been trying to make up for that by getting an early start on walking. 

Me: Has it been difficult to maintain your balance? My sources say you've taken some pretty intense tumbles pursuing this new direction in your career. 

Rowan: Well, I do probably get hurt much more than when I was a crawling babe. You wouldn't believe it, but I actually got my first bloody lip trying to open the toilet bowl! It was awful at the time. My manager is always wearing the wrong clothes when she is on set and I got blood all over her white cardigan. She assured me she only cared about my comfort, but I still felt bad. Especially when she had advised me that climbing on toilets might not be my best role. 

Me: Speaking of your manager, we've heard you guys are pretty close! 

Rowan: Yeah, we are. She takes on the role of manager, personal chef, dairy cow, pillow, non-electronic Jazzi, and activity planner depending on what I am in need of. She even has been playing hair model for me lately. I've gotten pretty into brushing people's hair lately and she's been a good  ole sport about it all. You want to know what the crazy thing is? I can only afford to pay her in hugs, smiles and kisses right now and she swears she can survive off of that alone! Can you imagine living off baby smiles in this economy?

Me: Hahah I could imagine living off your smiles, Rowan! They are worth more than you probably know! Personal chef, huh? What's your favorite eat right now?

Rowan: That's a tough one. Though I typically had a lot of options to pick from in the past (green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash), a number of things have been added to my menu in the past month. I am particularly fond of blueberries, though my palate can change on an almost daily basis! My more exotic foodie indulgence right now is raw onion and cherry tomatoes. I prefer to bite the tomatoes, suck out the center, then let the tomato skin slowly drop out of my mouth onto the floor. It's a divine experience that I highly recommend. 

Me: Speaking of biting into things, I heard you have two pearly whites now!

Rowan: That's right! I've got two bottom teeth. You'd be surprised by how much I can do with only two, teeny tiny teeth! I can bite through any wrapper I want and can destroy any plush toys when given enough time. Last week while playing with my cousins, I ate half off a foam cat toy! 

Me: I bet that was the puuurfect snack for a 10-month old! Now I have to ask the question we are all wondering, is there anyone special in your life right now? We all know about how flirtatious you are with the ladies. 

Rowan: Well, I do admit to being quite the flirt. I honestly hug every baby girl I see. I do want to tell the whole world though that I am in love with a purple, plastic hammer!

 (At this point in our interview, Rowan shakily grabbed onto the couch he was sitting on and tried to jump up and down) 

I love it! I love it! I love it! Is it inappropriate to tell you that I actually sleep with my hammer? I carry it in my hand all day long. I don't even care if it makes it harder to crawl or pull myself up on things with one hand, I happily fall over and over again for this hammer of mine. Whew! It feels good to finally tell everyone about that romance of mine. 

Me: Wow! I was not expecting that. A teddy bear or blanket maybe, but not a plastic hammer. I bet your manager loves that!

Rowan: I think she does. Sometimes I like to "brush" her hair with it. She always thinks her hair looks okay pulled back, but I usually have to fix it for her by rapidly banging my beloved hammer against her head and pulling a few strands of hair loose for a more relaxed look. 

Me: We've seen some pretty exciting pictures of what you've been up to this month! What have been some of your favorite things you've done?

Rowan: I've been trying to keep it away from the press, but I am in swim lessons right now. Something about splashing water non-stop for 30 minutes a week just thrills me.  I've also tried my hand at painting with Kool-Aid flavored yogurt, studied the floatation mechanism of a rubber duck at two children's museums, visited a Thai restaurant for my new movie, Chopstick Baby, and did a photo shoot with my crew.

Me: I couldn't imagine trying to fit all that into one month! I can hardly wait for Chopstick Baby! I also saw someone leaked a picture of your photo shoot last night. Hope to see some more from that soon. I feel like I could spend all day, but I am sure our readers want this exclusive ASAP! My final question is, where do you see yourself in the next month?

Rowan: I've got a lot of goals planned for the next month. My producer (aka my dad) has a really big, important test the middle of June so my manager are just playing it by ear until then. I think we will go to Columbus and play with my grandma and grandpa. I hope to see myself in Chicago too visiting my great aunts. I just really want to spend this month bettering myself and finding out who I really am as an almost one-year-old. 

There you have it! I hope you enjoy learning more about Rowan as much as I did! Please feel free to flip through our ten photos in celebration of ten months of this charming, charismatic child. 

Rowan and Manager at swim lessons

Rowan painting with yogurt

Rubber duck experiments 

Rowan conversing with fellow celebrity, Cinderella. 

On the set of Chopstick Baby. 

"I hate white bread" Rowan told reporters.