Teething....

....STINKS.  Ugh.  It has turned my super happy little boy into a super unhappy little boy.  Well, some of the time.  It has gotten TONS better the past few days, and we've all been able to sleep really well.  But there was about a week where he had to wear disposable diapers 24/7 because his poo was giving him a rash (we think it was too much new food-but maybe I can blame that on teething too).  He screamed every time I had to change his diaper, poor guy.  I just noticed a couple days ago that it was completely better, so we've been doing about half cloth diapers and half disposable.  Disposable at night, which typically leads to me changing him once during the night, which also typically leads to a not so happy little boy.  If I'm lucky, I can do it while he's sleeping and he won't even be bothered.  That happened maybe once.  Ha.

But during this whole week and a half, his poor little gums were bothering him too.  Especially at night.  We had a bed time routine:  brush teeth, orajel, tylenol.  Sometimes that didn't help. A couple of the nights consisted of very little sleeping and a lot of crying/comforting.  The whole weaning process was completely thrown out the window for now.  I can't take that away from him.  It's really what soothes him at night.  And I'm ok with that.  I'm praying the rest of his teeth hurry up and come in, so we can start weaning again.  Until then, he pretty much can have whatever he wants. :)

His 5th tooth finally cut on Dec 6 (bottom left Lateral Incisor).  You can see it in the pic....his expression pretty much says what we think of teething. :)

UPDATE: Tooth 6 cut today, Dec 29! :)  It's right above his 5th tooth.  It's the top left Lateral Incisor.

ONE.

Rowan is no longer a baby, but a one year old little boy.  Sadness.  Happiness too.  My sister made a lovely video for us of Rowan's first year.  It consisted of a ton of pictures, a couple of short video clips, and songs.  Andrew and I watched it the evening of Rowan's birthday.  We knew he obviously grew, but put that with music and we were bigger babies than Rowan is!  Or was.  I guess, since he's not considered a "baby" anymore.  Sigh.  I'm going to see if I can figure out how to post it to youtube.  We both LOVED the video and are really thankful my sister took the time to make it for us.  So, thanks a lot Hollee! :)

We had his birthday party on the 12th.  He is one very blessed little boy to have so many people who love him. He got so many awesome gifts!  I think we'll end up devoting the downstairs to Rowan's very own toy's r us!  Haha not really....  He had a great time!

He has become very good at walking.  Still not a pro, but he stays up more than falls, and it's looking more like walking than waddling. :)

We just love this little boy.  We're so thankful to have had a year with him.

Slow down, please!

Little man is growing too fast for my liking.  Seriously.  In 12 days he will be ONE.  ONE.  No longer considered a baby, but a toddler.  Pretty much a mini-person.  Slow down, please!

Let me tell you what this mini-person has learned to do in just a couple of weeks.  He took his first unassisted, uncoaxed, steps on October 22!  At Mema and Grandpa's house.  Not sure how or why, but he sure likes to start moving there because he crawled there for the first time too. :)  He still hasn't perfected the art of walking, but he waddles every single day, and he's getting quite good at it!

He also figured out that there is a way to get onto the couch and love seat.  A couple days ago (Nov 2) was his first time successfully completing his mission.  Yesterday, he climbed up on the couch and had a grand time pounding on my netbook.  That's what I get for taking my eyes off of him. :)

Rowan now has all 4 front teeth!  He cut the last of the four on Oct 26.  He is a chomper!

We had fun trick-or-treating the grandparents Oct 29th.  He was the happiest little dragon!  He would not keep his costume on for Auntie Hollee and Uncle Shane (he was sleep deprived the day they came over which equals one uncooperative baby) so we didn't get to take any pics with them.  Boo.  He was the cutest little dragon too, I might say. :)

I've recently started crocheting!  I was looking on etsy.com for a cute animal hat for Rowan during the winter. People charge a lot.  I understand why now, with as much work goes into crocheting it.  Anyone who has ever given me anything crocheted, and especially if you made it yourself, thank you.  I appreciate it even more now. :)  Instead of paying $20 for an owl hat that I loved, I bought the pattern  for $4.50 and made it myself!  It looks precious on him!  When he keeps it on anyway.  Which is pretty much never, unless he's sleeping.  I also made him a beanie (it was going to be his daddy's but I crocheted it too tightly) and made one for Andrew.  I found out that Rowan will wear his hat out in public (because he has to look cool, you know) but once he got back in the car seat he pulled it right off.  So silly, that little man is. :)

Andrew taught him how to give a high five a few days ago.  He doesn't do it every time, but he knows what it means. :)  And it's quite cute to watch him do it!

Rowan likes to bother Piper while she eats.  Today was no different.  I've been trying to overly praise him when he listens when I say no, so he gets that it's a good thing.  So I yell yay and clap for him and tell him he's a good boy.  It works, typically.  But not when it comes to his Piper and being a proper little brother. :) He crawled over to her eating area, and I said "no, Rowan."  He sits and looks at me for a sec, and I said, "leave her alone, you want to be a good boy, don't you?"  He looks at me, smiles, and shakes his head no!  It was the cutest thing ever!  I cracked up.  How am I supposed to teach him what no means when he is the cutest little boy ever?! We're in trouble, that's for sure.

I think that's the scoop for the past couple of weeks.  Talk about growing and changing.  So quickly.  I love him so much.  Can't believe he'll be one in 12 days.  Sigh.

Enjoy the massive cuteness uploaded below!

My amazingly talented mother-in-law painted this of Rowan!

Walking!

My boys in the hats I made them!

One more month

Until our baby turns 1!

With his pumpkin he got at the pumpkin patch!

He has had a very busy 11th month!  He cut his 2nd tooth on Oct 6th!  I may have mentioned it in the previous post, I have no idea.  He also just cut his 3rd tooth yesterday (Oct 18, incase I don't post this today)!!  Now he doesn't have to ask Santa for his two front teeth. :)  His bottom front one will be in soon.  I can see it poking through, it just hasn't cut through yet.

He also discovered that there are things behind all of the cabinet doors and drawers....haha. :)  Every time I go in the kitchen he usually crawls to the cabinet with pans and the cabinet with the cereal and starts pulling things out.  We got a safety latch for the cabinet under the sink, but really don't find it necessary to drill into our cabinets just to prevent him from pulling things out.  It's not hard to put them back. :)  And he enjoys it.

He also has been taking a few steps here and there.  Not very often, but he does.  He can take a few more if he is assisted.  I bet he'll be walking by Christmas!

Another "fun" discovery was the toilet.  He loves water.  And our toilet (like most) has water.  And it splishes and splashes.  Thankfully, the day he played in the toilet bowl water I had just cleaned it.  But, that's the last time that has and hopefully ever will happen. :)

We went out to lunch for two bithday's during his 11th month.  Auntie Hollee and Mema.  Not saying how young they are. :)  But it was fun.  We went to Cheddars for Auntie Hollee's birthday dinner and Colton's for Mema's.  Rowan was the perfect little flirt.  He really is the BEST baby ever.  I didn't take him out anywhere (other than to his pediatrician appt) until my birthday (so he was 5 months) because I wasn't sure how he would act.  Plus, his momma has developed some sort of germ phobia, and I did not want him to get sick.  I won't be so bad with our other children. :)  Got off topic there....anyway....he is so well behaved any time I take him anywhere.  I should never had thought otherwise. :)  He is perfect.

Making my point, my sister took our family pictures on Saturday (our Halloween day).  Rowan took a nap after the pumpkin patch, and woke up around 1.  We were planning on taking pics at 4, but he seemed very sleepy so we wanted to let him get another nap in before we left.  Well, he didn't find it necessary.  He was so good the entire time (although smiling was not something he was interested in doing haha).  He didn't go to bed til around 10 (I think) and he did not have a nap in between.  He never cried or threw a fit once.  Such a good boy. :)  And we got some awesome pics!  Thanks for taking them, Hollee! :)  And Shane. :)  You both did a great job!

The ones below are from our family photo shoot!  A couple of them are more of outtakes because I'm using our favorite ones for our Christmas cards. :)  I still love these pictures too though.  I'll eventually upload them to shutterfly and facebook so you can see all the awesome shots Hollee (and Shane) got. :)  But my favorite ones will not be uploaded until after Christmas cards are sent out. :)

And because I love my sister so, I have to post some pics of our craziness. :)   

Thanks again for coming over for our Halloween day and taking pictures!  We had a lot of fun and the pictures turned out amazing!

10 Months

I cannot believe Rowan is 10 months old already!  Two more months (well, one and a half since I'm a couple weeks late at posting this) and he'll be ONE!  Now that will be a bittersweet day in casa de Harrison!

The biggest thing to happen to Rowan during his 10th month is that he cut his FIRST tooth!  On Sept. 9th.  It is so cute!  He's got three more (the rest of his front) that are soooo close to cutting.  I can't wait for them to be in!  Neither of us are enjoying his teething.  Although, thanks to his teething necklace and orajel, it's a little more tolerable.  And so far he hasn't had any fevers, diarrhea, or rashes because of it. :)

His momma also got a new dslr as an early anniversary/Christmas/birthday/every other holiday that a gift is typical present! :)  

Here are a couple of pics taken with it:

There's the tooth!

His Mema is a very talented painter, and she is painting the following pictures for us!  At least I hope they're for us-she's so good I'd probably end up keeping them if I were her! :)

My new camera is amazing. :)  Thank you, honey! :)

Riddle Me This

Who has red hair and gets around on all fours?

Piper? Well, yes. She does have red hair and gets around on all fours. But, she wasn't who I had in mind as the answer to this particular riddle. :) Good job at coming up with a possible answer though. :)

If you guessed Rowan, you are correct! I lost my floor duster! My little commando crawler is now a full-fledged four legged mover! He started crawling on August 20 at his Mema and Grandpa's house. I also got it on video that I will be posting to youtube, but it isn't that great of quality because it is on my camera instead of my flip cam. He's quite fast now and also seems to have different speeds because he always goes a lot faster when he knows we're coming for him. :)

He can also walk side to side while holding onto something, like the couch or entertainment center. And he also can go from the entertainment center to his exersaucer by turning around and reaching out for it. He hasn't tried to take a step on his own yet but I know that will be happening very soon!

My poor baby is also teething really bad. He has two blister-like bumps (they're not actually blister's though) where his two bottom front teeth will be coming in. It looks so painful. I'd try to get a picture but that's pretty much impossible. I hope they come in this week!

Rowan also prefers finger foods. I bought him some puffs (they're similar to cereal but for babies) about a week ago and he loves them! So does Piper. ;) I know if I put him in his exersaucer, play Baby Signing Time, and give him some puffs and juice he's good to go for at least 30 minutes. It's a nice break and I can get some things done then instead of having to wait for his naps. He also loves baby yogurt. Strawberry and banana flavored, to be exact. He'll eat the whole thing of it. I'm having a really hart time getting him to eat his veggies. I'm going to buy a sweet potato next time I get groceries (Wal-mart was out last time I got groceries-strange) and make that for him. I'm not going to mash it though, I'm going to cut small pieces after cooking it. I know he loves it from the jar so I'm hoping he'll eat it whole instead since he can pick it up with his fingers. He needs his veggies!

With it getting a little cooler, I've been taking him outside with me for longer periods of time to play with Piper. He loves it! He gets mad at me any time I let Piper outside without taking him out as well. We'll go out and sit on a blanket and throw the ball to Piper until she's ready to go in. That little dog can run like crazy. I wish I was in as good of shape as she is!

Here are some pics from the past couple of weeks!