Christmas Baby

I wasn't sure how Rowen would react to Christmas this year with his age, but surprisingly he really loved it. This year was special to me to have my family over Christmas morning for breakfast and presents. It was such a sweet and relaxing time together to enjoy each other as a family. One thing my mom did was give us each a gift that was a blessing for someone else. Rowen got a goat for a family in Africa, I got baby supplies for mothers in Africa and Chad got aide for small businesses in Africa. What a great way to remember how blessed we are and get to bless others.

DaDa

 Rowen's favorite thing to say right now is "da da".  The only sad thing is he will not say it when Chad is around, but luckily I got it on video :)  He is laughing in the beginning because I am splashing water on him.  We were practicing drinking out of a straw when I accidentally flicked water in his face which he found hilarious.  So I did what any mom would do, I kept doing it until we were both nice and wet!

   

Quiet Time!

Since Rowen still is not a fan of nap time in his crib, we have established "quiet time".  He loves to sit in his crib surrounded by some toys and play by himself while I get a few things done before he goes down for a nap in my bed.  However, it is hard to get anything done when he looks so darn cute!

Halloween!

We had such a great Halloween this year.  We went to my Aunt Carol's "cousins pumpkin carving party" on Friday night and had a great time eating Mexican food and seeing all the kiddies dressed up in their costumes.  The sweetest part was how excited Parker was to see Rowen and play with him.  I guess he is happy to have another white haired boy to play with!  On Halloween we had a low key day around the house and then went over to Dusty and Tina's to get some pictures of the cousins together.  Poor Rowen was a caterpillar this year, although I don't think he was a big fan of the costume.  Every time we went to take pictures of him on his tummy, he was face down and refused to push up and smile.  It was actually pretty funny.  We finished the day by having dinner and trick or treating with our great friends the Arnces.  Little Donovan was "Super Lion", half lion / half super hero, but somehow no pants :)  Very funny and cute to watch him run down the street with his cape flying.  All in all, it was a great first Halloween!

Baby Turkey!

Anyone who knows me well enough should know that my favorite holiday is most definitely Thanksgiving, and the best part of Thanksgiving is sweet rice (and maybe spending time with family, but mostly sweet rice!) It was such a joy to spend my favorite holiday with my sweet boy. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed at his disapproval of my potatoes, but the squash I made him got major points so I guess I did ok. I cannot wait for next year since my boy has become quite the eater lately :)

A few of my favorite things...

Rowen has a bundle on energy and since he discovered his exersaucer and jumper he is a very happy camper.  He always has a great smile, but when he is playing the way his eyes light up melt my heart.  

His second love would be food, particularly butternut squash, sweet peas and the always popular rice cereal.  He attacks his food!!  Good thing we have trained him not to put his hands in his mouth when he eats, so he dive bombs the spoon with his face instead...it is very cute to see how excited he gets when it is mealtime :)  

Lastly, he loves him some bath time.  We got him a yellow duck bath which he can splash and play in.  We all get wet, but hey, he is clean and happy so no complaining here!

handsome boy!

This past month has flown by and Rowen is getting bigger everyday.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from this month!

As if we had any doubt...

Surprise surprise Rowen LOVES to eat!  Yesterday was his first adventure with eating rice cereal and it took him a few minutes to figure out how to swallow, but he eagerly opened his mouth and enjoyed his meal very much.  I still can't believe my little baby boy is going to be 5 months in a week and starting to eat real food.  Where has the time gone??  

What a big boy!

Today was Rowen's 4 month check up and what a big boy he is!  My little guy is not so little anymore.  He is now 15 lbs 10 oz and 26 inches long!  I thought it was  pretty funny when the doctor called him "skinny" for his height!  I guess he is just all cheeks :)

Today was also another big milestone day, his first big roll over!  We have been working on his tummy time and today was pretty typical, he pushes up for a minute or two and then gives up and takes a short nap :)  But when my little man woke up all smiles I thought I would grab a few pictures and he was so excited he flipped over.  He seemed pretty pleased with himself.  Unfortunately, when I rolled him back to his tummy to see if he would do it again he got pretty mad at me...I guess he worked really hard to get off that tummy why the heck would I put him back on it again?!  All in all, a pretty exciting morning in the Littell house! 

For Uncle Mike...

New method to calm a teething baby...

Yesterday we decided to take a drive up to Temecula and visit a few wineries (yes with a baby!) Rowen did absolutely amazing. He slept the whole way down and through our first winery visit which was fantastic. We all split a cheese plate and tasted a wine flight, which was very yummy and relaxing. My parents have a thing for taking pictures of Rowen with things he should not be having, hence the picture of him with the wine and me drinking a glass of wine while breastfeeding (for the record, I was only taking a SIP!) We finished off the day at a spanish winery with tacos, tempernillo and a little spanish guitar. The lead guy liked Rowen so much that during one of his songs he let Rowen play...I think they both got a pretty big kick out of it.

My Son is already a Celebrity!

Ok this was pretty funny. Yesterday we took Rowen for a ride around the island, which he loved (of course, Chad was pulling him so he went VERY fast!) When we stopped for lunch, this group of about 6 Japanese tourist kept pointing and getting all excited and started taking pictures of Rowen! I think they wanted to hold him but I had to draw the line there. This guy was hilarious, he even took pictures with Chad but unfortunately we didn't get a picture of that. I guess we got a small glimpse of what it would be like to be famous...kinda strange!

Play Time!

Rowen is getting to such a great age where he is finally finally starting to enjoy all the toys that fill our house.  A big milestone for us is he will chill in his swing and on a very lucky day even take a nap in it (I know, I thought I was going to have the only child in history that didn't like the swing!)  It has been so nice to be able to put him on his playmat or exersaucer and watch him have fun while I do something around the house.  

My last picture doesn't have anything to do with playing, but who could put this little beauty back in his crib in the morning after his first morning feeding when he looks like this???  I just lay there and stare (and yes, usually fall back asleep...that is the joys of having only one right?!)

Way Overdue!

Well this summer is flying by thanks to our many visits to Coronado.  We have been so blessed to have been able to not only beat the heat, but got to spend some very special time with family.  Rowen has grown so much and everyday is a new adventure.  He has the biggest, sweetest smile and laughs!  Oh that is the best sound in the world.  His favorite song right now is "Jesus loves Me".  I think I sing it at least 20 times a day; it is a guarantee to get him to stop crying and he just coos and smiles.  I hope he understands the reality of that song at a young age, especially the second verse.

He is still very anti-nap, but I have found the joys of a monitor with the sound turned down and the door closed...I can see that he is crying, but I can't hear that he is crying so even though it takes him 30 minutes to fall asleep for only 20 minutes, I get a break!

Here are a few pictures of our wonderful summer.

Family Fun

We decided to take Rowen swimming last night at my parents house.  I was a little nervous since it is hit or miss with bath time, but he LOVED it.  Chad would get him going around the pool fast and he seemed pretty entertained.  He also loved to copy his daddy and splash with his arms, it was very funny to watch.  I guess we have a little fish on our hands!

Best milestone yet, SMILES!!

I am sure every mom would say the same, but there is definitely something magical the first time your little baby looks you in the eye and smiles.  And with a colicy baby, Rowen's first smiles were definitely a joyous sight!  He has been doing amazing the past few weeks, finally sleeping till 5:00 - 6:30 in the morning and then taking long morning naps...ah to feel like a normal human again with working out and showers!  Ah the simple things!  

Happy Father's Day!

I am so blessed to have such a great daddy for Rowen.  This Father's Day was so nice to relax and spend the day just the 3 of us.  We got to sleep in, well, Rowen sleeping in which was getting up at 5 and then family sleep till about 9 which was great!  We went for breakfast and layed low all afternoon.  Rowen did great going to his first church service.  It was such a treat to be able to be back with the body and worship.