Friday, June 22, 2012

Happy 1st Birthday, Rowan Cain!!!

On the night you were born 
the moon smiled with such wonder
that the stars peeked in to see you,
and the night wind whispered 
"life will never be the same"
for there had never been anyone like you,
ever, in the world.

-Nancy Tillman

My goodness, June 18th came far more quickly than I expected it to!  Dave and I both took the day off of work and we spent a wonderful, relaxing day together as a family.  I knew that I would be emotional about my sweet boy turning one, but when I got a text message from Rowan's Aunt Christine congratulating me on being the mama of a toddler, I lost it!  How did this past year fly by so quickly?  And where did my tiny little baby go?!

Rowan is such a wonderful little boy and is the easiest baby (ahem, toddler) ever!  He crawled at 8 months, started taking steps at 9 months and 3 weeks, and has been running for the past month.  We can't keep up with him!  He knows how to climb the stairs at record speed, and even knows how to come down the stairs safely.  He has 8 teeth, 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom, and is wearing size 18 month clothes.  He is tall and skinny!  I'm not sure where he got that from ;)

He is saying mama, dada, dog (his favorite word), ball, milk (although sometimes it sounds like mama so I get very confused!), bye, no, and yeah.  He will copy me and say "oh no!" or "oh yeah!" and it makes me laugh every time!  He is starting to mimick us too.  We play a game of "where's daddy?!" and once we find daddy, I always say "There he is!"  On his birthday, as we were walking back from the pool, I said "where's daddy?" and Rowan said "There he is!"  Obviously he was only mimicking the sounds, but I was still impressed :)  He LOVES lights and stares at them intently, trying to figure out how they work.  When I turn a light off and on, he gasps with joy!  Maybe he will be an engineer like his grandpa!

Rowan will be celebrating his first birthday with most of his family next Sunday, but we had a mini celebration for just the three of us.  Rowan experienced his first doughnut (LOVED it), and had his first piece of cake.  He wasn't interested in smashing the cake, so I gave him a fork and he decided to eat it like the gentleman that he is :) 

I wanted to take an opportunity to look back at a few photos from the first 12 months of his life, plus some photos from his very first birthday.

2 days old.

1 month old.

2 months old.

3 months old.

4 months old.

5 months old.

6 months old. 

7 months old.

8 months old.

 
9 months old.
 
10 months old.

11 months old.

11 9/10 months old!

 

ONE YEAR OLD!!!!!

Good morning birthday boy!!!
First doughnut.


Pool time on his birthday!
Twirling with tissue paper.
First birthday present!
First pizookie!
The pizookie was a success!

Happy Birthday Dear Rowan...
What 1 year old wants to eat their birthday cake with a fork???  This little guy right here!






Rowan was over it at this point...  Cake (or getting his hands and face dirty) just wasn't his thing!
It's amazing to look back at all of the pictures over the past year to see how Rowan has grown.  The past year has been the best year of my life, and I know it will only get better as Rowan continues to learn and grow.

We love our beautiful boy and are amazed by him on a daily basis.  What lucky parents we are!

Friday, June 15, 2012

We are in trouble...

Rowan has learned that he can stand on things so that he can reach higher...  Tonight, while I was playing around with our new camera, I glanced up and saw him standing on his toy drum, in front of the TV, reaching for the remotes...  Oy vey...


June 15th

Ah, June 15th. This day will always have so much meaning to me. It wasn’t the day you were born, but it was the day I thought you were SUPPOSED to be born! June 15, 2011 was my due date, and every event of any importance was measured in relation to that date. At any time during my pregnancy, I could have told you exactly how far along I was, and exactly how many days I had to go. Someone would ask, and without hesitation I would say 117 days to go! 99 days to go! ONLY 30 days to go!!!

But then June 15th came and went, and you didn’t come. I surely thought I would never go in to labor. I would be the lady who was pregnant FOREVER. It didn’t help that I watched a documentary on TLC just weeks shy of your due date, about a lady who was pregnant for FORTY YEARS! That was going to be me. I just knew it!

I was so disappointed when I woke up on June 16th, with no baby, and no signs of labor. I went to Safeway that morning, and the cashier asked me when I was due. "Yesterday" I said. She looked at me with such pity that I wanted to cry (OK, so maybe I did cry a little -- but it was only a little!)! She told me not to worry, that contrary to my fears, I WOULD go into labor some time soon. 

The wise cashier from Safeway was right! Because at about 9:30 p.m. on June 16th, I got my first contraction. There was no mistaking it - it was really happening! We went to breakfast the next morning, because I thought it would be the last meal I would be able to eat before the contractions picked up. But boy was I wrong - you were stubborn! You had this poor mama in labor for 32 hours! Between you and me, Rowan, the long labor didn't upset me.  I am not a fan of prime numbers and wasn't thrilled about your birthday being June 17th, so when the clock struck midnight and the calendar turned to June 18th, I was thrilled.  You were finally born on June 18th at 5:35 a.m., and my world has never been the same.

 Sweet Rowan, just two hours old.

My goodness how you have grown!  It's amazing to watch you turn into your very own person.  You are funny and happy and cute and sweet.  You are smart and stubborn and feisty.  You are the most beautiful little boy I have ever seen.

 Sweet Rowan, just two hours ago.

You are, without a doubt, the most amazing little boy who has ever lived. And I can’t believe that in 3 short days, you will be 1. This past year has been a whirlwind, but every sleepless night, every exhausting morning, has been so incredibly worth it. You have enriched our lives in ways we never could have imagined, and we love you more than we ever thought possible. I am so blessed to be your mama, and I will forever be grateful to have you as my son. I know your daddy feels the exact same way.


There is no greater blessing, no greater love.