Rowan's words

Every day Rowan picks up a new word - or so it seems. Here's a list of what he's saying these days:

Mama, Daddy, Puppa (this one's new), Pie!, Nenu (Nana), Hi, Bye-bye!, Up!, Bub (aka. Boob), Baby, Cup, More, Balloon, Please, Woof, Moo, Rawr, Quack, WowWow (for wow wow wubzy his favorite cartoon), Babble (apple), and I'm sure there's a few more too.

My favorite thing right now is the way I trick him into saying words. I pretend to have a microphone in my hand and first I saw the word into the mic and then I hold the mic up to Rowan's mouth and he talks into it. This is how I got him to say "please" for the first time. It turns out he knows how to say a lot more than we thought, he just chooses not to talk much. Let's hope he still feels this way when he's 13.

New Trike

We got Rowan this fancy tricycle after we got back from Minnesota because he loved the ride-around toys at Aunt Kathy's so much. This photo is from the second day he had the bike. We were pushing him around the house and he was so excited that he just started crying and freaking out. At least that's what we think the problem was. One minute he was super happy - the next complete melt-down. Moody baby.

Oh, and yes, Rowan often runs around the house in a Star Wars shirt, cowboy hat, and no pants. Doesn't everyone?

...and in non-baby news...

The house is done! Well, painted any way. We also have new windows and a new deck on the back.

Here's the house before:


And after:

And here's one of the new windows that isn't painted shut and actually opens!

And here's a shot of the new deck that replaced our rotting back steps:


And here's another shot of the deck and our comfy chairs:


Our next project is the kitchen. New counter tops and some additional cabinets are going in next week! Yay!

Hiking

These are also from Duluth. There is a park and a lake across the street from Mike's Aunt Kathy's place. We spent a ton of time at the play ground and one day we took a stroll through the woods and down to the water. Rowan could walk ALL day and not get tired.

Swings!

Duluth Zoo

We took Rowan to the zoo for the first time while we were visit Mike's family in Duluth. Rowan "RAWR"ed at the tiger and polar bears, was really excited to pet the goats, and generally ignored everything else. Oh, except the playground which he heartily enjoyed.

Mmmm...potatoes....

This is how much Rowan loves hashbrowns. He has to close his eyes to savor the moment.