Christmas 2010

Just a quick note, we had a great weekend with family. Bummed we didn't make it to Iowa yet again due to snowy weather, but Champaign was great. As long as we are surrounded by family we are celebrating the holiday the way it should be. Opening presents in pajamas, a movie Christmas day, and family games that night. So fun. Rogan has had a cold, and is cutting his EIGHTH tooth. So he was an early riser this weekend (4am, then 3:45am). But we all took it in stride, and seeing Rogan smile and laugh at his new toys was such a joy for me as my first Christmas as a mom.

We are back home now, shoveled the 5 inches of snow we got while we were away, and have unloaded the car. Next needs to be laundry and cleaning. Our house looks like it threw up. There are clothes and toys everywhere! And in 48 hours we will pack up again and head south for Christmas #2 with the Jackson's. Ryan and I also get a rare treat and are going to spend New Years Eve in downtown St. Louis kid-free.

Christmas Morning #2

Swaying back and forth, music and dancing is a big thing for him right now.

Christmas Morning #1

Rocking out to the new beats!

The Throw-up Cough

Rogan has had a winter cough for a week or so. I THINK it's getting better. It's really wet and he's definitely coughing some of the phlem up and getting it out of his lungs. BUT this has created the throw-up cough. He coughs just enough to get phlem to lodge at the top of his throat and then he gags, and, well, you know the rest. Poor little guy! I feel so bad for him. Thank goodness it's only happened twice, and Rogan doesn't really seem to mind. It's only when I strip him down after that he has something to say about it.

First time was Tuesday night... after he ate dinner. Thank goodness Ryan got home shortly after so that he could give Rogan a bath and I could clean up the blueberry applesauce that was all over the carpet. :)

Second time was this morning. We just went downstairs to have him morning bottle. So thankgoodness it was basically just a lot of spit up. He still got my leg pretty good, though.

Hoping that we are on the tail end of this. We are supposed to head to Iowa to visit my dad's side of the family tomorrow morning for the weekend. My grandmother has pristine white carpet... please please lets not ruin it.

Adventures in parenthood continue....

I'll close this post with one of the cutest things. We've entered the age where he's doing what he's not supposed to be doing, and he knows it. He wasn't in any real danger, so I snapped a picture before pulling him out of his old baby carrier. we call this face "BUSTED".

Christmas Cookies in the Jackson House

(To the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas)
7 Boba Fetts, 6 Darth Vaders.... FIIIIIIVE YODA HEADS!!!!

One Week til Christmas!

well, I guess it's a week until Christmas Eve, but still, that counts in my book! We have a busy weekend ahead of us. Organizing, packing, shopping, wrapping, etc.

Very excited to see both sides of the family between now and 2011. I hope everyone is ready to have a little rooster live with them for a bit! Rogan wakes up every morning between 5-6am!!! We're trying to work on it so that he sleeps til 6:30 or 7... but it's like he has a little alarm clock in him or something!

Rogan's Visit to Santa

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Countdown to Christmas!!??

So much to do, so little time!! AAACK! Where does the time go? Wasn't it just Thanksgiving? Regardless, with less than 2 weeks to Christmas there is so much to do!

Am I finished shopping?? No.
Is the Christmas tree up? No. (primarily because I think Rogan will attack all lights and ornaments, but I AM PUTTING IT UP TONIGHT).
Have we gone to see Santa? No.
Have I wrapped gifts? (Seeing that I'm not even done shopping this answer should be obvious.)
Have I baked the cookies I will need for Thursday at work? No.

Good news is the house is in decent shape and we have very little planned for this week/weekend so we should be able to get it all done with little stress.

In Rogan news: he's started standing on his own! Or rather he lets go of whatever he's holding onto and then uneasily stands there for 2 seconds before he lands on his butt. But it's really cute.

UPDATE: Going to see Santa tonight... hoping Rogan likes him.

It's Just Me and the Bull

Ryan's off to Missouri this afternoon. He'll only be gone 48 hours or so, not a big deal. So it's just me and Rogan... the bull. No one ever mentions that 9 month olds are like bulls in a china shop. People talk about how colic is rough, you don't get any sleep the first 3 months, teething, no one ever mentions the time period where kids are fully mobile yet cannot understand the words "no" and "come here". My goodness. Rogan is also a bull due to his stubborn determination to accomplish what he wants. Whether it's climbing the stairs (supervised the whole way of course, and yes, he can get all the way up in about 30 seconds), or reaching a toy that's too high, he will not stop until he succeeds.

Last night Rogan used a toy as a step stool for the first time. He has a green dragon that's about 12 inches high that was pushed up against his toy table. His rings were on top of the table, so he scaled the dragon to pull them down. And he did it! It was one of those moments where I was thinking "uh-oh, this could be bad, he could fall, should I go help?" so I was there to "catch", but let him do it. he seemed to be very proud of himself. He then played with the rings for 10 seconds until he crawled off to his next adventure, and I followed right behind.

9 Month / Holiday Pics

We took pictures today. Both to remember Rogan as a 9 month old and for our holiday card. Even though he was tired (he'd just spent an active hour at our church nursery laughing and playing the whole time), he was a trooper and we got some good pics. Here are a few:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

9 Months Old

Height: 29.5"
Weight: 21lbs 11oz
Teeth: SIX TOTAL! FOUR on the top, (though the 2 outers are just poking through), two on the bottom.
Crawling: everywhere
Pulling Up: on everything
Cruising: yes.
Babbles: mama, dada, baba
New Skills: Waving (though he's still selective about it), and giving high fives
Foods: soft table foods and baby food. Can drink juice from a sippy cup!
Favorite tv show: Special Agent Oso
Favorite song: Three Special Steps from Special Agent Oso
Favorite activities: bathtime, stealing remotes and cell phones, chasing the cats
Dislikes: diaper changes, getting his nose wiped

He's now allowed all table foods except: peanuts, seafood, honey, and eggs (but stuff made with eggs is ok)

Thanksgiving 2010 Recap

We had a great holiday. So many things to be thankful for. Rogan was loved by so many, and it was great to see both sides of the family. We hosted for the first time, and I'm happy to report nothing was burnt, undercooked, or dropped. Everything made it to the table fairly hot, and we had a great meal. Rogan ate turkey bits, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green beans. He will try anything right now, which I love. If you hold it up and he's hungry, BING!, mouth open! And very rarely does he spit anything out.

Friday I got up at 3:30am to start Black Friday shopping! I'm not one of those people who will spend thousands of dollars, or has to be one of the first people in line to get a flat screen tv, but there were a few items I saw on sale that I wanted to pick up. And if I went later and they were gone, I would be kicking myself that I slept and missed out on saving money.

Target was first, 4am. I dual screen portable DVD player for the car. This is both for Rogan and for the passenger (either Ryan or me). I remember long car rides with my parents, and there is only so much napping, so much singing, and so many games you can play. I would have loved to have something like this as a kid, so there, I bought it as an adult.

Second was a new car seat for Rogan. He's met the height and weight requirement to step up to a toddler seat instead of his infant carrier. And we actually need 2 of them, since Ryan drops him of at daycare and I pick him up, until now Ryan lugs the carrier into daycare and leaves it there all day until I get there, and then I lug Rogan and the carrier back out to the car. NO MORE! We picked up 2 toddler seats on Black Friday, these stay in the car. It's great, and I think Rogan likes them too. A little sad that the seat he came home in will now be collecting dust in the basement, but that sadness is greatly outweighed by the joy of having these new seats.

Saturday morning we headed down to Champaign. I hadn't seen Kara since she left for school back in August, and I really missed her. So it was great to see her, mom, and dad. We hung around while Rogan cruised his new surroundings, trying to wrestle their 12 year old golden retriever who got insanely jealous that mom was paying so much attention to the "new baby". hilarious. Mom and I went out shopping for Rogan for Christmas (while we were out I saw the carseat we bought at Toys R Us was listed at TWICE what I paid for it the day before, so that immediately made my day). And then Kara, Ryan, and I went to see HP 7.1 while mom and dad stayed with Rogan. IT WAS GREAT! I think I've seen every HP movie with Kara, so we kept with tradition. I can't wait to see the next one this summer.

This morning Rogan decided he wanted to wake up at 4:30am... ugh. I was able to walk, sway, and rock him back to sleep until 5:40 or so, but then he was wide awake. I'm still sleepy tonight. Going to go watch Amazing Race and call it a night.

Here are some pics from the holiday:

Like Father, Like Son

I found this hat, I couldn't pass it up! It's just like Ryan's! Rogan wears hats pretty well, so he'll be well protected this winter. Especially since he still doesn't have much hair.

Weekend Activities

We ha a pretty mellow weekend. We're still getting ready for Thanksgiving, so all three of us went grocery shopping Saturday. Rogan had a blast being pushed in the cart by Ryan, speeding down the aisles, as I searched the shelves for the next thing on our list.

Sunday was Rogan's daredevil day. He has recently (this week) discovered how to climb stairs. UGH! Stairs used to be an easy way to block his path... now, to him they are a fun obstacle that must be accomplished!! It's all a game to him. He looks at us with a sly little grin, then crawls on over there. I think Ryan and I pulled him off the stairs 50 times yesterday. The gate is going up tonight. But in those 50 times, once we were not fast enough. And it became Rogan vs. Bannister, and Rogan lost. He had a bump on his head the rest of the morning. Of course, that did not keep him from continuing his quest the rest of the day.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised.. 2 stubborn strong willed parents will undoubtedly have a child even more so than they are. As he grows and more and more of his personality comes out, it's really fun (and a little scary) to see how much he's like Ryan and me. The kid is stubborn and MOTIVATED! Diaper changes and getting dressed are now two-person jobs! because the last thing he wants is to be laying still on his back (sad this was ALL he wanted to do for the first 3 months of his life). And the kid is strong! So it takes one person to hold him down/entertain him and the other person to put the diaper/clothes on. Whew! But along with this he's also hilarious. He laughs all the time, and is such a happy boy to be around. I took him to Target with me yesterday while Ryan was working outside, he gets so tickled to see other kids in carts. He likes flirting with the other girls. And he laughs when the smile at him. I have to admit it's the best part of going shopping, I get to push around my stud and listen to everyone say "look at the cute baby!". I'm a proud mama. (which is STILL his word of choice.)

Diabetes Update...

I had an endocrinologist appt last night (it was supposed to be in September, but he canceled on me in September, and then I was in Phoenix for what would have been an October appt, so I finally got in to see him last night). I was honestly dreading it. I was happily surprised.

My doctor is by far the best I've ever seen. He tells you honest truths, but isn't mean about it. He seems to actually be interested in me (we swapped kid stories since he has 2 boys of his own), and we both went to Wash U.

But still, even though I know how great he is... I didn't want to go. When I was pregnant with Rogan, Diabetes was basically my first thought. ALL. THE. TIME. I was checking checking checking, doing whatever I could to make sure I was within the right range. Trying to make sure Rogan had the best and wasn't put into unneeded harm by my illness. And it worked! Rogan was completely healthly, I did what I needed to do, and it was great.

Since Rogan's birth, however, I've felt like a "bad diabetic". I don't check as often as I probably should. My numbers aren't perfect. And it's not the first thing on my mind anymore. Rogan is!

So when he walks in and asks me how I am, I respond, I know I'm a mess. He looks at me, and tells me my a1c level is 6.4. WHAT??? This is a good number, and I was shocked. Historically I'm usually anywhere from 6.5 - 7.5, so to be at the lower end of my normal range is great. This corresponds to a 120 average level, and anything under 150 is considered well controlled. YAY ME! looking back (now that I know I haven't gone completely off the rails), I probably am back to my old ways. But compared to how I was while I was pregnant and obsessing about it, it feels more lax than it actually is. (when I was pregnant my numbers were as low as 4.9, and as high as 5.8).

After that he talked to me about diabetes and post-partum, and how what I'm going through is completely normal. Which makes me feel great. Through my pregnancy I became more and more insulin resistant, which is what happens to everyone. I started my pregnancy taking maybe 50 units a day, and by the time Rogan was born I was up to 300. I knew this was going to happen, and adjusted accordingly. But it still hasn't completely gone away. I'm still on maybe 100 a day. Not as bad as it was, but not back to normal. And I guess this is fairly common too. And it could take as much as 18 months for me to feel normal again. Everyone is different.

I'm going in to have my annual lab work done next week, to make sure cholesterol, thyroid, all that stuff is still in good working order (he mentioned that it isn't unusual for a diabetic's thyroid to get a little messed up post-partum), but the good news is that none of it should be permant. and slowly, I should be getting back to my normal self. or as Ryan put is so awesomely last night... "hurray! (ryan is fluent in sarcasm) you'll get back to normal just in time for us to have another one and start it all over!" ... probably, but we plan on Rogan being an only child for quite a bit longer.

Photos from this weekend

Rogan on his new quilt my mom "Grammie" made for him. It's awesome. One side has the colored stripes, and the other side is solid animal print (the top portion).
Rogan and Great-Grandad. We had lunch with him and Great-Grammie. Nieman Marcus is a great place for lunch. When he gets antsy you can walk him around and look at all the cool stuff!
Rogan vs. the teething biscuit: I think the biscuit won this round, pal.
He loves them so much, and they help his teeth feel better... but this is what happens to him. but he doesn't seem to mind, until we come at him with a washcloth to clean him up!! I got some very sloppy hugs and kisses after this picture. (worth it.)

Countdown to Thanksgiving!

Wow this year has gone fast. This past weekend was great. Rogan and I played while Ryan was out of town. My mom was up here Saturday and we had lunch with Grandad and Grammie, and then we got to go see a movie that night when Ryan was back home. Mom and I went to Morning Glory... very cute. Mom slept through the first 30 minutes, but she saw the important parts. oh mom, i luv ya. :)

Rogan's continuing his goal to crawl everywhere in the house. He started climbing the steps this weekend... so now gates are definitely a must. He has the cutest "look at me!!" face. He's also loving saying Mama. He says it all the time now. Ryan tried to get a few Dada's out of him... nope! (since he said Dada first, i don't feel so bad).

This week will be very chill. I started my Thanksgiving list today. It will be the first time we've hosted. I've got the menu, the grocery list, and the timeline for it all. Hopefully it goes well. If not, it's Rogan's fault. :P

Talking with his mouth full...

I know we'll need to work on not doing this once he's older, but right now it's so cute. He also says DaDa and BaBa, but indiscriminately for all of them.

Ryan on the Radio

Just an fyi, if you aren't doing anything Friday night at 5:30, go on the internet to:

http://www.971talk.com/Station/Streaming.aspx

and listen live to Ryan on the RADIO! Ryan and his best friend Bryant will be on The Dave Glover Show playing "Stump the Studio". Listeners will call in and ask them tough trivia questions to try to stump the hosts plus Ryan and Bry. It should be an entertaining hour.

Rogan and I will be listening. But I'm guessing I'll need to hear the replay podcast, since I doubt Rogan will sit through it all.

PLUS, a big YAY for my mom coming up on Friday.

Where did Baby Rogan go????

He's getting to be such a big boy. He has such a great personality. This weekend, despite having some sniffles, we went out and got some big boy shoes. We got 2 pairs. He looks so grown up when he has shoes on! Ryan picked them out.

8 Months Old

Rogan now has 2 bottom teeth, and 2 top nubs. The top 2 decided to come in at the same time. The right one is a little more through than the left, but you can see the whites of both.

At 8 months old here are his skills: crawling everywhere, pulling up to standing, can walk with assistance where he wants to go, babbles Dada and Baba (i only get the occasional Muma), he just started eating baby food with meat in it, he's working on being able to feed himself cheerios (but right now he grabs it in his fist and can't figure out how to get it out of his fist into his mouth), he sleeps 7pm - 5:30am on most days, loves bathtime, hates diaper changes and getting dressed (cause this means he has to lay on his back and not move). Favorite toys include anything that makes noise, his activity table and jumper, and he recently discovered balls.

Happy Halloween!!

GOOD MORNING! HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (though since the sun is out, i've been up for quite some time.)

I tried on my costume a week ago or so... looking good! I'm going to be an EWOK!

Halloween outside in the leaves... YUB YUB!

GRRRRR!

Rogan and his first pumpkin.

Hey Ma! Look what I can do!

Rogan's bed is currently on the next to lowest level... tonight, before bed... it will get lowered to the bottom. He's a strong guy. Been pulling up on everything he can today.

The Joys of Homeownership

When it rains, it pours, right? When we bought our house 18 months ago, the inspector mentioned to us that the water heater was the original, so it was about 15 years old, and will probably need to be replaced at some point. That point is today. Well, that point was a week ago I think. The plumber came to fix a seal in our master bath, and when he turned the water back on, I noticed that it seemed like the water was always running. (when the water is running in our house we hear an occasional THUD). So I kept hearing it, but the plummer having fixed our hammering pipes I didn't really think twice about it. Then our water temp was low. Showers in the morning I had to turn the knob way hotter than normal and it wouldn't last as long. hmmm...

So how we discovered the problem, was because of ANOTHER problem. I got home with Rogan last night, it was a colder day, and the house temp was down to 61... time for HEAT! except when I turned it on... nothing, nada. No heat. The furnace didn't turn on. PROBLEM! so I get the fireplace going, double pajama Rogan, put the Warm Mist Humidifier to work in his room, and text Ryan so he can help when he gets home.

Once he's home he goes to the basement, looks at the furnace, which isn't working, but then notices that our water heater is LEAKING. We don't know what happened exactly, but probably just old age, the bottom of it looks to be rusted through and a little stream of piping hot water is leaking out and traveling about 2 feet to the nearby drain. It's concrete, and the drain is right there, so no real damage... thank goodness. FYI... the plumber didn't go anywhere near our water heater, so it wasn't his fault at all.

Ryan was awesome and went straight to Lowe's to get a new water heater. And then I called a furnace repair man this morning. Hopefully by nightfall our house and water will be warm again.

I'm a Crawling Pro

Fun with the Walker

After many hours of walking Rogan around the house, holding his hands as he walks around our first floor, we finally realized that it was time to get a walker, so that he can go where he pleases, without holding our hands from time to time, and it gives Ryan and I a chance to walk erect, rather than being a hunchback with Rogan. It took him about 30 seconds to figure it out... and then he was off! It doesn't run on carpet, so he has free reign of the kitchen and entryway. He's still working on "steering", but this video is after about 10 minutes of learning what he can do.

A Little Bit More Crawling!

Practice, practice, practice! Getting much better.

A Little Bit of Crawling

It's a work in progress, but he's getting it!
(sorry mom, but my phone is the only thing he goes for consistently... he won't get brain cancer... i take it away right after.)

WE HAVE LIFT OFF!

He did it! He CRAWLED! He saw what he wanted, and got it!

Last night Rogan and I were in his room putting away his clothes and putting his 9m and under clothes in storage. NOTE: the kid is in 18m clothes right now. He was on the floor with a book and some toys. My cell phone was slightly out of his reach. From sitting, he lunges forward and took 3 little baby crawls to get it! I WAS SO EXCITED! Immediately clothes sorting and organization stopped and we started practicing on the floor. I would place him an arms reach from me sitting, and he would come back to me! He did this twice before he got wind of my plan and got mad.

Granted… this crawling was only about 6 inches, but it’s SOMETHING! It’s something other than lunge, get stuck, fall. His legs and arms moved together!!! WOOO!

… we will be practicing again tonight. Hopefully I can get it on video.

Pumpkin Patch

Baby's First Pumpkin... we had a really good time.


... We only got one... weather permitting we'll go back next weekend for more fun!

GO SOMEWHERE!

Rogan has become more and more active. Always wanting to go, climb, move, roll, whatever. If you get within 12 inches of him, you can bet he’ll be working his way up your leg, arm, whatever is closest to him. He’s GREAT at standing. And with support he’ll walk like a champ to whatever he wants… usually it’s Bella or a toy or the tv. But he still can’t crawl. THE WORST PART: HE KNOWS IT!!! And he has learned that the way to move is to stand and walk there with help or be held and carried to the destination. So when there is nothing around him to pull up on or no mom/dad to help him walk to where he wants to go… whining ensues. He has figured out that being on his stomach gets him no-where, so he whines wanting to stand up. He does still attempt to crawl when he’s sitting, he lunges about 12 inches, then get tangled in his legs and falls on his belly. Then he proceeds to kick his legs as forcefully as he can in mid air (think superman)… wanting to move, but, of course, failing. Realizing he’s not moving… more whining. I know once he is able to move on his own he will be WAY more work… but I’m totally looking forward to it.

We broke out the walk ‘n ride last night… he was so happy. It’s a really cool contraption, it kinda looks like a tricycle, but without a seat so he can just walk between the 2 back wheels, holding onto the front for support. But the back 2 wheels can also lock together, creating a seat, so he can sit and push himself (or be pushed). He had so much fun with it last night.

STEPS!!!

When Rogan sees what he wants... he goes for it!

MMM ...TEETHING BISCUIT!!!

Night with Daddy #2

ROGAN'S TEETH!!

He's got his 2 bottom teeth... but they are hard to get a picture of! Normally, we get something like this... the sweetest face ever!!


Then if he's really excited we get this... you can almost see them!!
Must use the finger, to reveal they are in fact THERE!!! SO CUTE!!

Off to Phoenix I Go…

This weekend was great. Ryan worked with his dad in our yard and pulled up a tree. The front of our house looks so much better now. You can actually see it! Rogan did great, playing with Grandad and still attempting, then failing to crawl. He had a couple of battling moments, probably just too tired. The kid plays HARD. If he’s awake he is jumping, stomping, trying to pull up, trying to crawl, or hitting something. WHEW! And 2nd tooth bud appeared yesterday. It’s barely there, but hopefully it won’t cause him as much trouble from now on.

Tomorrow afternoon I leave for Phoenix, AZ, and will be there until Friday afternoon. I’m going for work, it’s the Deutsche Bank High Yield and Leveraged Finance Conference. I’m a late replacement for my boss whose father-in-law just passed away. I’m thrilled that I was their go-to girl in a pinch. And I know that this is definitely a part of my job I need to embrace. Networking is such a big part of finance, so I get to SUIT UP and schmooze with the best of them. So I’m really looking forward to the trip, but dreading being away from home for 3 nights. Ryan and Rogan will have a blast, I’m sure. But the mom/wife side of me feels so guilty for putting all of the house and Rogan duties on Ryan. He is quite a handful when he wants to be. But Ryan tells me they’ll do great (which I know is true), and he’s completely excited to get to play Xbox all night since I won’t be around.

I hope to get some good “tooth” pics of Rogan soon. His 1st is just long enough now that when he smiles just right you can see it.

Rogan is 7 Months Today!

Here are my skills:

I can sit so well and love to chew on my rings!

I can hang out on my tummy and pivot around in a circle...

I can't crawl... yet! COMING SOON!

Swimming and TV

Went to swim lessons with Rogan again last night. After he gets used to the water he has a really good time. We splash, kick, play with squirty toys, and sing songs. It's tons of fun. He smiles at the other kids in class (who are all a little older than him). But I think he really likes it and it's stimulating for him. It's 30 minutes, and not once has he fussed. Though my mom thinks he's too young, I really like going and doing something different with him. It's not like I'm dunking him under water or throwing him off a diving board... we're just playing.

YAY for new TV!!! It's been a long summer without it. And for anyone who knows me even a little, they know that I love love love tv. Rogan goes to sleep around 7, so it's perfect timing to catch primetime TV!! if you haven't watched it, watch/DVR The Middle, Modern Family, and Cougartown tonight on ABC. I will be sitting down with a nice glass of wine and enjoying it tonight.

Today marks the 2 week mark since Rogan got his first tooth... come on tooth number 2!!!

Ryan and Tracey ... the past 4 years

Dating... spring break 2007 in San Antonio

Engagement photos October 2007

Wedding 9/20/2008

And Rogan makes 3!!! June 2010

The Snot Monster

Rogan has had several colds in the past 6 months. I remember his first being pretty bad… looking at my poor 10 week old all stuffed up not being able to communicate “blow!!”. We propped up his crib, ran humidifiers with special baby vicks inserts, and he got over it in time. Since then he has had very mild forms of colds… sniffles, a little cough, but nothing sever.

Then on Friday morning the snot monster came for a visit. How much snot can be in his little (well, not so little) head?!? Friday morning we were all getting ready, Rogan was sitting in the middle of our bed. We heard a sneeze, looked over, and a panel of snot covered his mouth and chin… it was very Sci-Fi, I couldn’t help but smile as Rogan tries to lick it away so he can have a mouth opening again. But ack! So this weekend we made sure to have tissues and wetones on hand at all time.

The kid was a trooper though. We went to Champaign for the Illini game on Saturday, he slept well in the car, and stayed with my mom while we went to the game. Even though I could tell he wasn’t 100%, he was mellow and totally let us cart him around without too much fuss.

We are so lucky to have such a mellow, happy boy. We went to the outlet mall yesterday to get him some fall clothes and a jacket and shoes I can leave at his daycare, and so many people commented about how happy he is. If you smile, he will smile back… plain and simple. My mom had him look at pictures of Ryan and I around her house, and he’d smile when he’d see the picture… he’s also smile when he saw Kara’s picture, or anyone else smiling. It’s his thing.

And today is our 2nd anniversary… and in 3 weeks it will be 4 years since we met… in that time we’ve gotten engaged, Ryan started a new job, we moved to an apt together, got married, bought a house, bought all the stuff that comes with buying a house, and had a baby. We’ve packed a lot of monumental events into a short time period! WHEW! It has certainly kept life exciting. We are so happy to be together, and now are enjoying the calm that has come after all these major events. Time where the three of us can relax and be a family together in our home. Playing with Rogan on the floor, walking around our neighborhood, or enjoying tv/xbox and a beer after he goes to bed. Today especially reminds me how lucky I am, and how great I have it. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Gearing up for the Weekend!

ILL-INI!!! We're heading down to Champaign for the Illini game tomorrow. I'm excited since we haven't been to Champaign since June. My mom is staying with Rogan while Ryan, my dad, and I go to the game. Should be a pretty mellow day. The 2+ hour drive is almost the perfect distance for Rogan to get a good nap without being fussy. THEN... if he goes to sleep on time Ryan and I might catch a late movie, then back to Naperville early Sunday for a day of much needed cleeeeeeaning. Laundry... must do (and put AWAY!!!) laundry.

Not too much is new in Rogan-world... we are moving right along introducing him to all the vegetables, and we'll start fruits really soon. So far we haven't come across anything he won't eat. Peas, green beans, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes... all good! Every day we get closer and closer to crawling, but so far going forward remains a mystery. He is a PRO at turning in circles, though. His new thing at bedtime to get himself comfortable he spins himself so he's facing the opposite way and falls asleep on his blanket, with his legs completely sticking out of the crib where his head should be. It's a tricky task turning him around without waking him... but by then he's usually fast asleep and doesn't mind one bit.

OUR TRIP TO VEGAS

At the Sigfried and Roy Tiger/Dolphin Habitat. We got 5 feet from a Dolphin. Very cool. (BTW this is the only picture of us together... we didn't take many pics on this trip, mostly because the camera was in my purse the whole time, which we lovingly refer to as "the abyss").
At the Tiger habitat at the Mirage... baby white tigers. So cute!
The atrium of our hotel... very soothing when you don't pay attention to the slot machines next to it.

Ah the Venetian... my favorite to look at. And it was right across the street from where we stayed.Took the monorail south to the MGM Grand one morning. The trouble I've found in going to Vegas, especially when you are the parent of a 6 month old... I'm very used to getting up at 5:30am CST... which is 3:30am Las Vegas time... so Ryan and I definitely made the most of our mornings when 90% of the people there were either walking back and hadn't been to bed yet, or fast asleep. I though this expression was better than smiling... don't know why. It was early, and I was in a goofy mood.

ROGAN HAS A TOOTH!

Before we left for vacation on Wednesday, we discovered Rogan's first tooth. It's the bottom left one. Just a little white nub right now. I think he's working pretty hard to cut the other one now, so I think we'll see that one in the next week or so.

We Made It To The Park!!!

Swinging was a great success!!!

TO THE PARK!!

We've had great weather this weekend, and Rogan was being fussy inside... so we decided what a perfect time to head to the park! It's probably a 10 minute walk, to the park at his future elementary school. They have baby swings and little slides, tons of fun for him now and in the future. We got all packed up (yes, mom, he's wearing SPF100), and we headed out...














Apparently Rogan had other plans for this morning... a nap. We realized pulling up to the park, that our child was comatose. Never wake a sleeping baby. So we just turned around and went home. Weather permitting, we'll try again tomorrow.

TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW!

I think he's got it... by george I think he's got it! Two nights in a row now Rogan has slept through the night. He's going to bed earlier than we ideally would want, but it's so are to keep a sleepy baby awake and happy. So he has been going to sleep between 7 and 7:30... we'd like to push it to 8 is possible. Up until Friday, Rogan would wake up, cry, and we would feed him. This is exactly what he wanted, so he would eat for 10 mins (if that) and then go right back to sleep. Then he would wake up at 5 again, cry, and we would move him to the swing... he would be rocked back to sleep and stay there until at least 6.

At his 6 month checkup, we told the doc that he is still not sleeping through the night... I explained his schedule, and he told us what we already knew. Rogan does NOT need to eat in the middle of the night! All people wake up 2-3 times a night, but we roll over and go right back to sleep. Rogan has to learn that when he wakes up, he's safe in his crib, and he needs to roll over and go back to bed. We started that night. No more food.

Each night got persistantly better... we could tell he was making progress, so we stuck with it. There was never a night where he was crying for a long time, and we did go in, patted him on the back, turned his bedtime music on, did what we could to soothe him, we just didn't give him a bottle.

Well the past 2 nights he's slept uniterupted until 5:45am! And even when he wakes up in the morning, he just starts cooing and talking to himself and has a big smile when we come get him. YESS!! NO CRYING! I think he might sleep even longer this weekend, cause I think he can hear when our alarms start going off and that wakes him up.

So excited. Why didn't we do this sooner! Ryan and I are really enjoying our new found sleep. Even though I woke up at 3am last night out of habit, and didnt go back to sleep until 4am... I'm so proud of my little man!

... of course now I've jinxed it, and he'll be up 12 times tonight.

Rogan's Weekend Accomplishment

This weekend Rogan has learned how to lean for what he wants. Now, when I'm holding him and making his bottle, he no longer sits nicely in my arms, but dives forward trying to get at the water, formula, bottle, whatever is there. Looks like from now on he gets to stay in the family room and not make the bottle with me. I'm not a fan of formula all over the kitchen if he does get ahold of it before i can screw the top on.

With this, comes reaching for Ryan and I. SO CUTE! I was holding him, talking to Ryan. Rogan starts leaning toward Ryan, until Ryan finally took him (since he was practically flying like superman in my arms by that point). And later he did the same for me, reaching to switch parents while Ryan was holding him.

He has also become quite the laugher. We love it. Ryan does a dance and sings a Rush song (in a banjo voice) that cracks him up every time. Unfortunately, Ryan will not allow this dance to be recorded. But in the laughing video i posted this weekend, that is what Ryan is doing at first to make him laugh.

Welcome to our blog! It will mostly be about our family... especially Rogan. Hopefully we can keep this as up to date as possible with videos, pics, and stories.