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.