And We Fested...

Nordic Fest, that is. Despite Rogan being sick Wednesday night and Thursday morning, we did make it to Nordic Fest for my dad's side family reunion at Nordic Fest in Decorah, Iowa... here are some highlights...

The Nordic Flags on the Main Street

Nordic Fest is all about the Norwegian food!! Most of which has been a staple in my grandmother's house, so I have grown up with. For Ryan it was a new experience. Who knew pickled herring is served at every meal? Lefse (lef-sa)= Norwegian potato roll that we eat hand over hand with butter. But have no fear, we Norwegians also have regular rolls too, of course. CARBS!! If you wrap a sausage in lefse, you get Varme Polse (Var-ma Poll-sa). We have been doing this at the breakfast table any time we have both ingredients in the house. There was ALWAYS a line for this. But I did manage to get one. (Ryan did not eat it.)
Other foods were Vaffels (Waffles), assorted Norwegian baked goods, and Lingonberry Ice Cream, the berry of Norway. You could also get it as a slushie. And all "nordic fest cocktails" also featured lingonberry juice in some way. It was everywhere.

TIME FOR THE PARADE!!

My Grandmother was the honored Nordic Flag recipient this year. She rode in the front of the parade in her traditional bunad costume...

Behind her followed the "traditional" nordic fest parade crew...

A giant cow...

the vikings...
more vikings...
and of course, the trolls.
TIME TO DRESS UP!!

Rogan wore the toddler outfit that my two cousins wore almost 25 years ago... luckily we were able to get them both dressed up at the same time for some pictures.

Thanks to my Aunt for sending it to us.

Ryan got in the Nordic spirit... he bought this awesome Norway shirt at the gift shop, and got several compliments and queries about where to get it. By the end of the weekend i think 1 in 5 guys had this shirt below...

Quite a handsome pair I have...

NORWAY PRIDE!

And as a fun blast from the past... here I am, all dressed up almost 20 years ago.


In addition to food and parade festing we also partook in some of the activities Nordic fest and the town of Decorah had to offer...

Ryan and my dad did the Kanoelopet... a canoe race, tipped over, and got to cool off in the river.

Ryan and I did the Elvelopet... a 5k foot race... here's proof... Ryan beat me.
Special thanks to my mom, who watched Rogan while we ran/walked...

Here is Rogan showing his support... "good job, Dad."

She also watched him one night so we could go out a bit and pack up. She was a very much appreciated third pair of hands. And they are best buds.

And then it was time to go home! But not before a few spins on the luggage carrier...

Not a baby... Not yet a big boy

So many times I'm reminded about how big Rogan is...
I am not your baby anymore, mommy. I can get my shoes, say and point to what I want, run around, make you laugh, play on the ipad, oh, and I like cars. Not just cars but also Disney Cars... And I will stop at every poster of Cars to say "I want that". I love to push cars and say vroom vroom!

With this in mind I have been wanting to add more decor to Rogans room, so I bought several car items to hang on his wall, and some new sheets that have cars, too.

Other times he looks so small, still mommy's little one.
I still need your help, mommy. I can't quite use a spoon, I need your hand when I step up and down, I get very frustrated when I can't express what I want, I still fall down, cry, and smile ear to ear when I see you. I'm learning new things every day.

Before Rogan was born we chose adorable animal bedding and decor, I still love it. So does he. So even though cars have entered the picture, the animals are not exiting. I got more! We have his bedding, and then 3 wall hangings hanging above the changing table. Now, with the wall hangings are wall stickers of the same animals acting as a faux border around that side of the room. The other large wall has a quilt rack and will also have a small car hanging and wall stickers of cars on a track.

I love that his room is becoming more HIM. He loves animals, and now being able to bring in cars is great. It was a reason I left it basic until now. It's not just what I wanted, it's what my son likes.

Kudos to Ryan!!

I took Rogan to Champaign for a day this past weekend. We had a great time playing with my family, we went to Prairie Farm, and climbing on unexplored furniture.

We were gone a little over 24 hours, in that time Ryan was able to:

Get rid of all the weeds in the front yard and back patio landscape
Trim our front bushes
Bag up all above weeds and trimmings
Organize our garage... hanging his bike and Rogan's outside toys
Blew out the garage of all dust, dirt, and leaves. It's SO CLEAN NOW!
Installed 2 gates at the top of our staircases so Rogan can run down the hall without us
Hung Rogan's quilt rack we got from my parents for Christmas
Did the dishes
and washed our sheets

SUCH A HELPFUL HUSBAND!!

hopefully he also got to relax, play some World of Warcraft (yes, he's still playing), and sleep in on Sunday without a baby monitor next to his head.

Rogan and I ended up sleeping in the same bed most of the night. He woke up at midnight, and in a crib he's not used to I could tell from his fussing he wasn't going to go back to sleep easily...

So he and I snuggled the rest of the night. I got crappy sleep, but it was worth it. He's always been an independent sleeper. He likes you to put him down so he can sleep. Rarely will he fall asleep ON me unless he has no other choice. I've only slept with him once before around christmas, so its nice to have my little man next to me hitting me in the face for a change. :) Even us being in the same bed, he was still an independent sleeper. His snuggling is limited to rolling away from you and pressing his back against you, or propping his legs up on your body. haha. funny kid.

4 Wheelin'

I got this for Rogan a few weeks back... he loves stuff that moves, loves riding on stuff, pushing stuff, etc. Ryan and I before this new toys push him everywhere when he rides, since he's too young to pedal. I thought this was a great idea, AND they make them starting at 12m+... I got Rogan one that is for 18m+, but I really dont see any major differences between any of them. They all go about the same speed and use a push button on the handle to go. Once you graduate to the age 3+ 4 wheelers they use a foot pedal instead... we arent quite ready for that.

BUT... this has been sitting in our garage for 3 weeks, unused. Up until today he would push the button, but while he was safely standing next to it, never on it. We didn't force it... and today he decided he was ready to ride...

And I'm the Lobster!

- the lobster???
-- not just any lobster, first lobster.
- there was more than one lobster at the birth of jesus?
-- duh...

One of my favorite quotes from a Christmas holiday movie classic, Love Actually.

... I say this because Ryan was a lobster Tuesday after his sight visit, and now I'm also one after a day downtown at a cubs event with my NYC broker...

Boo. Lathering the aloe tonight.

Well that's new...

Rogan didn't want to take a bath tonight. He was exhausted, hadn't taken an afternoon nap, and of course, teething. Ryan put him in the bath and it sounded like he was being tortured! Trust me, the water was the perfect temp if anyone is thinking that. No, he just didn't want to be in there. I ran up, and I got in the bath... In my clothes, a mom does what she needs to. He clung to me so tight, definitely wanting out.

When he realized I wasn't getting him out, he moved onto wanting Ryan. Ryan got a towel and got him out. I hung out in the bath while Rogan was getting dried off, his head firmly on ryan's shoulder. So cute.

So Rogan got a rinse tonight... And we didn't brush his teeth. Boo. As much as he was crying I didn't have the heart to brush his teeth, he just wanted his crib. We will try again tomorrow.

Hurry up teeth.

Really... again?!?

my poor baby... well, I guess he's not really a baby anymore.

Sunday Rogan started teething again... ugh. He has 16 teeth... and has had them all for at least 2 months... but now, apparently 2 year molars are starting to make their way to the surface. WHAT?!?! He's 16 months... um... I can do the math... that's 4 months earlier than my toddler book says is "early". "Expect 2 year molars to appear between 20-28 months"... I WANT A REFUND!! More importantly, I wanted Rogan (and us) to get a little more relief from teething. We were really enjoying our happy boy who isn't working on any more teeth. boo.

Rogan has done awesome with his first 16 teeth. We had the common drool, fussiness, chewing on the fingers etc, but these seem to be worse.

This time we have a little drool, diareah, fussiness, and refusing to eat, and refusing to drink occasionally. Refusing food has never happened before. I wasn't sure if it was a bug or teething... but his symptoms match teething, he doesn't have a fever, and most of the time he is acting perfectly fine. If he were sick he'd be sick consistently. Rather than fussing in and out. At least that's my opinion.

This morning he woke up early, and wasn't happy. I got him and brought him down for breakfast and he starts pulling on his cheek. So that sealed the deal for me. Teething it is! Then, bless his heart, he starts crying! Rogan has 2 different cries. One cry when he wants something, doesn't get his way, or is mad... this cry we hear most. Then there is his sad/scared cry, which comes with the cutest pout face that will melt anyone's heart. That's what we had this morning. The sad cry. My poor baby.

We gave him some tylenol to try to take the edge off. After 20 minutes or so he let me feed him half a package of oatmeal and drank his milk. Hopefully they come in fast!

Our Favorite Sport!!

Rogan has always loved the baby basketball toy we have here for him. And he loves carrying balls and throwing them. Yesterday we went to a play place after work where they had a little bball hoop. It was higher than he was, so I lifted him up over and over to dunk the ball. He was hooked. This morning we took a family trip to Toys R Us... I think we chose well.

Check out the video at the bottom of our little shooter!

MONKEY!!

we knew this day would come.

Rogan woke up this morning, and was talking to himself in his crib which was usual. He was saying "wa ouuuuu" (want out), "wa dooooow" (want down), but he wasn't fussing and I knew Ryan would be done getting ready soon, so I gathered my stuff and started heading out the door.

Two feet from the door I hear "thump thump thump" on Rogan's door... I look up, and see his doornob wiggling (we keep his door closed at night). all I think is... "oh, crap."

I drop my stuff, go up there, open the door (there have been several more bangs as I walk up there), and there's my little man, all smiles, and very proud of himself. He runs out of the room and laughs. well, darn it.

I take him into our bedroom and sit with him while Ryan finishes shaving... my head is still spinning a little bit on what our next move should be.

Toddler bed? he's not even 17 months!! will he keep doing it? am I 100% positive his room is safe? can he open the door? I need to go buy more gates.

From what I've read this isn't cause for panic or immediate change. If he continues to climb out this week we will take off the front crib rail and replace it with a 6 inch guard rail so he can get in and out of bed, but won't roll off in his sleep.

I'm not so sure we are ready for this change. But from what I've read the other option is putting a net over the crib... and that's not my style. So maybe a toddler bed is in our near future. eeek!