Rogan's 2 Year Old Stats

First, he serenaded the entire waiting room at the Dr.'s office with the ABC's... twice! what a little ham. He loves to perform, and loves to get praise for it. He was very proud of himself. He also enjoyed bouncing from one chair to another while we waited for our turn.

Weight: 29lbs 4oz... 70%ile
Height: 36" ... 90%ile

So he is right on track. He will be tall like Ryan, I think.

He was NOT a fan of the exam room. He wanted out and to run around. And he was very upset he wasn't getting his way. In my opinion the nurses and Dr were a little slower than normal, causing a longer wait, but it wouldn't have helped much if they were faster.

Rogan decided to pout, so he buried his face in my shoulder and stayed there. No singing for the Dr. No counting. No talking! The only thing he said was "i want to go that way", pointing to the door. oh well.

We confirmed he's healthy, and we have known for a while that he's very smart. He's talking at a 3 year old level. And the skills he knows, the entire ABC's, counting to 15, and some colors, shapes, etc are all 3 year old milestones. Go Rogan Go!

Jam Session Birthday Weekend

Baby #2 Update

He had his first "growth ultrasound" today to make sure everything is still on track. The tech and on mentioned me as being in my third trimester, and I totally forgot I was! Wow it's going fast.

But baby is great, about 3lbs 8oz, measuring on track with how Rogan was when I was pregnant with him. So we keep on keeping on...

Clever Boy

remember in Jurassic Park, where the park worker is hunting the velociraptors that escaped, and when he realized he's been hunted, and is about to be eaten he says, "clever girl", in this awesome british accent. That's how I'm saying the above title.

Rogan slept all night last night. YAY! though he refused to go to sleep for Ryan, who tried for an HOUR with no success starting at 8pm. I went up to take a turn at 9pm, thinking if I was Ryan I'd be about at the end of my rope (though he says he was fine), and he was fast asleep for me in 15 mins. He's definitely being a mama's boy right now. But I'm glad he went to bed, regardless.

He woke up at 5:07am... not cool! I tried to go in his room and get him to go back to bed. He wasn't having it. Instead he was out in the hall saying... "mommy?? glasses?? please??"

This is HILARIOUS to me. Because before we go downstairs in the morning I always say "ok, hang on, I have to get my glasses". His response is always "yay!! glasses!!", knowing that this means I'm awake and he's allowed to be awake too. So Rogan begging me to get my glasses this morning was just too clever. He was trying a different tact. Not the usual "i want gabba/blue/oso/mickey", or "i want juice", or "i want to go down there" (this being his go-to phrase). Now he realized that before any of those requests can be answered... glasses must be gotten. haha.

clever boy. at least he says please.

yawn.

oh Pinterest...

Pinterest and pregnancy... it should be illegal. When I was pregnant with Rogan, I wanted to do stuff around the house, but didn't know where to start.

Now, thanks to Pinterest, I not only have a starting point, but many, MANY ideas I want to do. And they are all organized on my "craft board" on Pinterest. Without it, my house would not have as many decorations, my wallet would have more money, and my husband wouldn't be rolling his eyes because I started another sentence with "so I saw on pinterest today...".

Projects:

That I want to start:
too many to name.

In the works:
first floor guest bath new decor
pictures on back staircase
wall hanging in upstairs hallway

Failed:
transferring a picture onto a canvas... not as easy as it looks, folks.

Finished:
Family wall planner
and new tonight, our living room wall decor. check it out! the vaulted wall is not empty anymore!


This project was made using 8 8x10 wood frames, 8 pieces of scrapbook paper, and a "there's no place like home" wall sticker.

Thanks PINTEREST!!

No More Crib!

Rogan officially has gotten rid of his crib, and as of Saturday night is sleeping in a full bed. Saturday afternoon, with Rogan's "help" (we wanted him to see what was happening and explain it to him), Ryan broke down the crib and we moved it into the other bedroom, what will be Baby #2's room, and moved the guest bed in for Rogan. He was very excited about his new bed. He and I went out to search for new "big boy" bedding.

So far it's been really good. And improvement from the open crib, since I can lay down with him. This was he goes right back to sleep, instead of whining that I'm not as close to him as he'd like. So what used to take 20 minutes+ in the middle of the night with me uncomfortable the whole time, now takes 5 minutes because I lay down next to him and he goes right back to sleep instantly and then I can sneak away. And I'm COMFORTABLE!! I'm laying right next to my big boy, and we are snuggled and cosy, it's awesome. So he still comes in to get me in the middle of the night. But (for now) there's no crying or fussing. It's a very calm and relaxed night in our house, which is what I want. I don't want the night to turn into something he's ever scared of or dreads because we aren't there. So I will do what he needs as long as he needs it. It's really not too much of a chore.

Tonight I will try to get a picture of Rogan in his new bed, with his new Cars sheets!!

Noodles & Co Penne Rosa ... AT HOME!!

I love the penna rosa at Noodles & Co. It's the best sauce, a little spicy, and great flavor. Top it with shrimp and I'm a very happy girl. But paying $7 for a bowl of pasta!?!? ugh. If I'm going out for pasta, I'd like it to either be really fancy, or have endless salad and breadsticks with it. So last night, I outsmarted Noodles & Co. Penna rosa at home, ready, go!

Step 1: Buy the SAUCE at Noodles & Co. I've tried to replicate it. In my opinion it can't be done. Stop trying. Anything I buy from the store will be just as un-homemade as what I buy at Noodles, so I went straight to the source. No, I don't want pasta or meat or veggies, I would like some sides of sauce!

Sides of sauce at Noodles cost $1 each. I bought 5 for 1lb of pasta, and I think it was a good ratio. Up it if you like more sauce.

So, sauce is done! for $5.00!!

extra ingredients:

Sliced mushrooms: $2

bunch of baby spinach: $1.50

1lb whole wheat penne: $1.50

shredded cheese of your choice... we used asiago.

meat of your choice... we used chicken that night, the pre-cooked breast cut into strips in the freezer section are great for this.

Without meat or cheese, this meal is $10!! Considering I was paying 70% of that for 20% (or less) of a portion, I'm pretty happy about that.

So to put it all together:

Boil pasta, while pasta is boiling sautee mushrooms until tender in a Tbsp of butter and Tbsp olive oil, add spinach leaves to wilt. Add meat (frozen is fine, it will thaw in the sauce), and sauce and bring to a simmer. When pasta is almost done ladle about 1/4-1/2 cup of pasta water into sauce to thin it out. Drain pasta just shy of done. Combine pasta and thinned sauce and heat over medium heat to let pasta finish cooking in the sauce. Sauce with thicken in this process. Sprinkle with your favorite cheese and EAT!!!

Note: Rogan wasn't a fan, but I reserved a few plain noodles for him with Ragu and he was a happy camper. :)

This meal fed Ryan and I for dinner, then ample leftovers for another dinner or lunches to take to work.

Appreciating Rogan

Sometimes this is easy, and sometimes this is hard. I'm sure many people can relate. We live with a very stubborn, very smart, and very cute (most of the time) almost 2-year old. This means:

He will throw fits

He will insist on having things his way. -mommy i want your hand HERE!!!

He will do things on his terms -rogan do you want a blankie? -no, i want a blankie. -ok

He will respond NO before you finish the question, then think about it, then give you the real answer.

He will come get you in the middle of the night.

The last one is what I've been struggling with for the past month. What to do, how to handle him, and trying to do what's best for him in the long run. And there are no clear answers out there.

We are not letting Rogan sleep in our bed, so we take him back to his bed. Occasionally I've tried to lay with him in the guest bed (since he wants to sleep ON ME), but more and more he wants to be in his room. Which is GREAT!! We have been trying to get him attached to his room, so it's our own doing. But I cannot lay in the toddler bed with him, so either we end up on the floor, in the chair, swaying, or me leaning uncomfortably over him.

Last night it took 2 hours for him to go to sleep again. and he threw in a fit in the middle to keep things interesting. No Rogan, you do not get to go downstairs for juice in the middle of the night. If you are thirsty, here is a drink of water. Yelling, crying, and hitting ensued. But eventually he took a drink of water, calmed down, and was back in bed. Though I left too quickly and he got up 60 seconds after I left, and we started all over. This time no fit, and I stayed to make sure he was passed out. So I crawled back into bed at 4:40am. My alarm went off at 5:30am, and I'm a little sluggish today. The hot shower I took was amazing. Just me, the water, and a calming surrounding. And as I got ready and headed out the door he was still asleep. I haven't heard from Ryan yet this morning... I should soon. I'm hoping he slept for a while to catch up.

So in the 2 hours of quality time last night, while I wasn't HAPPY about it, I had some time to ponder the situation we are in. What it came down to was Rogan just wants to be near me. And I'm becoming ok with that. We taught him as an infant to self soothe and he cried in the middle of the night because he didn't get a bottle, but it was 3 nights and then he slept through great. Do we do that now? how so? lock his door? gate it? hmm, I dont like either of those options. I'd rather put him back in bed, stay for a few minutes to make sure he's good to go, and leave. Of course a few minutes last night was 2 hours. But eventually he will get the point. We are also trying to back up a little each night so we are not right with him, but still in the room. Eventually the goal is to be out of the room. But I know we are a little away from that.

So we have some sleepless nights in the future... I'm sleeping less now than I did when he was an infant! But I think he needs this, and eventually he will sleep all night. And eventually I'm sure I will miss these 2:30am cuddles.