Baby Update

Declan is so adorable right now. He has really changed a lot over the past few weeks.  He is 6 1/2 months old now and decided to learn all sorts of tricks.  He can sit up, roll front to back, back to front, get up on his hands and knees or hands and feet and scoot backwards.  All of this he learned in about 2 weeks!  He also learned to go to bed like a big boy and sleep from 9-7ish every night!  He has stopped nursing and given up his pacifier completely (not that he really took it well to begin with), but he WILL NOT eat baby food and I mean WILL NOT!  We have tried rice cereal, baby oatmeal, baby bananas, sweet potatoes and peas.  It is hilarious to watch his face while he eats because he is so repulsed by the taste/texture that he acts like he is being tortured! He loves to go swimming and be in the stroller and cries when no one is around to play with him.  No sign of teeth yet, but everything goes right into his mouth.  He is incredibly LOUD now, which shocks me because he was always so quiet as a baby that I could hardly hear him cry on the monitor.  I love going to get him in the morning because he usually isn't crying, just playing and talking.  He starts kicking and smiling as soon as I say good morning, even when he can't see my face.  I love it so much!

Helping Dad fix the sprinklers

Rowan is quite the entertainer!  He is one social kid and is not shy at all!  We just got back from Ohio and he said hi to everyone he met!  He also runs to the kids' world at the gym and waves bye to me.  He started going to nursery this month at church because he is 18 months old!  Thank goodness!  It is so nice to only have to entertain him for 1 hour instead of 3!  He loves it and points to the door when we pass by after only two weeks of going.  He knows how to fold his arms to say prayers, so when he wants to leave church or be done with something, he folds his arm to say a prayer.  It is so funny!

He is 100% boy!  Always up to something, eating dirt, rocks, marbles, playing with balls and trucks.  He loves to wear Dave's basketball shoes around the house.  He gets out a pair almost every day, drags them to me so that I can help him put his feet in, and then stomps around the house.  He loves to dance to music and gets mad at me if I try to make him listen to kid songs instead of hip/hop. What a horrible mother!  He loves to read books before bed, and he picks up the book and then backs his little bum into my lap to read, one of my favorite moments of the day.  He always chooses, "Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too?".  When we read this, he must also turn to the penguin page right away.  The other night, he turned to the sheep and said, "see".  I was so excited that I decided to take it one step further and ask what the sheep said and he replied, "Roar."  Okay, not quite there yet I guess.  He says:  Dad, De (dex), Daws ( not just Dawson, but all of the kids are called this), Dog and wuff wuff, vroom, bight (light), woah, and Esh ish (fresh, fish. Taught to him by Uncle James holding him upside down) and what's that?  He babbles like crazy and signs, but the words aren't quite there yet.  Another funny thing that he does:  He goes into my spices/baking supplies in a pull out cabinet next to my stove and takes my vanilla, only my vanilla and never anything else.  He walks around the house shaking it until we finally take it away from him.  How strange.  When he isn't stealing vanilla, he is stealing toothbrushes out of the kids' drawer!  He is even clever enough to bring a step stool with him so that he can reach!