Rowen managed to crawl head-first out of his crib, and didn't learn from his injuries. SO, about six weeks ago, I was forced to make his bed a cage. The best part is that he LOVES it. Now that he can't get out, how long can I resonably keep him as a crib dweller? Five years? Ten?

Ah yes, it finally happened. Rowen got a haircut. No, I didn't want to do it. Yes, he was starting to look like a girl. He didn't seem to mind it, though he didn't want to sit still long enough for us to actually cut it straight across the back. Dare I say, he looks even more cute with his hair cut.

A Holiday Summary (yes, the title is just as exciting as the post)

What a month it has been! We have enjoyed lots and lots of fun, and a little bit of misery.

In the "fun" category:

1. To celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, I took Row on a road trip to Phoenix. We had a great time and a HUGE thank you to Nathan who watched the kids and changed dirty diapers so that we could do some shopping. It had been a very, very long time that I had been to the mall to shop without a stroller and diaper bag. I forgot how fun shopping could be when you are not worrying about little hands touching and potentially breaking everything. We drove all by ourselves this time. Row didn't sleep quite as much as I'd hoped, so we sang the ABCs over and over again, and when that didn't work, Row watched "Yo Gaba Gaba" from my iphone the rest of the trip. The best part of this trip was the price of gas!! It made the road trip worth it again.


2. When we returned from Arizona, cousin Soren and his mom and dad came to visit us of for the actual Thanksgiving holiday. We had everyone over to the house for Thanksgiving for our first (and only) meal on our new (inherited) dining room table. I was surprised at how much I liked having everyone around and shocked at how much work it was to cook and clean-up dinner. Keep in mind and I had a lot of help and I was still completely exasted. Jon really did most of the cooking, and Darcie even did almost all of the dishes. My hat is officially off to my mom who has cooked and cleaned virtually every holiday meal for the last 40-something years.

3. Just after Christmas we somehow ended up purchasing a year-long pass to our local Lawrence Welk Resort. I know how it sounds, but it is actually a beautiful place and we have full use of the facilities, pools, waterslides, clubhouses, and all the other resorty stuff. I'll post more about this later. It really needs its own post.

4. We also made our way to the San Diego Wild Animal Park for a day of fun. Cousin Soren and his parents met up with us at the park, and we had a guest appearance from my brother who was visiting from Salt Lake for a couple of days.


Misery Category

All of the holiday fun left Rowen with an ear infection; actually a double ear infection. He's never really been sick, so this was a new experience for me. We were up all night with a fever, and ended up watching a lot of Yo Gaba Gaba (again) all through the night. The worst part of this whole situation was that Jon was out of town for a couple of days, and I was getting ready to start teaching in a new program at my same school, but different students. I ended up letting Row sleep in my bed, which worked out well for him, but terrible for me. The next day I took him to the doctor and we were given an antibiotic which seemed to help him feel better right away.

48 hours later
I noticed that Row was starting to look splochy and red, and bumpy. So, he was feeling better, but looking way worse. Apparantly Rowie is allergic to amoxicillian. We had to take him off of the antibiotic and get him a different one which seemed to work quickly. Row was back to his old self in just a few days.


I guess that sums up the holidays. We had a fabulous month (minus the sickness) and can't wait for our next break. I am already planning our next road trip to Arizona; this time it might include the Grand Canyon.

Adventures in the Desert

When we moved out here I was a little worried about finding fun things to do. We don't live completely in the middle of nowhere, but I didn't figure there would be such a wealth of things for kids to do. Rowen began his run of fun activities by going trick-or-treating for the first time on Halloween. Okay, the trick-or-treating was not an activity exclusive to the desert dwellers, but it was still local and fun.


We visited the neighborhood fire station where Row could see the huge, red trucks up close; but more importantly he could touch the wheels and exclaim, "Ohhhhhhhh!" As for me, I got to see the firemen up close... a win for everyone ;-)



We also paid a visit to the local train museum where we spent a "Day Out with Thomas". That's Thomas, as in Thomas the Tank Engine. Rowen loves trains (along with anything on wheels that moves) so this was a perfect day out for all of us. Rowen got to run crazy, climb on tractors, push buttons, run through a maze, watch Bob the Builder put on a show, and take a ride on a real train (a commuter train from the 1960's). The train was pulled by a life size Thomas. It was actually quite cute. I expected some kind of lame imitation or facade for the Thomas train, but as far as I could see it was an actual engine painted blue and equipped with the Thomas face. Rowen was half asleep by the time we got a good look at Thomas, but I enjoyed it.



If you ever make it out to the desert, I'll be happy to take you the train museum so you can experience it yourself. Thomas isn't always there, and I suspect that on other days the museum will be much less crowded. It was a great day out for all of us! Thanks grandma for watching the newspaper and discovering both of these events. Next stop, Camp Snoopy.

Yellow?

Row's favorite new word.





Other words that we hear constantly:

Papa
Dada
Mama
Jade
Car-Car
Glasses
Truck
Dog
Keys
Ice
Thank you
Apple
Cheese
Wa-Wa
No?

He says a lot of other things too, but only Row knows what is he saying. He NEVER stops talking. Ever.

RIP Dodgers Season 2008

There are no words to describe the disappointment that we feel. All I can say is, "Go, Rays!"

Pumpkin Patch 2008

Fall has finally come to the desert, and while it's still 75 degrees, we are very pleased that it no longer 110 degrees. We actually had to wear long pants and sweatshirts to the pumpkin patch, which made us feel like we were really out in the elements. Halloween is just around the corner... just wait until you see Row's costume.