Oscar Stew

Since the older kids have been hogging the blog lately, I think it is time for a post dedicated to Rowan. Here are the highlights from the last few weeks.

One week old, posing for yet another one of Mama’s crazy ideas…

Here she is at two weeks old just lookin’ around all bright-eyed and bushy tailed.

Three weeks old, intently staring at a sheet of contrasty scrapbook paper. Yep, she is getting smarter by the minute!

At three and a half weeks she was finally able to take a real bath. Her “straw” was hanging on for dear life. (When I was pregnant, I was trying to figure out how to explain to Drew and Brinley what the umbilical cord was and how it put food in her tummy, and “straw” was the only way I could relate it to them.)

Four weeks old, clutching two of her favorite things, her teddy and her binky.

She’s starting to get a little bit of an attitude…this is how she feels about Mama’s photoshoots.

This is what happens when you put her down.

Five weeks old, sleeping peacefully with a little grin on her face.

Five and a half weeks old, chillin’ in a beanbag in the kitchen, watching the hustle and bustle around her.

Exactly six weeks old, still loving the swaddle. The only way we can get a decent nap out of her.

She has started to smile, but I haven’t been fast enough with the camera yet! She pulls them out when you least expect it, and likes to tease me when she knows I’m ready…little stinker!

Mmmm…tasty!

And finally, her first time laying on the grass. I think she’s saying “Why did you do this to me?!” Yeah, she wasn’t too thrilled about it.

She is a big bundle of fun, but very needy. I think reflux is the contributing problem to not being able to put her down. She sleeps well at night and tolerates her siblings and the crazy ways they show their affection. She is starting to lose the wrinkly newborn look. Her face and limbs are filling out and her stork bites are starting to fade.  She loves to be up high so she can look around and hates to be left in a room alone.  She burps like a dude. She loves bath time, hates being dried off and dressed. She loves diaper changes, but watch out when you hear the thunder from down under – she can fill a diaper like nobody’s business!

I can’t believe she has been with us for six weeks. Time flies when you are having fun!

Looking through all the pictures I’ve taken in the last week made me I wish I could be young and carefree again. Kids can find fun in just about anything.

Don’t you wish you could still get away with a hairdo like this?

Remember when seeing a tractor outside the car window was the coolest thing ever?

Just getting out of the car and waving would totally make your day. Especially when the tractor driver waves back and does a few fancy tractor tricks to show off.

Just seeing all those rows of wheat was enough to get you excited.

And spotting a parked combine on the side of the road was worthy of jumping up and down. repeatedly.

Do you remember what running through the sprinklers feels like?

She doesn’t care how well her swimsuit fits, or if her mascara is running. Just good ole fashioned fun. nothin’ beats that.

Remember when your brother was your whole world?

And your sister was your best friend?

And something as simple as a frozen gogurt tube was worth begging for.

How would it be to have your biggest stressor be mastering the almighty “e.”

Keep trying…

Almost got it!

How about trying to imitate everything he did, your hero, your older brother…

Remember when changing a diaper was something to get excited about?

I feel so lucky that I get to spend my days watching these two find joy in the simplest things. I am glad we are given a second chance to see things through the eyes of a child, and this time appreciate things from a different perspective.

We took the kids to the dentist today. I am ashamed to admit that this was their first visit to to the tooth doctor.

Brinley was a champ. She laid down on the bench and the assistant went right to work “tickling” her teeth.

She flashed big smile after her teeth were clean because everyone told her that her teeth were “shiny” now.

Drew on the other hand, was completely falling apart just watching Brinley take her turn. His appointment started out with super scary X-rays. That involved being alone while wearing the lead vest, biting the plastic chip, and attempting to stay still as the “camera” took pictures of his teeth. He was supposed to have four pics, but was way too freaked out after just one…

We tried to calmly explain everything and let him touch all the tools. He decided that touching them with his fingers was one thing, putting them in his mouth was another. No way, no how.

We finally convinced him to let the dental assistant tickle one tooth  just to see what it felt like, and so the teeth cleaning began. In a full upright position, of course. Getting him to lay down was asking WAY too much.

Half way through he decided it wasn’t too bad and laid down on the bench. He actually cracked a smile or two when they squirted his mouth with water.

Neither one of the kids had any cavities – score! We were able to see Drew’s upper adult teeth on his one x-ray (man those suckers are HUGE!), and they told us that his baby teeth were starting to get wiggly. I’m looking forward to toothless grins, but I am a little afraid of the buck-teeth that might be taking their place!