Boy Oh Boyers

Last week Rowan got a cold. After thinking it was just allergies (he had no fever and otherwise seemed to feel fine), we found out otherwise since Tom, Kayla, Ander, and I soon wound up with apparently the cold Rowan had. Tom and I are pretty much back to normal now, but Rowan got worse yesterday and this morning was lethargic and cranky. I called the doctor as soon as they opened, and we drove down for the first available appointment which thankfully was at 9:30. It turns out he has a sinus infection, a not-too-uncommon secondary complication to the common cold. He's been started on his first course of antibiotics (wait, that's not true...he got them about 5 hours before he was born because I got them through my IV when I was in labor!) Anyway, thankfully Rowan drinks the bubble gum flavored amoxicillin without even a flinch. He's soundly sleeping now, and we believe he'll have improved appreciably by tomorrow. Here's a glance at one of his I'm-too-sick-to-move moments today. We spent lots of time cuddling, and the usual limit of 20 minutes of television per day was lifted just since he was so sick. We watched two episodes of Blue's Clues, one Wiggles, and the animated short film "Boundin'", which came with the DVD of The Incredibles. (I *highly* recommend that everyone watch "Boundin'" and show it to your children frequently. I know I will! Too many of us have a "pink kink in our think". And, oh yeah, it's nice to know there are jackelopes around.)

Well, there are several pieces of news to report. First, Rowan has made an excellent recovery after the first two days of antibiotics. He is back to his usual self today, and we've made it the whole day without needing a single tissue. He has been in an absolutely excellent mood, and it seems obvious he's relishing the absence of sinus headache and overall yuckiness.

I, on the other hand, have gotten a new round of yuckiness. Last night just before bed I started feeling very achy and stuffy, and I took my temperature and sure enough I had a fever. It's a low-grade one, and my symptoms are congestion, coughing, and achiness, so it's nothing too serious...but needless to say as frequently as I've been sick lately, it's becoming *beyond* frustrating to have my time snatched away by little virus after virus. They're going around here, though; in fact, when we took Rowan to the doctor for his sinus infection the pediatrician all but insisted we get his flu shot that same day to protect him early. All this germ talk is, of course, related to the next piece of news.

Rowan visited his preschool yesterday. He starts this coming Tuesday and will attend every Tuesday and Thursday all day. His teachers are both extremely nice, and he's in a small classroom (only seven students) who all seem happy and well-adjusted to their environment. Yesterday when we visited at 3pm they were just sitting down for their afternoon snack, and Rowan had a place reserved at the table just for him. He knew just what to do, of course! He doesn't often meet a snack he doesn't know how to handle. :-)

After the snack, it was time to go outside to the toddler's playground where Rowan's class joined the adjacent class of toddlers. He loved the playground! You can't see it in this photo, but there's a perfect toddler-sized play area with a little slide, steps, a ramp...he had a great time! In this picture, the teacher was blowing bubbles and Rowan was trying to grab them.

Yesterday Rowan went to his first day of preschool. After getting his things loaded into his cubby and leaving my little note on his spot of the bulletin board, I kissed him goodbye and watched him quietly follow the teacher into the group of playing children. He didn't cry when I left, and he also wasn't jumping with excitement -- it was clear he was just making sense of the whole situation, and I knew he would do fine. Needless to say I got in the car and finally allowed myself to cry about it, feeling a wide range of emotions including fear about leaving him with people I didn't personally know, shock that time has gone by so quickly that I've dropped him off in a preschool where he will talk, run, sing, and play like a little boy, guilt that I am not the typical stay-at-home mom, relief that we found a great preschool where Tom and I feel confident Rowan will thrive, and -- when I saw another mom walking through the parking lot to drop off her newborn -- a great sense of appreciation for how blessed we are to have been able to wait until Rowan is so alert, playful, and aware that he can really benefit from the preschool experience.

Naturally I kept my cell phone within sight all day, but (as expected, of course) nobody called from the school to ask questions or report problems. The principal had invited me to call during the day and be patched back to Rowan's room to see how he was doing, but I resisted the urge to do that because not only did I not want to indulge my unfounded, irrational concerns, I also didn't want to take the teachers away from the other children when they were in the middle of something. When I arrived in the afternoon to pick him up, Rowan was outside at recess holding onto the teacher's leg. Both teachers reported that Rowan had been a bit fussy in the morning before the first snack, but after that he adjusted quickly and played with all the new toys, exploring the room from corner to corner. He took a very nice 1.5 hour nap, and ate his meals and snacks quite well. From the little day-summary sheet I received, it looks like he ate his lunch so well that he got refills on pears and green beans! Apparently he was a little hesitant about being touched by the other children, but otherwise they said his day was much closer to a seasoned class member than a first-timer.

It's been a long time since I've uploaded a video of Rowan. He's doing so much now, including this unexpected game of "Take this nut, Mommy. Nah, just kidding!"

Over the weekend, Rowan and I took our first overnight camping trip. Daddy opted not to join us in the great outdoors, preferring instead to get some things done around the house and enjoy his own relaxation time (namely watching a movie, a luxury we rarely get nowadays). Our camping venue was a lovely campground in the state park near our house, and the camping party consisted of Rowan, Uncle Tim, August, and myself. We arrived Saturday afternoon and set up the tents, then took a beautiful nature trail walk. August made grilled tuna, potatoes, and corn for dinner. Rowan ate an entire ear of corn himself (a treat we paid for in diapers the next day)! Everything was new and different for Rowan: the campfire was a source of fascination, sitting in his own baby-sized canvas folding chair was a real adventure, and going to sleep in a sleeping bag was...well...

Bedtime was the biggest source of curiosity for me. I would say "concern" there, but I wasn't actually worried that Rowan wouldn't go to sleep in the tent. I just knew that I didn't want to go to bed quite so early (when there were s'mores to be made, after all!), and I knew Rowan wouldn't be inclined to stay in his sleeping bag once I left the tent. We put on his pajamas, read the goodnight book, and then I zipped him in the sleeping bag and left the tent, zipping the door on my way out. I heard Rowan get up, walk over to the tent door, reach into his box of books, get out a few things, and then sit down. He didn't make any noise after that (at least not that I noticed), and I figured chances were he fell asleep right on the tent floor next to the door. When I went back in to check on him a little while later, I was amused and impressed to find that Rowan had crawled into the hood of my sleeping bag, curled up with his butt and legs nice and warm, and gone to sleep on his stomach. I would have taken his picture, but the moonlight wasn't bright enough and I didn't have the heart to subject him to the camera flash when he was so soundly asleep. Needless to say, later when I needed to get in my sleeping bag Rowan was none too happy to be moved from his toasty warm nest. He went back to sleep quickly, though, and except for a crying interlude in the middle of the night when we had to change a wet diaper that had soaked his pajamas, he rested peacefully until the blissfully near-sunrise time of 6:15am. :-)

For those of you who are wondering how I found a sleeping bag in Rowan's size, I'd like to proudly report a sleeping bag sizing trick that worked perfectly: I bought a regular youth-size sleeping bag (well, it's called that, but at 68" long it's plenty big for me to sleep in!), but of course during the night Rowan would have scooted down deep into the bag, potentially not a safe place for him to be. To prevent that, I tied a short rope around the sleeping bag, like you'd wrap a pigtail in hair. That cinched off the bag to make it just the right length for Rowan, and amazingly all through the night he stayed in the perfect position: on his back, head comfortably surrounded by the warm sleeping bag hood.

I know what position he slept in because, unlike Rowan, I didn't do much sleeping at all. This was due in part to how much I enjoy the sounds of the outdoors: I laid in the tent and just listened. It was also due to the fact that I couldn't quite get comfortable in my sleeping bag (big shocker there), not to mention that I almost never sleep in the same room as Rowan and he does lots of little squeaks, twitches, snores, and groans while he's snoozing. Still, as we were lying there in the tent side by side, a little moonlight was filtering through the tent so I could see the outline of Rowan's pale face against his cocoon-like sleeping bag. I could see his chest rise and fall, and hear the air moving with each of his breaths. I was amazed at how he had trusted me to take him into this strange, new experience without a moment of hesitation or fear. I was also shocked at the feeling of lying there next to my child, not my baby, in a tent in the forest. Rowan knows what a campfire is now, and he can show you how to step into the tent without falling on the threshold. His awareness and understanding is growing so quickly. In that moment, clad in sleeping bags with the cool air on our faces, I felt more connected than ever to Rowan as he has been, as he is, and how I imagine he will be. I replayed glimpses of when he was a newborn, nursing in the rocking chair in the middle of the night. I imagined what he will be like a few years from now, even more independent and inquisitive. Most of all, though, I felt the now-familiar feeling I've expressed before: that moment was utterly precious, and we didn't miss it. We lived it. I was thankful.

We went to the State Fair over the weekend with Josh, Leah, and Karis. Rowan enjoyed all the sights and sounds, and of course, he enjoyed the tastes! Here's a little glimpse, and for all the State Fair photos, visit our Picasa album.

It's hilarious to be writing this little chunk of news right now, when Rowan already talks and runs and climbs stairs and throws the occasional temper tantrum about getting his teeth brushed or about having to put away his blocks.

But, nonetheless, for the first time we have ever seen, Rowan crawled tonight. Rest well, sleepy world.