Fam shot

What? No caption?

A day in the life (3 months and counting)

Just a few more snapshots of what Rowan's been up to after 3 months in the outside world. On top, you can clearly see that he's begun to turn over, though only half-way at the moment (my recent sources report that he has successfully turned over once).

Below that, a choice picture of Rowan post-vomit after a vigorous bout of jumping up and down on Daddy's lap. For those of you who don't know, Rowan's spit-ups are like the Deluge, though considerably more milky and without the mass murder of countless numbers.

And finally, Mommy gets a little blog time with this mother-son pic in front of the mums at the Botanical Garden. Rowan is sleepy, and a few minutes later will be in dream-land.

So that's Rowan's life so far...turning over, spitting up, sleeping, eating, jumping, and generally remaining quite alert (when awake). He's lately taken to reading books about triangles and squares, and can't wait to get to volume 3: Circles!

Forgot one...

This white hat was made by our friend Amanda from the University of Chicago in days gone by. It fits him right perfect and complements his ubiquitous bib, juxtaposed against the yellow stripes and oddly misshapen insects in the background. And he's smiling!!

Life is good...

Every so often, I snap off a couple of good photos that, to my mind, go beyond what my normal photography skills are typically capable of. These two pictures were taken at the Chicago Botanical Garden. They are what I might term "desktop fodder," since they make for excellent desktop backgrounds. The top one is of an unidentified (at least by me) flower, with two yellow globes of mums in the background. The lower one is particularly priceless--Rowan sleeping in his red full-body coat outside in the gardens. Life is good...

A brief look at Rowan's wardrobe

I know what you're all probably thinking: "How in the f@#& could he get any f@#&ing cuter than this?! Holy f@#&ing sh!t!!"

Well, my friends, you bring up a good point, and as much as I'd like to say there's an explanation, I honestly have none to give. On the left, Rowan is wearing his red-orange starfish outfit with matching hat, posing with his spectacular wobbly mouse toy that Uncle Leo (Fei Kow Foo) got for him. Below that is Rowan in his green knit sweater, made for him by "Auntie" Paula (notice the little flower buttons). In moments such as these, I'm reminded of Shakespeare:

"This were to be new made when thou art old, and see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold."

Like father, like...

Of course now we know where Rowan gets that somewhat vacuous, open-mouthed stare. Still, you can't help but notice that he looks a lot more mentally stable than his father in this picture. Winnie and I were out on the Northwestern University campus checking out Lake Michigan with the other Evanstonians on a cool Sunday in early Autumn. Oh, and Rowan wanted to say that he wuvs his wittle Mommy.

More developments

First off, I have to apologize for not adding to the blog in almost a month. Things have been absolutely busy these days, and there hasn't been much time to sit at the computer and upload photos accompanied by pithy commentary of late. In any case, as you can see from the previous entry, Rowan is in the throes of potty training, thanks in large part to the efforts of Bel. He's even graduated from newspaper to an actual kiddy potty. We also have him pee into a jar that we keep under the sofa, which he's pretty good about. A few slow, upward-moving whistles and his little one whizzes on command.

And now, we're proud to report, he's moved on to solid foods at the tender age of two and a half months. Yes, he just loves carrots, though his body has trouble digesting this little morsel, much less actually chewing it into smaller pieces and washing it down with a glass of chianti. The carrot, meanwhile, doesn't seem to mind, even smiling through the whole ordeal of being gnawed on with Rowan's toothless mandibles. Just wait until he tries cow...

The three stages of pooping...

DENIAL


















ANGER


















ACCEPTANCE