General Update

Okay, I'm sorry I haven't been as dilligent as I'd hoped in keeping everything updated, so bear with me as we all get our feet under us here in the Tityk household. So far the transition has gone pretty well and things are running pretty smoothly around here, but the long days are the catch for us as Andrian and I find ourselves stumbling to bed at alarmingly early hours! Me, due to getting up extra early to get a workout in the day, working, and coming home to spend time with Rowan, finally sitting down at 7:30 each night. Andrian, well, simply because he's dealing with a morning girl who likes to be up round about 6am....and he is not a morning guy! But to his credit, he is managing pretty well and most days is even in good spirits with her. My getting back into the swing of things at work has gone pretty well, and getting a paycheck this month will be even better. Will be starting some of the travel schedule in the next couple of weeks though, so we'll see how I'm coping when that piece comes. Andrian is enjoying his time off and this quality time he is getting with Rowan. His paperwork for his job application is all complete now, so it's a matter of waiting for things to unfold. We don't expect to hear more about it until later in March sometime, so in the meantime, he will just enjoy the break from mandatory employment. Now that he's off shift work for a bit, he's taking some martial arts classes and resumed his soccer, so having fun with a regular schedule again. As for Rowan, well she had her 1 year check up last week and is doing just fine. She's up to 21 1/2 lbs and 27 1/2 inches. She working on her cruising and walking skills, and while she still doesn't want to crawl, she's got a turn and reach move down pat to get her desired toys. She talks to us constantly, and when motivated on a good day will give the odd "mama" or copy me and say "tato". I'm sure she has other words for which she definately has a meaning, we just haven't figured out what "aaaeeeee" means yet! All in all, everything is well in Titykland!

Quality time with the fridge

Here is a sample of one of Ro's favourite daily activities. She like to sit in front of the fridge, knock them off, kick a few under the fridge (just to watch us attempt to get them out) and then, oh so slowly try to get them back on. What is fun for us is watching as she gains skills in being able to identify them. She can now, with great proficiency, pick out the apple and the puppy from the group at large. Slow to come is the cat and the butterfly, but we're working on it.

Curly Q's

Well, in small increments bits and pieces of Mama are starting to show up. Noteworthy these days is the very curly hair that Rowan is developing; the longer it gets the curlier it gets. But, also like me all it takes is one nap on the back of the head to calm everything down and make it appear straight!

More pics

Birthday Girl

Well, it's official.....Rowan is one year old! We held her (3rd) birthday party on January 3rd and hosted a Saturday brunch. Many of Rowan's good friends came to celebrate with us and we believe that the whole day was more or less a success (although we, the preparer's, were exhausted as soon as everyone left!). It was a busy day full of lots of activity, and Rowan was pretty much played out at the end of it, crashing at bedtime and giving us a much needed full night's sleep (a break from the recent teething trauma that has been keeping us all up!). Here's a few pics so you can get the highlights....

Christmas Firsts

This year was Rowan's first christmas, and with it came a whole bunch of new experiences....there was her first car ride facing forward, which was noteworthy because due to the cold weather, she and Teak had to share riding quarters. For the first leg of the trip there was a bit of a struggle, as Teak didn't have enough room, and constantly tried to put his head on her lap. She didn't like his heavy head there and repeatedly hit him until he moved....obviously she's learning to stand up for herself.

There was the first opening of the christmas eve jammies and first christmas morning presents. This went pretty well, as with a little guidance she learned to pull the paper to reveal what was inside, but given the sheer volume of presents under the tree for her, she had to take a break for morning nap and resume opening later.

One of her gifts from Nana was a new sleigh, so there was also her first solo sleigh ride. I think she enjoyed it, although she would get frustrated with her window fogging up and the resulting impaired vision....will be nice though when it's little warmer and she can be in the open air.

And finally, given that her birthday is so close at hand, both sets of grandparents wanted to share in some birthday cake with her, so she had her first tastes of cake and icing....which was obviously enjoyed.....all in all she will have celebrated herself three times before her birth week is over!!

Anyways, lots of good memories all documented at length with digital pics....

Cousins

While on our way to and from Cranbrook for Christmas, we made stops in Calgary to get a chance to visit with family there. Rowan had a chance to say hi to Makaila, Jack and Kayden. Her older cousins seem quite curious about here and want to her play. Kayden, who isn't much yet into playing with her, repeatedly displays how much bigger he is! Fun to watch them all grow up together...