Last update of Rohan was for his second month, so it's been a hot minute.
We managed a couple of lake trips his first summer as a tiny wee one. In fact, he was the easy child. Ander got a kick out of entertaining and involving the baby.
Rohan caught on to flipping from his back to his tummy quickly enough, but took a long time to get the other direction. Which I thought was odd. With that head, you'd think it would be hard NOT to flop back over. He took a lot of floor naps as well, inciting a stressful game of "Find the Baby" at random intervals throughout the day.
My mother's side of the family got together for an extended family reunion up in Bryce Canyon, Utah in June. Mark, Ander, and I camped in a tent while Rohan slept on the bench in the van. Once again, Rohan was the easy kid. Ander was simply, of course, over-stimulated and had a hard time sleeping. Whether for naps or at nighttime, it was a chore. But Rohan slept through everything. It was fun to get to know and play with some cousins we rarely get to see.
We took Ander on a hike with us to the Canyon. We asked the dude with the pamphlets what he would recommend as a hike to do with young children, but when we took his suggestion it ended up being simply along the rim, which was a little too easy. So we checked our map and randomly chose one that was rated as a beginner hike.
Halfway down the steep switchbacks we realized maybe we had bitten off more than the toddler could chew. But for the moment he was in good spirits and we had a picnic packed to take a break at the bottom so we persevered. The trek back up was...halting, but adorable because he pushed onward even while crying that his legs were burning. MY legs were burning so I could only imagine what his little body was going through. Hikers that would pass us would smile gently and compliment him on being so tough. Daddy only had to carry him the last few switchbacks.
Rohan, obviously, stayed back at camp with the myriad of Grandmas, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins that wanted to love on him.
Rohan's favorite toy became the walker, and he practically lived in that thing for a spell. A few months really. Which mommy appreciated the heck out of, for obvious reasons. We enjoyed a beautiful monsoon season with such a fun backyard. Ander was never lacking for an audience, that's for sure.
October brought Halloween parties, and we didn't have to worry about costumes for a single minute. Rohan wore the turtle costume that Ander wore his second Halloween, I had purchased a snake costume last year as backup for Ander, so Mark and I dressed up as zoologists and they were our reptilian exhibit.
Rohan is great at church. Especially before he was moving, but even now, he's so friendly and smiley and happy that nobody minds getting a visit from him. I tell Mark almost every week that he's going to have to drag me kicking and screaming from this house if it means moving wards.
We're currently renovating two of three bathrooms, so I started giving Rohan baths in the kitchen sink and naturally Ander wanted in on the fun. It's dangerously easier to bath a baby in a counter-height bath than having to sit on the floor.
Our hiking trips have amped up the last couple months as we're trying to get "trained" for Mark's 30th birthday this summer. We're planning a trip to Havasupai Falls with a big group of friends. It'll be my first time going at all and his first time since scouts.
As of the New Year, Rohan has five teeth that have popped through. I'm pretty sure he's gonna have a gap and I CAN'T HANDLE THE CUTE. He eats everything and loves it. He'll occasionally wake to eat at night, but it's usually after 4 am and he falls right back asleep. He rarely gets a consistent schedule and he rolls with it like a champ. One nap, two naps, he'll take whatever he can get.
He can stand himself up and walk along the furniture, and very obviously tries to climb up onto things. We were hanging out with some ward friends at a local park the other day and suddenly Mark goes, "honey...where's Rohan?"
He had been crawling around in the sand and now was nowhere to be seen. We craned our necks scanning all long the ground and I mused, "how did we lose the baby that can't even walk??"
Well, he had climbed up to the bridge of the playground, that's how.
He loves the car. He loves the dog. He loves Ander, and Ander loves him. Too much sometimes, as a toddler is prone to do, but hearing Ander beg, "let's go see Ro-Ro, let's go get baby," all day long, or skip past me coming home and go straight to the baby and coo, "hi bubbas, hi Ro-Ro can I hold you?" They make each other laugh and I just pray that it continues into their older years.
He's got one tooth lagging behind so he has his cranky days. But he makes up for it with neck clasping hugs and open mouth kisses and gasping giggles. We're all obsessed around here and it spreads everywhere Ro-Ro goes.
