Happy 11 months Rowan!

Sigh, how did 11 months just fly by? I am in serious in denial that she is going to be ONE in just a few short weeks. Honestly, it makes me want to cry. I miss her tiny baby days!This is by far the craziest life change, but man, it has been amazing. I just love her!

Name: Rowan Decaris Potter

Rowan's age: 11 months old, 9.5 months adjusted age

Weight: 23.10 pounds, heading pretty close to 24 pounds! My big girl!!!!

favorite foods:
EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING. It amazes me all that she likes! She tried a pickle and didn't make a face. If anything, she got mad she didn't have more. This girl is very demanding when she eats and throws a fit if we don't feed her quickly. Oh child!

Clothing size: 24m is fitting just right. She's wearing 2T in pants and even some 2T in clothing. Dresses are more forgiving and she can sneak a 12m dress. Wearing size 4 diapers!
 

Rowan milestones (for her adjusted age, 9.5months):
 

-Rowan's vocabulary is starting to expand and while I obviously can't understand her, she is super verbal and  makes long sentences of blends. When she is crying, she clearly makes strings of sounds and definitely is trying to complain. She may not be the most physical baby, but she sure as heck can communicate!

-Rowan officially has 7 NOT 8 teeth like we originally thought, lol! 4 top ones and they are getting longer!

-Rowan is getting pretty good at going from lying down to sitting up! I heard that's a tough-ish milestone for babies!

-Rowan is even more confident with her standing and LOVES it. She is starting to gain more strength in her legs.

 

-Rowan went from giving backward open/close hand waves to full blown arm waves! So cute

-She is starting to shake her head no if you ask her something. ::Sigh::

-Little miss likes pulling up on things, but chooses to pull on light weight items (like laundry baskets lol). Oh child!

 
 Rowan loves: 
 

-Sofia the first! While at my sister's it happened to come on  and she screamed with delight. She watched it with rapt attention and could not be bothered.

-Drinking bath water. Gross!

-Loves to pull down shirts. I apologize to family and friends that have been subjected to Rowan's attempt to pull down your shirt, lol. If she succeeds, she loves to blow raspberries on your chest. Oh this child!

 

-Has a major affinity for dogs and horses. During her belated  9 month shoot in late February, we saw horses and she about flipped her lid. She loved the mama horse and her pony. She reacts this way with dogs. I think this means we need to buy her a pony and a puppy LOL!

 

-loves looking at the "other" Rowan. She loves any type of mirror and will scream with delight when she sees herself. Conceited much?? LOL. She also LOVES to kiss herself, it freaking cracks me up!  

Rowan doesn't like:

-waiting for anything. LOL. She is so impatient!
-still hates being left alone, even for a second
-gets angry if you take something away from her

New things/happenings this month:

-Rowan went to her first high school swim practice and swim meet! This was so fun and OF COURSE I documented. Hubby and I were heavily into swim team and water polo, especially hubby. He was all American all through high school and college and was constantly in the paper. He has coached swimming for over 20 years. SO...guess what sports we want her to play?? We jokingly say she is going to carry on the "Potter swim legacy" LOL!!! Rowan has now gone to 2 practices and loves seeing the water splash and watching the kids. She at first didn't like the swim meet because it was VERY LOUD with the noise and buzzers. SHe gradually warmed up and ended up LOVING it!

 

-Rowan had pasta and of course gobbled it up.

 

-Rowan also tried the swings for the first time. I ashamed we haven't taken her sooner. We had to stuff blankets because she is so dang top heavy. At first she didn't know what to think but soon enjoyed it!

How is Rowan's spit up?: Practically non-existent!

 

Sleep:
Rowan is still on a great nap and sleep routine. I am so proud of the hard work we did with her! There are some nights where she may squeak but otherwise it's okay.

Rowan's personality so far: 
Rowan is my sassy sassafras! She loves people and is so insanely happy. She has a sassy personality when she's upset, which makes me worry for when she is 2, LOL! However, this girl can light up a room and makes my heart fill with such joy!


I am so thankful God picked me to the mother of this extraordinary baby girl! I love you forever Rowan!


Here is my monthly Rowan dump:

Happy 10 months Rowan!

10 months.

WHAT?!?!?!



Omg people, I can't even handle that this kid is heading towards 12 months. I am in some serious denial about it. We are enjoying every second of this insanely fast journey!








Name: Rowan Decaris Potter

Rowan's age: 10 months old, 8.5 months adjusted age

Weight: Holy tank baby...she weighs  22.8 pounds. She is HEAVY and sturdy! To be honest, I'm going to be sad when her chubbies melt away! She is so yummy!!! 

Solids?  Yeppers! We are now heading into the ever so trendy baby led weaning. She especially likes chicken and let's be honest, pretty much everything else.

Clothing size: Gulp, size 24, even venturing in 2T for pants! Her summer bathing suit is even 2T! She can still fit into 18 months, but we are heading down the 24 m path. Wearing size 4 diapers!

Rowan milestones (for her adjusted age, 8.5months):

Sigh, I need to be honest here. I am really having hard time with these damn milestones. Rowan isn't crawling and quite frankly, she's not that interested. She also isn't pulling herself up. Now, I know y'all are going to say "relax" and "go by her adjusted age" but its hard when even some 6 month old babies I know are crawling, some 9 month babes are walking, etc. Her physical therapist doesn't seemed too concerned.  However, when it seems like EVERYONE around you is going above and beyond, well, one can't help but worry. It also doesn't help that this weekend 2 ladies around my mom's age asked why she isn't walking yet. UGH.

-Despite her not crawling, she definitely moves. She slithers, slides, rolls and moves backwards on her belly. She IS (at times) getting on her hands and knees, but doesn't want to really move forward.

 

-While Rowan may not be physical, she is SUPER verbal. Besides "mama" and "Dada" she says "nananana" for banana and also says (at times) "mo mo" for more. She says a BUNCH of other random blends and sounds that leads me to believe we may have a true talker pretty soon. This makes me feel better.

-Rowan is cutting 3 teeth in the top front!! Her first front tooth is almost out, as well as one next to it. Her other front tooth is starting to make its way. Poor babe is trying to be such a trooper!

-Rowan doesn't pull herself up yet, but we have been standing her up against things. She will hold on and stand for a good 15-20 seconds before she plops down. She LOVES it, as this is something new to her.

 

-Rowan is doing a really good job at grabbing small food objects. I think this is in part that she loves to eat!



-Rowan loves to "wrestle" with objects. We have some big blow up toys and she has a big dolly. SHe will climb on top of them, roll over them, pull them on to herself, etc. It is quite funny to watch!


-Rowan is starting to give high fives. So cute!

 

 Rowan loves: 

-Baby Einstein! Now, people get so freaking judgey about TV but this is the ONLY way Rowan will take her daily nebulizer treatments (more on that below).  She will joyfully scream anytime the beginning music comes on. Its so cute!


-loves mum mums and cheerios! HOLY CRAP. We created a monster! If we go out to eat, we have to have a good supply on hand as that makes her happy and preoccupied!


-loves to clap at everything!


-also loves to drink out of straws

Rowan doesn't like:

-waiting for anything. LOL. She is so impatient!



-being left alone for a second. Often, (like most parents) we just need to drop something off in the sink or go put something away. Well, this girl isn't a fan of being alone and will totally cry. Oh Rowan...



-Rowan is getting to the stage where she gets upset if you take something away, like oh you know, chewing the curtains, etc. She gets so mad!

New things/happenings this month:

-We celebrated our first Valentine's day with her! Nothing especially out of the ordinary but we gave her a present and had lots of snuggles! Hubs and I were able to go on a date which was so nice!

-Rowan got a UTI. It was awful! She had a super high fever with ZERO symptoms. She ended up with antibiotics which helped tremendously. It was nerve wracking!



-At one of her appointments, it was brought up that she always seems to have constant wheeziness. One of the doctors recommended that we do breathing treatments every morning with a medicine called Pulmicort. In short, it's like taking blood pressure medicine so you don't have a heart attack. This has changed our lives! She still seems a bit wheezy at times, but the true test was when she caught a cold this month. Normally, its big, dramatic and usually turns to bronchiolitis. HOWEVER...this time it was a tiny, plain, regular ol' cold. It was amazing! We are thankful for this treatment!



-We recently got into the crazy trend of baby reps on instagram. There is a huge wave of baby clothing/accessories shops on IG (basically like etsy on IG). Shops will then open up for baby brand representatives. You takecute, styled pics of your baby and enter them in these searches. If you are picked, you get free merch in exchange for photos they use for marketing. After 3 weeks, Rowan got picked to be a brand enthusiast for Her_Bowtique! Its a lot of fun but its work! I basically try to just take pictures of her during the weekend.

How is Rowan's spit up?: Practically non-existent!

 

Sleep:
Rowan is on a great nap and sleep routine. It took work in the beginning but it paid off! And yes, I am furiously knocking on wood. I am SO thankful. I know a lot of babies even her age don't sleep through the night.

Rowan's personality so far: 
Rowan is Miss Personality. She is so sweet, joyful and loveable. She is also a major firecracker and definitely has my strong personality. I love watching Rowan discover life. It is incredible and amazing!


I am so thankful God picked me to the mother of this extraordinary baby girl! I love you forever Rowan!


Here is my monthly Rowan dump:

 

 

 

A Christmas break recap...

It should come to no surprise I'm blogging this over 3 weeks late. SIGH.

Christmas was amazing! One of the major perks of working at my particular district is we get 2 glorious weeks off!!! Those two weeks were spent cuddling/kissing the crap out of Rowan, sleeping in (yes, more on that later), relaxing, and spending time with family and friends. Best of all, enjoying the wonderful holidays!

Our first week of break we did a overnight trip to the bay area, met up with my best friend and her beautiful family. They were visiting from Texas, so any time we get to see them it is super special! It was the first time our kids finally were able to meet! We were pregnant at the same time and both had girls! It was so awesome the babies could finally meet! SO fun!

The rest of the weekend was awesome, and Rowan was a great traveler!

 We came home and basically relaxed the rest of the week as we geared up for Christmas. One thing that was super awesome was that Rowan let us "sleep in" most of the break! I will admit, her schedule got pushed as she went to bed later than normal (8 rather than 7). Because of that, most mornings she would "sleep in" till 7:30, and few times she didn't get up till 8! IT WAS AMAZING. I never felt so awake and rested, lol!!!

Christmas Eve was amazing and we spent it with my side of the family. Rowan got the most precious, poofiest dress from Target! She looked just exquisite!:

We went to church and had THE MOST delicious feast after. The kids were just precious in their Christmas clothes!  Of course, I had to do a "photo shoot'' with my fancy camera . Since my blog is public, I'm not posting my sister's kids out of respect for their privacy. However, you get the idea.

After, the cousins and Rowan changed into coordinating Christmas jammies! We wanted matching ones, but boy, it was so hard to find! Rowan's jammies were a little snug but good heavens she looked so yummy with her little chubby rolls sticking out:

We all ended up in cozy jammies and opened gifts. Rowan loved it, BUT was clearly more interested in tissue paper and the wrapping paper!

Christmas morning was very low key. My sister, her family and my mom usually drive up to San Jose to spend it with my sister's in laws. My in law family usually goes to their perspective in law families, so usually its just my little family in town! I kind of don't mind, because as our family grows (MAYBE, don't get ideas!) it will be nice to just be home!  We got up around 8ish and opened gifts as a new family of 3. It was super fun and very special. I just can't wait for more Christmases with Rowan!!! She once again had a ton of fun opening gifts!

After gifts, Rowan went down for a nap and we felt tired as well. We all ended up taking a 2 hour nap! After we woke up, we all just snuggled in bed and watched Duck Dynasty. It was quite a hilarious sight! Usually on Christmas Day we go to the movies and get pizza or Chinese. Since we had Rowan, we obviously couldn't go, but we still kept our dinner tradition!

On the 26th, we got to have lunch and spend some quality time with my in law family. They are quite the hoot and super fun to be around. Rowan of course got lots of love, snuggles and gifts! We had a pizza lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing with the family. The one thing that IRKS me is that I didn't take pictures! I left the fancy camera at home and my phone died! SIGH....
The holidays were super fun! It was seriously magical to see it through Rowan's eyes. Even though she probably didn't get what was going on half the time, it was still so fun!

  

catch up series: 6 month pictures and the diva

Haha, her 6 month pictures made it into the catch up series!

Back in late October,  we set out to take her 6 month pictures. We were also going to take our fall pictures at the same time. We once again used the fabulous Jamie Cardoza.

We took our pictures at West 12 Ranch in Lodi, which is seriously the most perfect place to take pictures. I was nervous about how Rowan would be, as babies are unpredictable at times. Sure enough, she was miss grumpy, and was very serious.

The shoot started off well. Despite being a grump (especially in the first pic) she warmed up:

Then, Jamie incorporated us into the shots...but that's when the s%$# hit the fan. There is one picture where Shannon had to lift Rowan so we could look at her. Apparently, she DID NOT find that amusing, which hence came the biggest meltdown/temper tantrum in history. Holy heavens. All because Daddy lifted her in the air.

This is the offending picture. You can even see her little face is clearly displeased:

The embarrassing thing, was there were tons of families doing shoots. She was screaming so loudly, and people were looking at us. I know, I know, I shouldn't care, but I did. A baby boy her age was doing his shoot and he was sitting perfectly, cooing and giving these best smiles. I magically got boiling hot and sweaty as I was trying to wrangle my chubby, screaming 6 month old who at the same time, was trying to rip my hair out.

Us newbies forgot her paci in the car, so hubby ran to go get it. Miraculously, she stopped crying. However, the minute she saw her father, she screamed at him and proceeded to cry. Almost like she did it on purpose because she saw him, LOL!

After 20 minutes of incessant screaming, stares from strangers, and us about to lose our minds, our awesome photog wisely advised maybe we try again later. We packed up our crazy diva, and went home.

About a week later during the first part of Thanksgiving break, we met again. This time we met after her first morning nap. Hubby and I wore the same outfits, Rowan wore different ones. This was Rowan during this shoot, thank goodness!:

It was a good thing to meet in the morning and Rowan did loads better. However, she scares me! She is SUCH a happy, sweet, joyful baby, BUT when she gets mad, lookout! I am SO nervous for the 2's and 3's. Anyway, the shoot turned out amazing and we are so thankful to Jamie Cardoza Photography for being so flexible and doing such a great job! What did I learn? BE FLEXIBLE. Babies clearly have their own agenda at times, and flexibility is key!! Here are some of my faves.....

Happy 8 months Rowan!

Wait, didn't I just do a 7 month post? Time is flying faster than I can keep up. The past 8 months flew at the blink of an eye!
Parenthood is definitely not an easy job but at the same time I love it! Rowan keeps me on my toes and we love her with such intensity! It's so insane how fast time is flying!!!

Name: Rowan Decaris Potter

Rowan's age: 8 months old, 6.5 months adjusted age

Weight: My tank baby now weighs 20.2 pounds. Holy heavens. This girl is so dang heavy. She is so yummy!



Solids?  Yes! This girl loves to eat! We took a break from solids when she had bronchiolitis, but now we are back at it!


Clothing size: 12 month clothing for this girl! Still in size 3 diapers. We fit into SOME 9 months, but I am starting to pack it away :(. She wears 18m in pants, and we are even venturing into size 24m for pants. She is growing so much!

Rowan milestones (for her adjusted age, 6.5 months):

-Rowan is completely sitting up. She loves it, and it has opened a new world for her! She sits like a big girl, so fun!




-Rowan is pretty darn mobile, rolls all over wherever she can, and tries to slither on her belly, like a snake. She is super fast and VERY mischievous! She has been trying to play with our DVR and TV system, rolls into the tree and tries to eat the presents. Oh boy. So it begins! She seems so anxious to move! I wonder if we might see crawling soon. 

-Rowan is becoming more of an expert on grabbing! She reaches, throws really hard, starts to pick small objects, and passes toys from hand to hand. She is getting good at pulling things (her favorite is my hair, ouch!),pushing objects and buttons!


-Rowan cut her first 2 teeth at the same time! She has 2 cutie little teeth on the bottom, which caused her a lot of pain. However, it is so dang cute! 

-Rowan is very aware of people she sees often and will reach out to be held. If you say "where is mama" (for example), she will turn to find and look at me!

-Rowan FINALLY found her feet! I feel like she is such a late bloomer with this! She will also grab her thighs which makes me laugh!


Rowan loves: 

-her food! She is eating about 6 oz most bottles, 8 oz at bedtime.



-toys! She definitely has preferences!



- TISSUE PAPER. Holy crap, you put anything remotely tissue paper like, she will tear it up and scream with delight. I think the million doctors visits weren't so bad because she loved the paper on the table!


-Showers! We give her baths, but since she was so sick, we would steam up the bathroom and shower with her, as the steam would help her lungs. She is IN LOVE with water, loves when it runs down her face. She now gets so excited when she sees any sort of running water.


Rowan doesn't like: Being burped, breathing treatments, putting her arms through sleeves. The nose frida (the ONLY thing that will clear her nose). Oh Rowan.



New/fun things we did this month:

-Well, this isn't fun, but she caught bronchiolitis. Thanksgiving night was spent in the ER, and took her a little over a week to kick its butt.



-we celebrated her first Thanksgiving! It wasn't how I thought it would be, but regardless, it was a time to give thanks for the true blessings in our lives! 

-we took a road trip to Angel's Camp and it was so fun! She was a wonderful traveler but didn't want to nap!!

-We have tried to participate in Elk Grove's super cute Christmas activities! We attended the light parade and Rowan really seemed to enjoy  it!

How is Rowan's spit up?: Only happens if she is overly active after eating. No biggie.

Sleep:
We have kept the same nighttime routine of solids, bath, prayers/reading and her bottle. She has become a CRAZY mover in her sleep! She will tumble down her crib, move in all sorts of directions! She will sleep from about 7-7:30 to about 5:45/6.





Naps?
3 naps, a short AM nap (40 minutes), a mid morning nap that lasts about 2 hours, and 1 late afternoon nap (30 minutes-1 hour)

Rowan's personality so far: 
Rowan is super fun! She is so snuggly, happy, and LOVES people! She isn't shy and loves to smile at people! She also adores watching the big kids play at preschool! She is generally a super happy baby. However, if she gets upset, watch out! LOL!


Love you forever Rowan!

Bronchiolitis, you suck

HI friends,


A part 2 to our "awesome" thanksgiving adventure, lol!


After our ER visit, Rowan was "diagnosed" with croup. We were set up with a follow up appointment the next morning. Rowan was still not well. She was pale, pink around her eyes and just didn't seem like her cheerful self. We were drilled in the ER to check if she was turning blue/labored breathing, so then came the obsession of staring at her, making sure nothing was wrong. It was beyond stressful. The thing that frightened me so much was her little chest kept caving. Those are called retractions and they are bad. It means she isn't getting enough air in her airways so her body was working overtime to help to breathe. If no interventions take place, she could lose oxygen and go into distress. She kept doing that in the morning, despite our treatments, etc. The doctor checking her, Dr. Sanchez, was very concerned. I literally felt like I was going to barf and cry at the same time.

He quickly checked her out, asked us questions, and immediately started the breathing treatment of abuterol and she also drank an oral steroid as well. Rowan HATED the breathing treatment. It was basically a machine with a mask hooked up, which one of us had to hold to her face. She screamed, cried, howled, kicked, you name it. I literally felt my heart ripped in 2 seeing her that way. After the treatment, she was much better. Dr. Sanchez said it DEFINITELY wasn't croup, but  bronchiolitis. Basically, its a cold gone very bad. It constricts their airways so babies struggle with breathing. There isn't any medications, since its a virus. Its treated with breathing treatments and time (UGH). What is very scary is breathing distress, and a small percentage are hospitalized. It can also turn into pneumonia. Preemies are extra succeptible to getting it, because their lungs not being fully developed at birth. This is where it was VERY apparent of Rowan's premature birth. SHe was having  much harder time because of her preemie lungs. We were sent home with that machine, oral meds, etc. We came home and we were so sick with worry over our little girl.

The next few days and week turned into daily doctors appointments, treatments, chest retractions and crying. Rowan hated her treatments so  much. Could you blame her? It was horribly loud, scary machine and we were trying to shove a mask of steam/medicine in her face. ONe afternoon, I happened to be by myself and  I had to do the treatment on my own. Her cries were breaking my heart. I couldn't stand seeing her this way, and I felt like we have all been through enough. I broke down in hysterical tears, my tears falling all over her head. I cradled her in my arms and spoke to her between sobs, basically saying how much I loved her. That  I wasn't trying to hurt her, this was for her own good. I basically poured out my heart to my 7 month old, which was kind of funny/crazy now that I think about it. HOWEVER....she actually stopped crying, calmed down, and intensely stared at me in such a way that it almost freaked me out. I thought I was imagining it till my mom quietly walked in and witnessed the whole thing. She said it was though Rowan completely understood what I  was saying. My mom even cried because she felt like it was such a powerful moment between mother and baby. What was crazy was Rowan stopped her tears and finished out her last 15 minutes of treatment with no fuss. From that point on, she tolerated her treatments and no longer put up such a fight.

As the days went on, Rowan started to improve. We tried to be "normal" and took her to our town's light parade! The night air definitely helped and it was so fun to be part of the town's Christmas festivities! Hubby took the whole week off so he could be with her, as I have very little sick leave left. Rowan handled this dumb bronchiolitis like a boss. Despite being sick, she had NO fever the entire time , and was trying her darndest to be the happiest baby on the block. She was dealing with it much better than me. She was sick for a week and 2 days to be exact, which is great because this type of sickie can even last a month!

What did we learn:

-My daughter is my hero. She always has been, but man, this girl proved once again she is STRONG and MIGHTY. She is one tough chubby cookie!

-Bronchiolitis is ONLY managed through home care and breathing treatments (albuterol and saline water). No medicine will take it away, and goes away in TIME, which sucks because I am impatient.

-You have to become very aware of their breathing and color. This is where I felt like I was about to die from stress.

-Hot steamy showers and cold air also helps. This is a must for croup. Rowan is now addicted to showers, LOL!

-I can handle her being sick now. This bout of sickie HAD to toughen me up. Sure I cried, overly worried, let my mind get carried away to awful places, etc. But at the end of the day, I had to toughen up, and take care of my daughter. We came out of it just fine, and now I feel like I can definitely handle her getting a cold. Thank God for my hubby, my rock. He never once lost his cool and was a  HUGE support for me.

-Not every cold will turn into bronchiolitis. It just happened that this time it did. However, it can happen again. Now we have a full blown arsenal of tools if does strike.

-My faith grew stronger. I had to majorly lean on God more than ever. Through this experience I had to majorly put everything in God's hands.

Thank you Jesus my little human is better! And of course, this post isn't complete with my crazy documentation of this whole experience. Just so thankful she is better:

From left to right: my exhausted babe//wow, those thighs!//pensive daddy and baby//my little girl trying to be happy//daddy and daughter snuggles//trying to reach my phone

 

 

From left to right: Getting ready for the Elk Grove light parade!//Daddy showing Rowan a metal horse lol//Rowan got a pair of Minnie Ears from a shop owner because she thought Ro was so cute!//Drinking a bottle with daddy, starting to feel better//selfies with mama!// Ro at millionth appointment, holding tight to Molly the Dolly!

Adjusted

So this pic has nothing to do with my post, but good heavens, I just love this beautiful baby!

Okay, back to the original post...

Ah...those milestones. Every new mama seems to always be obsessed with those, and I am no different.

 I remember back when Rowan was in the NICU, the doctors had mentioned that because she was born six weeks early she may have developmental delays. Basically it meant that she may not be meeting milestones at the same time as her term baby friends. The doctors said we had to use her adjusted age rather than going by her real actual age. What adjusted age means is how old Rowan would have been had she been born on time. For example Rowan is 6.5 months old. Her adjusted age would then be 5 months old. So, that means any big milestones we have to treat her like a 5 monther rather than 6 (I know, monther isn't a word, LOL).

I remember hearing that I just brushed it off. I figured that wouldn't be her case and we would be just fine. At times, even now, I forget that Rowan was a preemie. When I look at her I don't see preemie, I just see my beautiful girl, my little spit fire. She is a fighter and so incredibly strong.  She has had zero problems, and she's even chubbier and bigger than some of her term baby friends. I just figured that 6 weeks really wouldn't make a difference. I just remember feeling and thinking "we're going to prove the doctors wrong". Rowan is going to do everything on time". I remember feeling very smug that before Rowan turned her actual age of 4 months old (only 2.5 months adjusted at the time), she actually rolled over. She was actually quite roly-poly and was rolling for the next few days afterwards. I remember thinking "see I was right!" But then as some days went by she stopped doing it completely altogether. It freaked me out and made me think the doctors may be on to something.

Currently, Rowan rolls around like its going out of style. However, many of her baby friends (many of them 6 months like her) are currently sitting up with no problem, crawling and some are even pulling themselves up. Last week I got an email from baby center about sitting up. In reading the comments, some moms put

"Oh my 4 month old is sitting up" (really!??)
"My 6 month old is sitting up and crawling",
etc, etc, etc.

I see my friends' babies and these comments and I can't help but feel concerned. While Rowan is rolling, holding up her weight through her arms, she isn't sitting up. She sits up for 10-15 before she does a "TIMBER" fall. to the floor. AND certainly, she isn't crawling. I feel a sense of pressure and panic has seem to set in, till I remember....

ALL THESE BABIES WERE BORN AT TERM. MINE WASN'T. THE END.

When I remember that, it gives me a sense of peace. I have to calm the heck down, and realize Rowan will do things when its time, and when her body is ready. It is important to also know that even termies don't always do everything "on time". Despite all of this, it hasn't stopped me from being proactive. For the last 3 months, we have been seeing a physical therapist, to make sure she is developing okay and catching any issues early. In those sessions, the doctor has noticed Rowan has a slight bout of torticollis, which basically a head tilt. Its getting better, but something we for sure need to work on it. In this last session, we noticed she seems to have very slight floppy arms, which means when you pick her up, it feels like she could slip through your fingers. The therapist thinks its minor, and taught us a slew of things we could be doing. She thinks with tummy time and other exercising, she should improve between 1-2 months. On the positive, Rowan is the 95% percentile in meeting milestones as a "5 month old". For her real age, 6.5 months, she is at the 40% percentile for milestones. I heard that number and my heart sank, because as a teacher, 40% isn't good. However, her therapist said that was actually good, considering she is a preemie. With all of that, I left feeling my amazing little girl is on the right track.

All of this said, this is a good reminder to calm the eff down. Rowan is already doing amazing, and will continue to do so. I am so incredibly thankful that her early birth hasn't given way to huge problems. We have a lot to be thankful for. So, I am just going to sit back, continue to work with her, and just enjoy my beautiful girl. Time is flying too fast anyway.