Darth Vader

So, as an accompaniment to our holiday Rowan has been feeling sick. Leading out to Christmas break he developed a cough and it was causing his to throw up and it just wasn't awesome. He had been coming down around 4 in the morning for 3 days in row and on the 3rd morning I had the thought I think he has pneumonia.  I told that to Sam who questioned me more than agreed but I made an appointment with him that morning and sure enough- he had walking pneumonia. He was put on antibiotics and a few days later was feeling a lot better. It was night we were eating burgers and he still thinks that cheeseburgers make him feel better. 

But, during that sick time and missing some school he played on the iPad. He had really started playing this Lego Star Wars game and became extremely into it. He would talk about Boba fett and then a couple weeks later he was more interested in Darth Vader. I kept thinking we just needed remove the game altogether because it was becoming a little too much. He would ask "Does Darth Vader choke people?" And as much as we would remind him that we don't really want to talk about that, and that, yes, in fact, he does choke people, but we don't. (Rowan never tried to choke anyone) but a little later on in the day he would ask the question again. He then had a day at ABA where instead of saying "Hi" to someone saying "hi" to him he would tell them, "Darth Vader chokes people." 🤨 Well, after that I made the executive decision I would be removing the game. I called Sam to let him know the decision and he agreed and then reminded me that a few years ago when we had the same game and Rowan started walking like a lego so it turns out it's just a game he can play. I broke the news to him. He took it pretty hard. When we got home I told him he could still wear his Darth Vader costume, and that seemed to help. He then followed me around in the Darth Vader costume using a Darth Vader voice saying, "You need to let Rowan play Star Wars." "You need to say sorry to Rowan."  😂 Which may not have had the effect he wanted because it was just really cute and funny. But, he was also really sad, and that made me sad but I knew it was the right thing to do. 

Rowan is now being treated for a sinus infection with more antibiotics and I am really hoping that he can start feeling 100% because we can tell he is not at his best lately. 

Rowan turned 6 years old this year and he wanted the cheeseburger cake he had seen at Safeway. He was really happy to be turning 6, and then reminds me that he will 7, then 8, then 9 😩 Oh, my little boy. He is the best. 

Rowan talks fully now, he is very direct and opinionated, he is protective of Jonah, and a very good big brother. Rowan also has a great sense of humor and still brings a light in a joy to our home that could not be filled by anyone else. 

Christmas Break

 We made it through the holiday unscathed. Everyone survived and we even had a little adventure. We didn't get much snow during the break, that is coming now.

I keep thinking about traditions and wondering what to implement, what to add, if we have enough. I try to relax though and convince myself that in fact we do have enough and as our family grows up and changes we will be able to add and change as we go. I suppose if my kids seem happy than that is a good indication.

Christmas Eve night Lily actually had a fever and woke up several times that night. Two of those times I sat in her room rocking her and what did I hear but little boy footsteps coming in from upstairs, rummaging through the presents, leaving, only to return again with double the feet and whispers of excitement and more rummaging.  I actually loved listening in. It was Kaj and Josh. This was 3:30 in the morning. They came down again at 4:30. 5:30 and finally at 7 we opened presents. 😂

Rowan was a lot more into the holiday more than past years and Jonah was also so fun to watch when he opened his gifts. The Lily bear was actually sleeping still when we opened presents because of the hard night she had and so we saved hers to open with her.

Rowan had actually been sick leading up to the break. He would cough so much and throw up, and for a few days was telling me his body hurt. The Saturday after school was out he came down uncomfortable again and laid on the couch at around 4:30 and suddenly it hit me he has pneumonia. I turned to Sam to announce my conclusion he had his doubts, but I got him into the doctor that morning and sure enough it was walking pneumonia. He got antibiotics and started feeling better. It was on a night we had cheeseburgers for dinner that he was feeling better and he still says that it was in fact the cheeseburger that cured him. He will say, "Cheeseburgers make me feel better!" Touché, my boy.

     In the meantime, I have been feeling really sappy about Lily lately. I am almost done nursing her and I am being such a boob about it (😂 I had to!) But, it really is making me sad. She is going to be 1 year old next month and as much as I really love this next phase I can't help but feel tender towards the little baby phase that we are past. I will never have a tiny baby again 😩 and I do love nursing-I mean after the first month. I love snuggling in bed and having that cozy time.

During the break we talked about going to Utah but when it came right now to it we were not able to pull it off. Since we did have a break and to do a littler get away we went to Portland and Tillamook. It was a really fun trip because we didn't stress about where we were going we just decided as we went. The kids were all really good in the car. We enjoyed listening to music and talking together. We ate some yummy food, and stayed a nice Airbnb. Rowan gets really excited about vacations and will say, "This is our new house?!"

We got the little kids down and played games with the older boys, but we also knew Rowan was not sleeping. He was making a lot of noises. He came in at one point after maybe 30 minutes of being in bed and announced, " I slept good." 🤪 We told him it was not morning yet and it was still night. He then said, "Ok fine, ok fine."

We also went to the Tillamook creamery, which is about an hour from Portland. They have recently renovated it and it looks nice. I don't know how it was before to compare but the boys really liked it. What was also great about the trip was how pretty it was in a part of Oregon we hadn't seen. It was so green with the moss on the trees, and the fields of farmland so high up that we would pass clouds by. We, of course, tried some cheese and had some ice cream. We took a detour from there where we wanted to go see some lighthouses but there had a been a landslide so we couldn't go there so we got out at beach area to look at the waves. It was a fun last hooray before school started back up again and good reminder of how much I love these people.

llama jammies