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Last night was the first time in about 5 months that Rowan slept through the night. And what happens? I can't sleep!
I have my toes and fingers crossed that this is the start of something really good for him. We've been working very hard at getting him ready for the transition to day care which means slowly weaning him and letting him cry more than we would at bed time or when he wakes up during the night. He is changing so rapidly and the travel we have put him through since he was born has made sleeping harder 
for him than it should have been. He is an amazing child. He is (we are) blessed with an innate ability to adapt and roll-with-the-punches. He is a perpetually happy little boy who, occasionally now, will throw a temper tantrum when he doesn't get his way (that too is innate and he gets that from BOTH John and I.). We have taken total advantage of his easy demeanor and it is our own fault that he has a hard time making it through the night without eating. I know that. Which is why I was never angered or upset by having to be up with him every night for almost a whole year. Truth be told, I will miss our late night feedings but the idea of still getting up with him after his first birth has been stressing me out. I feel like I have been holding him back in the baby stage by not training him to sleep properly. He deserves to be a "big boy". And well, as usual, he has proven himself to be a wonderful learner. It really has only taken 2 or 3 nights of a few tears to get through the night without eating. Maybe I am counting my chickens before they hatch? Ah, probably not. My son never disappoints! He is perfect after all.
Here is a picture of my perfect son hamming it up. I showed him how to play with the bowl once and now he yells into just about anything to see what kind of a reaction he can get out of us. He also LOVES to play peak-a-boo or as we call it (thanks to Addison) "hiding!!".
My true love:
How on earth can I have gained 6lbs already? I am seriously annoyed with myself and the 3 sandwiches I ate yesterday.
Yesterday, in front of his great Aunts and Uncles and second cousins, Rowan took his first steps. He had taken a couple on his own with us during our trip but they were weak and wobbly. These on the other hand, were different. Later at Aunt Hanan's he was focussed on getting something he wanted and off he went.
I yelled which frightened him and caused him to stumble. Who knows how far he would have made it if I hadn't ruined the moment. He is also able to go up the stairs completely unassisted. We discovered this in Florence when like a true spider-chub, he took off across the floor and up the concrete steps before John could catch him. He has since been up the entire flight between the basement and the main level here at home. Watching him do these things is both shocking and endearing. We are so proud of our little guy who might just not be a total clutz like his mom and dad after all.
Here is a shot of little R going up the steps in Italy. His father could do nothing but slap his face and drop an F-bomb (I think) because he was just too slow to do anything else. Well, actually-- he wasn't too slow to type on the blackberry anyway.
We arrived in Edinburgh and then Glenrothes on our first Anniversary. It wasn't the most romantic way to spend the day, but we'll make up for it next year when we aren't traveling around for someone else's wedding. 
Our trip from Nice was torturous. We had to connect through Heathrow which made what could have been a short trip in to a very long journey. Somehow, we survived again. Rowan was very tired of being constrained by this point and we made an effort not to use the stroller the last leg of the trip. In fact, it was a very good thing we packed the Ergo baby in our carry on luggage because even though we took the stroller to the gate in Nice, it was checked right through to Edinburgh and we would have had to carry Rowan in our arms through what was the most insane security process I have ever seen in my life in Terminal 5-Heathrow. John and I are always commenting and complaining about the completely arbitrary security rules that airports have these days, but this took the cake so to speak. I am not kidding when I say that if we hadn't known any better, we would have sworn we were in line in a third world country instead of in what boasts to be a civilized country. We were funneled into a line that was about 10 people deep and it bottled necked at a point where we all had to get on to an elevator to take us to the x-ray area. The person at the bottom of the escalator was watching a person at the top of the escalator who was responsible for deciding when the next heard of angry travelers was permitted to go up to the next level. Kind of like a flag person in a construction site but with less intelligence. After about 30 minutes we made it up to the security screening level which turned out to be just as chaotic. We were no longer 10 people deep, but the line ups were so long and the security people so incredible dense that it took us another hour or so just to get through to the other side. We watched this Indian woman in a wheel chair take out I would say, 4 cans of baby formula (could have been old person food), syringe after syringe and many other weird medical instruments and concoctions in one line up. She some how was allowed to get through with all of this stuff but I had to throw out Rowan's fruit cup because it was over the 100ml limit and if I had tasted it on the other side (which they will let you do SOMETIMES), we had no way of sealing it up. I actually had packed a container anticipating that this might happen but in the thick of it all, I forgot about my brilliant planning and just instructed the airport ape to toss it.
Thank God we had a 3 hour lay over because we would not have made it to our connecting flight.
We pulled in to Glenrothes by hired car (this was our first long trip without a car seat and I felt immense guilt about that) around bed time. Our hotel was in the middle of nowhere but unlike the rest of the wedding guests from Canada, we at least had our own restaurants and bar to frequent. The rest of the crew stayed at the Travel Lodge in the middle of an industrial park. They were not all that pleased. But it worked out well for us because they came to have lunch and dinner at the Balgeddie House with us. We had many lovely dinners and relaxed because there was simply nothing else to do. I loved our king sized bed and Rowan loved the dark and quiet of his baby cot set up in the bathroom (Ana: you've had it backwards all along!). John used the men's room in the lobby just in case you were wondering how we managed. I, however am a camel and didn't even notice the lack of a loo. Anyway, preparing meals for Rowan was a little bit of a challenge. We ate greasy and heavy Scottish food for a few too many days and I think all 3 of us put on weight. Oh and we had birthday cake for my 35th which seemed to pass rather slowly and quietly. I am used to being with my whole family and I missed them that day especially. John and Rowan gave me a lovely perfum from France and the gang remembered to bring me a card too which was sweet. I guess it is just as well that we didn't make a big deal of it this year because to be honest, turning 35 is a little freaky and I am not too happy about it.
Anyway, the wedding day arrived and by this time, we were all ready to go home. John left us around 11am. We had packed everything up in the morning and all I had to do was feed Rowan and get us both dressed and to the church. It went very smoothly and if it wasn't for the boon that exploded on the church floor during the ceremony, I'd say it was pretty near perfect. The bride and groom (Joe and Suzanne) were very cute and seemed to have really enjoyed the day. The location they chose for the reception was gorgeous and the meal was delicious. Rowan ate half of mine and loved every bite. He made it to the end of the speeches and then I took him home to bed. He slept very well despite the late bed time and even managed to get in an extra half hour before the hired car picked us up for our long trip home.
And here we are. Back safe and sound and all the more appreciative our of beautiful new home and the wonderful life we lead in peaceful, cool, sunny and reasonable Canada.
Here is a picture of Rowan in his Italian outfit, purchased in a little boutique in Florence. He looked adorable the day of the wedding. More photos to come.
for him than it should have been. He is an amazing child. He is (we are) blessed with an innate ability to adapt and roll-with-the-punches. He is a perpetually happy little boy who, occasionally now, will throw a temper tantrum when he doesn't get his way (that too is innate and he gets that from BOTH John and I.). We have taken total advantage of his easy demeanor and it is our own fault that he has a hard time making it through the night without eating. I know that. Which is why I was never angered or upset by having to be up with him every night for almost a whole year. Truth be told, I will miss our late night feedings but the idea of still getting up with him after his first birth has been stressing me out. I feel like I have been holding him back in the baby stage by not training him to sleep properly. He deserves to be a "big boy". And well, as usual, he has proven himself to be a wonderful learner. It really has only taken 2 or 3 nights of a few tears to get through the night without eating. Maybe I am counting my chickens before they hatch? Ah, probably not. My son never disappoints! He is perfect after all.
