To Write Their Names In The Sand...

http://namesinthesand.blogspot.com/2008/10/oscar-allen-daukmai-rowley.html

6 Million People Project at Flickr

My buddy from undergrad, Jake Rome, has helped start an online Holocaust memorial/ portrait photography group called 6 Million People. The goal of this group is to collect 6 million pictures of different people, with one person in each picture, as a representation of the massive number of Jews the Nazis murdered during World War and to help remember both them and the other victims of Nazi Germany.

It is a really cool project that they have started, and they have gotten a lot of great photographers to contribute work. You can keep up with the project at
6 Million People blog, and you can check out some really amazing portraits at Spotlight Seven, where they feature artists regularly.

Best of luck to Jake and his team in finishing this great project over the next few years. We will link to some Rowley family pics once we have them uploaded.

Mom & Dad have been "Busy"

Oden Shows Off His Jumping Skills

Oden loves to jump!

He jumps down the stairs, he jumps on the couch, he jumps over obstacles, he jumps up onto rocks, etc... here is a selected grouping of some of his finer indoor jumps. I am sure that more will come in the future.

Oden's Climbing Skills Translate to Home Mischief

When we got Oden's bunk bed, it had an integrated ladder that we could put against the wall so that we didn't have to worry about him climbing into the top bunk. Unfortunately, he engineered his ascent with MacGyver-like cunningness.

That's our boy!

Oden Climbing at the Park

Oden has gotten both very brave, and very good, when it comes to climbing the structures at the park. His loves to climb, but more than anything, he loves to show off that he can do new things to his Mommy.

Oden is so proud when Mommy acknowledges his victories.



You can go directly to Youtube (click the video twice) for higher resolution video. Just click in the lower right that says "watch in high resolution"

Oden Loves Bell Pepper

Oden wants to show Grandma his Puzzle Skills

Check out Oden's puzzling skills.

Oden the Handyman

Oden wanted to 'fix' the bed, but he couldn't reach the broken part. So, he figured out a way, all by himself, to get himself up to the upper bunk to fix it. Once Daddy got home from work, Oden wanted to show off his diligent problem solving skills and handyman (where did that trait come from???) abilities.... but it took a few tries.

Long Weekend Getaway - Berkeley Springs, WV

Mommy, Daddy, Levi, and Oden went to Berkeley Springs, WV for a weekend getaway. We rented an old downtown apartment (upstairs from an herbal remedies apothecary) that was roomy, but reminded us why we don't like old houses: squeaky floors and noisy!

However, the location was great! We were located in the center of the downtown area, which is only 4-5 blocks long. Berkeley Springs is known for it's natural springs, and George Washington came to the springs and even owned property in town. Oden loved playing in the water, and he has gotten really good at throwing stones.

We had some good food while in town, and the best restaurants we found were Lot #12 and Tari's. They also had a nice Farmer's Market where we bought some heirloom tomatoes and ate a nice lunch (also by the Lot #12 folks) of garbanzo bean salad, smoked chicken and black bean wrap, gazpacho, and basil corn on the cob....yum.

We went hiking both Saturday and Sunday at Capacon State Park, which is just 10 miles outside of Berkeley Springs. It is a nice park with lots of hiking and a lake which we didn't get to. We saw tons of deer during both of our hikes - they had really long tails relative to other deer we have seen. We also got to see lots of bugs - Oden got terrorize a centipede, and pet a millipede too!

We will try to get better at keeping up the blog. Oden is still doing new things every week, and this is such a great platform to both record and share his great accomplishments....

August 2, 2008

Oscar's Due Date...

Like a Shooting Star
Author Unknown

Like a shooting star
Passing through the night sky,
Our baby passed quickly through our lives
Taking with him a lifetime of hopes
And dreams we had for here.

But he has left footprints on our hearts
And brought clarity to our lives.
Energized by our love,
He is guardian of our memories of what was
And our dreams of what someday may be.

I Let Myself Love You
By Shawna Ellis

I let myself love you
As soon as I knew
I let myself love you
But you left too soon

I wanted to keep you
And watch you grow
I wanted to keep you
But I should have known

I cried when I lost you
Because I loved you from the start
I cried when I lost you
Your death broke my heart

Now I just miss you
I want you here with me
Now I just miss you
My baby unseen

I let myself love you
There was no other way
I let myself love you
But I will meet you one day

Oden Sings his ABCs

As Oden approaches his 2nd birthday (just 2 days away!), he is learning more and more. He is now saying "please" and "thank you" all the time, something his Momma is very proud of. It is difficult not to give him his way when he says 'puh weeze'.

He is also getting really good at his ABCs, as you can tell from the below video. However, the video also demonstrates the tricks that we use to get him to learn this stuff.... he loves watching his own vidoes.

Olympic Oden

Oden graduated from his gym class today and got a medal! He dramatically outperformed his peers on the balance beam.... he's a stud!

Oden Counts to 10, and other updates

Good stuff is happening in the Rowley household. Our boy Oden can now count to 10! Just last week he made it from 2 (which he has done for awhile) to 3, then 4, and now 10! Pretty awesome from the first-time parent POV.



Now that he has mastered the counting, he has indepently started practicing his ABCs again (we haven't worked on them in a few weeks).

Also, just this morning Oden used the Toilet for the first time. He is far from being potty-trained, but another major milestone has dropped from the sky out of nowhere.

Oden Cooking Breakfast

Oden loves to help cook..... he's got some mad skills.

White Boys Can Jump!

Oden has been making progress in leaps and bounds (see video). He is also talking independently; his favorite words being: moon, home, down, dig, no, uh-oh, and more. Oden is also playing much more independently, and can entertain himself for several minutes at a time. He loves his new play structure that Mom and Dad got him (pictures to come), and he is hitting the baseball better than ever too!

Enjoy the video!

Terrible Two's

It's official, Oden has finally hit the unavoidable TT's. It doesn't seem fair since he's not quite 2 years old yet (not for another 4 months!). But alas, our docile and sweet child has turned into an independent and extremely demanding little toddler (i.e. beast). But we still love him to death. It's actually pretty neat to see how he tries to exert his power, to get what seems to be so important to him at that moment. And it doesn't help that he's also teething. Not sure exactly which teeth are coming in (fangs?), but he's drooling and biting like crazy... and just that much crankier!

Mommy's Daukmai

I came across two very beautiful quotes today that encompass what I feel for Daukmai ("flower" in Laos)...

Imagine a love so strong that saying hello and goodbye in the same day is worth all the sorrow...

Most people only get to dream of angels... I held one of them in my arms.

Oscar Allen Daukmai Rowley

Conceived: October 26, 2007

Calculated Due Date: August 2, 2008

Birth Date: March 2, 2008

Death Date: March 2, 2008

Oscar unfortunately came 5 months too early....

too early to be able to survive outside of his Mama's nurturing belly

too early for Oden to have the role of "big brother"

too early for his Mama to kiss him and nourish him with her breast milk

too early for his Daddy to brag about his every little milestone

too early for his Grandparents to fawn over him

too early for his family to know him

but not too early for everyone to love him

and remember him

Please remember our little boy.........

Oden's new words

Oden is getting really good at attempting new words. In the last 10 minutes he has said "cheese", "cracker", and "more", while he was eating cheese, as well as "bowl". Earlier today he said "home".

Our boy is on a roll. If you ask him to say something, he will more often than not at least attempt to say it.... "cracker" didn't turn out so hot, but "more", "bowl", "home" and "cheese" were all pretty recognizable.

More good stuff from Rowleyworld!

Oden Speaks Laos

Oden's Laos-in-laws were in town, and we were learning all kinds of new Laos words..... this is Oden's favorite:



by the way, 'min' means 'stinky!'

Happy Birthday to Mom and Jon

We had to celebrate the birthdays a week early this year, as the Rowley family will be moving to Maryland at the end of February. Jon has accepted a new job and Frederick, Maryland, will be the new home.

See the family sing along below:

Oden's Evolving Hitting Prowess

Oden has been improving his swing, he is getting so good.

Oden Jumping and Talking

it doesn't get any better than this!

Oden Groovin Old Style

Our boy has gots rhythm I say......

The Rowley Kitchen Remodel

Two months and too much $$ spent... the Rowley kitchen remodel is finally complete. Our good friend and carpenter, Jon Wilson, was the skilled craftsman behind it all and he did an awesome job! Here are a couple of pics of the 60's mint green disaster we bought into...

Followed by a couple pics of the 2007 masterpiece...

You can see more pics of the kitchen gutted and at various other stages of the remodel, at the following link:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=emyr6dt.c912mmtx&x=1&y=vrjnr3

As if One Baby Rowley Wasn't Enough - # 2 on the Way!

Patricia, Oden and Jon want to announce to the world that we have a little 3 inch fetus that is rapidly growing in Mommy's belly! Due date is August 2, 2008....but likely another July baby (oden's original due date was July 25, and was born on July 4). We are pretty sure it looks like a girl....what do you think?

Angel or Devil?.... you decide

Oden Enjoying the New Year Snow

Oden had lots of fun today sledding.....



and eating the snow.



Happy New Year!!!!