Our Wonderful Life

Oden really loves his little brother, and always wants him to include him.  "Let's play hide and seek with baby Shai!" and "Can baby Shai go the the park with us?".  Oden is very sweet.  He is still always giving his little brother hugs and kisses, and wanted to share everything with him.

Oden loves his little brother, even though he is always sleeping.

Shai has had a couple of alert sessions, but not too many yet : )

But he is still awful cute, eh?

Oden wants to hold him and give him lots of kisses!

Here, he is thinking of waking up.... but doesn't.

This is Shai's way of saying "Momma!  I need milk!!!"

Our baby looks happy and content....

We were able to Oden to the park today too!

It was in the 60's....very nice.

He missed the park during the last cold spell.

Oden was running around and ...

chasing ducks all over!

The Birth of Shai Allen Phousongphouang Rowley

just photos for now, will follow with the story later on

Shai is born 4 weeks early - this is Mommy's first time to hold him. due to signs of respiratory distress, he went strait to the NICU, where he was considered a "Rock Star" patient.

Shai was put onto just 25% Oxygen (we breathe 21%, so not much), and he was able to come off after just 6 hours. However, we couldn't hold him - which sucked.When we awoke the next morning, his face tubes were gone, but he still had the IV in his hand (poor thing). However, we got the go ahead to start feeding at 9:30 AM. He was doing great.

We finally got to hold him (needed the face tubes off), and Patricia cried (Dad may have too). Dad got a cold at the wrong time (the day before!) and had to wear a mask in the NICU. We hope Shai won't come down with a cold when he comes home.

Later that day, we went to get Oden. Here we were clowning around in Mommy's room before heading to see Shai. Both mom and dad were pretty tired.

Baby Shai has a picture of Big Brother Oden in his crib, even in the NICU. Oden loved it.

Oden first sees his little brother.

and is very excited....but he only gets to touch his toes!

First family photo!

Shai gets to go home the same day as Mommy! He was a great NICU patient. Look how small he looks in his infant car seat!

Here we are on the way out! Mommy and Shai are coming home!

Oden loves his little brother, and is smothering him (literally) with kisses and love! Oden must have given his little brother a hundred kisses that night, and would have given him more if we didn't limit the 'exposure'.

Oden loved holding Shai, and Shai survived.

more to come

How Super is Oden? You be the judge....

It has been another great year in Rowley World. We are blessed with good health (good enough health anyway) and the happiness (net total) that comes with raising a toddler and being pregnant.

1) The Rowley family relocated from Ann Arbor, MI to Frederick, MD, mostly for Jon’s job (but partly to escape Michigan winters). We really love the new location, as there are abundant outdoor activities and wildlife to keep Oden happy. Frederick has a great downtown, and we are only 1 hour from DC or Baltimore. Please come visit!

2) Patricia and Jon celebrated the 5 year anniversary of the day they met on May 22, and their 4 year wedding anniversary on November 26. We are even more in love than when we got married – with Oden there is lots of extra love going around.

3) Oden turned two on July 4, and has made all the huge progressions that toddlers make from 1.5 to 2.5 years of age. He has gone from barely pronouncing 1 syllable words to complete sentences with decent grammar. His climbing and jumping skills have dramatically progressed as can be seen in his early to later videos throughout the year.

4) Patricia got knocked up again, and the family is expecting a new little boy in late February! We are positive he will be just as sweet, loving, and intelligent as his big brother.

5) Oden has established several new skills such as scaling walls to fixing furniture to putting puzzles together.

6)Oden says “please”, “thank you”, "your welcome", and "bless you" consistently and is a very loving child giving hugs and kisses without discretion.

7) Oden has the first part of potty training figured out (#1) and can go without a diaper (he asks for one when he ‘needs’ it).

8) Oden successfully graduated to a big boy bed in December of this year. He cutely calls “Momma! Time to get up!” and “Done sleeping now!” without getting out of bed when he is awake.

9) Patricia celebrated her last day of working for the EPA on Dec 15, and has officially made the transition to fulltime domestic goddess.

10) Jon got his dream job as Director of Cell Therapy R&D Lonza. He gets to help drive the technology development for large scale cell production that will be needed to bring stem cells and other living cell therapies to the masses.

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!!!!

Oden Loves His Spud-Trooper Mr Potato Head Doll

Oden thinks his Mr Potatohead Spudtrooper is super cool!
He pats him on the head.....


and loves him....


...and he named him George.

Rowley Milestones for 2007

1. We kept Oden alive. He turned 1 year old in July, and is still chugging along healthily despite his complete disregard for his own safety.
2. We kept up our travel: Barcelona in January, Florida in Feb, California in March, North Carolina in August - Oden accompanied us on every trip.
3. Patricia went back to work after a 9 month mommy sabbatical. She really enjoys the work/mommy balance.
4. Oden hit all of the standard developmental milestones such as: sitting up, eating solids, crawling, walking, self-feeding, and learning sign language. The thing he hasn't done really is talk yet. However, he is hitting the crap out of a baseball, so it all balances out.
5. We re-did our kitchen, and survived the stress.
6. We had a very successful garden, and Oden loves tomatoes fresh off the vine.
7. Jon worked hard to increase his profile in his field. He is organizing conferences and journals, and has started a blog on the regenerative medicine industry called The Regeneration Station.

Happy Holidays from the Rowley Family!

16 month old slugger - Oden Rowley

Oden is only 16 months old and can hit the ball better than most 5 year olds... check it out.....

Oden Knievel - Daredevil Extraordinaire

what you gonna do?

Oden's Favorite Fall Activities

Oden's favorite fall activities include:

1) Going to Michigan Football games with Dad


2) Helping Mommy pick up walnuts that fall from the big tree
3) Running around the park and throwing walnuts in the stream

4) Watching squirrels run around the yard
5) Sweeping the deck clear of all the yellow leaves, and
6) Twirling around and around until he gets so dizzy he falls down.


Stay tuned for pictures and video to come......

Homerun King

He Ain't Scared!

Oden's walking confidence is definately increasing, and he will try to walk from across the room. He hasn't quite made it yet, but wanting to and trying is just as important.

A Trip to the Petting Farm

We took Oden to the petting farm at Domino's Farms (http://www.pettingfarm.com/) this weekend. We went on a hay ride, but we couldn't feed the cows as it was mating season and the bulls were somewhat aggressive. Oden got to see a lot of neat, not to mention rare, farm animals including:

- goats with 4 horns
- african Watusi horned cows
- Scottish striped galloway cows (any relation to G'ma Galloway - Oden's great great G'ma?)
- pheasants, roosters, ducks, geese, and chickens
- pot belly pigs, european pigs, piglets, and huge hogs
- Llamas, horses, (rasta) donkeys, etc....

He was very intrigued by all the new animals, as long as they didn't get too close. Let's just say Oden didn't take advantage of the 'petting' aspects of the trip, but he had lots of fun none-the-less.

Who's your Tiger? Oden Rowley!

Oden may have some strong genetic challenges to overcome on his way to being the next great Detroit Tiger center fielder, but we believe with hard work and dedication that he can do it. Curtis Granderson should be ready to retire just as Oden is getting ready to move into the majors, but look out Cameron Maybin!

Oden Rowley - Associate Toddler

Our little boy is well on his way to being promoted from infant to toddler, with the critical milestone of successfully taking his first steps. Gma saw a couple steps from the pack-n-play to the couch during the day, but he saved the exciting stuff for when Mommy and Daddy got home. You can tell he is showing off during the videos, and that he is very proud and excited about his new skills.







Not only has he begun walking, but he has sprouted 2 more teeth. He won't let Momma look, but it looks like at least two new bottom teeth for a total of 8!

We are very proud of our son's accomplishments, and looking forward to the day, with correct development and him hitting new milestones, to further promote Oden to to full Toddler status.

Grandpa Oden Visits

Gpa Oden visited us from Thailand this past weekend. We spent lots of quality time together. He always tells the best stories about what it was like growing up on a farm in Kansas.

Oden enjoyed wearing his Gpa's VFW caps.


Gma P hadn't seen Gpa Oden in about 32 years so it was a nice reunion.


He left today and already we miss him and can't wait until he visits us again.

A Trip to the South

Oden goes to "the South" and experiences a wedding for the first time. Mommy and Daddy took him to NC to visit all their friends that they sadly left behind when they moved to Ann Arbor.

The first few days we stayed with Adam and Emily Reed. They are the super duper nicest and funnest people ever. They bought Oden all his favorite foods so they could be his favorite "Aunt" and "Uncle". Aunt Emily is an artist and knits the most amazing hats and scarves and dresses. You can check out her art at www.emknits.com . We plan to get a hat for Oden so he can stay cozy warm this winter! Mommy's favorite was the monkey hat :) Aunt Emily is brewing a baby friend for Oden in her belly. She's due in October and we can't wait to meet their bouncing baby girl!!

Then we went and stayed with "Aunt" Sania and "Uncle" Gabe. They were super great about tip-toeing around and whispering whenever Oden was asleep (Oden's a REALLY light sleeper!). They just bought a fabulous new house and adopted the sweetest dog, Nala.

We got to see other friends like Tanya, Kate, Bryce, Tom, Carrie/Jeff, Sean, Art/Souk and Liz/Pete. They all adored Oden!

The highlight of the trip was "Aunt" Darryl and "Uncle" Rich's Wedding. Aunt Darryl is one of Mommy's best friends, and she was a beautiful bride.


Oden impressed all with his little black suit. He was the most handsome baby there! Plus Aunt Emily bought him some fab elephant shoes to match!!

Balancing Act

Strawberries for Oden

Today Mommy discovered that Oden LOVES his strawberries whole! He was getting fussy while she was preparing his lunch, so she quickly washed a couple of strawberries, cut off the tops and handed them over. Oden loves being able to hold a whole fruit and to take bites of it with his new found teeth. It's so fun to watch him. Every once in a while though he feels the need to make strawberry juice and squeezes the life out of his strawberry before he crams it into his mouth. It's sooo great!

Last week he started eating whole peaches! He bites off the skin, spits it out, and devours the rest of the peach down to the pit. He's SUCH a great eater!

Oh, and he's getting really good at getting down off the couch and going down the stairs. It's cool to see him learn that you can't just jump off them!

Oden's Brand New Tricks

Oden has lots of new tricks to show the world!

Oden's First Tiger's Game - July 5, 2007

Mom and Dad took Oden to see his first live baseball game the day after his birthday. The Tigers were playing the Indians at Comerica Park in Detroit.

The Detroit Tigers destroyed the Cleveland Indians 12-3 while Justin Verlander pitched a great game (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore;_ylt=AlhDkXIAMELDow0KmLgEh_O4u7YF?gid=270705106).



Oden seemed to enjoy the noise of the crowd and the excitement, but it was a very sunny day and it was hot - so he spent some time with Mommy in the shade while Dad watched the game.



Our little ball player even clapped when the Tigers had a rally going.

Mommy took Oden to find some shade for a break from the sun.... too bad she couldn't find anywhere to sit : )

Oden missed his afternoon nap, but was able to catch some Z's during the ninth inning, and Mommy carried him to the car as the Tiger statues waved bye bye to Oden outside the stadium. He'll be back.....

Happy Birthday, Oden!!!!

Happy Birthday to Oden! We can't beleive it has been an entire year..... as a reminder, here is the original note we sent out to everyone announcing Oden's arrival.

> ODEN ALLEN KEOVISAT ROWLEY came to celebrate Independence
> Day with his parents. He was born on July 4th, 2006 at 9:38pm
> (exactly 3 wks early, still considered a full term baby).
>
> Oden tipped the scales at 6 lbs 2 oz (all cheeks) and measured 18.5
> inches long. No complications or concerns, and as uneventful as a 16
> hour labor/delivery can be. Patricia delivered like a pro.
>
> Mom, Dad, & Baby are now home and doing great!!
>
> We can't stop looking at our new baby......so forgive us if we don't
> answer our cell phones.

I don't want to work, i just want to bang my spoons all day

Cruisin, on a Sunday afternoon

It has been over a month since we posted, and we have lots of good Oden updates:

- he has been pulling up for awhile now, and has recently begun cruising around from chair to table to couch.

- Oden has gone from 2 to 5 teeth in the last week. This will definately help his eating, and you can imagine how good his sleeping has been this week.

- Oden's diet is getting more and more solid. He can eat full blueberries now, and eats eggs every morning with Mom and Dad. He loves anything that someone else is eating.

- Oden is the shortest one in his baby play group. Looks like he got his daddy's legs.

Check out the video - he will be walking in no time!

Oden the Crawling Expert

He crawls! He feeds himself! He claps!

Is there anything that this boy can not do?



he is starting to get into everything now, and is pulling up to his knees (not quite standing).... also, he really wants to figure out how to get to the top of the stairs.

Little Oden Rowley, loved those rascal Puffs.....

and ate them with string and ceiling wax, and other fancy stuff......

Handsome Boy

our oden is killer good looking, don't you agree?