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.