The Daily Hailey

Three years ago, we were SO pleased and proud to welcome our third child, Rowan Toby Born.

Yes, he’s still all cottage cheesy here. Its ok, that stuff is great!

Rowan brought a crazy amount of healing along with him when he was born. The birth of his sibling born prior to him had been awfully scary, and I lived in pretty serious anxiety that his birth would be the same, or worse. If it was, I would likely have opted to stop having children for the sake of my mental health. But he was born in a beautiful controlled environment, where I had my amazing doctor, a fabulous nurse, and a lot more say in how things went down. Feel free to read back to his birth story if you’d like 🙂

Poor Ro has been sick for his first two birthdays. His first birthday was rough!

I remember he looked like that most of the day. I took SO many pictures in this particular sitting and this was the best one I got. He looks pretty zen. A little high, perhaps. I believe two days after this birthday, we took the whole family to the doctor and ALL three kids were swabbed for whooping cough. Yup. That is how sick they all were. It sucked. Poor Ro.

Last year was also a “poor Ro” experience, though he seems a bit stronger in the picture!

A quick read back tells me that he woke up the morning of his second birthday covered in vomit. His bed, his body, and his hair were just coated in the stuff. It had been the week off of school break and every single day, at least one of the children had woken up covered in vomit or worse. I was SO discouraged that he was sick for his birthday again, but some of you had reassured me after reading my post that he would be more than fine, and there were going to be better birthdays ahead. Sickness happens in kids. Its just life.

Here we are on his third birthday, and he is STRONG and WELL. FINALLY!

I went into the kids room this morning singing “Happy Birthday” to Rowan. Dekker and Laela joined in the song, and Rowan finished it off by screeching “YAY! Its my birthday!!” We group hugged/dog piled on him, and he giggled, just loving the attention. After a quick diaper change, we headed to the breakfast table where Ro got to pick a fresh box of cereal. Froot Loops, obviously. They all ate and enjoyed and we had a nice, normal breakfast. The morning after was spent colouring and playing and grandma even came over and joined us for lunch before the three kids went down for naps. I’m actually surprised that they’re sleeping at all. Ro is SO happy to be the birthday boy, but he didn’t fight going down for his nap either 🙂 Win!

Popcorn chicken and french fries is on the menu for tonight, and grandma and grandpa are joining the fun. Coming up with a cake was pretty tricky because, believe it or not, Rowan doesn’t really care for sweets as much as the average kid. So, donuts! I’m pretty sure he’ll like donuts, haha! We love a good, low key, unconventional birthday around here!

I am just SO thrilled to have Rowan in my family. He adds a special spice that no other kid quite has the same way. He would rather snuggle than play. He loves listening to stories, praying for meals, doing the dishes, playing Play-Doh, telling jokes, going to the city, and eating pb&j sandwiches. He has warmed up to having his hair tied up in a ponytail, and insists he wants to keep it long, which we love, support, and think makes him look like a rockstar. He compliments Laela and I when he thinks we look pretty. He is adventurous and brave and has a healthy mix between being super grown up for his age, and being super little and innocent and off in his own world. I LOVE what he adds to our family, and I hope he always has the zest for life that he has now.

Rowan, never stop rubbing noses with me! I love you so much, exactly as you are, through every stage! I am SO happy you’re my son!!! ❤