More Pics of Rohan

We are up to 632 pictures of Rohan already! This is exactly why we got a digital camera 5 years ago, when we got the dogs. We went through 4 rolls of film the first weekend we had Lucy and only 4 pictures turned out good enough to keep. With Rohan we SAVED 632 pictures, which means we probably threw out another 600, so the kid is well documented...
Rohan has been eating like a moo cow as of late, so we took him in to get weighed earlier this week. He's up to a whopping 6lbs 2ozs as of Monday, but you wouldn't know it by some of the pictures. He's still pretty small & scrawny. We took some random pictures, and also some post bath ones to show how scrawny he really is. There is also a good picture from Michelle's visit at the end...:)

A Random, Misc, Rohan Post

Rohan started his first day of daycare this last week, going from Wednesday through Friday, all day. It was a little hard to drop him off, but both of us had plenty of stuff to do to keep our minds occupied...:) The daycare providers are really nice, and play with him quite a lot since there are so few infants there right now. He got lots of tummy time, and we even had them take some pictures to commemorate the day. Mara has been able to feed him over her lunch hour, and when I don't have an experiment going, I head over with her too.
We haven't weighed him lately, but he seems to be filling out (a relative term for someone his size). I think we'll try to get to the Dr. sometime this coming week and see what he's up to. Other than that not much is new, we just wanted to post some pictures (to keep certain people happy...:P), and a couple of videos. The videos are probably lame to most, but as new parents we found them entertaining. This kid could lay motionless for an hour and we'd have video of it and "oooh" and "ahhh" over it. :)

Some Random Photos


Rohan Works His Neck & Back Muscles


This Noise He Made When Sleeping Made Us Laugh

Who Does Rohan Look Like?

OK, I can never look at babies and say "He has your eyes" or "He's got Mom's ears". To me its just a baby. But we hear a lot of people that say Rohan look like parts of each of us, and others just say he looks like one of us. It's pretty subjective, but look for yourself.
Here is a slide show of Mara and I as babies, and several pictures of Rohan over the last few weeks. If you want to see them side-by-side click on the slide show twice and it will take you to our album, otherwise it's just a sideshow.
Feel free to vote on who you think he looks like, and be sure to leave your thoughts on a comment. We'd love to hear what everyone has to say!

Does That Kid Ever Sleep!?!?!

This last weekend we got an extended visit from Michelle, Chris, & Jackson so they could meet Rohan and give him lots of hugs-n-snugs. It was amazing to see how much energy Jackson has! The kid is always moving, sometime linearly, sometime tangently, but always in some sort of motion. With all the commotion, trips to the park, walks, and play time, I think he only napped for 30 minutes and then was back at it. A chilling vision of things to come for us...:)
It was great to have the Stokes' visit, and make the 9+ hour drive with a 20 month old. We had some quick face time before bed early Sat. morning, which I think threw off everyone's circadian rhythms. We had a nice walk on Saturday, in to a brisk wind, to Truman and around Kirskville's square. It was really nice to get out and enjoy a lot of the day, and the Northerner's really liked the lack of snow...:) Rohan let Jackson ride in his stroller while he was snuggled in with Mara in the sling Tim & Allison got for us. He weathered the 2 hour walk very well, as did Jackson. I'm sure Chris & Michelle wanted to stretch their legs after a long car ride and bed.
We had a lot of fun at the park as well. Some of the equipment was meant for kids, but Michelle and I had to make sure the swings & zip lines were safe for the older kids...:)
Everyone got a chance to workout as well. Since we had the 2 kids & 4 dogs we went in shifts. Mara and Michelle went to run and lift, then Chris and I went for some marathon games of racquetball. We had some difficulties deciding where to eat on Sunday (mostly Mara & Michelle's fault...:P). We ended up with some pretty unique combinations between us all. Taco Pizza, Sushi, and Egg Whites. I guess that constitutes a well balanced dinner...
A lot of the pictures & some videos are duplicated on Shell's Blog, but just so nothing is left out, I included all of them here. Enjoy!

First, The Pictures


Second, The Videos
Jackson Brings Rohan A Gift


Jackson Has An Interesting Pronunciation of Linus


Some Quality Testing of The Zip Line


Jackson Does His Best Maggee Imitation


We had a blast with the Stokes Family! Even a long weekend seemed to short of a time to catch up, B.S., and relax. We'll have plenty of time to talk when they ride with us down to Phoenix this summer...:)

Smartest baby ever...

Okay, probably not, but Rohan has been attending lectures in Orthopedics, Pathology, Surgery, Women's Health, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience since he was 3 days old! He's done great! We sit in the back and so far he hasn't so much as squeaked during a lecture (although we are careful to leave at the earliest signs of hunger). He can sleep through almost anything, just like his dad:) He's a HUGE hit with most of my classmates and I definitely don't have to worry about holding him during the breaks between lecture as he's sure to be passed around to most anyone!
It's been a great two weeks adjusting to a full load of classes and Rohan. I am really glad we were able to hold off on daycare for this long (I know, 2 weeks isn't very long, but it's longer than we thought we'd be able to wait), although he will be going sometime this week. We'll see how that adjustment goes...
This last Friday while I was taking my Neuro Final, Mike took Rohan to the doctor and we are proud to say the little man is back to his birth weight! A whopping 5lbs 10oz and growing like a weed. Keep it up Rohan! He'll be filling in his saggy skin in no time:)

KCOM Baby Shower

Last Sunday Rohan got to hang out with all the smart kids at our friend Deana & Jim's house. Several of our close friends at school planned a shower for what we thought was the last month of Mara's pregnancy, but turns out Rohan was able to make it to his last baby shower...:)
We got some great gifts, and we always enjoy spending time with our friends. Rohan was a big hit with everyone.
On another note, he is gaining a little weight now. He had gained and lost an ounce or so, and has finally kept some on. He weights a whopping 5lbs 8ozs now, just 2ozs below his birth weight. At the rate he's eating though, he'll shatter his birth weight in no time...:)
I should explain one of the gifts we got, well two, from Deana. The first is a onesie that says Francisella tularensis, and a wash cloth that says Renin Angiotensin System. This truly reflects the nerdiness of our friends and us. Mara said if we had a girl we'd name her Francisella Tularensis. Francisella tularensis is actually an extremely deadly bacterial pathogen. It's so small it doesn't even need a cut to get in, it just squeezes between skin cells! It's actually labeled as a bio-terrorism threat, on the same level as anthrax. Maybe the name is only funny to people who took Medical Microbiology... On the wash cloth, one day Deana had asked Mara for Rohan's initials; R.A.S. Deana said that has to stand for something, and Mara quipped back "Renin Angiotensin System". They had just learned about a hormone controlled process of balancing blood pressure and water in the human body. We all had a good laugh when Deana gave us these gifts...:)

Rohan Meets The Family!

The end of this week we had Ma & Pa Bacon down on Thursday/Friday, then had Grandma, Mom & Dad Syring, Tanta (German for Aunt) Jen, & cousins Taylor & Kaylee. It was really great to see everyone swoon over little Rohan. I think he's a hit with all of them...:)
It was great this week too because we got to try out the stroller a little more. It hit 50°F on Thursday, and we took a 2.5 mile walk with the Bacon's to Truman State University and back. Then later that night Mara had to print some lecture notes at school so we walked to KCOM and back too. All in all a great 5 miles of walks in. When it gets warmer we'll be taking him on our epic 3-4 hour walks which pretty much take us around Kirksville proper. We all went out for Chinese on Friday before they left. Rohan was great after we fed him, but was in "meltdown mode" before then. Dan & Holly also took our cat, Toquinho, back with them. Since we can only have 2 pets in our AZ apartment we had to choose one. Lucy barely made the cut, but the cat was the low animal on the totem pole, so to speak. We really liked Toqo A LOT. When we get a cat in the future, we hope it's exactly like him!
The Syring/Bowers clan braved some icy roads through IA City, but we were really glad they came. They brought some of Grandma's meatloaf (my favorite) for supper, and had plenty of leftovers for us to chow on for the next few days. Everyone got to hold Rohan and feed him if they wanted. Mara had a mock board exam so everyone could take turns feeding him while she was gone. Tanta Jen, Taylor & Kaylee even got to give him a bath.
It was great to have everyone down here, and we can't wait for more visitors!

Arizona Panoramas

We had some "free time" between feedings to put together some panoramas of our hikes in Phoenix. In order they are Waterfall Trail, Thunderbird Trail, and finally Lookout Mountain. You may want to click on the picture to get the full version to see the background. We could see for probably 30 miles in either direction. If you want the full pictures to check out click the title of each picture and it will bring up the higher quality version. Greg and Nico showed us some great scenic hikes, so when you come visit us in AZ, we'll take you up...:)

Waterfall Trail:

Thunderbird Trail 360°:

Lookout Mountain 360°:

Doing Great!

Mara and I are adjusting to life with Rohan. His bilirubin levels are not going up so we think he'll avoid having to use the blanket or Green Lantern Belt. Today we brought him to get weighed again. He hasn't changed too much (still 5lbs 5 ozs) but he's eating like a champ so we're sure he'll fatten up in no time.
We've been out and about as much as we can the last few days. Today Mara brought him to school to show some friends while she printed some packets off. She actually brought him to her 11:00 class too and he was perfectly fine. Afterwards we brought him to the Microbiology lab to show the professors. Everyone loved him; especially since he slept the whole time...:)
Tonight was a little colder (~25°F) but we wanted to try out the stroller so we bundled him up REALLY good and set out. One of my classmates had a premature girl so we got some gender neutral clothes so Rohan isn't swimming in all of his. He didn't make a peep the whole time, so we think he really liked it. He'll have to get used to it, because we take a lot of walks...:)
We've done some webcams with some friends & family. It's nice they get to see him, even when they can't make the trip down. Not many new pictures, but here are a few.
Thanks to everyone who sent/brought flowers & gifts! We really appreciated it!

Finally Home

We finally got the OK to head home (around 11pm) from the hospital. The Dr. wanted to check Rohan's bilirubin levels, and they came back OK. Since he's 5 weeks early he'll most likely be jaundiced and he'll get his Green Lantern Belt like his cousin Cameron to conjugate some of the free bilirubin.
The puppies got to meet Rohan for the first time. He didn't seem to mind them too much, but the dogs couldn't get enough of him; especially Linus. We saw that when Jackson was born and Linus was such a motherly dog. He whines when Rohan cries, it's pretty pathetic. Toquinho could care less about him, as long as he gets his attention.
Everyone is doing GREAT, especially Mara & Rohan. Rohan is very developed considering the 5 week early entrance. He's above the curve in most areas for being early.
Here are some pics for everyone. We are going to feed him, then sleep in our own bed! By the way, in the beginning, your going to get sick of the pointless pictures & videos we put up. They are probably only cute to us, but why not share? :)

It's A Boy!

Rohan Alexander was born this morning (Jan 4th) at 2:01am. He was a little guy at 5lbs 10ozs, but he's got an appetite, so he's sure to grow.
Everyone is doing excellent!
We can post more later, but here are some pics for everyone!

Happy New Year!

We try very hard to make our vacations count. Since Mara and I only had a few short days of vacation we had to work to fill up as much time as possible. We went from Kirksville to Des Moines to Kansas City and Phoenix over the last 2 weeks, and it's been a BLAST!
We had to go see Tim & Allison since we can't get enough of Cameron...:) The Peet family came with us for the 3D/4D ultrasound below and we were really glad we could share it with them. After a brief 2 days back in Kirksville we headed to KC on X-Mas Eve and stayed with Allison's brother Rob & his dog Jake. Unfortunately Linus & Lucy had to be kenneled since we were headed to Phoenix, AZ for a week. I think Jake was happier with the attention he got.
It was a chilly 5F when we left KC for Dallas, then off to Phoenix! It was actually raining in Phoenix when Greg & Nicole picked us up, but it ended up clearing away a lot of the city pollution and we had awesome vistas of the mountains! We got back to their house and started decorating cookies that they made. It was interesting to see who could come up with the most "unique" cookie. Designs included a pimp cane, a Brewer's cane, a cookie that loves Tim, a tweeker snowman, a yellow snow snowman, an Emo & Jebus gingerbread men, and several other interesting ones. Greg & Nico then made us an awesome X-Mas dinner, followed by some relaxation and catching up. Mara got to spoil their dog Abby while we were there too.
We headed out on a mission to find some apartments & daycare so we scoured the city Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. It was really productive and we have some great places in mind now. On Saturday Heather & John (Mara's Aunt & Uncle) took us to their dinner theater for a production of A Christmas Carol. It was really well done, and the food was excellent! We all went to their place on Monday night as well and had a great time catching up, meeting Jordan's fiance Kailea, and playing board games. It was an awesome time. We fell in love with their house too at the base of South Mountain! Wow...
Greg & Nico also took us to some great hiking trails in and around Phoenix. We hiked the Waterfall Trail in the White Tank Mountains, Lookout Mountain in the city, and Cave Creek Trail in Tonto National Forest just North of the city. It was completely different than our hikes in the Rockies since there were several mountain hikes in the middle of the city! It lead to some great panoramic pictures.
Hope you enjoy the pictures! We hope everyone had a great holiday week!