Last weekend, we gave Rowan his first haircut. His first REAL haircut.  We trimmed the side "wings" a while back, but weren't ready to tackle the whole head.

I always swore I would never let my kid have a mullet in the name of saving his baby curls.  But Rowan was morphing into a mini MacGyver right before our eyes, and we were too scared to do anything about it. 

{MacGyver}

Rightly so, because cutting his hair was about as difficult as we expected it to be {this might be some kind of lesson in predetermining outcomes with your attitude}.  Not so much emotionally, although the thought of totally butchering his hair did have me a little on edge.  But I mean physically...it was HARD!

Initially, I started with scissors, but that was super slow going.  So I moved up to a beard trimmer.  This also didn't work so well, as it was as intriguing to Rowan as it was slow.  He kept turning his head and trying to grab it.

We finally decided to go all out with the big clippers. 

Not having the slightest idea which length to go with, we opted for a 4.  The first buzz took out a HUGE chunk that prompted me to lengthen the blade with the built in adjusting lever....bad idea.  The next few strokes failed to cut any hair, but successfully tangled it, sending Cubbie into a wail. 

The poor kid must've wondered why the hell his parents, who he loves and trusts, would do this to him.

That's when Dad stepped in to get the job done right.

With a just a few more swift hand motions and some switches back and forth between 4, 6, and 8, we stood back and admired our work. 

Not too bad.

The little man looks pretty dang handsome...and he also looks like he's two!

Rowan was born in 2010, the year of the Tiger.  I was told by a friend that this is a very lucky thing, as the Tiger is a strong, independent and powerful animal.  If I wasn't feeling proud enough to have my little Tiger, I was told that our next baby {we affectionately call him "Trouble"} will be a Dragon.  This, my friend said, was very good.  He said that I was extremely lucky to have {or be having} two boys, a Tiger and a Dragon - the two most powerful animals.  He also said, that Dragons and Tigers get along.  NICE!

Now, the Chinese zodiac calendar is not necessarily part of our culture or personal beliefs.  I find this kind of information very fun and interesting, and I love to hear about it!  That said, I wouldn't, say, make any important decisions or judgements based on these beliefs, or put too much emphasis behind them.

But....it got our curiosity burning a little.  So we looked up compatibility amongst the animals of the Chinese calendar, and based on this website, it looks like Dragons and Tigers do, in fact, get along very well.  And so do Dogs {Rogér and I are both Dogs} and Tigers.  For the Dog parent/Tiger child, it said "Easy Parenting".  Wahoo!  So true, right? 

What a roll we're on!

Until we got to the Dog parent/Dragon child relationship.....

"Problems will arise" 

That's what it says.  Looks like "Trouble" has been aptly nicknamed!  Ha!

We'll have to try not to hold his personality against him....he is a Dragon after all. ;)

*shrug*

What fun our little Tiger and Dragon are going to be!  Lots of adventures ahead of us with these two!

Now that the holiday and birthday craziness is over, I can finally get to my post on Rowan's first year!

A year ago, we brought our little guy home.

We can hardly call him "little" anymore, even though we do.  He's HUGE!  Partly because he's an eating machine!  He's moved on from his bananas only phase, and now he mows through almost anything you put in front of him....then asks for more.  Especially if its grapes or cake!

This year has been amazing.  It hasn't all been easy, although, we think we lucked out as far as Rowan's temperament so far.  He is pretty easy. 

But then, we kinda get a kick out of his tantrums anyway!  {maybe I'll eat those words later, but for now, I'll just admit it...his face gets so grumpy and cute!}

It really doesn't seem like it went that fast.  To me, anyway.  I know that's what everyone says and everyone expects me to say, but the time didn't fly any faster than any other year.  But now, he's doing so many new things and sprouting UP so fast, that I think the days and years are going to whip by.

Happy Birthday, Rowan!!

We love you and we're so proud of you :)