Busy day!

We took Ethan to the pool for the first time today! He was so cute! We went with some friends and their little boy, and Ethan was mesmerized by all the splashing water and the kids playing and laughing. The pool has a big sprinkler/waterpark area, and he loved watching the fountains flow up and down. At one point, he found a small piece of wood at the edge of the pool. He'd toss it in, climb into the pool via the steps, retrieve the wood, toss it out of the pool, climb out and get it, and start all over. So funny!

A little girl puked in the pool (sigh...that'll be our kid one day, I'm sure), so we decided pooltime was over and we came home. I needed to rinse out my swim suit, so I hopped into the shower and took Ethan with me to wash his sunscreen off, too. So, Ethan has now had his first shower! He wasn't too happy about water falling on his head, so I think we'll stick to baths. :o)

I thought he'd konk out after all of his adventures and a good lunch; but he was still pretty hyper, so we packed him up and headed out to the Domain, an "upscale" outdoor shopping mall. I'd never been there, so I wanted to window shop and check it out. We went to a bookstore first and got a bunch of books. Jim got work books, Ethan got a toy book and a bath book, and I got a book about toddlers. Yikes...he's a toddler!

Then we walked around a bit, Jim looked at watches, I looked at sapphires, we went to the Sony store to look at the tv we may get soon, and we did some more window shopping. Ethan also got a chance to play in some more fountains...kiddo loves moving water!

Ethan was still pretty cheery, so we decided to get pizza...why not?! We ate out, I had a glass of wine (yay!), and I was all for ordering dessert until a spider landed on my arm. I HATE spiders, and this sucker came out of nowhere, so I freaked out and we had to leave. No worries...there was a chocolate shop next door, so we got a few truffles for the road!

We left the pizza place in a hurry, so I let Ethan take a piece of pizza crust to nibble on when we left. As we were leaving the mall, a lady commented on what a cute, sweet baby he is. I looked at the little guy on my hip, and he was COVERED in goobers from dinner and the pizza crust! He was an absolute MESS, and was grinning from ear to ear. That's my kid! So, we got home, and he got a bath as soon as we got here. Now he's a squeaky clean baby boy again!

It's 9pm and Ethan is finally sleeping. I'm worn out, but in a happy way. It's so nice to be able to go out and do things. Ethan is finally getting to an age where we can relax and enjoy being out with him and we don't necessarily have to spend every moment focused on him...he can kind of entertain himself by checking out his surroundings. Not that we're ignoring him or anything! But when they're teeny, you are their whole world, and all they are interested in is you. Now he knows who we are, and he knows we're always here, so he's more willing to see what else is going on around us, which frees us up to do the same thing. I adore our son, and I LOVE watching him experience new things, but it's nice to be able to step back and enjoy things for your own sake every now and then, too. :o)