Sunday, March 16, 2008

Recent adventures

Well, Ethan's schedule has been a complete mess all week because of daylight savings time last Sunday. He turned 9 months old on Tuesday, and we had a check-up at 8am that morning. I didn't factor in the time change, so I woke the poor little man up waaaay earlier than he was used to getting up! He did surprisingly well, though! He's at about 17.5 pounds now...still a little on the skinny side for his height, but he's happy and healthy and doing great. They did a routine blood draw to check for anemia and lead poisoning (thanks, Chinese toys!), and we should get them soon. Doc says not to worry, though. She hasn't seen any lead poisoning in any of her kiddos yet.

As far as mobility, he's crawling all over the place. He climbs anything that stays still (including poor Daisy). He's also cruising like a pro...he can walk around his activity tables, furniture, and along walls pretty darn well. He's stood on his own a couple of times, but just for a few seconds at a time. Then he gets too excited and falls down. But he's working on it. He's also doing well at "walking" by holding our fingers for balance. A couple of days ago, he practically ran down the hall after Daisy, laughing hysterically the whole way!

Ethan's also "talking" much better. He doesn't just repeat the same couple of syllables over and over, or just make gooey noises anymore. Lately, he's been babbling and stringing different sounds together. No words yet, but it sounds much more like people-speak as opposed to baby babbles. We laugh because he's starting to sound like a little boy now...crazy stuff.

I've noticed over the last few weeks that Ethan's attention span is getting much better. He's much more interested in books than he used to be. He actually looks at the pictures and can sit through the whole book now. In some books, he recognizes the pictures...in Goodnight Moon, he always reaches for the mouse on the "Goodnight mouse" page. Every time! He's also watching my hands through all of the alphabet song (I sign the letters to him as I sing it)...I used to lose him around HIJK! He's also getting better at playing with toys. He examines and manipulates a toy until he's got it all figured out...he doesn't just toss it aside after banging on it for a minute or two anymore.

On Thursday, we went to the Blanton museum (UT is on spring break, so perfect time to be on campus!). There were a couple of exhibits that had him absolutely riveted. Our baby likes ART! :oD One exhibit was shaped like a big raindrop filled with water. Air bubbles came from the bottom of the drop and bounced around a bunch of colorful obstacles (kinda like a pachinko in reverse). Ethan LOVED it! It made bubbly sounds, it was colorful, and there were bubbles!! The other exhibit was a big tv screen in a dark room. The artist had mounted a camera above a 5-lane highway and assigned a musical note to each lane. So as a car showed up on each lane, the corresponding note would play as the car drove down the screen. There were lots of colorful moving cars, music, and a big tv. Ethan just sat there grinning for almost 15 minutes! It was adorable!

We were in the museum for a full hour and a half. A couple of the other babies started fussing and getting upset, but not Ethan...he was having so much fun! Besides all the exhibits, the most fun part of our outing was people's reactions to Ethan. The little guy draws attention! Several people came up to us to talk with him because he was smiling at them or just to tell me that he's a pretty or a sweet (or both!) little boy. He got a couple of comments about how great it is that someone so small could already enjoy a museum. I know it's silly, but I just loooove taking him places! He's so sweet, smiley and social, and I just think it's so cute when he engages strangers...he brings out the best in people!

Today, we went to our friend Henry's wedding. (YAY Henry!! We are sooo tickled for him and his wife!!) There were lots of friends there who we hadn't seen in a very long time. Some didn't even know we had a baby! Ethan hadn't napped, but he managed to not get too grumpy and charmed friends and strangers alike! He did get upset a couple of times when the crowd laughed or applauded during speeches...the loud noises startled him. But he settled relatively quickly. They had hired a string quartet, so I took Ethan over to them so he could watch them play. He really liked the cello, or maybe he just liked flirting with the cellist? Either way, he had fun!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Crazy week!

Not sure if I blogged about this already (I think not, but I just can't remember!) but Mo was in town for the last part of last week. We had such a good time with her. Ethan just LOOOOVES spending time with his Grammy! They are so cute together! He just smiles and grins at her (and her dog, Tucker), and Mo's just crazy about him and loves to watch him show off all of his new skills.

On Saturday, we went up to her property in Jonestown and took Ethan and Tucker to the lake. Ethan had never seen a lake, ducks, or geese, so he had a pretty good time. Someone had broken a branch off of a biiiig oak tree, so I took Ethan over to it so he could check out the leaves, branches and bark. He didn't seem to like it, but I'm determined that he's going to like nature, unlike his daddy! :o)

On Monday and Tuesday, Mo and I (mostly Mo while I took care of E) picked a bunch of colorful perrenials, cleaned up my front flower bed and planted the new plants. They look great! I'd been meaning to fill in our bed for ages, but after the bed was created, it was the middle of summer (too hot to plant), then I got pregnant in the fall and was sick, was huge last spring, and then was busy with Ethan last fall. So, I am SO GLAD that Mo was able to help me with all of her gardening knowledge and actual manual labor! She is AWESOME!!! She also gave me lots of ideas for other things to plant, and I'm looking forward to doing that this spring!

In other news: Ethan's first top tooth (3rd tooth) broke through on Tuesday. It was his top left tooth. Only part of it came through, though, so he's been pretty miserable all week. The worst of it seems to be over for now, but his other top tooth looks like it's getting ready to come through, so I'm sure we'll be going through some more cranky days and sleepless nights very soon. He hadn't been eating much because of the pain, but now it's like I can't get enough food into him fast enough...he's ravenous! I'm just taking advantage of this while I can. I hope to help him chunk up before the next hunger strike! :o)

A couple of days ago, I went to the store and got him some Earth's Best Barley teething biscuits and some Mango and Pear baby food. The biscuits were a complete mess, but he LOVED them! He was covered in gunk, but he was soooo happy! And apparently, the kiddo is a big fan of mangos! I'd been having a hard time getting him to eat any fruit but bananas, but he went through the jar of mangos really quickly and kept looking for more when it was gone. It was pretty funny!

All week was pretty crazy with Mo in town, Ethan having fits because of his teeth, and the termites. Yes, the termites. Our house has termites. So, I called around for estimates after Mo left, and inspectors came by on Wednesday and they did the treatment yesterday. It was funny, all 3 companies (Terminix, Orkin, and ABC Pest and Lawn) use the same chemicals and techniques, but ABC was about 1/3 the cost of the two national companies. The guy who did the treatment was very sweet, and he was great about answering all of my questions.

I'm late for Ethan's dinnertime, so I need to sign off!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Uh oh!

Ethan's already getting to be a handful! This afternoon, I was sorting mail at our dining room table, and I watched him crawl toward the foot of the stairs. No biggie, I figured. He can't climb them yet, but he likes to pull up on the bottom step. I looked away for a few seconds to open a piece of mail and pull it out of the envelope, then I looked back at the stairs...no Ethan! I could hear him making baby noises, but I couldn't see him anymore.

I dropped the letter and hurried to the stairs. He was on the second step, working his way up to the third one! He learns a new skill every day! He made it all the way up to the 4th step before he decided that he was tired of climbing. We have already installed baby gates at the top of the stairs to keep him from falling, but I guess we need to go ahead and install the ones we got for the bottom of the stairs, too. Kiddo is everywhere. It's amazing how quickly he figures stuff out. Great for him, but scary for Mommy!

Other than that, what have we been up to? His sleeping is getting better, thank goodness. Today, we played outside in the grass (without a blanket) for the first time. He wasn't happy with that. The grass is all winter brown and crunchy, so he didn't like it at all. He also drank out of a cup in his high chair, but I took the lid off the sippy cup and let him make a mess. He was sopping wet, but it was new and interesting to him. He's used to tipping sippy cups over without worrying about a mess, so this was a surprise. We went to a mom group yoga class yesterday. I didn't get to do much yoga, though. Spent most of the time chasing him and keeping him out of trouble. :o) But we still had a good time! Ethan and daddy are sleeping now. Mommy's going to go join them!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Today

Except for the fact that naptime was a complete mess, we had a great day today! After breakfast (and no morning nap), we met Tatem and her 3-month old daughter, Eliza, for lunch. The kiddos slept through most of lunch perched on the table in their carseats. They were awake by the time we left, so we looked at windchimes at Wild Birds, Unlimited. Then we went to a kids' resale shop where I got Ethan an umbrella stroller, a foam ABC playmat, and BabyLegs since crawling on carpet is tearing up his knees. (BabyLegs are kind of like baby legwarmers, only think less '80's pop chic and more crunchy Austin hippy chic...).

Anyway, after that, we went to a pet store to show the kids hamsters, fish and bunnies. Eliza was less than impressed...I think she was actually asleep?...but Ethan liked the fish. Finally, we ended up at Barnes and Noble and hung out in the kids' book section, where we found a playgroup pal, Eli, and her nanny, Elyse. Eliza and Tatem read books and looked at pictures while Eli and Ethan crawled all over the place, looked at books, and just made weird baby noises...they had fun!
Also, Ethan climbed up a step, all by himself...crazy kid! He just started really crawling, and he's already climbing stuff. Yikes!

We finally left because I could tell E was getting tired. He napped a bit on the way home, but mostly he fussed. When we got home, I tried to get him down for a nap, and he just lost it! He cried for a good 45 minutes...just inconsolable. I thought it might be his teeth, so I gave him some Tylenol after about 10 minutes, but it didn't really seem to help. He finally wore himself out and napped for an hour and a half, poor little guy. He's having such a rough time sleeping right now, but he is an absolute sweetheart angel when he's up and playing.

At dinner tonight, I gave him some avocado. I think he liked it, but hard to tell. Anytime I give him any new food, he makes crazy faces, but he always opens up for more...? He's also had macaroni noodles, kiwi fruit, and black beans this week. Trying to introduce more variety to him. We got a book, Super Baby Foods, recently. It's all about how to prepare homemade food for babies. It's advocating feeding him yogurt and egg yolks, so I asked his doc about it. She recommended no eggs till after 1 year, and said to take it slow with the dairy since I'm lactose-intolerant. She said to start with hard cheeses first since they have less lactose, and just see how he does with those. So, we'll be trying that soon.

Oh! And he started taking baths in the big-boy tub a few days ago! I think tonight was the 3rd or 4th time? He likes it! He cried the first couple of times, but I think he's gotten used to it, and he likes being able to splash and play with more toys now that he has more room!

Anyway, it was a good day! We're going to a yoga class with the playgroup tomorrow...yay!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

And he's off...!

It's been really hard to post anything lately because Ethan is now officially crawling! Our study is a baby danger-zone, and I can no longer plop him next to me with a toy and reasonably expect him to stay there. Crawling has also really messed up his naps, but he is napping right now, so here I am!

We've had a very interesting couple of weeks! With Ethan learning how to crawl, our bed is no longer safe for him. We fully expected to transition him into his crib by this point, but we didn't anticipate all the sleep problems crawling would cause! Plus, all 3 of us had a cold last week, and now Ethan is getting tooth #3 (his top left tooth!), which means even more fussy nights! So, for the time being, we've got our mattress on our floor.

I personally am going to miss having my cuddly baby in our bed, but we're just not sleeping very well anymore, so it's time for a change. Co-sleeping worked for us, especially in the beginning with all of the constant nursing and his reflux issues. Then we were all just kind of happy with the arrangement, so we kept it up. But it's getting to be too hard to get a good night's sleep.

Sigh. I hear a baby voice from the other room. Well, that was a 15 minute nap...I'll take what I can get! It's way too hard to blog 1-handed (carrying him now), so I'll have to finish this later! And no, still no new pics on Shutterfly...sorry!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Progress!

It's the little things that make a Mommy happy...This morning, I gave Ethan breakfast and offered him peas straight from the jar. No hiding them in cereal or mixing them with other food. He ate them up! There were no icky faces, no tantrums, just an open little mouth asking for more! He gobbled down the whole jar!! Woo-hoo!

I'm trying to get him to eat chunkier foods. That's not going very well...he definitely doesn't like it so far. I gave him some tiny chunks of well-cooked carrot and potato this morning, and he just wasn't interested. I thought babies were supposed to stick everything into their mouths? Not my kid. He just looks at the food, maybe grabs it and squishes it between his fingers, then looks at me as if asking...now what? I'll try spooning a little into his mouth, and then he starts making all these faces and drooling like crazy till the offending matter is expelled. SOMEtimes he'll actually eat it, but not usually.

It's so funny watching him learn about new things. We were playing with a toy fire truck a while ago. He'd seen it several weeks ago, but he's grown up so much since the last time we played with it. Last time, we played with it for him, and he just watched it zoom around. This time, he pushed and pulled it and got all excited when he realized that he could make it go. It was pretty cute!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Butchers and Garzas, and other stuff we've been up to

It's been a crazy busy couple of weeks. Jim went to Boston for work a couple of weeks ago. Apparently Boston in January is pretty darn cold; but other than that, the trip went really well. We should hear in a couple of weeks exactly how well it went, but all signs so far seem very positive.

While he was gone, though, Mo called with bad news about his Great Aunt Wanda. She'd been fighting cancer for 16 years, but she'd been doing really well lately. Last time we saw her, in late October, she looked great and was her usual funny self. But she took a rapid turn for the worse, and she passed away the Saturday morning after Jim got home. We went to Houston on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week to say goodbye to her. She was a classy lady, and it was always a treat to get to spend time with her. She was funny and animated and just so full of life...it's hard to believe she's really gone.

The circumstances were unfortunate, but her passing brought all sorts of Butchers together. Jim's dad flew in from Florida, so we got to spend a little time with him. Jim's uncles Ernie and Larry and his Aunt Carla were also there. Jim's grandmom took us all out to dinner on Tuesday night, which was really nice. I was worried that Ethan was going to pitch a fit since we were out so late and surrounded by lots of people, but Kiddo was on his best behavior and was a sweetheart. He got lots of ooohs and aaahs and comments about his being the newest Butcher. He's not the newest Garza anymore...the newest one was born right after E turned 6 months old, but it's nice to know he's still the baby on the Butcher side. :o)

Jim had to work Thursday, so we headed home after the funeral on Wednesday. Not long after we got here, my parents arrived. They were here until Saturday morning. It was kind of neat, though...Wednesday was the first time Ethan saw all 4 of his grandparents in the same day! Heck, I think the only time Jim and I have accomplished that was during our wedding! So, that was a big first for E.

Anyway, my parents had a good time loving on Ethan and watching his attempts at mobility. He's getting a lot better at moving around. He's not "good" at it yet, but he's getting better every day! He's really fussy right now. I hear that happens a lot when they're working on milestones. His big problem is that he just doesn't want to sleep! I put him down for a nap, and he immediately flips himself over onto hands and knees and starts trying to take off. But he's crying the whole time, because he's super-tired! It's like his little brain wants sleep but his body wants to get up and go, and he's having a rough time getting them to cooperate.

We've ordered a ton of babyproofing stuff...gates, cabinet latches, furniture brackets, etc., and it should be arriving soon. Our next big project is getting everything babyproofed, starting with the gameroom and the rest of the upstairs. Right now, when we play downstairs, he's either in my lap, in his exersaucer, or his play yard, so I'm not too worried about him sneaking away down there yet. But the upstairs is a free-for-all, so I'd feel better getting it babyproofed first.

Also, tonight was Ethan's first Superbowl. Woo-hoo! Mommy was rooting for the Giants because why not?...and they won. Ethan got excited when Mommy got excited about their game-winning touchdown. It was pretty cute!

So, hopefully things will settle down a bit now. We're not expecting any more family visits for a while, Jim's work will get back into his usual routine after a release on Tuesday, and I'm hoping Ethan's naps will start going better soon. I'm going to do my best to not try to do too much with him this week...minimal playdates and errands...so he can get his little schedule back on track.

We'll be posting January pics in Shutterfly soon. I'll post to let you know when the new album is out there.