Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Stuff our son can do now...
Ethan's behavior has really changed in the last few weeks. They're not kidding when they say that toddlerhood happens fast...!
He's doing a lot more walking and he very rarely crawls anymore. I'll pretend to "chase" him, and he'll walk/run away squealing in delight! I'm sure that game will get old pretty soon, but it's very cute right now! :o)
I noticed a couple of days ago that Ethan's not just swatting randomly at the pages in books anymore. He is actually purposefully turning the pages and trying to separate pages that stick together...pretty cool! He can also tell when he's holding a book upside down. He will look at it funny and then turn it right side up.
On Thursday, we went to Barnes and Noble to go get Harvey Karp's Happiest Toddler book. I was a Momma on a Mission...just wanted to go straight to the parenting section, grab the book, and get out of there. I heard Ethan babbling, but I wasn't really listening...he usually babbles non-stop, and I was focused on finding my book. But when I actually *listened* to his babbles, I realized he was saying "boop, boop, boop." Boop, meaning BOOK. My baby was all excited because there were books all around him! It was TOO adorable!
We've been playing peek-a-boo for a long time now; but just yesterday, he started hiding his eye(s) behind his forearm and hand. He only uses one arm to hide, so sometimes he manages to cover both eyes, sometimes he doesn't. But if he doesn't, he closes the eye that's not covered, so we may as well be gone...good enough! We'll say "Where's Ethan?!?" and he'll move his arm down really fast and look at us and crack up. I need to get it on video...it's so funny, and he is SO proud of himself!
A couple of weeks ago, he discovered that the throw pillows on the sofa are fun to pull to the floor and dive into. He's been yanking them to the ground and he'll get really upset if they're being anchored down by anyone...like Daisy. Now he's also attacking the pillows on his bed. Yes, we have pillows on his bed. Yes, I know the AAP recommends not giving little kids pillows. The AAP hasn't watched our son bang his head into the walls around his bed, either, though! So now, he dives into the pillows we have propped up against the wall on his bed, and he literally bites them and attacks them like a crazy baby, then he looks at us and *grins*! Such a little goofball!
I'm sure there's a lot that I'm forgetting to jot down, but the point is that he's just becoming so SMART. Something happened right around the time he turned 1. He's really a little kid now...my baby is almost impossible to see in this curious, funny, active little boy. He's still squishy and yummy and cute, but he's definitely not a baby anymore.
He's doing a lot more walking and he very rarely crawls anymore. I'll pretend to "chase" him, and he'll walk/run away squealing in delight! I'm sure that game will get old pretty soon, but it's very cute right now! :o)
I noticed a couple of days ago that Ethan's not just swatting randomly at the pages in books anymore. He is actually purposefully turning the pages and trying to separate pages that stick together...pretty cool! He can also tell when he's holding a book upside down. He will look at it funny and then turn it right side up.
On Thursday, we went to Barnes and Noble to go get Harvey Karp's Happiest Toddler book. I was a Momma on a Mission...just wanted to go straight to the parenting section, grab the book, and get out of there. I heard Ethan babbling, but I wasn't really listening...he usually babbles non-stop, and I was focused on finding my book. But when I actually *listened* to his babbles, I realized he was saying "boop, boop, boop." Boop, meaning BOOK. My baby was all excited because there were books all around him! It was TOO adorable!
We've been playing peek-a-boo for a long time now; but just yesterday, he started hiding his eye(s) behind his forearm and hand. He only uses one arm to hide, so sometimes he manages to cover both eyes, sometimes he doesn't. But if he doesn't, he closes the eye that's not covered, so we may as well be gone...good enough! We'll say "Where's Ethan?!?" and he'll move his arm down really fast and look at us and crack up. I need to get it on video...it's so funny, and he is SO proud of himself!
A couple of weeks ago, he discovered that the throw pillows on the sofa are fun to pull to the floor and dive into. He's been yanking them to the ground and he'll get really upset if they're being anchored down by anyone...like Daisy. Now he's also attacking the pillows on his bed. Yes, we have pillows on his bed. Yes, I know the AAP recommends not giving little kids pillows. The AAP hasn't watched our son bang his head into the walls around his bed, either, though! So now, he dives into the pillows we have propped up against the wall on his bed, and he literally bites them and attacks them like a crazy baby, then he looks at us and *grins*! Such a little goofball!
I'm sure there's a lot that I'm forgetting to jot down, but the point is that he's just becoming so SMART. Something happened right around the time he turned 1. He's really a little kid now...my baby is almost impossible to see in this curious, funny, active little boy. He's still squishy and yummy and cute, but he's definitely not a baby anymore.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
birthday stuff and sleep training
I meant to update this sooner, but we've been so busy with birthday stuff and sleep training. Better late than never, though!
We didn't actually do anything too special on the 11th...we were saving it all for his party on Saturday! It was a fairly typical morning...he woke up, we played, and then we had breakfast. After breakfast, we strapped him into his infant carseat (the one he came home from the hospital in) for the very last time, and we drove to Babies R Us. They were having a carseat inspection/installation clinic, and we had a 10:30 appointment. They were running very late, so we played on a blanket under some trees until they finally got to us. They installed his fancy new carseat, but they had to install it rear-facing since he didn't weigh 20 lbs yet, but that's OK...at least he's got more room now! He was tired and cranky by the time we finished, so we got him home and he took a nap.
After his nap, we went to the doctor for his 12-month appointment. He got a couple of booster shots, but I asked her to hold off on the MMR and chicken pox vaccines for right now. He's only in the 5th percentile for weight, which has me worried. Dr. Spellings says that if he continues to fall on the growth charts, we may want to do some metabolic testing to rule out any hidden issues. But she agrees that he looks and acts very healthy, and that he started out as a big baby, so maybe he's just dropping on the charts because he's just destined to be a small person like me and Daddy. Still, better safe than sorry. She recommended that we go ahead and start giving him whole milk, so we have been trying. So far, he is NOT interested. He loves water, so I've tried watering it down for him, and that seems to help a little. Some friends have also recommended trying a different brand of milk, so I'm going to try that, too.
Larry and Carla arrived to stay with Mo on Thursday, so we all went out to dinner at Rudy's that night. It was fun, and Ethan did pretty well, even though he hadn't napped. He finally got pretty cranky, so we had to cut the evening short.
My parents got to Austin on Friday evening. We played with Ethan a bit, then I took him upstairs so he could get some good sleep the night before his party. Jim went to the airport at midnight to pick up Keisha, so when we woke up on Saturday morning, we had all sorts of fun people at the house! Mom helped me finish decorating with streamers and they got Ethan's balloons. Jim went and picked up all the food, and everyone helped with final set-up and decoration stuff while I fed Ethan breakfast.
The party ended up being lots of fun! It was hot outside, and I wish I'd gotten an extra canopy for the back yard, but it was ok. The kids seemed to have a lot of fun splashing in the pools and playing in the sprinkler. We found a bubble machine at Target, and it was a HUGE hit! Mo gave Ethan a kid's picnic table and sand & water table, and the older kids had a blast with that. I felt kind of bad for the parents that it was so hot...but at least the kids were happy. :o)
We gathered the family and sang Happy Birthday to Ethan in his high chair. We tried to light the candle on his cupcake, but it just wasn't going to work outside. Probably a bad idea, anyway! He wasn't so interested in the icing, but he went to town on the cupcake itself! He was a gooey mess, and we have lots of pics.
After cupcakes, we all went inside (air conditioning!!) and opened up presents. He got lots of really cool toys, and a TON of outfits. Ethan is going to be a VERY well-dressed kid for quite a while! The party went way longer than we'd planned, so he was tired and cranky by the time everyone left. But he got to spend some good time with his grandparents and Aunt Keisha, so that was good! Later that evening, we went to dinner at Chuy's with some of Keisha's college friends. One of them is in our playgroup, so she's our friend now, too. :o) They are all sweet people, so it was a nice dinner.
Keisha spent Sunday afternoon with our mutual friend, and we had dinner at Mo's that evening. Jim woke up super-early to drive Keisha to the airport on Monday morning. It always makes me sad when she goes home, and I was sadder that I didn't get the chance to drive her from/to the airport. But Ethan was sleeping during those times, so I didn't get a choice. :o(
After everything finally settled down, Jim and I discussed the whole sleep situation and agreed that it was time to make a change. Ethan needs me to go to sleep, but only because he was used to nursing to sleep. Anytime he'd wake up, I'd have to nurse him back down. So, we decided it's time to stop that. We've been doing it since Monday, and so far, so good! He refused to nap without nursing on Monday, so he was exhausted Monday night. He cried and cried and cried for a couple of hours Monday night, but he finally fell asleep. I was right there with him the whole time, but I just wouldn't nurse him. He woke up several times looking for milk, but I didn't give it to him. He cried, but each time was shorter than the last. I was exhausted on Tuesday, so Jim watched him so I could nap for an hour. He actually did finally nap on Tuesday. He fought it at first, but he finally went down that afternoon and konked out for an hour and a half or so. Bedtime took a while, but he fell asleep with out too much yelling. Since then, he's been pretty good about going to sleep. We read a few books, he cries a little bit, but then he's out. :o) He still needs help lying back down when he wakes up in the middle of the night, but I put him down and he usually falls asleep again without too much of a fuss.
We didn't actually do anything too special on the 11th...we were saving it all for his party on Saturday! It was a fairly typical morning...he woke up, we played, and then we had breakfast. After breakfast, we strapped him into his infant carseat (the one he came home from the hospital in) for the very last time, and we drove to Babies R Us. They were having a carseat inspection/installation clinic, and we had a 10:30 appointment. They were running very late, so we played on a blanket under some trees until they finally got to us. They installed his fancy new carseat, but they had to install it rear-facing since he didn't weigh 20 lbs yet, but that's OK...at least he's got more room now! He was tired and cranky by the time we finished, so we got him home and he took a nap.
After his nap, we went to the doctor for his 12-month appointment. He got a couple of booster shots, but I asked her to hold off on the MMR and chicken pox vaccines for right now. He's only in the 5th percentile for weight, which has me worried. Dr. Spellings says that if he continues to fall on the growth charts, we may want to do some metabolic testing to rule out any hidden issues. But she agrees that he looks and acts very healthy, and that he started out as a big baby, so maybe he's just dropping on the charts because he's just destined to be a small person like me and Daddy. Still, better safe than sorry. She recommended that we go ahead and start giving him whole milk, so we have been trying. So far, he is NOT interested. He loves water, so I've tried watering it down for him, and that seems to help a little. Some friends have also recommended trying a different brand of milk, so I'm going to try that, too.
Larry and Carla arrived to stay with Mo on Thursday, so we all went out to dinner at Rudy's that night. It was fun, and Ethan did pretty well, even though he hadn't napped. He finally got pretty cranky, so we had to cut the evening short.
My parents got to Austin on Friday evening. We played with Ethan a bit, then I took him upstairs so he could get some good sleep the night before his party. Jim went to the airport at midnight to pick up Keisha, so when we woke up on Saturday morning, we had all sorts of fun people at the house! Mom helped me finish decorating with streamers and they got Ethan's balloons. Jim went and picked up all the food, and everyone helped with final set-up and decoration stuff while I fed Ethan breakfast.
The party ended up being lots of fun! It was hot outside, and I wish I'd gotten an extra canopy for the back yard, but it was ok. The kids seemed to have a lot of fun splashing in the pools and playing in the sprinkler. We found a bubble machine at Target, and it was a HUGE hit! Mo gave Ethan a kid's picnic table and sand & water table, and the older kids had a blast with that. I felt kind of bad for the parents that it was so hot...but at least the kids were happy. :o)
We gathered the family and sang Happy Birthday to Ethan in his high chair. We tried to light the candle on his cupcake, but it just wasn't going to work outside. Probably a bad idea, anyway! He wasn't so interested in the icing, but he went to town on the cupcake itself! He was a gooey mess, and we have lots of pics.
After cupcakes, we all went inside (air conditioning!!) and opened up presents. He got lots of really cool toys, and a TON of outfits. Ethan is going to be a VERY well-dressed kid for quite a while! The party went way longer than we'd planned, so he was tired and cranky by the time everyone left. But he got to spend some good time with his grandparents and Aunt Keisha, so that was good! Later that evening, we went to dinner at Chuy's with some of Keisha's college friends. One of them is in our playgroup, so she's our friend now, too. :o) They are all sweet people, so it was a nice dinner.
Keisha spent Sunday afternoon with our mutual friend, and we had dinner at Mo's that evening. Jim woke up super-early to drive Keisha to the airport on Monday morning. It always makes me sad when she goes home, and I was sadder that I didn't get the chance to drive her from/to the airport. But Ethan was sleeping during those times, so I didn't get a choice. :o(
After everything finally settled down, Jim and I discussed the whole sleep situation and agreed that it was time to make a change. Ethan needs me to go to sleep, but only because he was used to nursing to sleep. Anytime he'd wake up, I'd have to nurse him back down. So, we decided it's time to stop that. We've been doing it since Monday, and so far, so good! He refused to nap without nursing on Monday, so he was exhausted Monday night. He cried and cried and cried for a couple of hours Monday night, but he finally fell asleep. I was right there with him the whole time, but I just wouldn't nurse him. He woke up several times looking for milk, but I didn't give it to him. He cried, but each time was shorter than the last. I was exhausted on Tuesday, so Jim watched him so I could nap for an hour. He actually did finally nap on Tuesday. He fought it at first, but he finally went down that afternoon and konked out for an hour and a half or so. Bedtime took a while, but he fell asleep with out too much yelling. Since then, he's been pretty good about going to sleep. We read a few books, he cries a little bit, but then he's out. :o) He still needs help lying back down when he wakes up in the middle of the night, but I put him down and he usually falls asleep again without too much of a fuss.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Our little boy is 1!
Actually, Ethan won't "officially" be 1 until 3:11 am, but I'm not going to be able to stay awake that long! :o)
He has completely turned our world upside down, and we have loved every minute of our first year with him! It seems like just yesterday that I first saw his sweet little face. It's hard to believe that a year has flown by already. But then I compare this walking, talking, laughing little boy to the teeny, helpless little newborn we met one year ago today, and it's even harder to believe how much he's changed in just one year!
Having him in our life has really been one blessing after another. Watching him grow and learn and discover the world around him brings us so much joy, and we love him SO much! I guess he's not really a baby anymore, but he'll always be my sweet baby boy.
Happy Very First Birthday, Ethan! Your Mama and Daddy love you very, very much!!
He has completely turned our world upside down, and we have loved every minute of our first year with him! It seems like just yesterday that I first saw his sweet little face. It's hard to believe that a year has flown by already. But then I compare this walking, talking, laughing little boy to the teeny, helpless little newborn we met one year ago today, and it's even harder to believe how much he's changed in just one year!
Having him in our life has really been one blessing after another. Watching him grow and learn and discover the world around him brings us so much joy, and we love him SO much! I guess he's not really a baby anymore, but he'll always be my sweet baby boy.
Happy Very First Birthday, Ethan! Your Mama and Daddy love you very, very much!!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
FINALLY!
New pics have FINALLY been added to Shutterfly. We still need to add May pics, but there are a LOT of new ones out there. As soon as May is added, I'll send out an e-mail to let everyone know it's finally current. :o)
I'll write more later...too sleepy now!
I'll write more later...too sleepy now!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
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)
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)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
New words
Today, we had dinner at Mo's house. Ethan entertained us with 2 new words. Grammy gave him a new spoon, and he kept saying " 'poon." After dinner, he was looking out the window and saying something that sounded like "bird." Silly boy!
He also had sweets today. He stole a bite of one of my brownie bites, ate part of a strawberry struedel bite, and tried a cupcake, but he spit the cupcake out. Not his thing, I guess. :oP
He also had sweets today. He stole a bite of one of my brownie bites, ate part of a strawberry struedel bite, and tried a cupcake, but he spit the cupcake out. Not his thing, I guess. :oP
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