6 months - April 07

We've reached 6 months...I can't believe it! Ethan went to the doctor yesterday. We found out that he weighs 18.09 pounds, is 28 3/4 inches tall and has a double ear infection...again. The good news is that we had no idea about the ear infection...he hasn't been cranky or out of sorts, so it doesn't seem to bother him that much.

Ethan still loves to eat! He's had all of the veggies and loves all of them. He's also had pears, bananas, and now we are on peaches. The doctor gave us the go-ahead to add yogurt, finger foods (puffs, steamed veggies, fruit cocktail), and juice.

This past weekend was our first weekend away from Ethan. Marc and I went to Tennessee for an anniversary weekend and Ethan stayed with Aunt Mimi. From what we heard, he had a great time! They went to the ball field to watch Jacob play, took a bath, read books, and sat up by himself for about 10 minutes! That's awesome considering he doesn't really like to sit. This kid wants to stand! He's also started rocking on his hands and knees.

We visited the Bermans and their new addition, Hailey. She's precious and Ethan had a great time playing airplane with Jimmy. I'm sure Ethan will have a lot to teach Hailey when they get a little older. Nanny and Poppy came to visit us this month. They brought Ethan some goodies and we had a great time with them. Cousin Shelley is coming to visit next weekend, and then the pool opens the weekend after that. May is going to be a busy month!

5 months

Month 5 has been full of talking, rolling, eating, and laughing.

Ethan is talking up a storm!! "Aba" and "ba" are the most popular, but he also says "abwa" and "ow". He's also started laughing more. Not just a giggle, but an actual laugh. Right now he is in the Excersaucer talking to the lion and laughing at himself. Oh, and let's not forget the raspberries. That is our all time favorite. One day he started doing it and I called Marc to find out if he taught him. Nope...just something he picked up. So don't get too close or he may end up "showering" you with raspberries :)

He has now mastered the art of rolling over, although for the most part he only rolls in one direction. He loves sleeping on his stomach and rolling all around the crib. We put him towards the bottom and he ends up at the top with his back against the rails. I have a feeling we are going to be chasing after this kid when he starts walking.

FOOD!! Ethan LOVES food. We've tried carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, squash, and peas and he loves them all. I've heard a lot of people say that most kids hate peas, but not this one. He loves his veggies...just like his daddy. On Monday, we start on fruits with bananas!

Ethan also loves school (daycare). His teachers say that he is probably the happiest kid in the class. He has also become attached to his Curious George. George now goes every where with us.

That's about all for now. We go back to the doctor at the end of April for his 6 month checkup. I really can't believe he's almost 6 months old. Time really does fly when you are having fun!

On a Roll

Well, here we are at 19 weeks and everything is going great! Ethan and I just got back from his 4 month checkup. He's now 26" long (I mis-measured last time) and 16 lbs. Only 5% of babies his age are taller than him. He definitely takes after his momma!! He also had 3 shots today and did really well. He cried for a few minutes, then was totally fine once we got in the car. Now he's playing like nothing ever happened!

In the past few weeks, he's learned how to roll from his back to his stomach and can (at times) hold his bottle. He is eating rice cereal from a spoon, and we have to ok to start him on some veggies.

His teeth are still making their way out. Judi spent the night and could click one of her nails on a bottom tooth. It looks like he has three that are trying to make an appearance.

Ethan has also discovered his hands and is working on the feet. I swear this morning he was trying to put his foot in his mouth. His hands are his favorite snack right now. Gotta love all the drool!

16 Weeks

Boy, what an interesting few weeks we've had!! The weekend of January 19th, we (Ethan, Marc, Mom and I) went to Virginia to visit my family. It was a great weekend, even though the weather was a little crappy on the drive up. We decided to drive overnight since it was Ethan's first car trip and we wanted him to sleep! It worked out fairly well. Marc drove most of the way while one of us stayed awake chatting with him and the other slept. We got to see almost everyone on our trip up there which was great.

But of course, all good things must come to an end and when we got home, Ethan and I were both sick. I took Ethan to the doctor to find out that he had a cold and a double ear infection!! We got some great medicine and are both just fine now. I took him back to the doctor on Friday to check his ears again. He now weighs 15 1/2 lbs. and is about 27 inches long. And to top it off...he's cutting two bottom teeth!!!! Holy cow, the kid is growing like a weed!!!!

Ethan's personality is REALLY starting to show. For the most part, he's a happy baby. He smiles and laughs a lot and loves people. We went to Felicia and Dave's last night for the Superbowl and Ethan had a blast with everyone. We definitely don't have a shy child on our hands! I think he has mastered rolling from his stomach to his back and he loves to stand up. Marc and I joke that he will walk before he crawls, and I'm starting to think that might be reality. Ethan is also mimicking sounds. If we make a noise a few times, he'll usually try to make the same sound.

Bath time is now a fun time. He HATED baths at first, but now he love them. He's even started splashing a little and doesn't mind water in his face. Good thing, since Marc give him a "shower" to rinse him off. We turn on the bathtub faucet and stick him under it to get all the soap off.

More exciting news...we get to start on baby food in a few weeks!!!! Right now we are adding rice cereal to his bottles, and in the next few days, we will start feeding it to him with a spoon. We go back to the doctor on the 23rd for his 4 month checkup and then we are on to solids!

Right now we are looking forward to a visit from my dad and step mom in two weeks and are just trying to make it through the winter and get ready for spring!!

3 Months Old!!!

On Sunday, Ethan will be 3 months old!!! Time has really flown by fast!! At our last doctor's appointment, he weighed in at 12 lb. 5 oz. and measured 25 inches long. I weighed him on our home scale today, and he's not tipping the scales at 14 lbs. 2 oz. He is growing so fast. He also had his first round of shots. He did really well!! He left the doctor's office with a Garfield band-aid and a neon orange one.

Ethan's personality is really starting to shine. He smiles and giggles and even "talks" to himself now. He's learned how to control his hands and they are forever in his mouth. His new favorite toys are the ExcerSaucer (thanks Shelley and Ryan), the Jumparoo (thanks Dad and Lisa!), and his Bumbo sitter.

Daycare is going well. One of the teachers constantly talks to him in Spanish. Who knows, maybe is first word will be "Hola!" I think that daycare has taught him to be independent. He seems to enjoy spending time by himself in the swing just talking away and chewing on his hands.

Nights are also getting better. We had one night last week that he didn't get up at all!!! I woke up around 6:00 and had to make sure he was still breathing!!! We are starting to add Rice Cereal to his nighttime bottle in hopes it will help with sleeping through the night.

That's about all for now. Hope everyone had a fantastic New Years!!

7 Weeks

Well, we are almost to the 7 week mark. And it's strange...I can't really remember my life without Ethan. I love it! I love being a mom. I can't imagine life any other way.

The week before Thanksgiving, we all came down with a cold. Ethan and I had it a little worse than Marc did. But the doctor gave us some medicine and we are all just fine now.

On our last trip to the doctor, Ethan weighed in at 10 lbs. 9 oz. WOW!! He's growing so fast and his personality is starting to show. He has started smiling and he's even rolling over!!! Marc swears that he will walk before he's 1. I can't even imagine!!

I went back to work this week which means Ethan started "school." His first day went well. They said he was very calm...just taking it all in. The next day was a little different. He was pretty cranky most of the day but he did sleep in his crib for 2 hours!! YAHOO!!!! Leaving him wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I know he's in good hands and he seems happy when he's there.

We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!!

20 Days

A lot has happened since we came home. For starters, I've learned how to do a lot of things one-handed...like typing for instance. Right now I'm typing with two hands but I have a 9 lb. baby balanced ever-s0-carefully on my chest (this is one of his favorite sleeping positions).

Yesterday we went to the doctor for a weight check. Ethan has gained 1 lb. and 3 oz. since he was born. He now weighs in at 9 lbs. 4 oz. The doctor said that everything looks great. I'm excited because we no longer have to wake him up during the day to feed him. YAHOO!!!!! There's nothing worse than waking a sleeping baby.

On October 21, we had the Bris. From what I am told, Ethan handled it very well. I will admit...I am a wimp and didn't watch the procedure. I stood in the hallway and and heard the crying...that was about all I could handle. Ethan was also given his Hebrew name that day. Eilam Rishon means "eternal first." We picked those two names for obvious reasons...he will forever be our first born, no matter how many more we decide to have.

Ethan is doing well at night for the most part (night before last excluded). Usually he will sleep for 3-4 hours at a time, wake up, eat, and go right back to sleep. Every now and then (like the other night), he didn't want to go back to sleep. Marc walked laps with him through the kitchen and dining room singing "100 Bottle of Beer On the Wall". Ethan finally fell asleep with 57 bottle of beer left on the wall.

Parenthood is a total trip! I love it!!! For the first few days, I felt like a tourist taking pictures and video taping everything! Now we spend our days running errands, napping, and cleaning the house. It's amazing how quickly the place gets trashed. My new favorite past time is washing bottles. Oh, the joy of washing, sterilizing, and drying. If I had a nickel for every bottle I've washed in the past two weeks, I wouldn't have to go back to work.

Right now we are working on sleeping in the crib. For a while the only place Ethan would fall asleep was in his swing. After trial and error, we found out that the sheets in the crib were too cold and he had to be swaddled, but only on the bottom half. Ethan does NOT like to not have control over were his hands go. Probably because he likes to sleep with them on his face or over his head.

On Halloween we went to visit Gram (my Mom) and her work friends. Ethan had three different outfits to wear that day and somehow, we managed to wear them all! Thanks to Heather, Christine, and Gram for the cute outfits!!