May - Mother's Day, Play Date, and a New Toy

Everyone will be wearing their shorts on their head in the future...

The hat that was saved from being sold in the garage sale!

At the beginning of May, we thought that Ethan might have an ear infection, so I took him to the doctor just to be on the safe side. I am happy to say that there was no infection and Ethan did MUCH better at the office this time.

I want to be just like my daddy!

Ethan also got a new toy this month…a slide from Gram!!! He loves it! He’s mastered the stairs and the slide and can even climb up one of the “rock wall” sides.

Waiving to the airplane

Ethan is becoming a big help around the house. He absolutely loves throwing away trash, helping with the vacuuming, unloading the dishwasher, and helping Marc mow the grass. He’s also really good about cleaning up his toys when we ask. And don't think about leaving a door open!! Whenever he leaves a room, he has to close the door behind him.

Doing chores in your skivvies is fun!

Helping Daddy mow the grass

Mother’s Day was awesome this year! We spent the day at Judi and Barry’s and my mom, Grandma, and Aunt Susan came over. We had a great day just relaxing and eating great food. Grandma brought Ethan my old tricycle back from Florida. My dad did some work on it and now it’s ready for Ethan…too bad his feet don’t quite reach the pedals just yet.

Grandma, Mom, Me, and Susan

Ethan and I on Mother's Day

Ethan's attempt to ride the trike

He was bound and determined to go somewhere!

Climbing the steps in Nana and Papa's backyard

While this doesn’t have anything to do with Ethan, my birthday was this month…the big 3-0. It was great!!! Ethan went over to Gabe’s house and we had dinner with Felicia, David, Megan, Jeremy, Staci, and Michael at an awesome restaurant called Chow Baby. Thanks to all for the gifts, laughs, and memories!!!

Megan, Felicia, Me, and Staci at Chow Baby

We had another play date with Gabe, Sadie, and their parents. We took the kids to the pool. I am sad to say that Ethan is still not very fond of the water. He likes to hang out by the stairs, but if his feet don’t touch, he’s not happy. We thought that him seeing Gabe in the water would help, but no such luck. We’ll keep trying!

Hmmm....what can we do with these?
You be on the lookout while I hide the tennis ball!

It's exhausting being so cute

18 months

Sorry it’s been two months since I’ve done an update! March was pretty calm. We ended the month with Ethan’s first birthday party. Hailey turned 1!!! Ethan had fun at the party. For a while, he was the only boy and he loved all the ladies!! A few days after the party we took Ethan to the doctor and he had a sinus infection and sore throat. After a few days at home and some antibiotics, he was fine.

At Hailey's party

Playing the drums at Aunt RaRa's

Being a rockstar is exshausting!

Since April 14th marked 18 months, Ethan had to go for a check up. I think he’s starting to realize fear of the unknown because for the first time, he HATED the doctor’s office. He cried almost the whole time we were there. Poor kid. The doctor said it’s normal at this age. He checked in at 33” tall and 29 pounds…still tall and thin for his age.

Mowing the lawn with Daddy

Being silly in the bathtub

Ethan had his first hair cut on the 19th!!! And just like the doctor…he hated almost every minute of that as well! I really don’t know how Yumi got his hair cut, but she did and it looks great! I do have to admit that it took me a while to get used to it…I missed his long hair! But it really does look cute and now the hair isn’t hanging in his eyes anymore.

Before.....

I'm not really sure what's going on...

Maybe this isn't so bad...

Ok, wait...I don't think I like this!!!

Thank goodness it's over!!!

Ethan had his first play date with Gabe…one of his friends at school. Staci brought Gabe and Sadie over one Sunday and we took them to the playground in my neighborhood. The two of them played for 3 hours!! They both slept really well that night!!

At the playground waiting for my buddy Gabe

Gabe playing peek-a-boo

Ethan wants in on the peek-a-boo fun, too
Two peas in a pod!!!

On the 26th we had family pictures and Ethan’s 18 month pictures taken. He was awesome and we got some really cute shots. Here’s a link to the pictures.

http://smilestore.picturepeople.com/my/images?tk=8e94fa47-6441-4539-a2c9-ab3ca4b91478&CMPN=EmailAlbum

While we were waiting for the pictures to be uploaded, we took Ethan to the play area in the mall. He had such a good time! The entire area is soft and sqishy and I think he really enjoyed kinda being on his own. We helped him figure out some of the climbing and sliding, but once he had it, we let him go.

School is still going really well! When I dropped Ethan off the other day his teacher said that he's starting to speak in complete sentences. They were playing outside and he came up to her and said "Ouch, I fell down." We are also working on counting. The other night in the bathtub he counted to 5 all by himself!! So proud!!!

February 08

February was a fun-filled month!! Lori, Karl, Reece, and Aunt Debbie came to visit a few weeks ago. We spent the weekend down at Nana and Papa’s…Ethan and Reece had a great time together! Saturday, we went to a pageant and then to Hunter’s soccer game. Alyssa and Lexi won their divisions and Hunter played a great game! Sunday we took Ethan and Reece to have their picture made together at Target. Ethan wasn’t very happy, but we got some good shots.

Ethan and Reece in the tub

That Monday we went to Pine Mountain for the Wild Animal Safari. We all piled in a van with no windows and Aunt Meme drove us through the park. The animals would come up to the windows asking for food. Ethan wasn’t too sure about it at first, but then he got into it and really seemed to enjoy himself. The highlight of the day was when one of the giraffes stuck his head through the drives side window to get to Judi sitting in the passenger seat. It really was amazing to have this huge giraffe head right in front of your face!

Marc and I both have new jobs. Marc is now a consultant for Software Link and I am working for Synovus Financial as an Accounting/Tax Associate doing AP work. It’s so awesome to work 15 minutes away from home. I get to sleep later, get to work earlier, and pick Ethan up about an hour earlier than we used to. I love having the extra time in the evenings, especially now with the time change.

One of his favorite meals...SPAGHETTI!!

Ethan seems to be learning something new everyday. He repeats just about anything we say, so we really have to be careful!! He can now say: Mommy, Dadda, Nana, Papa, Meme, RaRa (that’s what he calls Robyne), banana, ball, bat, hat, juice, milk, shoe, out, down, please, thank you, night night, Mickey (for Mickey Mouse), Pooh, Manny (Handy Manny), bottle, yellow, purple, blue, green, red, eat, two, eye, belly button, baby, book, bath, Sabo, dog, duck, fish, agua, otter, giraffe, up, owl, bib, beep beep, cookie, more, no, sit down, drop it, bear, waffle, apple, and mine. I'm sure there are a few more words that I've left out.

Now Ethan points at the cat and says “Meow” and he can tell you what a chicken says (bak bak), what a rooster says (doodle do), what an owl says (hoo hoo) and what a duck does (he’ll flap his arms and say duck duck). He’ll point out Marc and I in pictures and anyone that’s smaller than him is a “baby.” Occasionally, when you ask him what a monkey eats, he’ll say “banana” but not consistently.

He’s almost mastered doing a somersault on his own. His new favorite thing is to climb onto our big green chair, lie on this tummy, and flip off the chair. We’ve been working on catching a ball and he’s have a blast kicking the soccer ball. Ethan is also picking up on commands really well. He likes to put all of his books on the floor, but we’ll tell him “pick up your books and just bring one over here” and he’ll do it. It’s really amazing how quickly he’s picking up on things.

Marc and Ethan reading "Little Spot of Color"...the book of choice for the moment

This is why Ethan won't be moving to a "big boy bed" anytime soon! He'd fall right out!

Happy New Year!

What a crazy year this has started out to be!! We spent New Year's at home with Ethan. He went to bed around 8:30 and at midnight, we gave him a kiss in his crib and back to sleep he went!

Doing the Hokey Pokey

"Row row row your boat"

I didn't do it, I swear!

The surgery to put his tubes in went great!! The doctors and nurses were wonderful...we couldn't have asked for better. Gram spent the night with us the night before and Aunt Meme and Nana met us at the surgery center. They took us back into the waiting room and explained how everything was going to go. Then they put me in a gown and I walked Ethan back to the surgery room. He wasn't thrilled with having the mask on his face to help him drift off into la la land. But just like that, he was asleep.

At the ENT the week before surgery

I went back to the waiting room, and about 10 minutes later, the doctor came out. She said that everything went really well. There was a lot of fluid built up in both ears that she drained before putting the tubes in. About 10 minutes later, he was awake and we got to go see him. Honestly, you would have never known that they did anything. He was acting just like his usual self. Gram, Aunt Meme, Ethan, and I went home and Marc went to work. It was just like any other day!

After surgery in the recovery room

At home after surgery
Ethan's cool orange ear plugs

Hanging with Gram after surgery

We took a trip to see Doctor Heaven last week. Ethan's up to 33 1/4" tall and weighs in at 26.5 lbs. He's still in the 95% for his height! And you know what that means? We've had to buy a new wardrobe!! Ethan's stylin in his new duds from Aunt Megan!!

We go back to the ENT on Thursday for the 3 week followup appointment on his tubes. Everything looked great at the pediatrician, so hopefully they will say the same thing!

Ethan had a run-in with a toy box at school the other day...and the toy box won! I had just gotten to school to pick him up and was talking to the owner when it happened. He didn't act any worse for the wear, but that shiner looked painful! The next morning he woke up and looked like he was wearing purple eye shadow.

The bump (and red face from crying)

Another look at the shiner starting to come out

A little over 24 hours later. The swelling went down and the purple came out

Whoever said that the brain is a sponge wasn't kidding! This child picks up on just about everything. He can show you his belly button, his eyes, his nose, and his ears. He also knows that his shoes go on his feet. We've added a few words to the ever expanding vocabulary: "No more", "Sit down", "Mine", "Meow", "Dog", "EIEIO" (he'll say this when you start singing Old McDonald had a farm), "Belly Button", "Eye", and he can tell you what a monkey says. It's amazing!! Ethan has also learned how to brush his teeth and take his shirt off.

Brushing his teeth (and holding a tape measure)

At school playing with Olivia

One of Ethan's best buddies...Gabriel