Feeling Much Better

No pictures for today, just wanted to let everyone know that Ethan is feeling much better today. He slept through the night, which was a pleasant surprise for us, and woke up still congested but not as drippy as yesterday.
He has a lot more energy today and kept Grandma busy for the morning. For lunch they went over and spent some time with Auntie and then got to watch the jets do the fly over for the Air Force graduation. Then they brought him up to La-Z-Boy to see Daddy and me. It was a nice treat to just go from work home, usually I have to go down to my mom's to pick him up. That's all for now, I'll try to get a peek inside his mouth for more teeth but he's pretty determined not to let me see them.

Drippy, Runny, Snotty and Sneezy

After a great night of welcoming home my sister and looking at all her pictures from the cruise, Ethan had a rough night.

He's watching a bird get a worm in the neighbors yard

Practicing his left handed golf swing with Papa's clubs

It took him over a half an hour to fall asleep then woke up about 3 times. Finally at 6am I brought him into our room and realized that he was extremely stuffy. He couldn't fall back asleep because he couldn't suck his thumb.
Throughout the day he has gotten very drippy, eyes nose and mouth. We're pretty sure he's teething. He's gone through three shirts and two bibs and has had his tongue stuck in the side of his mouth all day. He didn't take an afternoon nap but has been pretty relaxed all day, we actually got through about a third of the Lion King. He is now down for the night, hopefully he'll get at least a couple of hours of continuous sleep.

Memorial Day Weekend

Happy Memorial Day! What an exhausting week we have had. Before I start, I have to apologize for the quality of the pictures, my camera is not working so I have been using an old one. The colors don't seem to come out quite as good.

As I told you before, we are finally getting around to finishing our backyard, a project we started three years ago when we moved into our house. I now understand why it has taken us so long to get to this point. The first summer we moved into the house we did the necessary landscaping and by the time we were done, it was too late in the year to start more backyard renovations. The next summer, I was pregnant with Ethan and then last year he was too small for us to be outside all the time. So, this is our year! Last weekend we got, literally, tons of rock delivered. 2 pallets of flagstone and 2 pallets of rock for the wall. We spent about 2 hours on Monday night unloading it into the garage. Yesterday, in what we thought was pretty good time, we, basically, finished the rock wall:

Now we have to go place an order for sand and dirt or whatever goes underneath the flagstone.

This is us being really happy, and tired, with our progress:
This is Ethan saying "I napped the whole time and skipped all that heavy lifting, now let's go run around!"
Yesterday evening we were invited to a BBQ by some good friends that live out east. Before we went, Mike went out in the garage to work on something or another, leaving Ethan and I to entertain ourselves, and entertain we did! We had a dance party!! It was so much fun, I turned on the radio and we just danced and danced, Ethan mostly spun in circles waving his hands up and down till he was too dizzy and either fell over or had to stand still for a few minutes. Towards the end of our dance party, we were doing follow the leader, I would do something with my hands and he would mimic me as best he could. Today when I started making lunch, he kept pulling me into the living room to dance.

The BBQ was a lot of fun. Unfortunately it rained a bit before hand so we're weren't able to go outside but that didn't stop the party. There were 5 other kids there besides Ethan, ranging from 2 1/2 months to 5. Ethan was fascinated with the bigger kids and was trying so hard to play with them. They were very good with him and let him be a part of things. At one point they all started spinning in circles in the hallway and Ethan just joined right in.
With all the work we did yesterday, today has been a pretty laid back day, trying to recoup before going back to work tomorrow. Wait, did I say laid back? That is only for Ethan and myself, Mike has been non stop projects. In one weekend he finished our rock wall, refinished our kitchen table, mowed the lawn, and I don't even know what else.
After lunch I wanted to take Ethan over to the park before it rained (which it has been doing every afternoon) he insisted on his boots:
This is the "Mom, can we go play already!"
I hope everyone is having a great weekend! The best part of this weekend? My sister's home from her cruise in Italy and Greece and we get to go see her in a few hours!! Welcome home sister!

Happy Birthday Grandma L!

Today we want to take a minute to celebrate Mike's moms, or better known as Grandma L, birthday. We hope you are having a great day and wish we could be there to celebrate with you.

Big, Small, New and Amazing

Mike and I were talking this morning, 2 years ago, this week we told our parents we were expecting Ethan. We told my family on Mother's day and then Mike's family a few days later when we flew down to Florida for vacation. 2 years, it feels like it has been so much longer than that, but at the same time it feels like it was last week. I can't believe how much has changed in just two years. We went through an entire (minus 5 weeks) pregnancy, had a baby, nourished that baby into a toddler and now go crazy just trying to keep up with him.

Ethan seems to be expanding his knowledge and understanding every day. Here are just a few of the new things he is learning:

• Giving really big hugs, especially if you are doing the dishes or cooking, he'll run up behind you and wrap his arms around your legs
• Pucker up, he has the sweetest kiss face that so far I cannot capture on camera
• What pants, socks, rings and shoes are. He will grab his, your or anyone's pants when he hears the word, will bring you shoes and can usually tell you whose they are, point out a ring on your hand, and likes to have a sock on his hand.
• Playing with Milo. At first it was a competition to see who had the biggest stick, now Ethan brings Milo sticks. When Ethan has a snack, Milo will follow him, Ethan often thinks Milo is chasing him and will run around the kitchen table laughing. Last but not least, Ethan will grab hold of Milo's tail and have Milo fling him all around the house.
• If he sees or hears the word nail he will start saying hammer and often bang his hands for the hammer effect.
• Sit in a kitchen chair like a big boy and have a snack.
• Get off things like couches and beds without falling, most of the time. He learned to swing his legs over while he's on his tummy and slide down.
• Vocabulary. He talks like crazy! Most of the time he is very hard to understand unless you know what he's saying. 'Mo' could be milk or more, 'Hamma" could be hammer, Elmo, or Grandma, I don't even know how to spell the way he says outside I'll give it a shot 'assa', 'za za' is his blankie, 'pop pop pop' is Rice Krispies cereal, he's got a word for star, giraffe, book, basket ball, dirt, cheese, juice, on and on. And anything he knows a word or sound for he gets very excited about pointing out.
• Outside is the place to be. The boy has so much energy, we try to go outside whenever we can. He is perfecting his running and likes to take off at the park, which we are so thankful to have a short walk away.
  
• He still takes 2 naps a day but we pushed his bed time back. This morning we got a rare treat of sleeping in till 8!! He's pretty scheduled but does well with slight adjustments.

I know that's not everything but I don't know how long I can hold your attention either. Somethings amaze me and may seem very small to you, that's ok, Mike tells me all the time that the smallest things make me so proud of him. So, until next time here are some pics from the past week, maybe a little longer.

Reading a book while Mommy makes dinner

Searching for Easter eggs (on mother's day) with Papa

Giving Daddy a big hug

Sitting in the chair enjoying an apple

Taking a break with za za

Additions to Previous Post

I got some more proof today that Milo is just another kid in our squad:

This is the "Mom, why's he trying to move?"

Dandelions

Ethan has this thing for pointing out imperfections. Whether it be a speck of dirt on an otherwise clean floor or a crack in the sidewalk, he notices them and wants to make sure everyone else has as well.
His new thing is dandelions. With all this green grass starting to sprout out, he notices the little yellow flowers (or weeds depending on who you ask), also he can (sort of) say dandelion so he gets very excited. A 10 minute walk turns into 30 minutes of going from one dandelion to the next and shouting with excitement. He rarely picks them, but if you point out your favorite he will probably stomp it.
I didn't realize how short the life span of a dandelion is, they turn to that white fluffy thing in like a day! This does not take away from the toddler appeal on dandelions, it adds to it. He tries to blow the seeds away, he doesn't have much force to the blow so it is generally unsuccessful, but fun none the less.

Who Needs 2 Kids?

Not only do I have my son, and my husband but we can throw Milo, our dog, into the mix.
Here's some pics of Ethan and Milo fighting over some sticks in the backyard:

Milo usually wins, then Ethan comes running to me saying "mimi", his way of saying Milo, and pointing

Don't worry, Ethan went and got a bigger stick:

This is Ethan flaunting the bigger stick, much more like a small tree:

Miracle Hair Mask

I know that this blog is usually all about Ethan, hey that's what keeps people reading right? Well tonight I just had to share with you this "miracle" hair treatment we found. It's all natural, you just mix up the ingredients, heat it up a little bit, slap it in your hair and let it sit. When you wash it out, it'll be like a whole new you. Not to mention the relaxation effect it has, and it smells good too.

Like I said, it's all natural, you could even eat it, it's also very inexpensive, so there's no excuse to not go out and try it right now.

The ingredients:
Tomato Sauce
Ground Beef
Spaghetti Noodles


On a different note, I took Ethan to see his pediatrician this afternoon. To start, he's fine. When we were down in Florida, his eyes got a little pink which was to be expected with how much we were in the sun. It started clearing up when we got home and then last week one of them was clear and one was pink again. I had called to see if we should bring him in but since it wasn't bothering him and there was no discharge we decided to wait. Both eyes got pink again last night, so, fearing he may have a grain of sand stuck in his eye or something horrible like that, I brought him in. He has pink eye (the doctor said it's more like red eye) but not the kind that is contagious, not an infection, more of an irritation. He gave me a recommendation for some eye drops and we were on our way.
OK, that's not the whole story... Ethan had a small freak out when the doctor tried to examine him. As in, he turned into a monkey baby and tried to claw his way onto my back. Once we finally peeled him off of me I had to hold his hands so that he would stay somewhat still. The doctor made several comments about Ethan's strength and that he should be a wrestler. Big stuffed gorillas and pillows come to mind. They weighed Ethan with his clothes on so it's not exact but he was at 21lbs 8oz and 32 1/2 inches in height. He has his well baby check next month so we'll see where he ranks.
Two rounds of eye drops down, which is nothing compared to the dr's exam, and it seems to be at least temporarily clearing his eyes. And he has a new pirate name, Red Eye Ethan.

Spring has Sprung in Colorado!

What are some of the best things to do in Spring? Here's some of our week in the, finally, warm weather:

Check out the new leaves on the trees and bushes out back

Play with the hose

Mow the lawn (hitching a ride)

Help mow the lawn (this may one day be a chore so he better get the practice, oh and don't even bring up the dangers, I could only watch long enough to snap a pic)

When you get too tired, just hop on and go for a spin

GOLF!! It doesn't matter if you're just watching (which he loves, my mother is training him well)

If you're playing

Or if you're cheering, golf is definitely a way to ring in the new season

Check out Milo's action shot:

Cool Kid

We've had a new game for the past few days, Ethan puts on Daddy's sunglasses and then runs around the kitchen table. By the time he gets back to the living room, the glasses have usually fallen off so we put them back on and around he goes again.
He makes the funniest faces when Mike's putting them on him

Snow Day, Pics from the 17th

I got these pictures from my mom, this was the day before we were driving up to Denver, at this point we were dreaming about warm, sunny Florida weather."Are we really sure we want to go out there Papa?"

"Snow can't slow me down"

Ethan just gave me the longest, sweetest hug ever. All the while letting out a long toot! Thanks buddy.