cuteness

Ethan's been figuring out how to roll in order to get something. He won't roll lots, but he'll do a roll and a half at least, all in succession. Funny thing is, he'll only go one direction! So when he runs out of room, we flip him the other way :) It's very cute. But of course, everything he does is cute...

progress!

So our little lazybones is finally making a bit of progress on the movement front. Today he apparently pulled himself almost to standing in the bathtub (under extreme supervision by daddy :). Apparently, he was quite proud of himself! After his bath, we usually give him some naked tummy time, and he was trying quite often to get onto all fours.

He's so funny when he's on his tummy. Sometimes I leave a trail of cheerios in front of him and he can't figure out to reach them. But if I put them in a circle around him, he'll spin himself quite easily, pulling himself with his hand. Isn't that the same muscles? oh well, he'll figure it out. In the meantime, I'm going to count my blessings ... I can turn my back and he won't really move!

my little goofball

Recently, Ethan has picked up a silly new trick. While we're feeding him with a spoon, he clamps the spoon between his teeth, closes his mouth, and starts laughing. As his mouth is closed, it sounds more like snorting from his nose! Sometimes he does it without the spoon too - just purses his lips and starts breathing hard and chuckling. I really need to try to get a video of it! It's so cute because he looks right at me and his eyes just sparkle with laughter. What a goofy kid!

Baby envy

I always thought it was really stupid to compare your kid with someone else's kid. There will always be someone else better than your kid at anything, and someone else worse than your kid at anything, right? I would read articles about "child envy" or "child comparison" and think that could never be me. I mean, really, how shallow is that?

But it is gratifying to hear the doctor say he was so strong, to hear people say he's so friendly, or so cute. It's secretly soothing to hear that other babies can't eat as well as him, or pick up small objects like he can.

But a baby 2 days older than Ethan is practically crawling, and he is just finally rolling over consistently. (He's been able to roll over for months, he just hasn't bothered -- ah, see how I try to make it sound better?) And a baby 7 weeks older than Ethan has been saying words for a couple months now, and all Ethan does is say "aaaahhhh" and the occasional consonant. I KNOW there's nothing wrong with him and that he's just developing at his own pace, but it's still hard to let go of my pride and realize that my kid isn't going to be the first, or the best, or the strongest, or the smartest.

I guess it's a good lesson to learn now. I suppose it's better to learn to let him be himself NOW, rather than learning that lesson when he's a teenager, rebelling against my expectations.

Is it just me though, or is this something you never think could affect you...until you have kids? I was talking to a childless friend of mine the other day, who reminded me that yes, it is stupid to compare your child with other children. But I realized I wasn't doing it on purpose - it almost comes as naturally as comparing my hair or body to someone else's! It feels like a dirty little secret, comparing my baby against other babies, feeling oddly gratified or jealous, as the case may be.

Obviously I need to let it go. As we've been teaching the kids in Sunday School, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, PEACE, PATIENCE, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Good thing God has plenty of peace and patience in his storehouse, because I'm going to need a truckload of it...both for Ethan and myself!

New song

Sing with me now, to the tune of "BINGO":

There was a boy whose name was Ethan

And teething was his game-o

1-2-3-4 teeth

1-2-3-4 teeth

1-2-3-4 teeth

in less than 30 days.

Yes, that's right, Ethan just sprouted his 4th upper tooth THIS MONTH, putting his grand total at 6 teeth. Pirana lessons, here we come!

My skills

Oh the joys of a cardboard box!

I got a box today. What a fun present!

You can do so many things with a box. You can play peekaboo.

You can open the box. You can close the box.

You can eat the box.

You can read the outside of the box. Or pretend to read.

Oh the joys of a cardboard box!

absurd!

I really can't believe I'm saying this, but Ethan just popped yet ANOTHER tooth today! I think that's 3 teeth in 3 weeks! No wonder the poor kid was grouchy this weekend. It was the other front tooth, and it really looks like the other eye tooth is coming right away as well. Good grief. Am I raising a shark or a human??

lopsided!

So Ethan just popped another tooth today...so now he has his two bottom teeth, and on the top, the right-hand fang (eye-tooth??) and the left-hand middle tooth. What a lopsided little face!

you just have so see it...

Ethan has a happy dance now, and he does it when he sitting, when he's lying down, when he's standing, when he gets a new toy, when he's eating, in the cart at the store...it's hard to describe but if you saw it, you would have to laugh! He shakes his whole upper body from side to side, usually while holding a toy or something else in his hands so he just squirms like a worm. I guess you just have to see it!

night out

So we finally had a date tonight, and got our first "real" babysitter. I say she was a "real" babysitter because we actually paid her. :) We love our free babysitters but we don't want to wear them out!

We're going to visit Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie Erin tomorrow. Lots of exciting things have changed since we saw them at Thanksgiving. A new tooth, better sitting, better giggles, and a really cute toque! Yay for growing babies!

our sweet "new" ride

pinchy pinchy

Ethan's finally figuring out a rudimentary pincher grasp, as evidenced by the fact that he's learning to feed himself Cheerios! It's so fascinating to watch his development. He is getting better about pushing himself backwards, and sometimes even gets his butt up in the air with his knees under him. He never tips over when he sits anymore. And his favorite game is when I load up a bucket with toys and put it in front of him so he can tip it over and pull all the toys OUT!

ahh

So we're finally all getting better. Ethan's still got a cough and a sniffle, but at least he's sleeping well and not nearly as whiny today. I really can't handle the incessant cry-whine. I understand that it sucks to be sick but MAN. When there's nothing I can do to calm him down, I just want a mommy-vacation!!

yuck.

Hmm, what's new with us? Ethan's got a runny nose and a cough, and who knows what else (he's not telling us :) making him intensely whiny all day. Jon's sick with something and he's asleep at 7:30 which is pretty wild. And I have a mild cold too. This is the first time Ethan's gotten sick though, and I keep hoping it's not the famed H1N1. Yikes! He has no fever though, so we're hoping it's just a cold. I hate being sick, and now I hate it even more, because I gave it to my little man. And now he's crying in bed. Eep.

I want to feed MYSELF!

Today Ethan had a first...while I was feeding him supper he took the spoon (which is pretty usual) but then he dipped it in the bowl and brought it to his mouth! And again in the bowl, and to his mouth...for a couple minutes! Of course, he wasn't getting much on the spoon but he sure was happy about it!

new toy

Ethan and I both agree that IKEA has some great toys!

give me a head with hair...

Ethan thinks it's absolutely hilarious to be held like this. I think it's because he loves to play with hair, and in this position he has unrestricted access! Of course, you can't see his hilarity in this picture because he was more interested in what I was doing at the time. :) Also, I heard him say "dad" today. While he was looking at Jon. That's right, my little genius!

all done!

We're all moved in, and as an added bonus, Ethan has started regularly waking up just once at night, instead of twice. Yahoo! We're on the way toward sleeping all the way through...

T minus 22 hours

We're moving tomorrow! I used to think moving was fun, but it's so much more of a pain this time around. I can't really get much packing done when Ethan's awake, so I pretty much just have nap-time and bed-time. Thankfully he goes to bed at 6:30. 22 hours until we get the keys!

haha

Ethan was in his Jolly Jumper a few minutes ago, and I was pouring dry pasta into a container. He seemed very agitated and was looking at the half-bag of pasta, so I gave it to him to hold. Apparently that was exactly what he wanted! Then he started trying to jump, without relinquishing his hold on the heavy bag of pasta, so he could barely move! Ahaha.

half birthday-day!

I can't believe my little guy is 6-months already! He's halfway to 1! Ack!

He's such a relaxed kid - he's pretty much happy anywhere you put him, and if it's someplace new he'll just look around curiously.

Right now he's on his tummy on the floor where he's pushing himself backwards and in circles.

And he likes to sit and play with toys (with my supervision so he doesn't find himself on his head!).

He's not getting up on his knees - he prefers to balance hilariously on his tummy with his legs and head in the air. I think he's practicing to be a seal.

He eats pretty much any food I put in front of him, so I have to be careful what to give him! Those two little teeth are coming in handy!

Happy half-birthday Ethan!

leaving on a jet plane...

We'll be back on Monday! Just Ethan and I though, Jon gets to stay home and work. What a bummer.

big day part 2

Apparently all that work today made Ethan super hungry! Within an hour, he ate 3 cubes of sweet potato, 2 of green beans, an entire banana, and he nursed me dry.

!!!!!

big day

So Ethan went to his first community meeting today and lasted for about 45 minutes before getting cranky. I was impressed. And I think he's finally figured out the turning over thing - he turned from front to back 6 times with about 5 minutes. And now he's spinning himself on his belly to get to something he wants. He's also pushing himself backwards though, which I think is totally frustrating him because he's moving AWAY from the toys. hehe

to sleep, perchance to wake up to screaming...

So I'm discovering that much of so-called "parenting skills" is really a crapshoot. Seriously, how do you know what's going on in a baby's head? For example, a couple times this week Ethan's been waking up around midnight, absolutely inconsolable. I try to let him cry it out, aut after 20 minutes I just can't handle it anymore. But he wails when I try to feed him, a clean diaper doesn't help, we walk around, put him in the swing, nothing. Finally an hour or more has gone by and he finally falls asleep.

At first I thought it was the food we gave him. On Sunday we gave him avocado for the first time, and that's when the first episode happened. And yesterday we gave him banana for the first time and it happened again. But he went for his shots today, and the nurse said it was highly unlikely that the food was the cause because he was eating the new foods in the early afternoon, so if he had an upset stomach or gas, it would show up long before midnight.

Then I realized that both nights this happened, he had a giant poop the next morning - the first poop in a few days.

Then I thought maybe it was a growth spurt, and he was just starving, and so upset that he just couldn't settle down to eat. But he got weighed today and he hasn't even gained an entire pound in the last 2 months, nor has his length increased by more than 2 cm. So apparently not a growth spurt. (He went form 97th percentile to 75th in two months! I think it's all brain growth, but that's just proud mama talking :)

The nurse thought perhaps the problem was teething. But he already has 2 teeth and they popped in with barely a grouchy afternoon, and I heard that the first teeth were supposed to be the worst.

So this evening he did it again, around 9. We thought maybe he really is teething, and it's just being different this time. And since he had his shots today (so this legs might be hurting), we gave him a bit of infant motrin. Still no calming down, although I know drugs aren't instantaneous.

Then I thought that perhaps he was hungry. He had only eaten 2 1/2 hours previously, and usually once he's eaten before bed, he doesn't need to eat again until 3ish. But he ate ravenously. So maybe he's finally hit that 6 month growth spurt.

So, all in all, we still are in the dark. Can you say, "crapshoot"?

PS Looks like the financing has finally gone through for our house. We hit a snag because the appraisal came in at lower than the price we agreed to pay and there were some various issues surrounding that. But it meant that we didn't sign the documents right away, so now it looks like we're going with another bank (one that doesn't require an appraisal) and we'll be getting an interest rate of 3.99% instead of 4.19%. I have to say, sometimes God is weird.

Yum yum!

I tried some food today. It was YUMMY! I've had tastes of food before, like some tomato sauce from daddy's finger and some lemon and carrot, but never like this. WOW! First I tried some kiwi. I wasn't supposed to eat it, mommy just gave it to me for a lark. But I loved it so much! I was really mad at her when she took it away!

Then tonight I got to try CEREAL. Was that ever amazing!

I really liked it. Can you tell?

Swimming!

I went swimming for the first time today. I thought it would be lots of fun, but it was kind of scary at first. There were so many people and it was so loud! And then mommy tried to put me in this floaty thing, but I didn't want to. Not yet. So we just hung out for a while. Then mommy spotted her cousin, and she's so pretty, I just had to smile at her. Then I started to feel better about the pool. I like splashing mommy, and my favorite is when she lifts me up real high and then back into the water. Weeeee! We stayed for a long time!

Good grief!

I can't believe! I had Ethan on his tummy in his room, and I quickly went to the bathroom. When I came back, he was on his back. I missed it - his first rollover! Then he was on his tummy for another 10 minutes when I was in the room, and he wouldn't do it again. Sigh.

surprise!

So Ethan's been kinda weird with eating this week, doing lots of fussing and whining when I'm trying to feed him. Otherwise he's been fine. And he's been waking up more often at night (3 or 4 times instead of 1), mostly just to cry. Last night he was chewing on my finger and I thought I maybe felt a tooth, but I couldn't get in there to look. This afternoon the ridge felt a little bigger and when I finally got his tongue aside I discovered not one, but TWO teeth! I'm sad that his super cute gummy grin will be gone, but I suppose a toothy grin will be cute too :)

sleeping

We heard Ethan goofing around in his crib at nap-time but thought little of it. Then Jon beckoned me to see something funny. When they say "sleeping like a baby", this must be what they meant:

I have to say, it looks wildly uncomfortable, but apparently it doesn't matter!

dum da dum dum

We think we've found a house! It's about a 3-minute walk from Jon's workplace so we'll be able to simplify a bit and sell our second car. It's a super cute little 2-story that's across the fence from Sobeys, so we'll never have to worry about running out of milk! There's also a Tim Hortons just across the fence, so I sense an addiction to Iced Coffees coming on...

We can't make an official offer until Jon starts work, because he's not at full time yet. But according to the chat we had with the owners yesterday, we'll probably be moving mid-October. Our first house that's OURS. (well, the bank's actually, but who's going to quibble? :)

My big road trip

I took my very first long roadtrip this weekend. Well, I've been to Grandma and Grandpa's place a couple times, but that drive is just the length of a long nap. This one was serious business. I even tried sitting in the driver's seat, but I can't see over the dashboard yet. Maybe next time. Then I'm really gonna zoom down the road.

We made a little pit stop at a teeny weeny town, where I got to inspect a tree real close up. Someday I'm gonna be a scientist. A scientist Nascar driver.

Maybe I will also be a food taster. I'm practicing lots on daddy's thumb. I think it's my favorite snack flavor so far.

Mommy thinks I'm going to be a sweet boy, but I'll show her! Look at me tear apart this napkin!

But maybe for now I'll just concentrate on learning how to do things like sitting. I guess every great man has to start the same way, whether he's a Nascar driver, a scientist, or a ragamuffin.

Mike

Mike used to live in our basement. Mike was a plumber. Mike was 27...I think. Mike was a youth leader. Mike was planning to go to Bible college in the fall, maybe to eventually become a youth pastor. Mike jumped off a cliff into a lake on Monday, just for fun. Mike didn't come up. Mike hasn't been seen since.

He was a friend, a co-youth leader, a housemate. And now he's gone.

I think Ethan has started to catch on that when we put him in the crib, we leave. Now, if he's not ready to go to sleep, he lets us know loud and clear that he wants to keep playing! It's been going on for a few days now and I'm going crazy! A couple months ago we started working on getting him to fall asleep on his own, which he was doing really well for about a month. We would put him to bed after he started yawning and rubbing his eyes and usually he'd just talk to himself for a couple minutes and fall asleep.

And now...sigh.

At least he DID fall asleep tonight, albeit after several minutes of yelling. The other night, after he cried on and off (the off-times were when we were holding him) for an hour, we actually had to take him for a drive...first time ever. We put him in the car seat and he was happy as can be, which is why I think his screaming is crib-related. He played with the toys that hang off the seat for a few minutes then closed his peepers and fell fast asleep. Today I tried to put him down after being awake for 2 hours as per usual, but no can do. He yelled at me all through my shower! So I caved and let him come play for a bit and he was fine for another hour and a half. Apparently he doesn't need to sleep as often anymore. I guess we need to get with the program. :)

On a side note, we're hoping to buy a house in the next few months. We've only been looking on MLS and com-free so far but it seems promising. We just need to start looking at places now. We found this place on ComFree that was too good to be true...unfortunately it wasn't, but someone else snapped it up already. Sigh. We're really looking for a place within walking distance of Jon's work so we can sell the Echo, but that area is pretty expensive.

biiiig boy

So my kiddo weighs 17 lbs, 12 oz...already! Good thing we got the infant seat that works up to 30 lbs! Oh, and he's 26 inches. Over 90th percentile for both weight and height. I forget how big his head is, but it's only 75th percentile. Good thing small head doesn't equal small brain, or we might trade him in. Kidding!

So Ethan had a fun weekend at Grandpa and Grandma's - being doted on by no less than 5 adults may give him a bit of a complex though. I think he had about 100 photos taken this weekend alone. When/if he gets a sibling, he's going to have a pretty massive shock!! Developmentally, he finally started playing with the toys that hang into his car seat - he's been grabbing them and pulling on them. Strange how such a small thing can be so important :) Next, we're gunning for a rollover!

Bugger

I hate shots. Ethan has his second set in 50 minutes. I feel like such a cruel mom when he starts screaming. I know it's good for him but last time when he started wailing I almost started too! With all our technology, couldn't they have figured out a painless way to get immunized? They have an oral rotovirus vaccine for babies, why not others? Oh well, off to pain-land.

On the bright side, we'll get to find out his weight and height today, to see how much he's grown in the past 2 months. Anyone want to take a guess? He was born at 8lbs 3oz and at 2 months he was 14 lbs 11 oz. He's now 4 months...free Ethan smiles to the best guess!

Sleep power!

For the first time EVER, Ethan only woke up for 1 feeding last night. That means he went to bed at 6:45 pm, woke up about 3:15 am, and woke up for good at 8 am. I'm thinking over 13 hours with only one feeding is pretty good - I'm not even sure *I* can go that long without food :)

Maybe this is why he slept so well:

I'm baaaaack...

...and all about Ethan! Welcome to Ethan-land. The place to find out about the man of the hour...ETHAN! I'll try to remember to keep this updated with all the Ethan-y goodness. And perhaps along the way you'll hear a bit about Jon and I. Perhaps.

So we've discovered that we have a thumb-sucker. It's super cute but I'm somewhat conflicted because I know it can cause dental issues. But I console myself with three facts:

1) Babies have been sucking their thumbs for millennia, and we're still around as a species. So obviously it isn't a contributing factor in survival of the fittest.

2) He probably won't be sucking his thumb on his first date. Probably.

3) We have some dental coverage.

So oh well, keep up with the thumb-sucking cuteness!