brother!

I just wanted to say that Ethan is going to be a big brother this summer! Yay!

I just have to write this down before I forget about it!

This morning when Ethan and I returned from Millenium, I was bringing him in the house when he suddenly started say "oh my! oh my!" I have NO idea what he was "oh my"-ing about, but it cracked me up! And of course, when he saw that I was laughing at him, he redoubled his efforts and went wandering around the house saying "oh my! oh my!" What a turkey!

Which reminds me, I often call him a turkey when he's being silly, and he's started to call himself one too! The other day in the car, he kicked his boot off. I looked at him and he said, clear as a bell, "turkey?" and gave me a questioning smile. When I laughed, he said "turkey! turkey!" to himself, like he was congratulating himself for a joke well received. :)

haircut!

I took Ethan for his first real haircut today (aside from the complete shave he got several months ago :). I have to admit, I thought he'd do a little better but he really didn't like the tickling shaver! I'll have to get a picture of his big boy haircut when he gets up from his nap - he looks very handsome!

here I go again...

And tomorrow I leave for Nicaragua again, one more week of hot hot hot but missing my dear family!

trip!

So Jon had his school convention in Calgary last week, and we hitched a ride! Ethan fell asleep in the car on the way topick him up after NOT NAPPING all afternoon (grr)and all he wanted when we got out the car was a hug. So that wiped out all my bad feelings about the lack of nap :)

Then we went to the zoo and saw some pretty amazing animals!

Ethan's favorite? The giant fish!

Um, yes, this is what I've been hearing and seeing a lot of recently.

The W word. Whining. AARRRGGGHHH!!

For the last week and a half I feel like Ethan has turned into a whining machine. Is this normal toddler behavior?? Sometimes I feel like I need a time out just to keep from spazzing at him because I really cannot handle it. Whiny children have always been the only ones I dislike being around, and Ethan's turned into one of them! It's not all the time, but it has been pretty regular around here. Now, instead of saying "please" like he used to, he just looks at something and whines. Or he'll stand at my feet and whine. Or sit in the car and whine. Or stand by his toy shelf and whine. I think he might be getting frustrated because he's getting a better handle on his words, but still can't really express his wishes well. Any ideas on how to nip this whining habit, or do I just have to wait it out?

cookies and milk

How to eat a cookie with milk:

Get cookie in position.

Dip cookie.

Eat cookie.

Take a break.

Drink milk. Tada!

bye bye

After dropping Jon off at a conference this morning, I decided Ethan and I would head to Second Cup for a breakfast date. While we were there, Ethan made friends with the people at the next table (as always). When we were leaving, he was holding a sippy cup in each hand (we must have both milk and water, don't you know?) but he was trying to wave to them. I guess he figured that wasn't a very effective wave, because suddenly he had placed his cup on the floor and was waving furiously with his now free hand! He then picked up his cup again, and walked to the door. Of course, all the ladies at the table thought this was quite a hoot.

Mema

My mom comes over to watch Ethan once a week while I'm at work, and I don't know what she does with him but when she comes to the door, but he sure does love it! The minute he hears her voice at the door, he goes running! He squeals "mema, mema!" (Oma) and can barely contain himself. I'm serious - he gets so excited it looks like he's going to burst - fists clenched with arms kind of up, smile huge, and sometimes he even does a little jig. Honestly, it's the most excited reaction ANYONE gets. He doesn't even get this excited about Mommy. :)

New table!

My Grandpa and Dad made Ethan a little wooden table and two chairs. Of course, right now he likes to color the table, instead of just what's ON the table, but he'll figure that out. :)

Boys!

I love puffy vests and plaid shirts on little boys. I'm so glad I have a little one of my own to dress...at least for now!

Nose!

We've been teaching Ethan his different body parts, and "nose" was the first one he learned. When he first picked it up a couple months ago, he would walk around the house, holding his nose and saying "nose! nose! nose!"

However, we have now progressed to the point where he has discovered nostrils. He made this discovery in Costco one day, and thought it was pretty hilarious every time I tried to remove his finger from his nostril. In the car on the way home, he tried it with both hands, both nostrils. I took this picture at lunchtime that day, after I asked him to show me his nose. Obviously you can't tell from the picture, but he was saying "good boy, good boy" to himself...as he was shoving his finger up the orifice. Yes, good boy. Hmmm.

He's also discovered a newfound love for sticking his fingers up everyone else's nostrils, including mine, Jon's, and the goat at the zoo. Yes, we washed his hands after that one.

night night!

Ethan's been playing a game for the last month or so. It's called "night night". He pretends to go to sleep on beds, the floor, cushions, pillows...and apparently, in his high chair! He says "night night" then lays down and closes his eyes for a couple seconds, then pops back up with a big grin. :)

beds

So I need some advice:

We picked up a free frame for a toddler bed, but are now wondering if it's necessary. It requires a crib-sized mattress, so we'd have to get a second mattress (assuming we have a second child in the time when Ethan's in the toddler bed). How long can a toddler stay in a toddler bed? 1 year? 5? Is it worth buying another mattress, or should we move him straight to a twin size and put it on the ground?

Big boy!

I think Ethan's growing again! He slept until 9 today, then ate a big breakfast, snacked a couple times in the morning, nearly ate a whole salmon burger patty at lunch (plus a ton of corn and a piece of granola bar), and went down for a nap again at 1! The last time he did this he grew an inch I think :)

backyard renos

We've sure been enjoying fiddling around in our backyard this summer! Jon's been trying his hand at being a handy-man and I've loved having my very own garden! So far this summer we've dug a hole in the hill so we could build a retaining wall so we could move the shed to the corner so we could put the garden boxes (that Jon built) where the shed used to be (got all that? :). He also put a lovely raised bed in front of the shed that will soon have a big honeysuckle vine growing up the side, as well as some hostas and white bleeding hearts in the shade.

The raised beds are where the shed used to be, and the bed you see behind them (along the fence) is re-used sod, on top of some pretty wretched grass. I also spent a couple days filling in the low spot (aka mud puddle) by the boxes with some more mud, lots of straw, and newspaper.

We used the sod from the hill to make another bed next to the fence, and edged it with rocks collected from the Thomas homestead.

AND we moved the angled fence (that blocked off the driveway from the yard) so now it's straight. We didn't have enough fence boards to make it the slight bit longer that it needs to be now that it's straight between the houses, so Jon decided not to finish the back of half of the fence and instead build a littleplayhouse for Ethan with the fence as one wall. So that's what we're working on now. And I haven't taken pictures of it yet, but we also put in a little rock-lined raspberry bed beside the patio. Wow! Amazing how much plant life a small yard can hold.

words

I'm trying to figure out all the words that Ethan knows. Just for my own interest. And I'm trying to see if there's some sort of theme :) Probably a boring post for anyone who's not family! Off the top of my head, I can think of 40 words he uses regularly.

People:

Mummy, Dada, Bapa (Opa), Bampa (Grandpa), Mama (Grandma)

Food:

(s)nack, Cookie, Cracker, Gook (milk), bup (cup), Bubees (breakfast)

Nouns:

Doggie, Cat, Car, Truck, Bus, Shovel, Door, Hat, Shoes, Sock, Book, Box, Stairs, Baby, (s)cooby (Thomas' dog), Mamas (pyjamas), c(l)ock, bath, ball

Sounds:

Moo, Woof

Verbs:

Push

Other:

Up, Off, No, Mess (my personal favorite :), Hi, Bye bye, Uh Oh

from infancy

Usually I work Tuesday and Friday each week, but summer is a little weird and this week I worked Wednesday and attended a conference on Thursday/Friday. That means I've only had 1 or 2 hours a day with Ethan for the past few days. Today I came home and he looked...older. Not massively older, just a little more mature.

It made me realize how fleeting toddlerhood is. Toddlerhood is such a precious time - a time of intense learning, where everyday is a new adventure. The other day we spent an hour in Home Depot, just playing in the cabinets, pretending to paint the floor, and opening all the washing machines. I think he had more fun there than at the playground!

I love my job, and I think that helping children know Jesus is incredibly worthwhile. But I'm glad it's just 2 days a week. I couldn't handle any more away from my swiftly-growing little man. It already makes me choke up thinking that we'll never have these days back. This is what we get, and we have to make the most of it. But I am glad that we don't do it alone: we want to raise a boy, a man of integrity, and so does God. He will help us hold onto the precious times and show us how to appropriately love and discipline him just as He loves and disciplines us. When I am weak, He is strong.

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scripture, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."

- 2 Timothy 3:14-15

toys

Yesterday, we were all in the basement and Ethan decided to go upstairs. Sometimes we just let him wander at will - he's pretty good about not getting into much and we like him to be able to play independently. We heard him pattering around on the main floor and it sounded like he was just wandering, as he sometimes does. A few minutes later, we went upstairs and were surprised to find nothing touched except the little pail of animals/people in the kitchen. He had taken some of them out and taken them to the front entry and laid them out like this:

This morning, I was laying on the floor watching him, and he methodically took shirts and socks out of his dresser and laid them on top of me. Toddlers are so funny!

snuggles

Ethan loves to snuggle. Not for a long time, but frequently. If I'm sitting on the floor, he'll come snuggle up to me for 5 seconds probably every 5 minutes or so. And if I'm on a chair or standing, he'll come stand by my legs until I pick him up. He doesn't want to be held long, he just wants a quick snuggle. But I love it!

vacation!

We had such a great time on the West Coast! Ethan loved the beach. We spent hours wandering around, digging in the sand, picking up rocks and shells (and seaweed, yuck), and building sandcastles! Or rather, I built them, and Ethan played the part of Godzilla. He also loves to have his feet buried in the sand. After the burying process, we ask him "where are Ethan's toes?" and he gives a silly little grin. Sometimes he pulls them out right away, and sometimes he just eases them out like he's trying to draw out the suspense. At the end, when the toes are displayed for all to see, we get the big grin. Unfortunately, we have no pictures of the "grin". This picture was taken when we buried his whole bottom half in the sand, which he thought was great fun until he discovered that he couldn't move!

you speak english?

Ethan is definitely learning how to talk! And he's using it to make jokes already, which is totally hilarious. He likes to say "boo" to me, and when I jump and pretend to be scared, it makes him laugh like a maniac.

And today, my mom brought in a hot coffee. She has had a long-standing thing with him where she'll touch his hand to the hot coffee cup and say "hot", trying to teach him what the word means. So today he wanted the cup, and when she brought it near him, he sneakily brought his finger up to it, touched it, pulled away fast, and yelled "hot!" And chuckled, of course :) And then he did it again...and again...and again.

doggies

Sometimes I wish I was a lot better at confrontation. For example, there was a lady that came to the playground today that had her pug dog off-leash. There were a couple dozen kids at the playground, most of them under 4 years old. The dog was bounding around everywhere, trying to lick everyone. He came up to Ethan and before I could stop him, the dog had knocked him over, tossed sand in his face, and licked him all over. Ethan was SCREAMING. I shoved the dog out of the way and picked up Ethan. He got over it fairly quickly, but still. There were dozens of kids, some of whom were already scared of dogs and were crying as he was bounding around all over. AND to top it off, the lady was so...out of shape...that she couldn't even chase down the dog to get it back ON the leash. My friend had to grab the dog and bring it back to her. The dog wasn't mean or huge and the lady was apologetic, but still, I wish I had given her a piece of my mind. A playground full of small children is NOT an off-leash park!!

little fish

I'm so proud of Ethan! We've only been to the pool a handful of times, and everytime we go he freaks out and clings to me most of the time. But this time, he was quite interested and even giggling! He even walked around quite a bit in the kiddie area. And one time he fell and went under, and when I pulled him up he sputtered a bit, but didn't cry! He even willingly went into the part that's "rainy" and totally loved the slides. I think we stayed for an hour and a half, we had so much fun! Then we both got hungry so decided to come home. :)

And now he's driving his fire truck around the basement. Seriously, we have not encouraged him playing with cars any more than with anything else, but he LOVES driving his cars and trucks around, so we just had to get him some more! (hooray for the Salvation Army :) I think it's what he spends half his days doing. I find it interesting that as much as we say that boys and girls are the same, they're really not. I've met a lot of children, and most little boys gravitate towards cars and guns, and girls gravitate towards dolls and dress-up. There is some crossover, and there are indeed lots of things that both boys and girls like to play, but you really can't deny that there truly is a difference in the way they're wired!

Scoundrel!

Ethan is starting to get into EVERYTHING! In the past 45 minutes, he has eaten mud, harassed the bird we are pet-sitting, emptied the DVD cupboard, tipped over a play car, and just about pulled one of my tomato cages out. I haven't minded too much (except when he was harassing the bird and my tomato plant) since he's not putting himself or anyone else in danger, nor is anything he's doing "wrong" per-se. And frankly, I don't feel like following him around the house saying "no!" all the time.

But what do I do when he really is doing something I think is wrong? He was banging on the bird's cage and scaring it, so I pulled him away and sat him down on the chair, thinking maybe I'd try this time-out thing. But he just laughed like a mad-man and I almost started laughing too! What to do, what to do...

words!

So we may not be making a ton of progress on the moving front, but Ethan is definitely learning some words!

He knows that the dog next door is "doggie" and when he wants up (or is up) he says "uppie", dad is "dada" or "daddy", he says "hi" and "bye" and just now was learning to say "clock" (one of his favorite things to look at), although it sounds more like "cok" right now :) He doesn't say "mommy" much, but at least I still know he loves me!

barking

Ethan totally scared me today. He woke up from his nap early and was breathing heavily, so I cuddled him for a while, put him back down, and went downstairs. Half an hour later I went back up and he was crying, but quite faintly. I went in and he was lying on his tummy, reaching out with his arms like a parched man reaching for a pool of water. And he was weezing like the air was being sucked out of the room. I scooped him up and brought him downstairs, told Jon to get off the phone and just about started bawling! Thankfully Jon kept his cool and we took him to the medicentre. Poor guy was barking/coughing like a 90-year-old smoker and "talking" like Al Pacino! I'm happy that they got him in to see a doctor right away, instead of having to wait for an hour.

Turns out he has croup, which is something I thought disappeared in the 60s along with polio and mumps! Guess not. We gave him a little steroid pill to take down the swelling in his trachea and took him for a walk so he could breath some cool misty air (for once this cruddy weather was perfect!) Anyway, he's sleeping now and seems to be breathing mostly ok, although a bit heavy. Poor guy. Poor mommy!

About time!

We were at our friends' farm on Sunday, and I was walking around with Ethan holding onto my finger. The ground was pretty uneven so he more...lurching...rather than walking. But then I let go and - surprise! - he took 2 steps. And then a couple more! And then he was off and running! Just kidding, no running :) But still, progress has been made! Considering that he's almost 14 months, I'm ready for the walking stage.

Mother's Day

Last year Jon got me some books so I could take some time for myself. This year, he and Ethan painted a picture frame for me! I can't wait to see what Ethan will make next year, when hopefully he'll be capable of making things all by himself. :)

learning!

It sure feels like Ethan is learning at a breakneck speed. Once he started doing new things, he just kept going!

Now he knows how to put things IN, as well as take things out. Puzzles, shape sorters, buckets -- they all have new possibilities now!

He can go DOWN stairs as well as up. And when he gets to the bottom he is immensely proud of himself.

He can stand on his own (no, still no walking yet).

He says "hi" whenever we say it to him.

He loves opening and closing doors. Seriously, a single door can keep him occupied for 20 minutes!

He plays peekaboo on his own, with his hands over his eyes, or with his blanket.

He can do the "indian-yodel thing" (for lack of a better phrase) all by himself. You know, the thing where you open your mouth and sing while patting your mouth with your hand. It's pretty hilarious when he does it on command!

I know a lot about kids, and have taught/played with/baby-sat hundreds of them, but nothing compares to watching the daily changes in a toddler!

gripefest

Why is it that bad stuff comes all at once? This week we've had one bout of the stomach flu (both ends), one bout of diarhhea, 3 head colds, a cancelled summer course and a cancelled fall course (meaning Jon has to further put on hold his dreams of finishing his BA), a water leak, AND a broken sump pump. AGGGGGGGGG!!! We're going to have to pay a plumber and probably install new carpet in the basement. Again I said, AGGGGGGGGG!!!

zzzz

Sleep, sleep wonderful sleep! Tonight, for the first time (or at least the first time in a super long time), Ethan slept ALL NIGHT! We're talking 13 hours here! Previously he didn't wake up a lot, but he was still nursing once a night. I was tired of getting up so I thought I'd wean him off that, seeing as how he's plenty old enough for weaning anyway.

I tried in January but he cried for an hour and a half (on and off) and I gave in and then never bothered again. But this time I had nerves of steel! The first night he cried off and on for an hour, and I went in to him using the Ferber method...the second night he woke up at two separate times and the second time was 6:30 already, so I caved and nursed him. The third night he cried for 30 minutes, and last night, NOTHING! Not a peep for 13 hours. Phew!

Snow Day

We went out to enjoy the sunshine...

...and I thought I'd enjoy a little snow as well...

...it tasted a little strange...

...but I just had to try it again!

That's me giving Mommy's friend a look of extreme disgust.

I think she suggested that Mommy make me snow cakes for dinner.

more goofiness

I love the goofy little things that Ethan does. Recently he's taken to stretching out his arm with his fingers outstretched - I think it's his new way of pointing at something he wants. Except that it looks like he's trying to summon it to him. :) And sometimes he does it to a person and it looks like he's blessing them.

He's also discovered how to carry things around when using all 4 limbs to crawl...use the mouth! He is always carrying things around in his mouth, like a little puppy. Then he'll stop, sit, and grin at me while still clamping onto his ball, box, or toy.

hooray!

Since the return of the afternoon nap, Ethan has been in a great mood! Today I took him to work for a couple hours and he just crawled happily around in the church basement, playing with the nursery toys, exploring classrooms, and watching mom. Hooray for naps!

every good and perfect gift

I just love Ethan. We've talked so many times about how we just love to hear him yawn - he's so loud, it's like he's singing. He's always done like that. I love the way he crawls, hands pattering on the floor. I love the way he gets so excited when I come into the room. I love watching him eat - sometimes he takes a piece of food and almost throws it into his mouth, like he's afraid it'll disappear if he holds onto it too long. I love getting him in the morning and seeing him standing in his crib, grinning. I love nursing him, because when he's done he just lays back and smiles at me, like he is absolutely and completely content. I love how he always checks to see if I'm watching when he's playing, and comes crawling over if I'm not paying attention. I love his giggles when I hold him upside down.

But I know I'm not the first parent to ever fall in love with their kid. If most parents love their kids like I love Ethan, it just blows me away how there can be so incredibly much love in the world! It really is a gift from God.

Dentist?

Ethan loves looking at and touching my teeth. It's a recent obsession. Today I was laying on the floor and he was poking my teeth and suddenly decided he wanted to (like with everything else), taste them. So he essentially gave me mouth-to-mouth. So funny!

one story

The man on the left, William Estrada, is amazing. He is the pastor of a church in an impoverished rural community. He lives on whatever the church gives in offerings, which is about $4-5 per week (his church has 280 people in it, which gives you an idea of how poor they are). He also uses that money to help his community. He talks about times when his family hasn't had any food to eat, and instead of despairing, he tells them that they are going to fast and pray. He also has a story of when his car was needed as the ambulance, but he only had 1 gallon of gas left and that was to take his very pregnant wife to the hospital when she went into labor. They discussed it, and since the lady was going to die if he didn't take her, his wife said that he had better take this woman to the hospital, and she would just deal with labor at home. Well, when he got back from taking the sick woman to the hospital, he discovered that someone had left a gallon of gas on his doorstep! Honestly, when he was sharing, I felt like I was listening to the Apostle Paul.

Some of the team in front of William's house. The smoke you see is from burning garbage.

A child in William's community.

The family pet.

ahhh!

Ethan's been grinding his teeth recently - apparently nothing to worry about but it drives me CRAZY!

climber

The little weiner can barely stand and he's already climbing!

...and home again

When I was in Nicaragua, I felt like I'd been there for weeks. And now that I'm home again, I feel like I never left! On the practical front, Ethan is still willing to nurse, so I'm happy. He's been a little clingy for the past couple days, but I decided to take a few days off work so that we can just hang out with no separations for a while.

The trip itself was marvelous! I was right about it being heavy on the meetings, but I sure learned a lot! We learned about the different aspects of poverty, about the history of Nicaragua, about what the Nehemiah Centre is doing in the country, and about what it means to do incarnational ministry. We also met with several local pastors and heard their amazing stories of ministry. We went to churches and participated in some pretty wild worship. We went to the crappiest areas and saw both hopelessness and victory. We spent a day with Compassion children, and were all amazed at their ministry...again.

And of course, we had a few hours to do some tourist stuff - we went to the beach for a couple hours, peered into a volcano, and ran into some bats in a lava cave. We even played hooky from a meeting and took some rickshaws to the gas station and had snacks!

I have to say, going with the church staff was a great decision. Not only did I already have a relationship with them, but I knew I had to continue the relationship so we really DID have to get along! It was a hoot. I haven't laughed so much in a long time.

I'll post some pictures when I get my camera back - Continental managed to leave a half-plane's worth of luggage in Houston!

Thanks to those who prayed, specifically about Ethan - it was tough but we kept busy, so I was mostly ok. Every couple days I had a pity party for a few minutes, but there was always so much going on to distract me.

on another plane...

In less than 36 hours I will be flying over the States on the way to Managua, Nicaragua! It feels kind of surreal. I'm going with the rest of the pastoral-type staff from church. We're going to be meeting with other church leaders to encourage each other and to find out if there are useful ways that we can have future teams do short trips. It should be interesting, if not a little heavy on the meetings. But there will be food and sun, so I shan't complain!

I'm definitely going to miss Ethan - 8 days is a long time to be away from your 10-month old that you haven't even weaned! But he will be with family, so I'm not worried. Ethan and Jon will be okay. Hopefully I will be too.

SUGAR!

Ethan had his first real dessert today. We were at a birthday party and they had white cupcakes. I thought he might like to try a bit. Did he ever! Leaning forward with eyes aglow...that's definitely part of what childhood is all about!

Sweetie pie

Jon had a sweet moment with Ethan today.

He went in to wake him up from his nap (since he was still sleeping and it was suppertime!). Ethan was still asleep, but when Jon said his name, he slowly opened his eyes and said very softly: "dada".

the little goof

Our little goofball strikes again! Today he was in the jolly jumper and suddenly he stopped bouncing, stuck his legs out in front of him, and grabbed his knees...he just hung there, going up and down for a minute, grinning at us. It was hilarious! He did it again later. We caught a bit of it on video. I really need to figure out how to upload stuff from our video camera!

finally!

Ethan started crawling today! Just a foot or so, but it was definitely crawling! I just about started crying - hadn't expected THAT reaction! I think it was maybe because I was afraid I was going to miss the start of his crawling career while I was in Nicaragua. What a relief! He wouldn't do it again after that, but he was trying to push/pull himself along on his stomach and actually succeeded in moving a bit that way as well.

Who knows if this will continue or not though. He turned over several times at about 4 months old, then didn't do it again for a month, so maybe he will just wait for a while to try again. But he's really trying to get to things now - when we put him on his bum, it's usually less than a minute before he's pulled himself onto his stomach, where as before he would contentedly play on his butt for 30 minutes or more.

Every mother I know says that having them start moving isn't really cause for celebration because it's so much more work, but I'm so ready for the next stage!

oddness

I'm not sure how he did it, but this morning when I went to get Ethan out of bed, he was on his stomach and completely flipped around! He must have rotated himself on his back and then flipped...or something. I guess it will only get more interesting from here!

possibly the cutest father-son picture ever!

yum!

Ok, a post about me for once. I've discovered that I can cook! Obviously making supper several days a week for 5 years will have increased my skills a bit, but tonight I made a supper that actually made Jon groan with delight. Wow. I got 3 new cookbooks for Christmas (The Art of Simple Cooking, From Earth to Table, and the Big Green Cookbook) and I'm excited to learn how to knock his socks off every night!

I've realized that I like to go on learning kicks - for a while I was all about gardening, which I still love, but I went nuts with learning about it for a while. Then I went nuts with music. Before that it was indoor plants. Then I was reading every book I could get my hands on regarding babies in general. Then I read 3 books about babies and sleep issues. And now it's cooking. Would you consider that binge learning?