phone-aholic?

So Ethan wandered into the kitchen today with the phone, and I heard someone's voice coming out of the phone! I assumed he had somehow answered the phone when it rang, and I just hadn't heard it. It was our pastor's wife, and after a few moments of confusion, it turned out that she hadn't called us, Ethan had called her! I think he must have hit re-dial and then speakerphone. Good thing my last call wasn't a long-distance one!

milestones

Ethan hit a milestone on Monday that I never even realized was a milestone! It used to be that we would ask him about his day, and he would just smile at us.

But on Monday, we were rehashing the day to Daddy and he suddenly said "boat" and "water"...we had gone swimming that morning, and he really liked rocking in the big foam boat.

Then on Tuesday, I asked him what he did (after I got home from work), and he said "Moma!" And yes, his Oma was with him all day.

Today, I was reminding him about a birthday party we went to last week for his buddy, and told him that soon it was going to be his birthday. And out of the blue he shouts "cake!" And of course, we had cake at the party.

I was very surprised because up until now he's shown no indication of remembering events. Of course, he has learned a lot so obviously he's remembering stuff, but now he's able to articulate his memories. Cool!

Sweetheart

Ethan is such a sweet little guy. Today we were at the library and another little boy had a little monster truck with him. He kept putting it down to play with something else, and then Ethan would pick it up - I could tell he really liked it. But every time, I told him that we needed to give it back to the boy, and he held it out to him with no complaining. It makes me happy that he's such a sweetheart, but a little scared too because I can just imagine people taking advantage of him when he gets older. I guess our challenge will be to teach him to obey the right authorities, but to also stand up for himself when he needs to. Good thing God helps us raise our kids because I would be hooped otherwise!

jokes!

Ethan has been SO into books recently. Some days I think that's all he wants to do! We usually read until I get tired of it, then I take a break, and a few minutes later he comes to me with a book in his hand, saying "book? book?" It's fun, but gets a little much when he always picks the same ones! He has this one book that has little things you push out to reveal the animal that's hiding. The first one is a mouse, and the other day when I asked him what it was, he said (rather triumphantly) - "Mommy!" I chuckled and moved onto the next page, which had a frog. This one apparently was "Daddy!" So was the next one. The last one was a chick, which he correctly labeled. Funny thing is, I know he knows what those animals are called, so I think I might consider this Ethan's first joke!

croup!

Croup is scary! Last night we got Ethan out of the crib to take him home from our friends' place, and he could barely breath. He tried crying but couldn't and wasn't even able to cough. He was ok when he was calmed down, but that freaked all of us right out! I was pretty sure it was croup again, and I knew that we could have spent a few hours standing in the bathroom with the shower running (for several nights) like they do in all the old books, or we could go and wait 2 hours in the emergency care place. Which we did. They gave himsome "juice" with a bit of a steroid in it and soon enough he was sleeping peacefully! Whew. He's still a bit hoarse today, but much much better! They told us at emerg that most parents take their kids in after a couple days of this, and by then, the worst is over. I say, give me the treatment now! None of this waiting when my kid can't breathe!

Ethan was really calm the whole time though - he just snuggled with us and stared. Even when they put the cold stethoscope on him, he just sat there. Maybe he thought he was just having one really realistic dream!

On a random note, here's a picture of Jon and Ethan sword-fighting at New Years. :)

laundry day

Yes, he did put my unmentionables around his neck. Don't worry, they're clean! Crazy child.

In other news, due date for Pipsqueak #2 is July 5. Bring on the summer!

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. :)