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.