Finally feeling better

Ethan is finally on the mend. He's eating more solid foods and his energy level is slowly going back up. He's not 100%, but he's definitely on his way. Unfortunately his crankiness level is currently a little higher - he gets frustrated because he's tired of being sick, but still doesn't have all of his normal energy. Other than that, I think the worst is over - which is good because I am exhausted!

Still Sick... Continued...

Yes. You read that correctly. Ethan is still sick. We're going on day 6 now. Yesterday we were worried because he had refused any Pedialyte all day Wednesday. By Wednesday night, though, and Auntie Lizzy's birthday party he seemed to be feeling a little better - cranky, but slightly more energy. Thursday morning, though, I went in and found even more puke. Actually, puke and a leaky diarrhea diaper. I kn0w. Gross. But darn it, those are the facts. At least baby puke isn't nearly as disgusting as adult puke. Umm... Moving along... He got another bath (the first of two for the day) and then I called up Bro. Kohler from our ward (and also our Stake Patriarch and family friend) to come and give Ethan a blessing since both Sean and my dad were at work. He and Bro. Boman came within the next 45min. and gave Ethan a very comforting blessing. I called the doctor on my way to work and a triage nurse called me back within the hour. She said we should still wait it out another day, but went ahead and set up a second appointment in case he had another rough night/morning. By yesterday evening, again, Ethan seemed to be having a little more energy. He even had some rice cereal for dinner. I went ahead and rocked him for quite a while before I was going to put him down. The following 3-5minutes are a blur of more puke. It started on me and allover him. I stood up, trying to decide between taking him to the dining room (so we were over a hard floor, instead of carpet) or our one bathroom, which was currently occupied. Ethan made up my mind for me, and threw up more on himself and the carpet. I rushed into the dining room and back to the kitchen sink. At the point, he threw up anything and everything else that was in his system. He was not doing well and my mind was made up - he was going to the doctor in the morning. After his second bath for the day and fresh jammies, we spent the night in the living room. Ethan on a towel, on the floor and me on the couch. At the doctor visit, Ethan weighed in at a whopping 18lbs. 8oz. down another ounce from Tuesday (it was 8lbs. 9oz. on Tuesday, not 12). Dr. Hemsley put him on soy-based formula and gave the ok for Gatorade if he won't drink the Pedialyte. He also wanted some blood drawn for lab-work. He wasn't completely convinced that Ethan didn't need to be hooked up to an IV for a while and wanted to wait for lab results before making a final call. Off to the lab we go - with a fresh soy-formula bottle on the way - which he wasn't too fond of. We were there for almost an hour by the time we actually got back to the car. Poor guy did NOT like getting blood drawn - who does?? And he screamed and fought it the whole time. That is such a hard thing for a mother to watch. Luckily, after this whole ordeal, Ethan was completely wiped out and fell asleep on the way back to my mom's house. I got a call with the lab results a couple hours later. Everything checked out ok - thank goodness - white blood cell count was good and the doctor said it was just a nasty virus that he was going to have to tough out for a little while longer. I hope not too much longer.
Battle wounds.

Still Sick...

Ethan is STILL SICK. Poor baby! I hate to see him so miserable. I took him into the doctor yesterday afternoon - unfortunately his usual pediatrician was not in. We still met with a good doctor, but Dr. Hemsley already knows Ethan so well, that I always prefer if he can meet with him. We got good and bad news. The good news was that he wasn't dehydrated. Apparently there's some sort of virus going around. The doctor said she'd already seen several kids with the same symptoms and some of them had had it since Friday or Saturday. It's lasting about 5 days to a week, so Ethan's still got until Thursday or Friday before we should expect much of a change. The other bad news was that he's already lost about half of a pound. On his tiny frame, it shows. He was at 19lbs. on his birthday 3 weeks ago, yesterday he was down to 18lbs. 9 or 12 oz. - I don't remember. He's so weak - no energy at all. When I went in his room this morning, I found that he had thrown up a little - it was all over the front of his jammies. I gave him a quick bath and he just sat in the tub. Bath-time is usually one of his favorite things - it killed me to watch him just sit there while I scrubbed his hair and washed him down. The poor little guy just lies on the floor with his blankie - if you happen to move out of sight, he gets up and crawls just far enough so that he can see you and then lays back down. It's just SO SAD! I want my baby to feel better!!

A walk in the park

As an update: Ethan's still sick. I'm taking him into the doctor this afternoon. I can't stand to see him so lethargic. I love the cuddling, but it's not like him to want to cuddle all the time.

On a happier note, Saturday afternoon, Ethan and I got to go the park. It was Ethan's first real trip to the park. Last year he was too little when the weather was nice, and there just hasn't been many nice days yet now that he's a little bigger. It was just the two of us - Sean was at home tutoring one of the young men in our ward. First we went to the smaller play structure where they had some sort of musical scale with push-button chimes. I think the chimes were still a little water-logged, but some of them worked.
Here's Ethan already working on mastering his scales and arpeggios (sp??)! Then we headed over to the swings - which he loved. They didn't have any full-seat swings for toddlers, so I just held him in place and did little swings. Next, we headed over to the grass and stayed there for quite a while. Ethan just stuck close to me and watched all of the big boys ride bikes and skateboards.

We decided to don our shades while 'chill-laxin' in the sun!

Finally, after some tickling and giggling, we walked some more around the park and then headed home.

My baby's sick

Poor li'l guy! Yesterday Ethan was really cranky - not eating well, clingy, etc. He also had some diarrhea. His normal routine is always so thrown off on Sundays with church that it was hard to tell if he was just tired because he didn't get a full morning nap (most Sundays he doesn't even get a morning nap, so the fact that he got a good hour in was surprising) or if he wasn't feeling well. By yesterday evening, though, it was becoming more apparent. He was really picking at his food and growing more and more crabby. After a bath and a bottle, which he hardly touched, we put him to bed for the night. This morning I was afraid he may have a big, messy diaper. I was right. I stood just outside his door and could smell the foul odor of a really messy diaper and when I walked in I found Ethan just lying there on his tummy. He barely even looked up to acknowledge me. Well, I picked him up and found that he had completely leaked through and the front of his jammies were pretty wet. I got him changed and completely scrubbed down and we headed over to my mom's house. He was very quiet the whole ride over (not like him at all) and when I handed him over to my mom and explained his symptoms and what had been going on, he just put his head down on her shoulder and remained quiet - even more unlike him. That was when I knew he was even more sick than I thought. My baby is usually squirming to get down the second we're at grandma's house - always ready to play or 'wrestle'. So my mom said they'd just take it easy and make sure he was getting enough fluids. We'll see how he's doing by the end of the day, otherwise we'll probably be at the doctor tomorrow. It's so sad because we had such a good day on Saturday. It was great weather, so we had our first real trip to the park (I'll post pics soon) and overall a relaxing family day - just the three of us. Poor baby... :(

Snow??!! In April?!?

Yep! That's right! Last Sunday morning we woke up to SNOW on the ground. Snow! In April!! That's just crazy talk. Our family is VERY ready for the sun to start shining on a slightly more frequent basis.

Sunday afternoon we also had the pleasure of helping little Addie celebrate her 1st birthday. Her mom and I are good friends. We were co-workers for a while, pregnant at the same time and even due the same day!! Ethan won, though. Happy Birthday, Addison Bea (isn't that a cute name??)!

A Contraction-Free Easter

Sorry, but I have been meaning to post our Easter blog for about a month now. It's a little late, but you're getting it anyway. This year, I am happy to say that I was able to enjoy Easter Sunday pain-free!! Oh! What a blessing! :) Last year I woke up feeling very sick to my stomach. So sick, in fact, that I even called Ask-A-Nurse to be sure I shouldn't go to the doctor - thinking I was sick, though, and not yet realizing that I was actually having contractions. I went to church late, Sean had to be there early for choir practice. Just before I had called Ask-A-Nurse, though, my "stomach" cramped up so much that I had to brace myself against the wall. "Phew!" I thought, "How sucky to be sick on Easter." About half an hour later, as I was about to walk out the door my "stomach" cramped up again. This time I timed it, just on the off-chance I might be having a contraction. Well, it only lasted about 30 seconds or so and that was when I had my first inkling that this might not be food poisoning or the likes, but the early stages of labor. So. Long story short(er). I went to church. Did all of singing time in Primary, then came home and rested until it was time to leave for Grandma's for Easter dinner. By this time I still wasn't feeling too hot and Sean and I were beginning to think I was really in labor. We decided to take my packed bag with us - just in case. I made it all through dinner (a dinner that was later completely thrown up - every last bite. Gross!) faking that I wasn't having contractions. After dinner, I couldn't fake it any longer. The contractions were coming faster and stronger and I became the entertainment as everyone stopped to watch me deep breathe through a contraction every 6-8 minutes. The contractions never stopped and Ethan was born late in the afternoon the next day! So, you can see that after being in labor for over 24hours last Easter, it was very nice to sit back and relax this year.

Speaking of this year! Since he wasn't born until Monday, this was Ethan's 1st official Easter! We got him a little basket - just some story books and a couple of plastic eggs filled with puffs.

I left it on the coffee table the night before and he noticed right away the next morning. He kept looking at Sean and I wondering why we weren't stopping him from getting into it. Once he realized it was fair game, he happily tore into it. Earlier that week his Nana and Papa had sent some Easter gifts up from Cali. He got a pair of froggie camo jammies - which are SO CUTE!! And also some books and his first puzzle. He's still working on being able to put the pieces in, but he's a pro at getting them out! We went to church and then headed out to (great) Grandma's for Easter dinner. It was a fun family day!!

Highlights from Ethan's "photo shoot"

So this is mainly for the grandparents... but here are the best shots from Ethan's little photo shoot on Saturday. Unfortunately, there were no big smiles. :( We still got some good ones, though. Next time... I think my favorites are the first two and the last one is a nice close-up of his beautiful face. We may go back and try for a smile or two, but for now, this will have to do. Enjoy!

The least creative blog title I can think of: Hair Pics

Ok, ok - here they are. I'm sure you've all be waiting with great anticipation to see the infamous hair pictures. Tell me what you think. So far, I love it - but I'm already thinking of what to do next. Probably a variation of this same style, but maybe slightly more rounded. I'm open to suggestions. Please. Do tell.

Tag... you're it.

My first tag... I feel so special!! :)

Four jobs I've had:
1. Office assistant - Yamaha of Springfield (thanks grandma and grandpa!)
2. Call center - Harry & David (Christmas season - once)
3. Service desk writer, then Accounts payable - Ramsey-Waite Co.
4. Mommy

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. While You Were Sleeping - I love this movie and I am such a sucker for romantic comedies.
2. Anne of Green Gables
3. Bourne Identity
4. Stardust - this is one of my new favorites, and we don't even own (my birthday's coming up, though - hint, hint :)

Four place I have lived:
1. Duplex with parents in Springfield.
2. House with parents/sisters in Springfield.
3. Trailer house with hubby in Springfield.
4. Duplex with hubby and son in Springfield.
Yep! I've lived in Springfield my whole life!

Four TV shows I love:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Desperate Housewives (shh... don't tell!)
3. Ugly Betty
4. Reality shows: American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, Biggest Loser and America's Next Top Model
It's a good thing we have a DVR because I don't really have time to watch much except a couple of shows - it goes a lot quicker when you can fast forward all of the commercials and commentary on the reality shows!

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Brownies - no nuts, please!
2. Baked spaghetti
3. Deli sandwiches (turkey, ham, roast beef)
4. Homemade mac & cheese

Four sites I visit daily:
1. My blog.
2. Your blog. (Thanks Christy for the first two answers!)
3. Myspace (not quite daily - couple times a week) and email.
4. At work: John Deere, Yamaha, Honda and Polaris.

Four places I've vacationed:
1. Utah
2. Hawaii - it's time to go back... the islands are calling me :)
3. Mexico
4. California - we go every year now to visit Sean's family. And... I LOVE Disneyland!

Four places I'd rather be right now:
Or at least, four places I'd like to travel to, assuming we had the money to go...
1. Hawaii
2. Bahamas
3. New York
4. Europe

Four things I did today:
1. Took Ethan to have his 1-year pictures done.
2. Straightened the living room and re-organized Ethan's toys - he got some new ones for his birthday, so it was time to put some of the old ones up for a while so they'll be interesting again when I pull them out next time!
3. Bought some pressed face powder I was low on to get my Clinique gift. :)
4. Went out to a later dinner with my hubby.

Four things I plan to do this week:
1. Work til 6pm every night. :(
2. Hopefully convince a co-worker to work til 6pm tomorrow night so I can go to my kick-boxing class!
3. Box up Ethan's 6-9 mo. clothes that he's finally grown out of.
4. Enjoy that we have no major plans this week or weekend - I'm tired!

Four bloggers I'm tagging:
1. Christine-y ween-y (does it count if Christy already tagged her?)
2. Sara Webb
3. Either of the Grahams :)
4. Anyone who reads this and is willing!

April 9th, 2008: Happy 1st Birthay, ETHAN!

* BIRTHDAY BOY *

What a fun day we had! We discovered that Ethan loves to have "Happy Birthday" sung to him. I started his morning by singing it as I walked into his bedroom to get him up for breakfast. First stop after that was the Doctor's office. We love our pediatrician, Dr. Hemsley! And Nurse Carrie, too. Ethan wore the 'Baby's 1st Birthday' shirt that Nana and Papa (Sean's parents) had sent up and the nurses all thought he was adorable - naturally!! He is still long and lean - 5th percentile for his weight and 60th percentile for height. He has grown 10 inches since birth bringing him up to 30 inches. And he weighed in at 19lbs. even. Unfortunately, the visit ended with 4 shots - bummer!! And we were having such a good time!! :) Nurse Carrie once again assured Ethan that it was the 'purple gloves' that were so mean and to be mad at them, not her. We 'walked' out of the room (with some help from Momma) and I managed to get him to wear his Birthday crown all the way to the car - the nurses ate it up!

Next stop was Grandma and Grandpa's house for breakfast where he had eggs for the first time! And some yummy fresh fruit. By the time we were done, though, it was way past nap-time. We hurried home, but he'd already fallen asleep in the car. I took advantage of a sleepy, cuddly baby boy and we snoozed together for a while in the recliner before I put him down in his crib. He still napped for another 2+ hours! Phew! This gave me time, though, to pick up the house and decorate the dining room just for him. I had a couple of banners and some long streamer-confetti things that I hung above the entrance into the dining room. I think those were his favorite and every time we go in or out of the room while carrying him, we have to go in and out at least twice because he gets such a kick out of it!

After a late lunch it was off to meet the Aunties and Daddy at Build-A-Bear. Recently Ethan has become very attached to his Auntie Lizzy's stuffed monkey and we decided we would get him his own for his birthday. As a side-note, my little sister has been wanting to take Ethan to Build-A-Bear since before he was born! She has been begging me for over a year and I finally convinced her that it would be more fun when Ethan was older and could participate more in the process. We did give him a few other selection for possible stuffed animals, but the monkey still won out, hands down! I'll put up more pictures of our 'newest addition' later.

We had a quick dinner and then it was off to mutual night - seeing how both Sean and I are in the YM and YW presidencies (respectively) we didn't think we could both skip out on mutual. The youth all love Ethan and were eager to sing to him and a couple other boys for their birthdays.

Finally, after all of that, we got to have the cake! Grandma Julie, Grandpa Greg, the Oregon Aunties and 'Uncle Tory' came over to help us celebrate. I had made one earlier in the day, but it didn't turn out quite how I wanted - by my own doing. I'm too much of a perfectionist. The cake was still very yummy, though, and I was able to carve it into the shape of a '1' before frosting it. We sang to Ethan one more time - lights dim and candle glowing - and he was grinning from ear to ear. With a little bit of help, the candle was blown out and he got to work on the cake. He had no problems eating it (I don't think he actually ate much of it), but especially playing with it. He knew right what to do and went to town squishing it between his fingers.

It was getting late, so he only opened a few presents - just some of the ones from Nana and Papa. We love the froggy towel, bath toys, books, play-clothes, church clothes (especially the tie!!) and hat. Thank you, Nana, Papa and Aunties!!

We did a quick bath just to make sure there was no cake between the toes or up his nose and then it was off to bed. He was a very tired, but very happy little one-year old. Tomorrow we party with grandparents, great-grandparents, aunties and 4 fellow one-year olds and their parents at the pizza parlour with the carousel - we can't wait! :)

xoxo Happy Birthday to my li'l guy! xoxo

This One's For You, Nana

Happy, happy birthday, Nana dear. Happy days will come to you all year. If we had one wish, that wish would be: a happy, happy birthday to you from us three!! We hope you had a great birthday and we're sorry we can't be down there with you to celebrate. We're eating b-day cake with you in spirit, though!!

Note the froggy jammies on Ethan - he looks so cute in them!!

And... we tried to get him to clap, but of course, he wouldn't do it for the camera. Oh, bother! :)

Love and squishes.

Rotten Coconuts and Other Calamities

So occasionally I think that our life - just the three of us is pretty routine. Work, church, errands and running around to get Ethan to my mom's for daycare are our usual activities. I don't know why I think this, though, because something always comes up. Yesterday, for example. I left for work at 8:30am and by the time I got home we had new neighbors that were completely moved in! They're a young couple, about to have their first baby - due in 9 days! That evening, we go to the post office to drop off a package for Ethan's Nana (her birthday's Monday - though she'll probably get it on Tuesday or Wednesday. Sorry Lynnie!) and pick-up my little sister. She has graciously allowed us to invite her over to 'help out' Sunday morning before the rest of the family comes over for Gen. Conference brunch. So she spent the night. We were supposed to get some free baby-sitting as part of the deal, but of course, we had no plans and didn't get to take advantage of that. Maybe she'll take a rain-check... Next stop was the grocery store. It was the first weekend after payday, so it's always a big trip - this was another non-extradorinary event in our lives. Then we drive home. We're a few miles away when I hear Sean say, "Uh-oh." It was the kind of "uh-oh" that makes me think we're getting pulled over. I immediately thought, "what were you doing?!?!" I didn't think he had been speeding. He switches over to the right-hand lane and starts slowing down. Then I hear him again. "We're running out of gas." I have to admit, I was actually relieved. I did NOT want to get a ticket. We pull completely over and kill the engine, trying to decide what to do. We finally come to the conclusion that it hadn't quite died all the way and we'd see how far we could get. I think we got another mile by the time we put it in neutral and let it coast to a stop. Apparently we are not adjusted to the lower gas mileage of the SUV. Our little Honda Accord gets great gas mileage and the low fuel light comes on with 2 gallons left. Sometimes we can get almost another 50 miles in before having to fill up. The Explorer, on the other hand, has a low fuel light that comes on with only 1 gallon left. Translated, that means we have 15 miles, max and we probably shouldn't push it past 10 or 11 - just in case!! Anway. By this point we were within a mile of the gas station. Sean was the hero and went on to get gas and bring it back. Don't get the wrong idea, though. It wasn't exactly 'cush' staying behind. Remember I had my little sister, who got quite antsy, and Ethan with me - and trust me, it was already past his bedtime. Roundtrip it only took Sean about 35 minutes and that was long enough. Ethan did pretty good - Elisabeth did a good job of keeping him entertained. By the end, though, he was SUPER cranky (it was about 2-2 1/2 hours past his bedtime) and to top it all off, his diaper leaked out. Needless to say, we were VERY happy to get home, get Ethan to bed and relax for a while before heading to bed ourselves.

So. The coconut. Nothing says tropical like coconuts! I, myself, have never had a fresh coconut - the juice, the flesh, none of it. Sean has. He served his mission in Brazil and quite regularly had the juice from the green coconuts. He said it is quite swee and very tasty. So last night at the store we decide to get one - the brown husk kind. Just about 15 minutes ago Sean goes to work on opening it up. He gets the liquid out and pours it into a glass - this was the part I was looking forward to. I'm not sure what I thought it would taste like, but figured it would be good. Sean took the first sip and warns that it's not quite as sweet as the green ones. I take a sip and cough and spit it out in the sink. It was disgusting!! Ugh!! I couldn't believe how gross it was. I run to the fridge and take a swig right out of the juice carton. We decide to move on to the coconut flesh. Both of us have heard that it is really good. Sean whacks it until we get it to split down the middle. That's when we noticed something odd. The flesh wasn't peeling off in chunks like we had seen on the 'Survivor-man' show. In fact, it was pretty mushy. "This can't be right!" we thought. We peel off some more of the husk and that's when we see it: the bottom is completely moldy!! No wonder the juice was so gross - it was probably rancid! So much for my tropical drink. I think I'll wait until we travel someplace where we can get it fresh and not weeks after it's been shipped to pokey ol' Springfield.

On to more exciting NON- calamities. Ethan took more that 2 steps today!! I think he took like 6 or 7 in a row. It was so exciting!! And my mom, sisters and John (Christine's beau) were all witnesses. Before that, though, Elisabeth managed to get Ethan laughing hysterically!! He couldn't stop. She was doing the cup-stacking game and he thought it was the funniest thing. It made me laugh just watching and listening. I've included a video below. Like I said, though, never a dull moment.
Side note: this isn't the video I wanted to load - I'll try to get the right one up tomorrow.

One Year Ago Today...

One year ago today, was not a good day. In fact, it was a very hard and emotional day. At the time I was 8 1/2 months pregnant, so that may have had something to do with it - hormones, or the like!

The day had a rocky start from the beginning. Just before I got ready to waddle into the shower, I looked down and noticed something on the engagement ring (the bigger one) of my wedding ring set - just glancing at it, it looked like there was a fuzz or something caught on one of the prongs. It was much worse. Upon closer inspection, I realized that a prong from the main stone was bent almost completely back!! I love my rings, so I was devastated to see something wrong with them. I carefully took the ring off and put it in a box or ziploc bag - I don't remember which, and put it in my purse so I could take it to the jewelers that very day. Well, that was just the start...

I went on to work - probably late - it's one of my worst habits (inherited from my mom) and then had a doctor appointment later that morning. This is when my day went from bad to worse (or at least it seemed that way at the time). After the usual: pee in a cup, weight and blood pressure check, etc. I met with my doctor. Heartbeat was still good on baby - no worries there. Then she went to 'check' me. I had not dilated at all (I was secretly hoping for maybe a centimeter or two) and baby hadn't began to drop. In fact, he was still so high up that she couldn't even feel his head - believe me, she tried. [I hope this isn't too graphic for anyone!] Well, this was no surprise to me - I still looked like a capital "B" from the side! My upper half was just chest and then right into belly. Then came the 'bad' news: apparently I have a very narrow pelvis - something I had told her was a possibility at the beginning of the pregnancy because my mom had to have all c-sections. Unfortunately, it's not something you can really check for. She said we'd just have to wait and see how things go, but basically to not be surprised by a planned c-section. I had been preparing myself for this news all along, but somehow hearing it straight from the doctor was 10 times harder. We made an appointment for a week and a day later (the following Thursday because she was booked for Tuesday and Wednesday) and she sent me on my way. Side note: I had already received my "papers" at the previous appointment.

Well, I cried almost all the way to Valley River (shopping mall), convincing myself the whole way that I had at least an 85-95% chance of a c-section. I dropped off my ring at the jewelry store to be fixed and headed back to work, though first I called and bawled to Sean and then called my mom to inform her that it was all her fault that I had to have a c-section. I was so convinced at this point that I would not be having a natural delivery that I made sure to include the info in a group email I sent out to family and friends that day. I also reassured my co-workers that weekend that there was absolutely NO WAY I would be going into labor over the weekend (they told me I'd have to cross my legs!) and not to worry about the fact that our office manager would be out of the country all of the next week. "I will be here," I said. "Look at me," I said, "I'm still a capital "B". The baby hasn't dropped. I haven't had any contractions. It's still 2 weeks early. It will be fine. DON'T WORRY!"

Saturday we went and picked up my freshly repaired, and very sparkly ring - they decided it would be best to do a switch and take my band for a couple days to send it off the be all shined up and made extra sparkly, too. So I left the wedding band and took the engagement ring part - even though it is hard not to have the full set. I was told I could pick it by Tuesday or Wednesday of the following week. . . .

Ethan started to drop Saturday evening, I went into labor on Sunday and Ethan was born on Monday evening. One of my co-worker's response? "I TOLD you this would happen!" Imagine the look of shock from the employee at the jewelry store when we come in the following Saturday to pick up the other ring and we now have a baby in our hands and not in my belly!

Brushing Teeth and Clapping Hands, but Still Not Quite Walking

Alright, I've already gotten multiple requests to post the pics of my new hair, and I promise they are coming... hopefully by this weekend. The problem is that Sean's computer is currently out of commission and mine is a hand-me-down laptop (though I'm very grateful to have it) that is several years old (I've had it for 4 or 5 years and it was an older model when I first got it) and runs a little slower. It also doesn't have wireless internet, so I am tied to the desk in the dining room. Anyway. The camera software was loaded into Sean's computer and not mine, so I need to do that before I can upload any pictures. They ARE coming, though - not to worry. Plus, I still have Easter to write about, which judging by everyone else's blogs (especially those with family members in the 2-year and younger age-range) is going to be old news. Oh well. Deal with it! :)

Back to the task at hand...

I love watching as Ethan learns and develops new skills. It is such a joy. He has pretty much mastered clapping, though not always on demand. BUT... the other night he was right in sync with the television audience for Dancing With The Stars - his cousin Reagan's favorite show. The dancers would finish a performance, the audience would clap, and then so would he! It was very cute to watch. And it was late, so he was tired and he just looked so serious about it! It was also nice to be cuddling with him on the couch.

Next: We have been trying to brush Ethan's teeth every night before bedtime - oh, the joy! When we first started, he was pretty fascinated by the whole idea and fairly happily obliged to the nightly ritual. It wasn't long before the novelity wore off and it became a nightly battle. I'm pretty sure that most babies are secretly contorsionists (sp?) and can wriggle into just about any position - always the exact opposite of where you want them. After battling for a month and a half or so, one morning I was holding him in one arm and brushing my teeth - he got an up-close view of the process, and seemed to take a new interest in it. The routine became less of a struggle again - especially if he got the opportunity to do a little of the brushing himself. Well, the renewed interest did not last long until just last week. Sean had finished brushing his own teeth one night and had just rinsed his toothbrush - he has an electric one. Ethan was, of course, at his feet because he follows everyone into the bathroom (the door is open on rare occasion) - just for fun, Sean turned on his toothbrush to do a quick brush on Ethan's teeth. He LOVED it! All sorts of giggles!! So this is our new thing for teeth brushing - our son has to have an electric toothbrush and then the task gets done without a fuss. It's a good thing those are a lot cheaper these days!

Moving along - no, Ethan is still not quite walking - so close, though. I know everything changes once they start walking, but I am sooo anxious for him to do it!! Most of my friends' one-year olds are walking - though Ethan is one of the younger ones - and I'm so excited for him to join in the fun. He can practically run laps around the coffee table, as long as one hand is always touching. He is also standing very well - can touch the floor/pick up a toy and stand back up - and is almost able to get into a standing position without holding on to anything. He's taken a couple of steps here and there, but hasn't actually taken off yet. He's still got time, but it seems like everything else came a little early and it makes it hard to wait for this milestone.

And finally. Saved the best for last... the other night I went in to check on the little sleeping angel just before I went to bed (something I have to do before laying down) and he stirred and very sleepily woke up when I got close to the crib. He was definitely in a daze - he sat straight up, but wouldn't let me lay him back down. Well, I couldn't resist and I picked him up and rocked him a little until he had shut his eyes again. When I tried to lay him back down, though, he was still having trouble relaxing and he stood up next to the railing in the crib. Then, the sweetest thing happened, he pulled on my sleeve for me to get closer, gave me a big hug and layed back down to snuggle with his blanket. My heart melt. As I walked out of the room, he just kept laying there - watching me leave before closing his eyes (the crib bumper is currently not in the crib). These are the kind of moments that make me love, even more than before, being a mom.

Goodnight to all. Below are some old, and cute, pictures I have - the bottom two are my favorite. This will have to tide you over until I can get the new ones up!