Updated and Improved

Here you can see the moon and the stars that Ethan's Grandma made for him back when she made the curtains and pillows. They took a little longer to hang, but they look great.
Here you can see the new wall art that came from the shower that Charlene and Barbara had for me. Barbara had everyone write a letter to the baby, and she framed quotes from the letters along with the front and center of the invitation which Charlene designed.
Here's a close up, I think if you click on the picture you should be able to read it. The Thomas Jefferson quote that hung here will now be on the other side of the rocking chair.

Tasty Treat

Ethan had some new foods this weekend. He tried (and liked) yogurt. I'm having a fun time giving him that, the smell of it just makes me sick. But I'm glad I found another thing he will eat. He also tried some zweiback toast. It got kinda gooey and messy pretty fast but he did a good job with it. He's also getting a lot better at finding his mouth with the cheerios. And tonight he had his chicken with sweet potatoes and was eating some of it without the fruit mixed in.

Take Your Dad to Work Day

Thursday afternoon I took Ethan to visit James at work. Everyone in the office made Ethan laugh and smile, and he even managed to eat some lunch before we had to go home. James and I went to panera and Ethan slept through our lunch. Of course that didn't stop the ladies at the table next to ours from ooohing and aaahing over him. He did wake up before we left and rewarded them with a smile.

On the Move

Ethan even did a little crawl for you before we put away the camera.

Little Pudge

On Thursday Ethan and I were hanging out in his room. We decided to take a few pictures before he got dressed (or re-dressed actually)to show you he's starting to build up some reserves. Isn't the belly button pretty cute? That's his new rug on the floor. I have a few more things to finish putting on the walls, then we'll get new room pics up.

Cheerios

Ethan tried Cheerios today. See if you can hear the crunch. I accidentally set the camera to "mini" video. Not sure how I did it (or how to undo it) but it seems to have made a much smaller file. It won't look as good, but at least it didn't take overnight to upload.

Time Away

On Thursday I got on that midnight train to Georgia. Not really, it was more like a noontime plane, but close enough. I went to see my friend Barbara and her family and to go to an Eagles concert with her. And no, I'm not trying to make Ethan's hair look like Don Henley's, it just happens to stick up naturally.

Ethan sent me the picture to the left while I was gone. When I got back, he met me with a bouquet of flowers and another sign that said "welcome home." He smiled at me and giggled and laughed for a while.

He spent the long weekend with his Dad. As you can see, he likes him a little. I hear they had a good time, so long as Ethan could convince James not to put him down at all.

Get Moving!

Ethan can crawl backwards but he can't quite get the forward motion. Occasionally he will drag himself forward a little, but not with any regularity. We're sure he'll be moving soon though. We finally got an area rug for his bedroom so that will help him get some traction. I'll post some pics of his room next time, I haven't for a while and there have been a few changes.

Here he is trying to get somewhere.

Happy Mothers Day!

We hope all the mothers have a great day. I have been treated pretty well around here. James made me blueberry pancakes with bacon and tea for breakfast. I opened the present Ethan made me, and you can see it here. I think he had a little help.

We took a ride to the Southbury Training School to get some plants for the deck and by the front door. We came home, fed Ethan and packed a picnic, ran a few errands, then went to Terrywile Park for a picnic lunch of BLTs. (James made a lot of bacon, but that's ok, it's my favorite meat :) We came home and the skys clouded over so I rushed to get my plants in the pots since it's supposed to rain most of the week, and of course I finished and it's still not raining.

I just had a cup of tea and enjoyed a few of the Hauser Chocolate truffles I got from Ethan.

Now it's time for the little guy to eat again, and if I'm lucky for James to make us dinner. He even did some laundry today. Why doesn't this day happen at least once a month?

Happy Mothers Day!

Old Friends

Saturday we went to Lake Hopatcong, NJ, former home of the Holmlund brothers and current home of their parents. Andrew found out first hand how Ethan likes to grab necks and ears. Ethan enjoyed meeting his "Uncles" parents and had a great time exploring their living room. It was a little cloudy and windy so we stayed inside, but Ethan got to check out the speed boats out the big windows that went all the way down to his level. We all had a great time, and a great dinner. Many thanks to the Holmlunds for their wonderful hospitality and all the lovely gifts for Ethan (you'll see some of them in future posts I'm sure- esp. the Yankee outfit ;)

Stop and smell the roses?

Not Ethan. He gets to stop and smell the lilacs, imho the best flower EVER! He seemed to agree with me, and luckily he did not even try to eat it. It is going to rain tonight, tomorrow, and probably Friday too, so I thought if we were getting a picture with them it had to be tonight. It was a quick photo shoot though, it was buggy out. But we got a few good shots really fast.

Ethan is pretty ready to crawl, he's staying on his stomach now without screaming, and will even turn himself over. But to move he still rolls around. He does the rocking on his arms and knees, but the only way he can crawl is backwards.

He's also eating a lot more food lately. Volume, not type. He's still not thrilled about anything but fruit, especially if I don't mix fruit into it. He'll eat the chicken or turkey dinners I found, but only if they are half applesauce or pears. I know, that sounds totally gross, but if he'll eat it that's what I'll do.

Over the weekend Ethan celebrated his first cinco de mayo/ Kentucky derby festival, though I did not think to take any pictures. We also went to a Mexican restaurant on Monday where he enjoyed the real cinco de mayo celebration with some people from the parent's group.

Summer Prep

Ethan got all ready for summer today. He got a sun hat (it's a little big) and some shades. He's learning to wave now. He's funny because I'll see him doing it but he doesn't really wave at people. This afternoon he was watching his Dad out the window in the front door and he waved at him. I didn't get a picture of it, but we'll get one soon.

This afternoon he went with us and Uncle Derek to get a baby gate and we stopped at Swanky Franks for hot dogs. He slept through it so he didn't get a hot dog.

TOOTH!

If you look closely enough you may be able to make out the first tooth to come through on his bottom gum. He's obviously still got a long way to go, and he's drooling up a storm.