Visiting

This weekend Granny and Gramps (Ethan's great grandparents) came to visit. They got here late Sat. afternoon and played with Ethan for a while, then we had dinner and visited more. This morning we went out for breakfast and then to the museum so that Gramps could check out the furniture. (I think it killed him that I wouldn't let him pull out drawers.) We also tried to check out an apple festival, but it was pretty lame, so we came home and had some donuts we got at a farm stand and had those. Ethan ate his lunch and posed for some pictures and then Granny and Gramps headed home. They had some stops to make on the way so left a little early. I think now that they're gone the weather's going ot clear off. Anyway we had a nice time despite the clouds.

Big Changes

I think the pictures tell the story, today Ethan had his first hair cut. He got to sit in the fire truck chair. I should have put him in his fireman outfit. Instead he's wearing his "Master of Disaster" shirt he got from Auntie Holly and Uncle Tom. That's pretty appropriate too. He did well for the most part, though he kept trying to grab the scissors. He certainly liked steering the truck. He got a certificate I will scan later for you to see.

That's not the only first, yesterday he walked to me. It was just a couple steps and I wouldn't exactly say he's walking but he's getting really close to trying to get somewhere that way instead of on the knees.

Quotable

My friend Jeannie sent me some magazines. They're called Cookie, I'm not sure exactly what it's going for, seems sort of like a parents magazine but not entirely. Anyway, as I was reading a column by a woman complaining about the constant requests from preschool teachers about things she needed to bring or buy or do, she said the following:
"Side note to anyone sending class e-mails: Unless I have wiped your behind or paid you a dollar to try an avocado, please do not address me as 'Mommy.'" I'm down with that sentiment. Ethan doesn't call me "mommy," I don't know why other people feel compelled to.

Family Tree

Ethan came home from "school" last week with this. I told James the little guy is telling him he'd better watch his step or else. :) Apparently some of the kids ate the apples or tore them up so they had people entirely missing from theirs. At least James made it on the page, that has to count for something. We now have a scanner so you can look forward to me torturing you with more of Ethan's artwork in the future. He got to fingerpaint today but I haven't seen that one yet.

Kisses!

Ethan has been giving me "kisses" for a while. He mostly just opens his mouth and plants it on your cheek. He's finally learning how to give people kisses and I tried to catch him giving his Daddy a kiss but got too soon and too late. Anyway you can see him puckering up. We'll get a better one someday.

Crayons!

Ethan got crayons today. For his birthday he got "My First Coloring Book" from Grandma and Pa. He also got regular crayons but I really thought he'd eat those. I saw on his friend Adelyn's blog that she had these neat Crayola crayons for one year olds. So when I saw them today we got some. He colored a little as you can see above.


Then he decided he just had to taste that book.


Then he found a way to eat these crayons anyway.


And then he really got down to business- trying to rip out and eat the pages. I should have switched to video mode, he was really going at it so I put the camera down quickly and ended our first adventure with a coloring book. I'm such a mean mother!

Fireman Ethan

Ethan got this neat firetruck from Mr. and Mrs. Holmlund for his birthday. It has a handle so he can push it or we can push it when he rides on it, and the seat lifts up so he can store things under it. He doesn't ever put anything in there, but he loves lifting it up. That little yellow thing near his hand in the second picture is a button that makes the fireman on the front dance and makes a song play that goes "I see a firetruck, a big red shiny firetruck, I see a firetruck coming down the street." And so on.... yes, I know ALL the words :)

Ethan's wearing his new fireman outfit in these pictures. It's very cute and was a birthday gift from Bud and Cheryl. He still has room to grow, you can't see the little hero patch on his leg because we have to roll his pants up these days. They start coming down when he crawls, then he stands and steps on them and then they bother him and he takes them off. Hopefully once he starts really walking we won't have this trouble. Not that I want that to happen too soon.

Wind Blown

We went to the Pumpkin Festival in Seymour today. It was not very exciting, though I guess most of the pumpkin related activities happened before we got there. Our ride home was enjoyable for Ethan though. And no, it's not because we stopped at Rich Farm, sadly we did not. When we got in the car James rolled down the windows, and Ethan thoroughly enjoyed the wind blowing through his hair. He giggled and yelled and waved his arms. The thing he's chewing on in the top picture is his toy remote control he got for his birthday from Aunt Linda and Uncle Louis. The eyes blink and he loves it.

Car

This is Ethan playing with the car he got from Uncle Tom, Aunt Holly, Amber and Jonathan. He likes to sit behind it and push the buttons. He thought he might be able to give you all a smile.

Great Grandma Fay

Ethan's great-grandma Fay (his Pa's mother) passed away this morning. Ethan got to see her the weekend of his birthday and they had fun laughing at each other. This is a picture of her and my Grandpa who passed away when I was much younger. I think when I tell Ethan about her this will be an appropriate image. She's holding a needlepoint embroidery that I think my mom made for her that had all the grandchildren's names in it. It ran out of spots, but over the years all the additions were penned in. Children, family, and home were most important to her, and I think it's safe to say she was happiest with lots of babies around. Now that I have one child, I marvel at how in the world she could have raised EIGHT (let alone giving birth to that many) and before Ethan she always gave me a hard time about not having any. And I know Uncle Tom will tell Ethan about her peanut butter cookies and how there always seemed to be a stash in the freezer for him. She will be missed by her many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Cows!

Ethan got another birthday gift on Saturday. Can you believe it, a cow ride on toy! He moooos at it. He likes to play with its leather ears. And if you can't quite tell, yes folks, it has an udder!!! Isn't it awesome? Thanks to Uncle Metz and Amy for sending it to him. Ethan knows his Grandma Jo Ann will be especially fond of it.

I've recently found vegetables Ethan will eat. He's started eating peas. Go figure. He can't get enough of them. I found a medley of peas, corn, and little carrot cubes that he loves.

Puppy!

Ethan got this puppy for his birthday from his Grandma and Pa. He loves to hug it. Whenever you press a body part it talks, but he always presses a different one before it finishes. So a foot will launch it into some song and about two words in he's already pressed something else. The creepy part is it keeps talking after he puts it down. Chucky the puppy??? We hope not. But as you can see, he also gives his puppy hugs. That's what he did to the little girl in the playgroup, he tackled her just like the puppy. The monkey jammies were also from Grandma and Pa.

In food adventures, yesterday Ethan got to try scrambled eggs with cheese in them and some toast. He had just what his Daddy did for breakfast, and he liked it. A lot.

He's also started trying to talk more. Anything he picks up can serve as a telephone, he will put just about any toy to his ear and start jabbering. He moooos with his toy cows, and I'm pretty certain this morning I heard his version of "puppy." He's also become very vocal in yelling for his Daddy.

Peanut Butter!

One think we were looking forward to with Ethan's birthday was the expansion of food possibilitites. This morning before his 1 year doctor visit he tried PB&J on toast. Do you think he liked it? He mostly played with it because it was earlier than his normal breakfast time, but he ate a little and seemed to like it. He is now 19lbs 12 1/2 ounces and 30 1/2" tall. He's a tall baby! He isn't gaining weight as quickly as he had been, but that's apparently normal for right now as he's more active and in the transition from bottle to table food. We're supposed to try to get him off the bottle in the next several months. He currently gets 4 a day so we'll start by moving him down to 3 and go from there. I think the night time one will be hardest for us to give up because that's what put him to sleep.

After his doctor's visit, he took a little nap and then we went to a parents club playgroup meeting. He had lots of fun. There were 5 other kids there, mostly the same age, two had birthdays this week also. He kept trying to hug them. He tackled the girl whose house it was. It's funny that he doesn't really take to too many adults, but put him around a group of kids he doesn't know and he's fine. They played nicely for the most part and I think it tired him out. He didn't fight me for the afternoon nap too much.

Stages

Ethan got a lot of new toys for his birthday. We thought the reason he was into everything is that he didn't have any toys. Well, that theory has been disproven. He plays with each toy for a short period of time, casts it aside, and then proceeds to climb a bookcase or stick his fingers in a light socket. Well, we try to prevent him in the nick of time, but that's what he really wants to do. This fun push toy was a gift from the Alexanders.

Ethan can't quite push it as intended yet, but he had a lot of fun inventing his own way.


He also had fun watching me push it.

Then he was done playing. You'll see how it goes. But he does really like it for a while at least. Thanks guys. You'll see more of Ethan playing with his new toys in the coming days/weeks I'm sure. Now I have to shop for a toy box.

The Cake

I'm still amazed by Ethan's birthday cake. I think Aunt Linda should be on food tv or working w/ the folks at Charm City Cakes. On Monday I took the cow and pig to work, and of course everyone was amazed by how adorable they are and that they are handmade. Last night we shared the last piece so I marveled again at how great it was. Yep, it tasted good too. So I decided to put up a few more pics of it, I hope those of you who couldn't go can get a better idea of what it looked like.

Birthday Giggles

You can see that Ethan enjoyed his new toy.

Happy Birthday Ethan!!

Ethan celebrated with his friends at "school" with some cupcakes today. Then James picked him up early and they played for a while. Ethan's Uncle Teddy and our friend Julie joined us for dinner. We gave him this present- a new bib- it's a scorecard, food in mouth vs. food on floor. You can guess which one wins. He liked the cardboard it came on.
Then we gave Ethan his birthday cupcake at home (these are mini cupcakes, and he smushes way more than he eats) and he blew out his candle. I think he wished for a warm winter. After that, he opened more cards and presents that came in the mail.
Ethan got a great new toy from Uncle Teddy. Here he and Julie are playing with it.
Then Ethan was really tired, and when Uncle Teddy tried to play with him and the new toy, he just cried. But that's ok, we know Ethan will play with him next time, he just had a long busy day. I think I felt every minute of the last year, but somehow I can't believe it's already over. I just hope the next year includes more sleep :).

First Birthday Party

Ethan had a great first birthday party on Saturday, in large part due to his great-grandparents Granny and Gramps who agreed to host the festivities, and to his Great-Aunt Linda who came all the way from Florida to make him the most amazing cake any kid could wish for. He played with his grandparents and his cousin Jonathan helped him open presents, and Amber even let him slobber on her. He got to meet lots of his cousins and aunts and uncles. He and Lola played with a salamander, and he and Kobe (who was born the same day- happy birthday Kobe!) got to meet. There are TONS of pictures, so if you want to see more I will send you a link to the Web album. Ethan's great-grandmas Fay and Jean couldn't be there, but he went to see them both and had lots of fun with them. He had such a great party and enjoyed all his friends and family, and he and James and I thank everyone who was there, and we missed those who couldn't be.

Sleepy Baby

Sometimes when Ethan gets tired he's like this. Most of the time he isn't, but we prefer this way.

Cookie Monster!!

Ethan's Uncle Metzner (sorry Metz, I just can't do it...) brings me Italian cookies from the bakery near his apartment when he comes to visit. Ethan decided it was about time he got to try one, and I thought he ought to get to enjoy the finer things. Though I did not let him have a s'more.

Crazy Uncle Derek

Ethan had lots of fun with Crazy Uncle Derek on Labor Day and on Tuesday. He liked pulling on his scruff.