School Pictures

Ethan got his picture taken at daycare again. It's very handy because we don't have to take him anywhere. This time we got the CD with the digital images, which also gave us copyright so we can have more made if we want to. It was taken in April when he was 19 months plus a few weeks old.

Yesterday another kid bit him at daycare. He was playing with legos and I guess the other kid wanted the same lego so Ethan's shoulder paid the price. He's fine, but they had to call me to tell me. I am glad he isn't much of a biter. He will try to chew on my fingers because his teeth hurts, but knock on wood, he hasn't tried biting me when he was angry. Slapping yes, biting no. I'd rather deal with hitting if I have to have one or the other.

Today was hard for the little guy. We decided that this was the first weekend we had w/ out company or specific events so last night we put him to bed without the pacifiers. He's only had them at bedtime for a while now. After half an hour of screaming I caved and let him have them. Then today for naptime, we did not give it to him. He cried for a good 15-20 minutes, slept for about an hour (less than half what he normally does) cried for 15 minutes, slept another 20, then was clearly not going back to sleep. When we put him to bed he cried again for about 40 minutes before finally going to sleep. We'll see how he does tonight. I expect him to wake up crying once or twice.

We did take him to the playground where he had fun going down the slides and on the swing so he had some fun. The ice cream truck was there and I got him an ice cream sandwich but he wouldn't even try it. He was too busy.

More art

This one is my favorite- I love the way the eye meanders over the snout, and I also love the folded down ear.



The pattern of teeth is pretty good too.

Ethan came home with these and a lot more tonight. They had a farm week and a sea week. Unfortunately he was not there the day the travelling farm came.

Yesterday Ethan said a sentence. Actually, more than one. James dropped him off at daycare, he looked at him and waved and said "Bye, Daddy." Then when we were giving him a bath, James went out and came back and when he did Ethan said, "Hi, Daddy." Of course both of them involved Daddy.

Fuss Bucket Head

Ethan was sooooo cranky this morning. He was tired (that can happen when you wake at 6:20 despite refusing to sleep for the first hour you're in bed) and he wanted whatever he could not have. I told him he was a fuss bucket, turned around and saw his bucket, and decided he could be a fuss bucket head. He thought it was pretty funny, ran off into the kitchen and climbed on his cow. Somehow the bucket head made cow riding more fun. He must think he needs a helmet :)

Memorial Day

We hope you all enjoyed Memorial Day. We spent a good weekend seeing lots of friends. Saturday Ethan had a great time with Uncles Metzner, Jay, and Paulie and Miss Amy (with whom he flirted non-stop). On Sunday it rained cats and dogs in the afternoon, but in the morning we went to see Grandma Jean. He was a little trooper in the car, he did great and even took a nap when we got home. On Monday, JW, Carol, Ted, Jeff and Mandy came over. You can see what a great time Ethan had playing with them. Ted must have chased him around the house 15 times. Auntie Mandy brough Ethan bubbles. After she put them away, he would not stop saying "bubbles" every time he looked at her. Uncle Jeff told him to take it easy when he was walking over stones in the back. After that, every time he would step over the stones he said "easy." Today he was up bright and early despite all that action.

Fun Playtime

Ethan had a cranky, rough morning. His poor mouth still hurts. These teeth just will not come in. But after his nap, we went to his little friend's house for a parents group meeting. She has a lovely home with a big yard and there were two little wading pools for the kids to play in. The water was cold so they mostly just dipped things in and dumped them out. They also played on her slide and swings. Ethan had a great time. I didn't post pictures of the other kids because I didn't ask permission from their parents. Then we came home for dinner. I put Ethan in his high chair so I could finish getting it ready, and I looked over at him and he had his foot, sock and all, bent up over the rail and shoved in his mouth. As soon as I got the camera he stopped. He wanted to play with the camera. I haven't seen him do that in ages, but it sure demonstrates how much his teeth hurt if he's chewing on his own foot. He won't chew on teething toys, though he does sometimes try to use my fingers.

Cookies

Today when we were trying to make dinner, Ethan helped me crush some ritz crackers to make a breading. He then went in another cupboard and got out the end of a box of thin mints. They've been there a while, and probably should have been thrown away, I just didn't get to it. So when he started playing with them, I thought maybe he was going to think they were like the crackers and crush them. As you can see he didn't. He played a while, tasted, and then came to sit on my lap to see if he could see the "baby" in the camera. Then he decided to put a giant finger print on it. Sometimes I know I should stop him, or take things away, but if he can't hurt himself with it I'm too curious about what he's going to do.

More Lilacs

I had to take one last picture of Ethan smelling the lilacs before they turn brown. He's really into smelling things right now. Next year I won't be able to
get himto do it. He's responsible for the line breaks there. He also has a book called Shiny Touchy Smelly or something like that and it has scratch and sniff things in it. So he picks up the book and brings it to one of us and says, "nose" over and over. ol3c@q

Dandelions

After Ethan's nap, we took a ride to the Southbury green where there is a nice walking sidewalk. We did enough laps to make a mile, then we came home to play outside. Ethan discovered the joys of dandelions. I think the pictures tell the rest of the story.

At the Park

Today we're finally having some nice spring weather. It's warm and sunny and the sky is blue. It was a perfect day for the morning play group in the park. First we got our grocery shopping done. Ethan had to say good morning to all his friends at Southbury Foods. He's a celebrity there. (Apparently the same is true of most of his playgroup friends). Then we ran home and unloaded the frozen stuff while Ethan waited patiently (kind of) in his seat, and then we were off to the park. You can decide for yourself if you think Ethan had fun. I should have taken a picture of the slide he went down. I was very nervous. He kept going down the little ones, which was fine, and then he saw the other kids (most of them are at least a few months older than him) going down the big tunnel style slide, and he wanted to. He went down it five or six times, and he did great, giggled the whole way down it. Then the last time, he tipped the wrong way and his leg went up sideways. Fortunately he didn't get hurt, but it scared him a little. Then we came home for lunch and a nap. We may go out walking later, it's too nice of a day to waste. If only I could figure out how to garden with him- I don't really want him playing in the foxglove or rose thorns.

Trains

Ethan likes trains. In theory anyway. He has a train book that he loves. He went on the train at Quassy and wasn't so fond of it. But today while we were out and about we got him this fun train that has blocks that stack up and down. He had fun pushing it around and stacking it. James was home from Colorado Sat. when he woke up, so Ethan was very happy. We had a busy week while he was gone. On Thurs. I had a meeting in the afternoon so Ethan played with Nonna Barbacci and then when I got home, Julie met us so that we could all go to the Leonard Cohen concert. Ethan visited with Auntie Mandy then. He had a great time with them all. The concert was SOOOOOOO good. I can't believe that he's 74. He ran on and off the stage like it was nothing, he played for THREE hours. So good. And the theater was so cool. I hadn't been there before. Luckily we didn't have a busy weekend. I managed to get some gardening done on Sat. before the cold came in. James mowed today.

Soup is Good Food

Tonight I was lazy. Ethan was up at least four times last night. He started off at 12:55 just shrieking for no apparent reason. He is still teething, but I think he might have also had a bad dream. He screamed more every time I tried to leave the room. I finally just left and let him cry for a few minutes. Then he did it again at 2 and 2:30 and on it went. He was so tired this morning. He was worse when I picked him up. So he was in no mood to let me cook dinner, and frankly I was in no mood to do it. So I opened the cupboard and there it was- Campbell's Tomato. So I said, "Ethan, do you want tomato soup?" and he said "YES!" So that's what we had, with a nice grilled cheese on challah bread. You can see he enjoyed it, especially after he managed to get my spoon. You should have seen his poor overalls. After he went in the tub they went in the washer. He was a gigantic mess, but he actually managed to eat a decent amount and even ask for seconds. Oh, and the picture in the top middle, he was pointing at the camera and saying "baby" because he wanted me to show him his picture on the screen.

Happy Mother's Day to Me

Ethan made these for me at school. If you can't tell, the flowers on the tote bag are his handprints. I like the inside of the card best.

Ice Cream

There is an ice cream stand on the way to Quassy. We had to stop. And this time, I didn't forget the camera. If you're wondering what Ethan was staring at, there was a slightly older little girl who he couldn't keep his eyes off. Uh-oh.

Quassy

There is a small amusement park just a few minutes up the road, so today we went to check it out. It was finally sunny, so despite the wind we went to see how Ethan would like rides. There was a small train that went around a little track. He was ok, but not thrilled by that. I don't think it helped that the wind made it cold. Then we rode the carousel. He was ok with that, but again not overwhelmed. What he liked most was watching other people ride the rides. He and James also did a great job hamming it up with the photo ops. We didn't stay very long because it was cold, but we might go back when it warms up to try again.

Happy Mother's Day

Ethan would like to wish all the mothers happy Mother's Day. He stopped for a moment to smell the lilacs and thought Grandma and Pa would appreciate him taking a whiff for them. We cut a bunch to bring inside and they smell so good. The trees are finally starting to produce a fair number of flowers. I think I need to plant at least two more, we'll see what they have at the White Flower Farm sale this year.

Good Consumer

Yep, that's my baby. Reading the Consumer Reports article about toilet paper. Maybe he's trying to tell me he's ready for some training. I'm not.

Weather continues to be lousy so we're stuck inside. We visited the library again to return Ethan's haul from the last trip. He played there for a while. We also did some baking. Tomorrow is Provider Appreciation Day for child care providers, so we made coffee cake for Ethan's teachers and we made some chocolate chip mini muffins for his class.

It's nap time now, so I'm off to fold laundry and prep dinner.

Caught!

Yes, you've seen this before. It's that cupboard that Ethan thinks is his toy box. What I should show you is the other half of my kitchen floor, which has turned into my worst nightmare- toys everywhere. I went to put something on the desk, and when I returned, Ethan was laying on his belly holding this package of juice in his hands and admiring the Bert and Ernie on the label. By the time I got the camera he scrambled up on his feet. But you still get the idea. He knows that he is not supposed to be in there.

We had a busy day. Ethan slept late, and he was pretty tired all day. I think it's the teeth again. He didn't wake up until around 7:45. He had some breakfast and did a few crayon projects while I cleaned up the kitchen and started working on dinner. We (and by "we" I mean James and I, Ethan refused to try it) had a tortilla pie. It was actually pretty good. But anyway we started chopping in the morning. Then when Ethan was ready we went out. We went to the Job Lot to get a few cards and mailing envelopes. Then we got gas and groceries, and on home to have tomato soup and a roll for lunch. After nap time, we went to the other store where we get meat and deli stuff, and a few other errands. We got home in just enough time to try to make Mexican Cinnamon Brownies (I'm sure they were not authentic Mexican cuisine given that it was a Pilsbury Bakeoff recipe) before we had to put the tortilla pie in the oven. The crust was made of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which Ethan helped me smash with a potato masher. He enjoyed that.

After dinner, which for Ethan consisted primarily of bread and butter, and a bath, he finally went to bed. I was ironing my clothes and heard "Mama!" followed by crying. I assumed he lost a pacifier. I went in, looked for it, and he started giggling. Then I realized it was in his hand. I have a little comedian on my hands.

Visiting

Yesterday we went to see Granny and Gramps now that they are back north. Tom and the kids met us there. Ethan had a great time. The weather wasn't fantastic but he was able to get out and play with his cousins. He even rode in Gramps little buggy. Jonathan tried to teach him a few soccer moves and Amber helped him with his sign language. He even gave Gramps a goodbye hug and let Granny hold him. Pretty good since he was cranky from taking only a short nap. He also saw Uncle Bill for a minute since he was there cutting wood. Hope he had some bug spray with him because we were only there a minute in the woods and thought we were being eaten alive. We had a good time and of course you know Granny had lots of good vittles for us.