Bath Time

I hadn't taken any bath pictures for a while. As you can see, Ethan still enjoys his bath time. Right before he gets in the tub he tells us "I sit in the bubbles!" He loves it when James squirts his bath squirt toys. He also thinks it is quite hysterical when he washes James's hair. Yesterday we went shoe shopping for Ethan but that had pretty much nothing in his size. James took him outside sledding again, good thing because today the snow is almost gone. He was so funny, almost the entire time James was pulling him he was giggling. He fell out a few times but just kept right on with the giggles. I went for a few runs down the back slope with him before deciding it was too cold for me. We came in and had hot cocoa (which is about the only way to get him inside).

Don't Ever...

Sometimes I tell Ethan not to ever do something. For example, "Don't ever hit your mommy," or "Don't ever try to climb onto the table by using the lego box as a stool." He's started using the phrase himself. In the grocery store today, he started out "Mommy, don't EVER" and I said "Don't ever what?" and he said "make soup!" (He later wanted soup for lunch). Tonight, while attempting to go to sleep, he's in his crib yelling "Stop that! Don't ever eat my sandwich!" I'm not sure who he thought was eating his sandwich, but it's quite comical sometimes listening to him babble before sleep.

Sketti

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Ethan was so funny when we were making the "sketti" sauce. I was tearing up some basil to throw in and of course he started helping me. He smelled it, then had his "friends" (aka stuffed and/or plastic characters) smell it too. He really looked like he wanted to try it, so I let him have a piece thinking he'd probably spit it out. Instead he said, "Ummm! That's delicious Mommy!" Notice that he even uses a napkin.

Earlier in the day we were playing in the basement. We have some giant cardboard sheets left over from the play kitchen I have yet to finish. A few days ago I made him a "fort" with the cardboard. Today he grabbed one of the sheets from the side, laid it on the floor, and sat his stuffed animals on it. I couldn't think of what he was doing, and finally he sat down behind them and said "Wanna go sledding guys" (everybody in groups- stuffed, plastic, human or other- is either "guys" or "friends"). He was taking his pals sleigh riding on the cardboard. Then he invited me to come too, so we sailed down imaginary hills and around corners until we toppled off the sled.

Those were the highlights. The rest were the whines. Even before he asks and gets a "no" we are now hearing whines. I am told this is the age. I have to hope- I am not tolerant of whining and wow can it wear on ones nerves.

Signs of Spring?

Well the days are getting longer and the sun seems to be a little warmer. Ethan and James headed outside this afternoon and after a while I decided that I would go out and see what they were up to. It actually wasn't too bad out. When I got there, Ethan was filling the watering can with the hose (not hooked to the faucet) and watering the "plants" (consisting of pots of dirt with dead plants I hadn't gotten cleaned out). I sent James to my trunk to find the sled thinking we could pull him around the yard. That was a big hit. He had one spill, as you can see in the bottom left, but thought it was pretty funny. After that I got in with him for the downhill part, and James pulled us around for a while. We went back up the hill to the front of the house (with Ethan in the sled, I got out so James could actually pull it) and then Ethan pulled it around himself for a little while. You can see him telling us "bye" in the top left picture. He was only talked into coming inside by the promise of hot cocoa with marshmallows. He likes whipped cream too, but seems upset that it disappears in his cocoa- he wants it on his spoon instead. No matter, both are good. And, as he said, our homemade cocoa was "delicious!"

Oh, James changed the camera batteries even though the warning never came on, and things seem to be working again. Too bad I didn't try that yesterday.

Visiting

Yesterday Ethan was very excited that he got a visit from Uncle Tom and his cousins. Unfortunately the camera was flaking out on me and I didn't get any good pictures, except for a few fun mental ones. This is the only one that was even usable, Ethan and Uncle Tom decided to draw some pictures with the aquadoodle. Uncle Tom managed to get Ethan to draw himself, which is no easy feat. He usually sits there saying "draw a cow" or "draw a horse" or demanding any number of artistic works from less than skilled people. Uncle Tom managed to get Ethan to draw a very abstract cow. We also played in the living room for a while, and when I told Ethan to get Uncle Tom with his dragon, a little push toy you've seen here before, he misunderstood. Instead of pushing it towards his feet, he picked it up and with all his might slammed it down. Fortunately Tom figured out what he was doing and moved his foot. I think my hardwood has a dent in it. The problem is none of us could control our laughter because it was so surprising, which totally encouraged him to try it again. We finally managed to get him to stop, and he decided to play King of the Mountain on the couch. Tom's friend Heather came too and Ethan kept trying to push her off the couch and take her spot. He wrestled some with Jonathan and Uncle Tom too. Jonathan nearly took Ethan's eye out with a toy that we got him, but that's ok- no harm no foul right? We made some pizza, ate some cookies, and had a great time.

Snowbound

I have some great pictures for you but they are currently held hostage on the camera awaiting resolution of new/old computer issues. Today was the opposite of last Wed, we had heard of predicted sleet/freezing rain overnight ending by the am. We weren't that surprised to wake up to a few inches of snow. It didn't stop though, it kept snowing all day. We probably got 5 or 6 inches. It seems to have slowed if not stopped altogether by now, I hope it's done since James cleared the driveway.

Ethan and I hunkered down for a day in the house. We played for a while and made paper collages, read some books, and had just cleaned up the toys when the power went kerplunk. It didn't come right back on so we knew we were in for it. I called CL&P and got an estimate of 2 hours- our experience is that means 12 hours so I was nervous. I could have taken him out, but knew he had to nap soon and it was lunchtime. I didn't want to drive in the mess really. So I just hoped they weren't way off in their estimate and figured it would stay relatively warm in the basement and w/ blankets he'd be ok till the end of naptime. We went upstairs and collected supplies for a picnic. We grabbed some hummus, the homemade bread we baked the night before, some cheese, some cold noodle salad that was in the fridge, a yogurt for Ethan and some strawberries for dessert. We got a tablecloth to lay on the floor and found some fancy paper plates and some leftover valentine napkins. We sat down with Pumpkin Patch and Snoopy, who each got their own plate and napkin, and dug in to our feast. After polishing off the main course, we took the top off the strawberries, which somehow I had managed to throw in a tupperware without Ethan figuring out what they were. He was ecstatic. I usually cut them for him, and I didn't this time- I wanted to minimize mess and I was right there with him, so I thought he'd be fine. His expressions eating the first one were so hysterical that I had to go get the camera before he could have another. He really enjoyed them. We were just cleaning up and I was preparing myself to set up the pack and play for him when the power came back on- how lucky was that? So he got to nap upstairs and I got to have my cup of tea.

After nap and snack we decorated some wooden cutout shapes I had around. We made forts out of old curtains, read some more books, colored with markers and then made dinner. Ethan had Monday off so he hasn't been to school since Friday. He says he had a very nice "bacation."

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ok so we're a day late getting it here but this picture is from yesterday. As you can see, Ethan got a few cards. He hopes you all had a good Valentine's day, he says he did. He got a few special treats including a few new books, a mini bag of mini m&ms and some new stickers. He woke up Sat. not feeling so hot, he had a fever and another cold. Fever is gone but he's still coughing and sniffling. He is in good spirits anyway.

Valentine's Day Party

Ethan had his party at school today. He had cupcakes and cookies and pink milk. He said the cupcakes were chocolate. He brought home a bag full of Valentines- they included a ring pop, sweet tarts, and gummy snacks. While I appreciate the generosity of these people, I don't understand what would compel anyone to give a two year old a lollipop? All of these things were specifically pointed out by my pediatrician as choking hazards. I am paranoid for sure, but I think I appreciated the construction paper hearts a little more than the candy.... Anyway Ethan said he had a great time. He dressed up for the occasion- the little red vest Andrew gave him last year still fits, so he got all spruced up for the party.

"Look at this, Patch!"

This morning Ethan picked up Patch, announced "Patch want to sit on my lap" then he climbed up on James's chair and asked to read a book. I gave him one, which he proceeded to read to Patch. We had a busy day. We baked a loaf of bread, decorated the cookies for Ethan's Valentine's Day party, made Valentines for his teachers, baked biscotti for them, mailed a package and ran another errand. We even found some time to play with a sticker book. When we made the icing for the cookies, Ethan clanged his beater against mine (of course we had to lick them) and said "Cheers, Mommy!" and I said, "What did you say?" thinking I heard wrong. I asked who taught him that and he said "Auntie Mandy." I hope it was with beaters and not shots ;)

Wheels on the Bus

We found a little time for piano practice too. Enjoy.

Cap-ey-air-o!

We all had fun at the superbowl party in NJ though it was a late night and Ethan woke up for the entire car ride home. I'm not sure he has caught up on his sleep yet. He enjoyed playing with everyone, especially Uncle Derek, though he has really picked up on James and I shaking our heads and saying "Capellaro" to the point that he calls him that, and usually in that same tone. They had a fun pillow fight. He even got to see Paulie, who he spent about two weeks looking for after the last time he was here- I guess Paulie makes quite the impression. Poor Ethan didn't get to see much of the game, or the Saints win, but he did cheer for them some saying "Go Saints!" at appropriate times. How perfect for the parade to fall on Mardi Gras. Today we ran a lot of errands thinking we may be stuck at home tomorrow though it's supposed to be a work/school day, these storms just love to come when I'm supposed to be working. We do have plenty of Valentines to make for the school party, and sugar cookies too, so that should keep us busy.

Haircut!

Ethan and I started the day by getting haircuts. We both needed it. He moved around a lot because there were other kids there today to look at. He did pretty good but I think the front isn't exactly even, we might have to do a little touch up. Here he's playing his favorite game which you'll see more of in the video we are trying to upload. Tomorrow is Ethan's first superbowl party that he'll be awake for (part of anyway) and we've decided that since we love NOLA (he tells me he wants to go back, and his favorite CD is New Orleans Playground after all) we'll be cheering for the Saints. Too bad they don't make baby clothes in gold and black!

Favorite Game

Ethan loves to play this game. He closes the door on one of us then waits for us to come find him. He thinks it's hysterical, as you will see. When you open the door and find him, he often says "I closed you!" and laughs some more.

A Good Day

Sorry I fell down on the job of getting a picture, I meant to take one this evening but we were rushed again and didn't have time for that. This morning we went to a playgroup friend's house for a while. Ethan and his little friend had a grand time playing around each other, and even interacted a few times. They had a few altercations over whose toy was whose, but overall they did pretty well. Ethan had a great time with his kitchen. Then we went shopping, and Ethan sat in the cart without any argument, got his customary piece of cheese at the deli, and was pretty darned good the whole way around the store. Our normal checkout lady hasn't been there the past few weeks and we just found out she fell on the ice and broke her wrist. We had to go to our backup lady, but she entertains Ethan too. After that, we came home and mixed up a batch of rye bread dough, put that in the fridge and made lunch. This afternoon after nap we started with a pudding snack, a rare treat, and then we baked the bread and washed up some veggies to roast with our chicken. We got it all in the oven before heading downstairs to play with toys. This afternoon the toy of choice was the empty cardboard box Ethan wrapped at Christmas, which of course has since been unwrapped. He could close it himself but it was hard to open, it has a long flap that fits tightly inside the box. So I would open it, give it to him, he would put something in or take it out, and then close it and start over. This went on for quite a while. I'm glad he's sometimes easily entertained. We headed upstairs to read our library books while our chicken rested out of the oven, then we had a nice dinner and dessert (yogurt and raspberries) and James came home just in time for bath and bed. Ethan hasn't gone to sleep yet, he's counting to himself.