Happy Halloween!

This has been a big week for our family as I went back to work part-time down at the jewelry store! As I mentioned before, I feel very lucky to have two babysitters, Shelby and Olivia, who will be watching Ethan throughout the week. Monday was my first "long" day at work and everyone did great. I was a little anxious the night before, but for no reason other than it being a change in our normal routine. I wouldn't be going back to work for two months if I didn't feel ready, if it wasn't going to benefit both Ethan and I, and if it wasn't family! It's a win-win situation for everyone. Shelby was so sweet on Monday and sent me the greatest update saying Ethan had finished his morning bottle, took a two hour nap, had a great lunch, and was such a happy boy playing...it made me feel sooo wonderful! Obviously Ethan is a very easy-going baby, but I'm so glad he can adapt to a new face and I know he will have so much fun with the girls. I'll be working Monday-Saturday with Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays being half days so I'll still have my normal morning with Ethan.

I said I wasn't going to dress Ethan up for Halloween because I thought he was too young. Plus, with him not being in daycare or us having any parties to go to, I thought there was no point. But, I caved and bought a $7 costume and figured I can justify spending $7 for a couple cute pictures =) Ethan makes anything look cute, but honestly...he just melts my heart!!

I can barely believe it's November tomorrow! We've got a busy weekend ahead of us - I'll be working Saturday so Eric and Ethan will have some daddy/son time and then I should be home in enough time to watch the IU game Saturday afternoon. Then we will head to Indy on Sunday for our nephew, Jayden's, 2nd birthday party!! We can't wait to spoil that little guy with hugs and kisses - he will absolutely love all the attention on his big day!

Tired Duck!! =)

14 Months Old!

Hi Family and Friends!

I'm 14 months old! Mommy said she wasn't going to continue our monthly updates after I turned one, but I'm changing so much and want to tell you what I'm doing now!

• My favorite game right now is "Where's Ethan?" I like to go hide behind a door or just inside another room and wait for someone to say "Where's Ethan?" Then I crawl out with a big smile on my face and do it all over again!
• I like to be in the bathroom when mommy is getting ready. My favorite part is opening the drawers and pulling stuff out - especially the hairbrushes. I like the sound the hairbrush makes when I fling it across the floor!
• I've always been a very observant boy. I like to examine things to see how they are put together, how they feel, and how they work. I seem to always be attracted to the screws that hold toys together or the screws in my crib. I also notice door hinges and how they make the door open and close.

• I can shut doors now. I have also discovered that there are cracks underneath closed doors and sometimes I lay on my belly to see if I can look through the crack!
• Want to know something cute? If I hear the words "music" or "dance," I shake my little tush and get so happy!
• I still take two naps a day and sleep 12-12 1/2 hours a night!
• One of my favorite parts of the day is in the morning when mommy and I "read" books. After I have my morning bottle, we sit on the couch and I flip through the pages of my favorite books. Most of them are picture books so I like to point to the duck, a flower, the kitty, a cow, and the dog. I also like to crawl into my room and pull out every book in my basket. Books are fun.

• I can give high fives.
• I love the remote control. Mostly because it has so many BUTTONS! I've always loved buttons on clothes, but these buttons are so smooth and I like to press them.

 

• I am such a fast crawler! Anytime I see Max, I squeal and just take off after him. I can still cruise along the furniture and have learned to go from object to object (i.e, the couch to the table, from my scooter to the couch, etc.). I also like to walk behind my scooter.
• My latest cute trick is throwing a toy off the table or highchair and then putting my hands up like, "where did it go"?

Pointing to the duck.

It's not "official" yet, but guess what? I've got 2-3 teeth popping through on the TOP ROW!! Most babies have their teeth come through on the bottom first, but I wanted to be different. We've been waiting so long for teeth to finally come and now they've decided to come in pairs! I hope it doesn't hurt when they finally cut through my gums =/ Ouch!

I'm still the happiest boy on the block and love spending time with my family. I hope you'll keep checking my blog to keep up on my happenings and how cute I am!

I'm cute even when I cry! =)

Family Slumber Party!!

What a FUN weekend it's been!! Daddy was out of town in St. Louis so Ethan and I spent the entire weekend out at Papaw and Ginka's house! It's always nostalgic spending the night there since that was our home for the first four months of Ethan's life. Every time I go in the basement it really does bring back memories of those first couple months...introducing him to his room for the first time, the baby snuggles on the couch, the late night pacing in the hallways trying to get him to sleep, oh my...the pacing in the hallways...haha! One of my more "vivid" memories - feeling like I was the only human awake at that hour praying he would just.fall.asleep. The joys of being a new mommy =)

It was an extra special weekend because Great Aunt Terri and Great Uncle John were visiting from Colorado. They just love baby Ethan - they first met him when he was a couple weeks old and such a teeny, tiny baby. Aunt Terri has special memories trying to soothe him, singing lullabys to him, holding him so I could shower, etc. I love reflecting back on those early times because look how far we've come! They are amazed how much Ethan has grown and what a happy boy he is!

One major change to update everyone on is I am officially the newest employee at Williams Jewelry!! Mark needed some help for about two months and I was so happy he asked if I could work!  I found two babysitters to watch Ethan during the week (more on that soon!) and my first day of work was this past Saturday! It was so much fun! Ginka and Aunt Terri watched Ethan and had an absolute ball. Terri laughed at the 'schedule' I left because she said Ethan was right on cue - I said nap time was around 2:15 and sure enough at 2:10 he started rubbing his eyes! He is like clock work! Today, Daddy got home from St. Louis and made it over to the house in time to wake Ethan up from his nap. Yea! My heart just melts because I know Ethan is SO excited to see his Daddy...he just buried his head in his shoulders when he woke up =) Then, Uncle Dave, Aunt Arynn, and cousin Hutch came to visit!! We were soooo excited to see baby Hutch and how much he has changed!! He definitely got passed around so everyone could get baby snuggles in! It was a fun afternoon of family, chili, pumpkin pie, and football!

 

 

 

I must admit I love hearing people compliment Ethan on what a good baby he is. He really and truly is a happy, low-key, relaxed baby and I absolutely love that. Since I'm with him every day, I probably don't 'appreciate' all the changes like I should. When I'm around other people that notice how much he's changed since last time they saw him, it brings me a lot of joy. He is doing so well. He is learning, he follows simple instructions, he babbles, he plays peek-a-boo, he waves hi and bye to anything, he's charming, he blows kisses, he sleeps, he eats, he crawls really fast, he loves animals, he loves his family, HE IS WONDERFUL!! =) It feels amazing to be this proud of Ethan and he's only 14 months old!

This will be my last week with Ethan before I go to work part-time. I tentatively have scheduled about 25-30 hours a week at the store. I've been volunteering as the General Advisor for my old sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, for about a month now. When working at the store came up, I immediately knew I had some built-in babysitters and asked a couple girls if they would be interested. I found two girls that I'm really excited about...Shelby will be watching Ethan M/W/F and Olivia will watch him T/TR. Both these girls have a lot of babysitting experience and I feel very fortunate I found them. It's going to be a win/win for everyone...the girls will be able to play with Ethan and do homework while he naps, Ethan will have some new play buddies who will give them 100% of their attention, and I will be able to work part-time and help out the family!

It was such a great weekend and I'm so happy we were able to share it with our family. Keep an eye out this week for Ethan's 14-month update! =)

More Changes!

 

What a week it's been! Our little man is learning and growing and changing by the minute! I believe in the last post we mentioned he was walking behind his musical scooter. Up until this week, we had to basically put him in the standing position behind the walker because he couldn't pull up without the scooter taking off in front of him. Tuesday night, he crawls over to the scooter and just pops right up...no big deal! Now he's literally doing laps around the house - back and forth, back and forth until he runs into the wall or the furniture. Then we go and turn the scooter in another direction and he's off! He is so, so proud of himself!! It's such a joy watching him!


Wednesday was a BIG deal in our household. One, it was Eric's birthday so him and I went out to dinner while Ginka watched Ethan. After we got home, I took Ethan back to finish his bottle before bed and for the FIRST TIME EVER, he grabbed the bottle and started feeding himself! I realize this isn't a big deal to anyone but us, but we've been waiting for this day for a loooooooong time! He doesn't seem to impressed by it because he's only done it twice since, but it's still worth noting =)



Happy 31st Birthday!

 Ethan's babbling has definitely picked up. He seems to really enjoying babbling while walking behind his scooter. And he loves to talk to Max! Ethan LIGHTS up whenever he sees Max and is constantly chasing him around, petting him, or trying to entice him with a toy. Ethan lets out quite a squeal whenever he gets really excited about Max - that kitty is definitely one thing always guaranteed to make him smile!

 

 

 Looking forward to a great weekend at home cheering on the Hoosiers!

 

 

 

 

On The Move!

People tell us all the time that things can change overnight and boy is that true!! To think in one month Ethan has gone from crawling for the first time to now standing and cruising along furniture is just so cool! He LOVES his new found ability to get around the house. It's so fun to see him master a new skill. Crawling is obviously his transportation mode of choice and he is getting so fast! It's really cute when he crawls with an object in one of his hands because he looks like a drunken little sailor all off-balance! He gets really animated whenever he sees Max and tries to crawl as fast as possible to chase him down.

Last week, Ethan woke up from his afternoon nap and decided he wanted to pull up to a stand! Just like that! It's so cool how quickly he changes! Now he pulls up on almost everything, but hasn't quite figured out how to sit down. He usually stands for awhile and then starts to whine because he can't figure out how to get down! This week, he was standing holding on to the couch and all of a sudden started walking back and forth cruising along! We are excited to see his next skill of moving from the couch to the table by cruising.

Caught red-handed!

I want strawberries!

Fun fact of the day: Ethan LOVES the vacuum. He literally chases it around while I'm vacuuming each room. There are times where I actually have to tell him to move because he's so close to it! He's fascinated!