Update

This is what happened while I was blogging last night. He stayed up another 1/2 hour or so after this - not going to bed until 9:30 or so.. over an hour past his bedtime.

Tonight, a lone bottle was thrown over the gate, after which he closed his door again, and eventually made it back into bed.. I think we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel..

Big Boy Bed

So, we decided that since Ethan has been sleeping through the night, going down without his bottle, etc, that we'd convert his crib to a bed.. He had a lot of fun helping us....

And pretending to sleep in the bed...

But this is what we've been getting most of lately..

You'll notice the bed in the background... Things have been improving, though.. Last night he only woke up twice and went right back down as soon as we gave him a bottle - I know, it's a bad crutch, but we're exhausted... He even stayed in bed the second time!

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Ethan also took some time off to read with Daddy...

There's no one in the world quite as cool as Dad.. I'll post about that later...

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And now check out these beauties that I captured the other day...

Well - that's all I have time for now, but I'll be back again soon with more stories, pictures and general funness... :D

Opens, Closes, Kisses, Noses, High Fives & Toeses

This summer, Ethan has just been learning by leaps and bounds! It's seriously so amazing to us that he is actually turning into a human being with thoughts and ideas, and is learning to express them.. AND.. He understands what we're saying, and will respond appropriately - for the most part.. Here are just some of the highlights...

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While we were in Phoenix in May, we really saw how well he understood "open" and "close" because he loved helping out in the kitchen with all those cupboards on his level - something we don't have at home.. But every time we'd say "close" he'd do it.. He's particularly helpful with the fridge in this respect, so when he's not too busy rearranging our condiments, or adding the tv remote to the mix, he's generally pretty good about doing what we ask..

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The little bug has learned to give kisses, and boy, what a treat that is! It usually consists of you asking, "Can I have a kiss?" followed by a big, open-mouthed-tongue-out slobber fest, complete the the accompanying sound, "Nuh." Because that's what kisses sound like, of course.. :D He will also give hugs - "Can I have a hug?" at which point he will nuzzle his head up to whatever part of your body is closest.. As well as blowing kisses and waving "bye bye" whenever the words are said or someone approaches the door.

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He knows what his nose is, and will show you when asked.. Although sometimes he confuses nose with mouth, but we're working on that... On extra special days, he will also show you YOUR nose, too!

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Alec is a very proud father, and taught him how to give not just low fives, but high fives, as well.. He has also mastered the Indian chant - with Alec's eager encouragement.. You know, when you put your hand up to your mouth repeatedly while making strange noises.. {wow - who knew that was so hard to explain!?}

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This kid LOVES shoes! He has taken to bringing you his shoes and then lifting his feet to show you he wants to wear them... So, of course we oblige. We're not really sure why this happened.. Maybe because in Phoenix the only time he really wore his shoes is when he went outside.. Who knows, but it sure is cute.. Especially when your kid's sporting the white trash look and wearing nothing but a diaper.. although can it really be white trash if it's a cloth diaper? {Consequently, he has also learned what his toes are.} AND.. if you ask if him to "Go find your shoes," he will. That's SO much better than the 20 wasted minutes looking for them ourselves every time we're trying to leave the house!

{click for a larger image}

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In other achievements, he is learning to color and doing quite well.. Really, he likes to eat the crayons more than color with them, but we're working on that.. Here's one of his recent masterpieces..

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While my parents were here over Memorial Day, they taught him to put coins into a piggy bank. Now it's one of his favorite games to play, and such a life saver when you're trying to do something and need to occupy his little hands for just a moment...

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He has also decided that since he is a big boy, he doesn't need to sit in a highchair. So, we have taken to having him join us at the table in a real chair, and he will usually climb right up when he sees us starting to get food ready.. Oh, so cute! :D He's also really good at getting the fork to his mouth with the food on it, but actually stabbing the food in the first place is still a little tricky.. AND.. if you say "Put it in your mouth" in an attempt to stop him from throwing it on the floor - one of his favorite pastimes - he will.. That came as a complete surprise to me one night when I just said it out of habit, and he did it! Wahoo!! :D

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He loves to use straws, although we're not willing to make the mess of letting him use an open cup yet. But, on the occasion that we have something like a Capri Sun or boxed juice lying around, he gobbles those right up..

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Oh! I guess this one is a big one for most people, but it kind of just happened on it's own without much doing on our part.. Ethan is potty trained! JUST KIDDING!! :D But.. he has been binky-free since early February. Right at the time he had his ear infection, he just didn't want anything to do with it, so we didn't force him to take it.. Then after that, he wasn't too interested either, so that was super easy! And we were hoping to get rid of it by the time he was about 1 anyway, so that worked out perfectly.. :D

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Well.. I guess that's it for now.. but seriously, give it a week, and this list would double! We are so blessed to have such a smart and happy baby! :D We love you little bug!! :D

oh what a week....

So.. it started out with BOTH Alec & I giving talks on Sunday, then went downhill from there..

My Week:
It was all fine and dandy until Monday evening, when I started getting that premature swelling of your throat glands - whatever the real name for them is, I don't know - that starts right before you get sick... Well, I haven't really been sick since my kidney infection when E was 3 weeks old, so I just ignored it.. Come Tuesday afternoon, though, I was rendered incapable of speaking.. FUN..

Finally sometime on Thursday, Alec convinced me to go see a doctor - despite the fact that we don't have insurance.. I ended up just going to a clinic inside a Walgreen's and was perfectly happy with the service I got there, except that they didn't give me any pain killers and didn't want to prescribe any antibiotics until they got more tests back sometime Monday.. Ugh! They diagnosed me with Acute Pharyngitis {an inflammation of the throat or pharynx} and gave me some crazy sort of throat coating that was supposed to numb the pain, but instead it made my throat burst into painful flames of ugliness. YAY! They did, however, tell me if the pain got worse, I should just go to the ER.. So.. about 6:00 Friday night, that's what we do..

Some of you may recall the end of my senior year in high school when I had what was basically canker sores covering the entire inside of my mouth and throat.. Well.. welcome to round two. I realized this is what was happening, and had my sweet mother do some research into what they prescribed for me back then.. But.. once again, without waiting for more tests to confirm that it was, in fact, bacterial and not viral, they didn't want to give me any sort of antibiotics - like those contained in the syrup that became my life blood back in May of '02. They diagnosed me with Stomatitis {a viral infection of the tongue and lining of the mouth that causes small painful ulcers on the tongue, mouth and tonsils.} This time, though, they sent me home with some REAL pain killers - 800mg of Ibuprofen every 8 hours ain't got nothin' on 500mg of Vicodin every 3-4 hours! - as well as some steroids to help with the inflammation..

Things are going much better - I'm actually eating and drinking and can occasionally do a little speaking - which Alec is very thankful for.. They say this takes about 7-10 days to clear, and that it will get worse before it gets better, so I guess I have that to look forward to....

Alec's Week:
This is much more fuzzy as to the details, because the days all just run together, really, but I'll do my best.. Basically, he was at the school working on this radio show for about 20 hours straight at least twice this week.. I know for sure there were 2 days he didn't come home until about 9 in the morning, one of which was Wednesday - when he so graciously offered to stay up with Ethan while I went to the clinic.. During which time, he dozed for a minute on the couch, and E got ahold of his glasses and broke them.. Or so we thought.. Unfortunately, me poor sweet husband can't see more than 3 inches in front of his face without his glasses, so by the time he found them they were completely bent out of shape.. Luckily, he was able to bend them back..

On Thursday - after staying up all night AGAIN - he had a listening party with the cast of the radio show, and did the unthinkable - which I will always owe him for - and took Ethan with him so I could get some sleep.. Then, come to find out sometime on Friday, the marketing people for the show want to push the release date back to the 31st instead of the 15th.. so much for all that lost sleep...

He's been doing all the night time feedings, and dealing with the bulk of Ethan's needs, which has been so great.. Although I will say, as much as I love him, he's not quite cut out to be a mom.. ;) He does really great at the fun/play time things, but the mundane daily tasks are a bit out of his comfort zone... I can't even begin to think of how many meals' worth of food were left on the table and floor before I cleaned it off today, and the sink is completely overflowing with dishes.. But, E is still alive, and that's all that matters.. :D

Ethan has been taking it all like a champ.. He was really great the first day of my ickyness, but after so many days with little to no attention, he's really been struggling.. Luckily, things are looking up, and he seems to be a much happier baby.. :)

Well.. sorry that was so long.. I promise to post something more cheerful - and with more pictures - tomorrow.. So you have that to look forward to.. :D

Busier & Busier

Well, things around here have really geared up for the summer. Ethan and I have play dates at least once a week with some other kids from the ward, and Alec just closed Shakespeare in the park after a three week run.. Here's a quick re-cap of the last couple weeks of our lives:

Tuesday, June 23rd
We went to the zoo. We were idiots, though, and didn't think to look at the weather for the day. It turns out the heat index was something like 112, so it was definitely an experience. Ethan cooperated really well - taking an early nap so we were able to get out there by noon. We had lunch in the shade right away, then were off to explore the animals. We went to the zoo when my parents were here at the end of May, and the bug didn't really seem to "get" it. This time around, though, he really enjoyed looking at all of the animals. Here's a page I did to scrap it.. I have like 5,000 more pictures, so I'm guessing I'll do at least one or two more scrapbook pages of the day.

click for a larger image

Wednesday, June 24th
Play date with some friends from church. We went to a sprinkler park {also known as a splash pad, I guess} in Independence. I was a little unsure of how Ethan would handle it, but he did really well, and absolutely LOVED getting wet - especially in the mud puddles around the edge of the water area. I have a feeling we'll be visiting there more often.



Friday, June 26th
A few families from church and I went to Merry Wives of Windsor - the show Alec's been working on. It was pretty fun until about 20 minutes into the show when Ethan was ready to be sleeping. The fact that it was still 85 degrees outside at 8:30 at night didn't help. We eventually ended up leaving early, with one of the other families promising to babysit so I could go back another day.

Wednesday, July 1st
Another play date. This week we went to the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead. It was so much fun! It's basically a petting zoo with farm animals. They also have some turn-of-the-century homes and a school house you can take tours through, as well as an American Indian exhibit. Ethan absolutely LOVED feeding the goats! They had one area where you could go right into the pen with them, and he thought that was just the greatest! It was actually pretty hard to get him to leave.. We'll probably be going back there again, too...



Thursday, July 2nd
Another trip to the sprinkler park. I decided since Alec has been working long days again, a little break in the routine would be nice.. Of course, that day it was overcast and breezy, so we didn't stay long. Ethan still had fun, though, despite his blue lips. :)

I also went to the show again that night, and had a good time being able to watch the whole thing in peace.

Saturday, July 4th
We had originally been planning on going blueberry picking again, like last year, but we still have some blueberries from when we went to the farmer's market a while back, and you have to get up super early to get all the way out there before they're all gone.. So, Alec came up with the idea of going to the sprinkler park again - yay! We had planned to just take it easy, and let Ethan get back into his normal sleep routine.. With all the playdates we've been doing, he's been missing his reguluarly scheduled nap, and it's been a bit of a challenge for all of us.. He normally naps from 11:00 to 1:00, so we decided we'd just go after he woke up and have a nice picnic there. Well, at 2:00 when he still hadn't napped, we decided to just go anyway.. Of course the good weather had been earlier in the day, so we were stuck with clouds and breeze again. We had fun, though, and it was so nice to have Alec there with us..



So, that's been our life lately. I never knew I loved being outside so much! I even have tan lines on my feet! {And for those of you who know me, that's a big deal}. I have a few more funny and cute stories to tell about Ethan, but I'll save that for another post.. this one has already been 5 miles too long.. :D