Tee Ball!!!

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got a tee ball set from Uncle Matt & Aunt Mia for Christmas!! Ethan was shown how to do it once, and was instantly a pro! And check out that follow through, hehe

Baby Sister!!!

Ethan loves his little sister! He wanted to hold her right away!!! He already says her name pretty well, but he usually calls her Baby, hehe.

Fun with Daddy!

These pictures are from the other night when daddy was giving the kids rides on his back. The more rowdy they got, the more the kids fell off… so he decided to make a harness… he rigged up two belts so that the kids could hang on… its was a blast to watch!

The two "big kids" have been sharing a room for about a month now, to get ready to put a new baby in its own room. They transitioned without any problems! Its really nice!

Ethan is suddenly saying So many words…. perfectly! He has been trying much harder pronouncing things instead of just using the first letter & how ever many syllables, hehe. Today, Diella was trying to help him with a few words… like her name, he's always said Ella. Well today he started saying Dee-Ella!!! And she even got him to say Mom-mee, and Dad-dee, instead of mama & dada! Cool! He also identified & called Cecily by her name yesterday, without prompting… he said Cec! How cute!

Then tonight, I even was trying to get him to say some colors. I think it was maybe 6 months ago or so, that we started helping Diella pronounce the L in the middle of words… like class, or play, or blanket, etc. Well tonight, Ethan, said Blue, perfectly! Even with the L in it! He also said yellow… perfectly!!!

Other words he tries & comes close to… that are so cute… are kitchen & chicken. He's also finally saying milk… he used to just call all drinks wa-wa. But now milk, water, and juice all have their own names, hehe. He also says high five when he puts up his hand for one, and also says high chair. And also will hold out his hand and for you to take it, to go with him… and he'll either say "hand" or he'll say "mon" (as is c'mon). Its SO cute! He even, once in a while, has finally started to put two words together!!! Like one days he said "play. C'mon" It was awesome! And last night he said "nite nite mama" !!! …. oh AND… my fave word he says… lotion… its hilarious & adorable how he says it… its like "thlo-thon" … you gotta hear it! I'm loving all this talking!

And he also understands everything even more now, and doesn't just reply with "Yea" like he used to always. Now he'll give you a real answer, which is nice for communication!

Ethan is also starting to be quite the singer & dancer! Sometimes I'll sing a familiar song, and then stop before the last word or phrase, so that Diella can finish it for me… well Ethan's been doing it too now! We didn't even know he COULD until one day he just did! He even changes notes…. Almost where they belong! There are quite a few different songs that he'll help us sing! Its so awesome!

So Ethan has a few stuffed animals that I've always kept at the foot of his crib, that he could not care less about. When he goes through his ABC books, he always shows me the picture of the owl & he says Hoo. So my mom reminded me, "hey, don't you have a stuffed animal owl? So I got that out of the attic, and guess what… he LOVES it!!! His other few favorite animals are cow, and porcupine! How funny! Those are the ones he shows me the pictures of & says the names of most often. Funny kid! … well and horse, and penguin now too… he has lotsa faves.

His sense of humor is also rapidly developing & starting to show more & more! Like he has this "funny walk" we call it… where he spreads his legs out far, then bends over a little, and then walks (in the video). Or he'll put his head way back, his chest forward, and then run toward you & fall into you, and just laugh. And my favorite… we all remember Diella's "angry eyes" she used to do… and then the funny arm circle thing she added to it…. well Ethan does the eyes now! Puts his head down, eyebrows down a bit, looks out the top of his eyes at you… then I crack up… but he keeps the look still! Its hilarious!

Its kind of the same that he does with smiling. He smiles on command now, like instantly. "Ethan… smile!" and he slaps it right on! All cheesy!!! And most of the time we're laughing while he's doin this… then he doesn't wipe it off! The big cheesy smile is still there, as we are still laughing! Such a funny kid!!! I remember shortly before I had him, the girls at LCA threw me a shower, and Debbie Nuber spoke over him, a sense of humor. Well, she was Right! He's sure got one!!!

He's getting to be… I don't want to say less laid back, cuz he still IS laid back… but he's getting this really hyper side to him… in the evening mostly. The other night, for who knows what reason (no one was over or anything, and I didn't pump them full of sugar or anything), but he was just bouncing off the walls! It was crazy! He gets a little hyper each night now. Its ok though, he always calms back down for bed.

Jake & I have been noticing how he's reeeeeally coming out of baby stage, into toddler stage, ALOT more lately! He's such a big boy now! Just understanding EVERYthing, and responding appropriately to EVERYthing, and obeying, and Always saying please, and all these things! He even now refuses to go down the stairs backwards, on his belly. He's got to go forward, like a big boy, its so funny!

Oh and we're still slowly trying the potty. He'll sit there, but has still never gone. He HAS told us that he's pooped though! Which we've been working on! Even twice he told us right BEFORE he pooped!!! Didn't get him to go on the potty for it, but he could feel it coming! Thats the first step! Woo!

Ethan has impressed me, as I've noticed a few times as we are driving home… right as we get into our neighborhood, he says, "Home." I think its cool that not only does he of course recognize our house, but even our closely surroundings too. Very cool.

And the Funniest thing!… the other day, Ethan didn't just FALL asleep in his high chair, he PUT himself to sleep there! I watched him kind of inch down & gently lay his head down to the side, as if to get himself comfortable. The only thing left on his tray was a fig newton. So I go over, and trying not to fully wake him up, I begin to wipe his face and hands clean from lunch. His head popped up, eyes wide open, he quickly grabbed the fig newton, and then slowly lowered his head back down. I giggled a little, and continued to wipe him up. Then when i went to take the fig newton from his hand… his head quickly popped up again, and he SQUEEZED the fig newton, and was instantly crying, he did NOT want me to take it away! Haha!…. but I could tell, he also didn't REALLY want to eat it either… So I persisted with taking it away, finished wiping him up, as he cried some more. But then by the time I lifted him out of his chair & held onto him, his head went Right down onto my shoulder, the eyes were closed, and he was happy to be put right down for nap. That was a great, hilarious moment for me!

Quick Blog

This video was yesterday. The kids doing "smurbs" on my belly. And also hugging the belly, too, hehe.

Then there's a pic of the kids hugging! Willingly!!! ... and the other picture- Ethan walked over to me & I saw him like this! Completely on his own, he opened my bottom drawer, got a pair of my underwear and a sports bra, and put them around his neck. He just came over, as though to show me what he did, and smiled, knowing he's funny! Ha!

I somehow forgot to mention in yesterday's blog that Ethan is getting good as repeating his ABC's! We will say one letter at a time, and he will repeat it... and there are only a few he cant say correctly, but he's doing really well! Soon we'll hold up the letter, so he can associate what he's saying with that letter. Its really fun to hear him say them, and he seems to enjoy doing it!

Just in the past day, he has also said 3 new words! Barn! stop, only without the S.... and also phone... he says like pome. Its so cute!

Boots!

I decided MONTHS ago that Ethan & Diella were dressing up for Halloween as Dora and Boots. I knew Ethan of course wouldn't mind what he went as, but I really think he liked his costume a lot more than we expected! Plus, he's recently learned who Dora is, and says her name and everything when they watch her on tv. I was excited to make their costumes, but never thought they would turn out this good! He was the most adorable Boots ever!!!

Here are lots of new words Ethan is saying… toe, boo boo, ok (otay), dinosaur (id-do), hello, Dora!, play, airplane is ah-mane, bird, nice, done, pumpkin is puh-pin. I've heard him to E-I-O during Old MacDonald!!! He says truck, but he still cant do the K sound. I think the TR sound would be harder than the K sound, but he has "Tra" down perfectly! Just needs that 'ck' on the end! Diella and I have always done cheers with our cups or spoons or food, and now Ethan joins us, "Chee!" He also says 'oh my!' ... Oh and he also says his name! He can say E, and he can say "thin" … but he'll never put them together… usually we'll say the E, and he'll finish, with 'than' hehe, but at least he knows he's saying his name!

Every little girl we see, Ethan calls her Aria. Aw! And every old man we see, Ethan will point and shout Papo! (thats what we call Papa O.) its so cute! Also, when we're right about to pull into our driveway, and Ethan can see our house, every time, he says "home." I love that!

Ok, Ethan is SO a boy…. he cracks up anytime anyone toots or burps. We ARE teaching him to say excuse me, but we cant help but to giggle when he laughs at other peoples' bodily noises!

I gave Ethan another hair cut a few days ago. Its technically like his third one already! Its only really noticeable to those who see him really often, but I did cut quite a bit this time! Jake and I keep trying to decide if we wanna let it grow out at all, but he just looks so handsome with his hair all clean cut & short!

Ethan does this new thing where he'll take one or both of his arms, and slowly make big circles. I think its a dancing thing, but other time he'll do it at random. Its SO adorable! And he does it with a silly look on his face too, so you know its in attempt to be funny, I love it!

so his big sis often jumps off of things, like the couch or the stairs, etc. Well, he's been wanting to jump so bad lately! Diella finally taught him how to jump on the bed, holding onto one side. He's now a pro! Well, he also has finally gotten the hang of jumping with two feet, on the floor! I remember Diella being only like 15 months when she accomplished this, but Ethan is thrilled that he's finally got it! You can just see, when they're playing, how badly he wants to jump onto and off of things like she does, and how much he wants to keep up with her!

A long time ago, Diella would do these flops onto the bed. Like from a standing position, flop to the bed either forward or backward, without bending the knees, and without catching herself with her hands! I remember me & Ahna & Caeden all doing this with her before. Well yesterday I was in my room, on my computer, and I look back… and without us teaching or prompting him, he begins to do this same thing! (usually he does things once he sees his sister do it first), but just out of nowhere, he's flopping backwards to the bed! It was great to watch, and of course he kept going, as long as I would laugh & cheer!

Readin the Paper

This pic was NOT prompted! He grabbed the paper & started "reading it" ! … I thought it was adorable, so I took a pic… thing I didn't notice, that Jake pointed out to me later, was what the paper says! It says "Where to Begin?" HAHA, priceless!

We think Ethan is getting his bottom two eye teeth. Poor guy. He was So not himself last night. Lets hope they come right in & this is over with.

He's starting to run SO fast! Cool!!!

He's still not very interested in learning the ABC's, but if we go through each letter & ask hi to repeat them, he usually will, which is a good start! We'll keep trying!

Also the potty, we've been trying out once a day. He still hasnt gone yet, but he's got a good attitude bout it, at least, hehe… not afraid of it or anything.

He has rediscovered dancing. He LOVES to now! And he's been putting his WHOLE body into it! Its the greatest thing to watch!

And we were trying to teach Ethan a while back, how to raise his hand & say "Me!" when mommy asks, 'who wants to ____?" … well now he does it all the time & its SOOO great!…. even he'll do it sometime when we don't ask. Like I'll say 'ok, lets get in the car!' and Ethan will go, "meeee!!!!" haha!

He still loves to say Aria! He says it so clearly too! I count it as his official first 3 syllable word!

Diella likes to sing the Hallelujah song from Shrek. Well, now Ethan sings it along with her! COOL! Its kind of like Hal-la, but still so cute!

Video!

Well, I have a lot less to say about Ethan this time around. But I DO have a video! He learned how to jump on the bed, hehe!

Two new cute words he says are "warm" and "hurry" , hehe love it!


Man, one morning, I went to get him out of his crib… and he had no shirt on! I have no clue how he got it off, but somehow he took off his own shirt!!?? and if I remember correctly, I believe it was even long sleeved!! Weird. Well, ok now that I think about it, sometimes I ask him to help when I'm dressing him, but its ALWAYS with pants, I've never had him try the shirt. It was cool though.

He does this new thing where if he wants me to go somewhere with him, he'll hold out his hand for me to take it, and then pull me along. It. is. the Cutest thing! … and you should see how he does it… palm up, and even his chin goes down towards his chest a little, and then he looks out the top on his eyes… all innocent. Melts my little heart!

ok, and monumental thing in Ethan's life… He now gives CLOSED-mouth kisses! hehehe, YAY!!!

My 18 month old

Ethan is saying a million new words!!! I'll list a few, but really, by now, he'll try almost any word you ask him to! Well, he'll usually get at least the first two letters, here. Door, me, teeth, sister (dit-da), keys, flower, bug, moon, boat, bed, peas, dog. And some of the ones that impress me the most- I LOVE when he says woah, its so cute!, he says Bell very clearly, as well as happy!, also turtle, ice…. oh and my mom taught him how to say 'I poop' ha, thanks mom. There have been a few times recently he's put two words together! Like bye dada, and 'all done wawa (water)' !!! Oh and we were at the doc, check up for Diella, and they were checking her hearing, asking her to say beep when she heard the beep. Well she wasn't very interested in cooperating with that, so I was showing her how, saying "Beep", then we all cracked up when we hear little Ethan shown his big sis how, he calls out "Beep!" HAAHHAA!

He's also doing a few new animal sounds. Like the sound for monkey, horse, and owl!

My last blog talked about the ABC books that he looks through, and how he's started to recognize & point out certain pictures to me. Well one night he did it with a TON of them all of a sudden! He's picking up on LOTS lately!

The other say he snorted when he laughed, HHAAAHA!

Ethan loves to play under things, like endtables n stuff… its s cute, like his lil hideout! Even the other day was plain under my bed! Fun!

I. Love. the way this kid walks. Its with such confidence & manliness! Ha! Chest out, stomps his feet a bit, and swings his left arm… it. is. adorable!

He loves bellies, huh! He loves to lift my shirt & poke my belly, and hug it, and even lately blow zerbets (or smurbs) on it! Then we found out its not just my belly, but anyone's… he does it to Ahna too! here, fun!

When Diella was around Ethan's age, and when I'd ask her to sing, out would come these two little notes, one higher one, then one lower one, back to back. Well now that we ask Ethan to sing… no joke… he does the SAME thing!!!!

These kids, even though sometimes they don't get along perfectly, one thing that i love is that when one is taking a nap, the other will ask for them. Diella asks for Ethan, and Ethan does the same when she's asleep. Aw! Like, "where's my play pal!!??"

Oh and this kid, quite the charmer he thinks he is, lemmie tell you! … he does this ADORABLE inflection in his voice when he says Hi, its kind of like 3 notes, goin up & common back down… well…. he's done it a few times when he's being told No. Its like "hm, if I sound cute, maybe I'll get out of trouble… Hiiiiiiiiii" haha

I was gone all day a while ago, shooting a wedding, and made it home before the kids went down for bed. Ethan greeted me with enthusiasm, as usual, and as I hugged him, and neither of us let go for a minute, I was swaying back and forth, us enjoying being with him… and he starts humming! like a satisfied, content, with his mommy tune…. wonderful moment!

Oh, and he has officially, just the past few days, gone from two naps to one. And then next week we start going without a binky. THEN after THAT... we're gonna put the kids in one room, so they get used to the idea before the baby comes. Lots of changes! Ah!

What a Talker!

In these pictures… the kids were into this whole holding hands phase… it was classic!!! There’s one where Ethan is showing us his crack, thank you. Jake says he inherited that from me, ha! … and the one with him holding his bib on the back of his neck, he kept doing it to make us laugh, and it worked!

So a few funny things Ethan has been doing… sometimes when he walks, he’ll put his hands like on his back… like on his hips, but back farther… other times he’s got one hand behind him, with his fingers inside the top of his pants, resting his hand there… like a man. Its hilarious! .. ok, and even once in a while, if he’s got like elastic waist shorts on, he’s got both hands in the back of his pants, and he like grabs his cheekies… it is really funny!

Also lately, he has this funny walk, where its almost like he’s proudly stomping around the house, legs spread… like a giant, tromping through the village. Ha!

Ethan is blowing kisses now! Cute!!!

I’ve mentioned before how he loves shoes… well one day I said “Ethan, go get your shoes.” … not sure if he’d get it right without me pointing them out or anything… but he looked around, then walked across the hall to diella’s room, and in her closet where the shoes are, and he brought them to me!!! Very cool!

He is starting to love the ABC books, which makes me so happy! The other day, he came running in with the “D” book, opened to the page with the duck, and he was excitedly saying “duh! Duh!” (which is duck)… and a few minutes later came in with the “B” book, opened to the picture of the banana, saying “Binna! Binna!” He was showing me the picture & yelling it out, like “Oh, I KNOW this one!!!” there was a third one he did too, but I don’t member which one?

So Ethan is NOT interested in signing, like Diella was. He’d much rather jus try to SAY the word. Well, the more & more words come spilling out of his mouth, I have been trying to keep up, and finally started keeping track & writing them down. Well guess what, he’s about 16 and a half months, and he’s up to 40 words!!! Of course they’re not all very clear, but they’re ALL things that he’s indentifying and KNOWS what they are! Here’s a quick list of the words he says (the ones at the end being the newest ones for him)… hi, bye, mama, dada, Ahna, Papa, Ella (Diella), pizza, binky, up, down, all done, uh oh, hot, book, shoes, choo choo, ball, yea, thank you, bath, duck, diaper, doctor, nite nite, hello, banana, stuck, Elmo, boom, mine, apple, achoo, num num, home, Einstein, wa wa (for water), amen, help, hotdog, and baby. Woo hoo!

Growing Up!

Ethan got another molar! That put him at 9 teeth, still missing that bottom right one. But he just got that one 3 days ago as well! So ten teeth now!

He is officially running now, for at least a month! Getting quick!

He’s also able to climb up onto the dining room chairs, and in turn, up onto the table as well. Sigh*

He has again mastered going down the stairs (backwards). He had it down, then fell 3 times within like a week, then refused to go down for a long time. But we worked on it some more, and we’re all set now!

He laughs on command & its hilarious! He also does this long laugh til his breath runs out! Everyone who hears is Cracks Up!! Its SO Funny! He does it a lot when he gets something he wants. Like if he asks for milk, and then we give it to him, he long laughs.

Ethan was JUST NOW doing the motions along with “if you’re happy and you know it”!!! he was clapping his hands & stomping his feet when they were!!! Even swaying while they were singing! COOL!

He’s starting to discover his singing voice, just a bit, its cute!

He’s got 2 new animals sounds! Monkey & cow!

Ethan LOVES books! He gets so excited & points & says Buh! At a book! Especially when we put him in the car, even before we’re done buckling him in, he says book and is looking all over for it. Then he does is silly laugh when we hand him a book, hehe!

He also Loves to wear shoes! When we first got him wearing shoes (a long time ago, of course), he hated them! Now, I think its because he can SAY shoes, (its kinda without any vowels, he says “shz”), he wants to wear them. He’ll bring em to me & says Shz, and I’ll ask, “you wanna put em on?” He smiles & nods. Then we put em on & he takes off! Hehhee

He’s such a little jokester sometimes! Whenever he finds his binky (which he can ONLY have for sleeping, and we will ween him from it at 18 months, like we did with Diella), but when we accidentally leave it in his reach & he gets a hold of it, we smile & say “take your binky out” … he’ll smile, take it out, giggle, and very quickly put it right back in. That usually makes US giggle, so then we’ll playfully snatch it out of his mouth, and he Cracks Up! HaHA!

A new discovery that we’ve made about him (and that he made about himself, really), is that he loves to be wrapped up! Whether its in a towel after his bath, or in a blanket before bed, he LOVES it when you wrap it around his back, so that he’s holding it in front! Its so cute!

He’s also still very cuddly! I will NEVER get sick of this! I cant get enough of him coming over at random just to sit on my lap, or hug me, or literally wrap his arms around my neck! Please Ethan, Never change this

He’s getting smarter too! Things like when you ask “do you want some water?” He’ll not only nod, but then head towards the kitchen. He knows that’s where you get the water from. Same with brushing teeth. We suggest that, he nods & head for the bathroom. I like this.

Ok, one thing he’s doing that I DON’T like… his cries have become more like screams. This is the ONE thing I CANNOT STAND that kids do, is scream! We’ve always taught Diella to not scream for no reason… so now we’re trying very hard to teach Ethan the same, cuz the screams drive me bonkers!

He & Diella like to hold hands! Sometimes in the car, occasionally during our walks. Its adorable. Although sometimes she tries to hold his hand & he doesn’t want to. For some reason that cracks me up, ha!

He’s been saying Papa a lot! He loves his Papa! A few times he’s seen some pictures with Papa in it, and he’ll point & say Papa. But now he says Papa and EVERY picture he sees, hehehe.

This kid is still such a good sleeper! He not only takes 2 naps, but the morning one is 2 and half hours long, and the afternoon one is about 90 mins long! Then at 9 c’clock bedtime, he practically BEGS us to go to bed!!! Rubs his eyes, says ni-ni, and reaches for the bed as we lower him into it! He sometimes gets a tad bit whiny, and even one time put his face right in front of mine, so that we made eye contact, and when I said, “you ready for nap?” he smiles & nods! Even just now he did the same, but I really thought he’s not ready for nap yet, so we just went upstairs and I figured I’d let him play a little. So he did. He played for about 5 mins, then brought me his blanket! Woo Hoo!

And his few new words… he says Apita. Dunno what it means, and apparently Chanson says it too!! But yea, that’s a very frequent word around here, hehe. He also says book (buh, like book, without the k), shoes – shz, all done (ah duh), yea, doctor (which comes out dot-da), banana (binna) and that’s sort of his word for any food really. He says Elmo (which is kinda like Emma), he repeated us when we asked him to say ‘good’ the other day, and he also says diaper when I get out a diaper to change him, its like “di-dah.” Lots of new words!

He is So laid back, and just such a cool kid! This is the very fun stage where he’s understanding & responding to everything! Great Times!

Doing so Much!

On these videos… I have put Ethan & Diella both in the same swing at the park, and they both love it! But one day when we went, Ethan missed his nap, and he got almost TOO comfortable in the swing! Hehe. The other video is from a while ago, just a fun one of Ethan cracking up when I’m bitin his belly!

Ethan is saying So many words! Some of them aren’t crystal clear, of course, but he says them TO the object, so even tho he says “ba” for ball, or “da” for duck, at least he knows what he’s saying! I’ll try to list them all, sorry if I’m repeating any words I’ve already blogged that he says. Nite nite, Ahna, Lella (for Diella), ball, hello, down, apple, duck, bath, (older ones that I know I’ve already mentioned - hi, bye, mama, dada, pizza, binky, uh oh), and he says “up” backwards, like “puh” hehehe. I think he has said No a few times… that worries me a little, but its not usually an angry No. Sometimes his hi’s come out at hiya, which is so cute! He also says Hi to strangers, people passing in the store, or wherever, just like his sister does! I love that!

He’s up to 5 animal sounds! Kitty, doggie, fish, elephant, and tiger!

And I think he does 4 signs? All done, more, eat, and please. We’re working on a few more.

And he knows, and locates when you ask him… head, tongue, hands, feet, and belly. And he can usually find mommy’s mouth & nose, but not his own, hehe.

And there are plenty of things he does on command… like “spin in a circle!” and “can you wink?” (oh yea, he winks! Not every time correctly, but sometimes he gets it! Its so cool!) … also “sit on your butt,” “clap your hands,” “gimmie kiss,” and I feel like there’s a few others that I may be missing. Its neat at this stage, to communicate with them, and see how they understand & respond!

At the park once, he went up the stairs, sat at the top of the slide, and went down, ALL By Himself! Champ! (but then that day he kept getting way too brave, and as I was ready for him to slide down the slide, he would like practically dive down it, and I had to catch him by the face a few times, lol!!!)

On this one Baby Einstein, they play the song Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and Ethan was pointing to his head and also mouth during it!

Ethan. Loves. Tools. And anything that has a loud motor. Like the vacuum, or lawn mowers, or whenever daddy has a power tool running, Ethan makes this manly grunt sound, like Ooooooo (similar to what Tim Allen does on Home Improvement) hahaha!!!

He has discovered how to tickle us. Whenever he sees our flesh (like if I’m wearing shorts, or if my shirt comes up in the back or something), he’ll come over & grab the flesh, and open & close his hand. We usually pretend giggle, and he loves it! It so cute!

At times, either in his bed, or in the car, or even sometimes in the cart at the store, Ethan will relax, with his hands behind his head. Its Adorable! I’ve got to get a picture of it!

And Ethan got his first hair cut! Its pretty subtle, cuz he’s got the little curl on the sides of his head, but the hair in back was getting a little long, so Ahna gave him a lil trim. It doesn’t make him look “older” like I expected it might, but it did clean him up! It looks snazzy!

Accident, Trip to the ER

I wrote this up about the day after it happened. It was a while ago.

A few of you are asking what happened with Ethan. Well, I’m terrible at short versions, so here’s the medium version. First of all, to put you at ease, he’s alright! Jake & I were doing a wedding, the friend of ours, my age, was sitting for us. We came home & she told us that about 20 mins ago he had jus fallen & bumped his mouth, that he cried a lot, but that he was fine. There were no signs of injury on him & he was happy as could be, so we thought nothing of it. So we got the kids ready for bed, put them down, and then after about an hour, Ethan woke up crying hard, he Never wakes up crying! So I go in & he was making sounds like he was throwing up but nothing was coming out. After a few minutes, finally just a few drops of blood came out. I’m not a big worrier, so even though I was a bit on edge at this point, I called my mom before I went straight to 911. She told me to look in his mouth & check him all over. Inside his mouth, kinda far back & toward the top, there was a scratch & 2 punctures. We decided going to the ER was the best idea. Jake thought it looked like a sore (like Diella & I have been getting in our mouths), but I thought it looked more like some kind of cut. My mom came with me to the ER so Jake could stay home with Diella (she had woken up to the commotion & was crying cuz she could sense the tension & was so worried! Poor girl!). you know how a mother sometimes plays through the worst scenarios in her mind, well I suddenly feared that maybe he swallowed something sharp! So the worst, of course, was waiting in the ER, not fully knowing WHAT had actually happened. So after waiting for entirely too long, they took his vitals, and then looked him over & said two good things. He did not need stitches, and that it looked like he didn’t swallow anything. I asked if we could still get an x-ray, cuz I just needed peace of mind that he for SURE did not swallow anything. So we got that done, and it was clear! Good news all around! So here’s how they diagnosed it. 1 cm laceration & contusion. So, punctures & a little bruising. And here’s what Actually happened. When I was in the ER, I was trying to think of what could have been sharp that punctured his throat? For some reason, I dunno why, I thought of this broken plastic piece of tube (which I kept because we were playing with it in the bath the other night, Wrong Choice on my part! I should have just thrown it out!)… but I was praying that that wasn’t what did it. So first thing this morning, I went into Diella’s room to see if I could figure out the cause. Sure enough, there was that plastic piece right by her bed. Then this morning I got a message from the sitter that said the more she thought about it, she remembered seeing him with that tube, but that it didn’t SEEM as though it was near his face when he fell, but that his back was to her, so it was possible. So this confirmed it. He had a broken piece of plastic tube in his hand when he fell, puncturing his throat! OUCH! I felt terrible (as did the sitter). But the doctor said that mouths heal quickly, so he should be feeling better in just a few days. We were just instructed to give him only soft foods for a few days & lots of water to rinse it out. She also said to keep tylenol & motrin in him for the pain. We’ve already seen that as long as we do, he does really well! So he’s tough, he’s doing fine, and we’re takin good care of him! No more leaving stuff like that out! It was a long night, but the ending could have been worse. God is faithful!

Learning Faster Now!

No newer pix of Ethan that I havent already posted, so here's an older one :)

Ethan’s doing all kinds of new things, rather suddenly! He WINKS! Lol, well kinda… if you wink at him, he smiles Real big still his face wrinkles up & his eyes close, and sometimes only one eye closes… its SO cute! We almost caught a picture of it… but its on my sis’s camera…. I’ll try to get a hold of it.

Ethan puts the buckets from his toy bin on his head! And also the small laundry basket. Its SO cute! Diella & I laugh & say, “Bucket Head!!!”

My dad taught him how to do pound! He would give a high five, then Papa asked him for a pound, and her makes a fist, but holds up one fingers… so he kinda just pokes the other persons fist… but he does it on command every time, hehe, at least he’s consistent.

My sis got him to say Pizza! He hardly says any words! (hi, bye, mama, dada, binky…. Did I never blog that he says binky??? Its So cute when he does!!!)… and now pizza lol! Not clearly of course, but I love that pizza is his 6th word, ha!

He’s still doing the tiger sound, and now also does the elephant sound! We’ve been working on lots of them. He watches very intently & giggles when we teach him, but just wont try. Its alright, he’ll get it.

He’s also doing the sign for please…. Not very accurately, but still! So now his signs include, please, all done, milk, more, and eat!

Finally Getting Good at Doing Short Ones, Whew!

Ethan is finally pointing at things with one finger! Maybe he should have been doing this for a while now? I dunno. But he is now, and its cute!

He’s learned another sign! The sign for ‘ball’ …. Its really the same thing he does when he signs ‘more’ but he does it for either word, they’re similar signs. Oh and I think he said ‘up’ … we’ve been working on that one & a few others. He’s not a big talker yet, but we’re tryin.

We go for a walk almost every day, at least a few times a week, and most of the time I don’t take the stroller, we just walk. We live on a block & there’s sidewalks around the whole thing, so don’t worry, we’re safe. Well I always hold Ethan’s hand of course, and sometimes he tried to pull away, cuz he wants to go alone. But anyway, one time my mom took them, when Ethan wasn’t feeling too well, and she said she was proud cuz he walked almost half of it! (without her picking him up). Well usually when I take him, its about the same, he’ll walk half, I’ll carry him half. Well today, he walked the ENTIRE thing! I was So proud of him for that! A whole block, all the way around!

Short Blog, YAY!

The pic in the tie is from Easter Sunday. The other ones are playing outside on a nice day!

I failed to mention in the blog from the other day how close Ethan is to Running! He goes so fast! It'll be soon here!

And I said how close he is to coming down the stairs by himself, and that that would be soon as well... well, he Is now! Slowly, and only like 3 stairs at a time... but he's got it!!!

Also, I've watched him, and believe he might be left-handed. He eats primarily with his left hand... but I've heard its common for babies to use both. Well, this morning, Ethan, Diella, and I were throwing around some balls, and Ethan used his left hand every time! Plus, he's pretty good at the throw & release for his age! Go boy!

Doing More & More!

TOO long again, since I’ve blogged! The pictures include a few from when we first moved in… the ones in the highchair, you’ll read the corresponding story below… and a few from his birthday!!!

Ethan is finally doing lots of things on command! (grant it, its still whenever he FEELS like it, but still, hehe). His words now consist of mama, dada, hi, and bye… and the newest one… his first TWO syllable word, just as of the past 3 days or so, he says “binky”! lol… I think now that he can say it, breaking him of it is gonna be…. Fun.

If he ever chokes a bit on his food, we’ll say “chew it up” and he does. Aw! Oh, and he has 6 teeth now, by the way.

He’s been doing the sign for ‘all done’. I think the sign for milk was first, and this one was second. He also does the sign for “more.” And only a few times he’s done ‘eat.’

The things he also does on command… “shake your head,” “clap your hands,” and when we say ‘dancin feet!’ its like he runs in place, his feet alternate back & forth, pretty fast! And he gets all smiley during this! Its adorable!

Also, when we say, ‘where’s your tongue?’ sticks out his tongue. This one he’s been doing for a while… I think its his fave, hehe. One day he even watched himself do this in the mirror, haha!

A Precious Moment for me…. I was on my belly I the living room, Ethan walked over to me, bent down, gave me a hug, stood up, and walked away. That just filled my love tank Right Up!!!

I think it was a few days before we moved in, we were here at the house, when Ethan first went from sitting to standing, without holding onto anything. He had already been walking for a while, but would never sit to stand on his own, weird.

There’s a few things that he went through a short phase of doing, that he no longer does. Like he used to take his hand, and turn my face to face him. Oh I Loved that!! He also used to constantly get his arm stuck in his high chair. For some reason he would wedge it down in between the seat & the side of it… never knew why? And I remember he also used to say, “Ooohh.” It was really cute! But I haven’t heard him do that in a while.

For a while there, Ethan HATED wearing shoes, he would kick one off before I even got done putting the other one on! But he’s used to them now.

He Loves to walk into Diella’s room while she’s taking a nap (and when I’m not watching closely enough of course, cuz sometimes I’m able to catch him before he goes in there), but he even walks right up to her bed! Almost as if to say, “why are you sleeping? Come play with me!” hehe

Ethan also dances to music, so cute! And he even incorporated his arms in his dancing yesterday, when he & Diella were both dancing! Aw that was great!


This one day Ethan was in the highchair eating, and I got out the camera for fun, and he just started giving me these huge, cheesy grins! I really don’t think it was something he was trying to do, like For the camera… I think he was jus bein silly, but it was perfect timing!

In addition to Ethan’s new obsession to put things into the garbage & toilet, etc., he also likes to throw things down the stairs. Like he’ll stand at the top, and one by one, find a new toy, and chuck it down the stairs. I dunno if it’s the banging sound that he likes or what, but I cant lie, its kinda funny, and I don’t stop him, hehe.

Oh yea, Ethan also says, “uh oh”! …. Well… sorta… it’s more like “uh, uh”… he doesn’t really pronounce the Oh, but he does say it at appropriate times… its cute!

He also says Hi when you put a phone up to his ear. Love that!

Oh yea, and two other things he does on command. He’ll nod yes when you ask him, “yes?” … and also if you say “belly belly belly!” he’ll hit his belly with both hands, cute!

We have been working pretty hard on getting him to learn going down the stairs backwards. We practice about once a day… and he’s getting very close!!! He loves going up the stairs so much, I figure we gotta learn how to go down them SOON so I don’t hafta watch him as closely. We’re almost there!

And he Finally does his first animal sound! He’s always loved when we go through them. He watches so intently, and giggles when Diella & I make the sounds, but he would never attempt to repeat them back. Well about 2 weeks ago, in church, where there are walls with animals all over them, he saw the tiger, and made a tiger sound!!! And now he even does that on command too! … he’s also really close to doin elephant sound too!

Walking!!!

Over the monitor, I heard him struggling. I came up & saw this, hehe.

Just a few things for Ethan. He’s got a third tooth! Yay, they’re coming in more now!

Man, this boy really takes a beating from his big sister! I mean, sometimes she’s mean, but even when they’re playing fun, and she’s pretty rough with him… I’m usually right about to yell at her, and then Ethan cracks up, cuz he’s having fun with her! But she very often rides him like a horse, or rolls around with him all over the floor… but he likes it!

Ethan is officially walking!!! He does it all the time! I mean, he still crawls, but he walks on his own every day, lots! The other day, my mom was talking to me, and I’m like “wait. I’m counting.” As I watched Ethan walkin across the room, I counted 12 steps! And he didn’t fall then either, it was twelve steps to the next thing he could grab onto!!! Yay!

He can also get off the couch by himself, but I stay very close incase he goes too fast. He goes head first too! I need to teach him how to do feet first. But he jus puts his hands down, then his head on the floor, then bends his knees, til he’s all the way down. Its funny!

I’ve said how he’s been going upstairs. He’s never made it all the way up, and I stay ONE stair behind him, cuz he still has no clue he could fall. Today, Diella was at the top, while Ethan was trying to make it all the way up, with me right behind, and Diella kept saying “Keep going! Keep going! To this one & this one & this one!” And a few times, Ethan’s foot would slip down, and all 3 times, it sounded like he said, “Oh!” It was cool!

Oh, and he LOVES to feed himself! He prefers it. He'll still take food from a spoon, but would just So much rather feed his own face! hehe

And I think this lil one will need a haicut by his first birthday. Which is ok with me. Its cute how much blonde hair he has! Adorable!

My lil boy is becoming a big boy!