All About Ethan

8.3.11

This post will is my attempt at recording all the little things about Ethan that I keep saying to myself, "I really need to write that down."  So if you're not into reading about other people's kids' milestones etc., I get that.  This post is not for you. ; )  Feel free to skip it.

For a few months, come rain, shine, or wind, Ethan made sure we got out on a walk every single day, sometimes two or three times.  It was pretty much the only way I could get him to nap.  I really came to enjoy our daily strolls.  He loved it and would calm right down.  The boy loves being outside.  I liked getting some form of regular exercise and getting thinking time or talk on the phone time to myself.  I kind of miss it now that he doesn't need it.  Sleep has been hit and miss for us.  I hadn't thought too much about it until one day when I asked a friend of mine who had recently had a baby how she was doing.  She said, "oh, we're still doing the wake up every three hours thing." and I said, "huh, so are we."  He's had weeks of really good sleep.  It just never lasted.  But I haven't worried about it too much because of all that's been going on.  We've had emotional upheaval and crazy work and vacation schedules, so it really wouldn't be reasonable to expect him to have a wonderful and consistent sleep schedule.  There is hope, though.  Lately he's been taking naps really well (did I mention he would sometimes go all day without a nap?) and also sleeping longer chunks at night.

He is a stinkin' smart little boy.  Of course, I may be a little biased.  He figured out early on how to get something he wanted by pulling on something it was attached to.  If Terral held something up out of reach, he would grab Terral's arm and pull it down until he could reach the desired object.  Speaking of reach, this kid has an amazing one.  He is always surprising us with how far he can stretch to get things.  He's really persistent too.  He got the concept of object permanence down quite a while ago.  

As biased as I may be, there is no denying he is cute.  I'm not joking when I tell you another parent told my husband, "My kids' smiles were never that cute!"  Although Ethan can be very photogenic (he has some not-so-great-looking pictures too), his biggest "cuteness factor" in my opinion is his personality.  When he opens his eyes his whole person just lights up.  He exudes joy!  I seriously adore him.  And I do not use that word lightly. 

He is an adventurous little boy.  We, of course, have tried to sort of cultivate this sort of an attitude, but I'm sure a good portion of it is just part of him.  For example, he loves swimming.  We went camping last weekend at a mountain reservoir and he did not mind one bit that the water was a little chilly.  He just loved swimming around.  He also gets a kick out of being startled (think peek-a-boo type games, only sometimes on a much larger scale).  He also loves it when I throw him in the air, or when Terral does a game with him that flips him over.   A couple of days ago he was in the johnny jump-up and kind of wound it up by slowly turning around.  He lifted up his legs, and of course he started spinning the opposite direction.  He got going pretty fast.  I was about to rescue him when he put his legs down and started laughing.  He liked it so much he kept winding himself up and lifting his legs so he could spin.  He just put his feet down whenever it got going too fast.


Hmm...what else?  He loves trees. Especially the cherry tree in our front yard.  When we got back from our week-long Lake Powell trip he looked through the car window, saw his tree, and gave a huge sigh of contentment.

09.06.11

*shrimpy voice* I am ashamed.
It's a whole month since I started this post!  I must finish it. . .  Dang.  I was listing off a whole bunch of things in my head earlier today and now I sit down to write and can't think of a single one.  Maybe if I just start typing it will come.

I want to remember:
How he used to hold so still whenever I cleaned out his ears or nose.
How he used his little monkey feet to wrap around my arms and push them away when he didn't want a diaper change.
His intense observance.  For example, he will study my mouth when I'm speaking and I can just see the wheels turning trying to figure out how to make those sounds.
How he is so interested in food.  He's a great eater, and doesn't usually make much mess.  Earlier today (*correction, yesterday) Terral was feeding him breakfast and he started to get grabby.  Terral said, "Put your hands down," and his little hands went to his lap.  "Now open your mouth," and the cute little mouth opened wide.  Of course, it's likely coincidence, but we thought it was pretty neat!
The way his smile absolutely transforms his face.
The way he showed that he loved me from such an early age.
How quickly he forgives.
How much he loves sounds.
The way my voice and touch can calm him.
How he kisses me by placing his open mouth on my chin

I just want to remember everything!  It has been so amazing to see him grow and learn and be able to express himself more bit by bit.  It makes me sad that I've been so negligent in recording it all.  I do have lots of pictures and videos, though.  I just need to get them up here. :)

Well, that's as far as memory will take us for the moment.  I think this post is lengthy enough.    I think it's disorganized enough too.