Ixnay on the Oolway

I ambitiously thought I would finish the account of our Grand Canyon adventure today—I even uploaded the pictures—but it makes me a little exhausted just thinking about reliving it enough to write about it. Partly because it was such a physically challenging experience, and partly because I don't want to leave too much out of the story. Anyway, I didn't leave myself enough time to do it because I got distracted researching beadboard and butcher block. (No, it's not a sure thing we'll get the house, but I figure we'll probably need to remodel whatever house we do end up with.)

Since I nixed my original plan for today's post, I've got a couple Ethan tidbits from today.

While I was doing the ever-present chore of washing dishes, I let Ethan play outside. He played really well for a good amount of time, but then he started to wander too far away from the door. So I brought out one of our recent acquisitions, and showed him how to drive his tractors on it. (BTW, I'm pretty sure those two vehicles are his absolute favorites of the new toys. He plays with them so much, and it is now a common sight to see him walking around with one in each hand. He has also started "driving" them and other cars on all sorts of surfaces, including Mom and Dad. So fun!) He started playing with it right away, and I went back to the sink. A few minutes later, I took a closer look at him and saw how he had positioned himself. I thought it was too cute to not catch on camera.

This evening we had dinner in the living room while we watched a show. (Which happens more often than not, truth be told.) After we were done eating, the show was still going. Ethan kept trying to play with the computer, so I wheeled the chair in the kitchen when he wasn't looking. Problem solved. Ethan found something else to play with, and occasionally watched with us and danced if there was music. The second the show got over, he dropped his toys and walked very purposefully into the kitchen. Terral and I looked at each other with "What was that all about?" expressions until we heard him wheeling the chair. I didn't even know he knew where it was. He pushed it into the living room, positioned it in front of the computer, and climbed up. While he was climbing (not such and easy task) I discreetly unplugged the mouse, but left the cord next to the usb port. Mr. Smarty played with it for a minute and then decided he wanted the real thing.

If you can't tell, he's trying to plug the mouse back into the keyboard.

There's just no pulling the wool over this kids eyes!