Happy Thanksgiving...From Our Little Turkey

Learning to walk

Here is a video of Ethan learning to walk with the help of his toy.

So big!

Bath Time

Here are some pics of Ethan playing in the bath. You can see his two new front teeth if you look carefully.

Truly blessed

Men have always left the child raising their wives, but nowadays fathers have become so involved and have really accepted the role of co-parents. Sometimes I forget how much Eric means to me especially when it comes to Ethan. He is such a wonderful dad and helps out so much more than I expected. Ethan enjoys seeing his dad walk through the door at the end of the day and just wants him and only him. Eric feeds him dinner and they have their own special playtime together. I thought it was really to give me a break (“break” meaning house work and dinner) but then I realized that it is a chance for Eric to catch up with Ethan and spend some quality time together. The other day Eric said that it breaks his heart when Ethan is standing by the front door in his pajamas waving goodbye to him in the morning. I had always known that Eric has cherished Ethan but when he said that, it nearly broke my heart that he felt the importance of being involved and that a little thing as a wave meant so much to him. Eric has often said that he has no idea how single mothers pull it off and has so much respect for them. It is great when a man understands the role of a mother.

“All I want for Christmas is my two……”

Ethan has two more teeth, his front teeth have started to come in. His gummy smile will be leaving me for good. It is so sad.

Today Ethan took three steps by himself. He pulled himself up along side the coffee table and went to the couch. Eric and I started clapping and wailing acting like he took those three steps on the moon. Little things like this make our day.

On another note, Ethan has been going through some crazy tantrums. I will take something away from him that he is not supposed to have in his mouth or hands and he acts as if I took away his very need for survival. He goes into this silent open mouth cry where you just see that he is about to wail a huge scream once he runs out of breath, then he throws himself back onto the floor either hitting his head on the furniture or the floor, then once I go to grab him he rolls away from me. Eric didn’t believe me till it was done to him. We just try to ignore it so he won’t think that kind of behavior gets our attention.

Hibernating

Ethan and I have decided that if we need to leave the house, it is on an as needed basis only. It takes me so long just to get him ready to go outside. This includes putting his socks, shoes and hat back on after him taking them off for the 20^th time. Therefore I would rather wait till Eric’s gets home and I go and run the errands by myself. Plus, it seems too cold to be taking a baby outside especially because Ethan is almost 10 months and hasn’t had a cold or an ear infection yet (knocking on wood).

I can’t believe that in about 2 months I am going to be the mother of a one year old!! Where has the time gone? I remember bringing home this teeny weenie baby from the hospital and how whenever he was being held he would bring his legs in and pucker out that cute little tushy.

Now I have a destructive, mischievous little boy tormenting the dog and using the big screen as his drum. He has just learned that he can open cabinet doors but with the crashing of a pot and him crawling away in fear. I hope that will be last time he tries that. He is speed walking across the furniture but has figured out going from the sitting position to the standing position without the help from the furniture. Although once he gets there he looks around and just stands without pushing his luck to move. The once adorable open mouthed slobbery kisses have been replaced with closed kisses since he has learned to pucker his lips. He is a big fan of mashed potatoes and still eyes my coke from time to time. Whenever we go out I get him his own glass of water and a straw. He absolutely loves it. One of his favorite things to do is to play ball with his Daddy; they roll the ball back and forth to each other. It is so cute to see him chasing after the ball and then trying to throw to Eric.

1st Halloween

Happy Halloween!!!

Standing Up

Ethan finally figured out he can stand up on his own, but he still doesn't know what to do after he gets there. He took one step yesterday, but fell right after. Hopefully he'll be walking soon!

Monkey Play

Since it was our last playgroup before Halloween, we decided that we would have the kids dress up in their costumes. Ethan's is dressed up as a monkey which I think resembles the monkeys on Wizard of Oz. His Grandma Teresa made it especially for him and it has truly come out wonderful. I was a little anxious about him leaving the head piece on but he did really well and didn't mess with it. There are some pictures of him at playgroup with some of the other kids. We tried to get them all in the picture but with this age it is a hit or miss. We can't wait for Halloween. Thanks again Grandma Teresa for a great costume, xoxo.

Lazy Weekend

The weather is too cold to enjoy the outside so we just lounged around all weekend. It was quite nice to enjoy the weekend instead of using it to get ahead. Besides being lazy we had a great dinner at a friend’s house on Saturday. They have a son who is the same age as Ethan, so they were able to play with each other. However, our son has assumed the role of being the bully, because he takes toys away and then crawls fast in the opposite direction to get away. We had to keep reminding him to be gentle because he loves to slap his hands on heads. I may say “gentle” a little too much because the other day Ethan was slapping Eric’s head and before I could say anything it sounded like Ethan was saying gentle. I thought that maybe I misheard him but Eric said he heard it too. He still didn’t stop hitting so I doubt he knows what it means. He must have associated it with hitting and has assumed that is what you call it. I may need to come up with a different way to get it across.

Mischevious kid

It seems I may have jinxed us because ever since I posted the last message Ethan has been falling all over the place. He is trying real hard to stand and balance without any help from the furniture. Unfortunately, he has not been too successful because he is constantly falling down. I try to help him, but of course he wants to do it on his own. He has a purple bump in the middle of his head that just makes me cringe.

We have a video to share of Ethan and his adventures. Click here to see it.

Bumps

Our little explorer has once again proved to us that he is a risk taker. He has been walking along the furniture lately and is getting very good at it. Yesterday we were in our bedroom getting Ethan ready for bed and he started to walk along side of the bed. Well at one point Ethan must of gotten brave, because he decided that he didn't need the bed and made a leap to the nightstand. Unfortunatley, he came down on the nightstand hitting one of the nobs with his head. He was screaming and Eric and I tried hard to comfort him. Now he has a little bump on his head near his right eye. I just kept reminding myself that there are going to be more bumps as he learns how to balance himself. I just hope that he doesn't get too hurt. Poor little guy:(

Family Pictures

Grandparents,

Be expecting a package with our family picture that we had taken a few weeks ago as well as a Halloween present from Ethan.

Playing

Who is throwing styrofoam at me?

The day started out pretty cold at 21 degrees but we still went to playgroup because it is not only playtime for Ethan but a chance for mommy to get a break and get out of the house. Once we returned home the day got a little warmer but not by much. After putting Ethan down for a nap I went outside to throw the trash. While I was out there some white stuff was landing on me that looked like broken up Styrofoam. I actually turned around expecting to find a person throwing Styrofoam on me (why I have no clue, I am just weird). Of course, no one was standing there and the ditz that I am realized that it was snow. Yes, it was snowing! Thankfully, it didn't stick but I am really starting to dread that it is the beginning of October and already snow. I can safely bet it isn't snowing in San Angelo. One good thing is that I have already gotten Ethan a thick winter coat in case the weather gets worse.

Little stinker found the toilet paper.

Iowa

Crawling in the Hanger
Four Generations

We went to Iowa over Columbus weekend to visit Grandpa and Grandma Haut as well as that side of the family. It was about a seven hour drive but we enjoyed seeing all of them. Ethan got to meet his great grandparents and warmed up to them like he has known them forever. During the weekend we looked at old pictures, heard some hilarious stories, toke a boat ride on the Mississippi River, doubled our money at the River Casino and ended it off with a plane ride from Great Grandpa Haut (Eric and I went on the plane ride, Ethan stayed in the hanger). We had so much fun and hopefully we will be able to make it out there again.


Oh yeah, Ethan turns 9 months today.

Military Wife

The good Lord was creating a model for military wives and was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared. She said," Lord, you seem to be having a lot of trouble with this one. What's wrong with the standard model?"

The Lord replied," Have you seen the specs on this order? She has to be completely independent, possess the qualities of both mother and father, be a perfect hostess for four to 40 with an hour notice, run on black coffee, handle every emergency imaginable without a manual, be able to carry on cheerfully, even if she is pregnant and has the flu, and she must have six pair of hands."

The angel shook her head. "Six pair of hands? No way!"
The Lord continued. "Don't worry, we will make other military wives to help her. And we will give her an unusually strong heart so it can swell with pride in her husbands achievements, sustain the pain of separation, beat soundly when it is overworked and tired, and be large enough to say, "I understand" when she doesn't and "I love you" regardless.
"Lord," said the angel, touching his arm gently, "Go to bed and get some rest. You can finish this tomorrow."

"I can't stop now," Said the Lord. "I am so close to creating something unique. Already this model heals herself when she is sick, can put up six unexpected guests for the weekend, wave good-bye to her husband from a pier, a runway or a depot, and understand why it's important that he leave."
The angel circled the model of the military wife, looked at it
closely and sighed.

"It looks fine, but it's too soft."
"She may look soft," replied the Lord, "but she had the strength of a lion. You would not believe what she can endure."
Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the Lord's creation. "There's a leak," she announced. "Something is wrong with the construction. I'm not surprised that it has cracked. You are trying to put too much into this model."

The Lord appeared offended at the angel's lack of confidence. "What you see is not a leak," he said. "It's a tear."
"A tear? What is it there for?" asked the angel.
The Lord replied, "It's for joy, sadness, pain, disappointment, loneliness, pride and dedication to all the values that she and her husband hold dear."
"You are a genius!" exclaimed the angel.
The Lord looked puzzled and replied, "I didn't put it there."

Author Unknown

9 month check up

Today we had Ethan's well baby check-up. He now weighs 20.3 lbs, and his length is 28 inches. He has lost some weight but the doctor said it was due to him crawling. Thankfully there were no shots at this visit, but Ethan reacted as if he was given a shot. He is going through this whole seperation anxiety thing and the nurse or doctor could't get close to him without him clawing on me. It got worse when I placed him on the scale and stepped back. He started to cry so bad it sounded like a growl. The doctor said we should try leaving him with a sitter so he can get used to being around other people.

Goodbye walrus crawl

I guess the babies at playgroup had an effect on Ethan because later that night before bedtime, Ethan gave up his walrus crawl for the regular crawl. Here is the video .

Ethan goes to the farm

Today we visited the Young's Dairy Farm and Pumpkin Patch. We had fun petting all the animals and Ethan got to sit on the tractor. Ethan enjoyed playing with all the pumpkins and he picked two baby ones for himself. We finished off the visit with some homemade ice cream from the dairy.

Ethan goes to the farm Part II

It's getting colder

The days are getting a little colder; today's temperature is 55 degrees. However, it didn't stop us from going to playgroup. Ethan was having a ball and just couldn't get over all the other infants moving around. He kept me busy by either chasing him or prying him off of another baby. He has this fascination with heads. He is constantly trying to touch their heads and then grabs their hair.

It was also a great chance for me to meet some other AFIT spouses. We each brought something to eat and a recipe to share. I brought muffins and my recipe was for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip bread. It is so delicious and I got it from another spouse at Goodfellow.

I enjoy getting out of the house and socializing. You know I don't say no to talking or to food!

Old foggies

The other day Eric and I started to watch Wheel of Fortune. Yes, I admit it! To us it seemed that only old people got into it. We catch ourselves watching it everyday. Isn’t that sad! How did we go from knowing which bars had their nightly specials in college to actually scanning the preview guide to find Wheel of Fortune or the Price is Right which by the way I think Barker is a robot because that man was super old when I was a baby. In my defense I do have some age appropriate shows, like Grey’s Anatomy and Fashion Runway. I just wish they didn’t come on so late, because 10:00 is my bedtime. Yes, 10:00 is my bedtime, go ahead and laugh but if I don’t get my sleep I am not the nicest person. It is just not our TV viewing that surprises us but the other night I treated myself to a cape cod for my birthday. For those of you that know me, would know that it is my drink of choice and have drank them for a while. The other night I realized I hadn’t had one in a LONG time because after one I was already loopy. It isn’t that I don’t like to drink while watching Ethan. It is just if you drink more than one, it is so hard to get up with a baby. Therefore, it is just easier to not drink.

I don’t know if this is due to becoming parents or if we have just gotten soft but hopefully we can figure something out so we don’t feel so old. I will tell you one thing though; I am not giving up the Wheel of Fortune. Especially because Eric and I race each other to see who can solve the puzzle and I sometimes beat him. He hates to be beaten by a girl, which is why we don’t play rummy any more. Well then I guess there is only one solution to fix our problem. Drink more!

From Daddy to Ethan

The rocking chair that Ethan is on was once Eric's. Too cute!!

What is going on? Part II

Last night we did the same “ going to bed” routine we have always done and he was put down at his bedtime, which is 8:00. Eric and I went to bed earlier because we were sure it was going to be a repeat of the night before. Plus we had some new ideas on how to fix this and were ready to try them out. However, around 7:15 this morning, Eric and I were so surprised to see that Ethan was still sleeping. I honestly have no clue what is going on. I hope it was just a phase and that the late sleeper Ethan replaced the early riser.

Backyard Fun

Showing pride for the UNM Lobos.The gate won't stop me, I will go up the side.
Just hanging around.

What is going on?

For the past couple of weeks Ethan has been waking up earlier and earlier. He use to wake up at 7 everyday, which we loved! Then he started to wake up at 6, then it was 5, then it was 4 and ending with the earliest which is now 3. After an hour of trying to calm him down to go back to sleep, I eventually give up and hand him a bottle. Once he is done he goes back into his crib and I can hear him playing for about 10 mnutes and then he is out till about 7. I just don't understand what went wrong. He was doing so good, now it seems were are moving backwords. All the books say that he is going trough the whole seperation anxiety phase, but I don't think that is it because he could care less if I was in the room, he just wants his bottle. It could be seperation anxiety from the bottle, I suppose. I have tried packing his last bottle with cereal but that didn't work. Uugh I hope he either grows out of it or we are going to have to start reading more on how to solve our little problem. Any suggestions would sure be helpful.

Little Daredevil

This picture was taken a couple of days ago, but I just had forgotten to post it. He has advanced from just standing there to actually being on the third step. We will be going to get a gate as soon as possible.

Happy Grandparent's Day

We hope that everyone received their cards of appreciation, especially since Ethan signed it himself.

Now you get it…. and so do we.

For a while now, Ethan has been saying Dada and Mama but Eric and I knew that he was just repeating us and not truly understanding the meanings. However, the other day I walked out of the room and he started to crawl in my direction while saying mama over and over again. That is when we started to think that he was catching on. What confirmed it was when Eric was holding Ethan and he looked at me, extended his arms and started to say mama. It was so cute that he wanted me and actually made it known by saying mama. The best time is when he is crying and says mama. It makes me feel so loved that he understands I can help whatever the problem may be. It is great to finally see appreciation.

Even though, Ethan hasn’t directly said Dada to Eric. I think he knows who he is because everyday I say “ Look, Daddy’s home” Ethan will stop what he is doing and look at the door. Once he notices Eric, he will start moving his arms like he is saying, “ Hey, I am over here.” Then he starts moving real fast towards the door. I think it brightens Ethan’s day as well as Daddy’s.

However, since Ethan has realized that he can express himself through his voice we are also getting some bad behavior. The first time was when I had him in the bath and he wanted to turn the wrong way in his bath, so I turned him back to where he was supposed to be. After the third time of doing this, he looked up at me with his nose all scrunched up and gave a loud scream. I didn’t know what to do so I just stood silently but inside I was freaking out because my precious baby had just turned on me. Eric, who was in the next room, walked in and said “Did he just yell at you?” I replied, “I think so…or it maybe just sounded like a yell but he was just playing”. (Case: Naïve mother doesn’t want to think that her 8-month would already be acting up.) Well, what finally opened my eyes is when Ethan started yelling at Eric because Eric kept moving him away from the trashcan. Ethan just started yelling with this ugly face of anger. Eric, in a higher voice says “HEY!” Ethan stopped and looked down like as if he knew he had done something wrong. Eric and I looked at each other with the expression of 'what have we created?' He just turned on us overnight. Since then we have been getting louder screams of disapproval and tantrums that consist of him pushing you away or trying to throw himself out of your arms. I thought this happened around the terrible two’s; he is not even a year old yet.

8 months old today!

Here is a video of our little man moving around.

Here's my teeth

Here are some pictures of the crazy haired child showing his fangs.

Look at all of the green!

These are pictures at our new house. Being in the desert all of my life I have only heard of the beautiful green landscape.

So much to talk about

We are so excited that we have cable and Internet now!! We were going crazy and felt disconnected from the world.

This year has flown by so fast and I am exhausted. Not only from the rush of getting our home together but just keeping up with Ethan. He is moving around so much and seems to weigh more and more everyday. Going up and down the stairs in our house is exhausting but hopefully my legs will get a great workout.

Ethan is still doing the army crawl and I am wondering if he will continue since it works so well for him and not try to crawl. He has started to pull himself up using the couch but just can’t seem to hold on and falls back onto the floor. I am just excited because now that he has been able to sit on his own for a while without falling over means I have switched car seats and don’t have to drag that bulky one everywhere. It is so great when we go into a restaurant or into a store and he just fits great in the cart or highchair.

Lately he has become so interested in the Jager and is constantly crawling towards him and tries to grab at Jager’s face. Jager is such a good sport and takes it with stride. However Jager loves to give Ethan kisses and sometimes gets too excited so I have to be right there to stop him because Ethan loves it when Jager licks him and laughs in delight.

Ethan is still a happy eater but has now made it clear of what foods are just not for him. Green Beans and Peas are those foods. I have tried them over and over but he just gives me this look like “Are you serious?’ and then starts to gag. However he likes all the other vegetables so it isn’t just fruits and desserts. His favorite is Dutch Apple Dessert and when he is being fed his favorites he has started to say Mmmmmm after each bite. It is so cute!!

Ethan still has his two bottom teeth but I doubt it will be long before a couple more start to pop up. I can tell when one starts to cut because it seems that he just whines all day no matter what I do. Although he does love to go on walks and sometimes it cuts the whining out. It is starting to get a little colder outside so I don’t know how much longer I will be able to take him. In Texas during September I was wearing shorts and tank tops, in Ohio I am wearing Jeans and have a sweater on hand. I guess we have traded the heat for greenery. Now we will be able to experience all seasons.

I am sorry that this is so long, just so much has happened.

PICS: The top two are from when we went to Schlitterbahn, the next two are when Tiffany came to visit us and we went on the boat for some fun and the last one is of Ethan's Baptism with us, his godparents and the Preacher.