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.

Waiting for Internet

The base library is the only place that I can have access to the internet since the cable people can't get out here till Sept 6th. Therefore this will be short due to the fact I have Ethan with me.

He now has two teeth and is still fiesty as ever. His smiles were always cute but now that he has teeth, it adds in some extra cuteness. "Walrus" is the nickname that Eric has given Ethan because when Ethan starts moving around the house he looks just like a Walrus. He has not learned that he needs to pick his legs up to crawl, so he ends up pulling with arms and his legs follow him. It is something different to see. He will get into the crawling stance but ends up backing out. By all this moving around the saucer has been replaced with a walker. He loves it and is all over the kitchen. However, since this kitchen is about half the size of our last he has to move with the walls and there is not really that much space. Yesterday we backed the cars out of the driveway and let him loose. He was loving it and it was a work out because he was in bed by 8 without a fuss.

I will add tons of pictures once we get the internet so that everyone can see how big he has grown. I think he is going thru a growth spurt because his naps have been longer than they usually are.

1300 Miles

We have finally made it!!!! It was such a long drive and hit us a little harder than expected. Picture this. 2 cars, 7 month old Ethan, 1 hyper dog and both cars packed to the max. I can leave it up to your imagination on how the trip went. With all that over with, we have been busy trying to get settled.

Eric has a lot of down time till the beginning of Sept so we have been trying to get processed and eagerly waiting for our furniture to be delivered. Unfortunately, it will not be delivered till Monday. This is due to the huge mass of students coming in for the fall session. Therefore we have already started sightseeing what unique things there are in this area. Yesterday we went to the Aviation Museum on Wright-Patt. It is a great museum with so many wonderful exhibits. We got a chance to learn a little on the history of the Wright Brothers first flight leading to all of the modern planes. We will defiantly be taking any guest that comes to visit us; it is something not to be missed.

I love the neighborhood that we have moved into because it is family oriented. As soon as 7 o’clock rolls around it seems everyone is outside either socializing with their neighbors or playing with their kids. Everybody has come over and welcomed us to the neighborhood. They all are AFIT students and spouses so that helps me a lot because they can give me the low down on what life will be like. The best part is that there are 2 other babies on the block around Ethan’s age, so that should be fun.

Ethan has been so busy! He has turned into this curious infant that wants nothing to do with us (well until it is feeding time). After a while of holding him, he is trying to wiggle out of your arms to get on the floor and experience life down there. He has got the sitting position down and can even go from lying on his stomach to the sitting position. He hasn’t started to crawl yet, but it isn’t far off. He will get on all four’s see something he wants lay on his stomach and then pull with his arms and push with his feet. He is getting better everyday and I have to keep a close watch on him because he will be across the room before I know it. As soon as I get our computer up and running I will put a video on of him doing it. He has also discovered outlets, and I am constantly telling him not to touch them. Even though they are covered, I still don’t want prying hands all over them. Lately, Ethan has become more vocal and still has his fake couch. People have looked at us awkward in restaurants because of his weird noises. We just say that he is okay and he does it on purpose. Ohh I almost forgot, Ethan has started his sippy cup. I wanted to make sure he could hold his own bottle before we started the cup. He loves it because I think he sees us doing it and wants to do it too. Anytime he sees me drinking from a cup he grabs it and drags it to his mouth and starts to drink from it. (Sometimes it is coke! I know bad mommy, I am slapping my hand now. Hey at least it is not alcohol!) Anyways, he likes it and it may help us out later when we will start to take the bottle away.

First Tooth

On the morning of August the 5th, I couldn't get Ethan to stop fussing so I lent him my knuckle to chew on. He was searching for anything to put in his mouth. It was then that I realized that something really sharp pricked my finger. I looked in his mouth and there was a little sharp tooth piercing out of his bottom gum. Of course we had to wake Daddy up and show him the new tooth. Since this has happened the only fingers he will be biting on are his own. That tooth is real sharp!!