Ethan Trying to Crawl

So Ethan is very mobile - he rolls everywhere, can get from laying down to sitting up and then back down again, has stood alone several times, is starting to pull himself up on furniture, etc.

But for some reason, he can't quite figure out crawling yet... and I think the poor guy is getting frustrated about it!

My very favorite part is around :20, where he does the downward dog thing.  And I just love all the babble - can't you just HEAR him saying, "Dad, I'm trying to get this and it just isn't working!!"?

Hold your horses, people - once he figures this out, we're in for a wild ride! :)

Ethan in Video

As mentioned, I take more videos of my little guy than pictures.  So here's the good stuff:

Mike is so good at making Ethan laugh.  Adorable!

First solid food - he didn't go for it nearly as much as Aidan did!  It also took Ethan about 2 solid weeks to really get into it (instead of 4.2 seconds like Aidan in the linked video!).

Demo of his mad sitting and banging skills.  Future percussionist, perhaps?

Finally, Aidan had a community ed class in a school building, and there I discovered Ethan's completely irrational fear of public toilet flushing.  Kind of mean on my part, but super hilarious!

Ethan in Pictures and Words

Oh no... second child syndrome!  Not only have I published about Ethan less, but I have fewer pictures, too.  Shhh - don't tell Ethan!  It doesn't mean I love him any less, just that I have less time!

Here are some recent pictures of my cutie.  I regularly call him nicknames that involve the word fat (Fatty Fat, Little Fat Fat, Chubby Fat, etc.) because I just love his cute fat legs!

I promise, my child is usually in clothes.  But really: why bother when he leaves lovely gifts like this?!

And also, he gets quite a few rashes in his fat rolls from sweating, so I figure that going naked can only be good for those, right?

Milestones:

Rolling over - he can, but doesn't often

Sitting - now a champ all by himself

Chewing toes - obviously, yes

Eating solids - total pro

Moving - some pushing and rotating, but no crawling yet (thank goodness!)

Blowing raspberries - one of his new favorite things, especially when he has a mouthful of food!

Seeing, Reaching, Grabbing, Putting in Mouth - um, yes.  He'll get a leaf, my necklaces, his food, YOUR food... you name it!

Teeth - none yet, but I think it will be soon

Sure love this little one!

And part of why I don't have many great pics is because I tend to take more video of him, so look for that post soon.

Three Years Old

People talk about the terrible twos... Aidan really wasn't terrible!
And then all these experienced moms told me that they though 3 was way worse than 2.

While Aidan still is a really wonderful kid, turning three has certainly brought some temper tantrums, especially about "doing it by myself!"  Here are some hilarious videos for you to enjoy!

I can't even remember why he was so mad in the car seat, but I thought the leg kicking was particularly amusing.

(In case you can't tell, he's upset because he got his arm twisted in the shirt when he put in on by himself, but he didn't want me to help him fix it.)

Does it make me a terrible mom that I laugh at these??

Cape

Wow, I'm so slow on blogging lately.  I figure most of you have given up on me by now, but I keep posting every now and then, more for my records than for anything else.

I made Aidan a cape for his birthday.  It was a great experience for me - my friend Lacey helped me learn a lot of basic sewing stuff that I didn't know before.  The cape is reversible so he can wear it to be either Batman or Superman.

He seems to like it!  And I had so much fun making it that I went ahead and made a second one (before I could forget how!) so that Aidan can have one for a friend (or for Ethan when he's older).  Go, superheroes!

Rock Climbing

Mike and I recently celebrated our 6th anniversary.  For his gift, I signed us up for an introductory rock climbing class.  We had lots of fun!  We learned how to tie ourselves in, how to belay properly (Mike is heavier than I am by enough that he sometimes lifts me off the ground while I'm belaying him!), and we got to try a few walls.  Mike is definitely more skilled at it than I am (no surprise, looking at those muscles!), but we both had a great time!  In fact, they gave us passes to come back free in the next 2 weeks (to help cement what we learned), so we will be heading back again soon!

New Patio Door

When we had our home inspection before buying this home, one of the things that came up was that there was some wood rot on the base of the patio door.  Obviously, we didn't want that to spread into the wood of the house.  Also, the door swings in, which took up a lot of space in our (very small) kitchen.  So we decided to replace the old door with a new sliding one.

Here is the old door.

See how much space it took up when it swung in?

Here's the wood rot on the inside corner...

...and the outside corner.

And you can see the gross treads on the base board.

 So we had the Home Depot guy come install it.  (He was a great sport about being in all of these pictures, and he did a great job, too!)

He started by taking off the trim.

He had one very captivated two-year-old watching!

Next, out with the old - part 1

and part 2.

Unfortunately, the rot had already started to spread beyond the door itself, which was one of our concerns.

Luckily, the fix was this simple - a new piece of 2x4.

And now, in with the new - part 1

and part 2!

Batman thought this whole show was absolutely fascinating!
We sure like our new door!

Minneapolis Trip

While I was in Utah at my sister's wedding, Mike decided to do a mini vacation with Aidan.  They went to Minneapolis for two days.  They visited the Mall of America, complete with a trip to the aquarium there, a few rides on the roller coasters there, and a visit to the Lego store. 

Isn't this the most gorgeous photo?  It's completely un-edited... I think Mike should get some kind of prize for it!

I love the backpack!  Aidan hauled around his own spare pants and underwear, just in case... (didn't need them, thankfully!)

Not only are his arms adorable...

But this face is priceless!

Mike said Aidan just wanted to build here forever.

They stayed at a hotel overnight, then went to the Children's Museum the next day.  (I didn't find any pictures from that.)  I'm glad they got to have fun together, even though I wished I could have come, too!

Quick Trip to Utah

I was so excited to have the chance to visit Utah in April for my sister Rebecca's wedding.  I took Ethan with me (since he is free to fly and still needs me for nursing), but Aidan stayed with Mike.  Since I didn't want Mike to have to take too many days off work, it was a super fast trip, but I loved every minute of it. 

I loved getting pedicures with my sisters.

The temple ceremony was absolutely beautiful.

Jacob CREAMED Rebecca at the reception.

And of course, I had to get a picture with the blushing bride. 

Yes, Spencer, we all see your photobomb in the background.  Thanks for that.

Another great part of the trip was getting to meet new members of the family.  I had never met Jacob before the wedding, but he seems like a great guy.  Of course, no one but my mom had met Ethan, so they all got to see him.

I got to meet my new nephew Mason, who was born only weeks before the wedding.

I got to meet another new nephew, Jared, who was born about a month before the wedding.

After the wedding festivities were over, I had half a day before I needed to go back home.  Did we relax?  Of course not!  Instead, we threw a baby shower for Spencer, Whitney, and Mason!

Whitney with Natalie (Mason's birth mother), and of course little Mason, too.

This shows the three newest grandkids in the coordinating blankets, all made with love by Grandma. 
L to R is Mason, Jared, and Ethan.
There is another coordinating blanket just awaiting my nephew that should be coming any day now!

What a wonderful trip!  Congratulations again, Rebecca and Jacob!

Easter 2012

I'm only a LITTLE behind, right?!  I've been meaning to update for a while (translation: lots to come now that I finally found some time to sit down and do it!), and these were too cute not to share.  We did a community hunt again.

Aidan got a lot better at this year's hunt than last year's!

Little Ethan slept through everything.

 We also did a little hunt in our backyard.



Aidan's favorite were the eggs that had loose change inside.  And I love this picture - it really captured his running stride!



So triumphant - I got one!

Aidan at 3

My Men of Steele

Aidan made this birthday hat himself.

For the record, here are some things about Aidan as he turns 3.

Weight: 35.9 lbs
Height: 40.2 inches

Loves:

• All things Toy Story
• Searching for anything with a flashlight, especially his plastic bugs that he will hide all over the house and then find
• having Ethan lay on his (Aidan's) stomach
• being outside, especially if he can play in sand
• playing with our neighbors, especially their 5-year-old, David
• playing in the bathtub
• reading stories

Aidan with Mr. Potato Head, one of his treasured birthday gifts because it is a Toy Story friend

Aidan wanted to make a Mr. Potato Head on a tortilla like they do on Toy Story 3.  He actually did pretty well!

Dislikes:

• tomatoes
• being interrupted in the middle of something

Skills he has mastered:

• daytime potty training
• saying that his birthday is on June 2nd
• showing his age with fingers (although he can't say the matching numbers)
• talking a mile a minute about everything
• clearing his own plate and silverware
• memorizing favorite stories and "reading" them back to us
• coloring on the actual picture instead of all over the page (although still not staying in the lines)
• is just beginning to buckle himself into his car seat
• conjugating verbs in an overly-applied manner (I "gotted" something, I "ateded" it, etc.) 

Skills he is still working on:

•  nighttime potty training
• dressing himself
• saying all his ABCs (he likes to sing the song using only the letters that he hears me say during piano lessons!)
• counting correctly (we often get 1, 2, 3, 11, 16, 17)
• saying certain sounds, such as ch, v, and r-controlled sounds (squirrel is "skull-uh," church is "totes," shovel is "shuzzel," David is "Da-did")
• pedaling his trike
• pumping his legs on the swings

Personality:

• generally very loving
• currently going through a very Mom-oriented stage
• perfectionist tendencies - wants things to be in certain places or done certain ways
• getting more rambunctious every day
• is developing such a cute sense of humor
• occasional temper tantrums - he must be three!

We sure love our little guy!

Aidan got mad at Buzz one day and put him in the time out chair.  Cracked me up!

Why yes, Mom, I DO fit in Ethan's excersaucer!

More Fun at Macy's

Yes, we have an adventure every time we go there.

Tonight we went to the mall to browse and see if anything caught Mike's fancy for his upcoming birthday.  Midway through shopping, Aidan suddenly needs to go to the bathroom.  Mike takes him in while I wait with Ethan.  When they are done, Aidan comes RUNNING out, so excited.  As soon as he sees me, he YELLS at the top of his lungs,

"MOM, there was CORN in my POOP!"

Oh, the joys of being two! :)

Guess the Boy

All right, folks. Some of these are Ethan, and some of these are Aidan. Can you guess which boy is which?

Growing Up

So (despite what you probably thought when you read the title), this post is about Aidan. Maybe it's just because I have a baby again to compare to Aidan, or maybe just because Aidan's getting older, but over the last month Aidan has really seemed to grow up. Suddenly, he can play independently (which is new and VERY exciting for me!). In fact, his favorite toys right now are these Toy Story toys that we are borrowing from some friends. He takes one with him EVERYWHERE, and he talks to them like they are real people - super cute.

He is completely potty trained except for night time (only because he can't get his clothes back on by himself and I don't want to be waking up for both boys instead of just one. Aidan is begging to wear underwear at night, too.). He doesn't even ask me or tell me if he needs to go potty - he just goes! (This makes for some humorous situations when he runs out of the bathroom naked from the waist down in the middle of piano lessons!)

All of the sudden, he stopped wanting naps. While he will occasionally fall asleep during his quiet time (see below), for the most part he can go all day without a nap and be fine. (Sad for momma!)

His sense of humor is growing and developing - he understands teasing more and even tries to tease us.

And he suddenly understands playing games way better than he used to. This video shows how he plays hide and seek with the Jessie doll. Notice that he hides her himself, then "counts" while peeking. When he's running around the house, he's saying, "Is she over here? No. Is she over here? No." And then he finds her! So cute!

I sure love my not-so-little boy!