Ethan's cup overfloweth

Ok. I know we all love Ethan. But what are we going to do with all this stuff??? John and I spent a few hours last night cleaning out old toys, opening the new ones, and putting some in storage to pull out later. When Ethan came out this morning and saw a few of the new toys lined up against the living room wall, he got so excited. He is in toy heaven. So I guess it's worth it. Maybe this glut of toys will help me convince John to paint the basement and put in more lighting so that it's a more usable storage space. We sure need it!

Packing...And packing...And packing...

You would think that packing for three days would be easy. John and I can share a small suitcase. No big deal. But packing for Ethan takes days of planning. If we don't make lists we forget things we need. (Last time we forgot a sheet for Ethan's portable crib!) So I began the list on Tuesday. Wednesday I rechecked the list, added a few things, and did all the laundry so that Ethan's cutest clothes would be ready. Thursday was crazy packing day. Nearly everything is packed. Today (Friday) is load up the car day. This is a big job because we have to fit the Christmas presents in! I know that it seems like I've stretched this out, but our schedule (mostly my work schedule) keeps me from being able to fit more in. So today, John is going to come home from work early so that we can load up the car before I have to head to work. I should mention that I work 3pm-11pm. This means that I will come home tonight and crash at about midnight, have to get up early so that we can pack the last few things we've still been using, get ready for the day, and be on the road by 9am. Yuck! But at least it means we get to spend Christmas with family. Next week, maybe I'll post "Unpacking".

Explosion!

Explosion of new things I mean. Apparently Ethan had a minor ear infection for a few weeks. No fever, no pulling on his ear, no unusual fussiness. But we now realize that he wasn't trying new things. As soon as we discovered it and treated it, we had a different boy on our hands. Our shy, cuddly guy is suddenly social, and not afraid to wander off in large groups of people. He has also become very assertive and throws tantrums or refuses to eat if things aren't going his way.

The one exciting change has been an increased vocabulary. Almost everything is now a "book", except for diapers ("yuck"), and "milk". Ethan has also started making new signs. The sign for 'baby' is to rock your arms like you're holding a baby. Ethan holds his arms out and twists his body. SO CUTE! He also signs 'more', 'eat', 'all done', 'dog', 'flower', and he just signed 'cat' last night.

We are so proud! (And exhausted.)