The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I could come up with excuses for why I haven't posted in a while, but the real reason is that Ethan is a toddler. And I'm exhausted. So let me catch you up on our little crazy man.

The Good. Ethan's vocabulary is growing. He loves that he can communicate, and gets soooo happy when we understand him.

The Bad. Quite often, we have no idea what Ethan is saying. His understandable vocabulary is much smaller than he thinks it is.

The Ugly. Tantrums ensue when we can't figure out what it is Ethan is asking for. And he has taken to biting me if he thinks I'm not paying close enough attention.

In general, Ethan is still a happy boy. But my patience wears thin on those days he decides nothing is going his way. I just have to keep reminding myself that it will pass. Eventually...

John's New Job

No, John still has the old one. But John has had a second job for a few months now, and although he thinks it makes him seem nerdy, I'm proud of him. So I'm sharing. (I may not be totally accurate, but I'll try.)

Not long after we were married John started playing Neverwinter Nights (Think D&D type game, set in a medieval world, with LOTR type characters.) About two years ago John discovered an online perpetual world based on the game. This world (Avilis) is huge and has innumerable ways for people to play, including simply standing around, having a conversation, but in character. John loves this. As he became involved in the human/elf war and helping other players learn things, John made a name for himself in the area he plays in most. He added to this by contributing several stories to the Fan Fiction site and writing a play that was performed in the game (this is a weird thing to imagine, but it was pretty cool.) Eventually, John applied to be a DM (dungeon master, effectively an overseer, keeping tabs on players and setting up quests and adventures.) Enough of the current DM's knew of him that he was quickly accepted. But this isn't the job.

John made quite an impression in this group. When one of the guys who keeps the site running (read: makes sure that the server space is payed for, usually through donations from players) wanted to start an online magazine about RPGs (role playing games), John's name was suggested. So John is now editor-in-chief for World Forge Magazine. This doesn't really make us much money, but it's great experience for John. He decides what goes in the magazine, edits some of the articles (he has an editing team to help out), and is responsible for making sure the magazine is ready to go each month. I'm so proud, and excited that John is doing something that he loves, and that I believe is the direction his career should take.

If you want to see what the magazine is about, check out WorldForgeMagazine.com (unfortunately it requires a subscription to read the full magazine, but John set up the front page so that you can get the idea.)

Pretend Play

At Ethan's 15 month checkup, the NP asked if he started "pretend play". I thought about it and said that he imitated us in play alot, but I hadn't seen him creating his own little stories yet. When she left to go make up his shots, Ethan sat on the table and talked to his doll. I watched as he cuddled it, rocked it, kissed it. When we came home, Ethan fed Baby some raisins (I later fished them out with tweezers) and gave him a wagon ride. I guess I hadn't realized that Ethan pretends all day. He's growing up so fast!

BTW. He was just under 33" and 26lbs. He's still growing steadily, but has come down to the 75th percentile. (Thank goodness.) All his developmental milestones are right on target, if not ahead. And he couldn't be more healthy. We have good friends whose son is one week older than Ethan. He started chemo last week. As we help them and keep them in our prayers, we are constantly reminded of the blessing Ethan's health is. We are eternally grateful for it.

I love my husband

John posted on his blog about the "new" bike his brother got when they were kids. As he was telling me about how he had been asked to not tell his brother it wasn't new, he had tears in his eyes. I love that he has memories (like mine) of the lean years when we would make do and try to not let the younger kids know that they were missing out on anything. And I love that he was even more emotional when he talked about doing the best we can for our kids. How can I not love this man.

Baby Talk

We've tried to be careful about not using baby talk. Let me rephrase that. I'VE tried to be careful about not using baby talk. Getting John to use real words is sometimes difficult. He usually just repeats what Ethan is saying (which Ethan loves), but it's hard for him to learn words when he never hears them. This isn't really what I meant to write about, but the situation taught Ethan an interesting lesson.

Ethan has discovered that people talk differently to babies. They usually speak in higher pitched voices and say nonsense words. I discovered that our boy was so observant when I asked him to get Baby (his doll). He immediatly raised his voice and made little noises while looking for it. When calling for Baby worked and he found it, Ethan picked up the doll and cooed at it. This baby talk has expanded to all dolls, stuffed animals, and occasionally his little people and horses (they go with his castle playset). What a cute boy!