So Chatty

Ethan has suddenly started picking up new words. (Finally!) But never ones we expect. He says things like "See ya" or "wiggle, wiggle, wiggle". He even started singing the right words to a song in the car today! We were listening to an old tape of 'The Monkees' and there is a song that goes "I..I..I..I..I'm not your stepping stone". Ethan usually sings the I's and dances along, but today he said 'stepping stone'!!!!!

This bodes well for potty training as he seems ready, but doesn't have the words he needs yet. YAY!!

And for those of you who it matters to, we will be in California for the next week, and then Colorado the week after. If we don't see you out there, we will see you when we get back! I will try to post some pictures of Ethan at the beach, with his great-grandparents, with his new baby cousin, etc.. while we are gone if I can.

Bedtime giggles

John is getting Ethan ready for bed. I don't know what's going on in there, but they are having fun. Hearing my two favorite guys burst into giggles is the best sound in the world.

My little Missionary

We were listening to InsideOut's Primary Colors album today when the song "We'll Bring the World His Truth" came on. I suddenly had this vision of Ethan as a missionary and couldn't stop the tears. I'm already so excited. I already miss him. I know that it's more than 17 years away, but it seems to be coming so fast! I have been watching him and can see his potential. He will be great. I'm tearing up again as I think about my little missionary.

John's Father's Day Present

I've been working on a little scrapbook for John. I think I've mentioned it. (But before I show it off, I need to give credit to Lisa Bearnson for designing the kit I used, and SEI for all the great supplies in the kit.)

OK. I scanned in the pages, pulling out tags so you can see what's on them. (I wish I could make them bigger so that they're easier to read, but free sites have their limitations.) They will be in a few posts, but I will set the times so that they are in the right order. And I brushed out a few names for safety sake. Enjoy them! I sure do.

cont...

and more...

finally...

Happy Father's Day!

Yay for all the dads!

Loving this

I'm a work and bored. So I've been reading blogs and poking around. Found something so fun. I am LOVING this T-shirt! Although it would take some guts to wear it in public, I totally need to get one the next time I'm nursing.

My UNorganized Home

I discovered a website yesterday that has gotten me in the mood to organize. (For those of you who don't know, I LOVE to organize things. Not that you could tell by looking at my house.) The site is www.organizedhome.com. I am going to start by making lists! What else. Actually, I'm making a binder that will have things like a calender for the week (that includes the schedule, chores, and menues), a to-do list, emergency numbers, a general phone list, freezer inventory, etc. I know that it sounds ridiculous, but I am excited to structure my life a little more. It's hard to get things done when it all becomes overwhelming. When I have to just pick what's most pressing, things tend to wait until they are disgusting before they make it to the top of the list. It will be nice to know that I can ignore all the other chores because they will get done another day. Here's to hoping this works!

"I no no"

That's how we all said "I don't know" at my house growing up. Ethan was saying something similar until just a few days ago. Now he doesn't say anything, just shrugs his shoulders! If we ask him where something is,he just looks at us and shrugs his little shoulders. Even if he knows. It's the cutest thing EVER!

Bad Days

It started yesterday with me already suffering from a miserable sinus infx. One of those ones that makes you soooooooooo sick, but doesn't seem to be bacterial, so you only get to fight it with Sudafed and Nyquil. Yuck.

So then Ethan and I headed to his 18-month well-baby check. All was going well until the doctor glanced at his height and weight measurements toward the end of the appointment. Ethan hasn't grown AT ALL. He's not any taller, and he has only gained 1 ounce in 3 months. His Dr isn't really concerned yet, but now we have to push more fatty food and take him back next month. If he still isn't gaining, then we get to start the testing. We are hoping it's a combination of growing into his genetics (both John and I were scrawny little kids) and his activity level.

And then the best part happened. Not 5 minutes after we'd arrived home, I leaned forward and my back started to spasm. Not a little twinge, but full out muscle spasms. John had to come home from work, and I spent the rest of the day trying to find a position that wouldn't set it off again. No fun at all. After only an hour or two I was so sick of laying around, I kept trying to do things and ended up hurting myself more. Anyone want to trade backs? PLEASE!!!

That was yesterday. Today we started off with the same. Me with my sinus infx and still some back pain. I sent John to work. Ethan decided to react to the immunization he got at the Dr's. We are hoping that Benadryl will take the swelling and itchyness down. But the nurse said that if it hasn't improved at all by this afternoon, we will need to go back in. (I only have one kid and already the dr's office is our second home!) I marked the swelling so that we could tell, and hopefully it will be Ok. If it doesn't go down it's probably an infection. Yuck.

And today gets better because I have to go to work. And it's also my weekend, so I work the next two days too!! It's gonna be great, and will definitaly speed my healing time! Maybe I'll call out sick on Sunday.

I just want these bad days to be over

I forgot!

How could I forget??? The congestion was allergies too. So when we are back at the dr's for his well-child check-up, well talk about allergy meds. YUCK! I was hoping Ethan would get lucky like me and have no allergies. But with my family's history, and John's seasonal sneezing fits, I should have expected it. Such is life.

AH HA!

I've identified the cause of Ethan's rash. Ethan is allergic to his sunblock! So now we are on a quest to figure out which ingredient it is. I have a guess, but it's one that's in every single sunblock I can find. We are already figuring out which parks have shade at which times of day. It may be a while before we can find a sunblock that doesn't make Ethan all itchy, and we can't stay inside until then, so we are going to try to play in the shade and be outside for shorter spans of time. Allergies are sooo frustrating!

In a Good Mood

It's hard not to be in a good mood when running errands means you get to listen to Ethan singing along with the radio in the car. I doesn't happen often because he's still shy about singing, but when it does, it just makes my day.

Week 3 cont.

So we went back to the doctor this morning. He spiked a fever yesterday afternoon and screamed for an hour and a half until John came home from work. Apparently daddy is more of a comfort at the moment. (It's OK. Usually it's the other way around.) So while he was screaming, and I was attempting to calm him down and not burst into to tears myself, I scheduled the appointment. I was kind of obnoxious and got them to open up an appointment with Ethan's actual pediatrician, and not with whichever NP had an opening.

It was good. She checked him for pneoumonia, a sore throat, and rechecked his ears. No pneumo, no sore throat, and ears getting better slowly. We talked it out and decided that the congestion (which has caused all of the problem over the last few weeks) probably has an allergy component. So we are going to cut out the decongestant, give Ethan a HUGE dose of Benadryl before bed, and see if he still has a bad night. When I say HUGE, I mean he is getting the normal dose for a 6 year old. I'm just glad it knocks him out instead of making him wired.

So, hopefully this will be the end of our miserableness. Maybe we will get a solid night's sleep sometime soon! OH NO! I forgot. She also said she could see his molars coming in. So maybe we won't sleep. But I can dream, can't I?

Week 3 of the Virus

The first week we had all those crazy symptoms. Then, in week two, it seemed to be clearing up, except for a cough at night. The cough got progressively worse, waking Ethan up several times a night b/c his throat was so clogged with mucus he choked on it. But our days were fine, so we just gave him decongestant and hoped that it would pass. Sunday (the beginning of week 3), the mucus problem began to creep into daylight hours as well. After no nap that day, I decided to take him in Monday morning. Lo and behold, the mucus was creating yet another problem. A double ear-infection. So now Ethan is on an antibiotic, a decongestant, and a pain-killer. And he still sounds like he might cough up a lung. I can only pray that there is no week 4.

Random Photos

I just uploaded a batch of photos from the camera, so I thought I'd share a few. (I think that the first two are sideways.)

"Look Mom! I found the outside!"

I don't know what's so funny about that piece of bread, but apparently it was hilarious.

Tasting Daddy

Ready for a prayer

Taking the stairs

This is the sign he makes when he asks "Where is it?"

Having a lunch at the big table because the high-chair was not our friend that day.

What a cute boy we have!

Randomness

1 - I was just working on a little scrapbook about John. (I'm doing a set of four small ones to cover 2006. One about Me, one about John, one about our family, and one to recap the year.) It's fun to try to come up with a list of random facts about your husband (did you know John has an obsession with jackets and bags??) or try to characterize him with the 26 letters of the alphabet. It's surprising the little things that I don't really think about, but make up the person that I love. Try making a list of fun facts about someone you love. I guarantee it will make you smile!

2 - Ethan has a serious oral fixation. I kind of assumed it would go away by now! He not only puts literally everything in his mouth, he walks around chewing on his fingers all day. People always ask if he's teething. No. He just likes to see how things taste and what happens if he bites them. So gross.

3 - Ethan is getting so grown up! I cut his hair and in just a few minutes he went from looking like a little toddler to a big one! And he has new words every day. Everything from "Let's go!" and "Where is it?" to "I don't know" and "I can do it". Oddly, he has fewer single words.

4 - We bought a little slide at a garage sale today. After I cleaned it, we put it in the living room and let Ethan go wild. I think it was the best purchase we ever made.

Photos!

I finally figured out why I couldn't add photos to my blog. Now that I can, I will try to put in pictures of Ethan every so often. (Definiatly more often than John.) These are from a month or so ago, but are just the cutest! Ethan was eating macaroni and cheese when he decided that it would make great hair gel.