The Adventures of E

Bucket Head

2011-07-26T17:18:00.001-06:00

The other night Ethan discovered the cookies cutters. It wasn’t the cookie cutters that caught his eye. It was the bucket that they came in. Within seconds he had dumped out all of the cookie cutters and put the bucket on his head. He then proceeded to run around the house screaming in joy.

Ethan never ceases to make me smile.

This is Where We Brush Our Teeth…

2011-07-15T11:47:00.000-06:00

…and then we take a bath :)

How to Pass the Time on Hot Summer Afternoons…

2011-07-14T11:29:00.001-06:00

Get blown away by the fan!

This kid cracks me up!

Official first word…

2011-06-06T13:58:00.001-06:00

Ethan’s official first word goes to BALL! He loves his ball. He has a basketball, soccer ball and football. The basketball is his favorite, but he has at least one of the three in his hands at all times. It goes with him everywhere!

In the car…

At the grocery store…

While eating dinner at a restaurant…

On bike rides…

While climbing the stairs…

Even while longing for mom to take him outside. He LOVES to be outside!

This one was funny. He got so excited when he saw his ball in the mirror. Then he went on and on for five minutes just talking to his mirror friend.

This ball picture is my personal favorite.

But I think if Ethan could choose, this one would be his favorite. It has all of his favorite things in one picture. Daddy, blanket, bottle, and of course his ball!

I can ask, “Where is your ball?” And he will go and find it, no matter where it is.

I don’t let him sleep with it, but I usually leave it on the floor next to the crib and most mornings his first word is ball. He points to the ball on the floor, and all he wants is for me to get him out of his crib as soon as possible so he can get that ball back in his hands.

I knew he liked balls, but I wasn’t sure he actually knew what they were for. Then the other day Aaron turned on the NBA finals and Ethan got so excited. He couldn’t stop pointing to the T.V. and saying ball, ball, ball over and over again. Aaron was hoping for a baseball player, but maybe we have a future basketball player on our hands.

He has a mini basketball too. Yesterday, I let him take it to church, but then he started chucking it at the people sitting behind us. I don’t think balls we be allowed at church anymore.

Ball really is the only word he knows. He has a few other words in his vocabulary, but I’m not sure he really knows what all of them mean yet.

He can say Hi and Bye. He doesn’t always use those at the right times.
He also says mom. I’m still not sure he really knows what that means.
He says “Oh Mo!” anytime he drops anything. Then he gets this pouty face.
He goes “awe” anytime he sees his blanket. In fact he actually drops to ground to snuggle with it every time he comes across it. It is adorable.
He says baba for bottle.
He goes vroom for a toy car.
He barks anytime he sees or hears a dog. Or a squirrel.
He goes “woooow” anytime he sees a hanging light or a ceiling fan.

But ball definitely wins as the word said most everyday. No doubt about it, we definitely have a boy on our hands.

We Have a Walker!

2011-05-03T15:01:00.001-06:00

Ethan took his first steps two days after he turned one. Then he did a pretty good job walking for about a week. Then he stopped. He refused to do anymore walking or even standing really. For two weeks he would just scoot around- not even really crawl. Then two Friday's ago he started up again all on his own. By the next Tuesday he had it down.

Let me present to you our walking baby:

First Hair Cut

2011-04-30T11:52:00.001-06:00

It had been obvious for a while that this kid needed a hair cut. The hair would hang over his eyes and ears. He even had a nice rat tail growing in the back. I was too nervous to do anything about it. Finally one day I just decided it was time.

Ethan hated every second of it. The second we put him in the chair, he started crying. I ended up having to hold him for most of the cut. He made it through and was so proud of his sucker in the end.

The hair cut is growing on me. I do miss it long. It will be a while before we get it cut again.

11/12 Months

2011-04-30T11:43:00.001-06:00

I figure now that he is 13 months it would be a good time to do his 11 and 12 month update. Ha! It is a long one, and it will also be that last one. I’ll still update the blog from time to time, but I’ll stop with the monthly updates.

Month 1 vs. Month 12

(Is that even the same kid?)

Height 31 1/2 inches 95%

Head 19 1/4 in 97%

Weight 24 lbs 6 oz 73%

We have a big boy on our hands. I am reminded of this every time we go play at the children's museum. Ethan will hang out with kids his size and then later I discover those kids are not 12 months, but 21 months. We love our big boy.

Not walking by his first birthday. 2 days after he turned one, he took his first steps. He did great walking on his own for about a week. Then it stopped for about two weeks, and he went back to crawling every where. Actually his crawling changed to more of a half scoot/half crawl. He is a funny kid. (He is walking now. I’ll get to that in another post.)

The refrigerator and dishwasher are like magnets to him. Within seconds of either one being open there is Ethan to take everything out.

He is quite the mess maker. In fact we call him ET now. The Ethan Tornado. Some days I wonder why I bother to clean as he is right behind me destroying away.

He is becoming more independent. He likes to sit on the couch all by himself. If you sit next to him he pushes on your leg until you get off.

He is off formula now and I am trying to limit his use of the bottle as well so he only gets that before bed.

This month he learned to give hugs. He wraps his little arms around you and says “awe!” The best thing ever! He also loves to snuggle and blow kisses!!!

He says mama and dada. I think he may even know what they mean now. Of course, Aaron is still the favorite. The second he hears the door opening at night, he darts for it screaming for Aaron to pick him up.

He also goes uh oh, or awe when he drops/throws something.

He can hoo like an owl, woof like a dog, and vroom like a car. He knows the difference between all of that.

He loves to sing. Popcorn popping is his favorite song. He loves to do the actions with it. Now anytime we sing any song, he sings along by saying pop, pop, pop.

He loves to dance. This kid will bob his head, shake his body, sway back and forth all in rhythm to the music. He is quite the dancer. He really loves music and musical instruments. He loves his drums and his maracas.

He also loves to conduct music. Anytime we are at church or whenever we hear choir music he gets that arm moving. He picked that all up on his own.

He loves to point at everything. Luckily I don’t have to read his mind. I always know what he wants.

He is still the slimiest and friendliest baby. Although, he still has no sense of boundaries. He preferred method of play with other kids is to poke their eyes and mouths. And then pull their hair. I am hoping that is something that he grows out of.

He still loves to read. He will flip through every page of book, point to all the pictures and then all of the words. If there is ever a bear or monkey he will kiss it. I have no idea why, but it is dang cute.

*Did I miss anything? Probably. I just love seeing Ethan grow and learn. I love watching the world through his eyes, because everything is just so exciting.

One Year With Ethan

2011-04-18T10:54:00.001-06:00

I went through and tried to pick my favorite picture with Ethan for every month of his life- sometimes I had to pick two. I can’t believe how much he has grown. Every month has been an adventure, and I am so grateful for every single one.

First days of life

Month 1

Month 2

Month 3

Month 4

Month 5

Month 6

Month 7

Month 8

Month 9

Month 10

Month 11

Month 12

Yay! We did it Ethan! We made it through one whole year together. I am so excited to see what year two brings.

Twins

2011-03-28T16:12:00.001-06:00

I am finally starting to see a little of Aaron in Ethan, but I still think that Ethan is about 98% Wray.

Here is my dad at 12 months.

Look familiar? I think if I gave Ethan a hair cut, they would be twins!

One Year

2011-03-28T16:08:00.001-06:00

March 26, 2010

March 26, 2011 (close enough)

I can’t believe that it has already been a year. I almost don’t remember what life was like with out him. Ethan has brought so much joy into our lives. We love you Ethan! Happy Birthday!

Trying to Escape

2011-02-20T22:15:00.001-07:00

The other day I was doing the dishes and I looked up from the sink just in time to see Ethan trying to escape out the front door! Haha! I guess he doesn’t like to be at home.

10 Months

2011-02-11T22:41:00.001-07:00

*I completely forgot to take Ethan’s 10 month photo. I am hoping that by posting this will be the motivation I need to get the photos taken. You’ll have to come back for the photo.

He learned to share this month. He will eat a Cheerio and then he will feed you a Cheerio. Although this really applies to anything that he puts in his mouth. He will put his bottle in his mouth and then try to put it yours.

He also learned to play peek-a-boo! He knows to put the blanket over his face and then to take it off to get the BOO reaction. Also, anytime you say “Where’s Ethan?” He covers his eyes with his hands. So cute!

He learned to wave hi! Anytime he sees you he will wave hello.

He cruises all over the place. Not only is he a speed crawler. He loves to walk around the furniture. Although I think he believes that he can actually walk(he can’t) because he will keep going even though there is no more couch to hold on to. There have been plenty of accidents this month.

He also learned to clap. Anytime we start clapping or anytime we say YAY he will clap right along with us. He loves to clap along to “Patty Cake.”

The kid loves to eat. He could eat all day and never be satisfied.

He now sleeps on his stomach, well kind of. It looks more like he fell asleep in the middle of crawling. Knees bent, bum up in the air, face squished into the mattress. It is adorable.

He moved up to a big car seat. I wanted to wait until he was a year, but he had reached 23 pounds and the weight limit on his other seat was 22 pounds. Plus he couldn’t fit in it anymore. I couldn’t even buckle him in.

I know I mentioned this in a previous post, but his favorite place to hang out is on top of the dishwasher. I can no longer do the dishes while he is awake or he will climb aboard.

He also learned to go from laying to sitting. He already knew how to go from sitting to standing. Now every time I go to get him after a nap he is sitting up or standing up in his crib waiting for me. It still kind of freaks me out. I haven't gotten used to that one yet.

Just for Fun!

2011-02-03T11:39:00.001-07:00

I haven’t done a good job of keeping up with the blog lately. So I thought I would share one big post about what Ethan has been up to lately.

Ethan loves to read! Anytime he gets his hand on a book he will lay on the floor to read it. Adorable!

Here is Ethan getting in his daily work out. I think this kid can do more pushups in one day then I have ever done in my entire life.

Lunch time is always more fun for Ethan when Mommy has planned bath time for dessert. (And that is avocado, not what you are probably thinking it is.)

My little shopper. The other day Ethan came out of my room with a bag around his arm. It was hilarious. He just dragged it with him all throughout the house.

I’m not sure what this one is about. He is probably mad at me for putting him to bed. He hates nap time now that he knows how to sit up and stand up in his crib. And Hey, do you see those two teeth? His bottom two are in and the top two just broke through this week.

This is almost a daily occurrence in our home now. Ethan loves to open and close doors. He frequently will close a door and get stuck in a room all by himself. Then he will sit directly behind the door crying, because he wants to get out. Luckily we have hard wood floors. I gently push on the door, as the door pushes him back far enough so I can get in the room to rescue him.

My sewing helper. He loves to push on the pedal as I sew.

My mess maker. We have finally started gating him in so I can do things like go to the bathroom without him destroying the house while I am gone for two seconds. He now loves to pull himself up on the toy shelf just to dump everything off of it. At least it is a contained mess.

I know these pictures are blurry, but they tell the story perfectly. Ethan loves to sing his ABC’s. He always sways back and forth as we sing. He even tries to sing along. He is always so proud of himself afterwards. He gives himself a be round of applause.

The Climber

2011-01-27T22:35:00.001-07:00

Ethan almost over night has become very mobile! He is a speed crawler. Plus, the kid thinks that he can walk. He pulls himself up anyway that he can. Then he cruises around the furniture. When the couch or the bench or the chair ends he keeps on going- well tries to at least. There have been plenty of accidents this month. He doesn’t even walk yet and I already feel as if I spend my days chasing him around the house. Yikes!

Here is his latest adventure- climbing. Yesterday I turned my back for a second to pull something out of the oven. When I turned around he had climbed onto the dishwasher! Oh how I love this little boy!

Doing Laps

2011-01-12T13:25:00.001-07:00

Ethan has started walking around the furniture. He loves to do this! You know when he gets in a walking mood because he stiffens up and refuses to sit. So when he gets in this mood I let him cruise around the crib. He makes him so happy to just do laps.

I Was Tired…

2011-01-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

…he was hungry. Terrible idea? At least he had fun.

End result: Being sprayed down in the sink. I can’t tell which part he enjoyed more.

First Basketball Game

2011-01-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

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9 Months

2011-01-02T20:53:00.003-07:00

66% Weight 21 1/2 lbs
97% Head 18 3/4 in
97% Height 30 1/2 in

This month he started crawling. As far as baby proofing goes, sure he can get distracted by the occasional power cord. The thing that I have to watch out for the most is shoes. He loves to lick the bottom of shoes! Sick!

This month more than any other I noticed that he could tell the difference between us and other people. Ethan has always been such a people person(can you say that at 9 months?) He loves people. I am often reminded of a quote from Elf… “Smiling is my favorite!” I can just imagine those words coming out of Ethan's mouth. He loves to smile at people. This month was the first time that he got nervous, on occasion, when someone new was around.

He loves Aaron! Anytime Aaron leaves for work Ethan will just cry and cry. When Aaron comes home from work, if he doesn’t hold Ethan right away, Ethan will just cry and cry until Aaron picks him up.

He first tooth finally broke through.

This past month was Ethan’s sickest month so far. He started the month with a terrible cold and high fever. He ended the month with the flu. If this next thing doesn’t prove that Ethan is mine then I don’t know what will ;) The only thing that would comfort him while he was sick was a Mickey Mouse book. I would try to distract him with others, but Mickey Mouse was all that he wanted :)

Ethan is still as awesome as ever! We can’t wait to see what another month will bring!

Here is a video that I forgot to add the other day. We have trained Ethan to shake his head No!

Good Morning

2010-12-29T11:43:00.001-07:00

Now that Ethan’s hair is getting longer he has started to wake up with some sweet bed head.

Video Time

2010-12-20T10:23:00.001-07:00

Ethan is growing so fast! I love it! He recently learned to army crawl. I was hoping to put off the crawling until Christmas was over. I couldn't hold him back any longer. Two weeks ago he decided that he was done spinning himself in circles. He wanted to actuallly get somewhere. It all happened so fast.

Wednesday looked like this. Slow and steady.

By Friday he was a speedy- well speedier?

This video is just for fun. Last week Ethan started sniffing everytime I gave him a bite to eat. Nothing was sour. Everything was fresh. Mostly peas, carrots, and oatmeal. Now he will bust out this face anytime. He will squint his eyes, scrunch up his nose and and sniff away. Love this kid!

Eight Months

2010-11-30T14:40:00.001-07:00

Weight 21 lbs

He loves to dance! Anytime a song comes on he just starts bobbing his head and swaying back and forth. Hilarious!

He understands the word no! Well we have at least trained him to shake his head anytime we say no. It is adorable!

He is sooo close to crawling- well army style. It is probably my fault that he isn’t already crawling, because ever since he has started licking the floor I don’t give him much tummy time. When I do he uses his arms to pull himself around.

Even though he is not crawling he can still get around. Just this morning I sat him on my bedroom floor. He scooted his way over to my dresser, pulled it open, and then stood himself up. He started to pull everything out, but he hasn’t learned that if he lets go he will fall down.

He says “dada” now.

He hates his car seat.

He is starting to get picky about where he sleeps. He will only sleep in his crib, stroller, or car seat(then only if it is in the car and the car is moving.) Although last week he took a decent nap at my in-laws. He also passed out on the bench during sacrament last week. So he is not totally picky, just pickier.

He laughs. He has been doing this for a while. Now almost anything can get him to giggle.

He loves to smile at people. He will stare at people with a big smile until they finally look at him and give him a smile in return.

He is a very active boy. He cannot stop moving. Standing, sitting, jumping, wiggling, grabbing and then repeat every 10 seconds. He will not hold still. Church is starting to get so fun ;)

He finally likes to cuddle, but only sometimes and only when he is tired. I’ll take what I can get.

He has learned to put his arms up when he wants to get picked up.

Life with Ethan just gets better everyday!

And It Begins…

2010-11-05T08:50:00.001-06:00

The other night while attempting to get from the sitting to the crawling position, Ethan fell over and hit his head on the corner of our coffee table. This caused his forehead to split right open. He wasn’t even phased. He cried for maybe a minute and then he was back to his very happy, very active self. He’s a tough kid. Ethan has been glued back together and is doing just fine. And as you can tell below it has really been bothering him ;)

Now with more of this happening… (yea, he did that all on his own)

I think this may just be the beginning of many accidents to come.

Seven Months

2010-11-04T11:50:00.001-06:00

I can’t believe another month has gone by! It is crazy how fast Ethan grows and how fast he changes. You can tell by his picture that he just keeps getting taller.

20 pounds (Only 2 pounds away from a new car seat. I am dreading this!)

He is always babbling away. He loves to say “Mama” all the time. Although, he doesn’t actually know what it means.

He is teething. This means that my pro sleeper is not such a pro anymore. He still sleeps through the night and if he wakes up it is just once. It is more of the naps that he struggles with.

I can’t decide if he will be crawling soon or not. Some days he’s almost got it and then other days he is completely clueless. I haven’t been preventing him from learning to crawl, but I haven’t exactly been encouraging him either. So that is why I think it is so fascinating that he is figuring it out on his own. It is not like there is anyone at the house crawling around showing him how it is done. I just can’t keep him off his tummy anymore. He will get himself into the crawling position anyway that he can. Then he tries so hard to use his legs to push himself forward. Mostly he just turns himself in circles or goes backwards rather than moving forward, but he will get it eventually.

He loves to stand on his own, while holding onto something of course.

He has started to pull himself up. If there is ever something at his level that he can grab onto, he grabs a hold and pulls himself up. Some days I think he may walk before he crawls.

His favorite toys are still not toys. He loves the tags on anything- clothes, stuffed animals. His favorite toy to play with on his jumperoo is the price tag.

He loves peas, carrots, apples and bananas. He hates sweet potatoes and pears. He likes all of his food cold. He wont take a bottle or solid if it is warm.

He LOVES people. He loves going to the store or anywhere in public because he gets to give so many smiles. He especially loves babies. Anytime he sees a picture of a baby he gets so excited!

We love you Ethan!

Halloween

2010-11-04T11:14:00.000-06:00

Ethan had an eventful Halloween weekend!

Thursday- Ethan headed to over to the Auraria Campus Fall Festival with his good buddy Brynley. They trick or treated and played games. He sported Costume #1- the skeleton.

Friday- Ethan headed off to do more trick or treating with Brynley. This time at the Children’s Museum. He sported costume #2- the giraffe.

Saturday- Ethan went to hang out with the other giraffes at our ward Halloween party.

Sunday- Ethan greeted the trick or treaters disguised in costume #3- Superman.

Happy First Halloween!

Teething

2010-10-20T10:42:00.001-06:00

There have been a few times where I questioned whether or not Ethan was teething, but I am finally positive that the poor guy is teething. He drools non stop, his poor gums are swollen and you can feel and see those teeth about to pop through any day. (Although I say this but it could be another three months before they come in. What do I know?)

Well the only thing that comforts this poor guy is his pacifier. Which is funny because last month he wanted nothing to do with it. I almost tossed them because he wouldn't take it anymore. But sometime last week he discovered one lying around the house somewhere and he hasn't let go since. The second it falls out it is fussy Ethan in full force. Luckily, he is old enough now that he knows how to put it back in by himself. Although sometimes he doesn't get it in just right (see below). But that doesn't stop him from sucking away. He loves it just the same, if not more. It always cracks me up.