Happy 1st Halloween!

I picked up an 8 hour shift today, so Ryan and I went to pickup Ethan at Mammaw's after we got home. He was super happy when we got there!! Mammaw had made us dinner (thank you!!), so we ate and then got Ethan dressed up in his monkey costume. We went over to Rich and Marla's to meet up with them and Grandma and Grandpa A. Ethan trick or treated with Grandma for his favorite, Sweet Potato Puffs! We hung out outside and checked out all the little trick or treaters, and then Ethan hung out with his cousins, Jack, Philip, and Mia for a bit. They decided to go walk around at some more houses, so we packed up and headed to visit Grandma and Grandpa G.

Ethan was very excited to show off his monkey costume! He even got to meet Grandma and Grandpa Hinger for the very first time - yay!! Ethan cruised and crawled around everywhere. Grandma Anne's brother Tim and Karen came in from Rhode Island, so he got to meet them, plus Dan, Mike, and Kathy! We had a lot of fun hanging out with the Hinger clan. Ethan was up WAY past his bedtime! We got him changed into his jammies, but he wasn't quite ready to quit partying yet. He was cruising around the family room, and Grandma Anne was chasing after him and Ethan LOVED it! He would cruise or crawl a few steps, turn around and look at her and start laughing, and then take off some more. It was so funny! He has just started doing this!

After we got home, Ethan was in the hallway with Ryan and started crawling away from him just like he was with Grandma Anne. He would crawl away, turn around and look back, start laughing, and then take off again. So cute!!

I am so excited! My new mei tai baby carrier came in the mail today! I have been anxiously awaiting it, and I absolutely LOVE it!! The fabrics are gorgeous and it is very comfy to use. Ryan even seemed impressed :) He was feeling better this afternoon, so we got out of the house to run to Northgate to do some returns and get a price adjustment on Ethan's shoes from The Children's Place. (BTW, I am so not impressed with http://www.childrensplace.com. It took two weeks to receive a package from them, which is way longer than I have experienced ordering anything elsewhere!). So, we got to try out the mei tai and it is fabulous!! I am very happy with my purchase! I got it from Sweet Slings, and the owner custom creates the carriers just for you. She even threw in a cover for free... so now, I really have 4 prints that I can use! Very cool and highly recommended!

Share the love...

Or share the illness? First me, then Ethan, now Ryan. Everyone stay away from our house :) Ryan stayed home to rest today... he's having chills and a fever now. Mammaw came to pick up Ethan and he had fun playing at her house!
I came home from work tonight to find my two guys like this on the couch. Love it!

Fall Festival at TCA

Ethan has been feeling fine and has not had any more fevers. He even slept through the night last night! We went to church this morning and then had lunch at First Watch, and stopped at Carter's to pick up some mittens for Ethan (thanks for the tip, Mandi!) Then went home to rest for a bit before going back out tonight. Our church had their annual Fall Family Festival this evening. We took Haley, Brianna, and Ethan and had a great time! The girls had a lot of fun on the rides. We had some treats, took a hayride, and the girls got their hair painted and went trunk-or-treating. Ethan loved watching all of the people, of course. We also got to see Aunt Lindsay and Shawn in his costume! It was great fall weather, but it got chilly so Ethan's new mittens really came in handy. He did really good keeping them and his hat on! He usually yanks his hats off :) We were there until the end, and everyone was ready to crash by the time we got home!

Congratulations, Heather and Brian!

Ethan hasn't slept well the past few nights and has been up quite often needing to be rocked back to sleep. His cry is different when he's sick and you can just tell he wasn't feeling good. But Ethan was acting like his normal self this morning! I called the pediatrician's office to talk to one of the nurses about what's been going on since they're only open this morning, and then closed tomorrow. She recommended just keeping an eye on him and if his temps come back to bring him in on Monday.

Since Ethan was feeling better, we decided to get out of the house and go down to the aquarium for a bit this afternoon. They are having a special event for Halloween called "Ghosts of Pirate Cove" with underwater sword fights, pumpkin carving, costumed divers, etc. We had a lot of fun :) Ryan got his season pass, so now we have a family pass for the whole year! Ethan loved checking out the aquarium with Daddy. He really loved the big turtle and tried to touch it! The aquarium was decked out for fall and was all decorated. We missed out on the swordfight, but we got to see one of the divers dressed up as a pirate! Ethan also got to pick out his own pumpkin from the little pumpkin patch. We think we will really enjoy our passes here. They also do a big Christmas event, so we will look forward to that next!

Big news on the talking front! Ethan actually started saying "Dada" today! He has said "Da" every now and then, but he is now saying "Dadadadada!!"

After we got home, Grandma and Grandpa A. came over to watch Ethan while we went to Heather and Brian's wedding. He was going to go to their house to sleepover, but since he's been up so much the past two nights, we figured it would be better for him to sleep at home, and then he wouldn't keep Grandma and Grandpa up all night :) Grandma said that Ethan said "Dadadada" lots!!

Heather and Brian got married at the Vineyard right up the road from our house, and had a gorgeous reception at the Fairfield Community Arts Center. Everything was beautiful and their reception was so much fun! They had an awesome DJ, and some hilarious dancing - Brian busted out his Michael Jackson moves, of course :) Heather looked absolutely stunning! We are so happy for the both of them!! They are off to enjoy the warm beaches in Jamaica for their honeymoon on Monday! Congratulations and best wishes for a wonderful life together!! And lots of babies :)

Rough night :(

I hate having to go to work when Ethan isn't feeling good. It makes me feel helpless that I can't be there... and of course I'm scheduled 12 hours today. He did not sleep good last night AT ALL... he was up several times before we even went to bed, and then woke up every hour or so. I ended up bringing him to bed with us and he finally did sleep a few hours. I called home often for checkups, and Mammaw said he seems to be feeling a little better today and is more alert. He's still running temps, but we haven't noticed anything else going on. I'll probably take him into the pediatrician tomorrow if this keeps up.

Our little man's not feeling well...

Ethan started running a temp out of the blue today while he was at Mammaw's. She checked and it was 101.4, and he didn't seem to be feeling good so she gave him some Tylenol. Ryan and I went to pick him up after we were finished at school and work. We were out of medicine at our hosue, so we stopped at Walmart on the way home. Ethan looked so sad and sleepy... like how you feel when you just want to crawl in bed and pull all the blankets up all around you! After we got home, I checked him again before bedtime and he was up to 104, so he got another dose of Tylenol. He doesn't have any other symptoms, so we are just going to keep an eye on him for now. When he had a fever in the spring, Dr. Leanza said it was okay even for him to go up to 105 (depending on how he was acting and other symptoms, of course). Hopefully he feels better soon.

First Halloween pics

I wanted to take Ethan to get a good picture in his Halloween costume since we don't have studio lighting, etc. We had an appointment at 12:30, but he ended up sleeping in until 10, so we got an earlier appointment since he was up and happy! We went to JC Penney by our house. Mammaw met up with us there and helped us get Ethan to smile and laugh :) We had some pictures taken in his monkey costume and also in an orange monkey shirt and jeans. They turned out really cute! I will post the pics when we get them back. The photographer got some cute shots, but I wasn't really happy with her personality, so if we go to JCP again we'll probably go back to Colerain, we liked the photographer there much better!

Ethan dozed off after we got in the car, but woke up soon after we got home. He pretty much took a nap hiatus... everytime he would doze off he wouldn't sleep very long. I went to dinner with Jenni and Sheila and Ryan said Ethan fussed and wouldn't sleep the whole time I was gone. It was so nice to get out for a bit though! He did good going to sleep tonight, though. We have just been reading his story and giving him kisses and putting him down, and he will whine for less than a minute and then drift off. Hopefully those pesky teeth aren't bothering him!

For all the Bengals fans

Mandi had this posted on myspace and it had me cracking up! Especially since I got to take care of one of the players (that's all I can say)... even got to meet some of the team - Shayne Graham came to visit! I'm sure they wouldn't have found the following so funny, though... I tried to keep my cool :)

The Ohio State Police are cracking down on speeders heading into Cincinnati. For the first offense, they give you two Cincinnati Bengals tickets. If you get stopped a second time, they make you use them.

Q. What do you call 47 millionaires around a TV watching the Super Bowl?
A. The Cincinnati Bengals

Q. What do the Cincinnati Bengals and Billy Graham have in common?
A. They both can make 70,000 people stand up and yell 'Jesus Christ'.

Q. How do you keep a Cincinnati Bengals player out of your yard?
A. Put up a goal post.

Q. Where do you go in Cincinnati in case of a tornado?
A. To Paul Brown Stadium-they never get a touchdown there!

Q. What do you call a Cincinnati Bengals player with a Super Bowl ring?
A. A thief.

Q. What's the difference between the Cincinnati Bengals and a dollar bill?
A. You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.

Q. How many Cincinnati Bengals does it take to win a Super Bowl?
A. Nobody knows and we may never find out!

Q. What do the Bengals and possums have in common?
A. Both play dead at home and get killed on the road.

Come on, Bengals! 0-7?! Where's our team?

Fall Family Festival

Last night I made Ethan some new foods... Ryan wanted him to try broccoli, and I guess he should have a well-rounded palate, so I bought some... I hate broccoli with a passion! I made him a cheesy broccoli chicken casserole with pasta stars and he tried it today at Mammaw's and she said he ate it right up! So either he likes broccoli, or his first real taste of cheese was a hit. Of course he has to be a cheese lover because he is a Branton!

After I got off work, Ryan and I went to get Ethan, Mammaw, and Brianna to go to the Fall Family Festival at Pierce Elementary, my alma mater and Haley and Brianna's school. This is the last year for Pierce to be open! They are building a brand new school, and I believe tearing Pierce down. Brianna will go to the new elementary next year, and Haley will head off to junior high! It is hard to believe it is that time already! We met Mom and Haley at the school. Ethan got dressed up in his monkey costume, Haley was a witch, and Brianna was a pirate.

Ethan even got to pose with the "great pumpkin". He wasn't quite sure what to think! He had the same blank pose as he did when he saw the Easter bunny in the spring... wonder what he will think of Santa?

Stop being so persistent, Mr. Capricorn

Ethan is really on the go. He is climbing all over us like we are jungle gyms, and he's beginning to figure out our obstacle course that we've placed around the living room. He's pulling pillows out of the crevices we've stuffed them into, climbing over his carseat... and he even crawled through the gap between the chairs under the kitchen table! Ryan and I were cracking up... he sees a path, and he goes through!

Oh, my gourds!

We seriously had the best day ever! Ethan is super happy in the mornings, and on days when all three of us are home, we bring Ethan into our bed when he wakes up and we just lay there and chat and he plays and laughs and talks with us. It is precious moments that we really treasure! We got ready for church and headed to service. Ethan napped about halfway through and then was so good during the teaching and enjoyed the music worship as always! And a big congrats to Mary and Stew - they got engaged last night!

We went to First Watch for lunch with Grandma and Grandpa A. Ethan had a whole meal of table foods and he did great! He had banana, strawberry, cantaloupe, potatoes, and waffle with blueberries. He is doing really good chewing with his 6 little teeth. It is very cute to watch him chewing!!

After lunch, we headed over to the GOP headquarters again for a Christians for McCain event with Grandma and Grandpa. Ethan snoozed through it, but we all got a Christians for McCain button to sport. Ethan even got one and is proudly displaying it on his pumpkin seat :)

Next in our big day of events was a stop at the VOA Park for a job fair for the new West Chester Medical Center. It's opening in March and we found out they'll be posting nurse job openings on November 4, so I'll be checking into that. It would be so nice to have a job closer to home! I spoke with a few of the nurse managers, and some OR positions could be promising :) We'll see how it goes!

After the job fair, we headed up to Lebanon to Irons Fruit Farm. I have heard great things about this farm from the girls on The Nest. We had a fabulous time! They have a huge corn maze (they have a different theme every year - this year is the election) and it is crazy to think that they are able to cut a maze in these crazy shapes through a corn field. Check it out:

They were SO busy! We stood in line for the hayride, and I went into the store to get us a few glasses of cider. It was seriously the best cider we have ever had! Ethan had a few sips and loved it too :) We took the hayride to the pumpkin patch... we sat right behind the tractor, and Ethan sat on Ryan's lap engrossed watching the big wheels turn and checking out the other people. We walked all around the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkins and even found a few green striped gourds too. Ethan had so much fun! He stood up next to the pumpkins in the patch and flashed his smile and laughed. We haven't seen him thoroughly enjoy himself this much doing something. We really had such a great time, this will definitely become a family tradition!! On the hayride back, he laid his head on my shoulder and conked out. He was exhausted! We stood in line for the bakery while Ryan took the pumpkins to the car, and he slept the entire time. He was completely out!! We got some of their famous apple cider donuts and an apple fritter... both were amazing!

We were heading south a different way than we had came (it was a beautiful drive through the country!!) and I was thinking we were close to Valley Vineyards... low and behold the road we were on came right upon it. So, we stopped for a tasting! Ryan got to try some new wines and we picked up a bottle of our favorite, Niagara.

We stopped at Outback for dinner on the way home... we were all hungry after our busy day! Ethan tried steak for the first time and loved it! He's going to be an Outback special lover just like us! I got sweet potatoes too and he usually loves sweet potatoes... but he kept spitting them out - he wanted more steak, lol!

Did we really squeeze all that into one day???

What's that??

Ethan was sitting on the floor in the family room today with Ryan while I was at work. The sun was coming through the windows and the rays cast themselves around Ethan and showed his shadow. Ryan said Ethan saw his shadow and was moving his hand and waving and trying to get it!! How cute!!

Be the Buckeye State, not an ACORN State!

We got up this morning and got Ethan dressed in his new voter shirt and headed out to The Square at Union Centre for the Sarah Palin rally. Ethan fell asleep in the car and woke up a little while after we got there, so he was still sleepy eyed. He did manage to keep his hat on most of the time though, which has been a challenge for us lately! We really enjoyed the speeches by John Boehner and Governor Palin and agreed with what they had to say. This is a tough election and everyone has a big choice to make! It is nice that candidates from both parties are visiting the Cincinnati area so we have the opportunity to hear in person what they have to say. Ethan got some kudos from other supporters on his shirt!

After the rally we went over to Deerfield and tried Qdoba for the first time. B1G1F in the Entertainment book :) It was yummy! They have more options than Chipotle and their salsa doesn't seem as spicy from the onions, which is a plus for me. I had a queso burrito and Ryan had the taco salad. Both were very good! Ethan snoozed, so no Mexican for him yet ;)

After we got home Ethan and Ryan played in the family room and I made us dinner. Macaroni Grill has new restaurant favorites box meals that you can make at home. We got one of each at the store to try, and I made the Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken and Pasta tonight. It was really yummy! We usually don't buy boxed meal kind of things any more because they have a lot of sodium and don't have much flavor. But we were both pretty impressed with this dish! It comes with everything except the meat, and this one even has sundried tomatoes, Ryan's favorite. It only took about 20 minutes to prepare after I had thawed the chicken. So very tasty and easy for a night when you don't really feel like cooking!

Waving to his friends :)

We read Goodnight Moon to Ethan every night at bedtime. He has been helping Ryan turn the pages! He does pretty good and turns them in the correct direction most of the time. Well, now he has started waving to the little characters in the book. He usually has his binkie in his mouth, but sometimes he'll pop it out and say "hiiii" and wave. It is so cute!

Ryan and I updated his resume and cover letter, and he's sending them in for a tech position posted for Middletown Public Schools. The position and salary information sound perfect so hopefully he will get to interview for it! Keep us in your prayers!

Our little Republican

We heard that Sarah Palin was going to be in town on Friday, so we looked up the local GOP headquarters and it is right by our house! We headed over there and picked up some tickets for the three of us to attend the rally, and a McCain-Palin sign for our yard. So we were wondering what GOP stands for anyways... leave it to Wikipedia to give me the answer! GOP actually stands for "Grand Old Party", which I never knew!

We went to Toys R Us and walked around to start getting some ideas for Ethan for Christmas and his birthday, and picked up some 360 games for Ryan for his own birthday and Christmas gifts. They were having a Buy 2, Get 1 free sale, and we had a gift card. He may know what he is getting, but no early presents!! We went to Kenwood Towne Center and walked around and just enjoyed the day. We discovered they are building Crate and Barrel along the backside of the mall and it is supposed to be opening late fall! Another fun place to visit :) We did find Ethan a new shirt at Children's Place... it says "Vote for my better tomorrow" - he will be sure to wear it to the rally on Friday!

In the mood for pancakes...

We had a great day today hanging out at home. I made pancakes for breakfast, so Ethan had pancakes for the first time! He ate half of a big pancake cut up into bite-size pieces. He did really good picking up the pieces and feeding himself! It is an adventure watching him feed himself :) We got in 3 naps today, although we're still rocking him to sleep most of the time. The challenge is when we go to lay him down, he stirs and wakes up and then cries and cries. We are working on it. He sleeps great once he is asleep! He is such the little cuddle bug, he doesn't want put down.

Ethan's new carseat came by UPS today, so we will be installing it in Mammaw's car. Unfortunately, it is almost time to transfer him out of the pumpkin seat, so we have been looking for a deal for a good seat for Mammaw's. We have two convertible seats waiting to be installed in our cars already thanks to Grandma and Grandpa G!

Monday at Mammaw's

Ryan and Ethan went to Mammaw's this morning after breakfast. He had to move Ethan's pack and play to the spare bedroom, because he was getting too distracted with it in the room off the kitchen. Hopefully he will sleep better being away from the action! He slept for over an hour after Ryan left, and had fun playing with Mammaw and Papaw. He was conked out snuggled up with Mammaw when I got there after work. So cute! We chatted for a bit, and then I headed home and we had dinner. We bought some tilapia fillets from Costco and they are so yummy!

Casting Call

Gap is having a casting call, a nationwide search for the cutest babies and kids to become babyGap and GapKids models, so we decided to enter Ethan :) Judges will narrow the search down to 20 finalists, and then the finalists will be voted on by the public. We got a lot of comments on his pumpkin picture that it looked like it was from a catalog or children's ad, so we entered it today!



I am feeling much better today, so I'm going back to work tomorrow. I haven't been to work in a week! We made Ethan up some batches of food today, and he also had some cut up pieces of McIntosh apple and slices of Bartlett pears. He LOVED the pears. They were pretty slippery for him to pick up, but he was taking bites and doing a great job eating them solid. I made some chunky cinnamon applesauce, chunky pears, chunks of steamed carrots, orange wedges, and a chicken/apple/carrot casserole for him.

Day of rest

Just a quiet day today... I stayed home from work again and Ethan went over to Mammaw and Papaw's around noon so I could rest. He went with them to Kroger so they could get their flu shots... too bad I hadn't gotten mine yet, huh?! Papaw said Ethan had fun sitting up and looking around at everything. He went to church with Mammaw and Papaw tonight and then they dropped him off on their way home. He played with his drop and roar dino for a bit and then went to bed. I got lots of rest today and feel like I'm starting to come back to life a little. At least now I can pick up Ethan again!

I hope Heather and the girls have a fabulous time out on the town for her bachelorette party tonight! I'm so bummed I had to miss it!!

Mind over matter...

I had the crazy notion today that getting out of the house and being outside would make me feel better. Winton Woods is having Fantastic Farm Fridays at Parky's Farm and I really wanted to take Ethan for a hayride since it was nice out today. We got there right before two and they had stopped the hayrides already, so we walked around for about 10 minutes and I was wiped out in that short amount of time. We decided to stop and get some lunch while we were out, so we went to Cracker Barrel so we could give Ethan some veggies too. He had cornbread, mashed potatoes, and pieces of steamed carrots. We tried giving him a carrot to hold and feed himself but they were so soft he pretty much squashed it in his fingers. He had fun trying anyways :)

We also stopped by Babies R Us to return Ethan's bassinet. It was recalled because two different babies had been found between the bars in the type of bassinet we had! The store told us to bring it back to the store for a refund when I called. We had no issues with it at all, but obviously we would rather be safe. We walked around for a bit and I kept getting really hot and dizzy, and Ryan said I was acting weird and talking funny so we wrapped things up and headed home to get some rest. I have a tendency to try to go-go-go and my body is telling me otherwise. We did pick up some crib teether rail covers because our little boy has decided to start munching on his wooden crib rails and leave lovely little teeth impressions. So not good!

Sick day

I called work last night to let them know I wouldn't be in today, and the scheduler told me he had the flu a few weeks ago and it sounded just like me. Lovely! Then someone from the office managed to call me and leave a message that they "desperately" need me to come in for 12 hours on Friday. The way I am feeling, I'll be lucky to go in for my day shift on Saturday... there is no way I can go in Friday!

I just rested at home today, and Mammaw brought Ethan home around 2. He was asleep when he got home, and after he woke up from his nap he loved on me and gave me lots of hugs, which made me feel better :) We went across the street to get some soup and salad at Applebee's and Ethan fed himself some chunks of bread, he did good biting off pieces himself! We weren't sure if he would cram the whole thing in his mouth, and he did not :)

Ryan took us for a drive since the weather was nice - it was nice to get out of the house and get some fresh air, and just to be able to relax and kick my feet back in the car. Ethan napped while we were driving. We stopped by Bigg's and got a very pretty mum for the porch (only 3.99!) and headed home. Donald and Franni came over and she cooked dinner for us, which was awesome!! To say the least, I have not felt like cooking. We had salad, rosemary pork loin, and yummy mashed potatoes. Ethan sat up in his high chair and ate some penne casserole cubes, and after we started eating he seemed to want more so he had some of Franni's mashed potatoes and loved them! We had fun hanging out and chatting, and the boys loved playing together of course.

I checked my temp before going to bed and I'm back at 101. I started some antibiotics tonight too. I hate being sick!

Hoping to get well soon...

Hopefully Ethan is not coming down with something too... he went to sleep around 8 last night, and between 12:30 and 2:30 he woke up 3 or 4 different times. I was in my Nyquil daze, so Ryan got up with him. I groggily awakened around 2:30 and nursed Ethan and he finally went back to sleep. He woke back up around 7 and was restless then too, nursed, and went back to sleep. Ryan was such an awesome help for me today... I have been feeling so weak just picking Ethan up is a huge task. I got to rest and sleep, and even got chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese in bed :) I keep having chills and then get hot, and I am achy all over. Ethan was playing nap hooky again today... he took his morning nap but never went back to sleep this afternoon until 5. Mammaw called on her way home and offered to keep him tonight, so we packed up his things and he went for a sleepover! Hopefully we will be feeling better soon.

Not feeling so hot...

We got up this morning and I made us a "real" breakfast to give Ryan some good nourishment before his Net+ exam. Ethan had oatmeal with berries, I had him sitting in his highchair while I was cooking. So I turn my head for a second and he managed to snag his bowl of dark purple oatmeal, and when I turned back towards him the whole bowl was going to his face. He had dropped the spoon out of it quite swiftly, and managed to get it down the cabinet, on the floor, and all over his hands and face. Thank goodness Ryan was still home to help!

I tried to put Ethan down for his nap because we were going to go out with Mammaw. Over an hour went by and he finally dozed off. He gets so intrigued by looking around at everything, he just keeps looking around and tries to climb all over you. It is a challenge. And then when we put him in his crib, he cries. Sometimes "crying it out" works and sometimes it does not. We try... but it is quite hard to leave him in there wailing! Alas, he finally slept for about an hour. After he woke up, we headed over to Kohl's so Mammaw could get some Christmas shopping done. Is it really that time already?

Ryan called to give me the good news - he passed his test and he is now Net+ certified!! Congratulations, honey, we are so proud of you!!

I wasn't feeling so hot when we got home so I laid down and fell asleep. When I woke up, I was not feeling good at all and ended up having a 102.4° fever with chills and body aches. Ugh!!

How to get a baby to nap?

I worked today and Ryan stayed home to study for his exam tomorrow while Ethan went to Mammaw's. He had a big bowl of oatmeal and banana for breakfast and then Ryan dropped him off. Nana came over and gave him a bath, but then he was being a little booger and wouldn't go to sleep. They managed to squeeze in a half hour nap. Naptimes are not fun anymore!! He has been fighting us most of the time. Guess he just wants to be part of the action!

First taste of pasta!

Ethan is such a mover and a shaker now, church services can be a little challenging! He likes standing and crawling around on us, and he is always grabbing at his diaper bag for something (usually puffs!). I just put some toys down on the carpet and let him scoot around today because he likes to be so mobile! We went to Costco after church to exchange our cheese (it had a spot on it - yuck!) and Ethan hammed it up for all the sample ladies.

We worked on making Ethan up some baby food this afternoon - we made sweet potatoes and acorn squash, and froze pieces of banana and cantaloupe. I made one of our favorite meals for dinner, Penne Pasta Casserole. Since Dr. Leaza gave us the okay for table foods, I chopped some up in the chopper and gave it to Ethan. He really seemed to like it! We froze some into cubes for him so we can try it again.

Ethan found steps...

I worked today so Ryan and Ethan went over to Grandma and Grandpa Abrams' to hang out. Ryan took Ethan's Leapfrog table and he showed off his new tricks, crawling and pulling himself standing to the table. He even pulled himself up one of the stairs! Uh-oh... looks like we have to get gates soon now! They went to Costco with Grandma and walked around. I met them afterwards for a late lunch - crazy day at work!! Ethan and I went to Kmart to check out their super double coupon sale - they were doubling anything up to $2!! We stocked up on some toiletries and found some curtains for our bedroom too. They were on sale for only $5.99 and are crushed chocolate faux silk curtains, which are just what we were looking for to match our bedding! I am making my birthday money stretch far :)

Today is also Grandpa Gabbard's birthday! Happy Birthday!!

9 month birthday!

Today is Ethan's 9 month birthday. It is so hard to believe he is 9 months old already!! I was bummed because someone asked me to fill in for them 3-7, so I got stuck working 12 hours today not realizing what today was. Silly Mommy!

Ryan and Ethan went to Grandpa's house today to help him work on his Ipod. Ethan had so much fun playing with Grandpa. He was crawling all over him like a jungle gym! It is his new favorite thing to do :) He also met Aunt Sue and was cheesing at her!

After they got home, Ryan made some mixed berry puree with raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries for us to give Ethan for his birthday treat. After I got home from work, I gave him lots of kisses and then we tried out the berries. He loved them! We wasn't sure how he would react since they're a little tart, but he wanted it all!

9 month checkup

We had Ethan's 9 month checkup with Dr. Leanza today. Our little man weighed in at 17 pounds, 14.5 ounces, which is "only" the 10th percentile for weight. Ryan and I are both in agreement that percentiles stink and are based on too many overweight kiddos. Ethan is perfectly healthy and has consistently been growing (he's gained almost 2 pounds since his 6 month appointment). It's so funny how many comments we get on "such a big boy!" when actually he's "small" for his age. Dr. Leanza wasn't really concerned at this point, but still gave a few pointers and we'll just keep an eye on him. He is 27¾ inches long (30th percentile) and his noggin is 44.5 cm around (40th percentile). We actually haven't really talked percentiles since his 2 month appointment, and I wasn't paying attention to them since he's consistently been growing well. Ryan was a small baby and child until his junior high growth spurt, so Ethan is just taking after his Daddy! The nurse did a toe stick to check Ethan's hemoglobin level in order to see if he was low on iron. His level was 13, which is great! She put a cute Tazmanian Devil bandaid on his toe, which he proceeded to immediately pull off :)

Dr. Leanza was very impressed with all of Ethan's recent activity! He was happy to hear all about his crawling, sitting, and starting to cruise. He thinks Ethan will be walking by his 12 month appointment! We talked about what Ethan has been eating and we got the okay to give him table foods and pretty much the options are endless. He can have dairy products in his food, just no whole milk until he is one, and we will hopefully still be breastfeeding past then anyways. He also can't have honey and we should avoid shellfish. We love our visits with Dr. Leanza - he is so at ease with us and so knowledgeable and open to our questions. He spent a good half hour or more just sitting and talking with us about everything that has been going on, checking out Ethan, and playing with him.

Ethan got his first Polio and first flu vaccines in his left leg. He cried for just about 5 seconds and then he was okay. He even smiled at the nurse after she was finished! We reread all about the Polio and flu vaccines yesterday and today to make sure we wanted him to get them now, and both agreed that they would be beneficial. Ethan will have to get a second dose of the flu vaccine next month since this is his first time ever receiving it.

After we got home Ethan took a nap, then he and I went to the store with Nana and got lots of fresh fruits and veggies to make Ethan, and also stocked up on some puffs and other goodies. Ryan stayed home and worked on babyproofing the cabinets! He got all of our kitchen cabinets done. Thank you so much, honey!!

Ethan fell asleep on the way home from the grocery, so when he woke up he was ready to eat and go night-night. He was pretty whiny while we were getting him ready for bed, and mostly laid his head on me while Ryan read him his story. He's usually sitting straight up on my lap helping Daddy turn the pages. I rocked him for a bit and then put him down, and any time I would even start to move he would really whine. I dance/rocked him and he still wouldn't let me put him down, so Ryan came to take over. He is usually the king of getting Ethan to go to bed, but Ethan wasn't having it. I left the room for about 10 minutes and he cried the whole time and looked at the door while Ryan was rocking him :( I rocked him more and laid him down and rubbed his back, and he still kept raising his head to make sure I was there. He finally conked out in the rocker, after his whole Praise Baby CD had played through! We will see how the rest of the night goes!

It really feels like fall!

I think the high today was 62 - finally fall weather! It actually felt a little chilly outside. It is fun getting Ethan into fall clothes, but a little bittersweet to pack up all his cute summer rompers! We had way too many clothes for summer and I feel like he didn't really get to wear some of them too often. Today he wore a white and orange striped rugby shirt and jeans, and looked just like a little version of Daddy! He even seemed to weigh more to me today, lol... he looks like such a little man!





We put the legs on his Leapfrog table so he could stand up and play with it. He did pretty good and is pretty steady when holding onto something!

We went out this afternoon to Barn-N-Bunk. They are the only place we have found the past few years that carry half bales of hay, which fits perfectly on our porch. We got hay, cornstalks, and a baby pumpkin for the porch... I want to try to go to a pumpkin patch to get bigger pumpkins to carve. We had a frozen apple cider and a pumpkin cookie to mark the occasion per our tradition!


I made broiled tilapia parmesan for dinner, so I cut off a small piece without topping to give to Ethan. He had green beans and tilapia for dinner, and did great! The green beans were pretty chunky, too. He seems to actually be chewing now, and he's even biting his puffs with his front teeth :)


We have Ethan's 9 month checkup tomorrow afternoon with Dr. Leanza. We're very excited to fill him in on all Ethan's new skills! We have noticed Ethan grinding his teeth the past few days since that top tooth came in, so we want to make sure and ask what to do about it. Any time we hear him doing it, we tell him "no-no!" but who knows if he really understands?!