Our little water lover

Ethan loves playing in the water. Bathtime is his favorite time, and he does his little "flashdance" while we're getting the water ready. The water coming from the faucet is like a huge treat for him... he will stick his hands and toys under the water coming from the faucet and just giggle away. Sometimes he will take a shower with me too - we have a handheld sprayer and he just loves the spray from it. We've been looking into getting a sand and water table for outside since he loves playing in the water so much. Well, this morning we were downstairs and I heard a sound like the little door stoppers boinging. He came to get me and wanted me to come with him, and his hand was wet. He walked to the refrigerator where I noticed water streaks down the door, and he reached up on his tip toes and was pressing the lever that the water comes out of on our fridge! I cannot believe he can reach it already. Ryan was just saying that he seems taller! So it looks like we will start using the lock button, or we will have a mess all the time :) I guess he was thirsty!!

Follow the leader!

I had a really bad headache this morning so Ethan and I stayed in the mother's room at church so I could watch the service with the lights off. I had the door closed and Ethan wanted to wander. He came to me, grabbed my hand and kind of pulled at me so I would stand up. Once I was standing, he kept ahold of my hand and walked me over the the door, and reached up towards the door handle. This is the first time he has led me over to something. Pretty cool!!

Grandma Anne's birthday was yesterday so she and Grandpa came over to have lunch with us today. I tried a few new recipes and they turned out pretty yummy! We went to Jungle Jim's to get some fresh produce and I got some rosemary, so we had roasted rosemary and garlic red potatoes, and I found a great marinade recipe for Grilled Rosemary Garlic Porkchops. Very highly recommended! Ethan loved having some playtime with Grandma and Grandpa. Happy Birthday, Grandma Anne!

Playing hide and seek

Ethan's new favorite thing to do when we're getting ready is playing hide and seek in the closet. He has discovered that he can push Daddy's shirts aside, and he runs behind them against the wall. We will say "where's Ethan? I can't see Ethan?" And he will run out and start cracking up. It is very cute and tickles us to death :)

Time to toddler proof the toilet...

Ethan loves having a cup of cold water, dipping his binkie in it, and then sucking on it. He will do it over and over and over again. Well, this morning I was on the computer and heard some noises in the bathroom. I walk in there and he is standing there DIPPING HIS BINKIE IN THE TOILET! I about died. He must have thought he had died and gone to heaven with that gigantic "glass of water" to dunk his binkie in. Who knew those toilet straps they actually sell for babyproofing might come in handy??

Today I believe we have reached teething hell. Ethan has been a wonderful teether and I have always wondered what usually happens with other kids because they haven't seemed to bother him before. He's had eight teeth for a long time, 4 on top and 4 on bottom. Last week, he got one of the right bottom molars, and a couple days ago he got one of the left bottom molars. He's been a drool machine with a runny nose, but that's about it. Today was a completely different story! His left canine tooth is coming in now, and he turned into a little monster at times. He was mean and fussy most of the day! He would get into things over and over that he normally does not do, would throw a fit at the drop of a hat, hardly wanted to eat, and even scoffed at his fave cheese and crackers. The old ice cube in the mesh feeder was a godsend at dinner time, and then Daddy went out to get some of the Hyland Teething Tablets I've been hearing about and it really worked wonders for him. It was close to bedtime, but he had been super fussy after dinner, and he really seemed to calm down and not be in pain pretty quickly after taking the tablets. I hope they make him feel better!

Check out this photographer!

Jessica from my mom's group is an awesome local photographer! She's also doing a great giveaway for two photography service gift cards! Check out her website and blog to see her amazing work and her cute kiddos!

Memories That R Precious Homepage
Memories That R Precious Blog

Happy Thursday

It's a gorgeous day outside today! Ethan's down for his nap and we're going to go shopping with Mammaw after he wakes up. I just wanted to give an update on what's been going on with us!

Friday morning we took Ethan to get his picture taken with a live bunny. They do it every year at Glamour Shots of all places, lol! It was fun seeing Ethan interact with the bunny, but it was a little crazy trying to get a 15 month old to stop and pose with a bunny. We picked two shots and they should be back soon :)

Friday afternoon, we went to Ethan's 15 month checkup with Dr. Leanza. It went great! Ethan was very interactive with Dr. Leanza, babbling away, playing with his car, reading a book, and showing off his drawing skills. We haven't really gotten into letting him color yet, and Dr. Leanza gave him a pen and paper to see what he would do. He held the pen like a big boy and scribbled away. Dr. Leanza was very impressed that he was immediately "tripod-ing" the pen and holding it correctly like a big boy! We talked about all the skills Ethan's doing and he was very impressed, saying he's at or above where he needs to be developmentally. I was a little nervous about his communication because I feel like he's not saying many words, but after we sat down and talked about it, there are quite a few words and sounds that he repeats, and Dr. Leanza said those count as words too. He got his 4th Pc vaccine and only whimpered for a second. He weighs 22 pounds, 11 ounces, and is 30 1/2 inches long!

Saturday, we went to breakfast with Grandma Gabbard for her birthday. It was yummy! Happy Birthday!! Then we met Mom, Haley, and Brianna and went to the zoo and used our family pass. It was crazy busy! They had festivities going on for Easter until 2, and then it started to clear out some. Mandi, Jason, and Lucas came and we got to hang out with them for a bit too! It was a great day for the zoo... clear and a little cool, so perfect for walking around! Ethan and Lucas loved looking at the fish and the manatees. Ethan was all about being right up on the glass and looking in, so I guess another trip to the aquarium is in order soon - we got passes there too but haven't been in awhile. There was a scuba diver in the tank and he swam right up to Ethan and put his hand up to the glass and they gave eachother five's - too cute!! My favorite part of the day was riding the train... we were riding over the lake and the ducks were swimming in the water... Ethan started saying "guck" and "duck"!! I totally did a double take, but he was definitely saying them both!!

Sunday was a very busy day for Ethan's 2nd Easter! We went to church with Mammaw, then to Karenetta's for lunch and for Ethan's first Easter egg hunt!! He did a great job surprisingly! He walked around with Aunt Haley finding eggs and putting them into his basket :) I will post pics and a video soon! We went to visit with Grandma Joy Joy and Bur Bur for a little bit, and then we went to our church for the egg hunt and carnival. The egg hunt was absolute madness... there were 10,000 eggs and I bet they were gone in less than 30 seconds!!

Monday, Ryan started his new job!! He's working for a company that does all the IT work for GE. It's right by school so he is closeby to finish up his coursework over the next few months too :) The guys in his department are all around our age and in similar places in life, so it seems like it will be a really good fit. He really likes it!

Tuesday, Ethan and I went to meet our friends Jennie and Caleb for a playdate at this cute toddler play place called Jumping Joey's. It is filled with soft flooring, balls, soft play things to climb on with tunnels. The boys really had a lot of fun!! The last time we tried to get Ethan to go through a tunnel was a few months ago at Mason's house and he was not having it. He went through the tunnels today independently so I was a very proud Mama!

Yesterday, we went to dinner PF Chang's. I had seriously been craving it and they had a special 15% off for tax day. Ethan is so funny, he loved it all! He really loved the filling for the lettuce wraps, and ate up the chicken fried rice and Mongolian beef too. Sometimes it's a challenge to get him to eat certain things, but he loves Chinese of all things (he loves lo mein noodles too!) Afterwards we went to church for our first small group with Pastor Brad, he's doing a series on finances with Dave Ramsey, and it was nice to meet some new faces at church. Ethan had his first nursery experience and did great!! The two mom's in the nursery said he did excellent at communicating and would shake his head no and answer yes when trying to get his point across! We're so proud of our little guy!

In the last week, Ethan has started saying "yes", "Ta-da!", "duck/guck", "dah-dah" for dog, and "Nigh-nigh"!!! He has also started saying "Mama" again after a long hiatus, so my heart is melting all over again! There is nothing sweeter to me than him saying Mama and giving me love :) When we say, "Give xxxx some love, Ethan", he will give you hugs, pat you, grab your leg, put his head on your shoulder, etc. Love it!

*More!*

Megan is on Spring Break this week so Ethan and I drove over to Indy to meet her at the outlets. We thought it was going to rain but it turned out to be another gorgeous spring day! It worked out well that Ethan napped in the car, which was a good thing because I totally got lost. Mapquest routed me on some random route through the country roads in Indiana and I would have gotten so lost had my hubby not directed me on the phone. Mapquest was SO off! Plus one of the random country roads had a bridge out, which was less than helpful. So I guess I will have to stick with google maps, or invest in a GPS :) We had yummy lunch at Max and Erma's and just enjoyed walking around and doing a little retail therapy.

After we got home Ethan was eating some crackers in his highchair. We have been working on doing some sign language with him and got little flashcards to help. He was finished with a cracker and I picked up the pack, and he started signing "More"! Woo-hoo! I was so excited and proud of him :) More is signed by pushing your fingertips together on each hand, and then tapping your fingertips together. I got so excited when he signed more, I was saying yay!, good job Ethan, and he started clapping! I love our little guy :)

Hello again :)

Welcome, April, and beautiful spring weather! My apologies, as it has been way too long since I have written about our little piece of the world. I have just not felt like writing, it has just been to difficult emotionally to do so. I guess I have just liked coming here and seeing Sheila at the top of the page :) I placed the final order for the marker for her place at Rose Hill yesterday, and went to visit her, and I guess I just feel at peace about things now. I will be very happy in the coming weeks when the weather is better and the marker comes in so we can honor her with it. It may sound funny but I am excited about it because we chose something that is very pretty and decorative and really honors her.

SO... today got me so excited and gave me inspiration to write again.

Today was simply gorgeous outside. We took Ethan to Fort Liberty Park to play. It was so different than the last time we went, which was last year... he was very indifferent to the swings last year. Well, today he had a BLAST! We started off going down the slide - he would climb up the steps with Dad and then slide down by himself and I would catch him. As soon as he got off, he would run back to the steps to climb back up again. Then he swung on the swings and giggled and said "eeeeeeee!!" the whole time. Ryan was swinging next to him, and he kept looking up at the swing chains and at Daddy's feet... it was like he was thinking "how's he doing that by himself?" We went for a walk on the walking path and Ethan actually managed to keep on his hat until we were heading back to the car! I was very impressed :) Most of the time it seems pointless to buy hats because he just rips them off his head. But he must love his new hat as much as I do :)

There is a smaller playground down the walking path that has this cool foam bottom that you walk on, which is great for Ethan to run around on. There is also some "old fashioned" playground gear... a metal slide, merry go round, swings, monkey bars... Ethan LOVED the merry go round. I don't know why it surprises me, because he loves anything adventurous. I held him at first and Ryan pushed us around and around. Anytime we would get off, Ethan would want to get right back on. He held on like a big boy and stood there as I *gently* pushed him around in circles. You would have thought he was in heaven :) This kid loves to be spun in circles, run around with you carrying him sideways, sitting up on your shoulders... he laughs uncontrollably! He is an amazing little boy.

He also had fun playing on the metal slide, and he kept trying to crawl back up it. He also loved beating on it like a drum, because drumming is still his ultimate favorite activity!

Just connected our camera to the computer and seeing the first photo on our memory card, I realize the last time I did this was the day before Sheila's funeral. There is so much I have missed out on keeping track of and writing down, but all the memories are there. I will start trying to write some updates on what has been going on with us and all the changes that have happened with Ethan :) For now, a few pics of our great day today: