We had Ethan's 18 month photos taken a few weeks ago. He was a complete grump, would hardly look at the photographer, and would not smile. I was so nervous!! But we are extremely happy with how they turned out. Huge rave for Sonja B Photography!!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Time to potty train?
I was supposed to work 12 hours yesterday and today, but got put on call from 7-3 both days per my request so it was nice to spend time with my guys :) Our new GPS got delivered yesterday, so Ryan was excited to have a new gadget to play with while I went to work! He tested it out by driving to Ft Liberty Playland, and taking Ethan for a walk and playtime. They got to enjoy the pretty part of the day!!
After they got home, Ryan brought Ethan's froggy potty upstairs. We have been debating starting working with Ethan on potty training since he seems so much more aware of what is going on and sometimes we can see some cues about when it might start.
Here is Ryan's version of the story:
We were watching tv and I noticed Ethan grunting
so I asked do you need to potty
and he said mm hmm
so I said lets go potty and he walked to the bathroom
but he had already gone poopy
the end
LOL. Here we go down a fun road :)
We also went to Mom and Jim's for a family birthday celebration today. We were there just a few minutes, and through the kitchen goes a walking Ethan saying "Doy-Doy" (Joy-Joy, the grandkids' name for her). She and I kind of did a double take... but it was clear as day!! So cute!
After they got home, Ryan brought Ethan's froggy potty upstairs. We have been debating starting working with Ethan on potty training since he seems so much more aware of what is going on and sometimes we can see some cues about when it might start.
Here is Ryan's version of the story:
We were watching tv and I noticed Ethan grunting
so I asked do you need to potty
and he said mm hmm
so I said lets go potty and he walked to the bathroom
but he had already gone poopy
the end
LOL. Here we go down a fun road :)
We also went to Mom and Jim's for a family birthday celebration today. We were there just a few minutes, and through the kitchen goes a walking Ethan saying "Doy-Doy" (Joy-Joy, the grandkids' name for her). She and I kind of did a double take... but it was clear as day!! So cute!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Lots of new signs and activities!!
We have been really working on signs with Ethan. He understands SO much but he is taking his sweet time saying a lot of words. For the longest time, he would just sign "more" and "all done". Tonight, he started signing "please" (rubbing his hand in a circle on his chest) AND "thank you" (touches his fingertips to his chin and then moves his hand backwards away from his face). In the past few days, he learned to sign "eat" (touches his fingertips to his lips). In the past few weeks, he learned to sign "milk" (opens and closes his fist, like milking a cow!) and "drink" (holds his hand in a C shape like he's holding a cup, and tips it toward his mouth). Tonight when we were putting Ethan to bed, Ryan and I were talking about this while Ethan was nursing. Every word that we said that he knows the sign for, he would do automatically. It made us so proud!!
Signs he knows:
More
All Done
Bye Bye
Where (he pretty much does the same as all done for where, with an accompanying "hmm?")
Milk
Drink
Eat
Please
Thank You
Where's Jesus/Thank You Jesus - he raises his hand high in the air
Diaper (pats his diaper - there is a "Dirty Diaper" signing song they do at the library storytime, so we are working on "dirty" and "change")
Points to all his body parts
Words he says:
Mama
Dada
Nana
Pop Pop
Maa Maa (Mammaw)
Mmm Hmm (for yes) - and shakes his head up and down appropriately
Nope - and shakes his head back and forth appropriately
Fishy
Daw Daw (Dog)
Mo Mo Mo (more)
See!
Tasha or TaTa (Tasha from Backyardigans)
Ty-one (Tyrone from Backyardigans)
Duck or guck
Cack Cack (when we ask what sound a duck makes)
Moo (when we ask what sound a cow makes)
Recent activities:
-He comprehends what you say to him, gets things that you ask him to get and follows commands/questions pretty well!
-He knows what clean up is, and likes to clean and wipe up things himself. He is doing well at putting his toys away. He likes his own wipe or cloth to clean up his tray, wipe off his hands, etc. It is cute! He also likes to take things out, like from our lazy susan cabinet, and then put them back away.
-He has figured out cause and effect with light switches. He loves to flip them up and turn around to see the light come on, and flipping it down and turns around to see the light go off. And again, and again, and again :)
-He is climbing on EVERYTHING. He can climb up on our dining room chairs, the couch, the rocker in his room. He loves to climb up, get down, climb back up, get down, and again, and again, and again. Do you see a pattern? :)
-He loves to kick or throw a ball or a balloon. He has a pretty strong overhand throw!!
-He is doing really well with getting dressed. He will put his head through the top hole, and then reach up each of his hands to lift his arms through. He will put his legs into his pants or shorts, and he sits on the bottom step of our stairs to try to put his shoes on.
-He loves closing the doors. When we walk into or out of a room, he wants to close the door behind us. He pulls the door almost closed by the door frame (and he has done very well and never pinched a finger - knock on wood!), and now he is tall enough that he can reach up and grab the door handle to pull it closed behind him.
-He likes to try to walk up the stairs like a big boy. He likes to hold your hand with one of his, and try to reach the handrail with the other.
-When we are putting him down to bed or naps, we have been asking him if he's ready for night-night, and his answer is always "mmm-hmm!"
-We have been working on doing the binkie just for sleeping. So when he gets up, the first thing he wants to do is get his binkie and put it in his mouth. We tell him to leave the binkie in his bed, that the binkie is for night-night. He will reach in through the crib rails and drop the binkies inside. Success!! :)
-He thinks wrapping his arms around your leg and holding on tight while you walk around with him hanging on is the funniest.thing.ever. :)
-Water, water, water. Anything having to do with water.
-And of course, anything with music as usual! Drumming, singing, dancing, playing the piano, and strumming the guitar :)
Signs he knows:
More
All Done
Bye Bye
Where (he pretty much does the same as all done for where, with an accompanying "hmm?")
Milk
Drink
Eat
Please
Thank You
Where's Jesus/Thank You Jesus - he raises his hand high in the air
Diaper (pats his diaper - there is a "Dirty Diaper" signing song they do at the library storytime, so we are working on "dirty" and "change")
Points to all his body parts
Words he says:
Mama
Dada
Nana
Pop Pop
Maa Maa (Mammaw)
Mmm Hmm (for yes) - and shakes his head up and down appropriately
Nope - and shakes his head back and forth appropriately
Fishy
Daw Daw (Dog)
Mo Mo Mo (more)
See!
Tasha or TaTa (Tasha from Backyardigans)
Ty-one (Tyrone from Backyardigans)
Duck or guck
Cack Cack (when we ask what sound a duck makes)
Moo (when we ask what sound a cow makes)
Recent activities:
-He comprehends what you say to him, gets things that you ask him to get and follows commands/questions pretty well!
-He knows what clean up is, and likes to clean and wipe up things himself. He is doing well at putting his toys away. He likes his own wipe or cloth to clean up his tray, wipe off his hands, etc. It is cute! He also likes to take things out, like from our lazy susan cabinet, and then put them back away.
-He has figured out cause and effect with light switches. He loves to flip them up and turn around to see the light come on, and flipping it down and turns around to see the light go off. And again, and again, and again :)
-He is climbing on EVERYTHING. He can climb up on our dining room chairs, the couch, the rocker in his room. He loves to climb up, get down, climb back up, get down, and again, and again, and again. Do you see a pattern? :)
-He loves to kick or throw a ball or a balloon. He has a pretty strong overhand throw!!
-He is doing really well with getting dressed. He will put his head through the top hole, and then reach up each of his hands to lift his arms through. He will put his legs into his pants or shorts, and he sits on the bottom step of our stairs to try to put his shoes on.
-He loves closing the doors. When we walk into or out of a room, he wants to close the door behind us. He pulls the door almost closed by the door frame (and he has done very well and never pinched a finger - knock on wood!), and now he is tall enough that he can reach up and grab the door handle to pull it closed behind him.
-He likes to try to walk up the stairs like a big boy. He likes to hold your hand with one of his, and try to reach the handrail with the other.
-When we are putting him down to bed or naps, we have been asking him if he's ready for night-night, and his answer is always "mmm-hmm!"
-We have been working on doing the binkie just for sleeping. So when he gets up, the first thing he wants to do is get his binkie and put it in his mouth. We tell him to leave the binkie in his bed, that the binkie is for night-night. He will reach in through the crib rails and drop the binkies inside. Success!! :)
-He thinks wrapping his arms around your leg and holding on tight while you walk around with him hanging on is the funniest.thing.ever. :)
-Water, water, water. Anything having to do with water.
-And of course, anything with music as usual! Drumming, singing, dancing, playing the piano, and strumming the guitar :)
Friday, July 24, 2009
What a great day :)
Ethan and I hung out at home today, had some yummy homemade zucchini bread and tuscan melon for breakfast, and just enjoyed the day together. He has become a bit of a Backyardigans lover. We were walking around Target a few days ago and he was looking at one of their books. All of a sudden he points and says "Tasha". He loves to give her kisses in the books we got from the library, too. It's pretty cute. He will point at the other characters but she's the only name he will say. Sometimes it sounds like "Ta-ta" (LOL!) and sometimes he makes the "shh" sound and really says "Tasha". We are loving it! The show is really cute, and there is lots of music and dancing involved, which is right up Ethan's alley! At the end of the show when they go back home for a snack, Ethan waves bye-bye to them. We have become a Backyardigans family :)
Then, my wonderful hubby brought me beautiful flowers and a romantic card home just because he said he loves me! So sweet, and completely unexpected! He wanted to take Ethan and I to PF Chang's for dinner. Ethan ate some sweet potatoes at home before we left... he is doing a lot better using the fork. We've discovered the past few days though that he sort of gets mad when we give him a plastic fork/spoon and he likes to use our adult silverware. He seems much more content with the kidware with the silver tips. He acts so much older and bigger than he is, and is so independent. It is funny! So, we went to Chang's for dinner and had our faves, lettuce wraps, chicken fried rice, and mongolian beef. We gave Ethan a little bowl of rice and he gobbled it up! He has been really picky eating lately so I was so surprised. He was even chopping on the little carrots. Then, he started trying to steal the mongolian beef off my plate :) We were very happy with him!! After dinner, we walked over to the fountain outside and Ethan was a very happy guy! Water is his favorite thing ever.
How did I get so lucky?!
Then, my wonderful hubby brought me beautiful flowers and a romantic card home just because he said he loves me! So sweet, and completely unexpected! He wanted to take Ethan and I to PF Chang's for dinner. Ethan ate some sweet potatoes at home before we left... he is doing a lot better using the fork. We've discovered the past few days though that he sort of gets mad when we give him a plastic fork/spoon and he likes to use our adult silverware. He seems much more content with the kidware with the silver tips. He acts so much older and bigger than he is, and is so independent. It is funny! So, we went to Chang's for dinner and had our faves, lettuce wraps, chicken fried rice, and mongolian beef. We gave Ethan a little bowl of rice and he gobbled it up! He has been really picky eating lately so I was so surprised. He was even chopping on the little carrots. Then, he started trying to steal the mongolian beef off my plate :) We were very happy with him!! After dinner, we walked over to the fountain outside and Ethan was a very happy guy! Water is his favorite thing ever.
How did I get so lucky?!
A flood of memories
Wow. Aunt Sheila has really been on my mind this week, as well as my grandma's for sure. I watched So You Think You Can Dance tonight and just broke down over this dance. It was incredible...
Seeing the movements Melissa portrayed, the fragileness in the movements of her body... I look back and question myself, how could I NOT have known? How could I watch her grow weaker and more fragile and just not put it together? In such a short time period she went from being always on the go, high energy, full of exuberant life, to hardly being able to hold her precious granddaughter, or even just walk around??? It makes me incredibly angry at myself. I think about all the patients I see, that have the opportunity to FIGHT. I feel like she was cheated. Why didn't she get the chance to fight? Sometimes I just have to leave the room of my patient. It is really hard to deal with sometimes, seeing someone I am taking care of going through a similar situation. Questioning myself why I didn't make them take her to Bethesda. I feel like there is such an awesome, incredible, compassionate group of doctors and nurses there to take care of oncology patients. So many people working to help patients, and their families, to find all the answers, to do what ever treatment necessary. Why couldn't she have gotten treatment?? Would it have made a difference??
I know it is not my place to question God, and most days I do not. Moments like now, I just feel so helpless and saddened by what happened. By His grace, He has pulled me through a very difficult place. I would just like to make a bigger impact for Him, be a better witness for Him, a better inspiration for the life and the witness that Sheila was!!! God, I miss her so much.
Mammaw misses her immensely. Sheila would be so happy for her and Mammaw wishes she was here to see all that has been going on at her house - a complete bathroom remodel - who would have ever thought??? Maybe it is Sheila's way of shining down on her. Mammaw says she has everything she could ever want now to make her happy, so she can go to Heaven. LOL. I'm not ready to give her up yet :)
Seeing the movements Melissa portrayed, the fragileness in the movements of her body... I look back and question myself, how could I NOT have known? How could I watch her grow weaker and more fragile and just not put it together? In such a short time period she went from being always on the go, high energy, full of exuberant life, to hardly being able to hold her precious granddaughter, or even just walk around??? It makes me incredibly angry at myself. I think about all the patients I see, that have the opportunity to FIGHT. I feel like she was cheated. Why didn't she get the chance to fight? Sometimes I just have to leave the room of my patient. It is really hard to deal with sometimes, seeing someone I am taking care of going through a similar situation. Questioning myself why I didn't make them take her to Bethesda. I feel like there is such an awesome, incredible, compassionate group of doctors and nurses there to take care of oncology patients. So many people working to help patients, and their families, to find all the answers, to do what ever treatment necessary. Why couldn't she have gotten treatment?? Would it have made a difference??
I know it is not my place to question God, and most days I do not. Moments like now, I just feel so helpless and saddened by what happened. By His grace, He has pulled me through a very difficult place. I would just like to make a bigger impact for Him, be a better witness for Him, a better inspiration for the life and the witness that Sheila was!!! God, I miss her so much.
Mammaw misses her immensely. Sheila would be so happy for her and Mammaw wishes she was here to see all that has been going on at her house - a complete bathroom remodel - who would have ever thought??? Maybe it is Sheila's way of shining down on her. Mammaw says she has everything she could ever want now to make her happy, so she can go to Heaven. LOL. I'm not ready to give her up yet :)
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Sweet boy
Dear Ethan,
You melt Mama's heart sometimes. Tonight after we said our bedtime prayers with Dada, I was rocking you in your room. I leaned down to give you a kiss and nuzzled your forehead, and then I sat back up. You reached our your hand to my cheek, and pulled my head right back to you for more kisses. I couldn't help but smile! I nuzzled you again, sat back up, and you pulled me right back! What a way to make me feel special. You did this about 5 times, over and over again, and it made me giggle. You smiled around your binkie, and your little cheeks puffed up. I love you so very much, and are so happy that you are my little boy.
Love,
Mama
You melt Mama's heart sometimes. Tonight after we said our bedtime prayers with Dada, I was rocking you in your room. I leaned down to give you a kiss and nuzzled your forehead, and then I sat back up. You reached our your hand to my cheek, and pulled my head right back to you for more kisses. I couldn't help but smile! I nuzzled you again, sat back up, and you pulled me right back! What a way to make me feel special. You did this about 5 times, over and over again, and it made me giggle. You smiled around your binkie, and your little cheeks puffed up. I love you so very much, and are so happy that you are my little boy.
Love,
Mama
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