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!