Almost New Years.....

Wow I can't believe that another year has gone by. Ethan had a great Christmas. He has been enjoying all his new books & jammies. Thank you all for all the nice gifts. He loves the prodoodle that we got him. He has been drawing us pictures on it. He's quite the artist. We are still awaiting the sled that we had ordered him. We knew when it was ordered that we wouldn't get it by Christmas. It's ok that it hasn't arrived yet we need more snow anyways. We'll have to take pictures of him on his first sled ride. As for his New Years Ethan has no plans. He will just be spending a quiet evening at home with us most likely which should be nice. I thought about putting him down for a late nap tomorrow so that he could stay up till midnight & ring in the new year with us but decided not to as that will just make him crabby for New Years Day. We don't want a crabby Ethan for the OSU game. He will be all decked out in Scarlet & Gray Friday. We are hoping the Buckeyes don't blow another bowl game. Sunday Ethan will be 19 months. That's so hard to believe. He's growing so fast it just doesn't seem possible.

How Big is Ethan

Ethan is so big! Ethan had his 18 month check up with his pedi this morning. He weighs 22.9 lbs. Everything checked out great. He's in the 9% for height & weight but he's growing at a steady pace so there is no concern there. His gross motor skills & his language skills are right on track. I was a little worried that he might be behind in language b/c he isn't saying any 2-4 word phrases but the pedi said that if he doesn't start to say phrases in the next couple of months to give her a call. His fine motor skills are slightly behind. At this time he should be scribbling but he shows no interest in that. He would rather eat the crayons or stick them up his nose than scribble with them. But he will turn pages in books or magazines so it's not a serious lag in his fine motor skills. He is doing very well for being born 10 weeks early. Ethan got his Hep A vaccine today he has 1 more that he will get at age 2 & he will be done with his vaccines. Ethan was so well behaved at his appt he actually sat & let her listen to his heart & look in his ears. Normally he squirms all over & grabs for everything. So all in all everything looked good.

We took Ethan over the weekend to go see Santa. He wasn't sure what to make of it he gave us this "WTH? Who is this guy?" look. It was pretty cute. At least he isn't afraid of Santa. Not yet anyways. Ethan went out with me yesterday & we went shopping for his daddy. Ethan helped pick out the perfect gift for his daddy. It's something they can do together. We also picked up Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince. We have anxiously been looking forward to that movie coming out on DVD. This weekend is going to be a Harry Potter weekend. Ethan can sit & watch all 6 movies with us if he can stay awake. He's going to help us finish up what little shopping we have left this weekend.

In other news on the Ethan front he has a few more new words in his vocabulary. He now says "Brush", "Book", & "Kiss". He will come up to us or the cats & say "kiss" then give us kisses. He brings us books saying "book" he does this mostly at night when he is getting around for bed. He knows he gets a bedtime story. When he walks into the bathroom he will point at his toothbrish & say "brush". His new favorite thing to do is tell us "Don't" while he points his finger at us. I don't really know where he got this since we don't do that. It's cute when he isn't getting into trouble. He also know where his eyes, nose, mouth, toes, & hair are. If we ask him "Where are your eyes?" he will cover his eyes. He hasn't quite figured out yet where his ears are. That one's a bit tougher. He's getting closer to finding his ears though. Soon enough. Ethan loves to spin in a circle & get himself dizzy. It's funny when he tries to walk after that. He looks like a little drunk dude. LOL. Ethan has become a handful as he's gotten older he got quite the personality & a big heart.

Happy Thanksgiving

We have a busy day planned for tomorrow. Ethan is going to be one very busy boy this Thanksgiving. First he is going to his Great Aunt Cindy's where he will be eating all kinds of food I'm sure. After that he will be going to his Grandma Judy's for dessert. Hopefully there will be time for a nap in between the 2 places.

Ethan has been a busy boy lately. He is a little ball of energy lately. It's amazing how someone so small can have so much energy. I have been trying to take him once a week to Wildwood so he can burn off some of that energy walking the trails. I don't know what it is about the trials but as soon as we get to the trail head he wants to turn around & head back towards the car. It takes a lot of coaxing or just having to pick him up to get him going down the trail. He tends to want to throw an tantrum. Once we get past that point there is this huge rock that he seems to have a thing for. He likes to go up to the rock & give it hugs & kisses. There are all kinds of goodies for him to find. The last time he found this stick that he was very insistent on carrying with us. Eventually he found an even better stick to carry around. He also had a thing for getting into the leaves on the trial. He threw a fit when I wouldn't let him eat them. Yuck. How he can want to put them in his mouth.... eeewww. Unfortunately this week Ethan seemed to just be in a bad mood for wanting to walk through the park. He was great at throwing tantrums for me though. I think we have hit the terrible twos a little early. LOL.

Just a reminder

Just to remind everyone that tomorrow Nov 17, 2009 is Fight for Preemies day. It's important for all of us to know about preemies, to remember those that don't make it & those that survive. A donation band has been made in Ethan's name. All donations will go to the March of Dimes. The March of Dimes uses the money for research & to help families in need. Please take the time to click on the links in the sidebar to learn more about premature births & to make a donation in Ethan's name. If everyone in the U.S were to donate just $5 think of how many families & babies could be helped. This is something that is very important to me since Ethan is a preemie. He was so lucky to not have any serious problems or any major health issues. Many babies are not that lucky.

Make a donation

I have created a donation band in Ethan's name on the March of Dimes website. Please make a donation in his name. Just follow this link by clicking on it to make a donation. You can also find this link in the side bar. Just click on it.

http://www.marchofdimes.com/prematurity/b_new.asp?band_id=55252

Keep this date in mind

17 months ago Ethan was born 10 weeks early. He was 3lbs 9oz 16.5" long. Now he is 23lbs 32" long. Having a preemie is scary & nerve wracking. We know how lucky we are that Ethan was born so healthy. Not all preemies are that lucky. Many start their lives out with the biggest fight of their lives. It's important to know about preemies & remember all the preemies in our lives. Nov 17 is fight for preemie day. Please click on the link posted below for more information.

Fight For Preemies // Bloggers Unite

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Video - Dancing Baby

I saw this video & thought it was so cute just had to share it. Just click the link below to view.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk42wSXXGq8

New Pictures

More of Ethan's Halloween pictures

Ethan wearing Matt's Hoodie

Halloween

Happy Halloween

Ethan had a great Halloween yesterday. After his nap we got him dressed in his costume & took him around to family. He looked so cute dressed as Harry Potter. We were disappointed when we opened the 2 new wands. Ethan broke the one I bought him while wacking it on the fireplace. So I got 2 more 1 for Ethan, 1 for one of us & the other broken one would go to the other. I opened 1 & went to put a battery in it & there was no connection for the battery & the other new one lit up but didn't make any noise. Oh well. Ethan can now have all 3 & wack them to his hearts content. Ethan was so cute helping us pass out candy to all the cute little gouls & goblins that came to our door. In the beginning there wasn't a ton right away so he was reaching into the candy bowl & grabbing a few pieces of candy then going over to the baby gate & standing on his tip toe yelling. All the while he had his hands in the air clutching the candy. It was like he was yelling "Hey!! I've got candy!!! Come see me, my names Ethan!" He was having a blast putting candy in the kids bags. About a half hour before trick-or-treating ended he would stand at the top of the porch steps waiting for the kids. As a group would be walking up the drive he would start throwing candy down the steps then go back to the bowl for more. It was like he was saying "Here you go I have more. Come & get it." He was just adorable.

After trick-or-treating was done we packed up & went inside. I set up the camera & took a couple family pictures. We were looking good dressed James & Lily Potter. We made such a cute Potter family. LOL. Ethan played for a bit after we got him dressed in his jammies then he went to bed about 9. It was a great time yesterday. Next year we'll probably take him out trick-or-treating.

Daddy's Boy

Ethan has turned into such a Daddy's boy. I think he looks forward each day to when his daddy walks through the door. Almost every night he wakes up at 11 right when we are heading upstairs to go to bed. He has to come & lay with his daddy & then have daddy put him back to bed. On the weekends he doesn't do this because he knows that when he wakes up in the morning his daddy will be home. On the weekdays he does this because he knows that daddy will not be home when he wakes up. When daddy walks through the door after work Ethan goes running toward him & will be all about his daddy time for the rest of the night. Ethan loves his daddy that's for sure. Ethan would love it if he could have a 3 day weekend with his daddy that would be heaven for him. Right now mommy is just not good enough. Just wait one of these days he'll be a mama's boy :)

Halloween is coming up in just 4 days. Ethan is looking forward to showing off his Harry Potter costume. Mommy had to go out & get him a new wand as he decided to pound his on the fireplace till it cracked. So now it no longer makes sounds or lights up. Daddy & Mommy are also going to dress up with Ethan just for the fun of it. We have decided that since Ethan is going to be baby Harry Potter we are going to be James & Lily Potter (Harry's parents). Halloween is going to be a blast this year. Ethan will be making his rounds in the afternoon before Trick-or- treating because he is going to be helping his parents pass out candy to all the cute little kiddies. We will have his Halloween pictures in time for Halloween. Ethan & I went yesterday to pick them up. We got to the studio only to find out that they were closed for lunc & wouldn't be back for another 45 minutes. So we walked all around JC Penny's for 45 minutes. I was not prepared for that. I was told that we could pick up his pictures on 10/26 between 1-4 & 6-8 (I was there at 2:25) so I didn't have his stroller & I only had socks on him. So I had to carry him all over. He is a little chunky monkey my arms got tired quickly. So I came back to the studio about 3 only to find out that I was told the wrong date & his pictures wouldn't be ready to pick up till Weds. I was a bit annoyed as I wasted 45 minutes walking around waiting for them to come back & I had other things to do. Oh well Matt will pick them up tomorrow after he gets off work. They turned out so cute everyone is going to love them.

Ethan has a new word that he has been saying lately. His new word is "Juice" he points to his sippy & says "Juice." I think that he is also saying "Gone" & "Done" but not quite sure yet if that is what he is saying. He might be a little behind in his language skills though. He doesn't say any phrases yet just single words. Now is the time that he should probably be saying a few 2-4 word phrases. It will come with time we are always using short phrases to him like "Come on", "Stop it", Lets go", ect. Eventually he will catch on. We'll see that the Dr has to say about his language skills we she sees him in Dec.

Ethan is doing so much better in being gentle with the kitty's. He has really taken to giving them kisses & loves to lay his cheeks against their fur. Unfortunately he does still like to hit them. They don't quite trust him just yet. When he approaches them Peek-a-boo runs for it & Carmel gives this look that says "Oh-Oh here comes the kid, should I leave my comfy spot & run for the hills or do I stay & deal with him?" There is going to be a day where Ethan tries to carry them. I don't think he will be able to lift Carmel he's my fat cat & Peek-a-boo is wirey & will use her back claws. It will be interesting to watch.

Ethan's Day Out

I took Ethan to the park this afternoon to let him burn off some of hit pent up energy. He had a blast running around picking things up off the ground. For one little boy he sure does have some energy. This kid never seems to run out of steam. There were a few other kids running around but they didn't seem too interested in wanting to let Ethan play with them. So I chased him instead & took some pictures. He had a good time on the swings too. It's not his favorite thing b/c he can't run but he enjoys it for a bit. I was able to get a few cute pictures although most of my pictures were of the back of his head as he ran away from me. He always on the move.

Ethan's test results are back

We got the results back today from Ethan's last Hyperphe test. His levels cam back at 3.7 which is pretty much the lowest we have seen his levels get. We have been keeping his daily protein intake to 30g/day. We were told that we could let him have about 35g/day & then have him tested again in Dec just before his next appt.

What a day!!!

Ethan had a busy day yesterday. First he went to get his pictures for Halloween. He looked so cute in his Harry Potter costume. After than we ran home changed his clothes then off to visit some of Grandpa Jim's family. After that it was too late to put him down for a nap so it was a short visit to Grampa Frank then off to visit his great-grandpa. By the time we got home it was 6:30. We had been gone since 10:45. Today he is a bit on the cranky side but he is his usual active self of getting into everything.

Here is a sneak peak at his Halloween pictures.

Fight For Preemies // Bloggers United

November is Preemie awareness month. On 11/17 is Fight for Preemies day. Please visit this website for more information on premature babies or visit the March of Dimes to make a donations.

Fight For Preemies // Bloggers Unite

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Look what I discovered how to do!!

I was trying to capture a quick video of Ethan dancing tonight but unfortunately was too slow. I had never used the web cam on my computer before. However Ethan showed me how to use it & we captured a video of him. It's pretty cute. Thought I would post it.

9/30/09

Ethan had a great time Saturday night at Chris & Lisa's wedding. Before the bridal party arrived he was getting down with his bad self to Celine Dion. He danced himself right off the chair he was standing on. Ethan got to eat his dinner with our good friend Michael who he hasn't seen since November. It was great to see him again. After dinner Ethan found himself a couple older women to flirt with. He was all about running around & dancing. Deanna & I took him out onto the dance floor but he spotted his daddy & he was all about getting to daddy. It was a good time.

Yesterday Ethan decided to feed himself with a fork for the first time. I let him try with a spoon but the wall ended up wearing a little of his breakfast so I said no. He likes to hold spoons upside down so I think we'll let him master the fork first. I was so proud I was able to get video of it on my cell phone I'll try to get that posted soon. My computer is not yet set up to take video off my phone.

Ethan's Halloween costume is pretty much completed. He's going to be baby Harry Potter. Matt & I are hoping to find some costumes so we can dress as James & Lily Potter (Harry's parents). He's going to look so cute.

There are some new pictures below

Busy, busy, busy, there's so much to do

Ethan has been one busy little boy lately. Last week, Thursday, the Steelers opened up the 2009 NFL season with a win. Ethan was all ready for the game wearing his Steelers warm-up outfit. Saturday he went with us to the annual chicken BBQ at my parents church. He enjoyed his chicken. Of course what he didn't eat Matt polished off for him. For dessert he had some chocolate cake. Of course Ethan was wearing his buckeyes too. He got to watch some of the game before going to bed. Sunday Ethan wore his Brown warm-up outfit but there was no Browns game to watch. He got to see a bit of the Packers game. He & I were rooting for the Bears. We had too. What fun would it be to go for the Packers, then that would have made my friend Adriane happy. LOL. Football is no fun if we can't trash talk. Yesterday Ethan & I took a walk around the area. He fell asleep. It's really amazing that I do all the manual work & he gets tired out.

Also last week he had his 15 mos checkup with the pediatrician. He's a little above the 10% for his height & weight & in the 25% for his head circumference. He has totally caught up now & is right where he should be for 15 mos. He is up to date with his vaccinations. We are choosing not to give him the flu vaccine, neither of us believe much in it. Be forewarned though that this winter if anyone is sick they will not be allowed in the house or around Ethan (or us for that matter). We are going to to what we can to prevent him from getting sick.

Here are some new pictures:

Give me the camera or....

get it out of my face!!!

I had a chocolate chip cookie

Helping load the dishwasher

Finished with the dishwasher

Ready for the Steelers game

I wanna watch the whole game!!

Ethan's Day at the Fair

We took Ethan to the Fulton County Fair today. It was his 1st trip to a fair. Ethan had the time of his life there. He had a blast touching the cows, goats, sheep, & horses. He tried to stick his fingers in the rooster cages but we wouldn't let him. He got to watch a sheep shearing demonstration & a horse show. He loved the horses. He thought it was funny to touch their noses. We wanted to take him on the ferris wheel but it was way too pricey. We also looked at brand new cars that were on display. My favorite was the Dodge Nitro. I don't think Ethan had a favorite he was more interested in walking around. I'm looking forward to taking him next year.

All ready for the 1st OSU game of the season

Picking out his game time snack

Relaxing after the game

Ethan pets a horse

Ethan poses with a horse

Ethan had his Dr. appointment today with Dr. Horner for his hyperphe. The nutritionist said that she doesn't want us to give Ethan more than 40g of protein. Matt & I have decided that we don't want to give him more than 30g at this time since Ethan had between 35g-40g & his levels went up. She did give me a chart for phe levels in different food. For instance there is 50g of phe for every 1g of protein in meats dairy, & grains. But there are 26g of phe for every 1g of protein in fruits. There are 33g of phe for every 1g of protein in vegetables. But she did not give us a limit on the amount of phe that Ethan can have. To make the calculation easier we have set the limit to 30g of protein. The Dr. gave us a script for Zolfran. With the cold & flu season coming up he wants to be on the safe side. If Ethan were to get sick like he did back around Easter we are to give him this med to stop the vomiting. In the event that Ethan were to get some kid of stomach bug we need to get the vomiting to stop quickly. In people who have PKU & hyperphe when they aren't getting the nutrition that they need their body will start to break down their muscles which will cause the phe levels to rise. I will not be getting the script filled until that time comes.

In other news, Matt was giving Ethan a bath tonight. While he was draining the tub Ethan decided it was the perfect time to take care of some bizness. He pooped in the tub. Matt grabbed him & put him on the potty where he finished his bizness. We gave him credit where credit is due. We gave him a gold star on his potty chart. Hopefully this is a sign that he is going to be ready to poo on the potty every day soon. That would be awesome!

Ethan was such a busy boy today. This morning he decided he didn't want to get up till 10:30 which has been happening lately since his molars started breaking through. It's not uncommon for him to sleep a little extra when he has new teeth coming in. I got his breakfast all fixed & right as I sat down to feed him Grandpa Frank came over completely unexpectedly. It was a nice surprise. Ethan got to show off his skills of climbing, running, & just being plain cute. We went out for lunch where Ethan showed off how well he doesn't sit. He was not happy to sit at the table he wanted to run all over the place. I took Ethan out after his nap this afternoon to Toys R Us to get a few more things to finish baby proofing the house. All we needed was a bath mat for the tub & a cover for the fawcett. I also couldn't resist getting this really cute stuffed blue polar bear. He is starting to get into the "security blanket" stage except his isn't a blanket it's a stuffed lamb named Lambie. The polar bear is just like the lamb. Today Ethan was all about his Lambie. He wouldn't leave the house this afternoon w/o it, then we had to take it into the store. When I gave him the polar bear he refused to give it to the cashier. He has been carrying it all over the house since we got home. There are pictures to come soon.

The results of Ethan's PKU tests have come back. Unfortunately his levels have gone up to 6.9. He had eaten 35-40g of protein 3 days prior to the test. The last test he was getting 25-32g & his levels came back in the 4 range. This means that most likely Ethan will not be allowed more than 30g of protein but as of right now nothing has been confirmed by the dr. He sees Dr. Horner next week on Monday so we will have more to say about it then. For now I think we will most likely be limiting his intake to no more than 30g just to be on the safe side.

Tough as nails

Ethan had his eye dr appt yesterday. It went great. She said that he is exactly where he should be vision wise. He has excellent depth perception, he follows very well, & there is no need for any kind of perscription. He was also very well behaved. I was expecting to have to wrestle him down to allow her to check him but he sat like he does it every day. I was impressed.

Today Ethan managed to have a little accident with the kitchen stairs. I was in the kitchen, he was with me, making some lunch. As I was setting the microwave to heat I heard this loud thud & right as I spun around he started screaming. Ethan was laying on the platform right infront of the back door. I picked him up quickly. Once I got him calmed down I checked him over. He had a large red spot on his arm & a goose egg forming on his forehead. He was playing with the zipper on the OSU cooler. Next to the cooler is the counter top to the stove. The counter top had fallen hit him on the arm causing him to stumble & he went down the stairs hitting his forehead on the way. We tried to put ice on it but he wouldn't let us. Matt called Aunt Robin & she gave us some ideas none of which worked. He wasn't going to let us ice his forehead for anything. We now have special top of the stairs gates up to prevent it from happening again.

Tonight he's running around like nothing happened hence the title "Tough as nails". He's wearing his Steelers warmup outfit & watching the Browns/Lions exhibition game. The Steelers are playing on another channel. We will watch that game later.

Playing with his mower

GOAL!!!

Chewing daddy's phone

Just being cute

Baby Proofing

Oh the baby proofing never seems to end! Just when we think we have the house totally baby proofed (minus the basement that is still under construction) Ethan finds more things that we need to Ethan Proof. Last night it was the bottom 2 drawers on the entertainment center. He opened the drawers last night & got into the DVD's. We got them picked up but he went right back to the drawers. We told him no & he smashed his fingers closing the drawer. Then after we got him calmed down from that he went right back & before we could move he smashed his finger a second time. You would think that he would learn from the 1st time but nope. So to prevent it from happening again we put duct tape on the drawers to keep them closed just until I could get something for them. We do have special locks but they won't work on those drawers. I found some straps that adhere to the outside & those are now in place. Although Ethan has already figured a way to remove them. Use them as a foot hold to climb. I don't think he realizes that they pop off if he does that. They aren't designed to support weight. We also have locks on all the drawers & lower cabinets in the kitchen. Next it will probably be locks for the lazy susan & the sliding door to the pantry. I don't want to get comfortable in thinking we now have everything Ethan Proofed b/c he will always find a way to prove us wrong.

We took Ethan today to get his blood drawn for his hyperphe. He has a appt on the 31st for Dr Horner. It will be a week before we get the results. Tomorrow Ethan has an appt with his eye dr. The appt was made like a year ago. I totally forgot about it. Good thing I didn't have anything planned & that I got the reminder call as well yesterday. I hate making appts that far in advance it's just too hard to remember.

Ethan's bottom molar is really coming in now. Apparently even though he has been in a pretty good mood it's bothering him. This morning he was having oatmeal & he threw up just a little of it towards finishing it. Then he did it again while he was eating dinner. It's not a common thing with him but it has happened in the past with other teeth. Certain ones just cause his tummy to get a bit upset at times. He's been his usual Mr. Activity self today so it must not be too bad.

His potty training is going fairly well. We always have success before bed & most of the time after breakfast. I think that once we get him to poo in the potty we will be off to the races on it. But trying to figure out his schedule is hard. Just when we think we got it he throws it up on us. It's just a matter of having him on the potty at the right time. I may just have to start doing it with every diaper change, before his meals & after his meals. But I don't think he is quite ready for that much yet. I'm in no hurry to have it happen over night. When it happens it happens.

Another new look for Ethan

As Ethan's personality changes so does his blog. So it's time for a new look. Ethan has become quite a character. He's a very active little boy with a lot of energy. He reminds me of the Energizer Bunny "He keeps going & going & going...." Ethan has really been full of it this week that's for sure. On Monday he was Mr. Out-of-control. He was all about getting into the no-no's. He was obsessed about climbing onto his toy box then onto the top of the couch & trying to stand. He'd get removed from the couch but he would just go right back to the toy box. All evening he was all about unplugging the night light by the fireplace. He was all about helping me fold his laundry. I would fold it he would throw it all over the living room. He didn't take much of a nap so I was only able to get half his laundry folded. He spent time in his play yard but all he did there was scream. When 9:00 came around we were a bit relieved. But at 10 on the button he woke right up. We calmed him down got him back to sleep but again he was up at 11:45. He was finally down for the night by 12.

Yesterday he was a lot better. He was just happy to run around & play with his toys. He can sure cover a lot of territory on those little legs of his. He went out to dinner with us & then went to grandpa Pauls for a short visit. Fortunately Ethan was down for the night with no problems last night.

Today he's been just as busy. He had lunch with his daddy, then he saw grandma Judy for a moment at her work. While he was having lunch with his daddy he ran into one of the NICU nurses who was there for his birth. She was shocked to see how big he has gotten since she last saw him when he was 3lbs 9oz. He's been a good boy all day but tonight he's a bit of a terror. He's been just running around screaming, climbing onto the couch, pulling poor Carmel's fur. He is just full of energy tonight. Good thing he's loved & so darn cute too. His cuteness is a big help for him when he's being ornery.

What to do with Ethan...

Ethan has been into some mischief this weekend. First on Friday he & I went out first to Target to get some shelves for the dining room. The floor "S" shaped shelf that we have in the dining room needs to be put away for a while. Ethan loves to take the things from the bottom shelf so we moved them up out of his reach. Unfortunately he is getting to the point where he will be trying to climb the shelf soon so it's time for it to disappear. Next we went to the grocery store then we went home. I took everything off the "S" shelf & wrapped all the fragile's up that we are just going to put away for now. Those are mostly just decorative mugs & glasses. There are a few things that were going up to our bedroom onto a shelf that I have had since I was a little girl. It belonged to my great-aunt back in the late 40's early 50's. The things that went on that are some glass jewelery dishes. I had them set aside to take to our bedroom. While we were in the middle of getting the new shelves up & moving things to the bedroom, Ethan managed to get ahold of one of the bags that was going upstairs. He dropped it & 2 of my dishes broke. One of them was given to me when I was 10 by my grandfather. The other belonged to my grandmother. Pa (my grandfather) had given me the dish just after Vi (my grandmother) died. Both dishes were priceless to me. I got very upset (not at Ethan) & cried over my 2 dishes. I can't replace them. Vi passed around my 4th grade year & Pa passed my 6th grade. These things were really all I had of them. The dish that I was given when I was 10 shattered no chance of repair. The dish that belonged to Vi the lid broke in 2 the dish itself is fine. Fortunately my mom knows a few people who work with glass & thinks that they might be able to fix the lid. I sure hope so that dish is valuable in my heart.

Then yesterday my mom dropped off her Bissell Little Green so we could clean a few spots on the floor & the couch. Turned out it was ours to keep she bought us one. So I got the couch cleaned up & the spots on the floor taken care of. A few hours later Ethan spilled some pop on the floor. So out came the Little Green again & we got that taken care of. Thankfully we had no more instances yesterday. Then comes today. I was sitting on the couch drinking a cup of hawaiian punch. We were watching an old Paulie Shore movie & Ethan became fixated on the cup. I had it between my legs & was holding it with my hand. He came up to me not once, not twice, but three frigging times. On the 3rd time he yanked it hard enough to make the cup slip from my hand. Hawaiian punch spilled all over the couch. So out comes the Little Green again to clean the couch for the 2nd time. I think my mom just got her money's worth on that machine in just 2 days. There is still 3 hrs left before Ethan goes to bed who knows he might spill something else. Let's just hope that he is done spilling things at least for the weekend.

Earlier today we were taking pictures of Ethan running around with Matt's EMPTY beer bottle. We rinsed it out & let him play with it. We got a few pictures of him thinking he was drinking from it. I won't post those on here for obvious reasons. Just take my word they are cute.

Ethan w/Matt's I'm 30 button on

Back to normal

Tomorrow Ethan's days will back to normal. Matt goes back to work after being off for the last 11 days. What will Ethan do w/o his daddy? He's been so clingy to Matt over the last week 'n a half. He's not used to having his daddy home all day every day. I told Ethan that I've got to get back into working out. We've been busy doing things while Matt was on vacation & weather has not always been permitting that I have gotten out of sync. Depending on weather we might go biking tomorrow.

This morning proved to be interesting. The power went off a little after 11 this morning. We called Edison to report it but the line was constantly busy. So Matt said he was going to go to church & would give them a call when he got back. About a min later he walked back in said he couldn't go anywhere the garage door wasn't going to open due to no power. There is a key hole in the door but we were never given a key so we were kinda stuck. The power came on about 12:30 this afternoon. Ethan had to pick the time of the outage to be on the crabby side. We were trying to figure out how to get into the garage & he was all about being held right at that moment. Go figure right? That's ok he's still loved. We can't put him back now huh?

Ethan was so cute yesterday. My mom & dad took me out to dinner for my b-day. We went back to their house for some dessert. We asked Ethan where his nose was & he would grab Macey or Brian's nose (or whoever he was playing with at the moment) He was all about running around the circle playing with Uncle Brian. He seems to think Brian is the one he can get in trouble with. He's always gotta be Mr. Social. Before we left for dinner we put him on the potty after his nap. He was a big boy & peed on the potty. He got up clapping for himself when he was done. I washed out his potty & right as I turned around to scoot him to his room he peed all over himself & the carpet. Little stinker wasn't done! We got a good laugh. He peed again on the potty before he went to bed. He's getting pretty good at peeing on the potty. Now if only we can get him to do both.

Our day in the African Safari

Today we went to the Wildlife African Safari in Port Clinton. It was a blast! We decided to do the drive through tour first. We brought Ethan into the front seat with us so he could get a better experience. When we got to the gate the attendant gave us our free food to feed to the animals. As soon as we passed through the gates the animals swarmed the car looking for the food. One moose pulled a young deer away by the ear preventing it from being able to get the food Matt was offering it. When I offered some of the food another moose drooled all over Ethan & me. He didn't just drool is was a geyser of drool. It was a good laugh. It was intimidating at first but once we saw how docile the animals were we relaxed. Ethan at first gave this WTH (what the heck) look but then got excited to touch the animals. As we went through we came across some Buffalo. Ethan decided to pick its nose. He didn't just pick it he stuck his hand up its nostril. As disgusting as it was we laughed. A giraffe put its head to our window but ignored us b/c we ran out of food. By the time we were done with the drive through part the car was a total mess but it was so worth it.

We went into the park after we drove through. We joined an education speech. Ethan got to touch a baby skunk & a hedgehog. He also got to have his picture taken with a 45lbs python. We did a family photo with the snake. Matt was holding the head, I got the middle & Ethan got the tail. The nake wrapped the tip of it's tail around Ethan's ankle. It was Ethan's first experience with a snake. It was awsome. I wouldn't mind doing that again.

It was a great trip that we plan on doing again. I have posted some pictures below of our day.

Matt meets Moose

Ethan & I meet moose

Deer

Herd of deer

Fawn

Matt meets Buffalo

Buffalo sticks head in window

Buffalo

Moose in road

Long Horned Steer

Matt meets the Long Horned Steer

Zebra

White Zebra

Giraffe sticks head in car window

Giraffe ignores us

Signs

Signs

Llamas play fighting

Female Peacock

Red Kangaroo

Male Peacock