Top Molars!

Well, it's official tonight, I managed to pry my fingers into Ethan's mouth to feel his top gums and I felt a tidbit of tooth on both sides of his upper jaw where his molars are. So, it seems as if all the fuss has truly been related to his molars. I hope the pain and suffering doesn't last long. I've never been one to be crazy about taking medicine myself and I just hate pumping tylenol down Ethan all the time, but I do it as often as it seems like he's in pain. I just wish he could 'use his words' and tell me that it's definitely his teeth hurting. Oh well...at least we have proof of his molars coming in now!!

Sick little boy

Ethan had a 102 temp on Friday, so he was home with me most of the day! He still doesn't have the appetite he normally does, but we're slowly getting food down him. He also has a cold and is drooling like MAD! I'm pretty sure during one of his temper tantrums today I could see his one top molar RIGHT below the gums!! Here are a few pics of him barely even eating grapes! You know he's not feeling well when you have to try to force fruit down this little boy!
Here's a picture of Ethan in his newest shirt that Daddy picked out for him - very tough with a skull on it! Ethan loves to play with any phone these days, he says "hello". Note he's playing with my cell phone in the picture, so if anyone gets a prank call from my cell phone and hears a little boy chattering on the other end - it's Ethan! :)

This weekend we listened to one of Ethan's new music cds he got at Christmas and he LOVED the "If you're happy and you know it" song! He would clap, stomp his feet - so cute! During "The Ants go marching" I showed him how to march and he'd mimic marching steps at times! Ethan also said the full phrase "peek-a-boo", which was surprising this weekend.

Not much else to tell on this end. Dave's engineering test is exactly 3 months from today. He's continued to diligently put in his several hours a day of studying, so things should go well. I think he's starting to get a bit worried now that the date is quickly approaching!

My 29th Birthday Celebration

Last weekend we had people over for a few drinks and then went out dancing!! The first time I've been dancing in almost 2 years and I had a great time. Unfortunately about half the people that planned to come had to cancel due to weather or other issues, but we still had a solid group of about 15 people that made it out! Just a few photos of the event.

Burp!

I forgot to mention in my last post about Ethan understanding what a burp is! Everytime he burps I always say it and he'll repeat me. But, yesterday he was walking around and he burped and he immediately said "burp" and smiled. Hilarious!

15 Month Stats

Ethan had his 15 month checkup last week and he still is about average on all accounts. He was 24lbs, 1oz., 31 1/4". He had to get 3 shots (poor boy), but the doctor did postpone one additional one that he was going to get, so he wasn't getting as many. I think he gets another 3 at his 18 month appointment and then they start to dwindle down...at least I HOPE so!! The doctor also said she could see his molars bulging, so we're keeping an eye on them...yippee, more teeth!!

Other updates with Ethan:
*He sometimes counts after you say 1, he'll say 2 and 3. This is completely thanks to Lauren who works on counting with him. So, we've tried to continue practicing with him.
*He understands 'all gone'. When he's done eating his snacks that we put in a bowl, he'll say all gone. He doesn't say it all the time, but he definitely understands the concept.
*He is good at identifying buses. I was driving home from Lauren's the other day and he kept saying what I thought was "but". Sure enough, I looked over and it was a bus!
*He understands 'pick up' and he will repeat it while he's picking things up. We always pick up our books and stuffed animals in his room before he goes to bed and we sing the old Barney song, "Clean up, clean up...etc." and he will help hand books to me to put back onto his shelf or he'll put his stuffed animals back in the basket. He doesn't always keep them there, he'll try to pull books back out or dump his animals out again, but he understands what it means!
*We finally bought him some shoes this weekend. He's been walking for a few weeks now, so we knew it was time. We got him some comfy robeez moccasins for around the house and then some brown spiffy shoes for when we're out and about.
That's all the little updates I can think of for now. Here's a picture I actually took last weekend and forgot to post. I know I mentioned how Ethan loves to play in his bed...here's proof!

Christmas Wrap Up!

The last two weekends we finalized our 2008 Christmas celebration. Last weekend the Hughes family came out to celebrate with us and we were again, spoiled! Ethan's favorites were his toy phone and his alphabet mat! Uncle Breck gave him the mat and put it together spelling out "ethan rocks" as part of the mat..
We also just got back today from celebrating in Wisconsin Dells with my mom's whole side of the family. Honestly, it's just amazing how large our family is and it's so fun to get together with everyone. Amazingly this year, all but 2 people were able to make it. Total in our family is my Grandma, 13 aunts/uncles, 18 grandkids (with most of us being married/having signficant others) and the 9th great-grandchild on its way in May!! So, there were definitely over 50 people there..a few pics of the "chaos"..

Although Ethan's been around my family several times, he was definitely a shy boy during the entire event. He was sure a trooper though. He only slept an hour of the 3 hour drive up there and stayed up until 8pm before he CRASHED for the night!! Here's a few pics of the great-grandkids (minus 1 that didn't stay overnight in the hotel) - Ethan was not wanting me out of sight!!

A few family photos..

Ethan Funnies...

So, a few things that I've wanted to post about Ethan:

*When he eats grapes (they're cut in half) with a fork, he will first put them flat side down and puts his fork thru the skin part. I just like watching him flip them first and then try to fork them to eat.

*As previously mentioned, he is very much a Mommy's boy these days and is now concerned when Dave gives me hugs or comes by me sometimes. If he sees Dave by me, he will stop what he's doing and come over and sometimes push Dave away. Obviously I don't want Dave's feelings hurt, but it cracks me up that he seems to not want anyone but him to have my attention!

*He likes the book 5 Silly monkeys where it says they're jumping on the bed, etc. When you say, "Mama called the doctor and the doctor said...." he'll repeat "Mo Mor Mama" or something like that for the part that comes next..."No More Monkeys jumping on the bed". That's his version of what comes next...but he knows the queue of when to say it!!

*The book Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton, every time we say the 'oops' part, he cracks up and screeches!

*He's found a fascination of playing in his crib! He goes for 20 minutes or more at a time sometimes and just flops around grabbing at his stuffed animals and being silly.

I'm sure there are more little tidbits that I just can't think of, while I'm on the spot writing this entry...I'll post more later if I think of them.

Hope everyone had a GREAT New Year's!!