Memorial Weekend

Well, the last two weekends we haven't really been able to relax in the Hickman household. We decided to paint our living room and do a bunch of landscaping outside, so we were busy bees. Now that it's complete, the outcome is well worth it. Hopefully the rest of the summer, we can just sit back and enjoy the nice weather.

Mr. Gardener doing his part to help us (last weekend).

Ethan's new bike that Grandma Hickman bought for him

For Memorial Day weekend, we did get out a bit when we took Ethan to the local Aurora zoo and park. As you'll see, I was playing like a kid also. :)

Our finished landscaping:

We're having a retaining wall put in on the side of the garage, so this will be a bit spiffier once that is done.

Some recent Ethanisms:

*He thinks it's funny when he farts (or as we call them, "tooties") and after he does it, he laughs and says, 'I want more tooties'. He then proceeds to try to do it again!

*He got the syrup out of the fridge the other day and put it on the kitchen table and said, "pancakes" to me.

*The cutest 2 words he says lately are 'goofy' (although it sounds like 'foofy') and 'sushi'. Both sound absolutely adorable when he says them.

*I taught him to say 'Daddy's big muscles' and show his arms. He holds his arms out and says 'Daddy's big muscles, big' and gets real tense at the end with a grunt - hilarious!

*The last two mornings I've gotten him out of bed, the first thing he says to me is "Daddy downstairs coffee" - so he now relates the morning to daddy making coffee - pretty perceptive!

*Ethan likes to give Sasha her morning treat now. He says, "Sasha, sit...good girl" and then gives her the treat. Good little helper!

*His latest two things he does to be a naughty boy (I know, hard to imagine this cutie can be naughty sometimes) is throwing his silverware on the floor and putting his feet on the dinner table. Although he knows when he does the silverware thing what he did wrong, because when I scold him, he says "fork, table...be nice". Which is paraphrasing what I've just told him, that we be nice to the fork and put it on the table when we're done with it. Some day it will sink in!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day Weekend proved to be as busy as the past few weekends for us. Friday evening we treated Lauren and her husband to dinner as a special thank you for always taking such good care of Ethan for us. We tried to take them to one of those all you can eat meat buffet restaurants (special treat for the boys of course) and the one in Downers Grove unfortunately had closed. So, we drove back to Naperville and enjoyed Catch 35. Saturday we did the usual swim class in the morning and then Dave and I had a date night. We had Lauren's sister watch Ethan while we went to Cirque Dreams at the Aurora Paramount Theatre. Dave and I really enjoyed the time together and the performance - it's amazing what those acrobats and performers can do!! Highly recommend!!

For Mother's Day, we met Dave's parents downtown Naperville for breakfast at Egg Harbor (yummy!!!) and walked around the Riverwalk a bit. Actually, we stayed in the same 100 yards of the riverwalk the whole time, as Ethan liked the bridge where he could see the ducks swimming and the fountain squirting water and the park benches that he could crawl up and down on a few hundred times....repeat sequence over and over and OVER! :) In the afternoon we had planned to take Ethan to the local zoo in Aurora, but I voted to just hang out closer to the house and go to the zoo on a bit warmer day. Either way, it was great having the family time. Dave also cooked me a very yummy dinner on Sunday evening - a new recipe he whipped up in his head and it was marvelous!!

Ethan is absolutely loving his stuffed animals in the morning now. Pictures below show 4 total that we had to take out of the bed with us. How I manage to unzip his pj's and change his diaper while he holds them all is a magical mommy skill that I have acquired. He usually wants to hold them while he eats breakfast, but I bribe him to let them just sit on the table so they don't get milk from cereal or sticky oatmeal spilled on them. (Don't mind my appearance in the picture, as these are first morning pictures)

Before breakfast photo opportunity

Looking out off the bridge

Ethan's latest cute things he's doing:

*He is trying to jump, he'll crouch down real low and pop up - real cute

*He likes to turn his night light on by himself now. The funniest thing though, my morning routine was to shut it off with my foot on the way out of his room because my hands were full...well, when I asked him to turn it on, he walked over, held on to the wall and lifted his foot up to turn it on. SERIOUSLY, kids are so atuned to certain things!!

*He is an absolute outdoors boy! He doesn't like coming in these days!! Today when we came in, he wanted to keep his coat on!! He also loves walks! Yesterday we took a walk for almost an hour from the time we left the house until we got back. He pushed his lawn mower the entire way around the pond and back. Of course, we had to stop to watch the tractors/semi trucks loading dirt.

I can't believe that he's already 19 months - 5 more months until he's 2?!

Dave's 32nd Birthday!

This weekend was the first weekend Ethan and I had Dave to ourselves the entire weekend and we really enjoyed it! Coincidentally, Dave was able to get his test out of the way last weekend, so he could fully enjoy his birthday festivities on Saturday.

Dave got some 'honey do' items done this weekend, which I was much appreciative of. Hung a picture, put together Ethan's wagon and new cozy coupe car, fixed a few squeaky doors, helped me fix the yellow grass from Sasha peeing all winter, hardware store shopping for a few household projects we have planned....I know, it sounds like I threw Dave into more 'work', but he definitely enjoys the household help more than his studying, so he didn't complain. :)

For Dave's birthday on Saturday, he came with Ethan and I to swim class in the morning. Ethan was happy to show off his wall walking, swimming and back floating. :) Saturday evening we did sushi with Dave's parents and they were nice enough to stay with Ethan while we went out to bowling with some friends that evening. Sunday, we spent as much time outside as we could. We took two walks around the park area in our subdivision and now Ethan likes to get out and help push his stroller/wagon himself. So, we just walk at Ethan's pace. The cutest thing he likes to do now is put his hands in his pockets while he walks. I have no idea who taught him this, but it's the cutest thing ever!

Ethan 'helping' Mommy make Daddy's chocolate, cherry cake - mmm, chocolate beaters!

Helping Daddy put together his car

Ahh, this is the life...Dad just pulls me and I lay back and enjoy the ride!

Helping Dad with the stud finder to hang a picture

Walking all proper with his hands in his pockets.

Pulling the wagon like a big boy

Dinner on Saturday night..mmm, sushi!!