Our Little Jail Bird

First of all, thank you Jason and Corey for this very cute outfit for Ethan! I can't believe he's already wearing 6 month clothes!! Dave said Ethan looked like a 'jail bird' in the outfit because of the stripes. Anyway, we had a great weekend together and Ethan was especially happy and playful after his Saturday afternoon nap. He and I played in the living room while Dave hung some pictures up and he was all smiles!

Our First "Unscheduled" Doctor's Appointment

We hit a "milestone" of sorts yesterday...making our first unscheduled doctor's appointment for Ethan. He started getting a red bumpy rash on his tummy and legs and I was just SURE that he caught some nasty skin disease at the daycare...but turns out the poor kid has dry skin (eczema - or however you spell it). So, I now have to torture him with putting cold lotion on his body in the morning and at night. The kid cracks me up when I touch his skin with cold hands. He kind of blinks his eyes real fast and inhales loudly, while flailing his hands. I'm sure if he could talk, he'd ask me what in the heck I was doing to him - it's torture!! Anyway, I was happy to hear that it wasn't something he "caught" at daycare!

Other cute things he's been doing lately is playing the shy game sometimes. If I'm holding him and Dave comes up to talk to him, he grins and buries his head in my shoulder for a second or two. Well, he's either playing the shy game or he doesn't like Daddy's morning coffee breath..ha ha ha. He has also started to giggle at times. To my amusement yesterday I was unpacking our first shipment from "diapers.com" (moms, this is nice...you don't have to shop for diapers, they come to your door!) and there was a sample of a lotion in a plastic wrap package. I was just looking at it and he started grinning, so I crinkled it in front of him and he just giggled at it. I thought it was so cute that I had to call Dave on speakerphone from home for him to hear it. Amazing what amuses kids - who needs to buy toys when you have plastic wrap that makes a funny noise!!

First Week Back to Work

As you can all tell...I made it through my first week back to work. But, it wasn't without some tears and frustration. Tears that I had to leave my little boy for SEVERAL hours and deal with only seeing him awake for maybe 3 hours at best each day (including a 3a.m. feeding - although I wasn't complaining last week, I looked forward to seeing him - even if it was 3a.m.!!!). But, we made it through and I know his grandparents loved the time with him. I can't say I was as excited about the daycare though and that's where frustration came in! Diaper rash the first day...it was even worse the second day, an outfit that had been urinated on and my son was still wearing it when I got him home! UGH! Needless to say, mommy and daddy are on the case to find a new daycare! We are looking into the in-home option as well and might just have a good lead at this point. So, that's my venting for now...on to the more important part of this blog, a few updated pics from this weekend. (I look horrible in these pics, but Ethan is too cute to not post them).

Mommy...please stop kissing me...I know you've hardly seen me this week, but come on!
I guess those kisses weren't so bad..

This is my big sea turtle that Grandma and Grandpa Hickman got me for Christmas..

Man, this monkey tail tastes GREAT!

I'm going to miss Mommy!!

I had a serious talk with Ethan this weekend that mommy had to go back to work. If he wanted to continue to get new toys, clothes, diapers etc., that mommy had to go back to work to start earning a paycheck again. He wasn't very happy with me! But, I reassured him that daycare, Grandma Hickman and Grandpa Rochford will take good care of him! It's already been a teary day for me today...I rocked Ethan to sleep for his afternoon nap and just sat there a while longer to hold him. I know he'll be a good boy and be taken care of, but it still doesn't change the hurt in my heart.

Look Mom, I'm a big boy holding my bottle!

Dave called me yesterday to tell me I was missing the first time Ethan was holding his own bottle! I guess right when Dave brought it to his mouth, he instantly clenched onto it! Sometimes he uses his little fists and not an open hand, but what a BIG boy!! Dave made sure to take at least 15 pictures of the event at many different angles to prove he wasn't helping him..

Christmas JCP pics

These are a few cute pictures that were taken when we went for Christmas photos with Dave's sister and family..

October JCP pics

I just realized today that I could download the photos that JCP took of Ethan at 1 week old. I know you all received birth announcements but I thought some of these pictures were cute enough to post!!

Gearing up to go back to work...ugh!

Yes, unfortunately I have to think seriously about the topic of putting my brain to work again for a 40 hour work week. I of course have mixed emotions about the whole ordeal because I love my time with Ethan, but I do look forward to a bit of adult interaction besides the very few hours I see Dave at home. So, starting actually this morning, I woke up with Dave as if I'd be getting ready for work and I'm now trying to work Ethan onto a schedule so it won't be a total interruption when we start the whole daycare ordeal. I've been working on a night routine for about a week now, where Ethan gets his bath and then we read a book and then try to go to sleep. Everything I've read is that babies do better with routine, etc. So, I figure I better get it in gear. Here's a few pics of Daddy doing the bedtime story...Ethan looks fascinated with the "Big Red Barn" book!!

Exciting new toys

Over the holiday break Dave and I put together Ethan's jumparoo, which I had gotten as a shower gift from my co-workers. I wasn't sure if he'd be able to use it just yet since he's not sitting up by himself, but the seat actually fits snug enough for him to sit in it without any support around him. He's still a bit short to reach the floor, but Dave being a smart engineer put a pillow under Ethan's feet...ha ha. Soon enough he'll be going crazy in his jumparoo I can imagine. He was very smiley with all the sounds, lights and music to entertain him.

Ethan also got a cute little bug toy from Grandma and Grandpa Hughes, which he likes to hear the noises and see the little thing light up. He was quite smiley with the toy as well - although it's so hard to be quick enough on camera to get all the smiles. He's actually doing a lot better at grasping things to try to put them in his mouth. Oh boy, here we come with the "everything goes in my mouth" phase!

Merry "Flu" Christmas

Dave and I had planned on having one of the most memorable Christmas Days ever (being the first one with Ethan and all...), and we definitely got what we "planned" for as far as memorable goes. This year we headed to the Hickman side to spend Christmas Day. We were all dressed up in Christmas colors to be festive and Ethan was wearing a cute little outfit. About an hour after we arrived bearing gifts to celebrate, we were leaving with a car full of still wrapped gifts headed back home, as Dave came down with what was one of the most HORRIBLE cases of the flu! So, sorry to say that there are no exciting Christmas Day pictures to share. I almost took a picture of us in our pajamas, but I didn't figure Dave would've been too keen on the idea of posting a picture of him feeling miserable. I still plan to get a picture of Ethan surrounded by all his gifts once we finish all our Christmas celebrations (we have 2 more this weekend), and that will have to do for this year's Christmas. Luckily, Ethan won't even remember this first Christmas! I'm sure next year will be much more exciting!

Hosts with the Most

Dave and I hosted his family over on Sunday to watch the Bears v. Packers and just to hang out. BTW, what is up with the Packers losing to the bears twice in one year!!! Ugh!

Anyway, we had a nice time visiting with the whole family, as Dave's grandparents also came up from Urbana on Sunday and stayed overnight with us. Luckily for Rowan we've started a nice toy collection for her to play with.












In some of these shots, she almost looks like she wants to show Ethan how exciting the toys really are. Can't wait until next year when the two of them can interact a lot more.









A few shots of Ethan with Mommy and Daddy. He wasn't so keen on taking a nap, and since Dave and I kept taking turns with him upstairs to no avail, we opted for the pacifier and a nap with mommy on the rocking chair in front of the fire.











Finally, a good shot that Grandpa got of Ethan just hanging out in his chair

Meeting more Family

Dave's sister and family were in town for Christmas this year. We hadn't seen them since February when we went out to Philadelphia to meet our niece, so it was great to see them all again! These are photos of the first meeting of the family. I was amazed at how gentle Rowan was when meeting Ethan, she's only 14 months old and she was as gentle as can be when she tried to touch him! We went and got formal pictures taken of the cousins and families while they were in town also, which turned out GREAT! I don't have any proofs or anything, so you'll have to take my word for it. If I think about it, I will scan a few in once we get them back in a few weeks.

Grandma Hickman wore me out!

Grandma Hickman came thru for Mommy last week when she had a Christmas party with her work friends. I had such a good time that I had to nap on Grandma and slept for 2 hours in my carseat (on the way home and even after Mommy took me inside). Thanks Grandma!

Six years ago today..

Dave proposed to me! I just thought of that, so thought I'd share! What a great husband I have - I honestly can't believe we're coming up on our 4 year wedding anniversary! I'm lucky to have such a great guy to spend the rest of my life with and have a great family with!! Okay, I won't get too sappy - I'll save that for him personally. :)

Santa Sighting...and his little helper elf!

Last night Dave and I took Ethan to my Dad's karate school to see Santa. Ethan was the honorary first kid to sit on his lap. It was quite cute that Ethan and Santa were dressed alike!! Uncle Patrick also made sure that everyone knew Ethan was his nephew. Here's our family Christmas photo from a few weeks ago..

Bath Time Fun

So, I realized a few days ago that most parents take pictures of their kids in the bath tub to embarass them in the future. Plus, Ethan got a very cute robe that we haven't even put him in yet. So, we got a few pictures of him tonight while taking a bath and in his spiffy sea creature robe!!











I brought Ethan to my work today to show him off. I have to say, I was a little nervous that he'd cry at some point, but he did very well. He only got a little grumpy when we first got to work, but after a little food, he was back to his charming self. Some of the guys on my team were pretty impressed by his toots he let off as well...hilarious!

Winnie the Pooh

Ethan wore his Winnie the Pooh outfit today...a gift from my friend, Sara. He looks so cute in it!!

On Saturday, Dave and I took him out to get some Christmas shopping done, and even ate at Chili's for lunch - overall he was pretty good being that we were out and about for almost 5 hours. We were proud of ourselves for venturing out with him thru all the crazy shopping traffic.

2 Months Old!

Ehtan's "unofficial" 2 month picture (it was actually taken yesterday but he had an awful cute outfit on!) vs. his 1 month photo!













Ethan turned 2 months old today and I can't believe how much he's grown! We have his doctor's appointment tomorrow to officially get his weight gain and growth. Silly mommy has been taking the tape measure out to try to get his height, but he's a Mr. Figit sometimes, so I can't usually get an accurate measurement. The poor little guy has to get 4 shots tomorrow, which I'm not looking forward to (and I'm sure he wouldn't be either if he knew what was coming). But, I have to look at it as something that will be beneficial for him.

Ethan has had his first babysitting experiences in the last week. Grandma Hickman helped me with him last week while the workers were coming in and out of our house to fix all of our 1-year warranty work in the house. Grandma Hughes came yesterday to watch him while mommy had a doctor's appointment and then we went Christmas shopping in the mall for a little bit. Then, Grandpa Rochford came over today to watch him while mommy went to her Christmas lunch with her work team. Overall, he had rave reviews at being a good boy.

This past weekend Ethan was able to meet some of our neighbors when one of them hosted a Christmas get together with the block. He also was able to meet some of our friends from college and had his first dining experience in a restaurant - where he was also a good boy! Next week I plan to venture to my work and possibly Dave's work to show him off a bit. It's always a juggling game as to when he'll be napping and eating, but we'll figure something out. Everyone is ready to meet him.