Love to clap!

New Zebra!

So, the newest thing that one of my co-workers tuned me into was a website called "freecycle.org". It's a place where people post items that they want to give away or need and everything is you guessed it...FREE! Anyway, my great find for the weekend was a little zebra toy for Ethan. The only thing remotely wrong with the thing is one of the hand grips was chewed by the previous owners dog a little bit. But, we're just going to tape over the end a bit so the sharp edges don't hurt Ethan and it's as good as new. We tried it out today and he seemed to think it was pretty neat. Soon enough he'll be moving his little legs and riding the zebra all over the house I'm sure!

I have some video clips to post, but will probably do this during the week...these last two nights have proven a bit rough on the sleeping for Ethan. I think those two top teeth are ready to burst because he's really rubbing his mouth and is just not sleeping like his usual self.

Latest tricks Ethan is doing...he loves to push any button that makes sound. He really uses his little index finger and pushes down hard. I think it's cute - as if the harder he pushes the louder or better the sound will be?? I've been standing him up on furniture and to play with some of his taller toys so he gets used to the standing position. His favorite is the coffee table - when you pound your hand, it makes a lot of noise! He's getting very good at putting different shapes in his "cookie jar" of shapes. As long as you show him which hole each piece goes in, he really tries. The circle is his best, but Dave got him to do 3 other shapes as well. On the crawling front we're still not there, but it seems that he made what I'd call progress this weekend. If I hold my hands on the outsides of his knees (to keep him in the crawling position) it helps him stay up - otherwise he slowly spreads his legs and ends up in the belly flop position again. He actually lifted his hand a few times and put it a bit forward and then I moved his knees to mock the movement of crawling. All in good time...he'll get there.

I'll try to post the videos tomorrow night...

9 Month Stats..

Ethan had his 9 month doc appointment last week Wednesday. He weighed 20 lbs, 12 oz and was 28.5 inches long. This tracks almost exactly with where Dave was at 9 months! I completely forgot to ask the doctor what percentage ranges this landed him in, but assuming it's around the 50% like last time? Luckily no shots this time and the doctor actually just examined him while he was on my lap the whole time. This was nice because Ethan was a bit leary of the doctor. Last update on Ethan is that his top two chompers should be popping thru his gums any day now!

This weekend wasn't as busy as last for us. Friday I got to go to happy hour with some co-workers and Ethan and Dave has some quality bonding time together. Saturday we went to dinner with some friends for a birthday (Ethan was an extremely good boy considering we were again, out past his bedtime!!) and then Dave went and joined some friends to watch the UFC fights. Today, we visited Grandma and Grandpa Hickman's house where Ethan got to try out the new tree swing! Judging from the smiles, I think he liked the ride.

Daddy, can you buy me a race car like this toy when I grow up...
Visiting at the Grandparent's house...up on hands and knees, but no crawling...YET!












This is the bestest tree swing ever! Thanks for hanging it Grandpa!

Ethan's 9 month Pics!

Wow, I got these faster than usual...here are a few of the photos!

Ethan's favorite Bunny "Blue" - I know, I know - we're so original with names!

A few of my favorites..

No More Pacifier?

It seems as of yesterday, Ethan no longer wants his pacifier! We had no intention of "breaking" him of this habit anytime soon, but if he's taking the lead - we're going to roll with it. I'm not sure if it was the chain of events from Saturday or if he's just made a decision, but I'm thrilled if we can get rid of it without a fuss from him!

This weekend was busy for us and Ethan was such a trooper with tagging along (and getting in and out of the car all weekend)! Friday evening we went to Yorkville to watch my Dad do a demonstration in the park for his kickboxing class and then we went to dinner with him and some of the people in his class. Ethan was up past 8pm, which is definitely past his bedtime! But, he was all smiles for everyone as usual! Saturday we had swim class and then went to a bbq up north, which was over an hour drive. We first stopped at my Mom's place to say a quick "hello". So, the story on the pacifier on Saturday....Dave and I knew we'd be out past Ethan's bedtime again and so we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up a few extra pacifiers to keep in Ethan's diaper bag for the night as well as future use. Well, they didn't carry the normal brand he's used to, so I picked up another brand that looked similar. Well, when it got to be around Ethan's bedtime Saturday I tried the pacifier and it was almost a game with him - he kept spitting it out. Eventually, he just didn't even let me put it in. He fell fast asleep on me while I was just rocking him at the party and didn't need the pacifier, but I think that experience "left a bad taste in his mouth" for using a pacifier maybe??!! Like I said, if he's done with the pacifier this early and on his own terms - the more power to him! Although, it's only been one day, so we'll see how it goes. Sunday we took him to get his 9 month pics at JCPenney and they are adorable (will post once I can get them online in about a week or so). He woke up from a nap right before the pics and was in the BEST mood.

I always try to think of random "Ethanisms" or things that he's doing, so here goes:

*We are trying to teach him "what does a cow say" and we say Moo and he makes a noise to mock us - it's more like "uhhhhhhh" - but it's still fun to hear him mock us.
*Adult food we've tried with him to date: peaches, pears, mandarin oranges, cheerios, noodles, turkey deli meat, green beans, carrots, watermelon, strawberries. He seems to like most everything. Of course, who wouldn't if past experience was only pureed food, right?
*He now grabs at his spoon and puts it in his mouth if you hold it just in front of his mouth. He doesn't really know to take it back out of his mouth once it's in there, so it's funny - but he's trying!

He goes for his 9 month appt on Wednesday, so i'm excited to see his stats. Thankfully no shots this time!

As far as Dave and I go....I took off my thyroid bandage last night and the scar is barely visible!! I'm so excited. I go to the doctor today to see if I can go back to normal (i.e. workout again - I've never gone 2 weeks without working out. Although, I cheated a bit when I did the elliptical real slow a few days). I also have a job interview with another company on Wednesday. I've been casually looking for a new job because BP will be moving downtown in about 2 years and I'm not willing to do the commute and lose time with Ethan (and Dave)! :) Dave is busy as usual at work and being a GREAT Daddy, so not too much new to report on him.

Would you be scared...

If this was coming towards you...

This is from last Thursday evening with the storm front rolling in - pretty cool - yet a bit creepy! I was waiting to see a twister from the sky!

4th of July Weekend

Before I get into what the weekend brought, just a few new tricks that Ethan has mastered. Last weekend out of nowhere, he started clapping his hands. I guess he saw me clap my hands each time he tried to feed himself and maybe caught on? Anyway, he claps his hands and mocks the sound "yay" that we say to him. He's also been "flopping" a single arm sometimes as if to say "hi". He's also mega interested in self-feeding now. He's big on mandarin oranges, puffs, cheerios, bread/toast, peas, carrots. I wish he had more chompers so we could give him more variety!! Speaking of chompers, we're wondering if he's going to get some more because he started his drool-fest a few days ago. So, maybe in the next few weeks we'll see some new pearly whites. On the crawling front, he's definitely not there yet, but he will lay his head down on the ground and stick his butt in the air and sometimes get up on his knees. I'm not too worried about it, he'll get it all in his own time.

Can you believe Ethan is going to be 9 months next week!! My gosh, I just can't believe our little boy is growing so fast.

We had quite a busy weekend for the holiday. We went to a 4th of July bbq at our friend Sara's house, where Ethan was a very good boy considering his afternoon nap was about an hour shorter than we thought it was going to be. The whole family was dressed in red, white and blue and I meant to get a family photo, but forgot until after I had put Ethan's pj's on. Oh well, the photos are still cute!

Here's our friend Mark helping Daddy feed Ethan while Mommy chats with the girls.

Cute family pics

Today we braved the warm weather with Ethan and went to the Ribfest for a few hours. We went with Grandpa and Grandma Linda. Ethan was quite a good boy considering the heat. He even taste tested a few greasy french fries. Ethan's reward was a "Sgt Oink" sticker from the rib vendor we ate at.

Daddy and Ethan at Swim Class

Dave filled in for me today in taking Ethan to swim class. I went with to watch and capture the moments though. :)

Scar for Life!

This past Friday I had a thyroid lobectomy, which was the removal of the left side of my thyroid. I had thyroid nodules and one of them had gotten large enough to where the biopsy wasn't necessarily representative of whether there were any cancerous cells in there. They had to remove it and have the lab test it while I was still in surgery. If there were cancerous cells, they would've had to remove the whole thing. Thankfully, the left side was all they took!

Dave and I were up at the crack of dawn (4:30) and had to be at the hospital by 5:30. Grandpa came over to stay with Ethan and I was luckily home before he went to bed. They originally told me I was going to probably have to spend the night, but because I did so well, they allowed me to go home.

So, here's my permanent battle wound.

Hitting a Milestone while sleeping...

He did it...Ethan rolled over from his back to his tummy for the first time. Dave and I went in to shut off his music and night light before we went to bed last night and Ethan was in his crib on his belly sleeping! Of course, I was bummed that we didn't see it happen, but never the less, we were excited. Lately I'm not sure how this kid hasn't rolled over yet, because he's all over his crib when he's sleeping. I put him down at one end of his crib and he ends up sideways at the other end of the crib when he wakes up in the morning. Cute little boy!

Sunday

Just a few pics from when my Mom and family came to visit with Ethan yesterday. We helped Uncle Breck celebrate his 17th bday too!

Ahhh, I'm so loved! Afternoon bottle before my 2 1/2 hour nap. Thank you Ethan for taking a long nap...you don't know this, but Mommy and Daddy also took a nap ! :-)

Uncle Adam - since we know you read the blog, we missed you yesterday! Ethan wants to see you again soon!

Annual Hickman Summer Bash

So, here are the pics from our annual party!! Overall it was a great day and a very good turnout. We were supposed to get around 90 and I think we ended up with around 65 or so. Ethan was at the party for the very beginning, but then had his first overnight away from Mommy and Daddy and stayed at Dave's parents house. I think Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed having him overnight (besides the 1 hour awake session from 2-3a.m. that Grandma got him through - thank you Sandy!). When I picked him up Sunday, he was all smiles and giggles when he looked at Grandma and Grandpa, so I don't doubt that he enjoyed the quality time as well!

Here's a pic of Ethan with Luke. Luke is 2 weeks older than Ethan and is one of my co-worker's sons.

Some random photos from the party..

Crazy girls...

I took more pics, but some of them were to dark to put on here...I wish I had more pics, but I was running around being the host with the most making sure there was food and drinks for everyone! :-) Thanks for all of you who came and enjoyed with us!

Water Baby!

Saturday was the first day for Ethan to take swim class. I wasn't sure how he would do because he's still not sure of the bathtub it seems. Not that he gets upset, but I have lots of little toys swimming around him and he doesn't really do anything with him...he just kind of sits there. Anyway, he did great in the pool! He really looked around at the kids on either side of us (we were in a circle with all the kids most of the time). The girl on one side cried the entire time I think and the boy on the other side was quite a little fish. He couldn't have been more than a year old, if that, and he was splashing and trying to dunk his head - very impressive! By the end of the class, Ethan was splashing his hands and smiling a bit. The class lasts 10 weeks, so it will be interesting to see how he progresses and if he gets more adventurous! There was another Dad there taking pics of his wife and daughter, so I had him take this one of Ethan and I to celebrate our first swimming event. Next week Daddy will be taking Ethan to class hopefully since I'm having surgery and probably won't feel up for going to class.

Helping to make Jell-o Shots!

Okay, so maybe we went a little too far here, but when Dave and I were preparing for our annual party, Ethan decided that playing with the big bottle of vodka was fun! So, I had Dave take a couple of pics of Ethan helping Mommy and Daddy.

Belated Father's Day

Dave and I took the day off Friday to get ready for our "Annual Hickman Summer Bash" and so we met Dave's parents downtown Naperville to celebrate a belated Father's Day with his Dad. We went to sushi for lunch and then went for a stroll down the Naperville River Walk. Ethan was a GREAT little boy at lunch!! He even tried the tofu from our soup and didn't seem to mind it. The waitresses all adored him! I thought we weren't going to get a peaceful minute at lunch to talk amongst ourselves because the ladies kept coming over and playing with him and talking about how cute he was. Of course, he just kept smiling, so how could they really resist the little sweetie!

Here's a few pics with the Grandparents on the Riverwalk. I wanted to get a family photo with the three of us, but Ethan fell asleep on my shoulder while we were walking, so that didn't work out. Next time we'll snap a shot earlier on.

Smart Little Boy

Another new trick Ethan can do is put his balls into the little giraffe's head. He did this for Grandma first on Tuesday and then did this about 30 times in a row for me tonight. I had to quickly run and get the camera. Sorry for the poor pic quality - I really need to take videos with our video camera and upload - some day!

You can see in the video that this kid can definitely use both hands...like a pro. So, the verdict is still out on whether he'll be a righty or lefty!

Random Wednesday Photos

Here are a few pics from Ethan's playdate with Jaden and then a few shots of him once we got home - note that I'm not a very good photographer when I have to take the picture myself. Yes, although he's in two different outfits, they are all from today - Mr. Ethan had a major wet diaper after his second nap apparently. Thank goodness for the extra clothes he has! :)

Ethan and Jaden playing...Ethan liked to hammer his hands when he grabbed at his feet I guess. Thankfully Ethan didn't hammer his head!

There's that tongue again!

Happy 1st Father's Day

I think Dave enjoyed his first Father's Day. We didn't do anything too exciting, but it was a nice day to spend together with the three of us. We went to brunch at a new little family restaurant that opened up near us in Naperville and had great breakfast food. Ethan even had some cheerios and parts of my blueberry muffin. He also behaved excellent considering we had a bit of a wait. We actually put our name in and then took a stroller ride around some of the local shops and then went back within the timeframe they gave us, but they were still running a bit late. So, a very good boy indeed!! I only got one shot of the day, but it's awful cute. This is Dave and Ethan right before Dave opened his Father's Day gifts. We got him a new nice t-shirt for the summer and a car polishing/waxing kit.

Awe, my handsome boys!

Check out the Vertical!

All the sudden this weekend Ethan decided to take up jumping like a mad man in his jumparoo. I quickly grabbed the camera and put it on video mode to catch the action. Sorry you can't really see his face, I was being lazy and laying on the ground. But, you can see his vertical jump in action! I just hope the poor kid doesn't break a toe - notice he's jumping on his toes instead of his feet. His toes were all red once he got done with this workout!

Other updates and new milestones this weekend with Ethan include:

*He tried several times to feed himself. We took him out to dinner at Outback this weekend and gave him some of the great bread they bring out. We just set it in front of him and he actually reached out about 5-7 times and grabbed pieces and tried to put them in his mouth. We just couldn't believe it! We were so proud. Of course he didn't hit his mouth once because his hand released the bread before it got to his mouth, but he's honestly never tried this before!!

*He's also shown more interest in getting up on his knees to possibly crawl! He pulled himself up to a full crawling position a few times this weekend and then flopped right back down on his belly, but hey - it's progress!

Now, just a few pics I took of Ethan and Dave. If you look closely you'll see two little chompers on the bottom!