Gotta Start 'Em Young!

Creativity and artistry run through my family in a variety of different ways.  Photography has specifically been interesting to a number of us.  In my last post, I showed you a number of photos of Ethan playing, full of expression, with his soon to be Christmas presents.  After we were done taking the photos, I decided to show them to Ethan.  As you can tell by his intense focus that he was instantly fascinated by the mini television like display on the back of my camera.  Could I be prouder of my incredibly curious little guy?!?  Once I realized what was happening, I immediately recognized the photo opportunity.  Thank goodness for self timers!  Hopefully we'll be passing the camera along to yet another generation!

See Daddy, there IS a valid reason to own more than one camera!

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

I walked outside on Friday night and thought, "wow, it smells like December out here."  So crisp, cold, and clear.  And then I realized, it is almost December!  While the weather was still warm this afternoon, I made it outside to hang the Christmas lights (although I won't light them until after Thanksgiving).

On that note, I introduced Ethan to some of his friends he'll be getting for Christmas this year.  Please don't tell Santa!!  Specifically, I purchased some Dr. Seuss plush toys from Kohl's.  Interested?  The proceeds go towards their Kohl's Care's charity and can be purchased for just $5.  I wanted to get some photos of them with him while they are all still the same size!  He loved them!!  Warning: Here come tons of photos because I love them all! (Don't worry..more blog to follow them...)

Could it get any cuter? Seriously!

I wish I could bottle all that happy.

I love how his feet are up in the air just like Mr. Bird!

We had a pretty good weekend just the three of us.  Tonight I had him laughing from his belly so hard (complete with the sound of real honest to goodness laughter) that it's a good thing he wears a diaper!

It's amazing to me how much Ethan is starting to recognize things.  His bottle for instance.  If you hold it up in front of him, and he's hungry, he'll start to talk.  Or is buddy "Nigel."  Nigel (named after the pelican in Finding Nemo, of course) is his bath rinser.  He knows exactly what that guy is going to do...dump water all over him!  The minute he gets close to Ethan, his grin gets so big that it just might pop right off that little face.  When I got Nigel, I was a bit unsure about spending $8 on a rinse cup, but I'm sure glad that I openly spoil him.  Ethan has always loved him, but now that he's starting to associate faces, he loves him even more!  What's $8 for a little joy?

He's how old?!?

So, I officially had to count exactly how old Ethan is.  I've already completely lost track.  Well, he's 16 weeks old.  Wow.  He's such a little person now.  His giant personality shows through in almost everything he does.  Baby boy through and through.  The world around him just keeps getting bigger and bigger all the time.  And happy.  He's so happy all the time, sometimes even smiling between cries.  He plays with his toes constantly.  Must be nice to carry your toys everywhere you go!  Of course, there are inopportune times for playing with those little piggies.  For example, 2 am.  We'd found that these middle of the night wake ups can often be cured by turning on Ethan's rain forest mobile. Occasionally though, Ethan trumps our efforts when we hear him laughing at those crazy jungle friends.

Friday he discovered that those piggy toes taste good too!  Mmmm, baby toes.  Ethan also continues to find his voice.  He talk to his toys (especially anything that has a face on it) and he squeals in delight when he plays.  Sometimes it sounds more like we have a a bird residing in our home, not a baby!  Recently, the monkeys I put on his nursery wall caught his eye.  He loves their smiling faces.  So glad that he so clearly approves of my nursery decorating skills.  On the flip side, he frequently exchanges a good cry for a good angry ear piercing scream of discontent.

Last Sunday we had a reunion for our Centering Pregnancy group.  It was so fun to see everyone, and of course, all the cute little babies!!  Each and every baby was healthy and equally precious.  Ethan was so well behaved.  He enjoyed looking at everyone, babies included, and even took some time out to watch the football game.  My favorite moment is when three of the little girls were crying though a photo-op.  Ethan was watching football at the time, looks at the girls with curiosity. "What on earth are they doing?"  He quickly realized however, that he'd rather just be watching the game.  Daddy of course told him some nonsense about how women do that, and he should learn to ignore it now.  Thanks for the good parenting Dad!

Ethan, of course, is too busy watching football to pose for a photo.

And of course, I have to leave you with another photo full of cuteness.

All you need is love.

Words of Wisdom Inside My Honest Tea Lid

"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world."  -Unknown

Three Months Already!

Ethan is officially no longer a "newborn."  Wow.  Time went so quickly, but it's already hard to remember how little he once was!  Daddy talks about how he misses "that baby from the hospital," but it's so fun to watch him grow and develop.  Of course, we are overwhelmed with pride for every little thing he does.

Last week I started back to work.  It's always a hard decision to go back, but I know ultimately that it's the right one for everyone.  My first week went rather smoothly.  Ethan was sleeping at night, and my days were well planned and went smoothly.  This week has been a bit of a different story.  I partly blame the time change for getting him all out of whack, but Ethan has started waking up at night again.  I've been exhausted, but still happy to be back to using my brain again.  It's just so easy to knock the whole house of cards down.  As the week is coming to a close, sleep is moving back to normal, and I couldn't be happier!

In more exciting news, our curious Ethan is so delightful.  I can't explain enough how much he loves to play.  He continues to be so curious and energetic.  It can be hard to keep him constantly entertained, but luckily he just absolutely loves those toys....and have I mentioned he loves the TV (especially when football is on)!  He is most excited about faces.  He's becoming more and more chatty.  He babbles quite a bit.  He squeals with delight, and screams in frustration.  If it has a happy face, he's ready to talk.  This video is his monkey talk.

Ethan discovering his toes.  He loves to grab them!

ETHAN LOVES STANDING!  Really.  Nothing makes him constantly happier.  He does such a great job too.  Just hold his arms and watch him go

I go away for one minute and he rolls over to watch TV.  He can find it anywhere.  I'm pretty certain he learned to roll over just so he could get a better view of the television.

The little guy playing in the gym.  His legs are always kicking through the air, and he grabs everything in sight.

The holidays are right around the corner, and we tagged our Christmas tree last weekend.  Ethan's daddy makes sure that we go early in the season so Mommy doesn't drag him out in the cold for hours to find the perfect Frasier Fur. We also have Ethan's Christmas list just about complete.  By Christmas, he will be just about ready for all those super fun 6 month old toys.  They look like so much fun.  I can't wait to try them all out....I mean, watch Ethan play with them.  Regardless, I look forward to it!! :)

Can't wait to trim the tree!