Spring Break

This year the girls had spring break the week before Easter.  Scott made a farmhouse table and bench for some friends in exchange for a week in the summer at their beach house.  Since we needed time to assemble it we also got to go over spring break to do the work.  Scott's parents had planned to come down in May after Dick retired but his retirement was put off for another year so they came over Easter this year and were able to go to the beach with us.

Dick and Lynn got in on Friday afternoon and the girls had a soccer game scheduled for Friday at 6pm so they were going to get to watch that game.  Unfortunately it started raining around lunch and didn't let up so their game was canceled.  They were excited though just to have Grammy and Pepere visiting so no one minded much.

On Saturday morning we left at 9am in hopes of making it to the beach for an Easter Egg Hunt that was being done on the island.  We ran into rain off and on but Scott and his dad had wrapped up the table good so that it wouldn't get wet and we still made good time.  We stopped at McDonalds to get happy meals for the girls, they had found out that the happy meals had little beanie babies in them so they had asked a few times.  This was the second happy meal they had ever had so I had to get a picture, it was Ethan's first happy meal and he seemed excited but I think that was just a reaction to the girl's excitement.

We made it to the Easter Egg Hunt just as it was starting to sprinkle.  They had it setup like trunk or treating where the kids would go to each car/golf cart and pick an egg.  It was very cute and the cars were decorated too.  They had a bounce house and a fire truck there but it started to pour down rain when we got to that part.  The girls ran back to the car and Lynn and I took a few pictures with Ethan then we left and drove the last 2 miles to the beach house.  After we got settled and carried the table and bench upstairs it was almost 3:00.  Ethan was getting tired so I laid down with him while the girls and Grammy and Pepere went to the beach since it had stopped raining.  Scott worked on the table and when everyone got back we headed to the grocery store for food.

Sunday the weather was nice and we spent some time on the beach, those crazy girls all got in the ocean even though it was only 61 degrees.  The air temp was much warmer around 72 but still way too cold for me and apparently for Ethan he cried when his toes got wet.  Actually he cried a lot even just from the sand he did not like walking on the sand and wanted to be carried.   We walked down to the end of the island and the tide was low, it looked like you could almost walk over to Sunset beach but it was actually pretty deep in the center.  We found some shells along our walk, I found one in a tidal pool that I gave Emma, she was super excited about it and called it a tiny unicorn horn it was actually a tiny rhinoclavis shell.  The girls boogie boarded for a while and I stayed to watch them then they decided to head to the pool.  Pepere and I watched them for a while then I went to make lunch while Grammy came to stay at the pool.  I reminded the girls to put on some sunscreen but in hindsight I should have held them down and put it on.  We all ended up with some burns that night some more so than others.

On Monday we headed to the Aquarium, we still had our annual pass from last year so it was a free adventure.  We took the ferry over from Southport but I had forgotten how long of a drive it was to Southport almost an hour.  The ferry ride was half an hour ride but it is fun so it doesn't feel that long.  By the time we got to the aquarium it was lunch time so we did a few things inside then went to have a snack because the line was too long for real food.  After snack Ethan was tired and started to throw a fit, we tried putting him in a stroller but it did not go well and I had to leave with him and take him outside for 15 minutes, that boy has some endurance for screaming.  He finally calmed down and we went back in to see the turtle (always my favorite) and a few things downstairs.  Last time it had rained so we didn't get to do much outside but this time it was nice so we walked through a few of the exhibits outside and found a fossil hunt where you could dig for fossils including shark teeth.  This was very entertaining for the girls and they spend probably 15 minutes looking (ok so I had fun too).  We actually found about 20 shark teeth total though most were very small.  Olivia is ready to go back just to do that.  Ethan slept on the way home which he needed very badly.  We went to the beach later that evening and tried to do some metal detecting but the tide was high and the girls lost interest when we didn't find anything in the first 5 minutes.  Pepere lasted about 20 minutes but still we never found anything.

Ethan had not been sleeping very well he was fighting sleep and wouldn't go to sleep in the pack n play alone so we had to stay with him and then still he wouldn't sleep.  He also didn't want to take naps and was up early.  On Tuesday morning we all slept in because he finally slept in until 9.  We had omelets again for breakfast and then I started doing some laundry and cleaning up so we could leave that evening.  The table and bench still needed to be distressed which was my job so I spent a good deal of the morning finishing that up.  The girls went to the beach and the pool but it was cooler only 68 that day so they didn't last very long.  After they had warm baths they watched some tv while we cleaned and did the last bit of laundry.  We had decided to go out for a seafood dinner on the way home.  We ended up trying a new place and it was delicious.  The kids meals were a good portion of fried shrimp and Scott said his fish was some of the best he had had.  We all left with a full stomach and headed back home.  The trip home was uneventful though we did make a quick stop for icecream.  We made good time getting home but I'm so tired from 'vacation' I think need a week to recover.

Scott's 39th Birthday

Scott is not big on parties for his birthday but I wanted to celebrate it in someway.  We had done an escape room back in January with the girls and Scott's parents and it was a lot of fun.  I thought it would be fun to do a harder one with friends.  I invited several of our friends including Jen Lynn and Larry, Mike and Kim, and Amy and Clay.  Everyone came except Mike who had a basketball obligation that day.  I chose The Deadwood Saloon for our escape room, the description read, " Back in the 1800's my uncle Cyrus was known to have mined a bunch of gold.  However he disappeared one day and he or his gold was never seen again since.  He was known to frequent the Deadwood Saloon and we have just gained access.  But, the building is about to be torn down.  Can you discover where he hid his fortune in time?"

This escape room was rated 8.5 out of 10 for difficulty.  I wasn't sure if we would be able to figure it all out in time but it turns out we had a great group and everyone worked together or sometimes by themselves to figure out the puzzles.  We ended up getting out with 7 minutes to spare which we were told was very good.  For that room only 10% of groups get out on their first try.  We were excited and proud of our group.  We then went to eat at 521 which is a local chicken/burger place, it sure isn't healthy but it is delicious.  I think Scott had a good birthday and I'm glad we did something fun to remember it. 

Of course we also celebrated with the kids at home.  My parents had watched the kids for us so we could go out on Saturday for the escape room.  We invited them back on Sunday his actual birthday for dinner and cake.  It was another good day and he even got a nap!

Basketball

This year the girls signed up to play basketball at their school.  The school is part of IFBL which is a faith-based organization with some church teams and private schools (most seem to be catholic).  I volunteered to be an assistant coach but they had so many girls sign-up that they created 2 teams and needed me to coach a team.

This season was very different from Upward especially with the rules.  The girls were shooting at 10ft instead of 9ft and all the rules applied including back court, lane violations, free-throws, etc.  I had a team of 8 girls on my 4th grade team 4 were 3rd graders and 4 4th graders.  Of the 8 girls only 3 had played before (yes only my girls had played) and even they had a lot of rules to learn. Also they were allowed to play any kind of defense were Upward had only done man-to-man and had a method of matching players to make the games more even.

We obviously had a very rough season playing teams that were much more experienced and older than us.  The girls all learned a lot and they had fun but were pretty discouraged toward the end.  It was very time consuming to coach as practice was 2 times a week 1.5 hrs each and then games on Saturday but I would probably do it again just to help the girls.  I think next year we could have a good team as the other girls from 4th grade were playing on the 5th grade team.

When we started the season I didn't have anyone that was a strong dribbler and after evaluating everyone I decided to have Olivia try bringing the ball down.  It took a few games for her to get the hang of it and she had the ball stolen a lot as she learned but she became confident and was calling plays and telling the other girls what to do by half-way through the season.  She really became our star player and I think she has a lot of potential.  Emma is a great defender and super fast we used her to help team-up on their better players, we could use her too for fast breaks but didn't get too many of those.  Savannah has a good shot but didn't get the ball much, she is good but not as confident and doesn't fight for the ball as much.

All 4 teams (2 girls and 2 boys) practiced together so it was chaotic at times but I got to know a lot of the kids.  I really enjoyed my team of girls and there are a few that have real talent. 

Update on life

1/31/2019
Ethan's back molars are all coming in and it looks very painful.  He has been very clingy lately and doesn't sleep well.  After we noticed how swollen they were we have been giving him some tylenol and that seems to help.

Emma decided she wanted to 'babysit' him the other day and she did a great job.  I think most of the time they watched Thomas on the computer downstairs and ate popcorn but he had a blast and Scott and I had a chance to work on some projects.

Speaking of projects we are re-doing the girls closet.  We had installed another rack and moved the one rack up so that we would have two rows of hanging clothing in the closet.  Since it is not a big closet this was very useful however now that they are getting so big their clothing is hanging onto the second rack.  Scott bought and built a tall and thin Ikea bookshelf that we are putting in there and on 1 half will be a longer section for dresses and the other side will have 2 racks for shorter things.  Last night while we were working on this project Emma and Olivia took a bath with Ethan and entertained him in the tub for almost a solid hour.  They were all having such fun in there I loved listening to the laughter.  While they did that Scott and I were able to paint the closet.  Afterwards Emma and Savannah decided to put Ethan to bed so they read him books and sang to him (I snuck over a few times to listen by the door).  Emma then crawled into his bed with him and they played until they both fell asleep.  That only lasted for about an hour though because at 10:30 Emma came in with Ethan to tell us he was jumping on her head.  I guess he woke up and decided she should too.  She was happy to go to her own bed and I put Ethan back in his bed.  I just love how sweet they are to him and he adores them so much.  He is so much better when they are around, when he and I are home he gets bored and misses them.

One more funny thing about Ethan is that over the past week I have had some congestion.  So at night I take half of a menthol cough drop to help clear my sinuses.  Ethan has found my stash of half cough drops and every morning he comes in to eat the other half.  He obviously thinks it is candy but the girls and I think it is funny because it sure doesn't taste like candy.  Silly boy sure keeps us on our toes.

Disney On Ice

I had purchased tickets for Disney on Ice several months ago but also booked it the same weekend as my girls trip.   This caused a slight inconvience in that we had to leave from Savannah, GA at 10 so I could get back to make it to the show.  It was a little stressful trying to get back and we were a little later than I had hoped but we still had time to get downtown, though we were only in our seats 5 minutes before the start of the show.  This was actually good since Ethan didn’t want to sit still for the whole time. 

The girls were excited to go and said that they kind of remembered going when they were younger (I think they were in Kindergarten so that would have been 4 years ago).  The first part was Toy Story and Ethan loved seeing the slinky dog he kept shouting ‘dog’ ‘dog’ when it would skate by.  The next section was Ariel which was very colorful and well done.  We got some popcorn to eat since it was close to dinner time and the 2 buckets cost $20.  The girls wanted an olaf snowcone which was $15 each and we already have Minnie mouse cups from the last time so they did not give us a hard time when we said no.  Olivia said she might want one for Christmas which is fine I’m sure we can find one cheaper if she still wants one by then.  After intermission they had Cars which kept Ethan’s attention, and then the final section was Anna and Elsa which was good and the girl’s favorite (Olivia’s because of Olaf).  Ethan lost interest during this part and was walking in front of all of us back and forth and climbing in our laps and pushing Savannah out of her chair.  Savannah finally just left her chair and sat on Scott’s lap so Ethan could sit in her chair which suited him for about 2 minutes.  It was a good show and when Mickey and Minnie came back out at the end Ethan watched that part.  We were all impressed with the ice skating and Savannah said as we were walking out that she didn’t realize until the end of the show that they weren’t actually the ones singing.

Traffic was light and getting home was easy, we grabbed some chicken on the way home and discussed our favorite parts.  Ethan must have liked the singing because he hummed and sang most of the way home.

Hurricane Florence

It has been a very eventful week as hurricane Florence decided to head toward the Carolinas.  We first heard about the hurricane when Lynn and Dick arrived on 9/8 in Charlotte.  He said that they had talked about canceling the class he was suppose to teach.  Scott and I were both clueless we had not heard about a hurricane.  Over the next few days though that is all we heard about.  It was a category 4 hurricane and was moving slowly toward the Carolina coast.  As with other hurricanes they can't predict it's path entirely so it was uncertain if it would come toward Charlotte.  Dick's classes in Charlotte went as planned but his class in Durham for Thursday and Friday was cancelled.  They headed back to Boston ahead of the storm Thursday morning.  The hurricane hit Wilmington, NC Thursday night but was moving so slowly we did not get any rain until Friday night.  They had closed school on Friday as a precaution to the storm and the girls had fun playing outside in the wind.  It would get gusty for a while and then die down and come back.  They tried flying a kite but it wasn't constant wind so it didn't do well.  Olivia decided to make her own kite and she came out with a plastic bag and a string tied to the handle.  It actually worked pretty well so her sisters decided to try it and then when Sarah and her 3 kids came over they made more for them.  It was a cheap and fun activity and Sarah and I were able to visit in peace while they all played outside with their 'kites'.  Ethan had fun playing with his new cozy coupe that Paw-Paw and Nana found at a yard sale but he wan't interested in flying a kite.



The hurricane moved slowly dumping tons of rain on NC.  In Charlotte we got 5-10 inches of rain, at the fire station down the road they recorded 8.88 inches of rain from 6pm Saturday to 6pm Sunday.  We had a small lake in our backyard but it did not make it up to the house and our lights only went out for a minute one time and then came back on.  There were lots of trees down around Charlotte and I had to turn around once on my way to work Monday due to a down tree across the road.  We've heard a few friends that had leaks from the roof but nothing major here in Charlotte.  Wilmington, Lumberton, and Fayetteville have all had a lot of flooding and the rivers are still very high so I know there will be lots of damage out that way.

9th Birthday Party

This year the girls were asking for a sleepover for their birthday party.  We actually decided to do a 5-10 Pajama and Pizza party instead of a full sleepover so they could invite a few more girls.  Plus they had sleep-away church camp the week before and so it would need to be on a Saturday night which I figured would be hard to do with church on Sunday. 

We had the schedule all planned out, the girls would arrive at 5 and make their own pizzas for dinner.  Then they would work on a craft while they waited for their pizza to cook.  After that we would do presents and cake so my parents could leave with Ethan.  After presents and cake we would do 2 more crafts and then watch a movie. 

Kathy arrived Friday night and we worked on the cake a little that night as there had been a small mishap with 2 of the layers of cake and so the pillows weren’t fluffy.  We ended up just cooking another chocolate cake and adding that to the 2 flat pillows and it turned out fine.  Unfortunately Kathy started feeling bad late Friday night and by Saturday morning she was sick and had no voice.  We went yard sale shopping for a while but then came home and Kathy slept for a while.  We ended up getting a little behind on finishing the cake so it wasn’t done until after the girls arrived but it was ready before we did gifts.  

The evening went pretty well as planned a couple of things I didn’t consider was how loud 11 girls would be and also that they would be hungry and instead of waiting for their pizzas they filled up on the Dominos pizza we bought for the adults.  This left us with lots of little kid pizzas as they only ate a few bites, not a big deal though.  While they were waiting on their pizza we worked on a suncatcher craft (I’m always looking for crafts I can hang outside).   They all turned out really cute and the girls enjoyed making them.  We then had them open presents, they got all kinds of craft things.  Amanda and her girls got them a huge box of baking supplies, a game and a tie dye kit.  My parents got them cute clip lights to attach to their new bunkbeds which they loved.  Scott and I bought them a printer so they could print pictures from their cameras and Kathy got them mini scrapbooks for their pictures.  After presents we did cake, each girl got to pick their flavor and color of the fondant for their layer.  Emma was aqua and picked strawberry cake, Olivia was purple and picked vanilla cake with chocolate chips and savannah picked pink with chocolate cake.  They all opted to eat the chocolate cake though. 

After cake we had the girls take turns doing a leather working craft that Kathy had brought, it was their favorite and no one had done that kind of craft before.  They made little leather keychains and most of them put their initial or initials on their keychain.  The other girls worked on pillowcases we had each girl a pillowcase to put their name on and then have each girl sign their pillowcase.  They all loved the crafts so much that we got a late start on the movie.  We had borrowed my dad’s projector to watch Princess Diaries outside but as we were setting it up it started to rain.  We let them watch it outside for about 15 minutes thinking the drizzle might blow by but it just kept on raining lightly so we finally gave up and brought them inside to watch the movie.  We served them juice boxes, popcorn, and candy during the movie.  Unfortunately most girls had to leave before the end of the movie but I think they were pretty tired as no one seemed to mind much.  The girls and Bethany (who was staying the night) finished watching it after everyone left. 

I think the girls had fun and I’m glad we just did a 5-10 party and not a full sleepover so I could actually get some rest.  We all slept in until almost 10am since Ethan wasn’t there to wake us up.

9 years old

The girls turned 9 on a Tuesday, on Monday night I tried to wait up after they went to sleep so that I could put up some banners.  Savannah would not go to sleep so finally at 11 I told her she would just have to help and not be surprised.  We hung up a few birthday banners and then did some crepe paper in the doorway.  She enjoyed helping so it worked out fine.  Their birthday wasn’t very eventful they had Music and Arts Camp so they did that until 4pm then we went to Golden Corral, their new favorite restaurant, for dinner. 

We also did Happy Days again this year but we waited until after their birthday to start those.  On their happy day they get to choose what we eat for dinner and we sing to them.  They also get to open gifts from their sisters and maybe a gift or two from mom and dad.  They really embrace their happy days and enjoy it being all about them.  This year was Savannah’s turn to go first she chose to have hobos for dinner.  She got a diary and a bracelet making kit from us.  Emma made her some earrings and Olivia bought her a book and watergun.  Emma was next and she chose chicken pot pie, she likes the mini frozen ones from the grocery store so we bought a few of those for everyone.  She got a weave-loom and sewing craft from us.  Savannah gave her a photo book and Olivia got her a watergun and 2 dollars to buy a book.  Olivia was last she chose tacos for dinner and helped make a blackberry cobbler for dessert.  She received a toolbox and lego tape from us.  Savannah got her a photo book and Emma also made her a pair of earrings.

The girls have matured a lot this past year in a lot of ways.  First they grew not only taller but also have filled out especially Olivia and Savannah, Emma is still just very petite.  They have also matured a lot in their responsibilities at home they have a few chores they do every day and a few chores every week.  We have also started letting them stay by themselves for up to an hour while we run errands with Ethan.  They are great sisters to Ethan and enjoy playing with him, he just loves playing with them. 

Emma:  57 lb (24%)  4' 6" (73%) She is still my sweet girl that loves to cuddle and snuggle.  I am impressed often with her creative side, the other day I walked downstairs and she had made a loom out of cardboard.  She had read about it in a book and followed the instructions and made it herself.  She had gotten some cardboard from the garage and cut the lines and then used her yarn to make a little blanket.  Emma still has her breakdowns and we are working through that.  She gets frustrated when things don’t work out her way or if she can’t make something perfect.

Olivia: 78 lb  (82%)  4' 6" (73%) She is our little helper and daddy’s girl.  She loves to work in the garage with him or help him on projects.  Olivia is very easy to get along with and though she hasn’t bonded with a particular friend everyone likes her.  I will say though that sometimes her helpfulness is more about getting sticks (10 sticks =$1), she likes to have money and save money too.  Olivia is an animal lover and has decided she wants to be a vet.  She seems to really love dogs and I hate that her allergies prevent her from having one.  We have noticed since Cuddles death that when she goes to my moms house with the 3 cats she gets puffy eyes and congested fast.  Spending the night there is difficult for her because she starts to feel congested so she can only do one night. 

 

Savannah: 77 lb (81%)  4' 5" (58%) I have seen Savannah mature a lot socially this past year.  She has some good friends and now will even talk to her best friend Ana on the phone occasionally.  She loves to play barbies and occasionally one of her sisters will join her.  Even Olivia will play a little if she can play with the animals.  She likes to be busy and wants to know every day what the plan for that day is going to be.  She has taken an interest in first aid which I am definitely encouraging.  We could use some medical expertise in this family. 

Roux Reunion

We had planned our Boston trip to coincide with the Roux reunion that was held on July 8^th.  The reunion was held at Dick’s cousin Kathy’s house which is on lake Shirley in MA.

 

The last reunion was about 15 years ago so this was my first reunion for Scott’s family.  It was very nice and there was a good turnout of about 50 people.  Scott’s brother and sister and their families came as well as his cousins Cindy and Judy whom we had seen on the 4^th of July.

 

The lake was a perfect place to have everyone gather.  The weather was beautiful in the mid 80s and the water was warm.  The kids got to canoe and kayak before lunch.  Scott even took Ethan out in a kayak and he seemed to like it.

 

After lunch they swam and fished until it was time for pictures.  Emma caught a fish and she was super excited, she has been fishing a few times with Scott but this was her first catch and it was a pretty good size too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kathy's son Scott lived at the house next door and had this awesome slide and platform that the kids played on.  The tallest platform was 30 feet and all my girls jumped off.  After pictures there were boat rides for everyone.  Scott, Ethan and I went on the pontoon boat with his parents and some other relatives.  We rode around the lake and Ethan feel asleep on our ride.  When we got back I was able to lay him down on a bed in the house and he slept for another hour which was a good break for me.

 

I had wanted to go water skiing mainly to just prove to myself that I could still do it.  It has probably been almost 20 years since I last skied and I use to really enjoy it when my dad had his boat.  The kids went tubing and some of the adults too.  They had room for another tuber and since I was the last one left they took me to do that before skiing.  I may have been tubing once but it would have been in highschool so I don’t really remember.  It was a lot of fun especially since Dick kept getting knocked off his tube.  They took me out skiing next and I got up on my first try but only for like 2 seconds.  I got up the next time and stayed up a few minutes.  We passed a jet ski and I got hit by a big wave so I fell.  I got up again and this time probably stayed up the longest it was fun but I was getting tired and so I wasn’t able to get up again after that time I was just too tired and old I guess.  It was great I was so glad to get the opportunity.  Chris was in the boat with his camera so he got some good pictures even some of me crashing. 

 

Scott and his girlfriend took turns on their wakeboards and did a few tricks they were good and fun to watch.  The kids went back out on the last trip to watch Scott wakeboard and Chris also got some good pictures of him.

 

We ended up eating dinner at the lake with all the leftovers from lunch.  We ended the day with a game of volleyball which I haven’t played in a while but thoroughly enjoyed.  We all left exhausted but happy it was a great end to a great trip.

More Teeth and Less Teeth

Ethan has all 4 molars are coming in at the same time.  His poor gums are swollen and red and he has been pretty fussy too.  We have been giving him so tylenol to help him at night and also gave him benadryl one night just so he could get a full nights rest (and us too).

Olivia is also losing her teeth.  The funny thing is that she is losing her 1 year molars she lost both bottom ones with one week in April.  So Ethan is gaining molars and the girls are losing theirs.

Top left  - 3/30/18
Top right  - 3/4/18
Bottom left - 4/7/18
Bottom right  3/7/18

15 Months

Our little guy is 15 months old and we just can't imagine him not being a part of our family.  At his last dr appt he weighed 24.0 pounds.  He is getting tall and thin just like his sisters.

He has his first year molars on the top coming in and they look painful.  He has been fussy and wanting to nurse (or use mom as a pacifier) more lately so I think that is how he soothes himself.  He is doing great at going to bed now and hardly fusses when we lay him down.  Nap time is still a struggle he cries for a long time and sometimes sleeps for an hour but then sometimes not.  At daycare I'm told he sleeps 2-3 hours so he just won't sleep for us I guess.

He has had several haircuts by Aunt Stephanie, his hair is a little curly and pretty thick.

His favorite thing is the vacuum, he has 2 toy vacuums his favorite is the one from nana and paw-paw that is a Hoover that makes noise.  He loves the real vacuum and will follow you around and try to push it around.  He knows it is kept in Scott's office so if he escapes from the baby gate he make a bee-line to the vacuum.  He also discovered the hand-held vacuum we keep upstairs.  He carries it around and tries to plug it randomly into the wall.  He know it is plugged in but doesn't know it needs an outlet.

His sisters still love him to pieces and are very good at playing with him and they often take turns watching him on the weekends so Scott and I can get the house picked up.  He is a good listener now and is trying to communicate.  He has several words he can say including: more, down/done, up.  He likes to throw things, which is ok if it is a ball but often he'll pick up anything he can find and throw it.  If he gets mad he will look for anything to throw, I think he has a little temper already.

Snow

Last week we got 4.5 inches of snow on Wednesday morning.  The girls were so excited and were out playing in it right after breakfast even though only an inch had really fallen by then.  This year they were able to dress themselves and only needed help with their gloves and boots.  That was nice because I had to get Ethan dressed which was not easy especially trying to put on his boots.  Ethan liked the snow but had trouble walking in it so he preferred to be carried.

I made snow cream that afternoon, the girls had put a bowl on the patio to collect snow so we had a good start and then I got some more off the top of the cars.  Ethan tried his first snow cream and guess what, he liked it too!

Wednesday night it got really cold so the snow froze which made for good sledding on Thursday morning.  Ethan had daycare so that allowed us all to go across the street to sled at the soccer fields.  It started to warm up though that afternoon and most of the snow was gone by Thursday night.

Santa

We went to see Santa at our neighborhood clubhouse today.  Nana and Paw-Paw even came along to see Santa.

Olivia and Savannah had worked on lists for him and proudly showed them off.  Emma did not have a list but said she could remember the things she wanted.  Little Ethan didn't have a list either. 

We got to spend a lot of time with Santa and got some cute pictures.  The girls all went first and when it was Ethan's turn he went over very willingly.  He sat on Santa's lap but was unsure of this guy and was pretty serious.  Later when his sisters joined him he didn't seem to mind who was holding him and we were able to get some smiles.

It was a special visit with Santa.

Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving at my mom's house again.  We didn't have as many people as usual but we had tons of food.  Denise and her family had gone to the Macy Day parade to watch Alex march in the band so her crew was missing.  Amanda's family didn't make it and Stephanie was working, though Jamie and the kids showed up at the end.

The smaller crowd was actually nice in some ways as there seemed to be plenty of seats and room to hang out.  The weather was nice in the high 50s so the kids all played outside for most of the time.  Since Ethan is only nursing in the morning and at night it was easier to hang out with everyone this year and not have to worry about his schedule.  He did need a nap but Scott volunteered to go lay down with him, they both had a good nap.

Scott wanted to head out to do some black Friday shopping so we headed out around 4.  He went to Walmart and Bestbuy but didn't have much luck at either place.  That is unusual because we usually don't have any problems getting what we want on Black Friday unless it is a super hard to find item.

Emma wanted to do some shopping (she even dressed up in a cute dress and high heels) so I took her to CVS later after Scott got home and we found some good deals.

1 year old

Our little boy turned 1 year old on Friday, we are all in disbelief at how fast this year has gone.  I really feel like it went faster than the 1st year for the girls.  We have all enjoyed watching him grow but are a little sad at how fast he is growing up.

Ethan loves to play with his sisters, and he tries really hard to talk to them.  His little noises are cute and I think he can tell them apart now.  He loves balls and cars and will push them across the floor and chase after them and push them again.  He does not like to be left alone but will play well by himself as long as someone else is near.

Ethan can say mama, dada and no.  We still fight about which he said first mama or dada.  He does tend to say dada more during the day but at night when he is crying in his crib he definitely calls mama.

He is a good eater most of the time he likes chicken and almost any kind of bean including green beans.  He will not eat avocado or pears.  His favorite treat is the yogurt melts which are like freeze dried yogurt, I agree it is tasty.

He still doesn't like to sleep unless he is in the car or being held.  He is such a sweet boy and loves to cuddle and give kisses (slimy open mouth kisses).  He is starting to walk with assistance and will walk around holding my hands.

Standing

Ethan has been getting more steady on his feet the last few days.  We have caught him standing on his own a few times but usually just for a second when he lets go of the couch or ottoman.  Today however he stood up without assistance and was able to stand by himself for a few seconds.  He seemed to be enjoying the applause he got from doing this and kept doing it probably a dozen times.  One time he even tried to move his foot a step forward and he fell but it was a good attempt. 

It has been a running joke with Scott and Savannah about Ethan standing.  Savannah was the first of the girls to stand unassisted and she did it on the day after her birthday July 25.  So Scott told Savannah that Ethan was getting close to beating her record.  She has been a good sport but doesn't always cheer him on like the rest of us.  We have not been able to get a picture yet of Ethan standing and we were able to get one of her standing (she stood while opening her birthday gifts so we had a camera in hand) so she said it doesn't count until we get a picture. 

11 Months

Ethan is 11 months old and we are all enjoying watching him grow.  He started using his knees to crawl instead of army crawl in early September and then after a few days he was standing and walking around using the furniture.  He is fast now when he crawls and we have had to use some furniture and the gymnastics mat to keep him in the living room.  He has gotten better about picking things up off the floor and eating them.  He still likes to pickup the dirt but he will now bring it to you instead and if you say thank you, he will give you a big grin.

He is very cuddly and will crawl over to sit in your lap or beg to be picked up.  His favorite toys are his toy hammer, vacuum and little house.  He loves to play with the girls and be in the center of attention.  We have baby proofed his room so that he can play in there alone, but he does not like to be alone for very long.

Most of the time he is a very happy and content baby unless you try to put him down for nap or bedtime.  This boy does not like to sleep and will often try to skip on a nap.  He goes to bed between 8:30 and 9 but often wakes up between 3-5am.  We have tried different things to get him to sleep longer and are hopeful some of it is just teething pain that is waking him up.  Speaking of teeth he now has 2 more teeth.  His front two teeth came in at the same time we noticed they had broken through on September 12th.

10 Months and a tooth

Ethan turned 10 months today and after church I found that he another tooth had broken through.  He does indeed have vampire teeth as it is his right incisor that came through.  It isn't through enough to really see though and the front teeth look like they might come in any day so he may not get the same look Savannah had.

We have seen lots of changes in this last month.  First of all we have started to see him voice his opinion and get very upset if you take something away he was playing with.  He is also crawling well, just this week he started pulling up his knees and going just a few paces on his knees before going back to army crawling.  He can get into things and we have to put him in his playpen or pack n play if we can't keep an eye on him.  He does not like not having free roam and usually gets upset at least at first when we put him in a confined space.

I am constantly surprised at how much the girls play with him.  They even crawl into his playpen with him so that he won't be upset.  He loves them so much and giggles at them all the time.  All of them are very sweet to him.  We are still working on picking up after ourselves though so that he doesn't find something that will cause him to choke.  He really does like to put stuff in his mouth I have caught him twice this week chewing on rug fuzz from the carpet.  He doesn't swallow it just chews on it like gum, yuck.

Another tooth and a wave

This morning, Sunday, August 13th I had finished feeding Ethan and we were laying in bed and I checked his mouth for teeth.  There was a brand new tooth on the upper left (looking at him), I had a feeling he was teething because Friday and Saturday he was chewing on anything he could find.  It is barely above the surface so you can't see it but I can feel it.  If he gets his other incisor in before his front teeth he will be like Savannah and have vampire teeth for a while.

Here is Savannah's vampire smile


This morning Monday, August 14th Scott was walking downstairs and waved at Ethan who was playing on the floor.  Ethan picked up his hand and moved it like he was waving back.  So Scott did it again and Ethan repeated it.  I guess he has figured out how to wave.  Scott was pretty excited about teaching him to wave.

9 Months

Our little baby boy is 9 months old and is such a sweet baby.  Things have changed a little bit over the last month.  The first thing we noticed is that he has an opinion now.  If he is upset he will arch himself backward with great force and you really have to hold onto him.  Usually he does this if he is hungry or tired but occasionally too if you try to put him down and he wants to be held.   He is almost always happy and I say we should all try to be more like him.  He thinks his sisters are hilarious and they can all get him to laugh easily.  Another change is that he is now army crawling.  We saw him using his arms and kicking off with his feet to get around just last week on July 27th which makes him 9 months exactly.  Over the last few days he has continued to get faster and develop this new skill.  On Saturday the 29th he decided to clap for us.  He is so proud of the ability to make the noise and we all love it and encourage him it is precious.  He still likes rocking himself when he sits in your lap he will rock back and forth in rhythm and will sometimes hum or chatter while he does it.


We are working on getting him on a more rigid schedule, he is not napping well during the day and we think it is time that he has a defined nap time.  It is difficult though because some days we can't be home for nap as we have things to do with the girls.  His nightly sleeping schedule was interrupted by our vacation and we are still working on getting him back to sleeping through the night.

At his appointment yesterday he weighed in at 22 lbs 3.5oz which puts him in the 75-90% and he was
29.75 inches long which puts him in the 90-95%.