Friday, July 31, 2009

Ethan's latest

"Ethanisms" as promised. This post has been a work-in-progress for awhile now, so all the mentions of "today", "last night" and other such time-stamps are all irrelevant...replace with "recently"!

*****

Target trip a few Sundays ago...

"Is the wind blowing the hair off your head?" while driving home with the windows down.

Picking out shaving cream for Daddy and going down the aisle by the women's shaving cream..."What's that?"..."Shaving cream for ladies"..."Are you a lady?" in front of a woman and her daughter...the woman said, "Oh he's so cute...don't you love the questions at this age?"...oh, you mean all the obvious ones that he already knows the answers to?....yes, I love those....because I like to mess with him...

"Is that my brother, Owen?"..."No, that's Sam"...."Noooooo....that's Owen!!!!!"......"Is that my brother, Dylan?"...."No, that's Max"....."Noooooo...that's Dylan"....."Is that my kitty, Ellie?"...."No, that's your giraffe, George"...."Nooooo!!!!!"...

In the cookie aisle...."Ethie, tell Mommy to get out of this aisle"....at the top of his lungs, within earshot of at least 3 people...."Mommy, get out of the cookie aisle!!!!!!"....and we did not buy any cookies!!!

Picking out yogurt, we parked our cart and took our time trying to find exactly the right yogurt that Ethan likes which is strawberry with absolutely no texture (Yoplait)....a man came over by us, and Ethan whispered loudly, "Mommy, there's a man next to me!"...I assured him it was a nice man...said man did not seem to hear, or perhaps didn't find it funny like I did.

When we were leaving the red store, we had many bags packed into the Focus. I stopped at a stop sign and Ethan said, "Oh no, I don't want the food to fall on the ground. I will keep the bags from the floor"...and held onto the sides of the bags the whole way home.

*****

Notes from Liz and Gramma Leslie...

To Liz while on a bikeride..."You're doing a great job on that bike, Liz"...at least he appreciates the effort!

While attempting to go potty, "I love you Liz, you're my favorite"...Ethan, we've caught you...you're 5-timing, at least....Anne, Mommy, the Grammas and Teresa, etc have all heard you say this, you ladies' man, you.

"Grampa's coming to my house, I really love him"....need a tissue, Pete?

"That must be a really good feeling"...don't know the context, but it makes me smile.

Ethan took one look at a picture of our friends' new dog on the computer and announced, "That puppy wants to lick me!" I think he misses Maddie...though he sees her often since she just lives down the street! We'll revisit the dog topic in a few years.

*****

Ethan's latest game is "dark garage"...when Andy or I lay down and put our knees up so our legs make a "V" and then drape a blanket over them...creating the "dark garage"...and then he can drive his cars from one end of the sectional couch to the garage and park the cars in there. This is a great game...we get to lay, and Ethan is entertained.

Ethan is very much about sequences these days...this will happen, and then this will happen...so on and so on. For example, at dinner tonight, "I will stop eating my sandwich and then I will take a sip of my milk and then I will set my cup down and then I will eat my sandwich again"..."and then...and then...." One of my recent favorites was about our planned trip to Louisville over Labor Day...."Mommy and I will fly in the airplane. The airplane door will open and then we will walk through the door and then we will fly to Louisville and then the door to Louisville will open and then we will walk into Louisville and then we will close the door to Louisville and then we will see Gramma Nana and Grampa Dode" I try to listen seriously, but I can't help but laugh...he laughs too.

*****

Some days after work, when it's just me and the boys, Ethan says/asks the funniest things and I just wish there were someone else around to witness it...it's definitely not as funny written. It just can't be captured here....

I pretend to "eat" the babies sometimes....like on their tummy, or their arms or something with "yum yum yum" sounds...Ethan is used to this...I'm not the only one who does it...but one day, he was horrified and exclaimed, "Don't eat Owen!! He's my BROTHER!!!" Then he promptly told me, "He was already in your tummy"...and then the lightbulb went on and he asked the question, "How'd he get in your tummy?"...and I replied, "You can ask your Daddy that"...

Ethan is doing pretty well with the potty-training. Mostly for #2...is that the way it typically goes? I think he just gets lazy or forgets if he isn't reminded to try often. But when #2 comes around, he knows it..."There's something coming out of my butt"...and "I feel like I need to poop" are my favorite announcements. It makes me giggle...although, I try to be very conscious about making him feel comfortable...he knows we are very proud of him for telling us when he has to go. And if the words don't get the point across, Swedish Fish do. He likes to remind us about the potty too....recently he told me, "Tell me when you feel you have to pee and we can go to the potty together." Hey, at least he's listening...this might be verbatim what I say to him!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

As I was saying...


Owen fit the entire head of the seal on the exersaucer in his mouth...whoa.
What do you think of the hair-do? After bathtime, I just ran my fingers through it and let it dry and voila! Mohawk style.

I heart you, Owen.

Dylan is up on his hands and knees and rockin' out. Today, he reached his arm out and I thought we were going to witness the first crawl, but then splat...flat on the tummy. He's SO close.

D says, "That's ok, I'll keep trying. Big brother, Ethan, tells me I can do it!"
Also playing with some 'do's on Dylan. He's got some wave/curl in his hair and it's just a bit longer than Owen's. I can just run my fingers through and up, and it dries so cute up in the air like that. I may not have girls that I can do ponytails or pig-tails with, but eventually I will be able to use hair-gel on the boys and I'll have fun with that....ha ha!

Ethie loves Gamma's blueberry and strawberry pies (I did too!)...He ate a piece of each, with whip cream on the strawberry and ice cream on the blueberry...after he ate a good dinner, of course! Yummmmm! Strawberry leftovers in the fridge won't last long!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

And people ask me how I do it...this is why...


Dylan - Reminding me so much of his big brother, Ethan, in looks at least, but he is such his own person. Always giving us that huge grin with his mouth wide open...he is SO happy (though high-maintenance too!)...D is on the move...rolling everywhere and is up on his hands and knees, rocking. I give him 2 weeks before he starts to crawl.



Owen - This little angel is baby-Mommy's doppelganger, though less feminine and with less curly hair! (according to Gramma Nana). Owen is less physical than Dylan, but is such a sweetheart. Sometimes I catch him just starting at me, and when we make eye contact, his face just beams into a smile. He's our "thinker" I think, busy taking it all in. I think he'll be first to talk.

My heart is about to burst, I'm in so much love right now. Ethan is off at Byerly's with Daddy, picking up some food for grilling tonight. Owen, Dylan and I were on our own for bedtime...nothing too different than the norm, but typically I don't get to dedicate myself to them because Ethan is here too, and he's high-energy at all times. We had fun. Dylan got up on all 4's and Owen stuck the entire head of the seal on the exersaucer in his mouth...both challenging feats!

D had his bedtime bottle first...he was so tired, but never wants to miss a minute so he was fighting off the yawns. He started singing to me while I carried him upstairs slowly. So sweet. I laid him down in bed without a peep from him. He pulled his blanket over his head, as usual, and that was that. Minutes ago, I checked on him as I laid Owen down...he had flipped over on his tummy, his blanket underneath him, so I laid another one on top...he stirred and open his eyes, smiled at me, and then went back to sleep. Oh my God.

Owen was singing his sleepy song too, so then I gave him his bottle. He fell fast asleep in my arms. I wasn't in any rush to lay this sweet sleeping baby down, so I went into Ethan's room and we sat and rocked...I admit, I drifted off a bit too...I remember doing this with Ethan in the evenings...and as the mom of an almost 3-year-old, I know these moments don't come as often when they turn into big boys...I knew Andy and Ethan would be home any minute...and Ethan always announces himself loudly, so eventually I decided to put Owen down in his crib. I tucked him in, laid another blanket on Dylan and just took a minute to look at both of my sleeping babies. I'm prone to crying easily, but wouldn't you?!

*****

I have pages and pages of "Ethanisms" that I need to blog about...I can't keep up with the funny, and downright intelligent, things that he says. Liz and Gamma Leslie are very good about documenting things throughout the day...and I catch a lot on the weekends/evenings. I don't have a lot of 2-year-olds to compare to, but I'm pretty sure his vocabulary is off the charts...especially for a child with no older siblings...seriously. His latest that makes me laugh is "Mommy, come here quickly!" The way he says "quickly" is like "quickIly"...pretty cute.


Shout out to Grampa Dode...Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Room Reveal

Lots of pics...I think I can dig up a few of the "before's"...a few weeks ago, Ethie went camping with Gramma Leslie and Grampa Pete....and Andy and I (mostly Andy) painted the kids' rooms and switched around their stuff (that's where I pullled my weight). We've done some additional things with Ethan's room since then...his ETHAN letters, "Cars" stickers, hooks, pictures, growth chart, things we've avoided putting up for awhile because we knew this move was evident...but it's done for the most part. Andy got a little "destruction-happy" one day and pulled off the trim to the window when it was still Dylan and Owen's room, thinking we'd replace the window soon, but we still have not bought a new window and the trim is still off....the window is cracked on the bottom, so this is definitely the first one to get replaced. We also need a light/lamp for his room...Lightnight McQueen's red aura from his bedside table is just not going to cut it...although it's great for mood-lighting when he entertains...

Ethan's current room when it was Dylan and Owen's room....fire-hazard! Try carrying a load of laundry through this entryway...or a baby OR TWO!

Same point-of-view...Ethie's room. I decided to keep the same black-out curtain that my Mom made for this room (oringally for D & O) because #1 It's awesome and blocks ALL light and #2 we decided to move Ethan's plush green chair (another awesome gift from my parents when Ethie was born) into his new room and the curtain ties together the sage green and bright blue! I swear that Ethan probably sleeps an average of about an hour more per night with this curtain in his room...either he falls asleep earlier or sleeps later...either works for me.

ETHAN...or NAHTE...Ethan doesn't want to believe me that you read from left to right...dyslexia?...OK, might be jumping the gun. That red thing hanging from the wall is Ethan's growth chart and he's half way up that thing. He's TALL! Also on that wall are ALL the cars from the "Cars" wall stickers sheets because Ethan felt very strongly that all the cars should be together because they are friends. What a sweetheart.


View from by his bed, towards his closet, which at first I was too lazy to paint and now have decided it does NOT need to be painted blue. It's purple, like before, and guess what?! The awesome black-out curtains not only tie together the sage green and blue, but the purple is in there too. Thanks Mom, how did you know?!

And of course, on this wall, my blood, sweat and tears, quite literally...in my first sizable cross-stitch...Pooh and friends...E is for Ethan. I finished this thing like 2 days before returning to work during my maternity leave...I might remind you that he surprised me with being 8 weeks early! It matches perfectly.

Moving on to Dylan and Owen's room.
Oh. My. God. Apparently, the last picture I have of Ethan's old room is from Feb 08...this can't be right, can it? Look at him. He's so little! This was the evening of the day that Ethan climbed out of his crib and hit the floor during naptime...cribtent time! Ok then...scrolling down very quickly...can't it look at it...choking back tears...wasn't this like, yesterday?

So, the green on the wall looks darker in these pictures, I think...but it's the same. Probably looks darker because of the ghetto-fabulous curtains I have rockin' in this room right now. The same beautiful green curtain my Mom sewed for me, but they were pre-black-out-curtain brainstorm so I had to throw a lovely black sheet over each window. No, I don't have black sheets for any of our beds...these were old sheets from somewhere that were kept for future fort-making...really, I promise. Same set-up as above...Ethan's dresser/changing-table...add a crib...swap out a rocking chair...it's the same deal. On the wall is more Mommy blood-sweat-tears...serious cross-stitch #2...it was pretty much the only form of stress I had during my bed-rest...will I, or will I not, finish this cross-stitch before the babies were born?...the answer...everything but the names, weights/heights, and date...but by like 3 days...phew.

I had lots of stuff on these 6 shelves when it was Ethan's room...now, I'm taking the simplistic approach...

Ghetto-fabulous curtain #2...and the closet...packed with clothes/blankets/diaper/wipes/my paycheck...


TBD: Hanging of the baptism frames I made for D & O...they are leaning up against that table with the fan...on the left side...all that hard work, just to lay on the floor...So...do I make this into a "boy" room now, or wait until later, when I know their personalities?

In closing, some Ethanisms...because they are frequent, and funny!

Liz calling Ethan, Ethan-poop-poop-a-doop...Ethan says "No, I'm not that name, I'm just Ethan"...flashback to me calling Ethan a big boy and him saying, "No, I'm just boy"

A few mornings ago, Ethan rested his head on my hand and said, "I'm crushing your hand with my head"...and I said, "Yeah, your big melon head"...and he said, "I don't have a melon head, I have a hairy head"

Andy gave Ethie a haircut tonight...we've come a long way. He used to be freaked out by haircuts and it was a whole morning ordeal just to convince him to sit on my lap while Andy cut his hair. Tonight (and the last few times), he sits by himself...in his "little" chair...and tonight he actually cried when Andy was done! Whoa!


Ethan very rarely calls me Mommy anymore...I am now known as "Um, Um, Mommy"...he puts "Um, Um" before pretty much everything now...it's pretty cute...I try not to laugh.

Call me slow, but I just realized a few days ago, that the pictures of my kids that I have displayed in frames around the house don't even look like my kids anymore...Ethan does, sort of...but Dylan and Owen do not. look. like. that. So, today I've been trying to pick the cutest of pictures to order...and let me tell you, that's harder than you think. Which do I choose for the 5x7s that I keep on the top of the piano, which 5-10 do I pick for the 4x6 frames that I have in the living room. I have some uploaded to snapfish, but this will be a painful process. There could be worse things than having kids that are too cute.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Right on, little dude.

Ethan's interpretation of my explanation for why I am working out.

"You stretched your tummy out and now you are trying to pull it back in. That was really funny."

Friday, July 10, 2009

Post-its

A couple Ethanisms from multiple post-its on my desk that I am sick of looking at, although they make me giggle every time...

Gramma was mixing up mush (baby cereal)...she and Ethan were talking about the old lady that says hush (Goodnight Moon...bowl of mush, old lady saying hush), and Ethan asked, "Is my Mommy the old lady?" Ouch.

Also that day, he asked Gramma, "Does Mommy like beer?" And with that, I am done drinking in front of the kids...ever. I think something similar once happened to Grampa Pete with Ethan's own Daddy asking something similar to that question.

Some mornings Ethan will get dressed and talk about his "morning t-shirt, morning shorts, morning socks and mornings pull-ups"...but then just the other night before he and Daddy went to run an errand before dinner, I asked him to change his shirt and he went running off to get his "morning shirt"...it didn't really make sense anymore at that time.

Overheard by Gramma....

"I have a cookie for you if you can pee for me"...I'm not sure about the context here, but I'm assuming he was just thinking he was too busy to pee for himself.

"I took a big poop because I was strong"...no explanation needed.

Clarification on my last post...

I figured Daddy's "funny beard" was because he was shaving off parts of his face at a time and so it looked funny, but Andy told me later that he had a beard full of shaving cream and that's what Ethan thought was funny...ha!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Whirlwind...

All text...pics to post soon!

We had a great July 4th weekend...celebrated on the 3rd, recovered on the morning of the 4th, drove to Northfield on the afternoon of the 4th with our whole crew, hung out with the Beaham's and their lovely little ladies, Ethan and Emily had their first kiss (the Beaham/Sandberg quest to pair up their daughters with our sons seems to be heading in the right direction!), headed home a bit late for the kids' bedtime (but they managed just fine), went to bed as we heard the fireworks outside, commented on our lameness, slept well, up early, lunch with RinMats before she heads to DC for her elected position of VP of NOW on Wed (she rocks!), went to Target, played with my kids, made tons of babyfood, grilled out, washed dishes (did laundry all day too), quick blog, cuddle with hubs and RELAX!

*****

So, I'm doing this make-your-own-babyfood thing, and it's going pretty well for the most part. Until today, I haven't really had a big cooking day, and even today, I don't feel like I accomplished that much because two of my purees were total busts. If anyone knows how to cook a peach (my cookbook is wrong!) please let me know. Melon disintegrates in a blender so I would like to know how that is really supposed to work. I made some more carrots, sweet potatoes and apples. The boys are really into all of those...sweet potatoes need to be thinned out a little after thawing or Dylan gags and pukes which is really not what I'm going for. New today was butternut squash. Should be good, it smells pretty yummy...at least it did, before I thinned it with formula. I've been using up the food I'd made recently pretty quickly after freezing it, but now that I'm starting to make more at a time, I'm wondering how long I can keep this stuff frozen before I shouldn't thaw it. Anyone, anyone? My book references "shelf-life" but fails to mention how long that is. Duh.

*****

Dylan and Owen are so cute. Just so CUTE! 'Course I'm their Mommy, but they are SO smiley and SO giggly now. It's awesome. Lauren had Dylan belly-laughing SO hard on the 4th...It was heart-warming...the whole scene. I almost teared up...but I know everyone would laugh at me. I had the same reaction to Emily kissing Ethan...SO cute!! He said, "Emily kissed me on the mouth and all the people laughed. That was silly"...he was still talking about it at bedtime that night! It's too much. D is getting even closer to sitting up on his own. He does fine in his little tri-pod stance until he gets distracted and turns to look at something and then loses his center of gravity, but he's close. They are both cruising around in the walker...they even know how to turn themselves around when they run into something. Ethan is having fun playing with them in that toy, but needs to be reminded to go slow when he pushes them. Sometimes I catch Owen just looking at me. Just sitting there quietly and looking at his Mommy. And then I turn around and he beams that dimply little smile at me. And I die, right there. They are 7 months this coming Wednesday. When I was remarking about this to Andy this weekend he said only 5 more months and they'll be toddlers and we won't have babies in the house again. It's bittersweet...

Ethan is the best big brother. Today I had Owen laying in Ethan's bed while Ethan and I were organizing his closet in his big boy room (next topic!). Ethan went to go lay with him and it was a definite picture moment so I ran downstairs (don't worry, Owen was safe!) to get the camera and when I came back up, Ethan had his arm around Owen's tummy and was sweetly and softly telling him he loved him. I died again, right there.

While we were at our neighbors' house on the 3rd, Ethan was charming everyone. They were all telling me how wonderful he was and if I couldn't find him, they'd kidnapped him. I had to remind them that he was still very TWO, but I was so proud of how well he behaved with all the people and kids, especially when staying up a bit later than normal. After getting in his PJs, he came back to the party to say goodnight to "all of his wonderful people"...my new favorite saying of his. That being said, we had a few moments today where we agreed that the neighbors could take him for a bit right then and there!

*****

Earlier this week, Ethan was camping with Grandma and Grandpa so Andy and I took on the great room-swap. Everything's pretty much all together now. I'll post before and after pictures soon. I love how Ethie's big boy room looks. And I love having more room to walk around in Dylan and Owen's room. It's a success. I was a bit nervous about it, but we really talked it up to Ethan before we did it, and I think he really likes it. Tonight, at bedtime, Ethan said, "Thank you for my room, Mommy!"...Daddy admitted he'd fed him that line, but still, it was nice to hear.

*****

In closing, an Ethanism that made me laugh hard tonight. I love overhearing coversations between Andy and Ethan. The boys were going to shower downstairs tonight and Andy went to shave his scruff off and Ethan kept saying over and over, "You have a funny beard, Daddy. You have a funny beard, Daddy"...until Daddy had no beard left.

*****

Tomorrow I am 29 1/2...closer to 30 than 29.

*****

All the hard work is worth it. My family rocks.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

In this edition of The Suburban Zoo, we play...

"Guess which choice word(s) came out of Hilary's mouth when I saw the below"...


We were hoping that the birds would thank us for their dinner, instead, this "fill-in-the-blank" squirrel jumped from the top of the shed onto our beautiful birdfeeder. We are now out of seed...and in serious need of relocation.