House of Insanity

For the past few weeks, Ethan has fallen in love with balls. His favorite thing to do with them is to roll them under the couch, then whine and complain for me to get it out. The moment it comes tumbling out from under the couch, he pushes it back under, gets on his stomach and tries to get it out, and failing, cries "uh, uh, uhhhh, groan, moan, uh" for me to get it back again.
The thought going through my head was this Albert Einstein quote:
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Yes, this little stunt Ethan does makes me think he's insane. It almost seems like he really doesn't understand how the ball got back under the coach after he shoves it under there.
Then again today, he kept taking a water bottle and pushing it onto the kitchen table, where it would roll across the table and get stuck against the wall where he couldn't reach it. After a "ohhh, scream, waaa, mama, uh uh, grunt" ("mama, help, I don't know how that just happened, but I need my water bottle back.") I would then give it back to him, and within 3 seconds, he would push it back on the table and back to the wall it would roll. This was repeated at least 5 times, and I would tell him to just not put it on the table the next time. Yes, my child repeatedly does the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. Yes, my child is insane. And with that came the sad realization:

Ethan wasn't the only one doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.

I guess he's not the only one insane in this house.

Stick up your Guns

I love how easily kids are entertained. Watch this video, Ethan was cracking up like crazy when Brian was loading this play gun.

By the way, no, I didn't buy a toy rifle for my one-year-old. This was a find I got at a thrift store as part of my Halloween costume. Can you guess what I'm dressing as? It includes a rifle and a moose.

Pumpkin Patch

A few days ago we went with a playgroup to Wilson's Apple Orchard to see their pumpkin patch and go for a hayride. Ethan wasn't sure what was with the pumpkins, but I think he decided they were balls and he liked that. The weather cooperated, the apple turnover was delicious, and despite it being right in the middle of nap time, it was so fun! All the kids seemed to enjoy it--even little 2-year-old Elizabeth, who decided to take a little "dip" in the stream as the hayride stopped in the middle of it for a little scenic view. Good thing she was such a good sport! Hooray for autumn! (and booooo for oncoming winter...)

Dreams do come true :)

A small wish, but it was fulfilled. I gassed up our car today for under $50.

Rollback

Say What? Dost my eyes deceive me? Zip-a-dee-ay and heigh-dee-ho! Keep a climbin' down... We might be able to fill up a tank for under $50 at some point! Yippy!

The Big 1!

I can't believe Ethan turned one year old on Sunday! What a year! He enjoyed his new toys and absolutely LOVED his birthday cake.

A few of my favorite things about Ethan--
He:
Is the cutest baby ever (I know, a possible bias)
Loves to read
Is a good eater (up until the last 2 weeks)
Has the best chubby rolls
Follows me around saying "mama"
Giggles in delight every time he sees Brian
Is FINALLY sleeping through the night
Is our best entertainment (and free)
Smiles and waves at almost all strangers
Puts his head down shyly when others talk to him
Is silly beyond description
Loves to cuddle and put his head on my shoulder when he's tired

Happy Birthday Ethan!
We love you!

Sing Us a Song, You're the Piano Man

Ethan is getting so big and reminds me so much of Brian sometimes (silly, messy, so darn cute, etc). One of the biggest similarities now is a love of the piano. I LOVE hearing Brian play and Ethan's decided to take up the hobby too.
In the past week, Ethan goes to the piano at least every hour and asks in his urgent jabber (seriously, he thinks he's talking--he repeats the same babble over and over each time) for me to uncover turn on the piano (it's digital). He then proceeds to "play" his music and thinks it's the best thing on earth. As soon as he gets distracted and I go turn it off, he'll catch me, and crawl right back to play it again. We hope he keeps this up, I always wanted to learn to play the piano up until my 1st piano lesson (things only went downhill from there).


Starting young (1 week old)




He even gets into singing sometimes! (we'll have to work on that a little)

La la la, de de da
La la, de de da da da
Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feelin' alright