A Big Baby or a Little Boy?

Because of writers block/laziness/busy-ness, I have not blogged in almost a month, making those of you who check it, see dumb pictures of Sarah Palin and the Faux Palin. My apologies. So...
Update on Ethan:

• We have a walker!!! He's been working on it for the past month, but last week decided to tip the scale and walk more than he crawls. He's so hilarious, but he's so proud of himself too. Here's a video of his first attempts at walking a few weeks ago. He learned quick, but just wasn't willing to give up the crawling for a while...

• Ethan loves to read (i.e. have his parents read) books over and over and over, although somehow he still has a hard time listening all the way through a book before he's handing over another to be read.

• Baby Einstein is his (and my) new best friend. He feels the need to touch the screen as he watches (a sad attempt to move him back explains the piano bench in front). But I can actually get a bathroom cleaned without his help if that video is on. Whoopee!

• He's a momma's boy to the extreme. Anyone who gets within 2 feet of him or me during one of his "moods" is shoved and screamed away. I should feel flattered, but usually don't.

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• In addition to hiding his toys and making me retrieve them, Ethan also likes to hide himself in a cupboard, I think he enjoys it as his own little "fort".

• Ethan learns new words almost daily and loves to try to mimic what we say--it is SOO cute! Words include: Brush teeth, Jesus, milk, yes, mama, dada, cracker, ball, and the FAVORITE is "NOO". Anytime we ask a question, we get a reply of "No". You'd think that's all I say to him all day. We're trying to replace it with "Yes", but apparently it's not quite as fun to say. Here comes the rebellion at age one.

• Having friends come over makes his day. He loves to hug and kiss other kids (as long as he's bigger than them and they don't try to grab him back). He can't understand why other babies don't want to catch the balls he throws in their face (luckily, his mother has usually caught them first to avoid any injuries).

• Our once voracious eater has now turned into a herbavore (minus the veggies)--he wants to live off of fruits and crackers (with the exception of one type of baby food). And yet, he still manages to make a mess.

• He is SOOO much fun and has quite the personality. Brian and I can't wait to see what he learns next!
  

Get Ready, Get Set, VOTE!

A word from Sarah Palin and me "Oh, ya know, be patriotic and get your little hinny over to the voting booth."
And, since the election is nearing an end, like every good patriotic shopper, we are donating our clothing to charity. It makes spending all that money on clothing and make-up worth it. Yes, I realize my Saks on Fifth Avenue was really Salvation Army on 2nd Avenue, but hey, I live in Iowa, give me a break.

It's true, any and all of these accessories will be auctioned off to my own charity (really, my own pocket). Goes to the highest, lowest, or any bidder.

Happy Halloween!

Friday night we went to a fun Halloween party with friends, where Ethan dressed up as a horse to go along with some other kids in a medieval theme. We had a king, knight, dragon, and princess in addition to the other cute costumes of lobster, ladybug, and Elmo. Unfortunately, we never got pictures of all the kids together.
Saturday was the church Trunk-or-Treating party where Ethan managed to dress up as a monkey for the first half hour after which he was exhausted and grumpy, hence put down for a nap in an empty room while we finished the party.
I had a great time dressing up as Sarah Palin. I'm no Tina Fey but it was still fun putting together the costume and attempting the accent of "Oh, you bechya (wink, wink)"
Sadly, Brian wasn't my John McCain, but we should have got him into a Todd Palin outfit. Too bad.

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.