Sunday, February 26, 2012

Ethan's Elmo Birthday Party

For Ethan's 2nd birthday we decided to give him an Elmo themed birthday party. I found cupcake cups that had Elmo on them and Elmo rings to put on top of the cupcakes. We put up red & yellow streamers at my parents house and had a big Elmo balloon with a dozen red & yellow balloons. Ethan's little buddies came to play and had a great time.


A little upset on his birthday.















For Ethan's birthday we got him a little wooden kitchen. He loved it and played with it for 45 minutes straight after Ken put it together.


Ethan also loved all the toys he got at his birthday party, but I think his favorite was the drill he got from Nana & Papa as you can see from all the cupcake pictures. He didn't want to let go of it long enough to eat. He likes to go around our house now fixing things with his drill. I can't wait for his 3rd birthday party. I wonder what we'll do next year.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Ethan turns 2!!!

On Saturday my baby, I mean big boy, turned 2 years old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It seems like we just brought him home from the hospital and now he's so big and growing fast. He's doing a lot of things. He's talking a lot, most of it we don't quite understand, but you can catch a word here and there. He loves everything Elmo and loves playing with all his toys. He's very independent although lately he's loved taking Ken or me by the hand and walking around the couch for 20-30 minutes at a time. He's strong-willed, stubborn and loves to do things his way. I love this age. Everything is so exciting to him.

He likes to play at the park and walk everywhere including up and down the hills at the park. We've been enjoying playing t-ball in our backyard. It's so funny to watch him hit the ball with the wrong end of the bat.

He's been spending a lot more time with me now that I'm not working and it shows. I love spending my days with him. We've been learning how to fill our days so we're not bored by planning play dates, trips to the park, walks, and lunch with daddy. It's interesting trying to plan our days so that we don't spend any money.

It's hard to think of all the things he's able to do now, but I'll try to list some them. He's just starting saying "Here you go" or some version of it. I would say he says about 30-40 words that we can understand. The rest of the words he's saying he's very adamant when he says them. He has a lot to say and isn't afraid to say it. I wish I could understand all that he says.

Ethan still sleeps in his crib and I'm in no hurry to get him out of it. I'll let him sleep in it as long as he will. I don't look forward to training him to sleep in a toddler bed. He's a great sleeper as he's been since he was born. We get 2 to 2 1/2 hour naps in the afternoon and he sleeps all night all the time. He loves to go to bed. In fact, if you say "Are you tired?" he'll say "Night Night" and grab his blankie and Elmo and head to the gate to go upstairs.

We've been so lucky to have such a laid back baby. Now that he's a toddler he's much more head strong, but it's fun to see him develop his personality.

Once I get the rest of the photos from Ethan's birthday party I'll post about his party. Hopefully that will be in the next couple days.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Big change

On Saturday afternoon I quit my job. I won't get completely into it but I had been unhappy for awhile and felt miserable going to work.

Now I'm looking to work in an office once again. It's been 7 years since I did that so it's proving to be difficult to find work. I want to continue to work part time so I can be home with Ethan while he's little. It's frustrating being at home full time mostly because I feel like I'm not contributing. I mean, I know I'm taking care of Ethan and that's essential and very important but I'm not used to not helping out financially. I wish I knew how long it would take me to find a job so I could enjoy this time at home. I just feel so guilty.

Anyways, that's the news. Hopefully I'll feel better about it as the week goes on and the sun comes out. This rain fits my mood perfectly today. Gotta go play with my little man. He's going to be 2 in just 5 days!!!