Man, it's already February!! While Robert and I have never been a big Valentine's Day couple, everything is more fun with a toddler. Plus, February will always be special for us since it is the month of our anniversary. We have lots of Valentine things planned for the little ones. But, we started the celebration last weekend. While I was at my parent's house Gram decided to have his pictures taken just for fun. We thought we would share what will soon be donning our walls in the new house we will be calling home come March! He had a great time walking around the photographer's large yard. He found the friendliest stray cat, a gazebo, and lots of fun things to sit on (our props)!
Hey LOVED sitting on this photo booth!
He also loved playing with hearts in the mailbox.
We all left with glittery hands
Chasing his new cat friend
Checking out the camera lens.
Don't we love this shirt! A friend from H.S. made it!
After a long, frustrating week last week and a busy weekend away so we could give our hardworking Dad/Hubby a quiet weekend, we decided to have a low-key Monday. We had a great time just playing at home most of the morning. We then went to have lunch date. I am trying to get him out of the chicken finger/fish stick addiction so we opted for Rosa's. No luck!! He didn't eat a thing. Nor did he want to sit still. Needless to say, he was not the best lunch companion yesterday. But, that's ok.
Trying out a booster seat, just before greeting the people in the booth next to us.
Since it is unseasonably warm right now, even for Texas (it was almost 80), we went to play at the park for a little bit on the way home. Geez, it was windy!
Taking a quick learning break
Head first down the slide
Checking out the construction next door
Still loving the swings. And when did his legs get so long?!
Swinging with Mom
You want to leave now??
We had a great time with the park all to ourselves. Following this little man takes a ton of energy these days. I love it though!
When we got back we had just a little bit of time before nap. I had been wanting to try out a craft I saw on Pinterest shown here. While we had fun it didn't turn out quite the same. He knew what to do immediately. He just lost interest in the toilet paper roll. He had more fun beating on his bare belly with a paint all of his hands.
A couple of stamps in before moving on to the finger painting
After a good belly beating
Final product!
We then went off to dreamland for a couple of hours. Gotta love being able to put him down for a nap in nothing but a diaper in January.
We ended the day with a quick shopping trip to Hobby Lobby and take home Zoe's Kitchen with Kristin 2. Ethan watched a little bit of Guppies while we worked on some artwork for little Ava's nursery.
We had a great, busy day. But, we will be glad to see Dad tonight, who had class last night. I told you he was hardworking these days!
Well it is official, we are in the last half of his second year. He is growing and changing so quickly. It is amazing to see how smart he is. He may not be much of a talker, but I am certain he knows exactly what I am talking about more often than not. Since he isn't speaking verbally, we having really been working on his sign language until he decides he wants to speak. He can communicate milk, drink, please, thank you, more, down, and all done. When I say he doesn't speak verbally, it doesn't mean he can't. It means he chooses not to. I have heard him say many things. He just doesn't like to do it on command or consistently. Words he says pretty often is Daddy, Mama, drink, tea, ball, car, cow, and bubble. He is constantly jabbering. Most of what he says just doesn't make a lot of sense to us yet. Or maybe I should just listen a little closer. He is great with his manners. If wants anything he knows to say please with is hands. And after it is given to him he always knows to say "tank oo" plus with his hands. He is even starting to tell the strangers we see when out, i.e. the employee at CiCi's today and our receptionist at the urgent care (don't worry, he's seems to be better).
Playing at the park
Come on up, Mom!
Sliding down with Abigail
Hanging in the tire swing
Ethan is smart, has a fun sense of humor, and loving. He is always the one to hug his friends or his mom in the middle of playing. He loves to give kisses and hold hands when he's walking. And he has even learned to be a little gentler with his friend, Turk.
Thank goodness!
Hey, buddy!
Gentle touch
We have also been able to take advantage of a little bit of warmer weather this past week. This little guy glad to get the fresh air. He loves to be outdoors. He also enjoys slides. However, he was taught, not by me, to wait for a hand to hold before going down. Now he will climb up and just wait patiently for someone to help him down. I know he has waited about 10 minutes before for me to come back to help him down.
Waiting for me to come help him slide down.
If it has wheels, he loves it! This was a Pinterest attempt to give him a different activity. I just taped a bag of paint on the door for him to "draw" on. That alone held his interest for a little while. He soon decided it would be more fun to roll his cars over it. He also loves his "B" brand cars. They are the type that you wind up a couple of times and release. However, he also thinks that is how we are supposed to use all cars. Between his cars and his Little People Zoo, he could stay occupied for hours. BTW - love the zoo. He knows almost all of his animals and their sounds.
His weird personality has something new to show us each day, just like his father......He is entertaining to say the least. I love our morning Mom and Ethan time lately. We start our mornings with a little bit of milk with him sitting in my lap. Soon after we finish our snuggle and milk, Ethan continues the morning with some spinning in circles until he is so dizzy he falls down.
Another favorite of mine lately is our nightly routine. Once we read "oon", with his little pointer finger up, (one more) about four times, we turn out the lights. He then lets me sing "You are my sunshine" while blowing raspberries in his neck for a little bit. I adore his little giggles right before bed. Plus, he is still such a great little sleeper, once we get him in bed.
He is definitely fun these days. We are all enjoying the earlier stages of toddlerhood. However, tantrums are few and far between right now so I may change my mind over the next few months.
Part of my new years resolutions is to keep my little man active and make sure to spend a little more one on one time and little less electronics time each day.
A few weeks ago a few of the moms in our playgroup decided to sign the kids up for a Mommy and Me Tumbling class at the Hurst Rec Center. Tuesday was our first day of class. There were only a few us this week due to the weather, but there are 6 kids total in the class, 5 of which are from our playgroup. Kids and moms alike had a great time. The babies are getting to a good age to start becoming friends. We have noticed recently that they are more interested in one another. Things such as giving each other hugs and pats on the back are adorable little gestures they frequently make. We are definitely going to miss being able to hangout with everyone when we move in a few weeks!
We started the class gathered on the mat with some stretches. We started in the butterfly position, leaning over and beating the floor to stretch. Then we sang "The Wheels on the Bus" to do some other stretches. Ethan loves The Wheels on the Bus so he was really into the stretching. After stretching we went into some free play. The kids loved running around the obstacle course. We also head over to the balance beam to have some fun. The instructor tried to lift Ethan for the bars and was surprised to difficulty in lifting him from the wrong position.
Ethan, Abigail, and Camden playing in the climbing circle
Ethan instructing the class
Some work on the beam
So excited about who knows what
Part of the obstacle course
Ready to go after an active class
All in all I would say everyone had a great time. We all went to Chick-fil-a for lunch afterwards. Needless to say, we had a great nap to follow! We can't wait until next week's class!
Once again, we had a very busy Christmas. We started out going to visit my family in Red Oak on Christmas Eve. We got there early so that we could ensure a pretty good nap to keep a certain little one in a good mood through the chaos. We met Gram for lunch at McDonald's once we got in town.
Dad was brave and climbed all the way and went down the slide!
After lunch we went to Gram's house for a nap. Once naptime was over we got a visit from Nanny and Grandpa. And unfortunately, I didn't even think to get a picture while they were there. Soon after they left it was time for our Christmas Party. There was a great turn out. Ethan had a great time playing with his cousins. He doesn't often have children that age to play with that are boys. He followed Colton around everywhere. And Colton was sweet enough to share his cars and not get too mad when he had a hard time getting them back.
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Hanging with cousins, Aunt Carissa, and Gram
After presents were done and all of the cookies were eaten it was time to go. Little man was up way past his bedtime. And he sneaked enough sugar from people to give him a sugar rush. His Pop was no help in the matter. He made it almost the entire hour home before he fell asleep.
Our little family on Christmas Eve
On Christmas Day, little man caught up on his sleep from his late night by sleeping in an extra hour while Dad went to church. When he did finally decide to grace us, he woke up to see the presents that Santa brought him. He got a new Radio Flyer 4-in-1 tricycle and a new Dump Truck. And of course there were many presents under the tree from Mom and Dad
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Checking out of all our loot.
After we opened all of our presents at the house, we went over to Uncle Chris', Aunt Diana's, and Emma's house for Christmas with the Flynn family. Aunt Diana and Grandma Flynn made a great meal for us consisting of ham, sweet potato casserole, brussel sprouts, and green beans.
After lunch, some of us were pretty tired. The little ones made sure to go pick on Uncle Mike while he was trying to sleep. And, we really enjoyed the view of our first White Christmas!
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We had a lot of fun spending time with family. Thank you Chris and Diana for hosting.
Emma playing cars with Grandma
Kisses for grandma
Grandpa showing the grandkids the snow
The best shot of them together.
Some mom love
Once we got home that night Ethan finally decided to play with his new toys. He loves the new 4-in-1 tricycle the Santa brought him. It will be great come spring. Until then, he can push it around the house.
Trying out the new trike
He also decided that Gil was pretty cool. He really enjoys taking his hands to make him clap. And he enjoys his new Bubble Guppies book that was in his stocking.
Ethan and his friend, Gil.
This book is very interesting
Dad reading some Bubble Guppies
We hope all of you had a fantastic and blessed Christmas.
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