ABC's

ABC's

I was tagged by Mindy to do the ABC's of me. For those of you not familiar with blogs, this is similiar to when you send it by e-mail. You answer the questions and then tag others with blogs that read your blog to do it as well. So here goes.

A - Available or single: Married for almost 5 years - wow, it's gone fast!
B - Best friend: Blake, of course!
C - Cake or pie: Carvel ice cream cake; otherwise pie (preferably without crust)
D - Drink of choice: Slurpee
E - Essential item you use everyday: Cheerios - Ethan may only last 10 minutes eating them but I'll take what I can get!!
F - Favorite color: Navy blue
G - Gummy bears or worms: Neither - I prefer chewy sweet tarts or shocktarts
H - Hometown: Randolph, NJ
I - Indulgence: Cheesecake factory tuxedo cheesecake
J - January or February: February, it's when my 2 favorite guys became part of my life (2/1 - our anniversary, 2/7 - Ethan's birthday)
K - Kids & names: So far, Ethan Blake Cooper
L - Life is incomplete without? Family
M - Marriage date: Oops, guess I spoiled this one...Feb. 1st, 2002
N - Number of siblings:5 (two sisters, three brothers)
O - Oranges or apples: Orange juice, otherwise apples (oranges are too messy)
P - Phobias or fears: Heights - especially tall bridges; losing Blake or Ethan
Q - Fave quote: "A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.” - Joseph Smith
R - Reason to smile: Hearing Ethan giggle - it's THE BEST!!
S - Season: Fall - nothing beats the fall foliage in the east
T - Tag 3 or 4 people: Kimberly, Nat P., Nat K.
U - Unknown fact about me: I really can't think of anything...guess I'm pretty much an open book!
V- Vegetable you don't like: Raddish
W - Worst habit: I have a bit of a sweet tooth
X - Xrays: You name it: chest, teeth, neck, arm ....
Y - Your fave food: I don't really have a favorite. Ice cream and strawberries are up there though.
Z - Zodiac sign: Leo

More Footage of Our Little Scooter

SCOOTER

Ethan is now 10 months old and on the verge of crawling. He hasn't quite figured out how to get his knees and hands in sync. So, he gets up on his knees and pushes off with his feet. We're actually impressed that even though it's a slow process, he eventually gets to his toy. We crack up every time we watch him scoot around like a bunny. What a kid!

Look out world - now it's official!

Last week, Blake was sworn in as an attorney in the State of New Jersey. It will be a few months before he can be sworn in for New York (their process is much longer). Below are some pictures from the ceremony.

Blake, Jen and Ethan in the courtroom.

Judge Bozinelis, Blake and Ethan

After a long evening, Ethan crashed in
his car seat. This is how we found the
little guy when we got home that night.

Ethan Has The Giggles

The other day Emily came over to use our computer and got Ethan cracking up. You can't see this in the video but she was standing in front of him with her head down and then would flip her hair back as she came up. For some reason we don't really understand, Ethan found it to be hilarious! So, I had to share his cute laugh with you all. Enjoy!!

Thanksgiving 2006

This year we had Thanksgiving with Blake's family who live in northern NJ. It was Ethan's first Thanksgiving which made it extra fun. Besides my rolls that didn't rise, the meal was wonderful! Ethan had his first taste of mashed potatoes which went over okay. He's a bread fanatic though so even though the roles were quite dense, he still enjoyed eating them. In the pictures below, you can see that Blake's parents hooked him up with a few new toys (toolbelt included) and an adorable new Christmas outfit. It was a very fun day!!!

Ethan and "Gemma" (Grandma Cooper) have
fun playing with his new hammer and drill!

Blake, Jen and Ethan

The Cooper Boys: Poppie, Pat, Blake and Ethan

Nicole and Ethan pose for a glamour shot in
his new reindeer sweater and hat. So cute!!

A Weekend of Firsts

This past weekend we took a quick trip to MA to visit Jen's brother Tim, his wife Kimberly, and their brand new little boy, Rylan. This was their first so we were excited to have Ethan meet his first boy cousin (who is an absolute doll)!

This weekend was also eventful because Ethan had his first visit to the Emergency Room. He's been fighting a cold for a week now and was having some breathing trouble so the doctor had us go to the hospital so he could get a breathing treatment. After he had the treatment, we had to take him to get chest x-rays to make sure his lungs looked okay. If you had been passing by, you would have thought the child was being tortured from the way he was screaming! Ethan had no interest in us holding his arms and legs down for the x-ray. Poor little guy. It was so traumatic for him that when we got back to the room, he fell asleep in Jen's arms. It will take a few days for him to kick this cold but he's a tough guy!

Every day we are amazed at what Ethan is learning. He's got clapping down pat. All we have to say is "good job Ethan" and he starts clapping for himself. He's also learning to wave bye bye. Well, right now it's more of an arm flap but he's got the basic idea. He's figured out how to flip the light switch on and off and lay his head on the floor and say "awww." He won't let us walk out of a room without letting him flip the light switch once or twice. He's not crawling yet but I'm sure it won't be long before we're in big trouble!

Rylan Timothy Pettitt

Born: November 17th, 2006 @ 6:03pm
9lbs 1/2 oz. & 22 " long

Ethan in the ER (see the wristband)

Visiting baby Rylan

Three generations of Pettitt boys
Grandpa, Tim, and Rylan

Ethan is 9 months old today!!

It's official - Ethan has now been with us as long as he was in the womb! I thought I'd take a second to note some of the things he's doing these days.

Recently Ethan has learned to copy our actions. It started with him sticking out his tongue. Of course we all look like idiots as we're standing around him sticking our tongues out, trying to get him to copy us. Now he has started clapping and understands that he's getting praise when we clap for him. It takes me twice as long to feed him baby food now because he wants to clap in between each bite! We're working on learning to wave but we're not quite there yet.

He has also learned to turn the pages in a book rather than just immediately eating them. He's not crawling yet but he's getting there. He's FINALLY napping in his crib (although not for long periods of time) and sleeping from about 7 p.m. to 4:15 every night. He'll usually go back to sleep for another hour and a half but then he's up. Needless to say Jen's. been forced to become an early bird like Blake!

Apple Picking

This fall we went apple picking with Tim, Kimberly, Scott & Nat in western Mass. It was so much fun drinking warm cider and making apple pie with our yummy apples! Below are a couple of pics from our outing.

BIG NEWS!!

On Monday, Blake found out that the firm he works for, Pitney Hardin LLP will be merging with another firm called Day, Berry and Howard LLP. DBH has offices in Boston, Hartford, D.C. and in several other locations. This merge will double the size of the firm making it a large east coast firm. We're hoping that Blake's job will be safe and that his career path will benefit from this. You never know with these sorts of things though. The funny thing is that Blake actually interviewed with this firm in law school and has several UConn friends who are working there. I guess they'll all be one big happy family now!

Ethan's First Halloween!!

Ethan had fun dressing up as a monkey this year (costume provided by Aunt Nicole). We also made a quick appearance at Emily's Halloween Party. Maybe next year Ethan can have some real fun with that candy!

Ethan In His PJ's

This morning Ethan looked so cute when he woke up, we had to snap a few pictures. Look at those pink cheek-ers!

Autumn in New Jersey

This past weekend we took a nice drive out to Sussex Co., NJ to Stokes State Forest. After driving up a very curvy road and a little hike, we reached this beautiful vista. We were amazed at how beautiful this area is!

Picky Eater

The photos below will give you an idea of what Jen goes through when trying to get Ethan to try new foods. In case you were wondering, those are prunes that landed on his nose when he smacked the spoon away. The other picture accurately displays Ethan's reaction to eating peas. What a stinker!

Future Attorney!

Today Ethan and Jen met Blake at work for lunch. We met some of Blake's very nice co-workers and checked out his office. We thought Ethan looked great in Daddy's chair!

Our Visit to Ort Farm

Yesterday we had a family outing to Ort Farm in Long Valley, NJ. It was a beautiful, crisp autumn day that was perfect for pumpkin picking. We took Ethan on his first hay ride, picked pumpkins, looked at farm animals and drank warm cider. It was a blast!

Swimmer Boy (a.k.a. "shrimp")

Recently, Ethan and Jen have been taking a swimming class at the YMCA called the "Shrimp/Kipper" class. Ethan absolutely loves being in the water. He bounces up and down when he sees the pool. This week he went under water for the second time. the first time went fine but he wasn't too happy about going under this week. Here are a few pictures of our little swimmer!

SUCCESS!!!!!

It's a miracle....Last night I decided that it was time for Ethan to get over his picky food preferences and try some new things. So, we started out with oatmeal and bananas (he wasn't a fan) and then moved to pears and applesause. To my surprise, he ate the pears and applesauce. Granted, he made some very funny faces at first, but I think the little guy is finally willing to branch out!

Our Favorite Little Guy!

Ethan Takes A Bath!!

The other day Ethan received his very first letter from his buddy Charlie who was born just a couple of weeks after Ethan. I was holding Ethan when I checked the mail and told him that he received his very first letter. He immediately started bouncing up and down and squealing. I had to snap a couple of pictures!

Over conference weekend, Scott and Natalie came down to NJ to visit. We (along with Emily) tagged along on their trip into Manhattan which was Ethan's very first New York experience. He did very well considering we dragged him everywhere from Canal Street to the Upper East Side. The girls had fun buying knock off purses while the guys tried to find parking. :) We hung out on 5th Avenue and had to make stops at Tiffany's, Harry Winston and the Disney Store. We also went to Serendipidy and enjoyed their famous Frozen Hot Chocolate desserts (Ethan was a BIG fan). These are some fun pictures from our trip!

Blake, Jen and Ethan in Cape Cod, MA

This is our first time as official bloggers! We hope that you'll visit our site often and we'll do our best to keep it updated for you. We look forward to hearing from you!