Recent Ethan-isms

I had to take a minute to write down a few of the funny things Ethan has done lately. This is more for my benefit so that I will enjoy these memories in years to come.

• Yesterday I had to make a couple returns to Old Navy and TJ Maxx. To keep Ethan entertained while we were at Old Navy, I let him play with a little football he found by the register. After we finished looking around, we walked out the front doors and I realized about a minute later that he was still holding on to the mini football. So, we walked back in and returned the lifted item. We walked down the sidewalk to TJ Maxx to make my other return. While in the cart, Ethan found a toy sitting next to the register so I let him play with it while we walked around. After paying for a few items, we walked out to the car. Suddenly I realized that he was still holding on to the toy which he had conveniently held by his side (the side away from the cashier) and I hadn't noticed. So, once again we went back into the store to return the lifted item. Good grief!

• Lately, Ethan has been giving me grief about going to sleep. He has usually been really good about just laying down and going to sleep. But, now he's been screaming from the second I lay him down. So, this is what happened at nap time today: M: Good night Ethan. I love you.

E: Screams begin.
M: I walk out of his room and close the door. I stand outside to listen for what happens next. This is what I hear.
E: Mommy! Mommy! Open the door please, Mommy! Open the door please!
E: Mommy! I want another story! I want TWO stories!
E: Mommy, I'm cold! Mommy, I'm cold! (by the way, he's PLENTY warm)
E: Mommy, I'm going pee pee! Mommy, I've got shockadoodies (yes, this is the term Ethan gave to his doodies).
M: I go in because I don't want him to sleep in doodies. I check his diaper. It's clean. This only makes things worse because now he's reaching for me, begging for me. I offer to tuck him in but he refuses. So, I tell him goodnight and quietly leave the room.
E: Mommy! Mommy! I'm yelling at you, Mommy!
E: Mommy! I'm straddling the crib! (Yes, he actually said straddling).
E: Mommy! I'm gonna bonk my head!
M: I enter the room thinking he's climbing out of the crib only to find him laying comfortably on his bed as he screams.

After all this, he finally fell asleep. I figure he had come out of creative ways to get me in the room but I'm sure he'll come up with something new tomorrow!

• We have a holly bush by our driveway that produces annoying red berries in August that we somehow manage to step on and track through our cars and house. So, we've made an effort to avoid stepping on them and have talked to Ethan thoroughly about doing the same. Usually he's really good about it and helps me get the berries out of the way. Today, I got him out of his car seat and told him to start walking up the stairs while I got a few bags out of the car. When I turned back around, I found my sweet little boy jumping up and down on as many berries as he could find in the few seconds he had. What a stinker!

• Although he does have a very 2 year old side of him, he really is my little buddy. My favorite moments are when he says, "Wuv you Mommy" or when he says, "Snuggles Mommy" meaning he wants to snuggle. I sure love my little guy!
  

A Fun Week

I love the summer because there are so many fun things to do. Last week we spent our time visiting a local zoo, hanging out at the lake with Gemma, Nic and Cac and spending a day at the beach with a bunch of friends from our ward. We've been playing so hard, Ethan has been sleeping in until 7:45 a.m. for the first time in his life! It's fantastic!

Ethan watches the lions through the fence at Space Farm Zoo.

Ethan gets brave and feeds the deer some corn kernels.

A fun day at the lake with Nic, Gemma and Cathryn. Unfortunately, I realized (after taking a bunch of pictures) that Ethan had gotten his dirty little hands on the lens of my camera which explains the fuzziness. Bummer!
We spent the day at Point Pleasant Beach with a bunch of friends from church. Between playing in the water, building sand castles, looking at the little jelly fish, eating pizza and ice cream, Ethan had a blast. The poor little guy fell asleep in the stroller in the two minutes we spent walking to our car.

Ethan Performs!

I should have known there was a chance Ethan would get my "love for singing" genes. We only have a few cassette tapes from when we were kids and on every one, I'm bolting out some sort of song (so embarassing). I have to admit, I thought this was much more adorable. This is the first song he could sing all the way through. Can you guess what his favorite show is?