Eliana does the monkey bars for the first time

And she was so happy...and then so determined to keep trying that her arms were exhausted and she was worn out. But, props to our little determined girl who won't give up. Then tonight when I was tucking her into bed the conversation went like this:
m: I'm so proud of you today, for doing the monkey bars.
E: Mama, I'm so proud of you too...for chasing Even (Ethan) around.

Ethan at 21 months

It's hard to believe he's closer to 2 than 1 now, but I guess it's reality.  Ethan Oscar still remains a mostly mellow little boy, full of physical activity, but also full of sweetness.  The last couple weeks he's started demonstrating early signs of 2-year olds with some minor tantrums and frustrations when we have mis-communication. But, overall, he's still a very happy and busy little guy.

Some stand-outs at 21 months are:
-He's gone potty and poop on the potty already (with minimal pushing from us, phew!)
-He's climbing like a crazy man; sometimes I find him in the middle of the dining room table swinging on the chandelier
-He's starting to put two words together like, "Help please" (hep peas) and "udon dude" (that one really makes us laugh because the first time he was trying to say, "udon noodles", but it sounded like "udon dude."
-He's still in love with his Bunny and #2 Bunny when #1 Bunny is lost.
-He's going through some separation anxiety at a later phase; whenever I leave or a babysitter comes over, he screams "mommy" repeatedly for the first couple minutes
-He's a super-duper hanger on the bars or rings at parks/gymnastics.  He loves this - I wish my lats were as strong as his!
-He pretty much eats one solid meal/day, usually breakfast and the rest of the time we have to chase him around to sit down or feed him bites while he plays
-He's obsessed with Thomas the Train and Mater, two of his favorite words to say as well; "Thomat" and "Mato"
-He sleeps terribly when we travel; hates the pack and play, so hopefully our trip to Panama will not be disastrous when we take a blow-up toddler bed:)
-He is probably ready for a big boy bed but we are not ready to put him in one yet
-He takes one nap day, usually around noon unless we're picking Eliana up from school and then we do everything we can to stretch it to then
-He's obsessed with Eliana's big girl bike and would love to ride his own now
-We catch him trying to do headstands around the house, including yesterday at Golden Gardens where he tried to do multiple on the beach (fun washing his hair after that one!)
-He's starting to play with words and will say things like, "Mommy-ma, Daddy-da", etc.
-He started sitting up at the table last week (no high chair where he's strapped in)

Eliana's 4th birthday party

This year was the first year we had a drop-off party.  Eliana and 8 of her friends took over the house on Saturday afternoon from 3:30 - 5:30.  The kids did great!  Only half of them played pin the tail on the donkey, and I think our first couple blindfolds were not that blinding, as Eliana got a tail right on the money, but oh well.  After pin the tail, the kids had ice cream cake.  Judy Maleng, a dear friend of mine, was here to help and she did an amazing job keeping the kids entertained while we dished cake.  After cake, it was time for the piñata.  The kids loved it!  They got through 3 rounds of trying (1 hit each) and then we went for the safety cord.  Well, that broke, so Nate took a nice whack and it was raining Starburst, Hershey kisses and boxed raisins.  The kids did such a good job waiting their turns and listening to directions.  And, then they got crazy and screamed in Eliana's room for about 20 minutes after (thanks to the sugar!), turning the lights on and off.  We had a great time.  All the kids were tired by the end, but that didn't stop the party from continuing as the Newmans and Schlameus' came over for pizza and beer:)

Happy almost 4th birthday, Elle Belle! We love you so much.

  This was actually her birthday party at school..

 Ethan loved her party at school too, and sat down like he knew how to follow directions:)

 "I want ice cream cake with pink M&M's on top"

 The birthday crew plus Judy

 Waiting their turns patiently: from left to right; Mercer, Eliana, Katherine, Emery, Judy, Will, Keane, McKenzie, Lillian

 Ethan was so cute….he kept swinging back and forth, hardly making contact but loving being part of the action.  And, the kids were so patient with him; like he was the little mascot…

 Pin the tail on the donkey

 The day after, still wearing Christmas night gown:)

 The mayhem after candy burst out of the piñata

 Naked ballooning the day after the party

 Judy, what a huge helper

Ethan goes potty on the potty! (for the first time)

The last two nights after dinner, Ethan has been sitting in his booster chair and says, "poop." So both times I took him to the potty and took his diaper off, but nothing happened.  Then, this morning he said it again and I took him to the little Boon potty and took his diaper off.  He peed in the potty!  Then, this afternoon after picking up Eliana from pre-school, he said, "poop" again and went potty on the big potty chair (that just sits on top of the big toilet).  I am not holding my breath, because I remember these random, but lucky first time potties with Eliana.  However, it must be recorded:)  More pictures to come, but first I need to get back to prepping for Eliana's birthday party tomorrow...

Moments

I was just talking with my dear friend, Anna, the other day about parenting.  She's a new mom (8-week old daughter now) and was commenting how parenting is all about moments.  What a wonderful way to describe it.  There are indeed good moments, bad moments, momentous moments, moments you wish away and moments in between.  There is nothing quite like being a parent until it happens.  You never know if you're doing the right thing, there are no guidelines, there is just the evidence in front of you; aka your children.

In the last few weeks, we have had lots of moments as you would assume.  With an almost 4-year old, I swear most of the moments are focussed around discipline and trying to re-direct, trying to teach them about the world without saying, "no" too much.  I feel like compared to the 19-month old, the moments are less wonderful and more challenging.  But, there are still some golden ones.  I hardly get around to writing, but felt I needed to record these or they will be lost forever in the other millions of parenting moments:)

The other day I got to sit down and watch Eliana at soccer practice.  She was truly in her own world, just staring into space while her coach tried to get all the other 3-year olds to play red light green light.  What a moment for me to watch her focus (or not focus in this case) on whatever she wanted to think about at the time.  Another Eliana highlight has been watching her enjoy riding a scooter. She is truly a little book worm and watching her take interest in this activity has been really fun for Nate and I.  However, I caution other parents…when purchasing an all-plastic scooter from Goodwill and trying to put adult weight on the scooter while riding it over a bumpy asphalt road, the scooter may break (or for sure break, as was in our case).  Daddy and Wal Mart to the rescue!  We are now back on riding a newer scooter, or "goo goo" as Ethan puts it.

As Eliana learns to ride, Ethan is exploding in his verbal development.  He amazes me every day by what he says, including family member names, neighbor names, construction trucks, etc.  My favorite moment over the last two days has been Ethan repeatedly saying, "moon." Because of his very coveted stuffed animal bunny, "Bunny" from the "Goodnight Moon" book, he's been reading the word "moon" over and over for a while.  Well, the last 3 nights when we've gotten home at dusk he just starts saying, "moon" over and over, all through dinner, all through playing. We actually saw it tonight in real life and then a few minutes later it was shrouded by clouds.  So, we got to teach him, "cloudy." He's a sponge right now and it's so amazing.

Another Ethan moment that I keep going back to is him climbing in his laundry basket (well, for us it's more of a mesh tunnel).  Either way, I found him one morning in it all cuddled up with Bunny and his snow leopard stuffed animal.  I thought that after I had spent 20 minutes upstairs trying to get Eliana ready for school he would have crawled out of it, but I surprisingly came downstairs and there he was, still hanging out, on his back, holding his animals….in the mesh tunnel.  Perfect size for a little 19-month old.

Thank you, Eliana and Ethan.  These moments are precious.

Ethan - 18 months

I have to get this post done even if it's without pictures.  Ethan is such a treat to be around, he is funny, happy, mellow and so active.  And my heart melts every time he runs from across the room to give me a hug.  He wakes up happy, goes to sleep happy and is just content to be here on earth.  Here are some additional facts and characteristics as our little Bob Marley is 1.5 years old now.

Physical stats:
Weight: 27 lbs. 9 oz (86 % tile)
Height: 33" (63% tile)
HC: 49 cm (86% tile)

Likes:
* Ethan loves trucks, trains, diggers, buses, airplanes, anything that moves.  He spends most of his time in the house playing with cars, his new train set, or other moving objects.  He loves to make his Hot Wheels go through Eliana's princess castle doors, sort of a like a garage. So cute.

* He loves to read, but is very selective. He will push away books that Eliana loved.  He gravitates to the ones about cars and trucks.  Although he did deviate at Christmas and loved one called, "Reindeer Magic" that Auntie Amy got him. He also loves "Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel."  New favorite is, "Good Night, Good night Construction Site."

* Ethan loves to climb and multiple times every day I will find him on top of the dining room table or the island. Eliana never did this, so it's crazy to me.  The craziest was when he pulled the oven open, climbed up on it and grabbed a skilled from the stove. Luckily, nothing on the stove or oven was on.  Phew!

* Bubba also loves the park, but hardly wants to swing. He loves to search for the diggers and run them all around the park or in the sand box. Once bored with the trucks, he will move to climbing and has already given up on the toddler (small) play structure and tries to climb over all the things Eliana does.  He keeps me busy:)

* We call Ethan our little vegetarian.  He will down eggs, fruit and cheese.  His only preferred meat products are salmon and sausage, hardly meat, right?  He will eat cups and cups of blueberries, he loves them!

* Bunny. Nate and I have probably spent 10 hours on the search for Ethan's Bunny.  He has to have him for naps and bed and he's always found in the most random places.  Tucked in our suitcase, in the washing machine, or lying under our dirty clothes in the closet.

* Music.  Ethan will rock out to any sort of music that comes on, including the toys that sing.  It's so funny, he just shakes side to side and laughs.

* Baths. He's still a maniac when it comes to bath time and particularly loves the jets. He will try to tackle the bubbles, it's hilarious.  Multiples times per bath, Nate or I have to dive in and get him…such a dare devil.

* He also loves Mater from the "Cars" movie and loves to watch "Mater's Tall Tales."

* He loves to sleep on his belly, especially with knees tucked up and butt in the air.  So cute to watch him on the video monitor.

Dislikes:
* Ethan is not a fan of mom leaving right now. He will cry or get nervous when someone comes over, thinking I am leaving him with a babysitter.

He is pretty mellow overall and does a great job in the car, stroller, at home and putting up with his competitive and physical older sister.  He is a blessing and such a joy to be around.

New Developments:
In the last few weeks, Ethan's speech has taken off.  I think he has about 30 words now. I forgot how fast they pick things up.  He now says, "Touch down" and raises his arms up.  In addition, "Go Broncos"…you can tell all the important phrases we focus on here:)  The best part was when we were at Christmas with my parents and he started saying, "Love you."

He loves to kiss things, including Eliana's fairies.  It's so adorable.  He kisses his stuffed animals and whatever else he can hold in his arms.

He can run pretty fast now and is getting very confident in his climbing.

He signs "Thank you" and "More" now.

He loves to say, "no." This just started:)

He has started to prefer which coat and shoes he wears, which always means his "Mater" boots and his monster truck rain coat.

Schedule:
*Ethan and I attend a Tot Bop class once/week where he gets to sing, dance, play with balls and do movement activities.

*we also attend a mom/tot gymnastics class while Eliana does her gymnastics.  It's super fun and he is exhausted when it's over.  He loves the long trampoline and smiles even when he bites it hard….

*He is now officially on one nap. It took a while, but he goes down between 12:00 - 12:45, depending on the day (i.e. having to pick Eliana up from pre-school).

*Bed is usually at 7:00 now unless he's too tired to make it until then.

Summary:
Ethan is such a joy to be around.  Tonight after hosting a play date for 12 kids, I didn't see him downstairs.  I went upstairs to find him quietly playing in Eliana's kitchen, content as can be to be by himself.  He made my Christmas by playing hide-and-seek aka "boo" with my mom.  His smile, laugh and easy-going attitude are a breath of fresh air.  We love you, little E, Bubba, Bubba Bear.  You are an amazing soul.

Ethan - First steps

We didn't catch it on video or camera like we did for Eliana's first steps in Mexico, but it happened today!  We were at Big Howe park on Queen Anne and he stood up in his wide, sumo style stance and when Nate said, "Walk to Dada" he did.  He took 4-5 uninterrupted steps and was so proud of himself. Good job, Bubba!