Oma goes to the hospital

Ethan and I went to visit Oma in the hospital after she had a partial knee replacement done on Monday. It's not that easy trying to keep a 9 month old entertained when he's not allowed to touch anything because it's "yucky" and you can't put him on the floor to play because it's "dirty" and you can't put him on the bed because he pulls on Oma's IV's....in the end, we staid for a short visit and then went out for supper with Opa.

Sometimes the best medicine is holding and playing with a baby. Ethan was very content to sit on the bed with Oma and play with his bowls, cups, spoons, and squeaky toys. Oma was having so much fun she didn't even notice when Ethan was crawling over her knee...at least she didn't let us know that it hurt. It won't be long before she's up and moving around again like she used to.

Elise and Stacie come to visit MN

Stacie and Elise flew in for a week long visit with her parents in Mountain Lake, MN. The timing worked out perfect that they were able to come and have dinner with us before making the long drive "home." Elise is doing so good walking all over the place and had no problems exploring our house while Ethan sat there and watched her. It is always so much fun to see these little cousins interacting together. I hope we get to see them again soon. Time goes by so fast when the kids are so small.

Exploring!

I can't believe how fast Ethan is growing up and all the new things he is learning to do.
Ever since he's been crawling he's also been digging in my kitchen drawers. He's a pretty good boy most of the time though and will open the drawer, take out one thing, and then play with it for half an hour (Tupperware bowls, candy canes...). The other day though he found the mother load...the snack drawer. He once again took out one thing, which happened to be a wrapped caramel, started to suck on it and then put it back in the drawer and closed it. I couldn't stop laughing.

He has always loved cars, but lately has taken to sitting by the front door and watching the cars go by. There is a screen in the bottom half of the door so he can hear really well, and also get soaking wet if it's raining outside... Yes, I let my child "sit in the rain" and get soaked before I realized what was going on. His whole face was wet and his onesie was soaked, but he didn't seem to mind and was still smiling and watching the cars.





Most of the time if he's hiding behind furniture it's because there's an electrical outlet or cord of some kind that he's trying to get to.
We've had to move furniture around and move our lamps around to the point that we are now sitting in the dark in the living room once the sun goes down.


Oh, yes. He has found the toilet paper and has also learned to flush the toilet. Potty training is just around the corner now :)






















His nose has actually turned orange from all the squash, carrots, and peaches he's been eating...I guess he somehow knew he needed more green in his diet. Thanks to the McLarens freshly cut lawn it was pretty easy to get a fistful and eat it.

First Hair Cut!

We spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa's house freezing corn, canning pickles, playing with cousins (Sophie and Julia), swinging outside and playing in the grass...what an exhausting day for all of us, but we still had one more project for the day...Ethan's first haircut!!!


Ethan fell asleep in the car on our way home and it took a lot of convincing to get him to wake up enough to drink his nighttime bottle. He got his second wind after that though so we decided to go ahead with his haircut.
His hair wasn't so much too long, but just sort of patchy. It was long on top in some spots and long over the ears, but after trying to trim his hair it only looked worse.
So, Steve got out the clippers and gave Ethan the same haircut that his Dad gives him. #6 on the top, #4 along the sides and shape around the back and over the ears with a #2....well, at least something like that.
I was prepared to have to hold him down and distract him, but Ethan was having fun and I think he liked the feeling of the vibrating clippers on his head. He looks so much more grown up after his haircut.

Steve turns 30!

8-8-08 was a very busy day.
First we went to get Ethan's 9 month pictures taken and had some special ones taken with Daddy on his 30th birthday; then we headed to PUNCH Pizza to meet up with Oma, Opa, Ben and Toni for some celebrating; then back to our house for cake and milk while watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics; and during each commercial break Steve had to try to open presents...sometime it took 2-3 commercial breaks to get one present opened since he was getting so much help from Ethan. What a good day, we all slept good that night.






30 candles create a lot of smoke...it almost creates a fire hazard.
Such a good helper ;)

Safety or Peace?

Sometimes I think we locked Ethan out of the office on purpose...not so he doesn't get into all the cables, outlets, computers and junk, but so we have a place to go where we don't get slimed and grabbed all the time.

I guess he does have free reign over the whole house except for the forbidden office and basement. So you shouldn't feel too bad for him ;)

4 Desserts!

Since there are so many birthdays during the summer, we decided to combine some of them. It was extra special though since three of us are turning 30 this year. I was the first one to turn 30 in June, then Steve will follow on the 8th (8-8-08) and Elizabeth in September. Sophie is also turning the big 5 this week (also 8-8-08).
Carol asked each of us what our favorite meat, vegetable and dessert was...so you can guess what a great meal it was for all of us. We had some really good turkey burgers (as-seen-on-Oprah) and brats and lots of corn-on-the-cob and goodies.
The best part was that we each had our own dessert too. Me, key lime pie; Steve, apple pie; Elizabeth, rhubarb meringue pie; and Sophie a big birthday cake.
What a fun celebration for the whole family.