Halloween 09

Sorry for the delay in updating. There's a ton of pictures added as of this evening to our web album, and I'll be making a couple posts over the next couple of days.

This year we went to a church Halloween party. Both kids loved their costumes.





Ethan was asked what kind of face he wanted on his jack-o-lantern. This was his suggestion:




I drew up a couple options and he chose the one on the right.



And here's how it turned out:

Ethan's Birthday

Even though Ethan's birthday is not for another 6 days, he got an early start on the week with his new scooter from Grandpa and Grandma.

Black and Blue

Ella has now had two pretty serious falls, both more painful than anything Ethan has experienced. Once she fell off some playground equipment (not pictured) and just recently she tripped and ran into a corner of Ethan's bed which resulted in the pictured black eye. Not sure if this is indicative of being more naturally adventurous than Ethan -- it's quite possible she's just in over her head when trying to keep up with an (almost) 3 year old. The eye obviously hurt her a bit, but she seemed more annoyed by the ice we kept trying to apply after it happened.

Walking!

A day past 17 months old and Ella finally decided to break free and walk on her own. Yesterday she decided to go for it and started walking all around the room and standing up in the middle of the room on her own.

Of course, she didn't cooperate much when the video camera was pulled out, but here's a picture of her after church this morning.

Summer Daze

It's 99 degrees at 9 pm here. Summer in Texas is an interesting experience when you're trying to get two toddlers into carseats when everybody wants to do things "by myself!" (I'm still in denial about this fact. How do they grow so fast? Although technically Ella probably doesn't count as a toddler since she won't let go of my finger while walking...except for when she thinks we're not looking and she wants to walk from one toy to another.)





Both kids experienced their first 4th of July fireworks this year. It turned into more of an outing than planned when we got stuck waiting for a shuttle out of the park and didn't get home until almost midnight. Foiled in our plan to try the smaller fireworks out at the lake in hopes that it would be less crowded than the Austin ones! Ella was pacified with some snacks, and enjoyed the first few minutes of fireworks before getting overwhelmed and laying her head down on my shoulder for the rest. Ethan really enjoyed the fireworks and even stayed awake for the drive home, chatting away about the night.




Ethan finished two weeks of swim lessons, and I got a lesson in adjusting expectations and relaxing about what others might think. (Let's just say that the other parents were highly amused at hearing Ethan emphatically tell me, "that's really enough" when encouraging him to try something new.) Putting your face in the water is overrrated, right? In a turn of events likely to be repeated many times in our future, Ella has proven to be far bolder in the water. This tends to encourage Ethan to stretch himself past his comfort level, and he has tentatively done some floating on his back and blowing bubbles in our neighborhood pool in the last few visits.



Ella has had some major developments in the recent months. She decided that she likes to eat now, and frequently puts away an amazing amount of food. While still pickier than Ethan, she has expanded what she'll try by quite a bit. She still chooses to keep me guessing by having no consistency about what veggies she likes or doesn't like. She's also added so many words to her vocabulary that I couldn't begin to guess how many she says now. She goes out of her way to talk in sentences; most of the things she says now are two to five word sentences ("I dropped food on floor" is a frequent one, as is "I do it myself"). She sings most of the alphabet song (recognizable with some mixed up letters), Jesus Loves Me, Halleluh, and Deep and Wide, and counts to 10 (skipping 7 every time). For a long time she would ask to sing a song from a Steve Green CD with the Bible verse "Do Not be overcome by evil". Nothing like having your 16 month old chanting "Come Evil" through the grocery store. In an amusing and somewhat scary turn of events, she's been begging to use the potty and has actually peed in it 4 times over the last few days. Almost 17 months and she won't walk by herself, but she's telling me all about what she wants! She LOVES her babies and animals and frequently makes everybody kiss, hug, and feed them with her. (She also happily drives Ethan's cars and trucks around and calls all loud vehicles a "fire truck"---having a big brother broadens her toy horizons!)



Ethan has also been keeping us on our toes. He decided about a month ago that he was done with diapers, and he's had very few accidents since. We now have a detailed knowledge of the public restrooms in every place we go. While he is actually able to go quite a while between visits to the restroom, he is fascinated by checking out other restrooms and usually wants to go to the bathroom as soon as we get to a place. This leads to some interesting juggling acts with both kids. It also leads to some really awkward conversations, like the one we had at Walgreens a couple weeks ago when a homeless woman was talking to herself and making some odd animal noises in the other stall. Errands take a lot longer these days.



He's also full of funny observations, questions, and philosophical discussions. He's informed me that God doesn't take a car to Heaven, but walks. We had a long discussion about lightning one day where he asked if it needed a ladder and a long cord to plug in for the electricity to work, and then asked me if it had a face, hands, etc. After multiple times of explaining that it wasn't a person but a thing, he got exasperated with me and asked if it at least had a hat.


He's been stalling at bedtime trying to avoid going to sleep. After several trips to the potty, when he's been told we're all done, he starts trying to get creative about why he's crying out for us. Lately he'll say, "I need something!" but never give you a specific thing. In frustration the other night Brent finally said, "okay, we'll get you something in the morning." Ethan woke up after Brent had already left for work, and within a few minutes told me that Daddy said he could get something in the morning. After more questioning I told him that I couldn't help him if he didn't tell me what it was he wanted. He walked into the other room to play, and I could hear him muttering to himself, "I wanted something and Daddy said yes but Mommy said no. I'm not happy anymore. Now I'm really sad."



We've been trying to beat the heat with water activities and indoor fun, so the kids got to experience their first movie in the theatre this week. Older movies are run each week for free, so we decided to try out a Veggie Tales "Pirates who didn't do anything" movie. The kids did great and have been playing upstairs by pulling out their toy bins and sitting in their "boats" for the last couple days.


Today we were on the way to check on the watermelon sorbet we'd started earlier in the kitchen and had to take a potty detour. Ethan paused and asked me, "The ice cream maker won't get my underwear?" Not sure where that one came from! He usually is worried about Ella taking his underwear (not without cause, as she has been known to take them and wear them on her head or hide them!)


They're enjoying each other more and more these days, and their play is a source of great amusement to me on a pretty regular basis. They're also tagteaming us these days, with Ethan often prompting Ella to ask for something they both want or to do something he thinks would be funny. I know I've said this several times before, but I'll try to keep up with the blog more frequently, if only to remember some of the random little things that happen around here. Hope you're all enjoying your summer!

Just Like Big Brother

Most days Ella likes to emulate her big brother. Often it's just repeating the silly sounds she heard him make. Today we were surprised to hear her counting to five by herself, which she certainly picked up from him. On this day, while helping Mommy with the laundry, she decided to dress up like him by putting on his hat and sandals to go along with his underwear she found. Ethan is generally better dressed when he leaves the house.

Little Carnivores

Ribs!


We'll be back soon with some updates. We have some catching up to do.

yes, they're getting bigger

This morning Ethan pulled off his sock, examined his foot, and then proudly announced, "My toes are growing up Mommy! Look, they're getting bigger!"

This week we realized Ella is saying flashlight, phone, what's that? (this is a frequent one that sounds a bit like "wuzzatt?"), and want some (when she sees food she wants, while signing more, she says "wannsum?" -- this one I'm pretty sure is courtesy of her brother) She's also started consistently doing a sign (again her version of it) for eat, please, more, thank you, all done, and bath.

I realize sometimes that we're all growing in our own ways. I personally have an increased tolerance for embarassment in public, as our grocery trips frequently include the need for some snacks (sometimes resulting in colorful clothes and faces) and songs (often with motions) to keep everybody pleasant and in the cart. This increased tolerance should serve me well, as one of Ethan's most common phrases these days is "I smell something!" He will then tell you if it smells good or bad, and what he thinks it might be. While people smile and think this is cute/clever on the coffee aisle, I can imagine plenty of scenarios where I will wish his little voice wouldn't carry so clearly. As Ella gets older, she may wish the same thing, since if it's a less than pleasant smell he frequently asks her "you pooping Ella?"

Where socks go to die

Our kids have a thing about taking their socks off and finding new places to stick them. On a regular basis we have to go fishing on the floor, behind the bed, in the toy chest, in my pots and pans drawer, etc. I just had to feel around Ethan's bed in the dark looking for them as we discussed (again!) how the neighbor's dog was barking. Some people's washers eat socks...I'm pretty sure our kids' beds eat socks. I frequently discover single socks behind their beds days after I've given up on them.

On Thursday we had painters paint our entryway. Ethan is fascinated by the fact that a man painted our walls, and he approves of the color ("It's really pretty!") Who would have that we'd all be so excited by mesa tan walls? We clearly live on the edge around here with all the shades of brown...

Last night we ate at Chipotle and Ethan ate SO much of his burrito bowl that he was complaining about his tummy hurting for the next hour. He was also in a super manic mode on the drive home. He started making up all kinds of things in the vein of "brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?" which pretty much sounded like "car, car, what do you see? I see a sign looking at me. Sign, sign what do you see? I see a bird looking at me." with giggles after each one. My favorite that he came up with was was "I see a FULL tummy looking at me!"

Ella decided that carrots are awesome this week. This means that more likely than not she will think they are disgusting next week! She's also showing more interest in wanting to "help" me with the cooking, dishwashing, laundry etc. She especially likes any chores that involve water --"wahwah!!"

Ethan has hit some highs and lows this week in his treatment of Ella. Last night in the bath when Ella started crying about something he said, "Don't cry Ella. I love you, Ella!" which absolutely melted my heart. However, he's also hit her several times this week when he was upset about something, so we've logged more time in timeout (we haven't had to use it much at all in the last couple months). I suppose the sibling love/conflict thing is only beginning!

Shhhh, what's that I hear?

I'm currently enjoying some silence. We had a friend over to play this morning, and the kids were great, but they get like little monkeys screeching gleefully at each other as they get tired and/or more silly. Ella has learned to hold her own with the big boys, and in fact several times got a little pushy with one of the boys when they had something she wanted. And did I mention I found her halfway up the stairs this week when I left her in the kitchen to go put a load of clothes in the washer? She may show no interest in walking right now, but climbing is another story.

Ethan has become our little seed connoisseur (I just had to google that to spell it correctly). Any time he's eating fruit, he tells you whether you can eat that kind of seed and then goes into a long discussion of which ones you should and should not eat (we eat kiwi and strawberry seeds, we don't eat orange and apple seeds, etc.). Every time. And every time he's very excited, as if it's a new discovery.

We enjoyed some really nice evenings earlier this week; between the increased light from the time change and the great warm temperatures, we spent a lot of time outside. Today is cold and rainy. Thank you God for the rain! Our grass is absolutely crunchy; Ella picks up her legs and wrinkles her nose if you try to sit her on the lawn.

Daylight savings time has confused Ethan and he is all over the map on when he wakes up this week. His naps have also been shorter. He is still a wonderful sleeper, but I'm sad when my good sleeper is up earlier in the morning and from his nap. Off to get him...the silence was short lived but sweet!

no pancakes for breakfast?

Ethan has a couple new sayings that make me laugh (with my back turned). One he learned from my sister at Christmas, but hasn't said much since then. Last night he was helping Brent put mulch on the new tree, and he stepped back and said, "It looks snazzy; very nazzy." He said the same thing as he barreled towards me after his bath last night, "Mommy I look snazzy!!!"

Sometimes lately he'll be playing and I hear a big , "URRRGH!! Mommy, I'm frustrated...I need some help!" (This is after a lot of time focusing on the fact that it's not okay to scream and throw things when they're not working the way you want them to work. It's still sometimes followed by throwing a toy, but we're working on it!) I tried to teach him to take a breath and relax, but this didn't sink in until he saw a Blue's clues episode where they practiced stop, breathe, and think. Side note: this felt a little bit like when I was working and a client would tell me they learned something revolutionary from Dr. Phil or Supernanny; often something that I had been working on with them with no results for quite a while. Somehow it's less frustrating when it's a 2 year old.

Ella has become quite the bookworm. Yesterday at the library I could barely keep up with her as she tried to pull book after book off the shelf. At home you have to distract her to be able to stop reading books. When I go to put her down for her nap she pleads "mo book, mo book?" in the most pitiful way possible.

While we were at the library Ethan asked me about a book that he's asked for several times (and I keep forgetting to request online). When I looked and then told him it wasn't there, he said, "some other boy borrowed it? He's gonna be SO happy." On that note, let me sign off and go put a hold request for "Pancakes for Breakfast"!

Back to school

This morning we went to the children's research lab at the university and Ella participated in a study about how much one year olds can recognize different quantities of objects. On the way there we were discussing what was going to happen. I told Ethan I had gone to school there, and he asked "You played with the kids there?" (He's pretty sure that school must be great fun since his favorite neighbor kids are always at school during the day.) Ella enjoyed a little tv time, and Ethan had a great time playing in the waiting room with all the toys. He was shy at first, but after a few minutes when I went to the back he was happily talking with the girl about the viewfinder with Toy Story on it. When I came back 5 minutes later he was entertaining three college girls; all of them were cracking up about how excited he was about this magnet table with frogs and lizards in it that you could make jump around : ) Between the frog table and all the motorcycles parked across the street, I think he's decided that maybe he's ready for college. We'll just focus on potty training for the time being....

He's always willing to help out...

Overheard in the back seat on the way home from church this morning:

"Ella, no crying. You go to timeout."

Daddy + home improvement store + work gloves = the happiest little boy ever

Yesterday Brent took a day off, and he and Ethan had a guy morning. By the time the day was over, they had gone to the auto parts store twice, home depot twice, and lowe's once. They worked on the push and riding mower (changing oil, sharpening blades, etc.) It was a little boy's dream day. (You can tell by the above pic that it was a windy day, and that I had forgotten to check the lens. Somehow it mysteriously always has a thumbprint clouding up the pictures!) Ethan was especially proud of wearing Daddy's work gloves. They also picked up a small seed kit to plant some flowers/veggies. It's been decorated with stickers, and so far survived "I shaked it!" a couple of times.

This morning we went to a local plant nursery to look at some small trees. This nursery has a couple cats roaming around, and pens with chickens, goats, and donkeys, so it was a fun excursion for all. Ella happily "bok, bok, bok, bok"ed at the chickens for quite a while, and Ethan picked out which were the "nice" chickens and goats.

Ella continues to grow more interested in standing as she realizes the increased potential for getting into things. Yesterday I found her happily cooking away...

She will move her legs to walk if absolutely necessary, but usually under protest. (She yells at the walker as she moves her feet to keep from falling!)

She loves to tickle, and you can frequently hear her in the back seat squealing "sock" when she gets one off, followed closely by "tickle, tickle, tickle" as she tickles her own toes.

When Ethan announces "I'm funny!" (which happens probably once a day), Ella now says "ha!' and then laughs.

Last night we got another glimpse into the mind of a two year old and how they try to make sense of everything they're seeing. Ethan had cried out after being put to bed because a neighborhood dog was barking repeatedly. (This is a pretty common occurence, along with the several minutes of discussion in his bed before he will settle back down and go to sleep.) After telling me he heard a dog barking, he asked somewhat nervously,"Neighbors gonna take care of it?", followed by "They gonna tie that string around its belly?" Apparently this is what the dogs being walked on leashes in front of our house must look like to him!

some random fun...

Apparently Ethan has had a falling out with one of his stuffed animals. Over the past week or so, he asks at bedtime if turtle is in the bed. Turtle has been in the bed rotation (we had to set a limit of 5 at a time in the bed that he gets to choose; he was running out of room!) and had always been a favorite. But now when he asks, it's because he wants to make certain that turtle is not in the bed. As he told Brent and now repeats if asked why he doesn't want turtle in the bed, "I don't like him." (Imagine this in a two year old's most emphatic and disgusted voice.) Apparently he's concerned that turtle will try and slip back up, because he keeps checking.

Last night after their baths, Ethan looks over at Ella getting her hair brushed and says in the sweetest voice, "you look handsome, Ella! Very handsome."

This morning Brent and Ella were watching a Baby Einstein DVD (baby mcdonald). Ella LOVED it. She called all of the animals (except the cows) "doodoo!" and all of the fruits/veggies/grains "apple!"

Do they have a daily word quota they're trying to meet?

Looks like we're going to have two talkers on our hands. So far Ella is saying some version that we can understand of no (which is usually nononononono), mama (which she rarely says and ONLY when she's whimpering or wailing because she's not getting what she wants), daddy, poppa, baby, ball (the girl LOVES balls), dog (she says doodoo!), up (I hear this one a LOT through the day), please, more (which she recently started signing and now uses any time she wants something), cracker, book (which she'll say as she drags book after book to you for you to read), socks, hat (you can see her putting things on her head in many pics--she loves to pretend everything is a hat), dance (I know, in a Baptist home!), and hop (one of her favorites right now...she'll say it and giggle away as she tries to get Ethan or one of us to hop for her). She's pretty good at parroting back some version of most things we say to her these days (and unfortunately sounds like a parrot on many of them). Last night she was pretty funny trying to say chicken. I honestly can not imagine what it's going to be like around here with both of them talking our ears off.

She's still not close to walking, but can do the military crawl with the best of them (and has carpet burn on her arm to show for it). She loves to do the itsy bitsy spider motions, and begs for this little piggy over and over again. She loves puzzles and has pretty good fine motor skills....she'll clap for herself as she finishes something successfully. She "sings" along with Ethan on many songs, especially the ABC's (as this is still his favorite song to sing to her). She loves to crawl/"hop" up the stairs with Ethan, so most of our trips upstairs take a while.

As Brent says, we have an eater and a sleeper, and they're both the same one! Ella likes to be unpredictable on both counts. She LOVES avocadoes, cheese, and fruit, and some days will chow down on meat. Veggies are another story. I keep serving them and trying creative ways to make them appealing, and we get some in her, but it's been a surprising challenge after having Ethan eat anything you put in front of him.

Ethan is also keeping us busy and entertained. He has become quite the attentive older brother. One night at dinner when I was telling Brent about how Ethan was protective of Ella at the library (when a little kid was trying to crawl over her, etc.) Ethan absolutely melted my heart as he announced "I'll always take care of Ella!" He is indeed very sweet with her most of the time, although her increased mobility has increased his stress level greatly. She wants to be right in the middle of anything he's doing, which is obviously a problem when you're trying to build the tallest tower ever. He has learned pretty well that hitting is not an option, but tries to grab her feet and scoot her away when I'm not looking. He also thinks it's pretty funny to watch and/or assist Ella in getting into things that he knows are not allowed (like pulling the toilet brush down off the shelf for her), and then just waiting, quietly giggling, for me to discover the naughtiness.

He loves helping to cook, helping with the dishes, loading the laundry, going to church, playing with his friends, blowing bubbles, riding his tricycle (which he is finally starting to be able to ride somewhat by himself), playing with playdoh, and coloring. Lately he frequently asks for help to "draw my name". He's also currently infatuated with the Backyardigans, and asks to watch a particular episode repeatedly. (As a side note to Ohio family, this episode is called secret mission, and he always asks for the "secret michigan"---too many times of saying beat michigan? ) At least we figured out what he's asked for; the first time he asked about it we had no context and thought he kept asking Brent for a secret mexican, which made no sense and would have been a slightly uncomfortable conversation in any public place.

He made a lady laugh in the grocery store this week when he excitedly squealed "bok choy" when I picked him some lettuce (he had helped me pick some out the week before; the excitement was all about thinking he had recognized something, as we discovered I am the only family member that likes bok choy). He and Ella then proceeded to laugh and say "bok, bok, bok" like little chickens for the next 5 minutes. Maybe this is why the most frequent things I hear from strangers are "you have your hands full" and "are they twins?" (which I still don't understand, as they are clearly not the same age---17 months difference!)

Off to try and prep dinner before I have two "helpers" for the process. As Ethan responds to a farewell of see you later, alligator.... after crocodiles! to you all.

One!

Today we celebrate and are amazed that our baby girl is one year old. One year ago today Melissa woke me up and told me that this might be the day. With a mixture of skepticism and experience we calmly ate breakfast, showered, made arrangements for Ethan, and packed before heading to the hospital. Ella was born that afternoon and since then our days and nights have been exhausting filled with joy.

This evening we ate a meal of foods Ella usually likes, enjoyed a cupcake, and opened presents from her parents and family. Take a look at our pictures to experience for yourself.

We were just wondering last week how old Ethan was when he started pulling himself up to standing. We looked at some pictures and found he was doing it at a much younger age than his sister. Ella had been pulling up to her knees but no further. But then last weekend the light switched on and now she pops right up.