The best toys are the ones you don’t pay a dime for…. Friday, Mar 27 2009

I think one of the best things about having a baby is finding the things that they love.  That make them smile.  Laugh.  Giggle and cackle uncontrollably.  And once you find those things, you want to draw out that moment as long as possible, because you never know if you’ll be able to make it happen again.

The other day, James started to kick a plastic grocery bag around…and Ethan just DIED he thought it was so funny.  Luckily we caught it on camera…..

Its moments like these that are simply the BEST about being a parent….finding these little things that they can’t get enough of…..and reliving the joys and innocence of being young.

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Some of Ethan’s favorite games Friday, Mar 27 2009

One of the really fun things about this age is that Ethan LOVES playing games.  Its funny because the “typical” baby games are the ones that he just adores…..patty cake, this little piggy, etc.  He loves it when I sing to him….Twinkle Twinkle little star and “If you’re happy and you know it” are also songs he loves the most.  Its so…..typical, but I guess there is a reason those are beloved kids songs.

“This little piggy went to market” is fun because when I get to the last toe he always looks at me with excitement to see if I’ll make the funny voice that my mom always made for us….he loves it.  Patty cake cracks me up because he just holds his hands out so I can hit them.

Anyway, here are some short videos of Ethan enjoying his favorite games.

Patty cake

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

“This little piggy went to market”

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A trip to the aquarium Thursday, Mar 26 2009

Ethan wants a bigger fish tank

Yesterday Ethan and I went to Aquarium Adventures in Camden, NJ with several other moms from my mom’s group.  We had a great time!  He really enjoyed seeing all the fish, sharks, penguins, seals and hippos!  We had fun with Leila, Veronica, Cole, and Hannah.  Here are some pics from our trip.

Checking out the fish

With friends Hannah, Veronica and Leila (from left to right)

Ooh! A sea turtle

Hammerhead shark!

Mommy and Ethan

Outside checking out the seals

Thats a big hippo!!

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What a wonderful week! Saturday, Mar 21 2009

Its Saturday night and Ethan is asleep, James is watching basketball and I’m enjoying a glass of wine and updating pictures and reflecting on the last week.  We dropped my mom off at the airport this afternoon after a week and a half long visit.  She and my dad flew up last Thursday to visit us and Ethan.  Tabby (my new sister-in-law) also came up that weekend for a wedding of one of her friends.  So we had a full house last weekend which was a lot of fun.  While Tabby was at her wedding, we drove to Greenwich for lunch with my uncle and his wife which was a lot of fun.  My parents got to spend some nice time with Ethan.  He was INCREDIBLY fascinated by my dad, Papaneaux – couldn’t keep his eyes off him!

Staring at Papaneaux

This is pretty much him staring at Papaneaux

Kisses from Carly

Love love the grandparents

Fun with Aunt Tabby

Get some practice Tabby!

He has a major drooling problem

Lots of smiles

In his supercute bunny hat

Kisses from Ethan are the best

I love kissing him too

Sweet boy

A nice day outside makes me happy

Naked baby time with daddy

Goodbye snuggles with Carly

They met Ethan for the first time.  He was all dressed up in his blue checked shirt, exactly like one that James has.

Just like daddy

Ethan’s newest thing is giving really big, wet, slobbery, open-mouthed and slightly painful kisses.  He grabs your ears, hair, skin, eyes…whatever and globs onto your cheek or mouth.  Its incredibly sweet, though sometimes a bit painful, but I love my baby kisses.  He has started giving hugs too.  So so fun.  He has also been practicing feeding himself and has gotten a few puffs into his mouth all by himself, which is pretty cool.

Big Ethan Kisses

Ethan is definitely beginning to show big personality these days.  He is very very clear about what he wants and what he doesn’t.  He still isn’t crawling yet, but he can scoot around commando-style very very fast, I have to keep my eye on him!!  His favorite thing to do is still to run around the house holding onto one of us, shrieking.  He has gotten very good at that and at kicking things, much to James’ joy.  He really loves it when we sing songs to him (“If you’re happy and you know it” and “Twinkle Twinkle little star” being his favorites), play pattycake (he just holds out his hands for us to hit) and do “This little piggy went to market” with his toes.

Running around!

My dad left on Sunday, Mom stayed until today.  I really enjoyed catching up with her and having some good talks and it was my one week of vacation – she helped out so much with Ethan and the housework.  I got to sleep in most mornings which was great.  We also were able to get the basement organized (FINALLY!) And today James was on an organization tear and put up pics, mirrors, took care of so many things.  So it was great to get so much done, get some rest and spend such great time with my family.  Definitely sad to see everyone go.

Anyway, here are a few more pics from this past week.  Thanks to Tabby for the pound cake, my dad for his help and wisdom and especially my mom for all her hard work this week.  We love you all and are so glad we got to share our lives with you this week!

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! Tuesday, Mar 17 2009

In typical St. Patty’s day fashion, Ethan started drinking (breastmilk) at 4:30am today.  So he was obviously totally loaded by 10am and got a little rowdy today.  Unfortunately for him, and many other drunken souls, cameras were around to record the day’s misadventures….so he was caught in various states of surliness, silly outfits, etc.  I am ashamed to have to embarass him in this way, but as his mom, its my right…hopefully he will learn a lesson for next year.

And I caught a fish, and it was THIS BIG!

I’m gonna crawl soon, look out!

Tummy tickle with Carly

OMG, its a leprechaun!

I love you so much I’m going to eat your face!

Nom Nom Nom!

He’s a hair puller…my fault for not pulling it back into a ponytail

Let’s go outside and play!

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A great week and this weekend is shaping up nicely too! Saturday, Mar 7 2009

Ethan doing his best Alfalfa imitation

 

This week was just…fun.  Early this week we had lots of snow.   Alix requested that Ethan do some snow angels, so I tried to indulge her, but…alas….Ethan IS a southern boy at heart (thank goodness) and was none too pleased about being laid down in the snow.

I am NOT doing snow angels!!!

Because of the snow, our usual Monday and Tuesday activities were cancelled (we usually attend some events at the public library) but it was ok because we just enjoyed playing at home.  Wednesday we went to a playdate with some other younger babies in my playgroup.  Everyone seemed astounded by Ethan’s walking and standing prowess.  

What? Did I fart?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday we went to the mall with some moms from my playgroup (who have slightly older babies, but all boys) and we enjoyed shopping and chatting as we walked around the mall.  Harrison, James, Fletcher and Ethan liked shrieking and napping as we walked around.  Friday we went to another playdate….we are apparently becoming quite the social butterflies!  We had so much fun though!  Today we had a couple over whose daughter, Jenna, is almost the same age as Ethan.  They played while James and Bryan watched basketball.  It was a great time!

Jenna and Ethan

 

Our tank finished cycling on Wednesday (finally!!) so James sent me out to buy fish before our friends arrived today.  You probably know that James and I are pretty passionate about our fish tank.  We have a 75 gallon tank, in Atlanta it was a mixed African Cichlid tank.  When we moved we sold or gave away all our fish since the move probably would have killed most of them anyway.

We finally got the tank re-set up and cycled it (which took about 4-5 weeks.)  We decided to focus on the the species Frontosa.  We had one in our old tank and really loved the species.  We found someone nearby who breeds mpimbwe frontosas, which are known for their blue coloring. We pick up 6 of those tomorrow, but today I went to the fish store and got tankmates for the frontosas, mostly other species from Lake Tanganyika in Africa.  Here are some pics of our new fish….they are pretty cool, especially for freshwater fish!

Julidochromis marlieri (Burundi)

Aulonocara stuartgranti (Chiloelo)

Aulonocara stuartgranti (Chiloelo) (the big one with red and blue) and Tropheus Duboisi “Maswa” (the little black one with blue spots)

Tropheus Duboisi “Maswa” (the little one) and Julidochromis marlieri (Burundi) (the big one…aka Wolverine)

Altolamprologus comprecciceps calvus (Yellow)

Julidochromis marlieri (Burundi)

Julidochromis marlieri (Burundi)

Aulonocara stuartgranti (Chiloelo)

A view of our whole tank

Altolamprologus comprecciceps calvus (Yellow)

Mpimbwe Frontosa (we have 6 of these)

You can really see their coloring here, they are about 1″ right now but grow to be over a foot long!

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Lots more snow today! Monday, Mar 2 2009

Snowy house

I heard Atlanta got some snow yesterday.  Well you guys sent it up here with full force.  We have about 8 inches on the ground I think and more is coming.

Schools are closed here, there were kids sledding down my street (since I live on the only hill in New Jersey I think.)  At 9am a girl, probably in high school, knocked on my door offering to shovel my stairs and driveway for $20.  My facebook friends have since told me that I was overcharged but James wasn’t going to do it…figured I would do my part to stimulate the economy.

I finally decided to bundle Ethan and I up to go out and play in the snow.  I probably shouldn’t have done it so close to naptime as Ethan did not seem to think it was fun at all.  But, here’s some pics anyway

It's COLD out here mama, GET ME INSIDE!

 

Jambo thinks about going outside...then runs back inside.

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Ethan is now the laughing baby Monday, Mar 2 2009

Remember this youtube classic of the baby laughing at weird noises?

Well, now that is Ethan

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Ethan is 7 months old!! Monday, Mar 2 2009

Happy 7 month old birthday!

 

This has been a very eventful month for Ethan.  He has learned how to sit up, he started babbling consonants (M, B and V being his favorites), his motor skills have drastically increased, he plays independently for long periods of time and he sleeps well again at night and goes down easily for long naps.  He’s getting to be such a big baby!

Here is how Ethan felt about being 7 months old.

To see all the pics taken during Ethan’s 7th month, click here.

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But, if soccer doesn’t work out…. Monday, Mar 2 2009

We think he may have a future as a symphony conductor or a lion trainer….

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