No broken toes

Well, after spending 3 hours at the after hours clinic, the results are in and Ethan does not have any broken toes. Though he continues to limp around as if he did.

It all started yesterday at Gommy's house when Ethan wanted to jump off the short window ledge. He landed wrong and instantly would not walk on it. He crawled around for a while and eventually (after we wrapped it in an ACE bandage), he would walk on his heel, but not his toes. It was the same this morning and then at lunch at daycare today he fell off his chair (a whopping 6 inches off the ground) and then wouldn't walk on his foot again. Eventually he did, but we still wanted to get it checked out just in case.

So no permanent damage, just a hurt foot. Phew!

At our house, all we can do is pretend

Making cookies

For some reason on Sunday I decided it would be good idea to make sugar cookies from scratch and the kids could help me. What this means is that both kids have to sit on the counter and watch me make the cookies. I have to make sure I have all ingredients out ahead of time or Ethan might fall on the floor while I head over to get one I forgot.

I only made half the recipe because my crappy food processor doesn't hold much, and quite frankly, I'm the one home all day stopping every time I'm in the kitchen to grab yet another cookie. To make the cookies, I mix all of the ingredients together and add half of the flour. At this point, that means all of the butter and sugar is in there, so it tastes pretty good. Which Ethan found out quickly by sticking his hand in there. And then he kept wanting to do that. Even after I added the second half of flour and hadn't mixed it yet. Then he was eating a handful of flour. Yuck! So, he succeeded in "helping" me by making a really big mess.

And then I wouldn't let him have any more cookie dough, so he transformed into evil child and cried all the way through lunch and didn't stop until he went down for a nap. Nice.

Blythe's gymnastics class

Blythe started gymnastics again last week. But this time it's a class with no parent participation. Yay! And it's an hour long instead of 30 minutes. Actually parents aren't even allowed in there - we have to watch through windows upstairs. And all of that means...she might actually learn something!

So in preparation, I needed to buy her a gymnastics outfit. Thank you Target!

And her friends Ginsey and Ashley are also taking the class. Ginsey got the same outfit.

So just because you LOOK like a gymnast, doesn't mean you actually are one. BUT - take a look at this video...watch carefully and I'm sure you will be amazed at the split second Blythe actually balances on the balance beam with only one leg.

Seriously, people. She's not even 4 yet. What do you expect?

Okay, so that's just ridiculous.

Ethan's toddler bed

We changed over Ethan's crib to a toddler bed.

Yesterday was the third morning in a row that he climbed out of his crib. I actually opened his door just in time to see him do it. Took him all of maybe 1 second to climb out of his crib, like he'd been doing it for years. So even though he is now a seasoned professional, he could still get hurt, so toddler bed it is.

He did quite well in his new bed last night. We put him down and he stayed in his bed for a while. Then he got out and wandered around and Braden went in there, put him back in his bed and told him it was bedtime and he needed to go to sleep. And there he stayed until about 7 this morning. When he got up, he just sat in his bed for a while. I saw him on the monitor get out of bed, but then he went back and just sat some more until I came and got him. Hopefully he stays that easy. Naptime on the weekend could be a challenge, but napping at day care has prepared him since he just sleeps on a mat on the floor.

one more surprise

I did have one more trick up my sleeve for Braden's birthday. Ethan's godparents Tommy and Angie were unable to make it out for the weekend so I had also secretly arranged for them to come see Braden on his actual birthday (Monday) and we could all go out to eat. Again, Braden suspected nothing, and when someone came through our front door suddenly about 30 minutes BEFORE the babysitter was supposed to be here, Braden was like, "What? Who's walking into our front door?" He hadn't seen Tommy in a while, so he was very happily surprised. We had an awesome dinner at Poor Billy's (where I ate "pretend" sushi and it was delicious) and then called it a night.

So thanks also to Tommy and Angie for helping make Braden's 30th so special. All that planning was quite exhausting. I think I bought myself at least 10 or so years before I have to give it that much effort again. Phew!

And then the monkeys attacked

I was in a deep sleep this morning (deep enough to not hear the monitor that I have turned down to very low volume), dreaming I was in the woods on a nice stroll when I suddenly heard a commotion. In my dream it sounded like monkeys. They sounded far away though. Then out of nowhere the monkeys attacked me! And turned on the lights! And sat on my face with a poopy diaper! What?? Oh, these monkeys are my children. What a way to wake up...a light shining right in my face and the oh, so fresh smell of smooshed poop 6 millimeters from my face.

Then reality sunk in. How did Ethan get into my bed? Braden had left for morning practice hours earlier and was not home. Apparently, this is how the little monkey broke loose:

• He somehow climbed out of his crib (quietly and covertly)
• He went to his door and did the secret knock to alert his sister down the hall that it was go time for his planned escape
• Blythe heard the secret knock and came to his aide opening the door to his bedroom
• According to what Blythe said, Ethan then told her he wanted to go into my room (either he suddenly can speak in sentences, or he said, "mommy" and she interpreted the rest).
• Blythe then opened my door, they both bombarded the place and Ethan climbed into the bed and sat on my face

Crap. Gone are the days when I would wake up and take my sweet time in the bathroom, brushing my teeth, putting on makeup, brushing my hair, getting dressed, all while listening to Ethan on the monitor talking in his crib and playing with his stuffed animals because he is confined to his crib and can't get out. My life will never be the same (queue the violin music now...)

Braden's 30th birthday weekend

Finally I can blog about Braden's 30th birthday surprise weekend I had planned! The secrets were killing me (I'm a terrible secret keeper). I started planned a couple of months ago I think. I wanted to get several of Braden's friends to come for the weekend and also wanted Doug, Lynette, and Ada to join us. And as an extra special bonus, my cousin Sarah and her husband Derek had been trying to make it up here (from Dallas) for a visit for quite some time, so we coordinated it all together. There was a home football game, so the next big hurdle was finding enough tickets for most of us to go. That was quite a task, that took well over a month to finalize. Another issue was parking and tailgating for the game. We have one parking pass, but had way too many people for only 1 car. So eventually I ended up with 3 passes, so we got to choose (and ended up with a GREAT tailgate spot...thanks Amy!!). Then there was the food issue (where to put it all so Braden doesn't know what's going on...thanks again Amy!). And lastly, the issue of Braden coming home from practice at 10:15am to get ready to tailgate, meaning I have to get everyone here before then (and they all drove from Raleigh - 3-3.5 hours away!).

Anyway, it turned out to be a SUPER AWESOME weekend. Braden was completely surprised, and the weather turned out amazing. We got to tailgate for a couple of hours and then head to the game (Blythe got to go and Braden's friend Magnus's son went too). Despite it not being a very competitive game, they all had a blast. We grilled out on Saturday and hung at the house, then rested up for an eventful Sunday. Here's a few pics from Saturday.

Sunday was another beautiful day, so we called over to Claytor Lake to see if they had any pontoon boats to rent for a couple of hours. They did, so we reserved one, then packed up our picnic lunch and headed over to Claytor Lake to cruise the lake and get some rays. On the way over there, they called and said some other group wanted the boat we had reserved, so they'd give us the bigger one for the same price. This pontoon had a sink, table and chairs, and even a bathroom! We toured almost the whole lake, and despite Ethan crying most of the time because he didn't want to wear his life jacket, we all had a really nice time. Afterwards we hung out at the playground and beach area before our Raleigh and Dallas visitors had to say goodbye and drive home. Here are some pics from Clayor Lake:

Thanks to everyone who helped make it such a special weekend! Doug, Lynette, Ada, Sarah, Derek, Magnus, Christian, Greg, Grant (wish you could have stayed through the whole weekend!), Amy (for parking and food storage!), B'easy (for football tickets and parking pass), Jayme (for football tickets), Nick (for tickets), Braden's boss Ned (for freeing up Braden's schedule as much as possible...they had lots of recruits in!), and my mom and sister (for cooking and cleaning almost my whole house!). I'm sure I left out some, but it was definitely a group effort and was all well worth it!

Ethan's stats

Just a brief update on Ethan....he is 33 inches tall (about 75th percentile) and 25.5 pounds (about 50th percentile). And he has an ear infection. again. in the same ear as last time. Poor kid.

Ethan is 18 months old!

Ethan turned 18 months old yesterday! We celebrated by attending his friend, Luke Freel's, burthday party. He did a lot of jumping in the bounce house (even with the bigger kids which he loved but nearly gave me heart attacks). And he really loved seeing the pet turtles.







Gommy and Laura came to visit on Sunday and stayed through today. Blythe went with Braden to visit Grams and Peep in Cashiers, NC on Friday and came back on Monday. Blythe stayed with Grams while Braden and his dad headed to Atlanta for the big VT vs Alabama football game. Sounds like Blythe and Grams had a really fun time shopping, painting, playing, swimming, and watching movies.


Ethan was home without his sister, which I think he really liked for a few days. No one threatening to take his toys away. It was like having freedom for the first time. And oh, all the attention! (especially from Mommy!) We did a lot of running errands...he was quite the trooper.

Anyway, let's see if I can think of some 18 month milestones for Ethan (and he hasn't gone to the doctor yet, so will have to update later on height/weight stats).

• These are the days of expanding vocabulary. He's not quite at the point of being able to always tell me what he wants, but he gets closer every day and things get easier. Good thing because, "eh, eh...mommy" get old after a while.
• He's starting to sing his ABC's. Sounds a little something like this "A, eh, deh, bah..yay!"
• His favorite toy inside is probably his big tonka truck. He loves pushing it around the house. His favorite toy outside is probably the Little Tikes Cozy Cruiser. Either that or the "gator" at the house next door (electric John Deere kids car). He will go straight over to their garage, sit in it and just honk the horn.
• When we go to the playground, he still likes the swings the best
• Still eats like a champ most of the time and isn't too picky about what he eats. I think his favorite food might be bananas.
• He's starting to drink from a regular cup instead of a sippy cup. I usually fill it only a little because he's easily distracted and will then spill the whole thing if not paying attention.
• He has the BEST laugh and it's so contagious. It's so cute when you get him laughing. He loves to push the buttons on the phone base and thinks it's hilarious every time he hits the message button and it says, "No messages". You think he's mocking us because no one ever calls us?
• He's teething. Still.

• He hates to have his teeth brushed and will yank the toothbrush from my hand while I try to do it. And then, of course, he cries when I don't let him have it.
• He's wearing size 6 shoes and staying true to size as he is growing out of his 12-18 month clothes and starting to wear 18-24. His spiderman jammies are actually 2T.

Happy half-birthday Ethan! A day late...a dollar short.

Bonjour!

Blythe's class has been learning about France this week at school. I've been very impressed with her learning and amazed she's actually been paying attention. On Monday she told me the french flag was blue, white, and red with stripes. Tuesday her class went to the store and bought french bread and cheese. So now when I ask her what they eat in France, she says, "lots of bread and lots of cheese". I asked her if they eat french fries, and she said no. Wednesday I asked her if they learned any words in french. She said, "hello is Bonjour". "Goodbye is Au revoir". Both times she pronounced them perfectly. Yesterday she tells me they learned about the Eiffel Tower.

They'll be learning about other countries all month long. Maybe she'll come home and teach me a thing or two!

Words of the day

The "Blytheism" of the day is....Shplush.

"Mom, you forgot to shplush the potty after you went".

And the first thing I heard Ethan say this morning while talking in his crib was "Whoa Buddy!". Yesterday's word of the day was "apple do", otherwise known as "apple juice".

China School

Blythe can say a whole lot of words, but as she expands her vocabulary sometimes the words don't come out just right. Though I find myself amazed sometimes I get what she's saying even on the first try. "China School" took a little bit of thinking on my part and I only got it because it was in line with what we were doing at the time.

"Mom, look - I drew a rectangle!"
"And a circle...."
"How bout I draw a square"
"I can't do a China School"

Hmmmm......ah - a 3-sided shape = China School, aka Triangle.

So I taught her how to draw a triangle.