Busy Day = Hyper Toddler

It's been quite a day! Even though I finished my classes over a week ago and finished my final papers this past weekend, I still had some things that needed to be done on campus. So I decided to load up Ethan and take him on his first trip to campus since he used to come with me to class a year ago. All in all it was a wonderful day, though there were definitely a few hiccups.

We left at 9 to get there in time for my 10 o'clock meeting. Somehow in setting this up, I didn't think about the fact that we'd be traveling due west mid-morning when Ethan is most likely to try to fall asleep for a morning nap (even though he dropped it months ago, he still gets sleepy and has fallen asleep in the car as a result). So I spent the whole drive there trying to keep him awake and happy as he squirmed to get the sun out of his eyes. Once we finally made it to campus, I loaded him up on my back, and we climbed aboard for Ethan's first bus ride.

We started our day with a meeting with one of my professors to do my senior review (a graduation requirement in which you go over your senior portfolio). Ethan was a bit shy at first, but before long he was convincing the professor to get down on the floor with him to do a puzzle, and by the time we left, he was sitting in the professor's lap! This is the same professor who let me bring Ethan to class with me a year ago, and I'm so grateful to have such amazing teachers!

After the meeting, we headed down to the Cokesbury to get my rewards for taking the graduating senior survey: a new Common English Bible and a $40 gift certificate. I finally purchased my Book of Common Worship and had enough left over for some beautiful prayer beads. Then we headed to the chapel basement to see some of my old co-workers. No one was there when we arrived, so Ethan examined the nursery and nursed for a bit, and we caught up with two of my former co-workers as we were leaving. For our last errand, we headed to the university bookstore to pick up my graduation hood!

We chose the foot of a statue in the chapel quad as our lunch spot. Ethan scarfed down a Chick-fil-a grilled sandwich and was rewarded with his first try of a local popsicle shop's wares (this place has been featured in gourmet magazines, so this was an important milestone =P). After lunch it was time to head home. Here's where things got interesting.

The bus circle was closed down because there was a funeral at the chapel for some big shot in the community. As a sidenote, why in the world would it be necessary to have 4 hearses, a horse-drawn carriage-hearse, and 5 limos for one dead body?!?!? Anyway, rather than just moving the buses to the lower circle like they usually do for big events, they moved the bus stops all over campus. So we had to walk almost halfway to the parking lot just to get on the bus. I considered just walking the rest of the way, but with a toddler on my back and my arms loaded with bags decided it would be easier to just take the bus. I was wrong. As a result of the weird routing, they ended up skipping my bus stop. So the bus ride that should have taken 3 minutes ended up taking 30 as we had to go the entire length of the route.

Ethan was a great sport about all of this, even though we didn't get to the car until 1:00, 30 minutes after his usual nap time. I changed him, loaded him up into the car, and told him to have a good nap. I had decided to drive past our old house to kill time since I'd have to keep driving around as long as he slept. And Ethan decided not to nap in the car. By the time we could have been home if I'd gone straight there, Ethan had lost all patience. He began screaming just like he used to do on those long commutes home after class. I finally managed to calm him down by holding his hand, and when we were 10 minutes from home, he finally drifted off to sleep. So now I was almost home but had 2 hours to kill driving around. Awesome. It all ended up working out OK, though, and Ethan got a nice nap in.

Apparently all of the events of the morning coupled with his good nap led to Ethan being in overdrive. While I cooked dinner, he just ran laps around the house, chasing the kitties, laughing, and babbling non-stop. In fact, he continued to do the babble/run for the rest of the night, and I finally grabbed the video camera to capture the cute. Apologies for the nose in need of wiping... He was running around so much that I didn't notice it until afterwards.



I have no idea what type of toddler-ese that is, but it was cracking us up. Oh, and before I get a frantic phone call from my mom, that window has a toddler lock on it, and he's never unattended around it, so we're not going to have a Conor Clapton on our hands. Shockingly, he did end up going to bed with no problem! So despite a few issues, it was a very productive and enjoyable day!

A Bad Case of the "No"s

The title describes Ethan of late. He's still his fun, energetic, loveable self, but he has developed an awful case of "No" syndrome. Thankfully, his "No!" is still very sweet and adorable, not the shrieking protest I had expected of this phase. But it has become his usual response to everything.

"Ethan, do you want to go downstairs?" "Nooo"
"Ethan, do you want some apple?" "Noooo"
"Ethan, can you drink some more milk?" "(while drinking said milk) Noooo"

Couple this with a new streak of mischief (pouring the cats' food into their water every time my back is turned, switching off the power strip connected to the computer, pulling dishes out of the dishwasher or turning it on unnecessarily) and his recent refusal to go to sleep at night without a fight, and you can imagine it's been an interesting week in the Marks' household of late.

But we do have plenty of moments of fun. This morning, since it was too cold to go outside, we sat upstairs in the playroom, and Ethan pulled out all of his cars to play with on the train table. He was being absolutely adorable, pushing them around and making engine noises. So I decided to grab the camcorder and get some video. And this is what I got:



After that video, I gave him a few minutes, and he resumed some of his car play, though it wasn't nearly as adorable as he was being earlier. Most of the following video follows his trials and tribulations in reattaching the semi-truck to its car carrier:



Here's hoping Ethan's bad case of the "No"s is short-lived or at least continues to be of the adorable rather than the obnoxious variety!

Happy Valentine's Day!

So we don't really celebrate Valentine's Day, but Ethan did receive several valentines from his grandparents, great-grandparents, and even a LLL friend today. His valentine from his grandmama and grandpapa contained an extra special treat:



We opened it at the mailbox, and he began dancing immediately. He danced in two neighbors driveways as I talked to them. He danced through the front yard. Basically, he's been dancing ever since he received it!

On a side note, I went to the original hamster dance website to see if it's still running, about 12 years later. It's still there but now there are all sorts of songs and dances you can pay for, as well as merchandise. However, there's no option to just see the original hamster dance the way it was, with the music paired with the gifs! Disappointing, though I guess not surprising.

Ethan and the Goats

People often ask how Ethan gets along with our two pet fainting goats. At first he ignored them. Then he was a bit afraid of them, mostly just startled by how big they are compared to his kitties. By around 6 months, though, he was in love. I shot a quick video today of one of our daily visits to the goats' pen:

Retro Baby

I'm lacking in time lately so this will have to do until I can post an actual update. We have an old record player in the playroom, and I haven't played it for Ethan in a while. Apparently I should have been because he is obsessed. We've spent all afternoon playing records, dancing, and using our musical instruments. I turned over a crate we use to store MegaBlocks so he could get a better look. I finally went and got the camera to try to capture some of the cuteness. Enjoy!

And so another break comes to a close...

Here I sit on the eve of the beginning of another semester. I've been back in grad school for a full year now. In some ways it's gotten easier. I've figured out some sort of a balance. I no longer have to drive two hours a day with a screaming infant in the backseat. I've gotten used to leaving him in someone else's care. But in other ways, it's just as hard, if not harder. I can no longer get much work done during his naps. Plus, in past terms, I've taken only two classes at a time, and the first term back I only had to go to one of them (the other being a directed study). This term, I'm taking three classes, all of which I will be attending. It could be an interesting semester...

This past break has seemed both quite long and very short. On the one hand, it seems like forever ago that I was last in class. On the other hand, I feel like I got none of the things done I'd planned on. I did no reading, for pleasure or for parenting. I got very few of my projects done. I basically just did the usual routines of cleaning, cooking, and everything necessary to keep a toddler alive and happy. I'm slightly annoyed with myself for not getting more done, but I certainly cherish all the time I got to spend just playing with Ethan.

So what all have we done this break? Some of those stories will have to wait for future posts, but I'll leave you with the following moment from earlier this afternoon. Ethan was playing with his new car, so I took the opportunity to run to the bathroom without him bugging me. I heard a door open, and when I turned the corner, he was pulling out his cardboard blocks from my coat closet and building a tower. He saw me, grinned, faked knocking it over, and then ran to get his car to crash into it. Then he set about building again. So here's a glimpse into a typical moment with my little boy:

Merry Christmas!

It's been a wonderful day! Ethan slept late, we opened presents, and then Ethan played all day. He was so excited with his new toys that he couldn't quite settle down for a morning nap, so he got lots of good playing in! I finished cleaning the house, cooked dinner, and even had some time left over to play with my new toys: a new sewing machine and a Cricut. It was a very crafty Christmas for me! I don't have enough time to do too much detail, so I'll leave you with a couple of videos and pictures. Unfortunately we didn't get any good pictures of Ethan's favorite present: a Radio Flyer Sport Coupe from Grandmama and Grandpapa. Since it was too big to wrap, we made the mistake of just putting it under the tree. Yeah, Ethan wanted nothing to do with opening presents because he just wanted to play in his new car! We did get some video, though, so I'll try to post one or two later.

We set up the tree and presents on Christmas Eve after Ethan went to bed, so he was quite surprised when he came downstairs this morning:

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!!

To Tide You Over...

It's been a busy couple of weeks between toddler colds, final papers, and day-to-day stuff, so the blog has been neglected once again. So until I have time for a real update, enjoy this video I shot this morning:

Such a little boy!

Ethan has turned into such a little boy lately. He puts his MegaBloks together to build towers. He stacks and knocks over his wooden blocks. He hugs his stuffed animals. And he crawls around on the floor pushing a toy car.



Nothing warms my heart like him!

Learning to use the spoon

The past few days, Ethan has finally started to rebel slightly against being spoonfed. At first I thought he just didn't want any more of whatever he was eating. Then he reached for the spoon and began feeding himself, with a little guidance from mom when eating more liquidy things like yogurt. This morning, he wanted some of my oatmeal, and it's thick enough to stick to the spoon so he ate all by himself! I managed to grab our new video camera to capture one spoonful:

Chase the Baby!

Ethan's really got this walking thing down now. He's walking at least 75% of the time. About a week ago, he stood up without pulling up a couple of times, but he seems to have forgotten how he did it so we're still waiting on that skill before he's walking 100% of the time. But he just goes and goes and goes, pulling up on the nearest wall whenever he tumbles. He's circumnavigated the downstairs of our house without stopping, which is a decent distance for his little legs. He usually has a toy in each hand, waving them in the air and occasionally banging them together with glee. He's an extraordinarily happy baby.

"Chase the baby!" is Ethan's favorite new game. All day long, he wants to run around the house while I chase after him. Sometimes I walk, sometimes I crawl, sometimes I growl. Whatever it takes to send him into fits of laughter. Here are a couple of videos for your amusement:

Walking Update

Ethan is definitely on the move with his walking. He's walking from place to place about 25% of the time. I think he would walk full time if he could figure out how to get back up without needing to pull up on something after he falls. He turns like a pro, even 180 degrees, and he's working on speeding up, though he doesn't handle the turns as gracefully then. After a play date with his 17-month-old friend Addie the other day, he's even more determined to walk full-time. As soon as she left, he started walking from the coffee table in the front room all the way to the stairs, which is quite an impressive distance! While that's still his favorite trek to make (mostly because he likes climbing that first step and shaking the baby gate), he also amuses us by just bouncing from place to place like a pinball.

Here's a video of him walking around the office/playroom loft this morning:

Learning Opposites

Ethan adores his train walker, and an additional fun feature is the seat that opens and closes. We've been working on the difference between open and closed for a while, but yesterday I added the difference between in and out with one of his megablocks. He took to it wonderfully, and one of his new favorite activities is opening the seat, putting the block in, closing the seat, opening the seat, taking the block out, closing the seat, repeat. It's so cute and shows just what a smartie he is!

I caught a bit of it on video this morning:

First Haircut

As mentioned in the last post, Ethan received his first haircut on our trip! My brothers and father have gotten their hair cut at Tommy's ever since we moved to that neighborhood when I was 4, and he'd been asking to cut Ethan's hair for months. Since Ethan's hair was constantly in his eyes and looking quite shaggy, I finally relented. Overall, it went pretty well, and he certainly is cute with his new look. We also ran into an elementary school teacher of mine who had taken her grandson to get a haircut, so it was an extra fun adventure. Without further ado, here's the photographic evidence:

Playing with Grandmama's camera case and oblivious to what Tommy's about to do

Starting to catch on and not happy about it!

Standing up makes everything much better!

And if you're really invested in seeing how Ethan's first haircut went:

Before:

After:

Atlanta Adventures

We're back! We spent a week down in Atlanta visiting family, and it was a wonderful and eventful time! First of all, this trip was Ethan's first plane ride. He did wonderfully, much to my relief! My new mei-tai carrier arrived just in time, and I managed to get him to sleep for his nap at the gate before boarding, so I hoped he would just sleep the majority of the flight.

Unfortunately, about halfway through boarding, the rather large man sitting in front of us plopped into his seat with a thud that woke Ethan from his slumber, and I was unable to get him back to sleep. Thankfully, he awoke happy, and between nursing, a banana, and a pocket watch, he ate and played the rest of the flight with no crying.

He definitely was feeling the effects of both the trip and only having a 30-minute nap, though, and he was pretty fussy all through dinner with my parents and oldest brother. My parents have gone all out in equipping their "nursery," formerly my youngest brother's room, but that night was his first time sleeping in there because at Christmas, he slept in my room. After about 15 minutes of fussing that first night, he drifted off to sleep, and we had no problems any of the other nights. In fact, he slept in until almost 8 AM on several occasions, which is unheard of at home!

Thursday was a day for Mommy and Daddy so while Ethan was under the watchful eyes of his grandparents, we went to see a movie (in the theater!), had lunch out, did some shopping, and went to our favorite Atlanta restaurant for dinner. It was a lovely belated anniversary celebration. And while Ethan burst into tears as soon as we left, he had so much fun playing with Grandmama and Grandpapa that he hardly missed us:




Friday we spent some time at home with my parents before all heading up to spend time with Ethan's other grandparents, his Aunt Martha, his Uncle Alex, and their respective significant others. Ethan's grandma keeps another baby several days a week, and she had eyes on his puffs! At one point, she stole the container from him and handed him a book in exchange! What a smartie!

Saturday we headed down to meet Ethan's maternal great-grandmothers for lunch and went back to one of their houses for play time afterwards. Ethan got to play with the same toys his mommy played with years ago and enjoyed spending time with his great-grandmothers, his Uncle Madison, and his Uncle William and his girlfriend Andrea.

On Sunday my high school friend Leah came over to meet Ethan and catch up since we hadn't seen one another in almost 2 years (sorry for the cut-off picture).

That afternoon, we went out shopping with Grandmama, and we concluded the day with dinner with both sets of grandparents, Uncle Madison, and Aunt Martha and her boyfriend. Ethan entertained them all with his love for yogurt.

For the Fourth, we headed to a big gathering of Ethan's paternal relatives, many of whom had yet to meet Ethan since we missed that Christmas celebration. Even though Ethan and I spent a couple of hours of it (including lunch) in a back room while Ethan ate and napped, it was great to see everyone and show Ethan off.



Our last day in town was another momentous occasion as Ethan received his first haircut! That will receive a post of its own since there is video of the whole proceedings, in addition to numerous pictures. We had a final lunch with Grandmama, Grandpapa, Uncle William, and Andrea before heading back to the airport to fly home. I didn't even attempt a nap this time, so Ethan stayed occupied with nursing, yogurt, and lots and lots of puffs!


It was so great to see everyone, and Ethan certainly loved all of the attention. He is getting closer to walking every day, standing pretty well unassisted. He also developed the new skill of cleaning up his toys. I'm pretty sure he thinks it's a game, but every night we were there, he put up his blocks before bed:




Thanks to everyone who made our trip such a delight!

"Walking"

I finally put together another walker-like toy for Ethan that his Grandmama and Grandpapa got for him, and he loves it! He's not so sure about riding on the train, but when he gets behind it to push, he thinks that's just awesome. I was only able to get a short clip of him because I'd filled up the video camera again (oops), but hopefully this will tide y'all over for now. Once he gets that standing-independently thing down for more than a few seconds, I don't think it'll be long before he's taking off!

Cruising around the table

Ethan has been cruising for a month or two now, and he's gotten quite good. When we got back from the pediatrician yesterday, I sat him down in the front room, and he began cruising around the coffee table. Since he was still going after about five rotations, I decided to go grab the camera:

Play Dates

After our first successful play date a couple of weeks ago, we've mostly been hermits, with the exception of church and running errands. However, we've had very fun play dates yesterday and today! A couple of weeks ago, I joined Meet-Up in an effort to meet some other moms and babies in the area. Unfortunately, many of the meet-ups are planned during one of Ethan's many nap times, so we had yet to go to any. Luckily, two cropped up nearby during Ethan's usual awake times.

Yesterday afternoon, we headed a few minutes away to an outdoor play date, complete with a kiddie pool! By the way, smearing sunscreen on a wiggling infant is one of the hardest things I've had to do yet as a mom! Ethan loves his bath, but he wasn't quite sure what to think of the pool, especially since the water was a bit on the chilly side. Regardless, he looked adorable in his new swim trunks!


After a few minutes of tentative splashing, he seemed to be enjoying himself, so I began recording this video:



Yeah, not so much with the kiddie pool! He was happy again once I handed him a rubber ducky, but we didn't last much longer in the pool before returning to the safety of a quilt in the grass with plenty of toys to explore:

(The play date wasn't really populated by zombie moms and babies, but I didn't get their permission to share this photo so I wanted to obscure their faces). After just over an hour of playing, it was time to head home for another nap.

This morning, we headed off for another meet-up, this time right next door! Shortly after I joined this specific group, my neighbor sent me a message through it since she had joined several months earlier. And so the coincidences continue! She was hosting a meet-up for older kids so I hadn't planned on going, but she sent me an email inviting us to come anyway. Ethan had a grand time crawling around beneath the big kids and attempting to put little cars in his mouth, and I enjoyed having more adult conversations. I didn't get any pictures since I was so busy trying to keep him from choking hazards.

I'm very glad I joined this meetup group! It's just so nice to get out of the house and be around other adults, and since LLL is only twice a month, I don't have that many other opportunities. Next week, we're having the neighbor over, and sometime in the next couple of months, we'll be hosting some Meet the Goats! meet-ups. Ethan's going to need his own social calendar before we know it!

Puffs

As mentioned previously, this week Ethan has really figured out Puffs. I tried them with him last week, and he just couldn't figure out what to do with them (other than gag). But this week, he's stuffing them in his mouth, chewing, and swallowing like a pro. He loves them! In fact, I have to dish them out one at a time or else he'll put another one in before he's swallowed, and I'm still too anxious to let him, even if he can handle it. Today, he ate 10 of them, even after his usual solids meal, and he probably would have eaten more if I let him. And since my mom can never get enough videos:

Mama!

Just for good measure: