Ethan's Pink Eye

Poor thing! Please pray that none of the rest of us get it!

Also, there are more new posts below!

10 Months Old

This post is late, I know, but I have a great excuse...we all have (minus Adam, of course) been sick lately. Bennett and I shared a nice sinus infection infused with an ear ache, and Ethan now has pink eye. You know it has gotten really bad when you call the doctor's office and the receptionist knows you and your kids by name just by the sound of your voice and replies sarcastically with, "Long time no see!"

Here are Benne's 10 month pics. I am about to give up on the sign though. As you can see, he wants nothing more than to eat it instead of pose handsomly by it. I love the color of his eyes right now. They are in the midst of changing to brown.

Here are a couple of pictures of Ethan at around 10 and a half months. The second one makes me smile. Bennett LOVES clapping right now too!

Bennett is trying more and more solids and loves to eat independently with finger foods. Tonight I gave him pieces of sweet potatoes and colby cheese along with his pureed baby foods. He is doing great with a sippy cup as well. We have found that the Take 'n Toss cups that don't have a valve are great for practicing. They don't have a such a hard valve to suck out of, but don't allow the liquid to come pouring out either.

We continue to work on his gross motor development. He is working on scooting around right now. He does it in such a neat way. He will get on his tummy, lay on one side and dig his foot in to move forward, he then gets back on his tummy, digs his other foot in and moves forward again. It works! I am trying to get it on video to share and always remember.

His schedule is similar to the one I posted last. I think that he is slowly getting rid of that 3rd nap for most days.

As I said before Bennett is loving clapping right now. He loves to do "So Big" and raise his arms in the air too. He is still loud and yes, still sweeter than ever.

Valentines

My friend Brooke and I went to a scrapbooking store in Traer where they hosted a Stampin' Up party before Valentine's Day. We each got to make these 8 valentines to share with the ones we love. It was a lot of fun! I had to take a picture of them in case I want to make them again someday!:)

Ethan is 2 and a Half!

Ethan just turned 2 and a half. I can't believe how fast the time is flying by. Ethan's favorite things right now are cars and trucks. He loves to just sit and push Hot Wheels back and forth and watch the tires roll. He continues to love puzzles and now does jigsaw puzzles pretty well. He is really silly, sweet, and polite. He loves to give "hugs and kisses". I hope he never grows out of that.

Ethan also continues to be a really good eater! He loves fruits and fresh vegetables and I would say that his favorite meal would contain pancakes, noodles of any sort, and a bucket of strawberries or blueberries. :)

We haven't made any progress with potty training. I think I pushed him too far awhile back and now he is dead set against it. I know that he is physically ready, but emotionally, he is in love with his diaper! When I tried to put undies on him the other day just for fun, he cried and cried, saying, "I want my diaper! I want my diaper!" Yikes! That is going to be a big hurdle for us. I am thinking about telling him that there aren't anymore diapers anywhere!;) Just kidding, I don't want to completely traumatize him!

Ethan loves to sing and dance too. He's got great moves! I love that he is so into music. His favorite movies right now are Cars and Horton Hears a Who. We never make it through an entire show, but somehow I think he can follow the story line! His favorite books right now are our Usbourne lift-the-flap books about cars, diggers, and farms. He would rather look at a book independently and have you ask him questions about the pictures rather than read it to him.

Ethan has such a gentle soul. He is growing up to be such a loving, sensitive, and good little boy. He is a thankful boy as well. When we pray before putting him to bed each night, he always thanks Jesus for each member of his family...including our dog Maia!

One thing Ethan DOES NOT cooperate for is pictures. Here are the most recent pictures I could find of him that are good. They are only good because he is sitting by his friend Arabella rocking the glider back and forth as hard as they could!:)

Benne James

Leia took some great pictures of Bennett on Friday. He is so handsome.

Thanks again Leia!

Macaroni Out Your Nose

Ethan has a cold again and tonight he was eating macaroni and cheese, when all of the sudden, in perfect syncronization...he sneezed and must have swallowed at the same time and 3 PIECES of macaroni came out of his nose covered in snot! I know, that's gross, but I had to share, because I never thought this could happen until I witnessed it first hand. Poor thing! Kind of funny though, right?!:)

Bennett's Iron Level

Bennett's hemoglobin was at 11.2! That means we get to cut back his iron supplement to once per day instead of twice. 11-14 is the normal range. Yeah!:)

Bennett's Latest Check-up

We had Bennett's 9 month well-child exam yesterday. He weighed in at 15lbs. 2.5oz, which is less than the 3rd percentile. He is 27.5 inches long (between the 10th and 25th percentile) and his head circumference is 44.5cm (at the 25th percentile). Dr. Nau continues to feel that with the testing that came back normal last time we went, that he is not overly concerned about Bennett's weight. He is interested to know what the genetics department in Iowa City will say on March 17th. He would like us to continue with physical therapy to help him with his gross motor development. He would like to see more progress made in that area, as do we. I am ready for Benne to sit up, I know he will love it!:)

We had his iron tested again yesterday as well. I haven't heard the results yet, but if they are in the normal range, we are going to get to cut back his iron to only once per day. That will be great for Bennett's digestion, I'm sure!

Please pray that Bennett will continue to grow. I'd like to see him pack on a few pounds in the next month!:)

Take a Deep Breath

When Ethan is starting to get upset I have been having him practice taking a deep breath to calm down. So, the other day, I was getting frustrated with something and Ethan walks over and says, "Mama, take a deep breath?" and proceeds to demonstrate how to do it!:) Gotta love it!