What a mess. We GIVE IT UP to the laundry gods. We've tried everything to curb the spitting up short of hanging him upside down after every ounce he takes in. Its way past ridiculous. My new au de toillette is stale cheese and bananas. Ga-ross! Besides that, he's still just the. coolest. thing.


We're still hit and miss on holding the bottle. Now that I work back in the pediatric therapy world, I'm surrounded by OTs and PTs that have WORLDS of do's and don'ts that they've stuck by over the years... and they all conflict. Use a sippy cup! Never use a sippy cup! Don't teach using handles! Use handles! Pacifiers train good sensory integration! Pacifiers lead to braces! AHHHH! I'm trying not to turn him into an experiment. Although.... his bilabial sounds have emerged um... one month early. pbpbpbppbpbpbppbpbpbpbpbppbth. That's all I'll say about that.










He's found his feet, will pretend to pay attention to a book, and can make the tri-lingual woman in his exercaucer talk. Funny... but I think they consider the animal sound itself a language. Quick reminder: the box says tri-lingual. Example: Hit it once..woof woof woof woof
Hit it again... nice woman's voice says "dog!"
Hit it again.... same woman says "perro!"
Hit it again..... Claire de Lune in battery tuned C minor
THAT'S NOT THREE LANGUAGES.


The best button is BY FAR the meowing cat. It is a dead ringer for Muzette. And I'm so un-used to him being able to actually activate things, it scares me every time.
I'm going to go do another load of laundry. I also have evidence that I'm serious about saving for this backyard pool... I went to a Pampered Chef party last night and didn't. buy. anything. It was hard.

I like to eat ooples and banoonoos... E

I'll set the scene:
Stage Center: Ethan... calm... just fed... playing in aquarium play hut thing.
Enter Stage Left: Dad... rambunxious. How do you spell that??

The Mama: He's gonna throw up on you.
The Daddy: Naw! He loves it! Blblblblblblblbllb!
The Mama: He's gonna.... um... yeah. Can I take a picture?
The Daddy: Whatever, just hurry.





The Baby Whisperer would disapprove of us lately. We've been social butterflies which means we've been falling off our "routine" bedtime. Wooops. Sometimes you have to make some sacrifices (read: cranky baby on the way home) for Mom and Dad to HAVE. A. LIFE. Babysitters are expensive. Ehan's slept two of four nights this week through the night.... the other two have only required a sleep-walk to show him where his pacifier is... NOT SO BAD. The jury is still out on tonight. TAKE THAT BABY WHISPERER! Your baby doesn't have to cry it out.



We're getting our morning routine down a little better. Morning is official Ethan and Shaun time... I don't know what all they do, but they hang out on the front porch, they play diaper head, they watch the news, they make coffee. Whatever they do, Ethan is dressed and ready to roll by the time I'm all ready to go, so it is wonderful!!!! We used to think that we needed all this time in the morning. We have it whittled down to 45 minutes so we can squeeze every drop of sleep in.

My new favorite picture...

Eating is still more external than internal. He'll get it.

Hey everybody! Hope everyone is having a relaxing Easter weekend...
Nothing much new around here. We went to the doc on Friday. He's up to 14.5 lbs, has an 18 inch head, and is 25 inches tall. The doc also said that he absolutely, without a doubt, DID NOT need his 4 am nursing. Hmmm. I don't know how to break that one to Ethan. I'll try my best.










Its finally warm enough to hang out without any clothes on.
















His entire LSU ensamble fits now. It was a big day for Shaun.






















The aquarium that momo got him for Christmas is still a hit. I thought he was asleep the other day... but he was just silently ogling his blowfish... for an hour?! which was amazing.
















AHHHHHH!!!! Zoe!!!!!!!




















Thanks for my Easter check Momo. I put it directly into my mouth, and then into my savings account. :)




































Rice cereal, round two. A little better this time. He opens up when the spoon comes, but that's about as far as we've gotten.

Talk soon! E and S and e

Ray Ray Rachel came over this afternoon. She's tantastic. She fed Muzette french fries for lunch today. I hope there is a picture of it.



Shaun just asked, in proper spanish, our shady neighbors what they did for a living. YOU SEE, there are 4 cars in his driveway... and Escalade, a fancy Denali Suburban, a truck, and a new Mustang. He comes and goes at strange hours (as witnessed from the butta chair) and he looks STRIKINGLY like Johnny Depp as the cocaine drug lord Jorge something in Blow. Now, we are not taught to make assumptions....comma....however....semicolon... (1) he has security cameras on his front porch (2) he has 200,000 dollars worth of cars in his driveway (3) he says hola. NOW we know that he is from Guatalajara and OWNS LA HUERTA?! Its only my FAVORITE mexican restaurant. That means he knows the cheese dip recipe, and there's probobly a crock pot of it in his house right now. We can assume that the security cameras are for either cheese dip thiefs or border patrol. He comes and goes to make sure his cheese is cooking correctly. Now we know, and I can rest.

I'm going to play outside. Its beautiful! Here's a pic of my new haircut. Its sleek. It takes 3 wraps of a ponytail holder to keep it back.... and I'm BANGIN the BANGS once again. It only took me 7 minutes to dry this morning, which is truly remarkable.

Ethan got shots yesterday. He screamed. I heard through the grapevine that sometimes kids with reflux are allergic to milk protein.
Fortunately, we had some soy formula that they gave us at the hospital.
Unfortunatly, it smelled like New Orleans in Ethan's room after he threw up all over his crib, his sheets, the carpet, his neck, his feet, his frog blanket, etc..etc...etc... AND, it was twinged with tylenol for extra stain and cherry smell. Bad parenting. What was I thinking?! I won't do it again.

I have to go. Lovey dovey, E

In a last ditch effort to save Mable's life, we put some little doggy mittens on her to keep her from digging up the yard. The duct tape is on the shoes, not her, I am assured. She didn't dig at all today... and she has almost figured out how to walk normally again. And look! I still have those flip flops I bought in the fall of 95!!
Ethan's still cool. He had his school picture made on Friday. I guess they propped him up with a stick or something. I hope there were some fake Easter Eggs or some sort of cheesy prop that we can make fun of.
And we tried some rice cereal. I know its futile, as the he hasn't lost his infantile tongue thrust yet, BUT... we were bored. He took about 4 bites then let me know that he preferred his food the old fashioned way.
Just had to include it for obvious reasons. I thought that I would be above all the "look at him sleeping" hype. But I'm not. Those chubby little cheeks and pouty lips can make me get all watery-eyed. I got to see him no less than 6 times today while I was at work. Perk! Perk! Perk! I don't mind staying until 4:30 if he's in the other room.
The Bumbo is getting to be used a bit more. I think we'll move on up to the bouncy doorway contraption next. Just what a thrower-uper needs... a little more shaky shake! We'll keep him on the tile.
In other news, we've found a babysitter! Her name is Joy and she's a UA freshman (jealous!) planning a career in nursing. She works at Sunbridge and watches Ethan in the afternoons, so she knows him and his quirks... and since she's a college freshman (again, ju ju jelly bean jealous!), we can go out for as long as we can stand it and she's back at the dorms before anything exciting happens. She said they usually go out around 11 and will be back by 4 AM. WHAT THA?! No way.
I figure if she doesn't flunk out, we've got a babysitter for 3 more years. SCORE!
I've blogged long enough to hear the dishwasher be turned on. Fancy my timing, ehe? I made coffee this morning... good trade. Some of the awe of 4 months ago has worn off and I'm back on kitchen duty. BOOOOOOOOOO. I'm going to go play with Shaun. Ethan is fast asleep, hopefully for the duration.

lervy dervy topsy turvey, E

Its been 4 months!

HEY THERE! Happy Friday everyone. Its been a crazy week here. I started my new job with Archway Therapy. I love it. I've never worked anywhere that had OTHER speech paths. I've always been the only one. Now there are 7 of us. Its so nice.

Shaun was in Shreveport again, and I again have new appreciation, respect, and sorrow for all single mothers in the world. Its dreadfully impossible to get everything done. BUT, he's coming home tonight and we can't wait to hug his neck.


Ethan keeps on slipping further and further into the "easy baby" category. HIs main concerns continue to be eating and sleeping, but he's expanded his world into toys, things to chew on, and how far he can spit up. We have a house record in the driveway... I approximate the size of a dinner plate, and from about 2 feet. Yes it is impressive.






Shaun keeps on playing games that would never occur to me, further emphasizing the need for moms and dads. Shoulder rides and tickling till you throw up wouldn't exist without dads around!!!


















Ethan doesn't mind tummy time near as much now that he can flip to his back.
I put him in an exersaucer today at school to see what he would do and he held his head up and grabbed a toy. Guess what he did next? Ding ding! He laughed, soaked the front of himself and the saucer in spit up, and chuckled when he was done. Oh well. I have a washing machine.








And finally, I know I always include pictures of him sacked out in the swing... but I've figured it out. I'm jealous.
Why wont anyone put ME in a swing, make ME go to sleep, and tell ME that the fat rolls on MY thighs are the cutest thing they've ever seen??? Jealous.

Have a great weekend! E

Could you eat him up? I could.

Weather is beautiful in Fayetteville. We've been spending more time outside, which may explain the goop in Ethan's eyes. Shaun took him to the doc this morning to make sure it wasn't his ears, and we're in the clear.

Tonya (the teacher who loves our Ethan) claims that he rolled over last week. I didn't see it, and I have yet to, so I'm going to pretend it didn't happen. I'll wait until he shows me to believe its real. I told Tonya just not to tell me if any more developmental milestones were reached without me there.






Banana Nana came this weekend. Ethan again succombed to her magical ways.





We are all doing well. Shaun goes to Shreveport next week, so I may be slow blogging... single parentood aint easy.

Talk soon to all. LOVE LOVE, E