Its been almost 10 months since...

...Ethan became the gentle dictator. In a little over a week he'll be 10 months old. Crazy. I forget how much he's developed since 'the beginning.' As Ethan grows closer to a year old, Derek and I feel as if we're joining the ranks of our friends who have been down this road, waved back at us with a smirk and shared with each other the universal thought, "They'll learn." We're getting there, but I'm starting to realize that it makes us feel older, not smarter. Ethan still has his amazingly sweet personality, he's great at parties, and likes most everyone (especially pretty ladies I might add), but he's added something else to the mix. He's learning that he can do things on his own. He loves the freedom. He hates limitations. I foolishly thought, 'Hey! When he can do this and this on his own I'll have more time to do other things!' Ha! I realize that my time is now spent chasing him around, saying "No" as authoritatively as possible, and trying to keep him out of the danger zones. Has anyone seen Bill Cosby's stand-up routine called "Bill Cosby, Himself?" I am slowly becoming the woman he describes so accurately.














I've learned that Ethan is amazingly willful, stubborn and persistent. I wonder where he gets that from. He's also amazingly smart. If I tell him "no" (his most hated word), he then begins to try different tactics that, potentially, won't get him in trouble. For example, Ethan is not allowed to touch the computer tower, but its one of his favorite things to do. The front plating is designed to let air through so it cools the tower better. Ethan loves to suck on it and feel the air on his face. Go figure. Today, he got caught trying to do that very thing. He got in trouble and was moved away from it. We usually repeat this routine for about 10 minutes before he goes for something else he's not supposed to have. This time he decided to try a different method. Instead of touching it with his hand, which gets him in trouble, he grabbed a toy and touched the tower with that instead, and then tried to suck on it. I called his name in my warning voice. He gave me a smile and a look like, "What! I'm not touching it!"















As a general update, Ethan's growing wonderfully. He's crawling like crazy, pulling himself up to standing, and he's starting to stand on his own. And though he loves his baths, he now tries to climb out of the tub and explore the bathroom. He can open cabinets, drawers and the entertainment center; and he LOVES banging things about. Oh joy. He loves music but doesn't pay much attention to the TV unless a song is on. The only movie he'll actually watch is "George of the Jungle." I think he has a crush on Ursula because he always smiles when she comes on screen. The only attention he pays to other movies is when he's trying to destroy their cases. He knows how to feed himself, the basic idea anyway. He just has more fun playing with food instead. He loves drinking out of a cup! He grabs it with both hands, shoves the lip of the cup into his mouth, sucks, swallows, and then laughs hysterically. We've also started giving him little tastes of food from our plates. Now, every time we sit down to eat he waddles over with an open mouth, reaching hands and an expectant look. He enjoys exploring anything and everything, and he especially enjoys feeling new textures. He says 'dada' and gibbers on a bit. I've noticed that he only says 'mama' when he wants something or is upset and not feeling good. I can't tell if he knows me as 'mama', or if, to him, it just means trouble.














He had an ear infection early last month and we did the normal round of antibiotics. He seemed fine, he just wasn't sleeping well, but I got paranoid and took him in to the doctors for a check up anyway. We found out his infection didn't clear up completely and was again growing worse. He's now on his second, longer round of treatment with a different anti-biotic. I'm supposed to take him in at the end of it just to make sure all is well. The trouble with Ethan being sick is that he hardly acts any different. He's usually just as happy and wants to play just as much. Unfortunately, he's like me and never has a fever, so that doesn't help. I don't know if I'm blind, but besides being a little more tired, I never see sure signs of illness until after he's been to the doctor, starts medicine and begins to feel better. I only see it in hindsight, and that always worries me. Why do I not see it?! On a higher note, he's had a blessing and seems to be doing just fine.

He has started to eat so much more now. I usually have to feed him an entire bowl of cereal with fruit, and then a small bottle of formula. Once, he ate three 4oz baby jars of food in one sitting. Do all little boys eat this much? But thankfully, now that we're figuring out his eating needs, he's sleeping a lot better. He's even started taking naps for longer than half-an-hour! Yay! He's such a funny sleeper too. He ends up hugging his blanket under him and sleeping with his butt up in the air. I've had to start going in after he's asleep to put another blanket over him.



That's a general idea of how life is going. We're excited for the snow to melt so Ethan can run around outside on the grass. Of course, I can hardly wait to do that myself. We're slowly learning how to combat Ethan's charms, especially when he's in trouble, but I guess all parents have to do that. Through it all, Ethan is still patient with us. As a family, we continue to be happy, quiet and comfortable. We still don't know what the future will bring, or even where we'll be in a few months, but who truly does?

Now, excuse me for being the annoying parent with the virtual wallet of pictures, but we really have been trying to take more and now I want to show them off. I even had to narrow it down so I wouldn't post too many! Hopefully, this helps get mom out of trouble for not taking pictures during her visit.
Here's more photo fun:

The End.