Ethan turns 3

Wow. It seems like yesterday that he was keeping me up all night, starting daycare, learning how to navigate stairs and requesting big boy underwear. Now, he calls himself "Mr. Independent" and wants his "allergy" (translation: privacy) when visiting the restroom. He dresses himself (although I pick the clothes to avoid any issues with harassment at school since he would only wear his favorite jammies day after day), demands a hat, certain shoes, and his belt and sunglasses....depending on if his pants have belt loops, of course.

For his birthday, Ethan asked for a party hat, cake and a birthday card. I was happy to oblige but we did also add an old fashioned sit and spin which he helped Dad to assemble and some Thomas trains for his collection.

Here are some pics of his party hat:






Helping Dad:



Jason's kickin party outfit from Aunt Susan:


His birthday seemed to last for days (reminded me a bit of mine actually). Thursday night we had Mr. Peter and Susan, Grandmother and Granddaddy Ed for dinner. We were so excited to see them since they came from so far for E's day! Andy was here putting new shoes on the horses and he even let Ethan nail on one of Easy's shoes. E was thrilled.

Friday the kids did dinner at Aunt Susan's while Mommy and Daddy went out to Angus Barn for a private dinner and wine tour (can't even possibly do this one justice with words). Earlier in the day Friday we had a Thomas the Train party at daycare with his new friends. This was followed by a few hour tour of IBM with Mommy while Daddy finished up his work. Jeff and I had made up great favor boxes shaped like a caboose and had some matching plates and napkins. Our party invitations matched as well for our official family and friend party on Saturday. I bribed Jeff to help promising him time on the Wii that he got for father's day.

Saturday brought everyone together with all 3 sets of grandparents, Aunt Susan, Unclue Mikey and Marie and Teo. We also had some great friends come and we had a super time! We ordered a really special Lightning McQueen cake which he picked out himself. For dinner we had a simple but nice catered Italian dinner (from Daniel's) and some special items from Mom as well that included her famous eggplant parmesan and meatballs. Ethan even got to beat Paw Paw at Wii bowling. He can't get the hang of golf since he just muscles it everywhere. No concept of "putt", "easy" or "lightly".

Sunday we played with Maw Maw and Paw Paw and then did a family movie night in the "Jeff Theater" and watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (compliments of Aunt Jean). Monday we went to Pullen Park with Shannon and her kids, Clare and Nicholas. Ethan got to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house and drive his new pick up truck.

Through all this I made 28 notes about the "all about me" mentality and had a few frustrating moments as we got out of our routine. And to think, he is stuck with me all week since daycare is closed.

3 year check up

We took a trip to the pediatrician this morning to get E his physical. He was right on the money still at 50% for height and weight and doing fine on all counts. The tubes in his ears are long since gone but now that the tonsils are gone, the illnesses are fewer. After the appointment, we went to Starbucks for milk shakes and had a grown up meeting. E then asked, "Mommy...do they have a rest room here?" It was so cute. After our date, I dropped him at school and went off to work. Mr Peter is due to come over for dinner so we are looking forward to that. It is going to be a great weekend!

And next week we get our new dog, Tanner. Here are some pics from his visitation day:

My little man

We were walking back to the barn tonight after feeding the horses and cats. I was holding Jason's hand and he was doing his darndest to walk all the way back which I appreciate given his weight. Ethan was trotting back and forth in front of us when he stopped and looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I am not a little boy anymore." I smiled since all he keeps talking about lately is how big he is getting and how he is just sure he can drive the car and reach the pedals now. But I bit and I asked him, "so E, what are you then?" He started walking again (with his baby) and said clearly, "I am a MAN." Now, that is cute enough in and of itself but you add in the fact that he is hugging a lion stuffed animal and I had to sleep with him last night for 3 hours due to a thunder storm, and the sheer irony of it is poetic.

He does try to be so grownup. I love my work at home days the most although I miss carrying them into school and getting them settled. He marches in the house those evening while Jeff is still unloading Jason and tells me how many stars he got for behavior at school that day. "I got five stars today" and then he always asks, "What you doing all day, Mommy?" He always notices if I have cleaned up his toys or washed his favorite jammies or white t-shirt. He would wear them everyday if he could. He insists on us eating outside on the porch since it is warm and helps me set the table. He then tries to feed Jason, correct his brother's baby antics and thanks me for the "dee-lish-us" (with his strange Scottish accent) dinner every evening. Well, okay, most evenings. I do have to make stick fish, hot dogs, pork loin or baked chicken for that honor....and yes, need to refrain from serving brussel sprouts or asparagus. I have been doing better lately as reality has set in: it isn't worth the argument and it is okay to microwave chicken fingers when you and the husband want stuffed tilapia. Welcome to sanity.

I still love our bed time routine and laugh at his continued negotiation. "Mommy, will you lay with me 2 minutes?" followed by "No, you not going yet" and then "Mommy, tuck me in." Which, of course, I have to do multiple times since for some reason, I never seem to get it right the first time. Yes, I know I am being manipulated but I let it happen since the days he says he wants to go away from home or go live with Grandma just break my heart. The other sad part is you always have to choose. The kids go to bed at the same time and I can't be in two places as once. We read a story in the living room together and I give them their baths and kiss their faces but I can only tuck one in at night.

I think I need to clone myself so I can do all I want to and not miss a heart beat. So that I can hang onto the smell of the baby, the feeling when I kiss their eye lids, the little hands in mine, their giggles and contagious laughter. And there are the more annoying habits you also adore...the chewing on my nose, climbing on me, repeating things he shouldn't be saying (or hearing from me), kicking me out of bed when I do have to sleep with him, chasing him around the house when he decides he does not want to get dressed (99% of the time). And there are the subtler things like the constant teaching as the vast blue eyes ask "why?" over forty times on the drive home. "What's this place, Mommy?" "Does this take us to Beaver Creek?" "Are we going to meet Grandma at the gas gashion" "I see boating. Are there boats on your side too?" "Where we at?" "What they doing there?" "Why are they not working?" "Why are they working?" "Are we going to the post office?" "Why are we going to the post office?"

Need I go on? Can you teach an almost 3 year old that knows the alphabet and can spell his name to type wikipedia? Why not? "Mommy, don't say why not. You need to answer me when I am talking to you."

Disney with the Duo

We took advantage of a good opportunity and took the boys to the Disney the first week in June. I was there for a conference staying at the Disney Swan and Dolphin and Jeff, the boys and Mom and Dad came down for a long weekend. We had great weather and were able to do some nice things with the kids. They were both still free given they are under 3 so even though it was a bit old for them, they had a blast.



The first thing we did was head to the pool for a swim and a trip to Downtown Disney for dinner and shopping. We had a great dinner aboard an actual boat with some friends of ours that were still here from the conference. Ethan can't stop talking about Josh and Mr. Peter. The next morning we went to Chef Mickey's for breakfast with the characters. Ethan loved them! Jason was great with the mice but not so great with big things with "goofy ears" or "duck bills". The restaurant was at the Contemporary and we got to take the monorail which was a big deal for Ethan.



We took lots of pictures with the characters and I have posted a few here. We then went off to Magic Kingdom where we did a few rides (Pooh, Dumbo, Goofy's rollercoaster, the carousel) and a few shows like Mickey's Philharmonic. The Mah's gave us their plans as they had done the parks before us and I had a great book compliments of the Baratta's that was a huge help. I had planned the character dining ahead of time, where to eat lunch, naps in the afternoon and I think that helped to keep it all sane.

Strollers? Who needs them when you have a Grandpa?

Jason loved this little set of characters we bought him and he played with them the entire trip home. He seemed to like playing with this size a lot better since even on our last night when he saw Goofy and Pluto, he was NOT happy and would just bury his head into Jeff and bawl.



Ethan was amazingly patient waiting for his turn with the characters and really enjoyed the experience. He kept asking if we could go back and if they were coming home with us.





The hotel pool was a blast and all they boys wanted to do was get in the water and splash around. They had a waterfall that E finally went under and a slide for Jeff. Ethan just begged Jeff to take him swimming and he was really trying to paddle and kick.