Growing up before my eyes

Officially using a booster seat now, Ethan stuffs his face at dinner time... I love to watch him eat like a big boy (although most of the time he is reluctant to try what I give him. Even his old favorites!).

Walking with Ethan through Funk's Grove

It was nine in the morning, very brisk outside. And on a Friday morning we were all by ourselves on the hiking paths. We started our short hike at the chapel in the trees. I held his hand as we crunched our way through the leaves. Ethan loves the leaves! I let him walk on ahead for a little bit as I snapped some more photos. I love the sunlight filtering through what's left of the fall foliage. And the best surprise of all...a family of deer literally prancing through the distant woods. I could see their white tails!

You can read more about Funks' Grove at http://www.iwu.edu/~psolowsk/website/Funks_Grove.html and http://www.funksmaplesirup.com

Sleep challenged????

It is incredible how it feels when after a long morning of crying and screaming your toddler finally falls asleep for his nap.

He is a GREAT sleeper...has always been, for the most part. We put him down in his crib awake, turn out the lights, walk out and close the door. And for the past 10 months we've had a consistent sleep schedule:

Rise and shine: 6:30-ish AM
Afternoon nap: 12:30 pm to 3:30 PM (yes, a three hour break in the day!)
'night 'night: 7:30 pm

But just this past week, something has happened with his afternoon naps. He is CRYING and SCREAMING his head off everytime I leave the room! I don't know why. And I've just come from one of those sessions. It is now 2:15 in the afternoon and he has just fallen asleep. Yes, he screamed when I left the room at 12:30. At 1pm I took him out, let him play for another hour, then I said, "Ethan, time to go night night." He followed me into his room, and as soon as I put him in his crib "WAH WAH!". I finally just stood there at the side of his crib and watched him as he lay on his stomach, head cocked to one side as he stared at the animals on his bumper pads. My thougths wandered to all the things I was supposed to be accomplishing during his nap...grocery lists, home projects, dinner for tonight, laundry. My eyes looked at the sun shining through the drapes at his window. Ugh...what a wasted two hours with nothing accomplished! I then looked down again at my precious Ethan, and his eyes were closed. A wave of relief washed over me. I wonder if we'll have to do this again tonight?

It is incredible how it feels when after a long morning of crying and screaming your toddler finally falls asleep.

Schooltime

With Ethan having a cold this week, I had to find some interesting things to do at home. Recently after his afternoon nap I've decided to have "schooltime" for about half an hour when Ethan can concentrate on learning letters, numbers, colors and shapes. Plus, he gets to draw! He loves any writing utensil, but he still needs to be supervised with them. SO! This was the perfect activity for the both of us.

Over the past few months he has slowly learned his numbers. But for the longest time, he didn't really name his letters. Then one day several weeks ago, I was reading his favorite book: Dr. Seuss's ABC. The front and back inside covers have the alphabet, and Ethan started to point at some of the letters. He also named them, much to my surprise! It was awesome!

So, everyday now we go over the basics. Here is one of our "schooltime" sessions. And no, we don't have a new dog. We're dogsitting :)

Happy Halloween!

Thank you to Grandpa Snyder for this authentic Cabelas toddler gear, given to Ethan nearly a year ago! Ethan didn't get the chance to wear it untill now, so it was a bit small, but not small enough for him to fit into it!!! Instant Halloween costume! And of course, he's old enough to figure out his pop rifle. The perfect finishing touch....