Ethan - Week 14

This might be a relatively short post since I have a couple of work projects to complete. Yes, you read that correctly - I'm (sort of) working again. This is such an answered prayer and I really hope that it works out for the long term because this job allows me to have the best of both worlds - I get to be a full time stay at home mommy with Ethan while still having some job responsibilities and keeping one foot in the corporate world. One of the principals at my old company and his business partner have started a new company together and he recommended me for a freelance position where I get to write and edit profiles of business executives. I had to go through an audition process and submit some samples, and fortunately it all worked out. I love researching, writing, and editing so this is like a dream position for me. The best part is that I get to do it from home, there are no set hours so I can work around Ethan's nap/bedtime schedule and I get to keep my full time job of taking care of my little guy. The downside is that since I'm freelance the pay is based on the number of profiles completed so if there are no profiles to write or edit for the week then I have no work to do. I've really been enjoying it so far and I've been able to balance my writing with taking care of Ethan so hopefully this will keep up. Cross your fingers for me because I really want this to work out long term!

Ethan has been so funny this past week. I know he will think that I am crazy for having done this when he gets older, but one of his favorite things right now is for me to help him do the macarena. Yes, that awful group interaction dance, the macarena. He loves it! Every time I get his little arms moving he breaks into the biggest grin and even gives the beginnings of a laugh. And in keeping with the humiliating poor Ethan trend, Patrick sings the Village People's "Macho Man" song to Ethan and I think that might be his favorite thing to do with his daddy. They dance around the house singing "Macho Man" together. I'm not sure what either of these activities say about our qualifications as parents, but Ethan loves it so we're going with it (for now at least.)

Ethan is officially in size 2 diapers and it blows my mind when I look at how tiny the newborn diapers are to think that there was a time where those newborn diapers were big on him. It's crazy how quickly he has grown! He is also officially sleeping in the crib full time now. He looks much more comfortable in it than the pack n play and I had to just get over my fear of it and trust that he would be okay. This doesn't stop me from checking on him (regularly!) and I kind of wish now that we had decided on a video monitor instead of an audio monitor so I could just turn on the screen and see what he was up to versus going down the hallway to check on him. His room is not far from our room (or the living room for that matter) so I didn't think we would need a vido monitor, but now I wish that we had done that instead. Oh well, live and learn! We're fine with what we have and there have been several times where I've actually heard him moving around before the noise even registers on the monitor. Will I ever be totally relaxed again?!

Ethan still loves Mo the rattle best, but he has discovered that he has several toys and we can now give him different ones and he is interested in all of them. He has a couple of soft rattles and a shake-a-tune toy that will hold his interest for a few minutes. More than anything he really like to just put his toys in his mouth, so I'm not sure if that qualifies as true interest but he will grab onto them and stare at them (before putting them in his mouth) so I'm going to say that he has a small interest in his first toys. I continue to read to him each day, but he hasn't shown much interest in the books in front of him yet. Some days I'll do the really basic books with bright pictures designed for babies, some days I'll read his preschool books to him, and then other days I'll just read something like one of my Grisham books out loud to him. I hope that he will love reading one day, but I guess that will be up to him. I'm trying to build a good foundation though!

Since it has gotten cooler outside, Ethan and I aren't going on quite as many walks around the neighborhood together so I am going to have to start putting in some of my workout DVDs or I am going to turn into an enormous blob this winter. The extent of my exercise lately has been confined to pushing that stroller around the block, but at least I take comfort in the fact that I've been walking a couple of miles a day. I really miss my running, but between Patrick's work schedule, the weather, and now my schedule it just hasn't happened yet. My goal is to be back in running shape in time for my weekend runs with my friend Jennifer starting again in the spring. I have about 6 months to do it, so I'm crossing my fingers that it can be done. My motivation is definitely not where it should be to accomplish this goal though, so I'm putting this goal out there so that I can be held accountable for it.

Ethan is trying so hard to roll over. Part of me wants to see him do it, but the other part has no desire for him to start hitting these milestones and start growing up. I want him to stay my baby forever! When he's on his tummy during tummy time (during which he now does push ups like a champ - it's pretty funny!) he will roll onto his side and almost flip onto his back with the exception of his one arm that he can't quite figure out how to get out of the way. When he's on his back he'll roll onto his side, but again can't quite figure out how to flip all the way over onto his tummy. He's really close, and I'm not sure if I want to see it actually happen, but I'm sure that when it does it will be pretty cute to watch.

I won my game this past week in my fantasy football league (against the only undefeated player left in our league!) I was not expecting to win so it was a happy surprise. I am now 4-3 and have chance at my game this week so cross your fingers. I really want to have a winning record, especially considering what an AWFUL start I had to the season. (I scored a total of 39 points in my first game and my record was 1-3 for my first 4 games.) I love having my own team, and wish that I had done this a long time ago. It's lots of fun!

A few nights ago Ethan and I went to meet my friend Angie and her boys for dinner. It was a lot of fun, and Ethan behaved for the most part. He did decide to start crying once, but it was his dinnertime and so I was able to give him his bottle and he then promptly fell asleep in his carrier. Fortunately it was kids night at the restaurant and so you couldn't hear Ethan over all the chaos going on inside. I'll have to remember this when he gets older - lots of places have kids eat free nights. I love it!

On Saturday Ethan and I are going to go help my friend Erin with her photo sessions again and then on the 15th we'll have his pictures taken. I can't wait! I am going to have him bundled up since it's supposed to be pretty cold outside this weekend. He is going to look like a giant stuffed animal! I'll probably end up taking pictures of him while Erin is taking pictures of her clients. If only I was half as talented as she is :)

That's about it from the Strain household this week. I should have some pictures to post this weekend so I'll try to update the blog prior to my next real post (but I make no promises!)