HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, ETHAN!

Happy first birthday, my precious boy! I will have Ethan's official one year pictures to share soon, pictures from his very first birthday party this weekend, and some milestone pics as well, but for now here are a few pictures of Ethan at only a few hours (yes, HOURS!) old:




And here are just a few of my favorites from his newborn photo shoot (8 days old):

Dear Ethan,

Well, baby boy, today is your very first birthday. As you grow older and celebrate each year of your life with parties and cake and friends and family, your mommy will always take a moment to remember the events that brought you into our lives on this very special day. July 26 was a day that changed all of our lives forever. This day will always be so very special to me because it was on this day that I became your mommy. What a wonderful gift that you have given me.

Although it has been an entire year, the events of this day are still so vivid in my mind. I remember waking up at 3 am and thinking that I would put a few extra items in the hospital bag, just in case the mild pain I was starting to feel was actually labor. I remember your daddy jumping out of bed and me telling him to go back to sleep because I wasn’t sure that it was really time. I remember calling the doctor’s office to let them know I thought I was having contractions, and turning around to see that your daddy had already packed up the whole car and was ready to take us to the hospital. I remember being so excited on that special day. In the days leading up to the day of your birth, mommy was really scared and nervous, but from the moment I woke up thinking that this could be it I was not scared once. I remember how quickly the time passed once we were in the hospital, and being shocked when I realized how many hours had actually passed. I remember our very first encounter – I was resting in between pushes and had no idea that you had actually come out (you never were much of a crier!) and my hand brushing something wet on my stomach. I had no idea that you had arrived! I remember the very first moments that I got to cradle you in my arms and you looked up at me with your trusting eyes and all I could think was that life could not ever get any better than it was at that exact moment in time. I remember looking over at you in your hospital bassinet the next day in complete awe of how tiny and perfect you were. That night we got some very special cuddle time, just you and me Mr. Bug, and with you all squished up in your little tree frog pose sleeping on my chest I knew that being your mommy was exactly what I was meant to do in life.

This first year together has been so wonderful. You are such a happy baby, and have been pretty easy on your daddy and I so far. You rarely cry, although as you are approaching toddlerhood you will definitely break out the tears if mommy takes something away from you that you think you need to have! You are finding your little personality more and more each day, and it is such a joy to watch you learn and discover new things. You get so excited, clap your little hands against your legs and grin from ear to ear when you want to celebrate an accomplishment.


Your very first favorite toy was your elephant rattle we named “Mo” in honor of your godsister, Morgan, who gave it to you. As a newborn, you really enjoyed spending time laying on your activity gym and staring at yourself in the mirror. You still enjoy watching yourself in the mirror, although now that you’re so active you don’t really sit still from the moment you wake up until you’re ready to go back to sleep again! Your favorite toy now is your Cars bouncy ball…you are learning to say the word “ball” and when we ask you where your ball is you will crawl all around until you are able to find where we’ve hidden it. You are learning so much so fast and it’s truly amazing to watch you figure out new things each day.

You have never really liked being held like a baby. From day one, you always wanted to be cuddled in the upright position, with your little head resting on my shoulder. You napped like this for the first six months of your life. Yes, you were cuddled for almost every nap for almost six months. I realize I established this “bad” habit, but I don’t regret one second of time that we spent cuddling like that because even now you are already too big to do that all the time. I’m so glad that we had so much bonding time together, and I hope that you will always take just a minute to give your mommy (well, I guess by the time you’re old enough to ready this I’ll just be mom…tear!) a hug. I love when you are playing and will all of a sudden reach your little arms up to me for a hug. There is nothing better than snuggles from my little gentleman!

You love splashing, and we’ve taken several trips to the pool together this summer. Bath time is lots of fun, and you’ve figured out that you can splash water over the sides of your baby tub into the big bath tub which you think is hilarious. Daddy definitely gives better baths than mommy (I think I’m all business and daddy has bath games and playing figured out!)

You are a great eater and we haven’t found a food yet that you won’t eat. Prunes were your very first favorite food (you read that correctly…prunes!) and lately you’ve taken to begging for whatever food is on my plate. I will indulge you and give you a bite or two of my food, and we’ve discovered that your favorite adult food is bread. You have some strange food tastes 

Mommy’s special nickname for you is Mr. Bug. I’m not exactly sure where it came from, but I’ve been calling you that pretty much since the day we left the hospital. I guess it encompasses all the cute little nicknames for you – cuddlebug, doodlebug, lovebug, etc. You have plenty of other nicknames already, and I’m sure you will get plenty more as the years go by, but Mr. Bug will always be your mommy’s special name for you.

I have so many favorite memories of our first year together. I’ve recorded a lot of the stories in your baby book, on my blog (which I’m going to have put into a book to have a written “journal” of the first year of your life as well), in your calendar, in countless photos and videos, but I feel so sad that so many of our everyday moments are lost in time. I don’t want to forget one single second of this year because it has truly been the most amazing year of our lives. You are such a gift to your daddy and me. I am struggling to find the right words to convey just how very much you mean to us, and how blessed we are to have you in our lives. I don’t want you to ever doubt, not for one single second, just how very loved you are. You are special, important, and you matter more to us than you will probably ever know.

As you enter your toddler years I am looking forward to seeing you grow into a little boy, although I am sad to be saying goodbye to your babyhood. I pray that you keep your easygoing nature and enjoy learning and growing all the new things that this year will bring. By the time that I write this letter next year, you will be walking and talking and I’ll probably find it hard to imagine that you were ever as small as you are right now (although at this very moment in time you seem so very grown up to me.) Your words right now consist of: mama, dada, daddy, baby and ball. You are crawling and cruising like a champion, but no independent steps yet.

As you continue to grow, I pray that you will always act with integrity, treat others with respect, put forth your best effort and maybe, just maybe, keep your cuddly, affectionate nature. I pray that you are always confident in the love that your parents have for you. Most of all, I pray that you develop a strong faith and relationship with God. I will never forget the Saturday night I sat in church praying specifically for you. (Daddy and I went to church together on Saturday nights back in those days since Daddy worked on Sunday mornings and we wanted to attend Mass together.) I prayed that if it was God’s will for me to be a mommy that it would happen and that if it was not for me to find acceptance with that as well. I was very at peace with leaving it completely in His hands (which was very hard for your control freak mommy) and just a few short days later we found out that mommy was pregnant with you. What an absolute miracle! I remember the specifics of that conversation with God and I have no doubt in my mind that you truly are a special gift from God and that He has big plans for you. I’m so blessed and honored that I get to be part of your journey.

On this, your very first birthday my tiny little love, I hope that you know how special you are. I look forward to all that the coming years will bring us as a family, and I want to thank you for being such a wonderful and incredible son. How truly wonderful life is, now that you’re in the world. I love you, my sweet Mr. Bug.

Love,
Mommy

Ethan - 11 Month Catch Up

So it looks as though I've taken a bit of a blogging hiatus, huh? I have been slammed with projects with my job, so the second I've gotten Ethan settled in for a nap or put to bed in the evening I have been working away and I haven't had much time for anything else. Don't feel too sorry for me though, because when Ethan is awake I get plenty of time to play, take him to the pool, we run errands together, etc. But the second his little eyes close and I stop being full-time mommy is when I start working at a frantic pace to try to catch up on all the assignments that are piling up. I love the work that I do, but it has been crazy busy lately. There are definitely worse problems to have though, so I'm not complaining.

I'm going to have to do a separate post with all the pictures I've been taking this month because I don't have the camera up here with me right now and since I decided to take a break from my work edits for a few minutes I think I should use this time wisely.

Ethan is into everything these days! I'm trying to think of all the cute stories I want to write down before I forget them forever and I know I'm going to leave things out. (This is so why I need to make myself do updates at least once a week, regardless of how busy I am!) Ethan still loves pointing to the ceiling fan, any overhead lights and the big clock in our dining room. He gets so proud of himself when you ask him where the fan is and he can point up at it. When we clap for him, he grins from ear to ear and claps his little hands on his legs (but not together in a traditional clap...I'm starting to figure out that Ethan likes to do things his own way for awhile before doing them like everybody else!)

His favorite toy by far is his ball that Daddy got him when they took a man trip to Target one day. If you ask him where the ball is, he will crawl around and look for it, and will even dump out his toy baskets until he locates the ball. He has starting trying to say ball, but it comes out more like "baaa." I use the sign for ball as well, but this child (so far) has absolutely no interest in learning to sign. I got him the Baby Einstein first signs DVD, and (so far) he has absolutely no interest in it either. Sigh! After hearing my friends talk about how their child can communicate with them, I got kind of excited about starting this process up with Ethan (I wasn't too sure of it myself initially) but Ethan may just decide to wait until he can talk to tell me what's up. I'm not going to rush it though, because he is already growing up way too fast and if it was up to me I would keep him as a little baby forever!

The funniest thing happened the other night. Patrick was holding Ethan and he kept holding his arms out for me to hold him. I gave in and took him for a minute and when I handed him back to Patrick (alas, I had to go get some editing done) he looked up at me and said "help." Now I'm sure that he had absolutely no idea what he was saying, but Patrick and I both clearly heard "help" and have been laughing about it ever since.

Ethan has started showing an interest in his blankets and pretty much anything that is soft. If he's sitting down, he'll pull a blanket into his lap and collapse forward so that he is nuzzling the blanket. It is so cute! He is showing some mild interest in some of his lovies, but no serious attachments have been made yet. We'll see if this child is ever attached to anything besides his pacifiers! (He is only allowed his pacis in the crib or his car seat, but he sleeps with a pacifier in his mouth and one in each hand...we call him the paci king when he is asleep!)

I took Ethan to Raleigh last weekend to visit with my mom and sister, and head to a massive consignment sale with my good friend Lindsay. We hit the jack pot on good deals! For $100, I came away with a ride on bouncing turtle toy, a bouncing pony toy that hooks into the TV so he'll be able to play games as he gets older (I haven't given him that toy yet), a Pooh talking telephone, three Baby Einstein DVDs (alas, he has zero interest in them yet, so I'm going wait and try to introduce them again in a month or so to see if I have any better luck then), a winter coat, 5 sweaters and some jeans (all in great shape and good brands - I won't buy any junk!), a music table and a few other small items. I was going to get him the music table for his birthday, and in the store it was $45, so finding all this for $100 made it worth the time spent waiting in line!

On Monday we met with my friend Erin to do Ethan's one year photo shoot. I am in denial that my baby is almost one. He had a great time and even got to smash a cake at the very end. He was very deliberate about sticking his fingers in the icing and then licking them...there was no crazy smashing going on like I expected. He did manage to get his heel stuck in the cake as he was attempting to crawl away from it so that was pretty funny. I am so looking forward to seeing how the pics turned out...Ethan kept crawling all around instead of posing so I'm crossing my fingers that he gave Erin something to work with. He's a crazy man these days!

Last night Patrick and I installed Ethan's big boy carseat in the car. No more baby bucket! I had really been looking forward to switching the seats since I thought it would be a lot easier to get Ethan in and out of the car, but since we are following the recommendation to keep him rear facing until age 2 (he can face forward at 1, but since it is recommended to face backwards for another year I'm going to keep his seat facing the back of the car for the time being...we may not make it all the way to 2 though before we turn it around) there's not a whole lot of difference in the process of strapping Ethan into the seat. He is in heaven being able to look all around in his new seat though! If he loves it this much now, I can only imagine what he'll think when he is actually able to face forward like a normal person. Of course I was emotional about putting away his baby carseat...we brought him home from the hospital in that seat!

Well, like I said, I have tons of Ethan updates to add and I am out of time since I only allowed myself a small break right now to start catching up. I will have lots more to add, and I'm working on Ethan's one year post as well. I decided that each year on his birthday I want to write Ethan a letter. I'll probably share this year's here (since this is kind of like my journal anyway) but my plan is to keep all his letters together with his baby book so that one day he will have not only a record of his milestones and achievements, but words from his parents to know just how very loved he is each day of his life. I really want my son to grow up feeling safe, secure and confident in his parent's love for him. I think that is the best gift I can give him. So on that note, until Tuesday....(tears, tears!)

Ethan - 11 Months

My baby is growing up...FAST! Patrick and I were just talking the other night about how in the course of just a week Ethan seemed to grow up. He is less and less like a baby and more and more like a toddler each day. While I am loving this stage (he is so interactive and has such a funny little personality) it is extremely bittersweet because I just want to hang on to these last bits of his babydom for as long as possible. Please can't I just keep him just like this forever?!

He has finally mastered the art of real crawling (in addition to his love affair with the army crawl.) I was starting to think that he was never going to do the real crawl (since evidently I was content to just army crawl until I walked) but this past week Ethan decided that real crawling was a pretty good way to get around. He'll switch between real and army crawling, but I have to say that the real crawl is a lot cuter than the army crawl. That one looks painful at times (and he has gotten the bruises on his forearms to prove it!)

Ethan insists on standing whenever possible. He will pull up on anything! That being said, he doesn't like to practice walking with us holding his hands. He is just not at all interested. He'll cruise all around the furniture and can crawl at a pretty fast pace, but walking with mommy or daddy is evidently just not cool. When I hold his little hands he will either try to get me to let go or he'll go limp so he can sit down and then he's off again. If he didn't cruise all the time I would be worried about this, but he "walks" all the time holding onto furniture so I'm not going to push it. Alas, he has already started trying to be independent. Doesn't he realize that he will be my baby forever?!

His favorite game right now is to pull everything off a shelf, out of a drawer, out of a basket, etc. and then start giving the items to Patrick or I. He will hand us an item and then get this huge smile on his face and start clapping and yelling excitedly...he is so proud of himself! Of course, we induldge him and clap and give him lots of "great job!" and "thank yous!" to encourage him. I wasn't paying attention one time and he handed me a stuffed animal and when I didn't immediately join in the excitement poor little guy looked confused. I made up for it with a big reaction and all was forgiven. If only it could stay this easy forever...ha!

Ethan still insists on trying to get into the crawl position while on his changing table. I keep waiting for him to grow out of this, but unfortunately, this is one bad habit that is still around. Trying to get a diaper back on him is nearly impossible at times! I was starting to think it was the actual process of changing the diaper (which he has never minded, even as an infant) so I laid him up there fully clothed to see what happened. You guessed it, he tried to flip over immediately and was so upset when I wouldn't let him try crawling around up there. Mercy! I can distract him with a toy (momentarily) or funny faces (for a second) but he will go right back to it the second I don't have him fully engaged. The only thing that seems to give me any sort of reprieve is our clothes game. When I take off his shorts I'll hold them up and look through the leg hole at his face...he thinks this game is hilarious! After I do this a few times I will change his diaper at breakneck speed while he is busy holding the shorts over his face and peeking through the leg hole to find me.

He is so active...I don't know how I'm going to be able to keep up as he gets older! Just today he emptied the contents of the bottom shelf of the pantry (primarily canned goods), scattered the entire tupperware drawer over the kitchen, dumped the cats water bowl all over himself, in addition to all of our regular playtime activities.

We've been keeping busy this past week, and here are a few pictures from Ethan's first time at the lake:

Aunt Carolyn (he loves her so much!)
Warming up with Daddy

Uncle Brian holding Ethan (poor Uncle Brian still hasn't quite figured out how to hold a baby...but he has gotten a lot better since Ethan's baptism if you want to revisit that post for comparison!) Ethan loves Uncle Brian, but he wasn't too thrilled to be held by him.

The Strain family - we have so few pics of the three of us together!

This past Thursday Patrick, Ethan and I drove to his dad's house to spend the day. Ethan's cousins were in town too, so we FINALLY got a picture of all four boys together:

Bailey (the oldest) was so attentive to Ethan and made sure that he was well taken care of. Bradley gave Ethan a high five but was otherwise pretty content to watch his Disney channel show and play with his Nintendo (well, some sort of handheld electronic device...I am not up on what is hip in the gaming world) and Ben (the youngest) was very sweet trying to play with Ethan. He even put away all his cars so Ethan wouldn't try to eat them and choke. Patrick gave the older boys a golf lesson with his dad while Chris, Ethan, Ben and I went to the pool. Here are a few pics from the day:

Cuddling with Daddy once the boys made it down to the pool after their golf lesson

Ethan showing off his tummy!

Hanging out with Grandpa

It was impossible to get him to smile at this point...he was so ready for a nap!

Ethan has really enjoyed the pool and loves playing in his float. His favorite activity (surprise, surprise) is splashing like crazy and kicking himself around. I'm so glad he loves the water, because I've really enjoyed being able to walk over to our neighborhood pool during the week with him. We'll take him to the beach for the first time in about a month, and I cannot wait!

My next door neighbor had the tumor in his brain removed this past Tuesday and he is already home from the hospital. That is such a huge praise!!!! He did not have stroke while the doctors were operating which they were prepared for. The doctors were also able to remove more of the tumor than they had anticipated. Again, a huge praise! The tumor is being analyzed now and that will determine the next steps. Please keep praying. If the tumor is benign that would be the best news possible. I am so thankful that everything is going so well right now, and pray that this family continues to receive good news...they need it!