The first steps...

Yesterday afternoon, Ethan reached another milestone...he took his very first independent steps. Patrick and I were both upstairs with Ethan when he decided to take his first tentative steps! It was such a joyful moment and I'm so happy that we were able to share in the excitement together. Ethan was standing up with Patrick in front of him, arms outstretched, and I was sitting behind Ethan when all of a sudden he put one foot in front of the other for a few baby steps before he sat down. We stood him back up again (this time with camcorder in hand!) and he took another couple of steps before he sat down again. He is definitely not "walking" yet, but I know that is now just around the corner. My baby really is growing up. This is extremely bittersweet...I love celebrating each new achievement with my growing boy, but part of me just wants to freeze time and keep him just like this forever.

When Patrick's Aunt Elizabeth came for a visit for Ethan's first birthday, she brought with her a poem that I have been hanging onto to share when Ethan decided that it was time to take his first steps. I thought it was so sweet! I'm not sure of the author, but here's the poem:

Last night I held my arms to you
And you held yours to mine
And started out to march to me
As any soldier fine.
You lifted up your little feet
And laughingly advanced;
And I stood there and gazed upon
Your first wee steps, entranced.

You gooed and gurgled as you came
Without a sign of fear;
As though you knew, your journey o'er,
I'd greet you with a cheer.
And, what is more, you seemed to know,
Although you are so small,
That I was there, with eager arms,
To save you from a fall.

Three tiny steps you took, and then,
Disaster and dismay!
Your over-confidence had led
Your little feet astray.
You did not see what we could see
Nor fear what us alarms;
You stumbled, but ere you could fall
I caught you in my arms.

You little tyke, in days to come
You'll bravely walk alone,
And you may have to wander paths
Where dangers lurk unknown.
And, Oh, I pray that then, as now,
When accidents befall
You'll still remember that I'm near
To save you from a fall.

Healthy Food?!?!

So I have been killing myself the past several months to ensure that Ethan is eating a healthy, balanced diet. Each day I make sure that he gets the right amount of fruits, vegetables, protein, etc. I also work really hard to make sure that he gets a wide variety of each of the food groups, rather than sticking to just a few basics. (I am sometimes envious of the meals I am putting together for him, because in an effort to save money Patrick and I aren't eating this well most of the time!) This child has gotten to eat so many different, wonderful foods, so imagine my disappointment yesterday, when in a mom of the year moment, I decided that I was too tired to make a proper lunch and decided to give my child his very first hot dog. (Now it was all beef if that makes any difference, but I'm not so sure.) He LOVED it! Devoured it, if you will. So why, oh why, have I been working so hard to feed him so well? Evidently, I have been depriving him of the food that he thinks is heaven on earth! I think he was trying to tell me that it is okay to eat junk (in moderation) and that sometimes it is okay to be a lazy mom. Perhaps I can relax just a bit on the food regime?! (I read somewhere that the nutrition a child receives in the first year or two of life has a huge impact on their metabolism, food tolerance, etc. for the rest of their lives, but I'm not actually sure if that's true or not.) In any event, I think that maybe I've been way too strict with Ethan's diet and eating foods like hot dogs sometimes really isn't that big of a deal. Boy would this make life easier on me! Thoughts?

Today's Funny Moment

So here is a funny Ethan story for the day...when he woke up and was standing in his crib waiting for us, guess what he was doing? Holding his pajamas bottoms up above his head in victory! Yes, he was still wearing his pajama top, but he was waving his bottoms high above his head. What a nut :)

Ethan - 13 Months

Wow, my boy is now officially a toddler! It seems so surreal to me watching Ethan play and interact these days, because he seems so very grown up. Here's a quick recap of what's been going on around here the past couple of weeks:

Ethan has learned how to climb stairs (with us right behind him, that is!) and insists on doing this multiple times a day (when we have the door to the upstairs open.) He is proud of himself when he reaches the playroom, but then wants to do it all over again. He has no idea or interest in trying to go down the stairs, but going up the stairs is absolutely fascinating to him.

Ethan has finally mastered the art of true clapping. He has been "clapping" for months now, but that always consisted of slapping his hands to his legs or wrists and never quite hands together. He figured out how to clap his hands together last week, and he has been a clapping fool ever since. (Perhaps I should be worried that it took this long....oh well!) His favorite game with this trick is to clap along with his Bingo dog from his Aunt Jen. His Bingo dog is a stuffed animal that sings the B-I-N-G-O song and claps its paws. Ethan will clap in time to the music, and the cutest part is that the end the dog barks and Ethan has started making a barking sound at the end along with the dog. So cute!

Ethan is still not walking, but he has started standing independently. It's so strange to look over and see him standing there, not holding onto anything. He doesn't go straight to standing on his own, but once he has pulled up to standing he will let go for awhile. Does this mean that walking is coming soon?! Part of me is looking forward to him reaching this milestone, but another part of me wants to hang onto his crawling and last little bit of babydom for as long as possible. I am in no rush for him to grow up!

Ethan had a playdate with Faith last week, and it was so cute watching the kids play together. They had the most fun in Ethan's new Mickey Mouse clubhouse (which resembles a small bounce house, but my 4 year old neighbor informed me that it was not a bounce house since it was too small and even though it was inflatable it wasn't bouncy.) Faith would run through it, and Ethan would crawl after her in quick pursuit. They played with all the balls in the clubhouse for awhile too, and it was the first time I've seen Ethan really playing with a friend. (Usually he'll play beside his little friends and they might trade toys, but there's generally not a ton of interaction and playing going on.)

The biggest news around here right now might be that we bought a new car! I am so excited about this...both Patrick and I have been driving cars that are over 10 years old with over 160,000 miles (we literally drive our cars until they are ready to die, but a big positive of this is that we have not had one single car payment since we've been married.) We kind of figured that we were taking a serious chance having two cars that were that old (and we didn't want to start sinking money into either car, knowing that they would need replaced in the not too distant future) so awhile back we began the process of researching, test driving, negotiating with different dealerships once we finally decided what we wanted, and I have to say that it was all worth it because it has now been over a week since our new car came home and I LOVE it!! We bought a 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe and I will have pictures to share soon, I'm sure. I've always wanted an SUV, and now feel as though I have officially joined the mommy ranks since I now drive around in my mommy-mobile. We traded in Patrick's Honda, so he now has my Nissan (until we replace that car in the next year and a half to two years, and then hopefully we won't have to worry about cars again for a long time!)

Since work is pretty slow right now, I'm going to try to do a much better job of updating this site at least once a week but we'll see how that goes. Wish me luck!