Such a big boy!

I see Ethan everyday so I'm not supposed to notice changes, but even I can see that he is getting bigger every week! As of Thursday, he weighs 10 lbs 8 oz and is 22.5 inches long, but they said he's only in the 25th percentile for his height and weight. I'm not sure if I believe that, he seems so big to me! Eric has also been having him stand up lately, he'll just hold his arms and Ethan stays up for about 10-15 seconds at a time (it works especially well when he's frustrated because then he flexes his legs :). If it's possible, he's gotten even cuter lately by starting to coo and giggle for us. Yesterday when the occupational therapist came he wanted to tell her everything and talked the whole time she was here. She didn't come last week but says she is really impressed with the progress he is making. He can hold his head up a lot better when he's pulled up to a sitting position from laying down, and the grip in his left fist is catching up to his right. He also doesn't have as much a preference to look to the left anymore, he can track things over to his right side.
He still sleeps about 8 hours at night, we are very happy about that, and he just continues to amaze us every day.

Not so happy, but standing!

Eric trying to get him suck his thumb

I bought a new shirt for him, but the collar was a little big so he kept sucking on it

Fishing and Weird Hair

Eric was able to go fishing on Saturday and had a blast. He went with his friend Jared, and they had to climb down a steep, rocky incline to get to the spot they wanted to fish at. They said the climb down wasn't so bad, but to get back out was ridiculously hard. They ended up catching some big fish, the first one Eric caught was this big brown trout that he said was about 16 inches long. He hit it with a rock, stuck a stick through it's gills, they made a little rock pool to keep it in, and they went on fishing. About 20 minutes later Jared heard splashing and went over to see what was going on, and the fish had gotten off the stick! Just as Jared reached down to grab it, the fish flipped over the rocks and was gone. Eric came home with sore legs and no fish, but I don't doubt he'll go there again :)

Eric's fish

Jared's fish :)

Other than that, the Rexburg Rindlisbachers are doing well! Ethan has decided he'll sleep a little longer through the nights and give his parents some rest, and we appreciate that. He'll be 2 months old next week and he's growing like crazy.
Sometimes Eric likes to do funny things with him, and the other day he put my hair over his head and it looked hilarious. I know these are hideous pictures, but I thought people might get a kick out of them!

We tried to give him a Mohawk but he doesn't really have enough hair

Posing in his sleep

The Blessing

Ethan’s baby blessing was last weekend and it was a really neat experience. Eric was really nervous but he did a wonderful job. He officially named him Ethan Eric Rindlisbacher, and said that he would be a blessing to his family and many others, which we know has already happened and will continue to happen. We appreciate all the support that we had from the family, it was fun to have you guys here!

His cute outfit, compliments of Grandma Carter. It was a little big on him, she bought a size 3-6 month because we weren't sure when we'd be able to bless him. But he pulled it off ok :)

Eric thought he looked more studly like this

The blesser holding the blessee

Ethan's cousins Avarie and Natalie (with a cheesy grin :)

Smile, Ethan!

So last week Ethan was just starting to smile, and this week I’ve been calling him Mr. Smiles because every time I look over at him he has found something to smile about! The lamp, the blinds, Eric, you name it! It’s really cute and we’ve caught it on camera a few times. Eric starting blowing air in his face with his syringe, and for some reason he thinks it’s funny and that makes him smile.

Shying away from the camera

Here’s the beginning of one

The real thing!