Chase is now in the double digits (in months of course) and I don't know where my baby went! He's way more self-entertaining at this age than Ethan was, mainly due to the fact that he's crawling, but he also has an older brother to keep him occupied. He has such a little personality and is in a cling-to-mom phase, loves to eat and gets into EVERYTHING. He's such a happy guy with the cheesiest grin, and we're so lucky he's part of our family!
Every time the ball hit the pins on his turn, Ethan would yell "Knock 'em down!"
They didn't have a ramp for Ethan to roll the ball down, so we had to help him push it. Let's just say next time we'll make sure to go to a place with a ramp.
Eric showing off his mad skills
My mom is out of town so we took pity on my dad and brought him along. He was a great help with the kids and I hope he had some fun too!
The music was a little too loud for Ethan's taste.
Aren't kids bowling shoes so tiny and cute? I forgot they come with Velcro :)
Yes, it's sad but true. Ethan, with bumpers but without a ramp, beat everyone but Eric. And even that was close. We'll blame it on the 2 little distractions we had with us (Chase was there too although didn't seem to show up in any pictures) :)
It's Sunday night, still technically Valentines Day, so I thought I'd post this tonight. But at the same time I'm taking a chance that Eric won't check our blog until after tomorrow morning. We had a crazy weekend so we agreed that we'd celebrate Valentines on Monday. He works nights and is at work right now, so I set up his surprise tonight and he'll get it in the morning when he comes home.
Ok I have to applaud my creativity here, we didn't have any toothpicks or skewers, so i used spaghetti noodles! I was pretty proud of myself...:)
But he was no match for Ethan's bike.Tonight after I put Chase to bed and Eric left early for work, Ethan and I had a few rare minutes to hang out together, just the 2 of us, where I didn't felt like I had to be doing fifty other things. I love that little boy so much, he amazes me everyday with the things he comes up with and what he is able to do, I am still awestruck by how fast kids grow and learn. With Ethan's humble beginning and bleak outlook on his life and abilities, I am always silently thrilled when I find he has learned new phrases on his own, copied an action he wasn't able to copy before, or demand he do something by himself even when he knows he'll need some help. He struggles everyday to do what is normal for other kids his age, and works so hard to accomplish what he wants. He doesn't know he's any different, or that things are harder for him, so I try to treat him that way. He is occasionally stubborn, belligerent, and ornery, but he has the biggest heart and mostly wants to express his love for others and his enthusiasm for life.
Ethan's therapists help me understand and celebrate every triumph, every step toward him being able to live a normal life, and I'm so grateful for their expertise and guidance. They also put into perspective that Ethan is very high functioning, and to an outsider he may not seem to have any usual struggles. I know that this is because of a loving Heavenly Father who loves him and us very much. I know that Ethan will continue to grow and improve and impress everyone with everything he can do, and I need to not take the time we have together for granted. Tonight we just played Memory, but it's a memory I'll not forget soon and try to repeat as often as I can.
Chase: crawling, sometimes with his left leg out like a pegleg, at his 9 month checkup last week he weighed 20 lb 5 oz (50th percentile) and was 30 inches long (90th percentile), laughs at everything Ethan does, makes a squinty-smiley-oh-so-cheesy-face when you do it at him (see picture below), loves food, is eating more real food, weaned to formula, sleeps 12 hours a night but only takes 2 naps a day, 45 minutes each, loves to carry around a Little People donkey (also in pictures), screams if you take it away at naps, wants to do everything Ethan does, loves his mommy.
Ethan: talking talking talking more and more every day, cracks us up all the time (ex: at the store the other day he started saying what we say to him when he's in trouble, but to Eric: "Daddy, look at me! Look at me! 1, 2, 3. Time out!"), loves Thomas the Train and Lightning McQueen, jumps off EVERYTHING- the coffee table, the fireplace, chairs..., doesn't eat much but will eat almost an entire box of mac n cheese by himself, trying unsuccessfully to potty train, loves to play cars, likes it when his friends come over to play, terrorizes his brother, enjoys going to therapy- physical, occupational, and now speech too, always wants juice, always calls Chase "Chaser", copies everything we say, loves his daddy and his grandparents.
Jessica: having fun with calling in Activity Days (8-11 year old girls), works about 5 hours a week at a cooking school and learns a ton!, just started training for a half marathon, shuttles kids around, tries to cook and clean but usually only gets one of those done each day rather than both, enjoys reading and blogging, wants to go snowboarding before this winter is over, appreciates her amazing husband and loves her boys!
Eric: Works nights at the hospital, sleeps days, has weekends off (yea!), already planning fishing trips for this summer, does some tutoring on the side, getting excited for Med school, looking for housing in Des Moines, IA, does so much for his wife, is reading Ronald Regan's autobiography, teaches amazing Gospel Principles lessons each Sunday, teases Ethan incessantly, very politically active/opinionated, loves his family.
