Our Big Boy

Every time I turn around, Ethan is doing something new! What a remarkable journey it is to watch him as he learns and grows! He is so interested in everything right now and absolutely loves to sit up and see the world. While Ethan has made good use of the Bumbo, he just giggles and looks around when recognizes that he is doing it on his own (with a little leverage from someone or something for now).
He has become quite the slippery little fellow keeping Mommy on her toes while he lunges after anything that catches his attention. He's already spinning around in circles in his crib at night and has mastered the art of rolling over to get away from getting wrapped in his blanket at nap time.

His newest thing to do is put his toes in his mouth. How have I not gotten that one on camera yet! I'm guessing this might have something to do with 3 new little teeth coming in up top. That will make 5 teeth for this 6 month old baby boy!

He is such a blessing to us and I am so grateful that the Lord has allowed us the privilege to be his parents and entrusted us to raise him. I have never known a joy like this in my life and adore every minute with him...even at 2 a.m., which thankfully does not happen very often anymore.

It's Been a While...

It's been a while since I have posted, so there's lots to recap. I am super-thrilled to have spent my last official day as a full time working Mommy. On January 4th, after Christmas break, I will go part-time for the remainder of the school year. This decision is bittersweet. At the end of the year, I will have to decide whether or not to return to work full-time or stay home. I reached my career goal and have my dream job as a Literacy Coach and fully believed that this would be the position that I would remain in until retirement. I have always been so career-oriented that I never dreamed returning to work after having Ethan would be so difficult. I obviously didn't listen to all of the people that said everything changes after you have children. They were so right! We have the best nanny in the world and I never worry about him when I am not here. Ben, Ethan, and I love her dearly, but she got to spend all of the time with him that I so desperately desired. Even now, she is so amazing that she understands how I feel and is willing to stay with us part-time! God is so good and has provided an amazing blessing!

The Tri-State Tour, our annual trek across Georgia, North Alabama, and South Alabama(on the Florida line), was adjusted this year and we were able to spend extra time at Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw's house. Ethan spent a lot of time entertaining Paw-Paw and was his little helper just like his outfit says. We introduced sweet peas while we were at Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw's house, too. So now, we are eating rice cereal and baby food. He's getting to be such a big boy!Maw-Maw thought we were starving Ethan, so we appeased her by introducing some new things. I knew if I didn't, she would slip him some bacon to gnaw on.
We also experimented with apple juice in a sippy cup. Surprisingly, Ethan is not a fan. We will have to keep working on that one. Right now, I don't mind at all that he doesn't like it! I would like to keep him away from anything that tastes sweet for as long as I can. He LOVES to chew on the lid to the sippy cup, though. It makes his 2 little teeth feel so much better.

We had a family picture taken at Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw's house courtesy of Ben and the self timer on our camera.

Here is a picture of Paw-Paw and Ethan. Ethan loved to hear Paw-Paw's voice. Whenever he spoke, Ethan would turn his head to look at him. Ethan's wearing the Christmas outfit that Mimi bought for him.

Here's Ethan in his Santa suit with Maw-Maw.

Ethan showing Mimi some love.

Uncle Chad and Ethan pose for a picture.

Granddad and Ethan having a good ole' time.

Uncle CJ and Ethan hanging out.

We did make the trek to Georgia overnight for a family reunion before returning to Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw's. Here's a picture of Pop and Ethan.

He was really interested in the Christmas ornament that Nana Lynda had made with his name on it. What he really wanted to do was eat it!

After all of this traveling and seeing people, we had a very tired and overstimulated baby. Not to mention that 2 nights before we left, he went from sleeping 12 hours at night (that's right, you heard me!) to waking up 2, 3, 4, and sometimes MORE times each night. As hard as I tried, you can't travel and stay on schedule. Additionally, he has mastered rolling over left and right, tummy to back and back to tummy, but something happens to him at night. He'll roll over, get mad, wake himself up, and start screaming. Since this now happens EVERY night, he spent the 10 days we were traveling sleeping on my chest because I didn't want him to wake up everyone in the house. So much for good sleep! By the end of the trip, the poor baby(and Mommy and Daddy) was exhausted. So, I guess you can imagine what the flight was like on the way back. Let's just say, baby Benadryl is now my best friend.

Something Old and Something New

No one is getting married, so there's nothing borrowed or blue, but this high chair was Ben's when he was a baby(more than 33 years old, much to Ben's devastation) and of course, our Little Man is 5 months new! Ben's Dad has passed the high chair on to us. Unfortunately, it's not exactly up to the safety standards of today so we have a new one for Ethan, but it's definitely sentimental sitting in the corner of our dining room.

All I Want for Christmas is My 2 Front Teeth

I can't believe it! Today is Ethan's 5 month birthday and we already have teeth! There are no pictures to prove it other than drool and chewing on whatever he can(including Lucy), but our Little Man has 2 budding tiny bottom front teeth! If you run your fingers across his gums, 2 razor sharp little teeth have come through. We have broken out the Tylenol, Orajel, and the teething tablets(not all at the same time, of course), but the poor little guy is hurting and so fussy that he just wants to be held.

Baby's First Thanksgiving

As the bib says(not that you can see, though), this was Ethan's first Thanksgiving and we celebrated by introducing cereal. Over the last few weeks, we have been checking to see if he was ready by bringing our fork or spoon to his mouth as we were eating dinner just to see if he was interested and would open his mouth. He hasn't been the least bit interested and would sometimes even make funny faces or curl up his cute little nose.

Well, my Mom was here for Thanksgiving and she was holding the baby as we were eating dessert. She remarked that he looked interested in her plate. I told her what we had been doing, so she brought her fork close to his mouth and as she did he leaned forward, opened his mouth, and attempted a big bite of coconut cake! My mom quickly took her fork away from his mouth, but he did such a good job that there was a piece of coconut dangling from his lips. I certainly did not want coconut cake to be his first meal, so we quickly mixed up some cereal for him try. He was pretty interested in the first few bites and looked completely adorable with it all over him. So much for holding out until he was 6 months old!

Fall Fun

The weather outside has been perfect the last week or so. While I am at work, Ethan spends his days with Ms. Kristin who loves and adores him. She entertains him and plays with him all day long. Here lately, they have been spending some time enjoying the fresh air as you can tell by these cute pictures. Hopefully soon, I will be the one taking these pictures and not missing all of this precious time with my baby boy!

Having a Blast!

Ben snapped these pictures this morning---after I went to WORK! I totally missed out on the fun time and the giggles as he played in his exersaucer! Of course, the mornings are the most exciting times of Ethan's day and now I must miss them every day. This has been my first week to return to school after staying home with him for 4 months and it has MOST definitely not been an easy transition for me. It is so hard leaving him knowing that I am not going to see him until the end of the day when he is winding down.

Don't get me wrong, he is in fabulous hands while I am gone and Ben has just begun working from home every Thursday and Friday so he now has extra time to spend with him. While I am thrilled that his every want and need is being met and he is getting tons of love and attention, I am saddened by the fact that he is not getting it from me. I want to be the one showering him with attention every day. This is my first week back and I am so thankful that we only have one full week until Thanksgiving holidays!