Hi gang!

Ethan is now 10 months old:) Yeah for Ethan!

We all appear to be over that nasty cold/flu thing and Ethan has only three more days left of taking his antibiotics for his ear infection he developed from it:( That poor kiddo! But we are so thankful for us all feeling much more energized and Ethan for sleeping through the night again (the cough was waking him up every night).

I just realized that we forgot to let you all know what Ethan's stats were from his 9 month check-up:

• Weight: 20 pounds and 6 ounces
• Length: 28 1/2 inches
• Head circumfrence... gosh I think it was 18 inches or something. I do remember that he was in the 75% percentile for this.

When we took him in to see the MD for his ear infection he was 21 lbs and 8 oz, but he was clothed and had his diaper on at the time- so I don't really count that.

Our backyard is looking better and better and we are getting anxious to get to sit outside and enjoy it:) Chris (our landscaper) has been working so hard that I hope he still wants to be our friend after he has finished it! We hope that it will be completed by Ethan's Birthday so that we can celebrate outside:)

My younger brother Pierce came into town on his way to Oregon and we got to spend a day with him:) Pierce has always had as much energy as Ethan does and they had fun together!

We also celebrated Uncle Daniel's Birthday this last week:) Happy Birthday you college Freshman you!

Somethings that Ethan has started doing this past month:

1. He sprouted his first tooth!
2. He walks more frequently on his own (without us coaxing him) and has become more steady and courageous!
3. He can crawl! This came after he took his first steps, but it is great to have him more mobile and be close to the ground at the same time;)
4. He is babbling a lot more and says: dadadada, bwabwa, tetete, and then will just let out long solid notes ranging from high to low:)

5. He will look at his stacks of books for about 15 minutes before moving onto something else

6. He got his first hair cut by Cameron- his hair was hanging in his eyes and over his ears;

Ethan's Grandpa Rudy just got him the cutest toy in the world: My Pal Scout. It is this little electronic plush puppy that will sing songs and talk to you when you push one of his paws. You can also have him programmed to include your child's name, favorite color, favorite food and favorite animal in his songs. One of the songs goes like this: "Me and my friend, Ethan. We like to do everything together. Let's jump up and down. Jump, jump, jump! Let's wag our tails. Wiggle, wiggle, waggle! Let's snuggle up. Snuggle, snuggle, snuggle! Me and my pal, Ethan. We're the best of friends! " When Ethan hears the toy say his name he turns towards him to see who is saying it and then stares at the dog trying to figure out where it is coming from (since it doesn't move its mouth or anything:) I know I sure like it:)

Milestones and stone walls

Ethan continues to grow and learn new things every day! It's amazing to watch him as he learns how to live. A lot of the things that we do on a daily basis has to be learned at some point in our lives. Ethan has to learn all of them (well hopefully only the good habits :) )

Ethan has been walking by himself more and more. He has always liked being on his feet, but he was never really able to without us holding his hands and shuffling him all around the house, much to the dismay of our backs. He can pull himself up and if we Cameron and I are sitting across from each other, he will hobble over to the other on his own two feet. It is exciting and nerve-wracking!




Cameron took Ethan to the doctor a couple weeks ago for his 9 month appointment and the Doc said to start baby proofing the house because it's "time". Time for what? The doctor said that since Ethan has been enjoying walking, he will probably skip crawling. We've witnessed this first hand! Although Ethan does scoot around a little on the ground like a soldier in boot camp, he definitely prefers to be on his feet.

Ethan has also been liking to play by himself more, which is a huge blessing! We can park him down in the living room with his toys and he will be content for 15 min to a half an hour! It's great when you need to catch a breather or get something done. He also has learned how to sit himself up, which is also a huge blessing because before he was like a turtle in distress when he was on his back.

On the topic of sitting, Cameron awoke one morning to find Ethan standing in his crib. Eeee! Needless to say, we have had to lower his mattress so that he can't topple over the side. It is not uncommon that we find him sitting or standing in his crib looking at the door when we walk in. It is so cute to see the big smile on the face of a sitting, waiting baby when we step into the room.

On a more down note, Cameron, Ethan and I are all sick! Booooo! Cameron and Ethan got it around the same time and I was soon to follow. Luckily we haven't had fevers, so we think it is just a cold. Cameron is almost over it, but Ethan and I still have the sniffles. My voice is pretty deep and I think that I could pass as Barry White if I recorded a version of "Can't get enough of your love, babe". At any rate, I am ready to be feeling well and most of all, Ethan to be well. Please pray for quick recovery, thanks!

Lastly, we are getting our backyard landscaped. (Finally!) We have hired a friend from our church to help us get our dirt pit to something that we can all enjoy! I think that it is going to be beautiful once it is finished. Poor Chris, our landscaper, since we only have about 5 ft of space on either side of our house, he has had to bring a lot of the heavy stones for our terraced walls, one by one or by wheel barrel. Slow and hard work. But with anything worthwhile, it does take hard work. We are thankful and look forward to the finished product. We hope to be done by Ethan's 1st birthday, so we can have a big birthday bash at our place. We will post some pictures when it is finished.

By the way, there was a beautiful double rainbow the other day and I took some killer pics.