Hurray for Tot Spot!

Grocery shopping has gotten to be an issue around here lately. It really doesn't get done often. This morning we were down to bagels and salsa in the fridge - probably not a nutritious lunch for Ethan.

I can't take Ethan with me shopping - the minute he gets bored he screams, tantrums, and tries to escape from the cart - not fun!

I don't like to go in the evening when Trav gets home because I like to relax and spend some time together as a family, plus I usually just don't have the energy at that time of day.

Soooo . . . I remembered my sister mentioning that Festival Foods has a spot you can drop off your child while you shop. I took advantage of it this morning - it was wonderful! I think it's the only store around that has that service and it is so awesome. I was able to take my time strolling down the aisles slowly picking out what I want while Ethan had a blast playing with all the toys.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this exciting news with everyone :) It's amazing what makes you happy when you are the mom of a toddler.

Happy Guy

Here are a few pictures from the last few days . . .

On Friday Grandma Mary, mom, and Ethan went to visit Great Grandma Lue. As you can see, Ethan is very sweaty - it's hard work running up and down the halls!

Saturday Ethan had so much fun with his aunts and cousins! We went to the beach where we were almost the only ones there, so the boys had so much fun! Here's Ethan standing in a "lake" that was made by Ben and Oliver.

Ethan is very proud of his new ability to climb up onto the couch all by himself.
Here he's scooting down so he can climb up all over again (about 50 times a day!)

Ethan is 18 Months Old!

Ethan turned 18 months on Thursday, which also meant a trip to the Dr. It was hard to get him to smile after that, because he was in some pain from his shots . . . .
Here's the car mom found on Craigslist for a good deal. He's still getting the hang of how to drive it himself with his feet!
The long walk in the evening was the last straw. He had a complete meltdown during the last leg of the walk - it's hard being a year and a half old!
So, how would we describe Ethan at 18 months?

E - Energetic - Ethan has so much energy - he amazes us every day! What does he like to do with that energy? Go outside to play on his slide and swing, play with his trucks, and go by he stroller and ask to go on a walk. While inside he is just busy all the time playing with his toys and reading his books.

T - Tall - at the appointment we found out that he had grown 3 inches since he was 12 months, so now he is 35 inches and off the charts for his age. He has only gained less than a pound so he is stretching out a bit.

H -Happy - Sometimes we just laugh at what a happy kid Ethan seems to be (ignore the picture in the stroller above!). When we are out in public he will look at people and give them a big, squinty-eyed smile to try to make friends. He loves to play chasing games with mom and dad and laughs and giggles at us. He also loves to hear us sing - maybe a future musician? And our favorite thing he does to make us laugh? When I say, "Who's mommy's little monkey?" He responds with, "OOhhh, OOhh, Oooh, Aahh, Ahh."

A - Adorable - We're so proud of our little guy :)

N - iNquisitive - Ethan is so excited about learning new things every day! He brings us his toys and wants to know the names of them, brings us books to read to him, and when watching his favorite movie he looks at mommy to name all the animals we see. It's fun to see the world through a toddler's eyes!

Visiting Friends

Last Wednesday Ethan and mom went to visit mom's good friend, Jennifer, and her two daughters, Sofia and Miriam. They are such cute little girls! Sofia was a great host to us! The best part was playing in her huge sandbox. She also showed us her chicks! What a fun place to play!
Miriam is so cute too. She and Ethan also played with some fun toys and had a snack together (grapes- yummy!). It was so fun to visit some nice friends! Mom and Jen got to have some good adult conversation as well :)

Happy Birthday, Oliver!

Cousin Oliver had a fun 2-year-old "train" themed birthday party today! Look at the awesome cake his mom made!
The party was held at the park, so Ethan had fun going down the slides!
A really cool part of the party was going for a train ride! Ethan sat with Grandma Mary during the ride and enjoyed it.
Here are Ethan and daddy in front of the neat train!
We thought today was off to a great start when Ethan slept until 10:00! I can safely say he has NEVER done this before, and mom and dad also enjoyed sleeping until then.

However, despite all the sleep he got, Ethan was a huge stinker at the party today. Oliver got a dump truck as a gift and Ethan threw a fit every time he couldn't play with it, because Oliver was. This was pretty exhausting for mom and dad.

Despite Ethan being difficult, it was still a very fun party! It's always good to get together with family.

Mommy's Little Scientist

Ethan and mom have had a very busy couple of days! On Wednesday, we went to the Minnesota Children's Museum with mom's good friends Kyra and Theresa, and Theresa's family. It was so much fun! Ethan had a blast exploring, and would rarely stop to look at the camera.

This was a favorite section of the museum, where the kids could play in the water. I love how this pic makes EJ look like a little scientist!

Here are Theresa, Bryan, Ethan, and Lily playing in the bubbles!In the little toddler area there was a big window where Ethan could watch all the cars go by. What could be more fun?
Playing in more water.
A family shot at the end of a LONG day!! At least the parents look perky!
After the museum, Ethan and mom continued on to have a sleepover at Kyra's house. Ethan loved playing with her adorable little puppy and he tried out the nursery that will soon be for her and Aaron's new little baby!

Today we went to a really cool "tropical" indoor pool, which was super fun, but Ethan was a little nervous about the whole thing. Also, he was very tired so we didn't stay very long.

All in all we had a wonderful couple of days with our wonderful friends!

A HOT day!

It was a hot day today and Ethan was kind of cranky. We did spend some time outside playing in the sprinkler, but we also spent time chilling out inside.

I had bought Ethan a "Little Leaps" TV show/video game for his birthday and he is just now starting to be interested in it. So interested, in fact, that we watched a certain part of it about 10 times today (no exaggeration!)

Ethan is a very opinionated TV watcher. Take note of the orange squirrel on the right ("Sami"). Ethan HATES Sami and screams every time she comes on. However, the blue spider, "Lulu" is his favorite and she always gets him to belly laugh!

Well, remember the cute little "water center" I showed Ethan playing in just a couple days ago? It broke. That is our 2nd inflatable pool this summer that has gotten ruined, so we've decided to go with a plastic one. Wish us luck!

Here are mom and Ethan in the new pool. I realize that I look like a giant squatting frog, but I couldn't sit since I was wearing jeans so my only option was squatting. Also, take note of Ethan's way-too-big swim trunks. They're more like swim pants. His others were dirty, so we had to dig in the closet for some I had bought for next summer. Oh well, whatever works!

Ethan and mom have had a fun week together! Earlier this week, we purchased this new little water center for Ethan. Doesn't it look refreshing? He really liked it, and we can't wait to play in it again!
Of course there's always time for the sand box. As you can see Ethan loves playing in there, but he always ends up eating lots of sand and needing a bath afterwards . . .
One morning mom and Ethan went out for breakfast and then to the mall play area. That was really fun because we were the only ones there! Ethan LOVES going down the slide!
Today Ethan's cousins Andrew and Camryn spent the day with us! We went to the park, and also went to McDonald's for ice cream and to play in the play land. Fun, fun!
After spending the day laughing with his cousins, Ethan was exhausted! Before bed we ended with pizza for supper. Needless to say, we topped off the evening with a nice bath as well! (He loves rubbing whatever he's eating in his hair . . .yummy!)

Here are daddy and Ethan having story time over the weekend.

Ethan is finally riding the bulldozer he got for Christmas, but he always wants to ride it backwards!
When Grandma stops by for a visit it's like gymnastics camp! They do somersaults, play "Upside down boy" and fly through the air on grandma's feet. So much fun!

Entertaining Company

Last night some of daddy's college friends, Todd and April, came over with their kids, Nolan and Adrick. They had lots of fun playing with Ethan's toys . . . .

and Ethan had fun watching them!
We were going to have a cook-out, but the brats got pretty burnt, so we ordered pizza instead! It worked out great, though, because the pizza was delicious!

Meeting Claudia

Yesterday Ethan and mom joined Theresa, Isaac, Lily, and some of Theresa's extended family to make a trip to a nearby town to visit some old friends. Here we are, all loaded up and ready to go!
When mom and Theresa were in high school, we became friends with Claudia, a German foreign exchange student who lived with our good friend, Anna, and her family. Below is Anna and her mom. It was wonderful to see them - Anna's mom, Jeanette, was mom's high school choir director and her dad, Paul, was mom's Pastor growing up! (And they were both good friends of Grandpa Steve).
Here is the old gang reunited. It didn't seem like 14 years had passed since we used to hang out together! As you can see, Claudia is expecting a baby in August!
Here are Claudia and her husband, Jorg.
What a wonderful time we had visiting! They made us a great meal for supper and the kids had a blast playing outside! Here is Ethan playing in the wagon with Theresa's nephew, Evan.

Happy Independence Day!

Ethan had a very fun 4th of July this year! We went to Grandma and Grandpa's camper up on Lake Holcombe. Ethan had a great time playing with cousin Victor and mom had fun hanging out with Aunt Jenny and Aunt Michelle - and grandma and grandpa too!



We went for a boat ride! Ethan liked it OK - except for his life jacket. Mostly he walked around the boat and wanted snacks. He really liked it when mom or dad would hold him on our lap and sing to him.
Here he is helping Grandpa Mike drive the boat! That's a pretty big responsibility!
What could be better than corn on the cob for dinner? Ethan loved eating it straight off the cob.
At night we went to see some fireworks. Victor enjoyed the experience, but Ethan - not so much. While we were waiting for the fireworks to start, all he wanted to do was run WILD in the dark through the big crowd of people - very stressful for mom! Any time mom or grandma would chase him and then pick him up he would throw a tantrum. Then, when the fireworks finally started at 10:30 - he SCREAMED - so, he and mom immediately packed up and headed home.
Here's a shot of Ethan content and smiling before the chaos at the fireworks began.

Luther Park

Last night Ethan, mom, Theresa, Isaac, Lily, Kyra, and Theresa's Niece Nora all went up to Chetek for an evening out! Luther Park is a Bible camp in Chetek where mom and her friends worked over ten years ago! (That seems crazy!)

First, we went to eat at a restaurant where we caused quite a stir, with 3 toddlers. Although the kids were very good, they are naturally at the screaming age (which some customers of the restaurant didn't seem to appreciate!) so they got a bit noisy at times. Finally, after waiting for our food for an entire hour we decided to ask our waitress to pack it in boxes and we went and had a picnic outside - much more relaxing!

The reason we headed to Luther Park on a Tuesday evening is because that is when they do their musical, which is fun to watch. However, as soon as we sat down Ethan made it very clear that he had no interest in watching the musical and would rather run around outside. So, by the end of the show all of us had made our way outside to let the kids play in the sand - lots of fun for them!

Ethan didn't get to bed until 11:00 last night, but was unusually well behaved today! Maybe we'll have to move bedtime back for good!

Fun at the Beach!

Yesterday Grandma, Mama, and Ethan took a little trip to a nearby beach. Ethan had a great time! He went wading in the water, and played in the sand!


He also liked eating the sand.
Afterwards, we took a trip to McDonald's for some ice cream! Yum!