Where is spring?

I am so sick of snow. I never thought I would say that while living in Alabama. I'm ready for some sunshine!!

Ethan is a mess! 110% boy!! I don't know if this is Nick's childhood coming back to bite him in the rear or me, but he is a mess! He is talking, walking, running, no potty training yet, and growing! We don't have any new teeth, so we have the top four, bottom four and the one year molars. I see some swollen gums so we might see some new teeth soon. E-man is doing an okay job learning how to brush his teeth. We have our good nights and bad nights but that is expected.

I have no idea how much he weighs or how tall he is. Maybe close to 40lbs? Its getting to a point where it is super hard for me to carry for more than 5 minutes or so. As far as height, I am going to compare him to the neighbors little girl Maret`. She just went for a well baby check up and the MD estimated her height as an adult to be 5'8"ish. She is just over two years old. Ethan isn't two yet and he is already her height. Ethan is going to be super tall when he grows up!!! That excites me!!!

Speaking of Maret', Ethan and her LOVE playing together! We have been so lucky to have Megan and Tyler across the street. They both have been a big help to us and Meg has been a major support to me (along with other family and friends). Let me tell you...The other night we ate taco soup over there. Ethan and Maret` were having the time of their life!!! First, we caught them lying in bed together watching cartoons, then they moved to Maret`'s toddler bed, then they discovered how much fun it is to slide off her mattress onto the floor and on top of each other. We were cleaning the kitchen and all we could hear were their laughs and cackles. (guess which kid had the cackle?!?!) THEN, after we finally got to sit down they would run out of the bedroom chasing each other, laughing, run around the couch and then back into the bedroom. It was so funny!! I loved it. We have some pics of them and Maddie (Maret`'s sister) in bed together on the camera. I'll try to post them later.

Lets see...OH...the most wonderful thing in the world...Ethan has learned how to kiss. He can give us a kiss goodbye, a kiss goodnight, a kiss. It is so sweet!! He puckers up and says "mmmmmuhhhh"!!

I think that is all for now. Once again, I'll try to be better about posting.

Tate Farms

I probably should have posted this a while ago. Nick, Ethan, and I went to Tate Farms back in October. We really had a good time!! Ethan is so funny, when we go someplace new that has a lot of activity, he just stands there and observes everything. It takes him a while to loosen up, but when he does, he has a blast! Here are some of our favorite pictures from Tate Farms:

Its been a while since we have posted. We have actually had a lot going on. Let's see if I can remember everything that has happened...

*Lincoln has found a new home. Boy, did Nick find him a fabulous home! We received some help from a local rescue shelter who was able to post Linc on the web for adoption. The shelter said that pure bred dogs go fast...and they do! It only took about two weeks and Nick received the call. The owner of Atco Plantation, in Atkinson and Coffee county GA, met Nick halfway for the handoff. Lincoln is doing great at this new home. His new home is perfect for him! This place is a quail hunting plantation and they are traning Linc to be a real bird dog. The best part is that we get to track how he is doing. This guy has a blog that he keeps up. If you are interested its www.atcoplantation.com, scroll down to the bottom and click on blog. Lincoln is surely missed!

*We are now working on introducing Avery (the yellow lab) to Ethan. Not much work to be done. Avery follows Ethan around either sniffing on his face or trying to eat the leftovers on Ethan's shirt. When Ethan get annoyed, he simply 'shoos' Avery away. Ethan does get excited at times and pets Avery and chases his tail. I don't think that pair is going to be a problem!

*Ethan is really talking now! He loves to look at the airplanes. When he hears one, or a motorcycle, he points to the sky and says something...not necessarily airplane...but talks in his own language about the airplane. He says Avery, diaper, daddy, mama, hi, vroom (for truck), he barks, does monkey sounds, says moo, and is overall a happy baby most of the time!

*We are for sure getting a taste of the terrible twos! He had a fit in the Outback parking lot last weekend. We are working on parking lot rules (he has to hold our hands) and he didn't want to follow them, so he layed out in the parking lot. Recently he has hated his car seat too. He just arches his back and rolls over as he is screaming and crying. We aren't too happy about this, but that is part of it!

Our little man is such a joy! He makes us laugh more and more each day!

Our first visit to the Peds ER

We have had a pretty eventful weekend. We spent Friday night in the Pediatric ER. It was pretty scary! Ethan began wheezing Thursday night. When I took him to daycare on Friday, I told not only his teacher, but the director too, to watch him closely and to let me know if it gets bad. Nick went to go pick him up at the end of the day and immediately noticed his breathing. He asked the teacher if Ethan had been breathing like that all day and she said "Yea, what's wrong with him?" Well, Nick brought him home, fed him and was getting him ready for bed and called me a few times in between worried about his breathing. When I got home it was plain to see why Nick was so worried! Ethan sounded like a rattle/baby seal. He couldn't get a good breath and was breathing really fast b/c of it. We immediately loaded him up and took him in.

We had a pretty good experience for the Peds ER. From all the bad stuff I hear, it wasn't too shabby. They got us in and back there within about 10 minutes, saw the MD within 30 minutes and then the respiratory therapist within the next 30 minutes. From then on we were getting treatment. After his first breathing treatment, he went to sleep. Nick and I were just staring at him making sure he was breathing! It was so hard for him to breath. His couldn't get any air and his saturation's went down into the 70s/80s. When he started to retract, Nick immediately called the RN back in there, then the MD came back. That was very scary! He was breathing so hard his chest was forming an indention; a cup shape. He was struggling so hard! Then came the continuous breathing treatment, which really helped! His saturation's went back up to the upper 90s/100. A feeling of relief!!!

Final diagnosis: Influenza A (Swine Flu) and the Croup

10 hours, 4 breathing treatments, 2 medications, 1 IV, and kicking and screaming later; they admitted us for observation. Ethan did pretty good. We finally got some rest...and food. About lunch time on Saturday Ethan began moving around. Jumping all over the 19 chairs they had in that tiny room, talking laughing. My mom was able to come up from AU and relieve us for some time. We all took another nap and waited for AL vs. AK game to be over. Once it was, we were just pacing waiting on the MD to come back through. The covering MD is an AK fan so we knew what he was doing while we were pacing! Finally, the MD came back and discharged us home about 8 Saturday night.

Ethan is doing good today (Sunday). Breathing pretty good, excellent compared to Friday! Playing a bit more, even went outside to play for a short time. Fought a low grade fever. Now he's in bed. Hopefully he will continue to get better day by day!

A big thanks to the Man upstairs for watching out for our little man!!!

Well Baby Check-up

We had our latest well baby check-up on Monday. E-man weighs in at 32.5 lbs and is 34.7 inches tall! He come in at 99% in height, weight, and head circumference. What a big boy! Our doctor said he is looking great! Its a darn good thing that Ethan can walk and run with excellence or else y'all would need to come visit me in the hospital after back surgery. ;) We didn't really have any areas of concern to discuss. She started in on 'time-out' tips. She witnessed Ethan pitch a fit and that is what initiated it. I think our terrible twos have just begun! Don't worry, I'm sure you will be able to witness a fit or two at some point in the near future! :D

Holy Cow...it's been two months since I have posted. Sorry for the lack of posting.

Ethan is now 14 months old. He is walking with complete balance (and has been doing that since he was about 12 months old). We have three molars that have totally entered into his mouth. He has definitely had a growth spurt. I would say about 32 lbs. He is basically eating whatever me and Nick eat, and he loves to eat. Go figure, our big boy Ethan loves to eat. Beware all of you visitors...if you are snacking around E-man you better have enough for him!

We're really working on vocabulary right now. Ethan is pointing at everything, but not so many words. We have the normal mama, dada, uh-oh, and there has been the occasional dog, woof, shoe, hi, hello, but nothing steady. Ethan does know where his nose is. He points right to it and laughs. Its the cutest thing in the world! Although he doesn't say many words, he "talks" up a storm; in the store, car, in the front yard! He just jabbers away!

Funny stories:
Ethan and I were walking to school one morning. We were walking down the hall and he stopped and looked at me. I turned around and he pointed at his foot. He said "shoe". I looked down and Nick had put his sandal on too tight and his poor little fat foot was sticking out the holes. When we got into his classroom, we took his shoes off and he got to spend the rest of the day barefoot. Poor little man. To say the least we went and bought him new shoes the next weekend (and yes, he is in a size 6 shoe).

Family trip to Wal-mart this past weekend. Walking up and down the aisles and Ethan was pointing and talking to everyone and everything he saw. We finally made it to the checkout line and Ethan was sitting in the buggy. The cashier was trying to get him to say hi to her and wave! After much encouragement, he did it! We were so excited that he did it over and over again. When we went to unload the groceries into the trunk there was this little college girl a couple cars down unloading her groceries too. All of the sudden we hear Ethan yell "HI" and wave frantically. We look up and he is screaming at this little girl. Of course she starts talking back to him and playing with him and he just talks and talks to her. It was so funny! I can just imagine him when he gets older... Ladies, look out! ;)

We love this little man so much! Every day is a new story for us and we can't wait to see what the next day brings! He's so much fun!!! I'll try to do better about posting, once again...I promise!

A fungus among us...

So, I'm at work on Tuesday and I get a phone call from the daycare..."uh, Caroline, during the summer we have this fungus that grows through the bark on the floor of the playground. We've had it tested and it isn't poisonous. Ethan was running around the playground and when we turned around he had a wad of it in his mouth and in his hand. I don't know how much he ate, but it was in his mouth." So, immediately, I called the md office and, surprise, surprise, the office staff that answered the phone was rude. Then I had my first run-in with poison control. They run a pretty good program. Ethan is fine. I doubt he even swallowed but a bit of it. His poos are weird colored, but no other symptoms or anything. Also, we had a well-baby check up that day too, so it kinda worked out well. His check up went well too! He is weighing in at 29 lbs and 33.3 inches tall. He falls into the 99% in height, 98% in weight, and 97% in head circumference. His body has finally caught up with his head...bless him! He screamed with his shots, but he did really good other than that.

OH, and on top of that, he came home with a bruised eye today. Some kid and him were fighting over a toy and apparently the other kid hit him in the eye with the toy. He has a scratch on it.

And he isn't even two yet....we have our work cut out for us!!!

Just some updates on him:

• Walking all by himself, has been doing so for weeks now!
• Running around the house
• Talking up a storm! Nothing that makes sense, but just a jabbering!!!
• Laughing a ton! Nothing beats that either!
• No new teeth, but is teething with his molars
• All table foods
• When he wakes up in the morning, he pushes his new Glow Worm and sings along with it. That is what we wake up to through the intercom. :)