Ethan's 3rd Birthday

This post is a little long in coming, but finally, here are pics of our little man as he turns 3.

He is 39" tall and weighs 31 lbs. This puts him in the 42nd percentile for weight, and 94th percentile for height. So, long and lean is the phrase to describe Ethan! He's gained about 20 lbs and 17" since he was born. He describes himself in a very fierce voice with the phrase "I'm a Big Boy!"

He is potty trained during the day, but is wet most mornings. He loves to climb and run and dance and sing. He enjoys playing with water. He is starting to make up stories and engage in imaginative play.

I asked him the other day what he wanted to be when he grew up. His reply?

"I'm gonna be a superhero when I grow up"
"And what are you going to do?" I ask.
"I'm gonna climb a ladder... a really big ladder - and you can watch me Mom!"
"Sounds good hon', I'll watch you"

I LOVE that being a superhero seems like a viable career option to him!

Ethan loves to be a helper and is right by my side whenever I need to fix, install, or build anything. At the grocery store, he takes huge pride in carrying a bag out to the car. He'll state to the cashier and bagger "I can carry a bag because I'm a Big Boy" Often this comment is made with his hands on his hips and a fierce and determined scowl on his face. It's like he's daring them to disagree with his assertion that he's big enough to carry a bag. When is snows (yes, we've had several snowfalls this year, though the temps have been very mild) he loves to shovel the walkway. Unfortunately, his idea of shovelling involves moving snow ONTO the cement rather than OFF of it. He also likes to help me take the garbage to the curb.







His toolbox is one of his favorite toys, along with Hotwheels, Transformers, Toy Story, Dora, Wonderpets, and Little Einstein figures are also favorites. He has started to look at the underside of his cars to check if they have a 'Hotwheels' logo brand or not. He'll exclaim "This is a Hotwheels" or "This is not a Hotwheels" and then continue on playing. He loves to dress up as Batman or Spiderman and run around the house with his cape flapping behind him. He'll jump to a halt, and strike a karate-style pose and exclaim "I'm Batman" or "I'm Spiderman!"

Ethan is also a cuddle bunny. He loves to snuggle on the couch, asks to have his back scratched, and begs for cuddles at bedtime. His favorite song is "Baby's Boat" (a lullaby I learned when we bought a matching board book from the library discard pile) and he requests it every night. I love listening to him sing it with me.




His favorite object is a blue knitted blanket named "Hank". Hank was made by his Grandma Marilee and has silently endured a lot of abuse over the years. Most recently, Hank has had two HUGE holes torn in him. I am not sure I can fix him this time. Ethan still, determinedly, pulls the remnants of his favorite friend over himself each night and gathers the loose threads to his face. I really should take Hank away, but I haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet.

Ethan moved to a twin size bed about a month ago. It was a smooth transition for him. Now, his favorite place to hide is between his bed and the wall. It is sort of like a fort for him.

His favorite foods are Yogurt, toast with butter and jam, and tuna sandwiches. He does not seem to like chocolate that much. When given the choice of a little chocolate bar and a gummy candy, he will always choose the candy, and when given chocolate milk as a treat, he'll ask for normal milk instead.

Every school day, I have to hold him back when the School Bus stops. He will scoot on board in a flash if I'm not quick enough. He climbs on and walks down the aisle greeting each child with an enthusiastic "Good Morning!" Each day, when Evelyn comes home, he greets her with an equally energetic "Hi Ella! How was your day?" Usually followed by the statement "You're my sister!" and a repetition of the first question "How was school?"

Ethan is a little less outgoing than Evelyn was at this age, but he is still very extroverted, and loves social situations. He is eager to give out hugs and has a way of making people feel happy to see him. He has a stubborn streak, but it is less intense than his sister, and he throws fewer tantrums than she did too. When he gets excited, he will stutter a little. It's always the first word he's trying to say like "We wwe we we get to go to the big mall!" This is happening less often in the last 3 months. I've had comments from others that he speaks very clearly and is very easy to understand (when he's not stuttering) . His language skills have become much more sophisticated lately. He pretty much speaks like an adult now. He loves to talk on the phone, though he will often point to things like the other person can see what he's talking about. He'll happily chat your ear off if you give him a chance!





For his birthday, we had two little friends over and several adult friends as well. The girls were both named Lauren. They all had a lot of fun playing in Evelyn's room with her big girl toys. We had a car themed party. I worked a lot that week, and was not able to make him a cake, so one of my neighbors made it for me. I liked that it turned out almost exactly as I planned to do it




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The only thing I can think of that he's afraid of is Dogs. He'll act brave when they're at a distance, but as soon as they get close, he usually squeals and runs away.

So, now I have a 3 year old and a 4 year old for a couple more months.

Happy Birthday Little Man!

The rest of October

I figure I should probably get up to date on some blogging. I've been working a fair bit this past month, and volunteering, and the time has flown. I figure that for each 1 or 2, 12 hr shift that I work, I need a full day at home to clean up the mess, get caught up again, and re-establish boundaries and relationships with the kids. That's pretty much been October for me. Ryan went away for 10 nights total, 7 in Nashville and 1 in Minneapolis and 2 in Edmonton. Having Evelyn in school for most days makes it much easier to manage while he's gone. The weather's been hovering around zero. So, we get snow, it melts, it turns to ice, it melts some more, then we get more snow. The kids have enjoyed it none the less!

The kids also had fun building a fort out of the kitchen chairs and some blankets. I love how Ethan is looking at Evelyn. He's so happy to be playing with her!

I had my first 'parent helper' day in Evelyn's class. She is certainly the clown of the class. She will say or do things simply to make the kids laugh. Most of the time, it's distracting and causes her teacher to have to gain control of the kids, again. I've been talking to Evelyn about it, so I hope she stops soon. I volunteer again tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes. Though, Ryan called me this morning to say that only 46 kids were at school today (out of about 100) and 5 staff were off sick. Sick with what? Well, there are confirmed H1N1 cases at the school and it spreads like wildfire! So, the kids who are there will be getting some more one on one time!

Her class is working on "popcorn" words that pop up everywhere and need to be learned/memorized. So, she is learning: the, it, is, in, at, a, this, that... you get the idea. The kids have made 2 little books that she 'reads' to us. I'm pretty sure she has them memorized, but sometimes, I think she's actually looking at the words and reading them. One is called 'Run Turkey, Run' the other is called 'Five little Pumpkins'. I should take a video of her reciting them.

The playgroup had a halloween potluck party on Wednesday. There have been 4 new moms coming out with their kids. So, that is really great. Most of the kids are 3 and under. The youngest is a newborn (with a big brother). Several of us have brought in ride on toys that we don't use often. The kids spend much of the time riding around and around the large (gym sized) room we meet in. I took Evelyn to the party day (she missed the morning of school) so I could take her and Ethan to get vaccinated before I started work. She enjoyed being the big kid and the 3 yr old girls followed her around the whole time.

I have started working the H1N1 clinics. The hours are very flexible, and a bit sporadic, so it works out well for me. I am waiting to hear back from the 'healthy living' program to find out if I can work some mornings with them again this year.

Ethan is almost 3 years old now and has hit a new development milestone. He seems to be way more helpful and eager to be the helper. I think this is because he's figuring out sequencing and what tasks need to be done in what order. For example, I'll say 'let's have some cereal for breakfast' and he'll say "I'll get the bowl, and the milk!" He's finally starting to play by himself a bit. He likes to line up his 'Radiator Springs" 'Cars' cars, and build and take apart, and build and take apart... the mega blocks 'Cars' cars that he has. Sometimes I hear him making a story with the toys, but not too often. He's started singing more often and loves a new song we learned about a rocket ship.

Evelyn is very interested in friends right now. She wants to have them, she wants to play at their houses (not something we've done yet) and she is very aware of the social dynamics of her class. She is starting to divide boys from girls and make statements like 'I only play with the girls.' etc. Overall, she seems to be doing well in her class socially.


She's been assessed by the Occupational Therapist at the school for some guidance about whether she is right or left handed, and why she walks on tip toe so much. One possibility for the toe walking is that she has a sensory integration issue. This would also explain her finicky likes and dislikes about smells and how sounds can bother her sometimes. I read through some info on a website and I'm not sure it fits well. I think she walks tip toe in part because I did! I had thought for a while that she had decided to be left handed, now she's back to writing and colouring with both. I think she is truely ambidextrous. At times, she will write things in a mirrored script (like DaVinci wrote in his journals) so, I'll continue to monitor her as she learns written language to see if any dyslexia crops up. Her favorite subject is probably math. They are doing patterns, so she sees and points out patterns everywhere.

I took the kids to the Costume Parade at the school on Friday. Ethan wore a pirate costume that Ryan's mom made (hat and all!) He charmed the judges, oozed personality, and won the contest for 'under 5 boy'. This is his second win. Last year he was a safari man riding a zebra.

Evelyn wore a 'Snow White' costume made by Ryan's mom also. She looked so cute and she spent much of the time twirling around and admiring her dress.

When we sorted through the candy the other day, Evelyn immediately picked out and set aside the 'chokey candies' that were not safe to eat. I don't let the kids have hard, round candies becuase they're too easy for them to choke on. I like that label 'chokey candies'. Then, she decided how to sort the candy. Chocolates, gummies, suckers, and a small miscelanious pile with tootsie rolls and rockets.

Today, we are having some soffits and fascia installed on the house. We had lost a fair bit in some wind storms over the years. That's about it!