Not even a week after he first crawled (six days) Logan pulled himself to standing on Ethan's mini trampoline! And after a few more days he was pulling himself to standing in his crib after he woke up! I think all that bear-crawling made his legs really strong. I am kind of praying that he doesn't start walking soon...
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Becoming Mobile
Logan crawled for the first time on September 19th!!! He had been doing push-ups and the bear crawl position (with his bum in the air) for about three weeks. He had come really close to crawling all week but couldn't seem to figure out the alternating motion. He would move an arm and a leg and then fall or he would get to his hands and knees and then lunge forward, get to his hands and knees and then lunge forward. Whenever Trent comes home from work Logan claws and fights to get out of my arms into Trent's. When Trent came home on Thursday he picked up Logan and carried him around for a few minutes. He then set him down and walked over to the sink so that he could wash his hands. Logan, desperate to be with Trent, immediately started crawling the 10 feet or so across the kitchen floor to get to him! We had tried putting toys or food in front of him to entice him to move but I guess all he needed was Trent. He barely crawled the rest of the evening and not at all until the next evening when Trent came home again. He then crawled across the living room to get to Trent as he came through the front door! That kid LOVES his daddy.
Not even a week after he first crawled (six days) Logan pulled himself to standing on Ethan's mini trampoline! And after a few more days he was pulling himself to standing in his crib after he woke up! I think all that bear-crawling made his legs really strong. I am kind of praying that he doesn't start walking soon...
Not even a week after he first crawled (six days) Logan pulled himself to standing on Ethan's mini trampoline! And after a few more days he was pulling himself to standing in his crib after he woke up! I think all that bear-crawling made his legs really strong. I am kind of praying that he doesn't start walking soon...
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Language
Maybe it's because I am a linguist, but I just cannot get enough of watching (or maybe I should say listening to) Ethan's language develop. All little kids say cute, funny things that their parents are much more amused by than anyone else would be. The same is true for our family. So, either humor me or skip this post ;).
A few months ago I asked Ethan a question. I can't remember what it was now, but I do remember that I expected him to say something in the negative. His response was:
ETHAN: I amnt.
ME: (totally confused) What did you say?
ETHAN: I amnt.
ME: (what is he saying?) You aren't?
ETHAN: No, I AMNT!
ME: (thinking I might be getting it) You are not?
ETHAN: No, I AM NOT.
ME: Laughter as I realize he had naturally drawn the conclusion that if you can use contractions for "are not" and "is not" than you must be able to do it for "am not". I LOVE it. Language acquisition is so fascinating!
I also just love to see Ethan's thought process. I am always trying to understand what is going on inside his little head. I know it must be working overtime. I really wish that I could listen to all his little thoughts :). That is one reason I love these next stories. They just let me know how he is thinking.
A month or so ago we were on a walk and Ethan was pointing out doors on houses. Here in Albuquerque there are a lot of additions built onto houses and often they have doors exiting from those additions so houses will then have two doors on the front. Ethan saw a house like this and said: Look, that house has two doors! He then continued to point out other doors that we were walking by:
ETHAN: I wish I had that black door.
ME: What would you do with it?
ETHAN (stated as if it were obvious, which I guess it was): I would put it on my house. And I would open it. And go in the house.
Duh, mom!
Last night at about 7:30 PM Ethan and I were driving in the car on the way home from the doctor's (he has pink eye). Ethan had quite a few little conversations with himself and I was trying to stay quiet as I giggled up front so that he would keep talking. At first he was talking kind of nonsensically and then he started singing: "I'm squishing up my baby bumblebee won't my mommy be so proud of me, I'm squishing up my baby bumblebee-Eewwww! It's all over my sticker! (which he had just got from the doctor) *laugh* No, it's not!" Hahaha, I love how he responded to himself. As we had been leaving the doctor's he told me he was hungry and I told him that we would eat just as soon as we got home and that then it would be time for bed. After a few more minutes of quoting his current favorite book (Tough Boris, a pirate book: "He was tough, all pirates are tough. He was massive, all pirates are massive...") he starts talking to himself again. "It's bedtime! No, it's not! It's still light outside! Nope, it's sleepy time. But we will eat some dinner first. Okay, first I'll eat lunch and then I'll go to bed. Okay, then it will be night-night time. Okay (with a disappointed sighing sound to it)." Would you believe that he did voices and that one of them soundly suspiciously high pitched with intonation similar to mine? And that his voice had all the characters of a protesting teenager! It was too funny listening to him convince himself that he should go to bed. We must have conversations like this too often in our house ;).
A few months ago I asked Ethan a question. I can't remember what it was now, but I do remember that I expected him to say something in the negative. His response was:
ETHAN: I amnt.
ME: (totally confused) What did you say?
ETHAN: I amnt.
ME: (what is he saying?) You aren't?
ETHAN: No, I AMNT!
ME: (thinking I might be getting it) You are not?
ETHAN: No, I AM NOT.
ME: Laughter as I realize he had naturally drawn the conclusion that if you can use contractions for "are not" and "is not" than you must be able to do it for "am not". I LOVE it. Language acquisition is so fascinating!
I also just love to see Ethan's thought process. I am always trying to understand what is going on inside his little head. I know it must be working overtime. I really wish that I could listen to all his little thoughts :). That is one reason I love these next stories. They just let me know how he is thinking.
A month or so ago we were on a walk and Ethan was pointing out doors on houses. Here in Albuquerque there are a lot of additions built onto houses and often they have doors exiting from those additions so houses will then have two doors on the front. Ethan saw a house like this and said: Look, that house has two doors! He then continued to point out other doors that we were walking by:
ETHAN: I wish I had that black door.
ME: What would you do with it?
ETHAN (stated as if it were obvious, which I guess it was): I would put it on my house. And I would open it. And go in the house.
Duh, mom!
Last night at about 7:30 PM Ethan and I were driving in the car on the way home from the doctor's (he has pink eye). Ethan had quite a few little conversations with himself and I was trying to stay quiet as I giggled up front so that he would keep talking. At first he was talking kind of nonsensically and then he started singing: "I'm squishing up my baby bumblebee won't my mommy be so proud of me, I'm squishing up my baby bumblebee-Eewwww! It's all over my sticker! (which he had just got from the doctor) *laugh* No, it's not!" Hahaha, I love how he responded to himself. As we had been leaving the doctor's he told me he was hungry and I told him that we would eat just as soon as we got home and that then it would be time for bed. After a few more minutes of quoting his current favorite book (Tough Boris, a pirate book: "He was tough, all pirates are tough. He was massive, all pirates are massive...") he starts talking to himself again. "It's bedtime! No, it's not! It's still light outside! Nope, it's sleepy time. But we will eat some dinner first. Okay, first I'll eat lunch and then I'll go to bed. Okay, then it will be night-night time. Okay (with a disappointed sighing sound to it)." Would you believe that he did voices and that one of them soundly suspiciously high pitched with intonation similar to mine? And that his voice had all the characters of a protesting teenager! It was too funny listening to him convince himself that he should go to bed. We must have conversations like this too often in our house ;).
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Backyard livin'
We have loved having a backyard! Imagine how much more we will love it when we actually have grass to play in...
Anyway, here are some pics of us out back!
Anyway, here are some pics of us out back!
Ethan loves to strip down and get wet or muddy.
Just one weekend's worth of harvested food! Under those green chiles are a bunch of jalapenos too!
We are loving having our own garden!!
Backyard Playin'
We love being outside in the beautiful Albuquerque weather! Here we are enjoying our backyard!
Rainy Days
We have had rain like crazy this week! Albuquerque is high desert so we rarely have moisture. The last two years have created drought conditions here with their low level of rain fall. This year we were already having a better year for rain than the previous years, but this week it has rained almost all day every day! Normally we have really hard rain storms, or monsoons, for about 10-20 minutes. This week the rain has been slower and steadier. It has been really good for the drought. We have had lots of time to play in the rain this week!
When I was a kid I remember going out after a rain storm and having a Popsicle stick race with my family. I remember having so much fun doing it and I have been trying to find a time to do it here. The problem is that It rains SO HARD and then, because the city is set up to run water to the arroyos (canals), which then brings it to the river, the water is gone out of the road minutes after the rain stops. One day this week Trent got home while it was raining, but not down-pouring, so we had our race. We wrote each of our names on a Popsicle stick (unfortunately I only had three! So Logan just got to watch ;)) and raced them down the gutters on our street.
When I was a kid I remember going out after a rain storm and having a Popsicle stick race with my family. I remember having so much fun doing it and I have been trying to find a time to do it here. The problem is that It rains SO HARD and then, because the city is set up to run water to the arroyos (canals), which then brings it to the river, the water is gone out of the road minutes after the rain stops. One day this week Trent got home while it was raining, but not down-pouring, so we had our race. We wrote each of our names on a Popsicle stick (unfortunately I only had three! So Logan just got to watch ;)) and raced them down the gutters on our street.
Names on sticks.
Starting out...
Flowing down the road.
Can you tell Ethan is excited? He was skip-jumping down the road.
Cute husband smile! He never smiles for pictures, but this smile, I can tell, is for Logan. It is his smile he reserves for his babies ;).
Operator error...
So on Friday I had some errands to run. I loaded up the boys and tried to start the truck. It wouldn't start at first. Weird. I thought. I will have to tell Trent.Then, a few minutes later, I pressed on the accelerator. Nothing. I pressed again. It worked. Was that just me, or was I just imagining it? I got to my first destination, no problem. After we got back in the truck and were pulling out of the parking lot the accelerator didn't work again. Okay, what is going on! I really hope I make it home! A few blocks up from the parking lot we just left we stopped uphill at a red light, waiting to turn left. After the left turn arrow turns green I start going uphill through the intersection. Then right as I am getting to the top of the hill, and right in the middle of the intersection, my accelerator stops working again. And the truck dies. Uh-oh. I try to start the truck twice but it won't start, so I decide to focus on driving. Luckily the truck keeps coasting and we clear the hill, but the person behind me is being super impatient (I can tell because all of this was happening in slow motion and I had time to look at them in the rear view mirror). They had room to pass me in the second left-hand turn lane and did so before we even got into our lanes on the other side of the road. I can see that there is a parking lot that I can pull into about half a block away, but there are two other cars now taking a right into the lanes I am trying to cross. They have no idea what I am doing and I have no way to tell them, so I just cut straight through lanes and they go around me. Whew. I end up being able to pull right into two parking spaces (I didn't have much of a choice, luckily they were both open!) and the truck comes to a stop. We were safely out of the road!
I wonder what is wrong with the truck? I think. Then I look at the gas gauge. Do you think I looked at it in all this time leading up to us now being stuck in a parking lot? Um, no. Well, it was on empty. Actually, below empty. Ha. I think I deserved that one. Fortunately, it was about 4:30 and I figured Trent was on his way home, so I called him to rescue us. FOUR times. None of which he answered, so I sent him two EMERGENCY!!!! Call me ASAP!! texts to both his personal and work phone. I remembered that there was a gas can in the back, so while I waited I went to check it. It had a little bit of gas. But it looked filthy. I figured I'd wait to ask Trent if it was usable. I looked around. No gas station. Finally he called back and laughed at me in a way that made me laugh at myself. The gas was dirty he confirmed and he said he'd head over to get us.
We walked to the closest corner so that he could see us and we played around until he got there. Once he parked next to the truck he laughed and pointed. Across the street was a gas station. I SWEAR I looked!! There must have been a big semi in the way, or something... I wasn't embarrassed at all. I promise. Trent was super adorable though as he crossed the road, gas can in one hand and Ethan's hand in the other. I was so grateful for him. I was grateful that he loved me even though he laughed at me. I grew up thinking that laughing at someone was mocking (except when my parents or sister laughed at me, because I knew they loved me and didn't judge me). It has been a hard battle for me to realize that Trent loves me enough that he doesn't laugh to mock me, when he laughs he laughs with me. I am so grateful for that. I don't know what I would do if I was married to someone who would have belittled me for running out of gas. I know husbands that would call their spouses "idiots". I am grateful that Trent won't. I was grateful that he would take Ethan with him, that he didn't think Ethan would be a nuisance. I was grateful that he came to rescue us, and still "rescued" us, even though it turns out we didn't actually need it. I am grateful that I love him.
I wonder what is wrong with the truck? I think. Then I look at the gas gauge. Do you think I looked at it in all this time leading up to us now being stuck in a parking lot? Um, no. Well, it was on empty. Actually, below empty. Ha. I think I deserved that one. Fortunately, it was about 4:30 and I figured Trent was on his way home, so I called him to rescue us. FOUR times. None of which he answered, so I sent him two EMERGENCY!!!! Call me ASAP!! texts to both his personal and work phone. I remembered that there was a gas can in the back, so while I waited I went to check it. It had a little bit of gas. But it looked filthy. I figured I'd wait to ask Trent if it was usable. I looked around. No gas station. Finally he called back and laughed at me in a way that made me laugh at myself. The gas was dirty he confirmed and he said he'd head over to get us.
We walked to the closest corner so that he could see us and we played around until he got there. Once he parked next to the truck he laughed and pointed. Across the street was a gas station. I SWEAR I looked!! There must have been a big semi in the way, or something... I wasn't embarrassed at all. I promise. Trent was super adorable though as he crossed the road, gas can in one hand and Ethan's hand in the other. I was so grateful for him. I was grateful that he loved me even though he laughed at me. I grew up thinking that laughing at someone was mocking (except when my parents or sister laughed at me, because I knew they loved me and didn't judge me). It has been a hard battle for me to realize that Trent loves me enough that he doesn't laugh to mock me, when he laughs he laughs with me. I am so grateful for that. I don't know what I would do if I was married to someone who would have belittled me for running out of gas. I know husbands that would call their spouses "idiots". I am grateful that Trent won't. I was grateful that he would take Ethan with him, that he didn't think Ethan would be a nuisance. I was grateful that he came to rescue us, and still "rescued" us, even though it turns out we didn't actually need it. I am grateful that I love him.
See that gas station right behind us?
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Preschool
Ethan started preschool this past week! I am so excited. A group of moms in our ward have joined with some in a neighboring ward to create a preschool group that we will all take turns teaching. We have 7 boys (!) ages 3-4 and we will each get to teach 6 times. Ethan was so excited to start and did great on his first day! Pretty much all of them know their ABC's, numbers, and colors so we are going to review them and put an emphasis on the sounds that the letters make. I think Ethan is going to do better having someone else reinforcing these things. From what I hear, he behaves better when I am NOT around ;).
Here are a few pictures:
Calvin is our kiddy-corner-back-yard neighbor and his mom, Jen, is one of my best friends down here in Albuquerque (or anywhere for that matter). It is highly convenient that we moved in right next to them. We are going to carpool with the boys so I will throw Ethan over the fence in the morning and Jen will drop off them off and I will pick them up and pass Cal over the fence once we get home. This will be nice for me because Logan naps from 9-10 and Ethan would have to be dropped off at 9:30. Jen volunteers in her older kids' classrooms during this time and she will be able to stay longer since I am picking up Calvin. It is going to work great!
Here are a few pictures:
Ethan just started wearing 3T pants a couple weeks ago. His legs are finally longer than his torso! I can hardly believe how big he is getting.
Ethan and his buddy Calvin.
Calvin is our kiddy-corner-back-yard neighbor and his mom, Jen, is one of my best friends down here in Albuquerque (or anywhere for that matter). It is highly convenient that we moved in right next to them. We are going to carpool with the boys so I will throw Ethan over the fence in the morning and Jen will drop off them off and I will pick them up and pass Cal over the fence once we get home. This will be nice for me because Logan naps from 9-10 and Ethan would have to be dropped off at 9:30. Jen volunteers in her older kids' classrooms during this time and she will be able to stay longer since I am picking up Calvin. It is going to work great!
Here is the group! Kind of funny that it worked out to be all boys,
I think we are going to have our hands FULL!
Monday, September 2, 2013
Sandia Man Cave
We went on a hike to the Sandia Man Cave. It was a super short hike at .9 miles round trip so we decided to take a detour and hike up an unmarked trail (we couldn't justify the drive for such a short hike)! The cave itself was really big. We walked back into it at least 50 ft, but because we lacked a better flashlight (we only had Trent's iPhone) and two boys were scared (Ethan and Trent) we decided not to go any further. Maybe I will be able to find someone that would like to go exploring further and make another trip up there!
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Three kids!
This last week we watched a 2 1/2 year old boy from Monday until Saturday, day and night. His parents were taking his older sister to college at BYU and they have two younger babies (a 1 yr old and a newborn!) and just couldn't take all three. I was so nervous. I wasn't sure if I could handle three little kids. I made up my mind that I would get nothing done around the house and that would be okay.
It ended up being a really fun week. The little boy was so sweet and did really well being away from his family for so long. We read a lot of books, went to the park, and tried not to go anywhere that required me to load them all into a car (which we did have to do once ;). Ethan absolutely LOVED having a constant playmate (he was really sad and almost cried when Logan, the little boy, or Big Logan as we called him, had to go home). It was really fun to watch how Ethan behaved during the week. Sometimes he was the best "big brother". He would say things like: "Let me show you where it is!" "Let me show you how to do it!" "Let me help you!" At other time though he was such a tease! (Which I hear is exactly the way Trent was to his younger siblings. Just so you know, he did NOT get this from me.) He would argue with Logan just to aggravate him.As an example Logan was playing with this little electronic book we have that talks and makes sounds. It makes a car sound and an airplane sound. Logan would hit the car sound button and would say,
"Is that a car?"
Ethan would respond, "No, that's an airplane."
Logan, "No, it's a car!"
Ethan, "No, it's an airplane!"
Voices would escalate as they bantered back and forth, Logan getting more and more angry while Ethan just grinned from ear to ear as he yelled back! Sometimes I just wanted to swat him! Trent, of course, thought it was funny. Of course!
I already knew that we wanted to have more kids but this week just showed me why. I loved to hear the two older boys playing and talking to each other. I loved having another boy to love on and tuck in at night. I loved seeing Trent play with them all while I made dinner. It was a crazy, busy week (and not just because of the extra kid!), and Trent and I hardly got to talk at all, but it was wonderful. I am so glad we got to have the addition of another little one for the week!
It ended up being a really fun week. The little boy was so sweet and did really well being away from his family for so long. We read a lot of books, went to the park, and tried not to go anywhere that required me to load them all into a car (which we did have to do once ;). Ethan absolutely LOVED having a constant playmate (he was really sad and almost cried when Logan, the little boy, or Big Logan as we called him, had to go home). It was really fun to watch how Ethan behaved during the week. Sometimes he was the best "big brother". He would say things like: "Let me show you where it is!" "Let me show you how to do it!" "Let me help you!" At other time though he was such a tease! (Which I hear is exactly the way Trent was to his younger siblings. Just so you know, he did NOT get this from me.) He would argue with Logan just to aggravate him.As an example Logan was playing with this little electronic book we have that talks and makes sounds. It makes a car sound and an airplane sound. Logan would hit the car sound button and would say,
"Is that a car?"
Ethan would respond, "No, that's an airplane."
Logan, "No, it's a car!"
Ethan, "No, it's an airplane!"
Voices would escalate as they bantered back and forth, Logan getting more and more angry while Ethan just grinned from ear to ear as he yelled back! Sometimes I just wanted to swat him! Trent, of course, thought it was funny. Of course!
I already knew that we wanted to have more kids but this week just showed me why. I loved to hear the two older boys playing and talking to each other. I loved having another boy to love on and tuck in at night. I loved seeing Trent play with them all while I made dinner. It was a crazy, busy week (and not just because of the extra kid!), and Trent and I hardly got to talk at all, but it was wonderful. I am so glad we got to have the addition of another little one for the week!
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