March: Temperature Extremes!

Beware: Long post ahead!

After waiting what seemed like the entire winter, we finally got a good amount of snow without frigid temps! During the first week of March we got about 6 inches of fluffy, heavy snow. Since it fell over a weekend, Mike and Ethan were able to go out and sled, play, and walk around in all the snow. Although at first Ethan wasn't too sure of it (he walked around with his hands up most of the time not wanting to touch the snow), he eventually warmed up to the idea.
Mike said Ethan's favorite part was walking around and exploring down in the greenbelt, or what Ethan called "walking in the sticks."
As you will notice by looking out the window, the snow didn't last long! Temps quickly rose back up to the 50's and 60's and all the snow was gone about as quickly as it came. You will also notice that Ethan has some new friends! He is loving dinosaurs right now and Mike found these really cool squishy dinos at Target. They have quickly replaced green bear as the favorite toy.
One of Ethan's favorite activities this month has been making messes and then cleaning them up. He loves emptying out entire containers of toys, puzzles, etc, and then turning around and putting them all back together and away in their correct spot. He is also a huge fan of finding dirty clothes and throwing them down the chute.
ALL ABOARD!
At about the second week in March, the temps in Wisconsin soared. We had record highs in the 70's-80's for over a week! It felt like heaven to get out and play outside for awhile. We made lots of trips to the different parks in the area. On one of the first nice days we met Emelia ("Princess Anna") and Casey for a quick play session. The two had a ton of fun together. We even got to watch their budding pretend play in action. Ethan told Emelia that a small branch on the ground was a reindeer. She played along and pointed out the horns. The two continued on playing with the "reindeer" for quite some time.

Ethan even went down a slide all by himself. He is usually a bit afraid, but since Emelia went down solo, I don't think he wanted to be outperformed!
And this wasn't just any old slide, it was very tall!
On another play session, we met my mom and Kim out for some coffee and play time. Ethan liked it before but now that we can sit outside it is even better!
That same week we trekked out to Milton to play at the park and have a picnic with Mike's mom and Lainey. It was another gorgeous day! This time Ethan played pretend with another little boy at the park. They were pretending his mom was a bear and they needed to hide and get away.
On one of the nice nights, Mike and I took Ethan out for a bike ride. I think all the time outside was wearing him out. He fell asleep on the ride.
Finally! For one of our family dinner nights the weather was nice enough to play outside. Mike, Aaron, and Ethan had fun running around throwing and kicking Ethan's soccer ball.
Not sure what Aaron was doing wrong, but here is Ethan scolding him for something.
Best buds!
About once a week or so Ethan and I meet my mom and Kim (and sometimes Kileigh) out for breakfast. This time we went out to Keeley's Cafe by the airport in Janesville. They had an awesome breakfast and the kids got to watch the planes come and go. After breakfast we went outside for a closer view.
Little did we know, this super nice man asked us if the kids would like to sit inside his plane! So, one by one, the kids got to climb up in the plane and check out the inside!
The man said Ethan sure acted like a boy. While Kileigh sat quietly, Ethan wanted to get his hands on every button, lever, or buckle inside the plane!
What a nice man! Ethan talked about his blue plane for days!
Just a sweet pic of a sweet boy.
Dad and Ethan love
Although the temps started to decrease a bit, we had a few more days of outside time. On one of the last warm days we went to Palmer Park with my dad and Kileigh. Unfortunately, our play time only lasted about 30 minutes before a big storm and lots of rain hit.
Some of the Ethan's favorite things to say these days (funny and not so funny)
1. Be quiet, that hurt Ethan's ears
2. Listen to me. Time out.
3. Sings the entire alphabet with us, and from about Q on by himself. Also loves singing Happy Birthday (mostly to grandpa - go figure!)
4. Sings along with the Little Einsteins theme song
5. Great job!
6. No pee/poop in the diaper/undies, pee/poop on the potty!
7. Mama/Daddy happy now (when we are obviously mad at him)
8. I need a hug
9. You hold my hand please?
10. Don't touch Ethan's tummy, there's a baby in there.

The end of this month also marks the end of the first half of this pregnancy! I am officially 20 weeks now and feeling great.
We also had our second trimester ultrasound which showed that the baby is for SURE a boy! He was just like Ethan, showing off the parts for the world to see. Everything on the ultrasound looked great, including my cervix! We will probably have another ultrasound in another four weeks or so just to be sure but so far, so good.

February 2012

In February, Ethan has continued to develop his skill at playing pretend. He has been playing a ton with his stuffed animals, cars, figurines, and play-doh. They all make noises, hug, eat, sleep, go potty, and really anything else Ethan likes to do. One day we even pulled out my old stethoscope and listened to each other's hearts. Ethan tried really hard to play "doctor" and listen to his own heart. After awhile trying on his own, he enlisted dad's help.
Another favorite has become Mr. Potato Head (or as he calls it Tata-tata). Here is one of his many creations. Don't you just love the new fake smile we get when we ask him to say "cheese"?Early on in February, on one of my weekends to work, Mike and his family went to Lake Geneva and walked around an exhibit of ice/snow sculptures. I think the exhibit was made just for Ethan. There was a pirate, dragon, and dinosaur!



After walking around the exhibit the kids even got to watch the helicopter take off and land! I heard about the helicopter for the rest of the week so I know Ethan really must have loved it.
Here we are playing night night. Ethan and all of his toys get blankets (or apparently washcloths), turn off the lights, and go to sleep.
Pile on in! Ethan has had lots of fun with this new toy. For Christmas, Ethan got this mini ball pit that he has used for a tent. On this particular night, Ethan and all of his toys piled into the pit and played and read stories.
We would like to introduce you to Ethan's new best bud. He has upgraded from his blanket and now carries around "green bear" everywhere he goes. He goes to sleep, watches toons, and plays with Ethan all day long.
On another weekend that I was sleeping, Ethan and Mike met his family at church. I told the boys to get a picture of the two of them because they looked very nice! Although Ethan doesn't look to thrilled to pose for a picture with his dad...
he was very happy to pose for a pic with his cousin Lainey. The two have become more like friends now instead of toddler and baby.
We even had a special treat this week with an extra play date with Lainey. Mike's mom had to head to Rockford to be with Mike's grandpa so we got some extra play time! The kids put on some Mr. Potato Head glasses and sang and played like crazy!
For a little while, we even had our own little band. Complete with drums, a recorder, tambourine, and maracas! Oh and let's not forget Ethan's beautiful singing in the microphone!
Another development that I can't show you a picture of is Ethan's attitude. Although he is still mostly a very good boy, he has his moments. When he is busy doing something and does not want to be interrupted, Mike and I are now frequently told to "Go cook!" or "Go away!" with a finger point to the other room.

Finally, for those who are following the belly progress, here is my 16 week picture from this week. We had our first ultrasound to look at my cervix and see if the funneling that happened with Ethan is happening again. So far, so good - no funneling! From what I have read, a cervix should measure between 4 and 4.5cm at 16-20 weeks. Mine measured 3.7 cm. So, apparently we are already a bit short but that is just something we will have to continue to watch. I see my doctor at 18 weeks and have another ultrasound at 20 weeks, so I guess we will have to wait and see!

January 2012 - Happy New Year!

January has been a pretty slow month. Between the cold weather, me being tired, and starting to potty train Ethan, we have been pretty tied to staying home. That said, we have found plenty of ways to keep busy. Ethan continues to grow in his love for playing pretend. He "cooks" lunch for me, which is usually juice and soup from his play kitchen, hunts for the latest monster (witch, ogre, dragon, dinosaur, etc), and puts his toys in time out (usually for hitting mom and Ethan). We have also started watching about a half of a movie each night before bed. His favorites right now are, How to Train a Dragon, Shrek (all of them), Land Before Time, Ice Age, Beauty and the Beast, and A Bug's Life.

We had a special visitor early in January when Casey and Emelia came over to play. As much as we tried to get Ethan to call Emelia by her name, he decided her name was Princess Anna. This time they had lots of fun running around the house and playing together. Here they are both "going night night" before we headed off for lunch.
Over the course of the morning, there were lots of hugs and kisses shared. Maybe there was some truth to them being boyfriend/girlfriend some day :)Another time Ethan has really started to look forward to is the weekly Wednesday night family dinners with my mom, Aaron, Courtney, and Kileigh. He has developed a special love for his uncle Aaron (or Arnor as he calls him). Whether Ethan is playing, snuggling, or going potty, if Aaron is there he has to be with him. Aaron even recently learned how quick you have to be when taking a two year old boy to the bathroom :)Which leads us into the biggest event of the month, Ethan learning to go to the bathroom like a big boy! We decided to start on one of my long stretches off and it was a breeze, thank goodness! The first day we went through about 15 underwear, the second day we went through 7, and on day three we only went through about 3 or 4. By day four, NO ACCIDENTS! We still have him in a diaper for nap and bed time but we are pretty thrilled with how easy it was for him. The first couple of days of potty training we had to read some stories to get Ethan to not try so hard to go pee. Here are Mike and Ethan reading a pretty funny story.Still loving stickers.
Here are Co, Ki, and Ethan on another family dinner night. Apparently, Beauty and the Beast was much more important than smiling at mom for the picture.
One of our crazy weekend play moments. Ethan loves riding around on my back while we run away from Mike.
Finally! This month we actually got a bit of snow! We took advantage of the bit of new snow and the semi-warm temps and let Ethan finally go out and play in the snow. Although he walked around with his arms out to his sides the whole time, he loved tromping through all of the snow in his boots.

After lots of weekend fun, Ethan fell asleep with me during one of his movies. This never happens so I of course took full advantage of the extra cuddle time!One of Ethan's favorite costumes. For whatever reason, he thinks that when he wears this pumpkin it makes him a pirate!
At the end of the month, we had a very busy weekend. First, on Friday, Ethan stayed home with Steph while Mike and I took our trip to Waukesha for our date night. We had massages and then met a couple of friends from college out for dinner. It was great to catch up! Then on Saturday, our sweet Kileigh turned four! So, for lunch we went to Co's house for a party, went home for lunch, and then went down to Rockford that night for dinner to celebrate Mike's Grandpa's Birthday. Needless to say, we spent Sunday relaxing!
Finally, for those who are wondering how our other little one is doing, the news is GREAT! At the end of January we were finally at the 12 week mark! We had our first trimester scan which showed no abnormalities or syndromes which is great news! The little one measured just over 6 cm (almost 3 inches) and is moving all over the place, not that I can feel it yet. We are also planning to have a 16 week ultrasound just to double check my cervix and make sure we don't have any funneling yet (which is what put me on bed rest with Ethan). So, here are a couple of belly pics and then the ultrasound pic from week 12.
Boy or girl?? What's your guess?