Ethan at 9 months

I took Ethan to the doctor yesterday for his 9 month checkup. As it turns out, he has a mild ear infection, which may explain his fussiness lately. It's either the ear infection or those two enormous front teeth that are slowly coming in. Although they've broken through the gum now, they still have a way to go. Ouch!

Ethan weighed in at 26 pounds (97th percentile) and is 30 inches tall (90th percentile). He's crawling like a maniac and gets into everything! He requires constant supervision these days and does not like to be contained. He's pulling up to standing on a lot of things. I can tell that he wants to walk so badly, but fortunately (for me!) it's going to take him a little while longer to figure that one out!

Preschool Christmas Party

Last week, Kaitlyn had her Christmas program and party at her preschool. It was her first time on stage "performing" for an audience. She's sitting in the middle on the front row. The kids on stage were from the 2's, 3's and 4's classes. They were so adorable in their Christmas outfits. The whole thing lasted about 15 minutes and they sang several cute Christmas songs.

Kaitlyn didn't really sing or do any of the hand motions. She was content to look around at all the people in front of her and smile.

After the program, we went up to her classroom for a Christmas party. Santa and Mrs. Claus came for a visit, but she was having none of that this time. She was too enthralled with her snacks :)

Even a festive Ethan got in on the fun. He'll have to wait a couple of years before he gets his own preschool party.

Here's Kaitlyn with her beloved teachers, "Miss" Sheryl and "Miss" Sarah. They both are wonderful women and teachers and they make things so much fun for the kids. I'm convinced that they are a big part of why Kaitlyn loves school so much.

Opryland

Last week, we made our annual trek out to Opryland Hotel to see all the Christmas decorations. The kids were so enthralled with it all that they weren't remotely interested in posing for pictures.

Ethan was perplexed by the prickly Christmas tree.

Here's Kaitlyn reluctantly posing for a picture in front of the poinsettia tree.

And now a cheesy smile. Something in between would have been nice...say, a natural smile???

We bundled them up to enjoy the outside lights. Kaitlyn insisted on wearing my scarf which looks big enough to wrap around her entire body. She loves pointing out all the Christmas lights that she sees as we're driving in the car. But I'm pretty sure that this display left her speechless!

Bath Time and Rudolph

With his newfound mobility, Ethan has been getting more inquisitive each day. Today, he just had to see what was going on during Kaitlyn's bath.

And then he tried to get in on the action. Fortunately Kaitlyn was a good sport about it all.

What a precious little boy! By the way, we are singing, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" around here these days. His two front teeth are soooo close to coming in. His poor swollen gums look so painful. But, as always, he continues to smile and be in the best mood.

This week, Kaitlyn came home from preschool dressed as Rudolph. She graciously agreed to model her costume. Too cute!

Breakfast with Santa

There were no tears this year! Ethan was pretty fascinated by the whole thing...too distracted to really smile. We let Ethan go first so that Kaitlyn would have a little extra time to "warm up" to Santa. She shocked us all by walking up to him and sitting in his lap without any fuss at all. We were so proud of our brave little girl!

She even told Santa what she wanted for Christmas. She said, "I want a present." Shouldn't be too hard for Santa to honor that request!

'Tis the Season

I can already tell that this Christmas season is going to be a fun one now that Kaitlyn is old enough to enjoy some of the festivities. The first thing she does every morning is ask us to turn on the Christmas lights on the tree. And she loves pointing out all the decorations that she sees as we drive down the road. She's already learning some of the words to Rudolph and Jingle Bells, which is a good thing since I love Christmas music and listen to it all the time in December.

Last night, we braved the cold to enjoy the Nashville Christmas Parade. I have such fond memories of going to the annual Christmas parade in my hometown when I was a kid, and I was excited about Kaitlyn seeing some of those same things. And this parade did not disappoint: floats, clowns, fire trucks, motorcycles, horses, marching bands--everything you could ask for in a parade. I have to admit, though, that seeing a Christmas parade as an adult is not quite as thrilling as seeing one as a child. But Kaitlyn had a wonderful time and didn't mind the cold one bit. Ethan was content to sit in the stroller and watch all the people. Here's a couple of pictures of the kids all bundled up.

Today we enjoyed our church's annual Family Christmas Breakfast. Kaitlyn loved the inflatable snowman on stage.

We tried to get a good picture of Ethan in front of the decorations, but as you can see, he's only interested in one thing now...getting from point A to point B!

There was a live nativity scene outside that all the kids loved. These animals were amazingly docile and were nonplussed by all the chaos of the little kids. Kaitlyn was in heaven running from animal to animal and petting them to her heart's content.

She also did amazingly well with Santa--no tears at all! We were shocked. I'll post the Santa pictures when I get them.

And this has nothing to do with Christmas, but here's a picture of Ethan pulling up to his knees. He just learned to crawl this week, and now he's already trying to stand up?!?!?! I really need to get serious about babyproofing soon!

We have a crawler!

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Ethan officially entered the world of crawling! Each day he gets a little faster and can cover longer distances. If we leave him in the (carpeted) floor in his room, it's not long until we hear the little pat-pat-pat of his hands on the hardwoods in the hall--coming to find us to see what he's missing. So now the vigilant supervision begins. Poor Kaitlyn is getting very stressed trying to keep her toys out of his reach. Little does she know that it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. We're still working on the concept of sharing...and I have a feeling we'll continue to work on it for a looooong time :)

We went to my mom's house for our traditional Thanksgiving feast. Mom and I decided to forgo Black Friday this year and instead just spent the time at home, relaxing and working on a few projects around her house. We took Kaitlyn to the town square to let her get some energy out. Here are a couple of pictures of her at the courthouse.

We also put up our Christmas tree this week. Kaitlyn was so thrilled to help with the decorations. She decided that it was her job to hang all of the ornaments on the tree, so we ended up with a large concentration of ornaments about 2 - 3 feet off the floor. Here she is in her pajamas, being very deliberate with the placement of an ornament.

She goes to visit Santa on Saturday. We're predicting another round of tears this year, but maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised :)

Ethan at 8 months

Ethan hit the 8 month mark last week. He is such a busy little boy. Although he's not crawling yet, he's rocking a lot on his hands and knees. He has also figured out how to go from the crawl position back into a sitting position. So if he sees something he wants on the other side of the room, he rolls/scoots/twists his way there, and then sits up close to the desired object so that he can reach it with both hands. Fortunately, it still takes him a while to get anywhere, but he already requires much more supervision than he used to. When he starts crawling, life is going to get pretty crazy!

Leaf Fun

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here the last few days...highs in the low 70's and lots of sun. Jeff raked a leaf pile for Kaitlyn to play in. Needless to say, she had a blast. What kid doesn't love to play in leaves?? Ethan didn't quite know what to make of the interesting textures. But he was content to sit in the pile for a few minutes.

Thank you, God, for beautiful fall days and simple fun with family.

Life with a Two Year Old

Like many two-year olds, Kaitlyn's favorite word these days is "No!"

Me: Kaitlyn, let's put on some pants.
Kaitlyn: NO! I want to wear shorts! (even though it's 40 degrees outside)

Me: What do you want for breakfast?
K: No.

Me: Let's sing a song. How about Twinkle, Twinkle?
K: No, no, no, no, no, no, no mommy! I sing it all by myself!

Me: What book do you want to read before nap?
K: (silence as she ignores me while playing with her toys)
Me: How about Dora's Perfect Pumpkin?
K: No, Mommy! I not read that one!
Me: OK, well pick out one.
K: (She selects Dora's Perfect Pumpkin)
Me: What a great choice! I wish I had thought of that!

Sometimes her contrariness can work to my advantage. On the way to preschool, a car almost pulled out right in front on me, and I honked my horn a couple of times. I hear giggles from the backseat followed by, "Beep, beep!" And then she kept saying it over and over. And over. After about 30 or so repetitions, I was ready for a change. So I tried a few different methods to get her to stop saying "Beep, beep!"

Me: (Method 1: distraction) Hey Kaitlyn, look! There's a school bus!
K: Beep, beep!

Me: (Method 2: direct order) OK, Kaitlyn, that's enough beeping. Please stop now.
K: Beep, beep!

Me: (Method 3: ignoring the annoying behavior)
K: Beep, beep! Beep, beep!

Me: (Method 4: Reverse Psychology) Kaitlyn, I think it's really cute when you say "Beep, beep!" I want you to keep saying it all the way to preschool. Can you do that for mommy?
K: (solemnly nodding--she likes to be a helper almost as much as she likes saying no). Beep, beep!
Me: Great job! Keep it up!
K: Beep, beep! Beep, beep!
Me: Wonderful! Say it some more!
K: (much less enthusiastically) Beep, beep. (Followed by silence)
Me: Kaitlyn, come on! Keep saying "Beep, beep!"
K: No, mommy! I not want to say "Beep, beep!" anymore!

Ah, mission accomplished! I am still smarter than a 2-year old...well, at least some of the time!

Halloween Weekend

We went to Memphis for Halloween weekend to spend some time with Jess, Adam, Noah and Baby Eli. While we were there, we had Jess take some family pictures, as well as pictures of Ethan since he is changing so much! Here are some of my favorites.

It was fun getting all four kids dressed up. They all look so serious in this picture, but it's the only one with all of them looking at the camera. Eli was just adorable in his pea costume! Kaitlyn and Noah did some trick-or-treating in the neighborhood and were so excited about getting candy.

The bumblebee and the giraffe are sizing each other up.

There was a train exhibit nearby which we knew Kaitlyn would love.

Here she is "driving" the caboose and loving every single minute.

While it's definitely a challenge traveling with two little ones, it was well worth the effort to spend time with loved ones.

Trunk or Treat 2009

Last night was Trunk or Treat at our church. As you can see, Kaitlyn was a bumblebee (she liked to refer to herself as a "scary" bumblebee) and Ethan was dressed as a football player. Given the Titans season so far, maybe they should think about recruiting him! Kaitlyn got more candy than we know what to do with...and it's not even Halloween yet!!

Walden Farm and Cookies

Yesterday, Kaitlyn and I made Halloween cookies. She was eager to help and enjoyed cutting out the shapes and decorating the cookies. Baking cookies with a two-year old is an exercise in patience. I think it took me three times as long as it would have without my little "helper." But she had a blast and that was the main purpose of the cookies. And now we have some tasty treats to munch on this week!

In the afternoon, we went on our annual trek to Walden Farm to pick out a pumpkin.

I think these are the biggest watermelons I have ever seen!

Kaitlyn didn't quite understand that you're only supposed to stick your head through.

Mommy and Ethan

It was a little challenging getting Ethan to stay on that pumpkin. It was deceptively slick!


My happy little boy on the tractor.

Watching and learning from big sister.

Feeding some very hungry goats!

Ethan's first pumpkin

Kaitlyn's final pumpkin selection