Technically, if I wanted to stay true to tradition and post events chronologically I would be putting some pictures of Easter on the blog. However, I have one week of school left (my last final of college is next Friday!!!!!) and I don't have time to make a long post. Consequently, I'm sharing a ridiculously funny video with you instead.
By way of introduction, E received an Easter card from Grandma and Grandpa F that plays The Bunny Hop when it's opened. It was an instant hit. Observe.
My kid has rhythm! I don't think he's too far off from following in the footsteps of the one, the only Fred Astaire!
See the similarities? Sure, Fred is a little more polished, but give E some time and he may be tapping with the best of them!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Animal Quiz
Note to Scott: The narrator would like to issue an apology for having said, "...a elephant" and not "...an elephant". Due to the sporadic nature of the filmed content the narrator was unable to receive a script from our writers in time and was forced to ad lib at the last minute. Tragically, our editor quit yesterday and we were unable to cut the offensive statement without missing our production deadline. We ask for your mercy and understanding and hope that this violation will not cause you further injury.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Me vs. The TV
Lately, E has become a little obsessed with trains. Obsessed is probably downplaying the situation. In all reality, he's completely neurotic. I think it all started with a wooden train that Uncle Scott gave him for Christmas. At first it was innocent enough, he just wanted as much "train time" as he could get. But soon thereafter he realized that we had a Thomas the Tank Engine book and would ask for that book to be read to him. Fifteen times a day. Then he realized that the soft, flannel blanket his Nana made for him had small trains all over it. More and more train paraphernalia seemed to pop up all over his little world, feeding his addiction.
Unaware of the severity of the situation, I rented a Thomas the Tank Engine movie because, hey, he's never even watched TV and I thought it might be funny. It wasn't funny. It was depressing. My child who never sits still unless he's firmly strapped into a 5-point harness sat motionless and mesmerized for 20 whole minutes. Throughout the duration of my creepy movie experiment I watched him with an open jaw, aghast that this was really happening. Once I turned the movie off E looked at me and excitedly yelled, "Thomas! Thomas! Peep, peep! Choo choo! Wow!" It was as if he'd just been on the greatest sensory adventure of his life and I was left to deal with the pathetic realization that my child was enthralled by TV. Forget all those hours I've dedicated to reading books with him, cooking together, engaging in goobery conversation with him from the day he was born, playing the piano with him strapped on my chest in his baby carrier, and ensuring that child development recommendations for each stage were heeded. All he really wanted was some tube time. Blughck!!
It didn't take long for me to decide that I needed to be the victor in this situation. We'd recently heard about a train museum in Ogden so I researched it, called my sister and invited her family to join us, and off we went. You'll be pleased to know that real-life trains beat out the TV. E's excitement as he ran about the train museum far surpassed the cheap thrill of the Thomas DVD. He kept asking for "Wa-burt" (his cousin, Robert) and the "Train" and it made me so happy.
The moral of the story is that I succeeded. Granted, I picked my battle very carefully. For example, had he been convinced that Lion King was fantastic we couldn't exactly go on safari to teach him about modern day Africa. But I was proud of myself for taking something he saw on TV and turning it into an educational experience. Regardless of the fact that he's cognitively unable to make the distinctions between the two trains that I do, at least I taught myself how to make the most of what TV had to offer.
Disclaimer: Don't get me wrong, I don't think TV is the devil, but I do think it's watched far too often these days. I'd much rather read books, make-up plays, play games and whatnot so I've tried to foster that environment in our home. I actually really like Thomas the Tank Engine and I think he does a great job at teaching values, but most importantly I wanted E to see that real trains were cool even if they can't talk.
T & E taking a train knowledge quiz. E outscored T.
Sing: Ring my belll, ring my bell, my bell, woo woo woo.
Inside the train museum there's also an antique car museum and a Browning gun museum. This car was my favorite. I envisioned Nick from The Great Gatsby gallivanting around in it and smiled.
*Sigh* His cuteness melts me.
Unaware of the severity of the situation, I rented a Thomas the Tank Engine movie because, hey, he's never even watched TV and I thought it might be funny. It wasn't funny. It was depressing. My child who never sits still unless he's firmly strapped into a 5-point harness sat motionless and mesmerized for 20 whole minutes. Throughout the duration of my creepy movie experiment I watched him with an open jaw, aghast that this was really happening. Once I turned the movie off E looked at me and excitedly yelled, "Thomas! Thomas! Peep, peep! Choo choo! Wow!" It was as if he'd just been on the greatest sensory adventure of his life and I was left to deal with the pathetic realization that my child was enthralled by TV. Forget all those hours I've dedicated to reading books with him, cooking together, engaging in goobery conversation with him from the day he was born, playing the piano with him strapped on my chest in his baby carrier, and ensuring that child development recommendations for each stage were heeded. All he really wanted was some tube time. Blughck!!
It didn't take long for me to decide that I needed to be the victor in this situation. We'd recently heard about a train museum in Ogden so I researched it, called my sister and invited her family to join us, and off we went. You'll be pleased to know that real-life trains beat out the TV. E's excitement as he ran about the train museum far surpassed the cheap thrill of the Thomas DVD. He kept asking for "Wa-burt" (his cousin, Robert) and the "Train" and it made me so happy.
The moral of the story is that I succeeded. Granted, I picked my battle very carefully. For example, had he been convinced that Lion King was fantastic we couldn't exactly go on safari to teach him about modern day Africa. But I was proud of myself for taking something he saw on TV and turning it into an educational experience. Regardless of the fact that he's cognitively unable to make the distinctions between the two trains that I do, at least I taught myself how to make the most of what TV had to offer.
Disclaimer: Don't get me wrong, I don't think TV is the devil, but I do think it's watched far too often these days. I'd much rather read books, make-up plays, play games and whatnot so I've tried to foster that environment in our home. I actually really like Thomas the Tank Engine and I think he does a great job at teaching values, but most importantly I wanted E to see that real trains were cool even if they can't talk.
T & E taking a train knowledge quiz. E outscored T.
Sing: Ring my belll, ring my bell, my bell, woo woo woo.
You may not have known, but Travis has high ambitions of being a bronze bust model.
I think he does fabulously. Isn't the resemblance striking?
I think he does fabulously. Isn't the resemblance striking?
E and Mommy playing inside the train car.
E, Robert, and Mommy sitting in the train. I don't know if this was a typical layout for all trains, but you had to climb a little ladder to get up to the seats that sat about 5' up.
Ethan Heaven = Train on the left + School bus on the right
Inside the train museum there's also an antique car museum and a Browning gun museum. This car was my favorite. I envisioned Nick from The Great Gatsby gallivanting around in it and smiled.
Tammy brought some pants for E that R had outgrown and not only were they adorable, but they matched a darling sweater that E's friend, Kynzie, gave him for Valentine's Day. We had a little photo shoot and here are my favorites.
*Sigh* His cuteness melts me.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Our Funtastic Life
As you all know, Travis completed his MS in December and, boy, has it ever been wonderful. He put it best this weekend when he said, "You know, since I'm not in school, I've realized that weekends are actually relaxing. They're quite nice." I couldn't agree more. It's so wonderful to have him around and to play together. We're all still adjusting to having some semblance of a family life and we like it immensely.
However, now that Travis is done, I've been hitting the books a ton, desperately trying to finish all my classes by the end of March. I can hardly believe that's only a month and a half away, but I still have 2 whole classes to finish. Every Tuesday and Thursday night I head to the library from 5-9 and every other Saturday I spend the day there. On top of that, I wake up with T at 6 every morning and study till E wakes up and then study again the whole time E's napping. It gets exhausting, but every other weekend we've been doing some sort of a family activity and it is so fun! So far, we've spent the day in Logan, shopping and going to my favorite pastry shop, and the other time we went to the bird refuge. Spending time with T and E reinvigorates me and helps me push through another week of schooling.
Since I know you all read this blog to find out what's happening with Ethan, I'll skip right to the main attraction. Suffice it to say, my kid cracks me up. Some days I think E is going to burst from all the personality inside him. He recently invented a game called, "Bank-it". Here are the rules: E runs to any place in the house, throws himself down on the floor, and calls, "Mommy! Seepy! Bank-it!" Mommy replies, "Oh, Ethan are you tired?" and places whichever blanket is nearby, though he's begun demanding the "train bank-it" on him and says, "Good night!" Ethan then closes his eyes as tight as he possible can and pretends to be asleep. On Friday I took pictures of the Bank-it and here are some favorite sleeping locations:
In the kitchen, holding the picture of his beloved Arden's beautiful baby sister Suzy Jane.
E has also begun loving to help me cook. If I ask him what he wants for dinner, he'll say "noo-nyuls" (noodles), run to the drawer where the pots are stored, pull out the pasta pot, look and me and say, "water?" It is so cute. Well, the other day, we needed to make cookies for T to take to work for a lot of people that have been working on a project of his. I asked if he wanted to cook with me and he exuberantly screamed, "Yes!", ran to the kitchen and pulled two aprons out of the drawer. I'd never before put an apron on him, but I asked him if he'd like to wear an apron and he shouted, "Oh, guh-ness!" (goodness), which means, "Yes!". I just had to take a picture.
E has also begun really praying with us. He'll say, "Hen-lee Fodder....AMEN!" and then giggle. I was cracking up at this so I decided to whisper words in his ear and see if he'd say the prayer out loud. He loves it! Now at every meal, he repeats whatever words we say and will ceaselessly say, "Daddy" or "Lexie" until say, "We're thank thee for Daddy and Lexie." It's so cute. Here's a shot of him folding his hands for prayer.
E has also become obsessed with "gubs"(gloves) and so he ran to my closet and brought me fuzzy, pink socks asking me to put on his "gubs, peeze". I couldn't resist.
(P.S. I just noticed this picture is crooked, but I don't have time to fix it... Oh bother.)
Lastly, but certainly not least, I got an awesome deal on his little reading chair for E and once he saw it at the store. He could hardly think about anything else. When we got home and showed Daddy, E ran to his chair, hopped in and said, "Daddy, Chair!" with his look of pure glee on his face. Lucky me, I caught the moment of pure glee.
I was a little afraid the love of chair might rub off soon, but it's still going strong. Every morning he wakes up and says, "Hi, Mommy. Hi, Chair." When I give him the mail that the mailman brings for him, aka: all the junk mail, he'll excitedly run to his chair and say, "Oh, read story." Here he is, devouring the Wal-Mart ad. I love my little boy.
Thanks for all your love and support as we finish school! We appreciate all the words of encouragement that we get from you all. Here's
However, now that Travis is done, I've been hitting the books a ton, desperately trying to finish all my classes by the end of March. I can hardly believe that's only a month and a half away, but I still have 2 whole classes to finish. Every Tuesday and Thursday night I head to the library from 5-9 and every other Saturday I spend the day there. On top of that, I wake up with T at 6 every morning and study till E wakes up and then study again the whole time E's napping. It gets exhausting, but every other weekend we've been doing some sort of a family activity and it is so fun! So far, we've spent the day in Logan, shopping and going to my favorite pastry shop, and the other time we went to the bird refuge. Spending time with T and E reinvigorates me and helps me push through another week of schooling.
Since I know you all read this blog to find out what's happening with Ethan, I'll skip right to the main attraction. Suffice it to say, my kid cracks me up. Some days I think E is going to burst from all the personality inside him. He recently invented a game called, "Bank-it". Here are the rules: E runs to any place in the house, throws himself down on the floor, and calls, "Mommy! Seepy! Bank-it!" Mommy replies, "Oh, Ethan are you tired?" and places whichever blanket is nearby, though he's begun demanding the "train bank-it" on him and says, "Good night!" Ethan then closes his eyes as tight as he possible can and pretends to be asleep. On Friday I took pictures of the Bank-it and here are some favorite sleeping locations:
In the bottom of the pantry. He just scoots all the flour containers aside and wiggles right in.
In the living room with his "tee-turl", which he also requested.
In the kitchen, holding the picture of his beloved Arden's beautiful baby sister Suzy Jane.
In his bedroom, while still playing with his digger.
E has also begun loving to help me cook. If I ask him what he wants for dinner, he'll say "noo-nyuls" (noodles), run to the drawer where the pots are stored, pull out the pasta pot, look and me and say, "water?" It is so cute. Well, the other day, we needed to make cookies for T to take to work for a lot of people that have been working on a project of his. I asked if he wanted to cook with me and he exuberantly screamed, "Yes!", ran to the kitchen and pulled two aprons out of the drawer. I'd never before put an apron on him, but I asked him if he'd like to wear an apron and he shouted, "Oh, guh-ness!" (goodness), which means, "Yes!". I just had to take a picture.
E has also begun really praying with us. He'll say, "Hen-lee Fodder....AMEN!" and then giggle. I was cracking up at this so I decided to whisper words in his ear and see if he'd say the prayer out loud. He loves it! Now at every meal, he repeats whatever words we say and will ceaselessly say, "Daddy" or "Lexie" until say, "We're thank thee for Daddy and Lexie." It's so cute. Here's a shot of him folding his hands for prayer.
E has also become obsessed with "gubs"(gloves) and so he ran to my closet and brought me fuzzy, pink socks asking me to put on his "gubs, peeze". I couldn't resist.
(P.S. I just noticed this picture is crooked, but I don't have time to fix it... Oh bother.)
Lastly, but certainly not least, I got an awesome deal on his little reading chair for E and once he saw it at the store. He could hardly think about anything else. When we got home and showed Daddy, E ran to his chair, hopped in and said, "Daddy, Chair!" with his look of pure glee on his face. Lucky me, I caught the moment of pure glee.
I was a little afraid the love of chair might rub off soon, but it's still going strong. Every morning he wakes up and says, "Hi, Mommy. Hi, Chair." When I give him the mail that the mailman brings for him, aka: all the junk mail, he'll excitedly run to his chair and say, "Oh, read story." Here he is, devouring the Wal-Mart ad. I love my little boy.
Thanks for all your love and support as we finish school! We appreciate all the words of encouragement that we get from you all. Here's
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)