5 Months

Ethan is 5 months old. We keep looking at each other and wondering where the time has gone. He is growing and changing daily:

Weight: 17 pounds 3 ounces (last week)
Height: 26 inches or so (this is a guess)
Clothes: 3-6 months but mostly 6 months and needing 6-9 month onesies
Diapers: size 3 and cloth. We have been fighting a diaper rash so have been on a break from them.

Ethan is changing so much every day and is so much fun. He started scooting backwards over Thanksgiving and gets around that way easily. He is also rocking on all fours and wants to go forward so badly. Its a matter of time. He giggles and smiles constantly. He has a lot of energy which is not surprising to most based on his parents. Everything goes in his mouth for tasting and he particularly loves to taste everything that we are holding. Ethan, we love you so much and enjoy your sweet personality. Mommy and daddy can't wait to celebrate your first Christmas next week.

Proof he will suck on anything including the side of his play mat

Hanging out with Peter for the afternoon (he was here for the Center for Creative Leadership and hung out with us on Friday afternoon)

Decorating the Christmas tree

Our ornament collection

Playing with the lights

trying to taste the lights...not happening buddy

Dinner time...giraffe and sippy cup in hand

playing the piano with daddy. 

Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful this year. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. We are saved by His grace and that is the best most awesome gift. We are so thankful for our relationship with Him. I am thankful for Chris and the amazing husband and father he is. Chris is my best friend, the man I love dearly and all around great man of God. He takes care of and provides so well for our family. We are thankful for our sweet baby boy. Last year on Thanksgiving day we told the Rice side of the family we were pregnant. Ethan is a joy and blessing and we thank God everyday for him.  We are thankful for a warm house, food on the table, clothes to wear everyday, family near and far that love and support us and fabulous friends. We are thankful for Westover Church in providing a place to call our church and grow in our relationship with God. We are SO blessed.

This year we went to Chapel Hill for Thanksgiving with the Johnson's. we went to the Carolina Club with the entire extended Johnson family. It was fun to have everyone meet Ethan and to see everyone. After lunch we headed over to Grammy and Gramps Huff house. They enjoyed meeting Ethan. He is the first great grandchild for this family so it is special for him to meet them. We are blessed to have 6 great grandparents and we are enjoying them meeting Ethan. He is always happy to share a smile and giggle with them. 

We spent a very relaxing fun weekend in Pittsboro with the Johnson's. We mostly hung out at the house. Ethan played with Ben and Rebecca and granddaddy and grandma. He showed off his newest skill, scooting around the room backwards. We enjoyed seeing the Lattas and Stephen and Leigh and Joe Waggoner. Lots of pictures!

All dressed up for Thanksgiving.

With Annie 

With Great Grandma Johnson

With Great Grammy Huff, daddy and Grandma

With Great Gramps Huff, daddy and Grandma

Family Picture

Fun with Uncle Ben....sheer joy

hanging out with Mr Latta

Sock puppet

Go Tar Heels Beat Dook

With Aunt Rebecca

Daddy showing Ethan how to play golf!

Love Them

Family

With Joe Waggoner

Talking with Stephen Waggoner

with Leigh

Hanging with Grandma before heading home

4 Months

Ethan is four months old. He is such a sweet baby and has so much personality. It is a joy and blessing to watch him interact and acquire new abilities every day. He seems to have grown so much in the last few weeks. Ethan is a man on the move. He will not sit still and constantly wants to be kicking his legs or playing or getting all the wiggles out. He giggles and smiles constantly. It is so fun to walk into his room in the morning and when he realizes that we are there he looks up and smiles and kicks his legs. He discovered his toes this month and every morning when we change him he immediately grabs his toes almost in an effort to make sure they are still there. The first time he found them he kept looking at me as if to say, "mommy, when did you get these toes installed, I like playing with them and can't wait to get them in my mouth."

Although Ethan is constantly babbling around mommy and daddy, we have found he is shy around new faces and people he hasn't seen in a while. He will quiet down and just watch in amazement but won't interact. We get glimpses of his real personality when he sees one of us and he just lights up. He is so similar to daddy and LOVES Chris so much. He gets excited every evening when he gets home and smiles and giggles with daddy. 

He now rolls from back to belly (and gets frustrated) and from belly to back. He does baby push-ups (family boot camp starts soon...:).) and seems to want to move more and more. He starts getting frustrated if he can't get the toy he is reaching for or something he wants. He seems to have a fascination with anything we are holding, especially our water bottles and wants to suck or gnaw on everything. Several times we have been asked if he is teething because of the amount of drool he seems to have. We are not sure on this but hope the teeth hold out a little longer. 

Clothes: he is mostly in 3-6 but some of the shirts/onesies are getting short so we are going to have to start pulling out the 6-9 month clothes

Weight: 16 pounds 6 ounces

Height: 25.5 inches

Diapers: he wears a size 3 and still uses cloth for most days. Diapers are our enemy as they seem to fail to do their job most days. Ethan is a pro at leaking from any diaper, no matter the brand or type.
Naps: He naps twice a day most days and I am still working on figuring out how to insist on crib naps. His morning nap is normally around 10:30/11 and he sleeps for 30-45 minutes. Afternoon nap is 2 hours or so in his crib.
Nighttime sleep: He normally goes to bed between 9 and 9:30 and wakes up between 7 and 8. Thanks to daylight savings time change he now is getting up before 7. I am not amused but oh well we can't complain.
Eating: we have a marathon eater but he is also very scheduled. he normally eats every 4 or so hours. 7:30-7:45 am, 12, 4 and 7:30 pm. These are estimated times and he lets me know when he is hungry. He eats for between 20-30 minutes a side.

Daddy and our sweet pumpkin

Celebrating Granddaddy's 60th birthday

Why play with toys when there is a chip bag?

and mommy's water bottle?

Playing and Happy!

3 months...A quarter of a year

Ethan is three months old. He is developing quite the personality and is so much fun to be around. He really wants to be on the move all the time and enjoys his playmat and exersaucer. He will sit and listen to us read. One of our favorite routines is putting him in the bumbo for Chris and I to eat dinner. He sits there and talks up a storm and sucks on his hands. He seems to enjoy being a part of the conversation.

He recognizes us really well and his face lights up when Chris gets home every night.

Stats: (estimates because no doctor this month!)
Weight: we think he weighs about 16 pounds
Height: he is tall and loves to stand up. I am guessing 24-25 inches
Clothes: he is wearing mostly 3-6 month clothes and some of the onesies may not last long for height.

His latest trick is rolling from back to belly. He does this when he sleeps and loves sleeping on his belly so we are swaddle weaning. Yesterday he did roll over while playing. He is a good sleeper for the most part and takes 3 naps during the day and goes to bed around 9:30, eats in the middle of the night and sleeps until 7:30 or 8. 

We started sleep training last night because of issues with swaddle weaning. For the last two years we have been meeting with the fabulous Jason and Jennifer Rickard as friends and for some mentoring. They have supported and encouraged us and walked us through some of their parenting choices in the hopes to help us make decisions in our parenting. They introduced to Ferber method sleep training,. We were hooked when we watched Russell and Meredith go to bed without any issues and sleep through the night before 6 months...we like to sleep. Night one went well and naps have gone ok. Praying and trusting God in this process. I will probably update on this process in another post.

Pictures from the last few weeks:

Dinner time with mommy and daddy hanging in the bumbo

Happy Boy

Playing/eating his monkey on his play mat

checking out his new mega blocks 

fun under the playmat 

instead of taking his hands to his mouth he takes his mouth to his hands

he loves his new exersaucer

joy of playing with daddy

sleeping during his first nap today. he likes his zippydee-zip