Trip to Virginia

Two weekends ago Chris went to the beach with his dad and brother for the second annual Masters fishing trip. Since he was going out of town Ethan and I headed for Virginia to see my brother and his family. We left Friday morning and got up there Friday mid afternoon without too much traffic or tears from the backseat. I was very thankful Ethan did really well on the drive up.

He was super excited to be out of the car and to have three fun playmates. They played hard all weekend. He and Liza are two months apart and they played well together. They took out the kitchen cabinets, played with refrigerator magnets, followed the big kids and played with a plethora of toys. Ethan also learned to climb the stairs in their house so he kept all the adults on their toes.

On Saturday morning we visited with Jonathan and Ann Webb and Maggie. Ann was Peter's 4th grade teacher and a family friend. She took the three of us to the beach in Costa Rica a couple times and we have seen her a couple times in Washington State. What a treat to see her and meet Jonathan and Maggie.

Saturday afternoon we went to some friends house to help them move. In the evening we went to a neighborhood movie night. So much fun.

Sunday we hung around the house and went to the park. Ethan fell asleep in the car so I hung out in the car while everyone else played. We went out for lunch and then came home and played. In the evening we watched Frozen before bedtime.

Monday we drove home and were excited to see daddy when we got home.

Thank you to Peter, Betsy, Sam, Marina and Liza for a wonderful weekend.

Ethan and Eliza

The whole group: Betsy, Me, Marina, Peter, Maggie, Sam, Ethan, Ann, Eliza and Jonathan

Betsy and Liza playing

Sam and Ethan playing

Ethan and his beloved jump rope from the weekend

Peter and Ethan and Liza on the kitchen floor

9 Months

Ethan is nine months and he seems to grow and change so quickly. He has been crawling and pulling up for a while but in the last week he has started standing in his own. We also bought him a push toy he loves and plays with constantly. Over the weekend he learned to go up stairs and I am thankful we don't have them at home. He loves playing with others, being outside and is always on the go.

Weight: 21lbs 11 ounces

Height: 29.25 (83 percentile)

Clothes: Ethan is now in mostly 9 month clothes, some 6-9 month clothes, and some 6-12 month clothes. It varies by brand. Most days he just sports a onesie and I'll add shorts/pants once in a while.

Diapers: size 4 diapers. We switched mid month and they are a little big but doing their job. He wears cloth during the day.

Nursing: 4 times a day and sometimes a little snack before nap time.

Food: he is eating dinner every night with breakfast and snacks here and there. He likes sweet potato, squash, green beans, carrots, banana, mango, apple, blueberries, cantaloupe and black beans. He also tried more chunks of food, puffs and mum mums. We are hoping to start more chunks and have him start feeding himself.

Sleep: he goes to bed around 8:30 and gets up around 7:15. Naps are still variable. This month he actually napped worse than any other month with several no nap days. He seems to be improving though.

Teeth: Ethan has two bottom teeth and the top two are threatening to come in. The bottom two came in at the same time with a lot of fanfare: fever and spitting up. Once they were in, he was much more comfortable.

Found him underneath the crib one day

On the back deck

Playing outside

And two videos:

Walking with the walker:

Laughing with daddy:

8 Months

I am a little behind on my monthly posts as Ethan is now 9 months old and I'm still on his 8 month post. Ethan continued his on the move ways and started pulling himself up on things around the house. He liked to see what was on the couch and playing in the Tupperware drawer. He also discovered all sorts of household items like toilet paper and the trash can.

Clothes: 6-9 month clothes with mostly 9 month clothes fitting best.

Diapers: size 3 but we also did better on using cloth during the day

Nursing: 4 times a day. I am very thankful he is more efficient and is normally done in under an hour

Food: Ethan lives dinner time. He likes sweet potato, squash, carrots, green beans, bananas, apples, mango. I also try to get in breakfast when we can.

Sleep: Ethan goes to bed around 9 and sleeps until about 7:15. The goal is still two naps a day but those are not always consistent.

Pulling up on the couch

Looking outside

DVD reorganizing

Starting dishwasher loading training.