Thanksgiving + 15 mo. checkup

We had a great Thanksgiving with Andy and Kimra and their family in South Beloit, Illinois. We started our drive Wednesday after Jason submitted a project and arrived 8 hours later. We ended up driving through Chicago and it was pretty interesting to drive the expressway over the city. It made me wish we had made it there while the sun was still up. We enjoyed great food and great company--such a nice, fun, and relaxing weekend. We made a full weekend of it and didn't drive home until Monday. I must admit that it was nice taking a break from our normally busy Sunday schedule.

Our Thanksgiving Feast! Thanks Kimra!

Yummy Thanksgiving desserts

Our attempt to go sledding on a neighbor's hill. It didn't last long since the wind was bitter cold.

Ethan and Grant. I think their faces say it all. :) Grant loved playing with "Baby Ethan"

Forts in the front room while watching The Polar Express

Playing ball in the church gym

Enjoyed Ethan's first hockey game, he watched it more than we thought

Playing Christmas songs with Kimra's hand chimes -- Ethan also recently learned how to back up and sit down on chairs --so cute to watch him

Ethan just turned 16 months a few days ago. His molars have been coming in and that has made it a rough week for both of us. He just started exerting more independence and backing it up with some decent tantrums. It makes me a little worried about what the next year and a half will bring as he realizes that he can't always get what he wants when he wants it. Such a hard lesson for all of us!

On the bright side, he has been trying a lot more to say words, and the words he does say are becoming a little more clear. He loves farm animals, blinking lights, big balls, books, baths, and "cooking" with mom. He has become quite attached to me recently and always seems to want me or to sit on my lap. If Jason gets him after a nap, Ethan immediately comes looking for me after Jason changes his diaper. We love trips to the library and the librarians all recognize Ethan, too. It's fun to watch Ethan grow and develop. His smiles and giggles are adorable, even if he makes us work to get them. :)

15.6 month stats

Weight   27.4 lbs    81%tile
Height    31.5 in     56%tile
Head      19.1 in      80%tile

Trying to do his hair like Mommy

The Pantry - aka Ethan's play closet - he organizes it himself --wait, make that disorganizes it :)

Our first big snow storm of the season -- don't you just love those cheeks!

Having fun making faces at the camera

Halloween + Zoo trip

So, I know it's a been a little over a week since Halloween, which already seems like a month ago, but I want to post our Halloween pictures anyway. Ethan was a cute little dinosaur for Halloween and it fit his stage of walking perfectly since he still toddles around rocking back and forth as he walks.

We went trick-or-treating at our library for a little while on Halloween night. Ethan held out his bag and then examined everything that got put in his bag. Since we don't give him candy or chocolate, he wasn't that thrilled with his treats unless they were nerds or some box that made a noise when he shook it. He didn't love having the hood on his head, but he was a good sport about it. :)

Kind of blurry, but still a cute dinosaur

Ethan checking out his loot at the library

Picture in the Children's area of the library on Halloween night

The week after Halloween we also took a trip to the zoo with our friends, the Hymas family. We went on probably the last warm day of the season. We saw animals that we didn't get to see last time and just enjoyed the scenery and the company. Our trip was complete with a yummy lunch and train ride.

We squished together in one car and Ethan had so much fun sitting between Hailey and Tyler!

Some of the cool animals we saw this trip

Lindsey, Tyler, and Hailey

Saying hello to the elephants

And finally, just a picture to remember the last two weeks of Ethan's interest in brooms and sweeping... an interest that led him to learn how to open doors so he could get to the brooms. He is not sweeping quite as much now, but unfortunately his trips to the pantry are still on the rise. :)

Some double broom action, since one broom is just not enough when you have two hands.

October Fun

October has been more busy and active since Ethan started walking. Ethan walks pretty much everywhere he goes now, but he is still pretty slow and careful about his walking. Ethan loves to try to carry things around with him from room to room and gets pretty frustrated when he can't hold all 5-6 things in his hands that he wants to take with him. Sometimes I'm amazed at how much I do see him carrying around! This week he's been carrying kitchen utensils, boxes, lotion bottles, and pumpkins. It seems like he's starting to learn certain things more quickly now. For example, he learned to click pens on and then draw all over the couch cover, and he learned to unscrew the hand sanitizer bottle and dump it all over the carpet before Jason could catch him.

Ethan is starting to learn more sign language as well. He knows 'milk', 'food/eat', 'please', 'toothbrush', 'up', 'more', and 'all done.' And whatever he doesn't know in sign language, he is pretty adept at communicating in finger pointing. He is also starting to recognize and point out a few body parts like ears, nose, mouth, and tummy. He can say 'mama' and 'dada,' but he doesn't really use them.

There are a few things about October that I just love, and General Conference is one of them. We enjoyed hanging out all weekend the first weekend in October eating cinnamon rolls and other good food and watching the Conference sessions online. We are really grateful to the Hymas family for doing some toy swapping with us so that Ethan could have some 'new' toys to explore and play with over Conference weekend...especially since it was cold and rainy for two weeks in a row afterwards.

Watching Conference with Dad

Listening to the Prophet

Great kitchen toy with a few utensils

After it quit raining, we were able to get out to the park again and do a few other fun things.

Testing out the new car seat

Walking around the playground at the park

Visiting the play area at the mall on a cold, rainy day

The Sister Missionaries dropped something by for us on Sunday, just as the apple crisp was coming out of the oven. Perfect timing! :) We enjoyed the apple crisp and ice cream, and then took a few pictures. We've had Sister Widdison working in our area for 9 months now and she's going home next week. She's seen Ethan grow from a baby to a toddler. Sister Corbridge has been here 6 months and I've enjoyed having them both over for dinner several times, helping them out with some of their appointments, and playing the piano for some of the baptisms.

Last night I went with our church youth group to see the new movie, "Meet the Mormons" in Milford, Ohio. It was a little bit of a drive, but totally worth it. I really enjoyed watching it! It was very uplifting and inspiring and made me feel so grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Today Ethan and I went with Katie and Kerrigan to the Kinman Farms. It was a fun little farm and we enjoyed the tractor ride, the pumpkin patch, and the petting zoo. It was only in the low 50's so I was ready to warm up at home again once it over. :) Ethan loved all the little pumpkins in the patch and kept wanting to pick them up. Of course they were way too heavy for him and he kept falling over. :) He was also very interested in picking up the leaves.

Kerrigan and Ethan

Katie, Kerrigan, Julie, and Ethan on the tractor ride

Thanks to Katie for this cute picture!

It's too bad I couldn't get a smile out of him. But at least he finally looked at me. :)

Ethan's favorite part of our visit was just walking around in the big tent afterwards. :)

Up next ...... Halloween........

Ethan can walk!

Walking across the room with his hands above his head

It's true. Ethan took a few steps a week ago yesterday and he has been getting better ever since. I didn't expect him to walk the first time I tried, but it just sort of happened. I stood him on his feet and scooted myself just out of reach and beaconed for him to come. He took a tentative step or two and then fell into my arms. Ethan just laughed and thought it was a game. Then he wanted to keep doing it over and over until eventually he got better and could walk further. I love to see him walk with his hands above his head for balance. :) At this point he still feels safer pushing around kitchen chairs or the garbage can.

I love how he pushes everything around our apartment, from books to toys to sunscreen bottles

 The weather here lately has been so great and we've gone on many walks at the park in the last few weeks. A week ago Sunday our ward was invited to the Union Presbyterian Brush Arbor service outside. Our family attended the nice service outside the building under a big shady tree. It was interesting to see how other churches worship. It was nice, but I felt it lacked the power and spirit that I feel in our Latter-day Saint meetings. We also ate lunch afterwards with their members and it was nice to get to know some of them a little better.

Brush Arbor Service

Brush Arbor Service

Ethan gazing out the window at the Union Presbyterian building where we temporarily meet

Ethan - showing some early signs of an aptitude for surfing

Florence Arboretum Park

We've been working on some signs with Ethan since communication is becoming more of an issue. He can sign "milk" and "more" but he is still confused at the exact definitions and basically uses them to tell us that he wants something...if only we could figure out what that something is. :) He also recently went from two naps a day down to one. That is kind of sad for me since I looked forward to getting things done while he was asleep, but he still sleeps well at night and that is definitely a blessing.

Eating his food like a champ! He actually feeds himself half of the time now.

Signing his version of "more"

For our YW activity tonight we talked about Elder Bednar's challenge to flood the earth with uplifting messages through social media. We took a few pictures of our own and posted them after the activity.

NKY Young Womens

NKY Young Women's Presidency

Free Friday at the Museums

We want to Free Friday at the Cincinnati Museums this week. I picked Jason up from work and we headed over to check them out. They have a Museum of Natural History, Museum of Cincinnati History, and a Children's Museum. I'm sure you can guess Ethan's favorite. :) All three museums were built in the old Union Train Terminal. They had to be pretty creative with their space, but I was impressed with how much they fit in there. The lighting was pretty old and dark in most places so unfortunately it was hard to get many good pictures, but here are a few.

Ethan liked playing on the train tables that they had set up in several places throughout the museums.

The view of Cincinnati from Union Terminal

Here a few pictures of other things we've been up to recently.

We shopped for a new bed over Labor Day since my back has been hurting for a while.

After much deliberation, we decided to try an all-foam mattress. It has been a bit of an adjustment, but we like it.

Going on a walk after a rain storm

Playing legos after story time at the library with Kerrigan