The B's

This post is full of "B" activities that we've enjoyed lately. 

BOATS

It has been unusually rainy around here this summer and after a short, but torrential downpour the runoff near the curb was flowing at a quick speed.  Caleb and Momma made milkcap boats and had races down the street.  We always caught our boats before they went down the storm drain. 

Caleb's boat, "Fast Boat", always seemed to sail past Momma's "Speedy" as it stuck to anything on the ground, so we re-named her boat "Stuckey".

Ethan couldn't see from his stroller and was too tired to really enjoy the races.

BANGING

One evening Caleb held a concert in his playroom.  The audience of one was mesmerized!

BREAD
One of our evening family walks took us to visit the turtles in a nearby neighborhood.  We made sure to bring some bread to feed both the turtles and the fish.

Even Ethan enjoyed "throwing" the bread and watching the tutrles swarm.  Of course, he really just wanted to eat it, but like Caleb says, "No, no Etan Machew (that's how Caleb pronounces his name).  Only milk for you!"

Mike managed to get all our faces in the picture, though Ethan was wondering who we were all smiling at.

BATH

Uncle Rob and Aunt Aurea sent this really fun bath toy.  Ethan loves to watch the frog's little legs go up and down and Caleb loves filling it again and again and again... (Note how Ethan likes to stretch his legs to touch the end of his bath tub.  He also enjoys kicking really hard to splash all of the water out and trying to sit up in a "V" shape!)

A little video.

"Really, Daddy.  You're taking my picture in the bath tub?"

Ethan at Five Months

Our youngest is now five months!  It is so exciting to see him grow in so many different ways!  His little personality is really starting to shine through.  He is a VERY opinionated little boy.  He lets you know what he thinks all the time.  Sometimes it's in his talking to us with many and varied facial expressions.  Sometimes it's when he is mad and will "yell" at us to get our attention.  It's not a cry, it is truly a yell. :)  And other times it's when he cries and cries for Daddy, but the second he's passed to Momma he stops instantly!  Move his bottle in front of him instead of giving it to him and he'll follow it with his eyes and complain at you.  He will also smile like he knows he only needs to melt your heart to get what he wants!

Ethan is still the charmer when we go out!  He smiles and coos and giggles at everyone he meets.  This past week he got sick and he was miserable and not sleeping due to a nasty cough so we headed off to the doctor.  His crying and whining stopped as soon as we got to the doctor and he was smiling and cooing at everyone!  It's hard to get the doctor to take you seriously when your child seems to be doing just fine!

We almost thought that Ethan had learned to roll over, but he was just teasing us!  One day he was on his back, rolled to his side, and then rolled all the way to his tummy.  He still does not like being on his tummy, so he immediately cried!  Momma rolled him back over and he did it one more time.  And...that was it!  He hasn't done it since!  Ethan enjoys sitting so he can see things better and is getting really close to being able to sit on his own.  We can often let go and he'll sit for a while before we have to catch him.  Though he also tries to sit up in his little chair and swing so we now have to belt him in because he's almost fallen forward a couple of times.

In just the past couple of weeks Ethan has gotten much better at his eye-hand coordination.  He can actually get his pacifier back in his mouth (though I must say, that he often gets a bunch of fingers in there too or gets it in upside down and makes himself mad) and can hold toys in his mouth.  This helps when we go on our walks so that he can hold his cold teething toys to lick on rather than Momma having to prop them up on his mouth!

Unfortunately I can't tell all of you that Ethan is sleeping through the night yet.  We were SO close!  He was sleeping nine hours with only every other night waking up and crying for ten minutes.  Then he got sick and now Momma's lucky if he'll sleep three hours without waking up and needing to be rocked back to sleep.  His cough wakes him up and then he can't relax on his own to fall back asleep, so I have to rock him until he's asleep.  Ah well, maybe next month!

Bathtime is still a joyous part of the day.  He's finally gotten used to having water put on his skin and has begun kicking his feet in the water.  He splashes all over and then stretches out and then splashes again.  Smiling all the way!  It is so much fun to watch!

Ethan's all-time favorite toy is now his toes!  He LOVES to kick his feet up and grab on.  Usually it is really cute to watch, though it does make some things harder like changing diapers, strapping him in the car seat, picking him up. 

All-in-all Ethan is a joy and delight.  God has truly blessed us with two wonderful boys! 

More Summer Fun

Here are a few more pictures and videos from our summer happenings.  One afternoon I came downstairs to find all three boys playing ball.  Ethan was the tee!  He thought it was great fun.

 

Here's them in action.

Caleb really enjoyed his VBS experience at church this year.  What a fun week filled with great activities.  They even had goofy days like "crazy sock day" and "silly hat day".  The last day was "crazy hair day".  It took some thinking to come up with something for our short-haired boy to do on such short notice.  In the end we spiked his hair with gel and then covered it with baby powder. He thought it was so funny that his hair "smoked" all morning!

And now you can hear "Old Man Caleb".

Though normally not interested in helping out with baby tasks, one week Caleb was fascinated in helping.  He wanted to hold Ethan and rock him and here he's trying to feed him.  Ethan did not think this was a good idea and kept looking at Momma like, "When are you going to rescue me?"  It was really funny at church when we sat with Kati's aunt and uncle and Kati mentioned that we'd be able to pass the baby off to Aunt Natalie.  Caleb thought this was a game and wanted his turn at "Pass the Baby".  Though he didn't want to hold Ethan long, he thought Aunt Natalie took way too long on her turn!

Evenings are really hard in our house and one such evening when it was raining outside Ethan wanted to be held AND walked around and Caleb wanted to be read to, so Momma carried Ethan around while reading a book to Caleb who thought it was a fun game of "follow the leader" and decided to get his own book and shadow Momma.

Mike LOVES watching cooking shows and really enjoys "plating" and doing creative things in the kitchen.  A couple of days he got really creative and surprised Caleb with this breakfast face.

And a pancake dog complete with bacon leash.

Caleb enjoying his meal.

And beautiful fruit flowers made out of strawberries, pineapple, and grapes.

Isn't Ethan a cutie?  He is showing off the outfit Grandma Jan got for him that he can finally wear.

Look at those adorable feet!

Chick-fil-A does an annual "Cow Appreciation Day" where anyone who dresses up as a cow gets a full chicken sandwich combo meal free!  What a deal!  Here the boys are dressed in their cow gear.

Momma's three handsome men!

Ethan's practicing his flexibility and grabbing his toes.  He hasn't quite made them to his mouth yet, but that's coming soon!

Ethan at Four Months

Ethan is such a special part of our family!  Every month I think he's simply adorable, and then the next month he seems to top himself and become even MORE adorable!  Maybe his sweet personality is just endearing him to us more every month!  Though, I must say, every nurse and doctor who saw him at his check-up made comment about how cute he was, so it's not just a mother's love! :)

He's started grabbing and holding onto toys even better this month.  Some of his favorite things to hold onto are his holey football, his burp cloths that are also very tasty, and his pacifier (which then makes him mad because he can't quite get it back into his mouth!)  Caleb loves that Ethan can hold his finger.  I often hear, "Ethan's holding my finger Momma!  He loves me the best."  To which I respond, "It must be because you're such a good big brother!"  Both boys are definitely in love with one another and I love to watch it!  Ethan still abhors "tummy time" and refuses to work on those arm muscles, but LOVES to be in a sitting position and is getting stronger all the time at trying to do it himself.  This is probably because he always has to be in the midst of the action.  So much so that he does not like sitting in his little chair on the floor at mealtimes, but would rather sit ON the table in his little chair to be right there with us!

I know all the parenting books say that when your child wants to talk to you, no matter what time, that a good parent will listen and build that communication bond.  Unfortunately, Ethan has decided that 2am is the best time to talk to Momma.  He smiles and talks and talks and talks!  Momma would just like to feed him and go back to bed!  I guess it is better than his newest favorite thing...complaining!  He has this little whine that he is perfecting.  He must know how much it grates on my nerves!  We have found that a good "fix" to the fussing is going outside and have begun a nightly ritual of going on a family walk after dinner.  Though this gives Daddy and Momma some exercise and gets both boys outside some, it sure is HOT here in Houston!  I am not looking forward to August! :)

All-in-all Ethan is a very happy baby who loves to socialize.  No matter how tired he is, if someone else smiles at him his first response is to smile right back!  In fact if he's fussing if I can smile big at him in-between a fuss and get his attention he'll smile at me before returning to the complaining! 

Our latest struggle is sleep.  Ethan WAS sleeping 7-9 hours at night and napping three times a day, but the naps were only when being held and rocked.  So we thought we would "cure" him of being held and managed to royally mess up his sleep schedule!  He was going to sleep only an hour after being awake and then sleeping only 15-30 minutes and then repeating.  Which wouldn't be too bad, but then he started thinking nighttime started earlier and earlier every night!  He was beginning to start his long sleep at three in the afternoon and now will only sleep six hours before waking at night!  We decided to revert back to what we were doing previously, read the "expert" sleep book recommended by most, and then try again!  Hopefully by next month I can tell you he's sleeping great at both naptime and night! :)

We have all loved having Daddy home now that it's summertime!  Ethan loves to watch his Daddy do just about anything and will follow him all around the room with his eyes and head!  I just know that when he becomes mobile he'll be Daddy's little shadow!  Speaking of being mobile, even though Ethan isn't mobile yet  we'll put him to bed and come in later to find him moved anywhere from 45 to 90 degrees!  Not quite sure how he's doing it, but it's pretty funny.

Ethan's best accomplishment this month is giggling!  He has the BEST giggle!  He will giggle when tickled, when surprised, and sometimes just because Caleb has done something that tickles his funny bone.  His laugh is very contagious!  It just makes you want to laugh along and do anything to get another one!

We thank God for our sweet little boy and love watching his personality grow more and more each month!  He is such a blessing to us! 

The Summer Begins

We've been a lot busier than the June pictures represent, but it's really hard to remember to take pictures when you're doing the things you want pictures of!  While Daddy was at his end-of-the-year meetings one morning, the boys and I watched a movie.  Caleb and Momma were still in their jammies, even!  I love this photo of BOTH boys enamored by the TV!  Yes, even baby Ethan LOVES television.  Daddy passed down his TV-loving gene to both boys!  Ethan will even talk to the people he sees on the screen.  Sometimes we even have to turn it up because Ethan is so animated!  It's really funny!

I've mentioned how much Ethan likes to talk.  Unfortunately, whenever I get the camera out to film it, he just stares at the camera and stops talking.  Here's a LITTLE of what we hear all day long!

One last time in the travel bed...Sigh!  Ethan has already outgrown it!  He likes to move his head to the top and then wakes up.  Time for the larger crib.

Before I put it away, Caleb wanted a turn trying out the travel bed.  I love the "disgusted" look on Ethan's face.  I can almost hear him saying, "Really, Caleb!  You are WAY too big for that!"

Here Caleb is "sleeping" in the bed!

Mike and Kati are working on losing those extra pounds this summer.  One of the changes we've made is evening exercise.  We usually go out for a family walk with Caleb in the wagon and Ethan in the stroller.  I am not complaining at all, but we have had several days of rain and couldn't go out for a walk.  So we played Wii bowling as a family.  It was Caleb's first experience with the Wii and he LOVED it!  (Of course!)  He never wants to go for a walk anymore, he'd just rather play Wii games.

A side benefit with walking every night is that the time after dinner is Ethan's fussiest of the day and being outside walking keeps him calm.  He was not so calm staying in the house and someone had to hold him the whole evening.  It is definitely an added challenge to "bowl" holding a baby!

Caleb never could get the rhythm down on how to release the button  and swing the remote!  He kept "throwing" the ball back at the players. 

Here's Caleb bowling.

Even Ethan got a try!  He was a little confused when everyone cheered at two pins being knocked down, but he seemed to enjoy himself.

And here's Ethan bowling!

Ethan loves, loves, loves sitting up.  The bumbo chair is so nice so Momma doesn't have to hold him that way all the time!  He will be one happy camper when he can sit up all his own.

Blowing raspberries is so much fun!  I'm so glad I could catch him in the act!

Here's what they sound like in case you were wondering.  (Sorry our videos are a little dark.  Now that the new patio has a completed roof our living room is a lot darker during the day.  Definitely a plus in keeping the house cool in the hot summer, though not so good for videos and photos!!)

Caleb's friend, Ian, came over for several visits in June to give his Momma and his new baby brother a little break.  One day we filled up the pool so the boys could swim.  They had a BLAST!!  Caleb thought it was great to have someone in the pool with him.  He and Ian took turns with the water hose as the pool was filling up.

The boys decided to practice their beginning swimming skills.

What a fun time!

May Days

The month of May was very busy for us, but here are some pictures to finish it out.  One Special Caleb Activity was to try and make flavored ice cubes.  These are supposed to encourage water drinking (which our family needs to do more of).  We made strawberry, blueberry, watermelon, and chocolate.  They were all horrible.  I guess it's just plain water for us!

One morning we decided to spend some time outside and thought Ethan may like sitting in his little chair better than the stroller.  Sure enough!  He LOVED being able to watch Caleb play and be outside at the same time.  What a smiley baby!

Caleb working on his masterpieces.  Momma drew some with him too, though every time she'd finish Caleb would have to add lines to her picture!



Caleb made sure to keep checking on Ethan as we were playing so he'd feel a part of the action as well.

Amazing that my four-year old can fit in this baby Bumbo seat!  He thought it was so fun to sit in Ethan's chair and pretend to be a baby.  Though he did have to "fall over" and roll out of it when he was done because he would get stuck!

"It's so much fun when big brother wants to play with me!"

Here's a little video of the action...

Another Special Caleb Activity was playing in the crazy sprinkler one morning.  Caleb had a blast and Ethan and I enjoyed watching from the sidelines!

Our last Special Caleb Activity for the month included coloring rice to make an alphabet "look and find" out of a water bottle and alphabet confetti.  Shaking the food coloring on the rice was a lot of fun!