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!

Pirates and Painting

Ever since receiving a Veggie Tales pirate ship and characters for Christmas, Caleb has LOVED playing pirates!  Sadly for Momma, Caleb is enamored by the bad guys and always wants to be the villain.  Hopefully "good will prevail" and he'll have a change of heart soon! :)  One week's "Special Caleb Activity" was a treasure hunt for Pirate Caleb.  He even dressed up to go hunting!

Here he is "reading" the second half of the treasure map that he had to follow.

"X" marks the spot!  Pirate Caleb found the treasure!

Here's a little video of the outcome.  Though Momma worked hard on creating this little game, Caleb was actually not interested in doing it OR in eating the spoils.  Not sure if he was just tired from his nap or what!  It did make me feel better when he wanted to play again and again later.

Eating the treasure!

Here is our sweet boy praying for us!  He can often be found with his hands "folded".

Here Caleb is reading a story to Ethan while Ethan looks on in brotherly admiration.

Kati's friend, Mary (and Caleb's godmother) came for a short visit.  It was GREAT to be able to spend some time with her and catch up.  She was also a huge help holding Ethan and entertaining Caleb while Kati and Mike got dinner together and a few chores around the house.  Thanks so much Mary!

Mike took his annual trip to Washington D.C. with his eighth graders this last week.  As a Special Caleb Activity and a treat for Daddy, we painted him a welcome home sign.  Caleb used his feet to paint the sign.  What a funny feeling between the toes!

This is what "smile at the camera" looks like to our four-year-old!

Completed sign in anticipation of Daddy's return.  (Kati and Ethan even got their footprints on the sign too!)

One of my favorite times of the day is lunchtime when it coincides with Ethan's "happy time" and Caleb's mealtime.  Ethan will sit in his little chair and watch Caleb intently and coo and talk to him.  He gives Caleb the BIGGEST smiles when Caleb actually looks at him or talks to him.  Ethan just adores his big brother!

A little tummy-time.  We can't stay this way for too long because Ethan is not a fan of being on his tummy.  I have to take the picture quick!

Here's Ethan rolling from back to side.  He won't roll all the way over, though!

G.G. (Caleb and Ethan's Great-Grandma and Kati's Grandma) came for a wonderful visit.  Both boys were excited to see her and Caleb loved showing her how to play some of his games.  Thanks for sharing some time with us!