Night at the Museum

Every year, my mom's work has a special night at the Children's Museum in which the museum stays open, after it has closed to the public, just for the people at her work. So, my parents, my brother, Jonathan, Ethan, and I all went out to the museum Saturday night. Here's an overview of what we did.

The first thing we did when we got there was travel to Egypt where Ethan rode the sphinx.

And wrestled a crocodile

He then rode down the snow slide with Daddy

After that, he got to sit on the reindeer

And after an hour of waiting in line to see Santa, Ethan got to sit on his lap and this is what he did the whole time...

After seeing Santa, Ethan did a news broadcast with Uncle Michael

And drove a race car with Mommy

He then crawled through an ant hill with Mommy and Daddy

He LOVED the big ball circuit that is run by gravity and simple machines

And he loved trying to play in the water

By the end of the night we were all exhausted. I know that Ethan is kind of young yet for the museum but I think that he had fun, and I know the rest of us did seeing everything through his eyes.

Facing Forward

Now that Ethan is over 20 lbs and almost 1 year old we decided to turn his car seat around. He had really started fussing a lot more in his car seat and we thought this might help. It really has made him much happier. He likes being able to see us and to see out the front window. Just one more thing that means he's no longer a baby. Here is a picture of him on Thanksgiving day on our way to Muncie.

(I think he was getting annoyed with me taking pictures at this point)

Big Boy PJs

He's just so darn cute in his new big boy pajamas and slippers that I had to take some pictures.

Hanging out with Daddy and Jellybean, watching Monk, before bed time

A Boy's Best Friend

Now that Ethan can crawl and sit and is overall much more playful, Jellybean and Ethan get along quite well. They love playing together, their favorite game being tug-of-war. Here are a couple of videos of what they typically do throughout the day.

It All Began...

A year ago, this past Wednesday was when it all began. Nov. 18, 2008 was the day I went to the doctors for a checkup and ended up in the hospital for pre-term labor at 24 weeks. That day I found out that I was having contractions, was 4 cm. dilated, and had a bulging bag. (sorry if that's too much information!) It's hard to believe that our journey began a year ago and it's so amazing how far God has brought us.

A few pictures of my 'home' for 2 weeks

A Day in the Life of Ethan

These are just a few videos that Jonathan took of Ethan being Ethan throughout the day. Just thought I would share! (sorry, the second one is kinda long)

Drummer Boy

When Ethan plays, he likes to dump all of his toys out of his toy bin and hit on it like he's playing the drums. Jonathan caught this yesterday.

He's Walking!...Kinda

Ethan's newest accomplishment is walking with help from a walker toy thing (not sure what they are called). He is so proud of himself and smiles really big when he does it. He's not quite fluid yet but he's getting there.

Bath Time Fun

Watching the tub fill

Reaching for anything that he sees

Such a cute smile!

"Where's all that water going?"

Trick or Treat!

Halloween was a day of firsts for Ethan. While I was getting ready and cleaning up the house a little bit, Ethan watched "The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" for the first time. I think he really enjoyed it!

Then, we went to the church for Trunk or Treat. Ethan dressed up like a turtle. He was by far the cutest turtle in the world! However, I don't think he quite caught on to the whole thing trick or treat thing. But, he did do a good job of holding his pumpkin. He held on to it the whole time until the very end when he finally dropped it. At least he figured out that the important thing was holding on to the candy even if he never figured out how or why he got the candy.

After walking around in the cold, we went into the gym where they had chili and soup for all the trick or treaters.

A HUGE first for the night was his first candy bar, a 3 Musketeers bar. He wasn't to sure at first but he sure loved it after the first bite. He kept looking at it and waiting for daddy to give him more.

After enjoying his first candy bar, Ethan was ready to do what he loves to do most, move. He immediately spotted a ball and went full speed after it. He definitely does not move at turtle speed.

He crashed in the car afterwards. Until his sugar buzz from the 3 Musketeers bar kicked in at home.

He also got to wear his Halloween pajamas for the first time (thanks Uncle Jacob and Jenn!) and after a picture in them it was off to bed. I think his first Halloween was a success!

Visitors

Last weekend, Aunt Bethany and Aunt Alicia came to see us. Ethan had a lot of fun showing off his new tricks and playing with them. He thinks they should move closer to Indianapolis.

Ethan and Aunt Alicia w/ a real smile!

Aunt Bethany giving raspberries