FUN TIMES

Daddy & Me time...

Always goofing around!

20.5 months

A new take on "so big."

I was going through all the baby clothes and reorganizing. Daddy thought it would be fun to try on some old clothes. the sweatshirt is a 12M while the pants are 2T (what he is wearing right now). As inspired by the Klinge family blog - where did the baby go? :)

The real one's are so much more fun!

Pudding goatee - with the look we get oh so often these days!

SATURDAY MORNINGS

On our way to the Farmer's Market Saturday morning. He always keeps us entertained :)

20 months

Noooo Mommy (I was trying to give him a kiss/pose for a picture)

HAHAHAHA GOTCHA!

WHAT'S GOIN' ON...

Well, we are back again! The back to school rush is over and things are finally back to what we consider "normal" - for the time being, that is. Mike, Ethan, and I are ready to enjoy our 3 day weekend with some close family bonding. I'm sure we won't want to return to work on Tuesday!!! We are hoping to enjoy this beautiful weather this weekend - Farmers Market in DSM on Saturday morning and then a picnic at the park for lunch - we won't bring Maggie to clean up the mess, I'm sure we will go ahead and feed the ducks instead (Ethan is sort of obsessed with "quack quacks" and "bob-bob" (Spongebob) right now). We will see what the rest of the weekend brings - probably household projects! Here's what's going on with us...

Current Mike Dean DIY House Project: refacing the fireplace with slate tiles

Current Heather Dean organization project: cleaning and inventory-ing Ethan's closet

Current Ethan Dean project: go through his toy box and leave toys everywhere

Today's Major Purchase: We re-bought our house (we completed our mortgage refinance this afternoon)

Next Major Purchase: Dishwasher (our current model is apparently setting kitchens on fire)

Scheduled vacation: Mike and Heather to Las Vegas in November (Ethan to Grandma & Grandpa's)

Scheduled fall activities: CYCLONE FOOTBALL!

Ethan's new discovery: Climbing on top of the dining room table and point to each light bulb in the light fixture and yelling "BALL-BALL-BALL"

Mommy and Daddy's new discovery: cleaning up REAL kid puke for the first time. Wow, not quite sure how he could generate that much for such a little guy.

Ethan's new trick: real kisses and "eeeeezzzz" ("please", although he doesn't say it quite enough yet!)

I will try to be back to the blog sometime later this weekend with updated "20 month" pictures!

LITTLE GUY, BIG PERSONALITY

All grown up! He has even learned how to put mommy's flip flops on correctly and walk in them!

Despite is shoe walking abilities, he has yet to master walking (well, running) barefoot. Yep, huge bruise on his forehead - I think he learned it's heads up when you are running in the house - or better yet - no running in the house!

19 months

The whole gang about to make their trip up the stairs to bed. Oh, what an adventure EVERY night.

How can you resist that face?!?!? :)

This is actually supper one night - no, he isn't suffering from my cooking, he just didn't get a nap that day! And yes, he is wearing a 5 year old little GIRL's basketball t-shirt because he got so dirty playing at daycare that day. In the winter time he will come home with pink stripe socks!

MORE ADVENTURES

BIG HUGS! Maggie isn't much of a hugger, but she sure does let her lil' bro do pretty much whatever he wants!

Ethan got to spend a day with Natalie and Brody for lots of fun and FOOD! The face - frosting. The hands - a squished cupcake. The tummy - happy! :)

Natalie was brave enough to let the boys finger paint with dyed vanilla pudding. They had a blast and the finished work is a true masterpiece!

19 months

YUMMMMM

DINNER TIME

Mmmm - sweet corn! Definitely a homegrown Iowa boy!

So sleepy...but don't touch my sippy cup!!!

18 months

TP DISCOVERY

Every kid has to have their toilet paper moment...

Uh-oh, I better put it back... oh no, how did this work?

Oh, what's this thing? (he had just thrown a piece of TP in the toilet - then he waved when we flushed it)

18 months

IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS...

We headed to Spencer this past weekend - it's getting more and more interesting each time we travel with Ethan. This trip he was quite entertained with Mommy's empty cup from the gas station. Take the straw out, MAMAMA (Mom needs to hold the cup), then put the straw in, hand the cup to Ethan, and repeat.

Then when Ethan decided the previous game was done, he figured out that if you hold it by the straw and swing it back and forth, you can get some good distance on flinging the cup and being left with just the straw...yet another Christmas/birthday idea - plastic cup and straw.

So tuckered out he could barely make it in the front door! He literally came inside with Mike, laid down, and fell right to sleep. Mike had to push his legs in the house. Turns out, the poor baby didn't feel very well - his 2 year molars are coming in...

Still asleep even after we tried waking him up from the rug and sat him up on the couch. His head just bobbed up and down and side to side. That is one thing about Ethan, when he is tired, there is no waking him up!

18 months

ANOTHER DAY

Hanging out with my crackers and bling!

Ethan and Maggie watching Bob-Bob (Spongebob) on a Saturday morning. On non-Saturday mornings, we are very thankful for DVR and Spongebob when someone is crabby or needs to unwind! Otherwise, he doesn't get to watch much TV...

My favorite little boy in the entire world... he was actually saying cheese in this picture. :)

18 months

SUMMER FUN/NOT-SO-FUN CONTINUES

This past weekend was Ankeny's SummerFest. There are many activities including a carnival, beer garden with concerts, the Saturday morning parade, fireworks, and much more. We were able to attend the parade on Saturday morning - we came home with a bag full of candy and enjoyed popsicles and bottled water while at the parade. We had great curbside seats thanks to some friends who went out to put a tarp down at 6:30 that morning! As for the other events, we didn't get a chance to get out - we were sure to take things a little easy this weekend...

As for the not-so-fun...we had to take a trip to the urgent care clinic on Friday afternoon. Ethan had a severe allergic reaction to sunblock. The kid wears sunscreen everyday, but our daycare had run out of the norm, and used something different - who knew?! So....."severe" means his throat and potentially his tongue were swelling (he was coughing continuously like water went down the wrong pipe). Thankfully, our daycare provider has experience with allergies and asthma attacks, so she knew exactly what was going on. She called me right away at work and thankfully Mike had just gotten into town from work, so we could get Ethan to the doctor within 15 minutes of this happening. After 2 emergency allergy shots and 2 hours of monitoring at the clinic, we were able to go home! Not fun, but given the circumstances, it's best that we know and that everyone is ok (even Mom and Dad!).

Ethan watching the parade in Levi's car chair...he made his rounds, back and forth throughout the duration.

One float was handing out little sport bottles of water - Ethan could care less about the candy, he was loving his "juice."

Ethan with Levi at the 2010 SummerFest Parade

Ethan with Daddy - it looks like Daddy snagged a Popsicle for himself! Oh, and some floats were handing out bead necklaces - Ethan has about 6 now and loves to wear them all at once!

Ethan with Mom enjoying his orange popsicle which, yes, some ended up on Mommy's khakis! But, he doesn't like to eat the ice part, he just likes the juice part!

18 months

18 MONTH CHECKUP

Today was Ethan's 18 month checkup...

Weight: 32 lbs., 4 oz. (97th percentile)

Height: 34" (92nd percentile)

Head Circumference: 19.25" (89th percentile)

Our last checkup until he turns 2!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

It's been a rainy day here in central Iowa, so we have been enjoying inside activities. First off, we didn't get out of bed until 10AM - then we picked up/cleaned before lunch. Daddy bought sweet corn and we had that for lunch - YUM! We are preparing for some friends to come over for round 2 of sweet corn and dinner, then off to Ames for the fireworks (if the rain clears).

A BIG lunch for Ethan - he got to sit at the table like a big boy and he got to eat Iowa Sweet Corn for the first time in his life (he didn't have teeth last year!). We didn't quite trust him with the ear of corn itself, especially with the innocent terror in the background (ah-em, Maggie...)

The 2nd big activity of the day - nap time! Mommy doesn't typically rock-a-bye, but he was really wound up today. If we do rock-a-bye, we need the following: Hippo, Curious George, Woody, Cy, blanket (specifically the blue and pink one we need to return to Grandma Marie's house), the pillow (it fell off when he climbed up - see the left of the picture), and of course, Mommy and Ethan. Then we need to situate everyone once Ethan is on my lap. Yeah, this lasted about 3 minutes before I finally said - ok, get in your bed! He did...but we have to get everyone situated again! See why he wears me out?!?!?!?!

SUMMER FUN

We went to the Ankeny Splash Park to start off our 4th of July weekend.

He really liked filling up the bucket and pouring it on himself or mommy's legs.

Ethan was thirsty...but he was too tired to hold on to the actual sippy cup. He put the cup in the bucket than drank away. The things he thinks of....

18 months

Ethan playing t-ball in the front yard...

Swing batter...he sort of has it figured out!

18 months

TRIP TO THE GRANDPARENTS HOUSE

Ethan playing with Grandpa Tom's train from when he was little, Mommy played with it too when she was little.

Ethan is holding the ladder for Grandpa Tom. What a helper :)

Almost 17 months.

SURVIVAL MODE

Ok, ok, ok....I know - if I did blogging for a living, I would be fired! It's been a very busy month with both of our jobs, unfortunately, needing to come before our family. We've been in survival mode...so, our extra time is spent with life necessities. We have a little bit of time off for the 4th of July, so we are hoping to wind down and enjoy life again!

To pick up from last time....Ethan spent a week at Grandpa and Grandma's - I'll post some pictures above from Grandma Marie. Once we got back to work/daycare after that vacation, Grandma Marie returned quickly that next weekend for a conference, and extended her stay to watch Ethan while Mike and I enjoyed some time together for our 5 year anniversary! We just went out to Red Lobster and played mini-golf, but hey, it was nice to remember what it was like just the 2 of us!

We had a pretty low-key father's day. Daddy wanted to go to Taco Casa in Des Moines - and yes, it is the EXACT same food as the Taco House in Okoboji. After that we made a special trip to the Woodsmith Store (the super high-end hardware store) - Ethan stayed content with the bird feeder that looked like an ice cream sundae. Then, as all father's days should end, we took a nap.

Last weekend, Mike's parents visited us. Friday night we headed out to dinner and Old Navy - in which we looked at Toy Story t-shirts for Ethan. Mike and I each held up a t-shirt and asked him which one he liked - what does our kid do? He takes both pointer fingers and points at each t-shirt at the same time. It was quite a good laugh! Saturday we headed to the DSM Farmer's Market before it got too hot and humid. Then that afternoon we went to Ethan's friend, Brody's, birthday party. They had a sprinkler and a pool setup, so Ethan dove right in! Then to wrap up the day, we played mini-golf with Grandma and Grandpa.

Now, we are approaching the 4th of July. Tonight we attended the downtown DSM fireworks - we have a prime spot at Mike's office building. Ethan acted a little scared initially, but then just pointed and yelled at the fireworks for the duration of the show! We plan to attend the Ames fireworks on the night of the 4th, so we get one more round of "pretties."

As for an update with Ethan....

His next doctor's appointment is Monday the 5th, so I will post his new "stats." He's really growing up - we are past the teething stage for now, in size 5 diapers, and is learning to communicate with us rather well. I had a REAL conversation with Ethan the other day, it's those moments that make me stop in my tracks and wonder where my baby went!

His big things are - juice!, mamamamamamamamamamamaa (mama, I want m&m's or whatever other junk food he can see), where go? (playing peek-a-boo or saying bye-bye), and the ever infamous BALL! He is also very good (and entertained) with peek-a-boo - he doesn't quite get that when you uncover your eyes you are supposed to say boo...he says it as he covers his eyes and then says "where go?" as he continues to cover his eyes. Silly kid. He also learned to salute this week - he puts his hand in the "pecking" position, pokes himself in the eye (not hard), and shoots his hand forward like a salute. He just grins and giggles when he does it.

I'll be back throughout the weekend to post pictures....

MEMORIAL DAY 2010 (PART 2)

A nice snooze for the way home!

Ethan with Curious George

Driving Grandpa Tom's truck. He really enjoys the REAL toys in life!

almost 17 months

MEMORIAL DAY 2010

Memorial Day Weekend

Ethan spent all last week with Grandma Marie and Grandpa Tom - giving Mike and I a week off from parenthood. It was nice but we still managed to go, go, go while Ethan was away. Oh well, we will get a break in about 20 years or so! And for those of you that may be wondering - NO we are not planning to have another kid for a while (if we even have another - we will take toddlerhood one kid at a time!).

Mike and I joined Ethan in Spencer last Thursday evening. He was most excited to see Maggie :( priorities! Mike then worked all weekend with his family for the Avenue of Flags organization that his Grandpa Dean started in the 60's. Mike's uncle Doug created some excitement with a not-so-fun heart attack on Friday - he is doing much better and is home now. Doug we love you - go eat your wheat bread and take a damn nap already!

On Monday (Memorial Day), we put up about 1300 flags in the cemeteries in Spencer. Then at the end of the day, we took them all down! Definitely a great workout and a great community service project.

We tried to leave our long weekend on a good note of Taco House for lunch today (Tuesday) but ended up getting it to-go (which still counts!) and rushed back to Spencer to take shelter during a tornado warning. No tornado or damage, but it made for an interesting route back to Ankeny to avoid all the storms heading into Iowa. We made it home just in time for the round of severe storms hitting our area. Currently we are in a severe t-storm warning and there have been a handful of tornado warnings to our west, so it should be an interesting evening!

Back to work and daycare first thing tomorrow! Thank goodness for a short week!

Ethan and Grandma Nancy with the Clay County Fair pig outside of the Avenue of Flags Building

almost 17 months

Being goofy and saying 'hi' to everyone at the Flag Building

A traditional Johnson nap that could not wait until after he was finished with Sunday dinner!

4 generations - Great Grandpa Jerry Dean's Flag, Grandpa Rick Dean,

Dad Mike Dean, and Little Guy Ethan Dean

Play us a tune Ethan! It actually didn't sound half bad, but then again, I am his proud mommy!

KIDDO IS GROWING UP

Ethan has decided that he does not want to sleep in his crib anymore. He likes to sleep in his rocking chair. Sigh...we have since taken the mattress out of the crib and laid it on the floor - doesn't really matter though. We will be upgrading to a toddler bed soon.

16.5 months

Having breakfast with Maggie in the kennel.

Playing in his sandbox - he doesn't ever want to come back inside! For the record, Maggie does not like the sandbox. :)

RANDOMS

Anyone need gift ideas? Ethan rather enjoys dog kennels, especially his cousin-dog Dakota's kennel!

16 months

He's a pro at the Wheel :)