2 YEAR OLD STATS

Update.....

Ethan checked out great at his 2 year doctor's appointment - 36" tall and 33 lbs...and still growing! He has officially been released off of whole milk - which is nice to just have to buy one kind these days. The doctor also commented on his developmental skills - asking me, "he's really smart, isn't he?" I told her, that I thought so, but almost too smart - for his own good. She agreed and wished me luck surviving the terrible twos. We won't even talk about potty training. Ugh... I shouldn't complain - she has twins the same age!

In other Ethan news...he continues to talk up a storm - my personal favorite right now is "I Key Cone" (Ice Cream Cone) - he actually came up with this one on his own. There is an ice cream truck in one of his books and he flips out, tugs on my shirt until he has my 110% undivided attention (which sometimes is still not enough), and yells "I key cone" repeatedly until we are ready to move on to the next exciting thing, and we start all over! Another trademark of his these days is when he put something on his head - whether it is a hat, bucket, car, etc. - he says "ho-ho-ho, ho-ho-ho" apparently he just thinks he is Santa if he is wearing a hat/pretend hat.

So in the midst of wearing us out, being too smart for his own good, and silliness - he has almost mastered his ABC's. We read about them every night, and it's really cute to hear him go "ABCDE...", and just how he pronounces some of the letters...'B' is his favorite. I will try to get a video soon (we have had some download issues with videos lately).

I'll be back tomorrow to post some new pictures. I haven't had a chance to snap anything good lately...but I need to get a picture posted of our newest "family member" - the 46" TV Mike brought home a few weeks ago. Also, Ethan's big boy bed that he loves to jump on!

BOJI BIRTHDAY - THE END

In the end....

The ever lovely embarrassing picture they will hate me for in about 5-10 years!

Ethan (2), Kendra (4.5), Matayah (almost 7).

Well, you know Ethan is tired if he falls asleep eating pizza! Big day at the waterpark for the little guy!

Matayah (after staring at Ethan sleeping for awhile) asked her mom - why does Ethan get to sleep and I can't? So, of course, mom says - go ahead and lay down next to him. So she did - zonked out immediately. A while later Kendra asks her mom- why do they get to sleep and I can't? So again, Mom says, find a spot on the bed and lay down! This was about 6pm on Sunday night!

BOJI BIRTHDAY

Boji Splash Indoor Waterpark

Ethan went down this slide probably 50 times this weekend!

He eventually warmed up to a different set of slides...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan!

January 3rd - presents from Mom and Dad:

-Full size bed, including the accessories and Daddy's latest building project - a bed frame (not pictured, but will get that posted soon)

-Potty chair - which he likes to talk about but hates sitting on it

-New swimsuit for his birthday weekend in Okoboji

I think between Christmas and birthday we are set for the entire next year!

Mmmmm...cake! Or as Ethan calls it "Kiki" (translated as "cookie" and when we correct him to say "cake" he just says mmm-hmm).

Ah, Ethan's favorite meal. I think by the time he is 10, I should be able to publish an entire book of Ethan's spaghetti adventures! We missed the picture perfect moment where he decided to stop eating with his fingers/fork and planted his face into the bowl and started eating away. Never a dull moment!

Happy Birthday to You.... he did actually blow out his candle!

Family Birthday Party - January 16th - Bridges Bay Resort, Lake Okoboji

Opening presents was an adventure....he officially showed the family that he has turned '2' - the 'terrible 2'!

DAY OFF

Pre-birthday cake. Mommy's second attempt to have Ethan help with a baking project. All I wanted was for him to drop the M&M's on the cake. Yep, he just sat there and ate them!

Ah, the train set! Much bigger than we imagined, but lots of fun!

CHRISTMAS WITH THE JOHNSON'S

Christmas with the Johnson's - 2010

Ethan's new trike!

Buried in his stocking.

Daddy - peez! Choo-choo, peez!

Ethan's new chef gear!

CHRISTMAS WITH THE DEAN'S

Christmas with the Dean's - 2010

Santa's helpers passing out presents!

Sitting with Grandpa and has a death grip on our "favorite" Cowboy Santa toy! Thankfully, at some point, Grandpa found Santa's off button!

Matayah, Ethan, and Kendra

Tayah was sitting nice in the box...Ethan came by and reversed his way onto her lap. Ethan was comfy - Tayah got the giggles.

Yummmmm....Homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning breakfast!

MR. ETHAN HEAD

Buzz Lightyear playing with Mr. Potato head.

Silly kid - wearing Mr. Potato Head's glasses...

JUST FOR FUN

Iowa State Basketball game - Ethan did great...as long as he had popcorn in front of him! He ate 2 of those containers...well, maybe 1 1/2 - of course there was spillage! Oh, and Iowa State won!

Ethan and Mommy making Rice Krispie Bars - Ethan put the marshmallows in the pan...and that's it. He wasn't really into my 'crafty' thing for the day. Oh well, I went ahead and cut out bars with the Christmas cookie cutters anyways...a lot harder than you think!

'On Guard!' Ethan and Daddy 'fencing' with the empty wrapping paper rolls!

December 2010

FROSTY

Ethan was sitting nice and watching TV while Mike, my friend Mo, and I finished up our baking day. Ethan suddenly got up and put on his hat and gloves, crawled back on the couch and continued watching TV. Want to guess what was on?

Frosty the Snowman! Apparently it made Ethan cold watching it, or he was interested in getting into character to watch the program! The things this kid comes up with!

23 months

2010 ANNUAL HOLIDAY BAKING EXTRAVAGANZA

Friday Night....

Saturday morning into afternoon...

Mom...more please! Ethan was our helpful taste tester of each raw ingredient (he especially enjoyed oreos, chow mein noodles, pretzels, m&ms, and butterscotch chips). Ugh...this is going to be a rough couple of weeks - he LOVES "kiki's" (cookies). That and 'no' are his favorite words right now!

Daddy also had to taste test the ingredients to be sure they were consumable. In the end, he mixed all the leftover frosting together and made graham cracker sandwiches. It looks like brick and mortar (the frosting is a dark gray!).

Our variety arrangement of sugar cookies - Mike and Mo were the frosting pros, while I used my accessorizing skills to complete the masterpieces. For the record, each snowman has a different look on their faces to create different personalities! They wink, have their sunglasses on, eyes closed, etc.

These were a last minute fun decision - Spongebob and Patrick (no, Ethan hasn't seen them yet!). Each cookie must have their own personality, it makes them that much more fun to eat!

Saturday night - 20 containers of sugar cookies, porcupines, oreo truffles, peanut butter star cookies, peanut butter balls, pretzel wreaths, haystacks, cheesecake bars...what a day! We even survived the all day blizzard warning - oh, it's cold out!

And no post is complete without the real entertainer of the day...

RIP CAMERA

My deepest apologies are in order for not keeping the blog up to date this past month. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, my loving son decided to collect all sorts of goodies around the house, place them in a bag that he found, and the next morning mommy found wrappers, toys, my camera, and his milk sippy from supper the night before. Needless to say, the sippy leaked (gross) and my camera was sitting in a pool of sour milk. R.I.P 5 year old Canon Powershot - you were good to me! Luckily, this incident hit right before Black Friday, so my very loving husband found the brand new Canon Powershot on a hot deal at Best Buy. It even takes HD movies, so be watching for new and improved (that is, as long as the operator can handle it!). Enjoy the new postings, and I should be back next weekend! Happy Holidays!!!

HOLIDAY PARTY

More Holiday Fun - INVISION Family Christmas Party

Another visit with Santa. He actually gave Ethan a gift this time - a Buzz lightyear lego car thing - He loves it! The office also gave all the kids a gaming card, so Ethan got to play lots of fun things!

I'll throw this one in just cuz he's cute! 23 months old!

SANTA AND CY

Holiday Fun - at the Iowa State University Book Store!

Polar Express Story Time with Santa! Ethan has the Santa thing down - who is that Ethan? 'Tanta - HoHoHo" (usually whispers it). Definitely NOT afraid!

UBS Winter Open House - Mike and Ethan visited Mommy at work that night. Cy made a visit, and Ethan is also NOT afraid of Cy! Who is that Ethan? 'Guy - Go Co-cones!' (as he fist pumps in the air!). Lots of figh fives to Santa and Cy!

Holding Cy's hand along with his popcorn. Our good friend Rita (the director of UBS - my boss, and self-proclaimed 'Aunt' to Ethan) cut to the front of the line of people for Ethan to get a picture with Cy!

BLACK FRIDAY WEEKEND

Mike takes black Friday pretty seriously....and so does his son.  Heather?  Nope, I will pay extra for stuff just to get my regular sleep.

Daddy purchased the 5lb paper for all the black Friday ads - Ethan helped in the hunt for good deals! Mike and Jon headed out shopping 12midnight-8AM around Ankeny. Ethan, Jess, and I stayed home and slept like normal people!

Ethan helped mommy with online shopping - she likes Cyber Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday much better than black Friday!

Christmas Decorating - Thanksgiving Weekend

Curious George helping Daddy get everything assembled!

Ethan was the big man in charge of putting the star on the tree. He still points at it to tell us 'star'! He also thinks the stocking are actual stockings, and tries to put them on his feet...we keep telling him that he doesn't have a clue of what is about to happen here in a couple weeks. Mom and Dad might be a little more excited for Christmas than Ethan!

Helping Daddy with the beaded garland...so pretty! We are still working on not touching the Christmas tree - he is doing pretty good, nothing is broken (yet). But, I did put Santa, Cy, Charlie Brown (with Sally and Snoopy), Dora and friends - all at Ethan's eye level to enjoy!