Happy Days!

It's still May! I have a few more hours to get in a second post of the month!

We've been having a busy but fun time. The weather has finally improved, and we've been outside as much as possible. After my whining on Facebook about the Champaign Park District scheduling an awesome Touch a Truck opportunity during the day when I'm at work, I found an event in Savoy that allowed kids the opportunity to do the exact same thing. Here is a very happy Ethan climbing around a fire truck:

We also had Memorial Day off, so we made plans to meet at the park with some of Ethan's friends. Here is Nara leading Ethan to our car (sort of). Ethan was asking for her to hold his hand again when she finally let go and had to head home in her own car. :) My hope is to show him this picture again in 20 years when they're dating and planning to get married.
Ethan is also a big enough boy now that he has moved to the next classroom at daycare. You'd think he was graduating from Harvard with the way we prepped him for it. We talked about it for weeks, he went for visits to the class, and talked about all of the fun toys when I picked him up. (Apparently they have some super fun car set up where the cars go down ramps again and again. He's in heaven.) Absolutely no problems today - he pushed me out the door, took a great nap, he even tried to use the potty! Wow. A growing up boy.

He is also talking in full sentences right now. Last year at this time he wouldn't say a word. Still no pointing or waving or signing even though I was desperately trying to communicate! Some of my favorites lately are:
1. "You not funny, Mama. Just Ethan." Which of course made me laugh even more...
2. "I do not want to go to school!" Oh, sweetie, it's a little early in your life for that one.
3. And this morning's breakfast conversation:
Ethan: "I want jam."
Alexis: "On a roll or on toast?"
Ethan: "No roll. No toast. Jam."
Alexis: "Honey, we can't just eat jam by itself."
Ethan: "Jam with a spoon."
Alexis, getting a little exasperated: "No, Ethan, no jam on a spoon."
Ethan: "Yes! Yes, jam! Not no, just yes!"

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers! I, personally, had a great one. I pulled the Mother's Day card to sleep in until 7:00 today, which is a serious luxury in our household these days. If you aren't one of my Facebook friends, you don't know that I considered the possibility of selling (or at least renting) my adorable son if he were to escape from his new big boy bed too early in the morning. While he hasn't entered our rooms in the middle of the night, it's still way earlier than usual, and this weekend he decided that the new bed wasn't acceptable for napping. (And that is not acceptable to his parents.) Ethan still desperately needs that nap (and so do his parents) - he was miserable Friday afternoon and evening, Saturday afternoon and evening, and most of Sunday morning. Luckily, we convinced him to take a short nap today, which may have saved him from getting his cute little picture posted on Ebay or Craigslist.

Part of the enjoyment of Mother's Day came from my sister's visit - she completely surprised my mother and flew in from New Mexico for the weekend. Yea! So she and Mr. Ethan got to spend lots of time together. We went to the Little Gym (which Anda could really appreciate, having been a gymnast), we had fun at the park together, everyone came over for brunch this morning, and then we got to hang out for dinner tonight, too. Ethan had a blast with Auntie Anda. :)
Poor Ethan, though, had a rough weekend the rest of the time. Besides dealing with toddler sleep deprivation, he is heading back to daycare with several more bumps and bruises than he left with Thursday afternoon. Saturday, he collided really hard with another little boy at the gym, after which I said, "Oh, he was just surprised," after he burst into tears - Ethan rarely cries when he gets hurt. No, he really got clocked by this other boy. He still has bruises on his cheek, poor kid. Then this morning, he cracked his head on the corner of our table. "He's tired, " I said, when he started bawling again. No, again, he was really hurt. A bruise on his ear and a bump right behind it. Last but not least, he fell on the way to the park. "Just a scratch," I said, before I picked him up and got blood all over my shirt from his knee and elbow. Lots of ow-ies.