Conversations with Cade...

Cade was repeatedly saying "Bum" in some sort of sentence and I told him I did not want to hear that word again and if I did I would smack his bottom. He was jumping around naked after drying from the tub, this conversation follows...

CADE - "Ouch I have buzzy bees stinging my bum!"
ME - "Cade! I have told you not to say word, come here so I can smack your bottom!"
CADE - "Ok, but not too hard"
Then he pokes his naked bum out for me to smack it. It was an awkward angle to smack at as I was dressing Ethan at the time too so the smack was pretty lame.
CADE - "Oh, that wasn't too bad!"
ME - "Want me to do it again?"
CADE - "NO!"

I had to walk away so I wouldn't laugh! He has a fascination with saying, poop, bum, boobies and cracks himself up each time he says it. Tell me this is age appropriate.

Boy vs Girl

Which is easier to raise....

I read this article today and it made me think of all the times with friends and family where this discussion has come up. Just the other week a girlfriend and I were were getting manis and pedis and the guy doing my nails asked me the same question, do I think boys are harder to raise than girls... It was an interesting conversation considering my friend has 2 girls and I have 2 boys...

It was interesting to read others responses on the site and it begs the question... what do you think?

9 months

It's funny to think now that 9 months of this little man inutero went so much slower than 9 months with him here.

Ethan is growing, growing which was a bit of a surprise to his Dr as he was very anemic in his blood draw today. I thought it was strange too considering he is eating meats (in baby food form) and on iron fortified formula now, but he now has to take supplimental iron for a couple of months until he is anemia free. She said it could very well be genetic and I did suffer from anemia alot as a child and in my early teenage years.

Ethan is 20lb 5oz (50th percentile), 29 1/2 inches long (80th percentile) and has a big noggin at 46.8cm (85th percentile). He is doing great, apart from being anemic. The Dr said it will be interesting to see if his sleeping habits get better once the anemia is controlled, we'll see I guess.

Not alot has changed since last month developmentally except that he has started to squeal and communicates his frustration and want for food or other things we might have. He had his first Christmas and loved every minute of it. He was such a good boy all day. Loved his presents and his brothers presents too!

We just love this beautiful blue eyed boy. He is always getting compliments on his 'big deep blue eyes' and we sure love him to bits.

Ethan 7 Months

Had to share that Ethan boy is now 7 months old. Today he had his first haircut and it was needed. It was bittersweet though, him losing his 'crazy professor' hair. No more comb over for this little man. He did fantastic, was so, so good about it. No pictures as I was holding him while he was getting it cut and daddy was getting his hair cut at the same time.

Cade, at the same time was filling his pants with pee and poop!! ARGH. He has done so very well. Went poop yesterday on the potty for the first time. We went out of town for the afternoon, no accidents and he was letting us know when he needed to go to the potty and he even slept with big boy undies on all night and woke dry. Then today... oh well, what can you do?? He is back on the band wagon and doing well.

Ethan at 7 months is still a delight. He is doing better at night, a lot better, but I hope not to jinx myself with that statement. He is trying to self ween from breast feeding and I don't know how I feel about that. He was always so good about it but lately I seem to not be satisfying him as I use to. Not sure what the go is there, but I will persevere. He loves his food. Breakfast and dinner he has baby food and he just gobbles it up. He still loves the water, if he hears the water running he breaths heavy with excitement and anticipation and kicks about trying to get in there or if he is on the floor he is in the bathroom in a shot! Pretty funny. He is really getting around, he is army crawling, left, right co-ordinated. Just a matter of time before he is putting it all together and is up on his knees doing it. He really is a beautiful little boy and we just so love him and enjoy his pleasantness. Cade adores him and they are so excited to see each other after naps or being apart for any period of time. What a blessing.

ARGH... control I do not have

Well... Ethan and Cade both came down with runny noses yesterday and I simply thought it was allergies seeing as we have been in and out of the house, between hot and cold etc but last night was AWFUL. Ethan was miserable with his sinuses and couldn't seem to breath properly. I got up to him twice an hour until 4am and then I was just exhausted and Cory took over. I took them to the doctor this afternoon and Cade simply has a bit of a cold but poor Ethan has a double ear infection! Right in time for a HUGE flight too. My poor baby. He is choking all the time on his drainage, has a runny nose and weepy eyes, a fever and all this with a double ear infection! Poor darling boy.
We have him on antibiotics and will have a quick follow up on Thursday to see how he is doing and if the doctor isn't happy with how he is doing, will give him a stronger antibiotic. He was due for his 4 month shots but we are delaying them until he is healthier, but the doctor wants these before we fly out so we'll see how quickly he heals.
I am a huge worrier, and I try to control as much as I can but this is something I obviously could not predict or control so now the worrying has set in. I worry about his little ears on the plane, the fact that we are travelling for 24 hours and 17 of these are in flight. I just hope and pray that he will be so much better before then and that we can get both our boys healthy and well and that they stay that way!!

3 months

My little Ethan was 3 months old on the 23rd and he has to be the smiliest boy ever! He is now a definite mummy's boy and if I walk by while he is with dad he watches my every move and if I stop and talk to him he gets so excited and kicks about and gives me the biggest open mouthed smiles. He really is a delightful little one. This month Ethan has

- Discovered his hands and sucks on them when a pacifier is not near or mummy is taking to long to feed him

- Drools, oh my goodness does he drool. This goes along with the hand sucking but it is like he is teething* there is so much drool

- Kicks about like crazy when he is talking to you and bulks out his chest trying to lean toward me to pick him up or when he is with daddy and wants to come to mummy

- Talks and squeals. I got the funniest squeal the other day, he was laying down and I held his hands and he pulled himself up and he squealed in delight, it was SO cute.

- Pulls himself straight up. At first I would lay him down and count, 1,2,3 and pull him slowly to a sitting position and now I count and he pulls straight to standing. He is so strong. People at church today were asking me how old he was he just looked so strong. Little stud!

- Laughs! FINALLY he has started to laugh, chuckle laugh. Cade was always chuckling, really fun belly laughs and now Ethan has started to do the same. Ethan is very reserved in sharing such chuckles but is ALWAYS smiling when he likes something. Lately I have been bouncing and swaying him on my knee and he smiles and gives a giggle in delight. He also loves to be pushed in to the air above my head. He really tenses and laughs at that. Just tonight I was blowing raspberries on his neck and he gave me THE BEST laughs to date! Oh how I love this chuckly stage!

- Been LOVING walks with Cade and mummy. On nice days we get out about twice a day for a walk around the block and Ethan really enjoys it. Sometimes he jabbers away and other times he is perfectly silent and I think he is alseep but not so when I hear Cade telling him, "No Ethan! Momma, Ethan is kicking me, Cade!" It is pretty hilarious.

- Gone swimming for the first time. This last week the weather was nice enough to get to the pool. Cory had 2 vacation days at the end of the week so we used these to get out as a family and went to the pool both days. The first day Ethan absolutely loved it, fell asleep in the pool even. The second day he didn't like it so much but had a bit of a paddle none the less. He is just like his big brother, total water baby

- Flirts! Ethan was totally flirting today with my friend, Hollys little girls. They love Ethan and were sitting behind us in church and Madison her 2 year old talks to him so he totally turned it on and wanted out of his seat so I stood him up and he was LEANING toward both her girls while they fussed over him. What a flirt he is!

I really do enjoy this stage, when your little one can respond with smiles, giggles and jabber. I have always found so much to love about each stage but if I could keep this stage a little longer, I would be a happy girl! I love the recognition that comes with this stage to, when they favor mummy or daddy over strangers. I love that feeding is so much more rhythmic and predictable too (for the most part).

I never will take for granted the blessings of a healthy happy child and I am so very thankful for this and all else that the Lord has blessed me with in what my boys bring to my life and all that they are and hope to be. I am so grateful to be able to be home with them to nurture and love them as no one else can, to see those little things each day that I wish I could freeze in time or have a camera handy for.

*Cade teethed from 12 weeks on... didn't get his first tooth until he was 10 1/2 months old, lets hope it's not the same for Ethan!

Growing, Growing

My little Ethan is one growing boy! Today we had his 2 month appointment and he is 13lb 4oz and 24 inches long (80th percentile for both) and has a head circumference of 40.5cm (50th percentile). He is still my chubby bubby and I just love it. He still has a head of dark hair and I hope he keeps this as I love it. His Dr thinks he will be more olive toned too, lucky boy!

Ethan has started to really talk and jabber and smiles all the time. He really is a happy little man and we are so blessed to have such a happy baby join our family. He has shown some signs of favoring me this weekend and I just loved that! Cory would be holding him and if he could see me he would want me... nice once in a while but the novelty will wear off quick if it continues I think!! He has started to suck his fist this week particularly and he follows you with his eyes when you walk past him and really enjoys cuddles. He is such a lovely little boy.

Cade is still wonderful to him and ever so helpful. He really is a good big brother to Ethan and you can tell he loves him. I can't say I have really seen jealousy in him, just a frustration with having to share attention and this is always directed at us not Ethan thankfully. He has dealt with the change really well considering and I am just so glad to have both my boys!

Here are some pics
I love, love this photo!!

Sucking his new found fist

Tried to catch some smiles...

New Stroller...

I finally decided on and ordered a new stroller on Friday and it arrived yesterday and can I just say I LOVE IT!!

When my mum was here I took her shopping with me to get a second opinion on what I was steering toward (because Cory has no opinion on it and couldn't care less, just that I don't choose an awful color, which would never happen right!?)

I wanted something that was a double stroller, easy to steer, and folded easy. I really have been spoilt with my Instep as it is nice to steer and pushed easily on all terrain but it was huge and bulky and hard to put in the car. I was leaning toward a Peg Perego but wasn't completely sold with the 60/40 and the reviews I read were not bad at all, just cosmetic stuff like the cup holders and under storage - which is not really an issue for me or what I was wanting my stroller for. I then looked at a few others that were somewhat out of my price range but wasn't sold on any of them either, so to make an even longer story short.... I decided on a 2009 Valco Latitude Twin and it is fantastic! I have only had it for 2 days but it sure fits the bill! It weighs more than I ideally wanted (30lb as opposed to 20lb) but it folds completely in half and it's wheels are no bigger than the stroller itself. It fits perfectly through doorways and when I was out shopping today there were displays of clearance items narrowing the walkway and it made it through that obsticle course no worries! I took the boys for a walk yesterday after it arrived and they loved it. Cade was "woohoo" ing the whole time and Ethan was perfectly quiet and content sleeping away. We are sold!! What is even more pleasing is this was my fav stroller but somewhat out of my price range, but I got a great deal on it, so I can't complain.
Here she is in all her beauty!!