I'm SIX!!! - Stories

Stories

Aug. 24, 2010 ... Ethan's first day of Kindergarten ...

Today was Ethan's first day of school. Jason and I both (with Elena, of course) took him to his classroom. He didn't seem nervous or excited. He got to sit in his booster seat for the first time (I had a hard time switching him out of his five-point harness carseat, it just seems so much safer! But he had finally reached 40lbs and I couldn't let the kid go to Kindergarten while still in a carseat.) We walked him into his classroom and he sat in his desk. He didn't seem upset by us leaving him there. There was a little girl who was screaming for her mom, it was sad. (I should say, I've never had any real desire to be an elementary teacher but after just yesterday -Meet The Teacher Day- and today -being in his classroom with the other students, I now know that I will never teach elementary school. It was way hectic and it's not like those little five-year olds can figure anything out for themselves. The amount of preparation needed to teach those grades is mind blowing.)

I signed Ethan up for school lunch. I pay online and he uses his student number to buy lunch. (For now his teacher types it into the keypad for him but he's expected to memorize this seven-digit number and learn how to use the keypad.) The hope is that he will be exposed to and will try actual food. Today for lunch he said he bought milk, juice and goldfish. Hmmm ... if that continues, I'll have to rethink this lunch thing.

Picking him up was an ordeal that will hopefully get smoother with time. The car line is an interesting experience. We have our child's name written on a bright yellow paper hanging on a pants hanger from the rearview mirror. As we pull up, the car riders are grouped by last name and sitting on the sidewalk. A teacher with a bullhorn calls out the name on each car and that kid goes to the car. I was in the line when I saw Ethan's group walk to the sidewalk. I didn't know it was him right away, I just saw this kid who was walking goofy and had his backpack on upside down. He was kind of dancing around as he walked (not like the pee pee dance, just a silly boy dance.) Then I realized it was my Ethan. He is so silly and cute! I really wanted a picture of his backpack on upside down but I'm pretty sure all those people in the line behind me would not have thought it was picture worthy.

He said he had a good day and that he liked his teacher (I like her too.) I had to bribe him with candy to get him to tell me anything more. We did his homework first thing when we got home and he didn't complain. I hope he continues to enjoy school.

August 11, 2010 ... The Graduate ...

Ethan graduated from VPK last Friday. The ceremony was so cute! They had these graduation caps made from paper and all the kids were wearing them. They came into the room where the parents were sitting. Once Ethan was in his chair, he was looking around for me. When he saw me he started waving and poked the kid next to him to point me out. They said the pledge first then sang some patriotic song that I can't remember. Then they sang their school motto song, "Light a candle for peace" and when it got to the part that says, "Light a candle for you" Ethan stood up and pointed to me every time. He was the only one doing that and it was precious! The whole time I had tears in my eyes because he looked so big and happy and he was actually participating! (Not like the Holiday concert where he cried the whole time while reaching for me.) It was so sweet! Then they called each child's name and said where they were going to school for Kindergarten. Then each child got a rolled piece of paper (more symbolic than anything since it was blank! The real "diploma" we got later ... just like a real graduation I guess!) They also got a spiral notebook with a picture of their teachers taped to the inside and Ethan's name and a sentence saying that he is going to be a future geographer. We couldn't really figure that one out. It was definitely cute and I'm glad I got to go. Elena had a good time too. The chairs we sat in were kid sized so she liked sitting in them. And then moving them around and sitting next to strangers and patting their arms. Everyone thought she was cute and hopefully not too annoying. While the kids were singing their songs, she was trying to sing along as well.

August 4, 2010 ... "Is it time for Kindergarten yet?"

Ethan has two days of VPK left, then two weeks off before he starts Kindergarten. I can't believe how big he is. He's actually pretty excited about going to K. I don't know why. He doesn't mind going to VPK but he doesn't look forward to it. They must talk about it a lot in VPK. I'm not looking forward to him going to elementary school. Everything is all messed up and I'm torn up over it. He's enrolled at Lee (this is for you, Grandpapa: The side of the building still says "Robert E. Lee Elementary School.") but we are going to switch him out of there to our neighborhood school. For safety reasons, I'm not going to put the name and it's not important anyway. I have to go back to work this year. It wasn't planned but it's necessary and having Ethan go to school in Tampa and me working in Tampa while Elena stays at a daycare near our home was going to cause too many issues. On the up side, I don't know how great of a school was going to end up being. Not that it is a bad school, but after doing more research it appears that they have an astronically high poverty rate and not so great test scores. Again, not always the best factors to judge a school, but I don't have much else to go on. They have smaller teacher to student ratios which is a huge benefit not to mention they have the most technology of any other elementary school in our county. I'm annoyed because I did a ton of research initially and had picked out a different school (Also in Tampa) but we are not permitted to go there because we're a mile away from the dividing line. THAT school was awesome and I'd work harder to find a way for him to go there if it was a possibility. But since it's not, having him go to our neighborhood is probably the next best thing. We moved to a good area for a reason, or at least, that's what I keep telling myself.

As for VPK, at first I wasn't real impressed. He goes from 8 am to 3:30 pm five days a week since early June. Yet he seemed to have learned more in his two day a week stint this past year. But I've noticed that he is doing better with socializing and he's learning a ton of songs. He sings all the time, which is probably one of the cutest things I've ever heard.

He's still a great big brother. He has a very intense attachment to Elena. He wants to hang out with her and play with her. Every afternoon when we get home they both sit at the little picnic table and have a snack. He lets her crawl on him, grab his face, chew on his fingers, pretty much whatever she wants to do. He watches out for her and tells me when she's about to go up the stairs. He always remembers to close the bathroom door when he's done because he knows she tries to play in the toilet. He has even been known to try to fish small objects out of her mouth.

On the flipside, he's been in time out countless times for playing this "game" where he throws a pillow at her and knocks her down. She's not a fan of this game. I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean to hurt her but he just doesn't understand that there are certain things you can't do to a baby.

And just because I find it funny ... this weekend Jason was letting me sleep in (oh how times have changed! Sleeping in used to mean getting up sometime after 11 and now it's more like 8:45!) so he went downstairs with Elena when she woke up. Ethan woke up later and got in the bed with me. I kept trying to get him to go downstairs but he wanted me to go down and give him breakfast and turn on the TV for him. I even told him Daddy would give him a popsicle (good nutrition flies out the window when it comes to sleep!) that didn't work. Then I tried threatening him. I probably tried for ten minutes to get him to leave me alone when finally I said, "Elena is downstairs with Daddy and he doesn't know how to take care of her." I kid you not, Ethan flew out of the bed and down the stairs. I almost broke out into hysterical laughter, but instead I buried my head under the pillow and went back to sleep. Naturally, he ratted me out and when he woke me up later ("Mommy, the oven is on fire, Daddy says you have to wake up!") he told me that Daddy said he does know how to take care of Elena. We did learn though, that he does not know where we keep the baking soda.

Comments
Only out of the mouth of babes!!! thank goodness he did know where the baking soda was- yikes! love yas
- MaMere

oopps, MaMere can't read!! Mommy found the baking soda!
-

April 3, 2010 ... Happy Passover ...

Ethan got into the magnet school in Tampa. It's called Lee (previously named Robert E. Lee but the first part of the name was dropped years later.) It's a magnet school for technology and gifted. Basically it just means that Ethan will get plenty of experience with technology (like computers and his teachers will have access to teaching materials like smart boards, elmos, etc, that will enhance lessons.) It also means that the teachers will be more focused on individual students and since parents have to be involved in magnet programs, everyone there will care about the kids' education (parents and teachers a like.) I'm not saying that magnet school teachers are better than non magnet schools, but the expectations are higher and the teachers, students and adminstrators are held to higher standards and students there usually do better. It's also got a really good math program which is right up Ethan's alley. He's become our little math whiz. His teachers at his preschool call him their math genius. All the other kids use counters or their fingers to do their math work but Ethan just does it all in his head. He LOVES doing addition and subtraction. It's fun for him, not work. Unfortunately, he's not as excited about reading but he does love having others read to him and since that's on par where he's supposed to be, it's ok. But it means that Jason will have to be home to help with his homework because by about third grade, he's probably going to surpass my math knowledge. It's a sad fact.

Comments
Congrats on the school. Too bad that political correctness has run amok and the greatest military genius of all time has been smeared by the powers that be. R>E> Lee owned no slaves, turned down command of the Union Army so He would not have to raise His sword against His native state. He did so much 4 so long with so little that he was qualified to do anything with nothing. He was admired & respected by his foes and dearly loved by his men. Every Military Leader since him has studied and try to match his abilities. So far, none have equaled.
- The Grand Papa

March 10, 2010 ... Happy Birthday, Ethan! ...

I can't believe he's five years old (in a few hours.) He had a fun little birthday party with some family and friends. It was exhausting and despite keeping it small, he still got plenty of gifts. This weekend the fun continues with a trip with Disney World with Grandpa and Mamere accompanying us. We're very excited. I considered keeping Ethan home from school tomorrow but since it's going to be raining and he only goes twice a week anyway, I figure he would have more fun going. I'm bringing cupcakes and they will make his day special with a hat and song and some other stuff.

Soccer started again last weekend. It felt like a rerun of last year. I don't know what it is but it's like he's nervous or something. He's always needed time to warm up to new people, so maybe that's what it is. At first he wasn't going near the field. But after a while I got him out there and he was doing awesome. He actually went after the ball and kicked it across the field and dribbled it (soccer style, naturally.) I was really impressed. Then this kid near him fell on his face and they had to take a short break. After that it was harder to get him out there. Hopefully the next time will go more smoothly.

We applied to get Ethan into a magnet elementary school. The elementary school near our home (less than two miles away) is a good school but magnet schools are just better and since private school isn't an option (and there aren't any fantastic private schools anyway) this is the best option. It's decided based on a lottery system and luckily, he got into one. It's in downtown Tampa (so hopefully Jason will be able to take him to school after I go back to work.) The description taken straight from the district's website: The enhanced curriculum includes enterprise studies, service learning, creative problem solving, critical thinking and other special enrichment activities that accommodate the varying strengths, skills and interests of students. The learning needs of gifted learners will be addressed through mathematics, science, and language arts.

So this is good news and I'm excited. I'm also very nervous because it's going to be a huge change. His preschool is a montessori program which is a little more relaxed as far as structure goes but very rigorous as far as academics go. So intellectually, he won't be behind. But he's very quiet and stubborn and usually doesn't let his teachers know he's learning anything until they finish something and then he just lets it all pour out. His teachers now know him, know how to reach him and they love him. His new teacher better love him. Being a teacher myself, she's going to hate me because I know exactly what she's supposed to be doing and I'll have her head on a platter if she doesn't do it.

Speaking of intellect, he's clearly going to be a math whiz. Yesterday he counted to 100 three times, then he started counting backwards from 100 until he got bored with that. He does addition constantly. We were in the grocery store and the whole time he's going, "Hey Mommy, ten plus ten is 20. And 2 plus 18 is 20 and 1 plus 19 is 20 and 5 plus 15 is 20" and on and on and on. I told Jason that after second grade he's going to have to be around to help with his math homework because that's about the extent of my math knowledge. It's sad but true.

Feb. 10, 2010 ... Just over a month until Ethan is FIVE!

I can't believe I'm going to have a five year old. Sometimes I look at my life and say, wait a minute, I'm only 23, how did this happen? Oh yeah, I'm not 23 anymore.

So since he's going to be five soon, I realized it was time to shed some baby habits we've been holding onto. Until just a few weeks ago Ethan had still been drinking from a sippy cup so we go rid of those and started using regular cups without a lid. He wasn't too happy with this at first because I make him sit at his table to drink instead of letting him sit on his little couch. He can't guzzle it as easily without a lid so he didn't like that either. But we've learned that you can pretty much get a kid to do whatever, as long as you stick to it. It hasn't been that hard actually. The DVD player was another big thing. When we moved from St. Pete to the villa rental and then to the new house, it was a lot of moves all in a month. It was also his first time not sleeping in a crib. So we let him watch a movie in bed to fall asleep. We didn't realize we were helping form a bad habit for him. Then a year later when the DVD player died we decided it was time for him to go to bed like a regular kid without the crutch of watching a movie. It was actually very easy and now we look back and think how silly we were to worry about it at all. The last thing we just accomplished was undressing himself. He could dress himself but he couldn't manage to take his shirts off by himself. We practiced over and over and he finally got it. So now he can change his own clothes.

For his birthday we're going to have a very small party the weekend before and then the weekend of his birthday we're going to Disney World. Mamere and Grandpa will be joining us and we're very excited. I love Disney and so does Ethan.

For his birthday he's finally decided he wants a big boy bike. He wants other random things too, like an alarm clock. He's very upset that he doesn't have one. He also wants a bean bag chair. There was one other thing that I thought was odd but I can't remember what it was.

We're waiting to find out if he was picked for one of the magnet schools in Tampa. Our local elementary school is good but we'd like for him to go to a school with a magnet program because they are more academically agressive while being very hands on. With him having been in the montessori environment, a magnet school would be right in line with that learning. I hope he gets in. It's just based on random matching, he didn't get tested or anything.

Dec. 10, 2009 ...

I took both children to the peds office today because I thought they were getting colds. I've been sick for a week and I didn't want them to go through that. I jumped the gun though because Ethan just has a little cold. Ethan weighed in at 39 lbs and messured in height at 3 ft 7.5 inches tall. It wasn't a well visit so they didn't bother to tell me where that fell on the growth chart but I know he's taller than most of his friends. I'm very curious to see how tall he will end up being.

Ethan really enjoyed his visit to New York to see Mamere, Grandpa and Aunt Jodi. Mamere had gotten him plenty of toys and movies to keep him occupied. She also made him dinosaur cookies which he loved. We spent a day at North Pole, NY (yes, it's a real town!) and hung out at Santa's Workshop. I don't know what the temperature was but it was fairly cold. He actually let us bundle him this time, unlike when we were in Colorado two years ago. He ended up sleeping in the car on the way there so he woke up cranky. He would only ride one ride. He did enjoy the popcorn he got and throwing snowballs at Grandpa. I wish there had been more snow when we were there because I think he would have loved playing in it.

He has fallen victim to commericalism. It's all about the toys he wants. We're trying to teach him about money and how you can't get everything you want just because you want it. But this is a hard lesson for him. He doesn't get it at all. I really don't have a problem saying no and letting him pitch a fit because I don't want him to be spoiled. But at the same time, I don't want him to him to be disappointed. Every commerical he sees, he says he wants that toy. And of course I've fallen victim to the Zhu Zhu Pet craze. I haven't done anything completely nuts like pay five times their worth on Amazon.com or Ebay, but I have called several stores to find out when they stock and to ask if they have gotten the pets in. It paid off and I was able to get three hamsters (the lady on the phone said, "You mean those little rats?") and three accessories. But it's totally fine with me that I'm so obsessed. I feel like it's a parental right of passage. My parents went through the same thing with stuff like Cabbage Patch Dolls and certain Barbies. I did try to be a lot smarter about what I bought him this year. The past few years I've gone totally nuts with the toys. This year I thought about toys that would occupy him for more than five minutes and wouldn't just be more junk to take up space. Time will tell how well I succeeded.

Jason and I have run into some issues with our holiday celebrating. We've realized that Ethan doesn't really care about Santa (he says he just wants us to bring him presents. Maybe he doesn't trust Santa to know what he wants.) But he's starting to understand Hanukkah and he really likes Christmas stuff, like Christmas trees and lights. We had talked about maybe phasing Christmas out since it sort of conflicts with our religion. But Ethan begged for a Christmas tree and we all just really like Christmas decorations and music and stuff. SO ... I guess we'll stay this confusing course and hope our children understand it eventually.

Comments
Phase out Christmas? Bah Humbug. We need to talk about that
- Papa

Nov. 6, 2009 ... Boys will be boys ...

Over the next ... forever ... I'll be uploading pictures from our weekend with Uncle Jessie, Aunt Jessica (Jason's older sister) and cousins Alex and Zachary. They came for a visit and we all had a blast! The boys were so funny together playing and being crazy. (And wow is the house loud with that many boys in it! But so alive. You could feel the energy, in a good way.)

But now I have over 1000 pictures to look at, edit and upload. I took just under 600 and Jessica took just over 400. Many of the are repeats so don't expect to see that many on here. But I still have to look at them all and pick which ones are the best. I think this is why I need staff.

Comments
We had a blast! We miss you Ethan. Alex and Zachary keep asking about you and want to go back to Florida! Can't wait to see you again.
- Aunt Jessica and Uncle Jessie

October 18, 2009 ... Walking with Dinosaurs ...

We enjoyed a great visit from Mamiche and Jeff. They flew in the morning of Oct. 14 and left this morning. We spent the time playing and having a good time together. Thursday they got to see where Ethan goes to school. Then Friday Mamiche surprised him with a trip to Walking with Dinosaurs. It was a great event and of course he was mesmerized. She'd heard that other kids had to leave because they were afraid of the nearly true to life sized dinosaurs and their roars. But Ethan had no problem with it at all. It was cute actually, he would wave his arms in the air at the dinos and say, "Hey, over here! Over here!" Then he'd look at me and say, "Why isn't he coming over here?" (He was referring to the pterodactyl that was flying around.) It was great to see his face and how enchanted he was with the whole show. And of course he also got a big bag of cotton candy to munch on.

Yesterday we went to a pumpkin patch and Ethan had a great time running all over the place looking for pumpkins. Today we carved them. Well, I guess I should say, Jason did all the labor, Ethan supervised and directed and I took pictures. I said to Jason during, "Hey, so you knew that when I said I wanted to carve pumpkins that I just wanted a photo op right?" And his response, "Yep." Naturally.

Sept. 23, 2009 ... Tall Tales ...

Ethan telling a story to Elena, about Elena. Sort of.

Comments
Can't wait to hear the rest of the story about the elephants, dragons, and Elena being saved!
  - MaMere

If you take out the energizer batteries will, he stand still???
  - Grandpa

Just precious...sweet Elena...there is nothing like having a big brother...I'm lucky...I have four!
  - Aunt Jolene

Sept. 16, 2009 ... Getting to know Ethan …

Best friends at school: Savannah and John
Best friend outside of school: Jacob (our neighbor)
Favorite TV shows: Dinosaur Train, Scooby Doo and My Life as a Teenage Robot
Favorite drink: milk
Favorite food: This one is hard because his eating habits are still not good. He likes crackers and fruit and most junk. He won’t eat ice cream or chocolate icing though. He loves most anything else chocolate.
What he’s doing in school: He attends a Montessori school and has excelled beyond our expectations. He’s in the kindergarten class but only goes two days a week and he’s only four so he’s considered an “honorary kindergartener.” He is learning how to write, spell, read, add and subtract.
A funny Ethan quote that he says a lot: “My baby sister is cute. She’s more cuter than you. And she’s more cuter than Daddy. And she’s more cuter than everybody.”
His current obsession: Dinosaurs. He likes playing with them and being them. He has already decided that Mamere and Grandpa are giving him Spike the remote control dinosaur for Christmas. He even got really upset because some random guy came to our door to give us his card for lawn services and I closed the door before Ethan could tell him about Spike.
Thing he does to annoy Mommy: Touch Elena in her face, almost poking her in the eye, all the while looking at Mommy and smiling.
Something he needs to learn to do better: Entertain himself. This is a big struggle.
Something he does really well: problem solving. Whether it’s a toy that needs fixing or some other minor detail, he has a quick mind.
Something I hope never changes about him: How quick he is to smile. I hope he is always so happy!

Aug. 17, 2009 ... Puttin' on the Ritz ...

We got away for a little weekend fun. Jason was supposed to have a hearing in Naples mid morning on Monday and so he figured it would be fun if we all went down for a few days. The hearing ended up getting canceled but we went anyway. Jason liked it because he said he didn't think about work all weekend. It was just a fun-filled family weekend. It rained about an hour after we got there on Saturday but there was no lightning so the boys played in the pool while Elena and I hung out under the patio.

Sunday it didn't rain until late in the afternoon. Being as we have young children, it was no problem being up early and getting a head start in the sun. We spent the entire day at the pool and beach and had a great time. It's definitely harder with two, especially with Elena being so young and not really being able to do much. But I think we do a pretty good job of tag teaming them. I've realized that parenting is all about strategy.

Aug. 13, 2009 ... big brother update ...

I have this other kid, he's been around for a while, he goes by Ethan ... I bet you thought I forgot about him! But oh no, he is very hard to forget. Maintaining two websites while also maintaining a household and two kids is, however, hard to do. I guess I will just have to accept that Elena's website will never be as detailed as Ethan's and Ethan's will never again be as full as it once was. Or I could just stop sleeping. Right.

The big brother is doing very well in spite of his useless mother. He started school last Thursday. He goes to his previous Montessori school. With me not working, we couldn't afford tuition, not even part time. So last year I was diligently searching for another preschool. Since he is four, he is eligible for VPK which is paid for by the state. It's three hours of school a day and most preschools participate but not his current school. After whining to the director at the montessori about all the schools I had visited and saying that none of them were good enough and jokingly wishing that they would participate in VPK, the owner approached me about giving Ethan a scholarship. He gets to go two full days a week for free. Jason and I were both apprehensive about accepting their generosity because it seemed like we would be taking advantage of them and it just didn't seem right. How can you say your husband is an attorney but that you can't afford something? (Well, *I* know how it's possible but most people equate attorneys with being very wealthy. No one takes into account the process in which it takes to get to that stage ... ie student loans and many years of experience.) So as embarassing as it feels, we decided to swallow our pride and accept her offer. Why am I furthering my humilation by sharing this with everyone? Because it's part of his life right now, this school, and that's the point of this website, ultimately. He could have gone to one of the other schools. They were probably good schools and I'm sure he would have gotten used to them and been fine. But Jason and I are both so glad that he's back at his school where they really seem to care about him and he learns so much.

He loves his school. Everytime we visited a different one, he would think the toys looked cool or the playground was fun but when we were back in the car he'd say he still wanted to go to his school with his teachers. So I'm glad that he was able to do that. On the first day back, he had no problem walking in, giving me a hug and a kiss and then walking away from me. He's just not like that usually. He's been like glue to my side since Elena was born, but even before that, he's been a Mama's boy. I felt so bad. I'm happy that he likes school but I know it's because being at home hasn't been very much fun for him. The past two weeks I've been trying very hard to get him out of the house and do fun stuff. But while we're home he wants to play 24-7 and I just can't.

Having a baby in the house hasn't made him regress at all. If anything it's helped him be a big boy. He rarely has potty accidents now and will go unaccompanied. I expected jealousy and acting out and his resenting his baby sister but he has really surprised me. He is completely in love with her and doesn't seem to blame her for my lack of attention. He does act out though probably from feeling like he doesn't get as much attention but he never directs it toward her. I'm so grateful for that.

We've really got to be careful with what we say these days though. He's definitely not a baby anymore and picks up on everything we say and do. He will also tell on us. "Mommy, Daddy spilled his drink on the carpet."

"Daddy, Mommy said I can have a cookie for breakfast!"

"Mommy, you said we don't throw toys in the house."

He's a good little warden.

July 8, 2009 ... Mr. Willful ...

We have a new pediatrician's office near our house that we just started using last week and we LOVE it there. We've only seen the nurse practioner but I think she is awesome. She was wonderful with Elena last week and she was just as great with Ethan today at his four year check up. She was stern with him when he was being stubborn but she also tried to make it fun for him and she took her time. I didn't feel rushed at all. We were there for over an hour and all but about two minutes was spent in the exam room with her.

E-man stats: Despite the fact that he literally eats bread and milk, he is 39 lbs 2 oz in weight and 42.5 inches in height. He is 75% for his weight and 90% for his height.

She gave us some tips on his bedwetting (said he sleeps so deeply that his body is unable to wake up his brain and it probably runs in the family somewhere. Hmmm, Jason? haha) and some tips on his extreme pickiness with eating. She also said that it's not our fault and that with a child as willful as he is (she saw it firsthand repeatedly) that you can't force him to eat (something we already knew!) She gave us a few things to try but said not to worry about it for a little while. Being especially stubborn is normal for him right now because of the new baby in the house and trying new things with him will be too hard on me while also adjusting to the baby. It made me feel better that I had allowed him out of our routine. She also said that while we don't want him to run the household, that his willfulness is a sign of intelligence and independence and both of those are great personality traits that we want him to have.

With that said, it took myself and the NP to hold him down to try to force the motrin down his throat before his shots and she still ended up with a lot of it on her. Then it took both nurses and me to hold him down for the shots. He didn't seem to mind the shots or even notice them, but for some reason the fact that he had bandaids on him really pissed him off and we had to take them off right away.

As for his new baby sister, he loves her to pieces. He is always wanting to love on her or hold her. He says, "I'm just being sweet to her" when I ask what he's doing. Sometimes he tweaks her nose a little hard though. He really doesn't seem to mind her but he is definitely acting out a lot. He only wants me or Jason to do things for him. He is downright rude to everyone else that has been here visiting. He will ignore them, kick at them, tell them no, say, "Stop looking at me" and the like. I guess I'd rather that than him being mad at her. I don't want him to resent her and I've had a lot of guilt over having to take care of her and not being able to do stuff with him. Hopefully he will forgive me or not remember these boring days.

June 15, 2009 ... I got this SAHM thing ...

(that's "stay-at-home-mom" for those of you not in the know.)

Ethan and I have been enjoying our time together this past week. I definitely don't miss work. Of course, I'm still getting paid for the next couple of months so my tune may change come October. We've basically just been hanging out and trying to take advantage of our last few weeks of his being an only child. We run errands together, we went to the Aquarium, we go to the beach, we hang out with friends, we play a lot of legos. I'm able to get him to eat two decent meals a day (usually breakfast and lunch, although today his lunch consisted of two clementine oranges. But at least he didn't totally get his way, he originally asked for fruit snacks for lunch.) I guess because of our constant contact, he's now very clingy. He follows me everywhere, he wants to sleep in the bed with me, sit right next to me on the couch, go with me everywhere.

I asked him if he misses school but he says no. I asked him if he wanted to go back and he said no. I'm thinking about maybe putting him in some kind of half-day camp for a week after Elena is born because I'll be trying to adjust to having a newborn again, being sleep-deprived and remembering how to be the sole food source for another human. I can't imagine that I'll be that much fun and I don't want him to resent his little sister. We'll see how that goes.

This week: Today he went to my doctor's appointment with me. He did a great job of listening and being patient (we had to wait the longest we've ever had to wait and it was an hour and 20 minutes before we got out of there.) The doctor said he was very well behaved and gave him a lollipop. He was holding my hand while she checked my cervix and he said, "hey, you're hurting my hand." I felt really bad (it was a reflex!) but he didn't sound upset, he thought it was funny. Then we went to the grocery store. Going to the store with Ethan has become much more of an issue than it ever was before. In the recent months we've found that he suddenly has a lot of needs and wants. He needs all the junk food he sees, he wants a toy on every aisle. Do not attempt to go into ToysRUs or the toy section of WalMart unless you plan to buy something for him (which means, he can probably only go to those stores with a grandparent or his Aunt Jolene because those are the only people who are probably willing to indulge all of his needs and wants.) Tomorrow we are off to do something special for Father's Day (and that's all I've got to say about that.) and we'll run some other errands. Wednesday and Thursday I think we'll be at some of the cool splash pads over in St. Pete. They still haven't done anything fun like that over here, which is ridiculous. We're in the suburbs. They should have stuff like that here.

But even the days where we just hang out, I'm really enjoying those. I actually don't mind maintaining the house, cooking dinner, running errands ... when it's not something I have to rush around to do after working all day. Mamere and Grandpa gave us a gift of a cleaning service and it's been wonderful. I'm sure Mamere is the one thought of it, it's a woman thing. My mom has the same idea for after the baby is born. (I think it's all the whining I do, they feel sorry for me.) It's a little embarassing having someone else clean my house when it's supposed to be my job but it's so nice not to have to even worry about cleaning the floors or the toilets. It's not even that they do a better job than I would because they don't, it's just that never has my entire house been clean. Normally I clean the bathrooms on one day and then do the floors another day. And it's the fact that I'm not doing it. I seriously need to come up with a plan to fit this into our budget. But things will be tight enough as it is so that's not going to happen. But you can bet if I win the lottery, I'm getting a maid!

On another note that I've been forgetting to mention, Ethan's little fish Savannah died. She actually turned belly up about a week after we got her. But we didn't tell Ethan. We were going to just replace her and not tell him but we never had time to go to the store and get another one without him with one of us. So we ended up leaving here there for over a week (YUCK. That's not something I recommend.) He would look at her but never said anything about the fact that she didn't move or eat. So then yesterday we gave her a porcelain funeral and told Ethan that Daddy took her back to the store to be with her brothers and sisters because she was getting sick. (That's probably mostly the truth. She must have been sick before she died and if her health is any indication of her brothers and sisters, then they probably are together somewhere.) So he just wanted to know when he was going to get another one. Ugh.

June 9, 2009 ... Ethan's first dentist visit ...

Today was Ethan's first dental appointment. We went to a pediatric dentist in Tampa. It went ok. (I'm a little jealous. Kids get coddled. When they lie back in the in chair, they get to watch Dora and kiddie cartoons on TV on the ceiling. Adults just have to stare at the wall and take the pain. Boo.) I think my expectations were too high. In reality, he did better than I should have expected. Before Monday, I figured we'd get no where. He won't sit in the chair to get his haircut without sitting in one of our laps, so I didn't expect he'd sit in the dentist's chair by himself. But he did. He let them show him all of the different tools and let him see what all of them did. Where it got dicey was with Mr. Thirsty, that water sucking thing. He let them do it when they were showing him, but he wasn't going to let them keep doing it. That's where I think the assistant went wrong. But I know my kid and they don't. I wanted them to just do what they needed to do and he'd get over it. But she kept pushing it with that stupid sucking thing and she hadn't even started the cleaning yet, this was just the demonstration. So then she started scraping his teeth. He let her do his right side but wouldn't open his mouth for the left side. That's when the dentist walked in and started over again. So annoying. I don't know if he got nervous or what, but Ethan started to shut down, which was what I was afraid of. I wasn't bad at all, but I did say something twice like, "Hey Ethan honey, you gotta open your mouth so he can see all of your nice teeth." And "Don't forget we're going to get legos after this if you let the dentist do what he needs to do." But I guess I should have not said anything (but it's so hard! I know what he responds to and they don't!) So the dentist very politely kicked me out. I thought I was going to lose my mind in the waiting room.

They were able to look around and take some xrays of his front teeth. But they weren't able to do the cleaning or the back. I don't know that they even tried. I think what they did was probably hard enough. The dentist said that he didn't want to push too much because then Ethan would have a negative experience and wouldn't want to come back. The downside is that he already doesn't want to go back. I wish they would have just tried the cleaning. I think Ethan would have been ok with that. You can't really give him much time to think about something or he'll get tired of it and decide he isn't going to cooperate. There is no amount of bribery that will work with that child when he makes up his mind about something. So we have an appointment to go back in two months and try to get xrays of the back teeth and do the cleaning. The dentist said that he didn't see any cavities but the back xrays can get to where his eyes can't so he couldn't say for sure. I'm relieved because we haven't been as good as we should have been about making him brush his teeth really well. He asked about any concerns I have and I told him about his two front teeth being chipped (one happening when he was about 16 months old and he fell on the tile and another sometime this year at school.) In the xray you can see that he has a fracture near the root of one of the chipped teeth. He didn't recommend doing anything to it but just to watch it and make sure it doesn't get infected or start to discolor.

The only reason I thought it was going to go well was because Ethan and I talked extensively about the dentist on Monday and he seemed to understand what was going to happen and he was agreeable to everything. (A dentist has visited his school several times so I think that helped.) Then this morning I told him that if he doesn't everything the dentists asks, then we'll go get more legos (he LOVES legos and he likes to build things and then keep them, so we've basically run out.) In his mind, he did do everything the dentist asked, he just wasn't planning to do it more than once. Ok, I opened my mouth for the dentist, now where are my legos?

Since the dentist didn't even try much else and because we want to keep this a positive experience, he did get the legos. I really hope in two months he's able to get a cleaning. He can't be the only super stubborn kid in America and surely they get cleanings. Also, I hope he has my teeth (never had a cavitiy, although I don't expect that's true anymore. We'll see when I go to the dentist after Elena is born. I'm going to ask for gas or something. I dislike the dentist more than Ethan and no one's going to buy me any legos!) and while I'm hoping for traits, I hope he (and Elena) get Jason's eye sight. If only we could pick and choose ...

Now that I think about it, I remember lying in the bed one night with Jason while I was pregnant with Ethan and picking what we hope he'd have of ours. Blue eyes, which is pretty much a given since we both have blue eyes. I wanted him to have red in his hair (from Jason's beard when he grows one) and he got that. My nose and ears. Jason's skin and height. My English/reading ability, Jason's math/science ability (listen to us creating the super baby!) Jason's lips. The size of Jason's teeth and the straightness also from him.

He pretty much got everything we wanted for him, although the jury is still out on his teeth and eyes. His hair turned blond and lost all of the red but that's fine. We know that it will eventually turn darker anyway. I pretty much want the same things for Elena, except I want her to have a fuller mouth than either of us have. I'm so curious to see what she's going to look like. I kind of hope she looks like someone else than either of us (like Isla Fisher or Amy Adams. I'm not sure how we can make that happen though.)

Comments
Hey who likes a trip to the dentist anyhow? Guess I'll have to show the Baby Boy my pop out teeth, maybe that will be a cleaning caring for lesson for him. I LOVE YOU!!!:)
- The Grand Papa4

My Mother always wanted a blonde haired, brown eyed girl! -- Grand-MaMere-- Who knows!!! PS Ethan will do better at the dentist next time; I am sure! Love yas
- Mamere

May 27, 2009 ... My little stinker boy ...

I suck at updating two websites.

Saturday Ethan and I went to WalMart and got some fish. He picked out a speckled goldfish and named her Savannah. He got a catfish (not the kind you find in a river but I don't remember the type) and named him Cute. He wanted to name the fish Elena but I steered him in a different direction. He was very excited about his fish. Unfortunately, Cute didn't last long. I think he had a fishy heart attack because he would swim violently around his bowl seeming very nervous. Within about 17 hours, Cute was belly up. We had to explain to Ethan that Cute got sick and died. We were going to flush him down the toilet because that would take him to the ocean. But Ethan wanted to take him back to the store to be with his brothers and sisters. Finally, we decided on a burial service in the yard. Then for hours he asked to go get another catfish. What was I thinking? That stupid fish bowl gets dirty in a day and thank goodness Savannah is hanging in there because I am not explaining to my four-year old -- again - that his little pet has died. Stupid fish need to have longer life spans. Or dogs need to learn to clean up after themselves. Either one of those scenarios would work for me. I told Jason that if we got a dog, I'd want a nanny for the dog. I don't need a nanny for the children, I don't mind changing diapers. But I don't want to clean up after a dog or worry about it shedding/chewing/peeing.

Speaking of making a mess in the house: Ethan is having some serious regression with potty training. He was completed trained by August with occasional accidents. Late October his accidents increased. At this point, it's anyone's guess as to whether he'll wet the bed at night (but if you're a betting man, take out pull-up insurance.) Poop has become a problem. We're working on it and it's frustrating all of us. People keep asking if it's possible that he's regressing because of the baby. That would make sense if she had been born yet and was affecting his life. But right now she's not so I don't understand. He is excited about his baby sister coming and has no idea that she's going to take attention away from him or drool all over his toys.

On a cleaner note, he's really good about picking up. We went through his playroom and he filled up two trash bags and a box with toys he was ok with giving away. Then he picked up everything off of the floor and put it away. Each week when I clean the kitchen, he picks up all his toys off of the floor and puts them in his playroom. Then he picks up all the shoes and puts them where they go. He's very helpful.

He also helped me organize Elena's room. He was excited to see that she got some toys of her own at my showers. I think he was concerned that she would take his toys. He has earmarked which toys she can play with but he's very specific that she is not allowed to chew on them. He's so cute with her already. He rubs my belly all the time and says, "belly belly belly!" He talks to her and gives her kisses. (He also calls me fat, tells me that I have a fat belly and asks if I'm going to get fatter.) The funny thing is, she always responds to him. If he starts talking to her, she starts moving. If he touches my belly, she responds. It might sound crazy, but it's like they already have a bond. She loves her big brother already. I'm so excited to see them together!

In her room, he wanted to put the diapers on the dollhouse bookcase rather than in the changing table. I don't know why and I explained to him that I needed the diapers in her changing table because that's where I'll be changing her diaper and I can't leave her on top of it by herself to walk over to the bookcase to get a diaper. He said that he would get the diapers for me. I explained that I might have to change her while he's downstairs or asleep. He said that I have to wake him up and he will change her by himself because he knows how. Those were his words. What a relief! That will really help me get some sleep. Now if I can just get him to be able to nurse her and I'll be good to go!

Comments
Well, when you get him fully skilled with the diaper, send him over! I know he will be a great big brother!
- Leslee

Feb. 22, 2009 ... He's gonna be a socca playa!

We signed Ethan up for soccer yesterday. Luckily, he will be four just a few days before their first game, you have to be four to play, so he'll probably be the youngest player on the team. And probably the most obstinate if yesterday is any indication. The kids were supposed to kick the balls so they could put the appropriate skill levels together. But Ethan refused and threw a fit. It's run by a church so they probably didn't feel right about refusing his participation. But I think it was because he woke up so early that morning and was just over tired.

His first game is March 14, which also happens to be the day we have tickets to see Playhouse Disney in St. Pete and then later that afternoon is his birthday party. Hopefully he sleeps in the car so that he's not over tired for his party.

Feb. 16, 2009 ... kid questions ...

The funny: Ethan asks a lot of questions. Of course there's the standard "why?" that never seems to get answered. Aside from that, he wants to know what animals eat, what eats poop (I once said bugs, but he said no, the potty eat poop. Duh, Mommy!), how I grow vs. how he grows, what makes him grow (Will Sprite make me grow?) I guess the endless questions (and many of them repeated over and over daily. I think maybe he's either trying to catch me in a lie or if he's just stalling for time until he can think of a new question.) are just a part of being three and learning that there's a world outside of his bubble. (This world is still expected to respond to his beck and call, but at least there is a world now.)

Friday we went to his school to drop off his Valentine's. The door is locked so you have to buzz and have someone come open the door. A father was at the door speaking with the director while we were back in the car. Ethan asked, "Why is that fat man with the big belly talking to that girl with the big boobies?"

I didn't even know how to answer that one. We've had many talks about not calling people names like "fat" and "bobblehead." I'm not sure where either of these came from. I don't think he picked up fat from us because we don't talk like that. I think he made up bobblehead on his own. He will call you a bobblehead and then if you say, "No, you're a bobblehead" he will in the same breath tell on you. "Mommy, Daddy called me a name." At dinner Jason said, "I think I like the steak better than the chicken" and Ethan told on him. I had to explain that Daddy was actually talking about chicken on his plate. It's so funny though, I can't help but laugh as I type this. He will tell on you faster than you can blink. I walked downstairs on Saturday and immediately Ethan said, "Mommy, Daddy spilled that coke." And out came the whole story. I have my own little spy. Thankfully, Ethan is still too young to understand my transgressions. Once he's a little older and knows numbers better, I guess I'll have to leave him at home when I go shopping.

The not-funny: Ethan has a virus. He woke up around 3:30 Thursday morning with a fever over 100. I stayed home with him and he was pitiful all day. I took him to the doctor and she said that he didn't have strep and his ears were clear but she wouldn't be surprised if he didn't acquire more symptoms in the next day or so. Late Thursday night he was sleeping on the chaise with me and he started shaking for about ten minutes and then his fever broke. I kept him home Friday anyway because I wasn't sure. Friday night he had a bad case of diarrhea but only once. Same thing with Saturday morning. We went to the fair on Sunday and as soon as we came home, he had several bad cases of it and then had another bout today. Luckily, today is a holiday so I have the day off. I hope it's over (yeah right) because I really need to go to work tomorrow. I'm sure I will be playing catch up for at least a week.

We had to force him to wear a pullup Sunday evening/night because he can't make it to the bathroom fast enough. It's just too liquidy (I hope no one was eating.) He was very unhappy about wearing the pullup and it took a lot to get him to stop from taking it off. This morning I took it off (I had promised we would take it off when the sun came up) and probably less than an hour later I was regretting it.

The fun: The fair was a good family day. Ethan got to see all kinds of animals (ever heard of a Watusi?) and ride some rides. It was torture for me though. Too many strong smells for a pregnant woman to handle: animals, their excrement, fried foods, chocolate dipped bacon, combined with too much walking. I have a hard time breathing and Jason's response is always, "Well, unbutton your pants." They ARE unbuttoned and unzipped. All the time. (Thank you, maternity sleeve, for holding up my pants!) It's the belly that's crushing my lungs that I can't take off.

Feb. 1, 2009 ... Just some random stuff ...

I never find time to come on here and update anymore so I'm just going to write down all the random stuff that I can think of.

Every morning when I drop Ethan off at preschool (they open at 7 am just for me but technically they don't open until 7:15, so he's the first and only kid there for a while.) we hug and kiss goodbye and then he stands at the door and waves until my car is gone. It's so sweet and I hate leaving him. He likes school but he would also prefer to stay home with me. I feel guilty that his sibling will get to stay home for a few years when he didn't get to. Because of this, I'd like for Ethan to only go to PreK next year three mornings a week. Jason wants him to go all day, all week. I don't think it's necessary but he does. We'll see. He may stay at the montessori school he's at because it's a great environment for him and he's learning so much. There's also a secular private school that I think I want him to go to once schoolreally starts and they have a preK program but I don't know if it's all day. (I was offered a job there but almost choked when I found out what they wanted to pay me. I was willing to take a pay cut to work in that environment, but not the pay cut they were hoping for.)

Last night Ethan woke up crying just after midnight. I went in to his room to comfort him but after a few minutes, he stopped crying and fell back asleep. Then just over an hour or so later, he woke back up crying and came into our room. He'd wet himself so I took him back to his room to change him. He was still upset so afterwards, he let me rock him in my arms. Then he wanted to come in our bed. We really like our bed and don't want pee in it so I said no but that I would hold him until he fell asleep (I get so few chances to baby him these days!) We cuddled in his bed for a while and I just watched his sweet little face. He made a sound like a sigh and I smiled and then he smiled the sweetest little boy smile. As much as I like sleep, I really enjoy moments like that.

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I'm SIX!!!
Ethan Jay 03/11/05 12:54 pm 8lbs 1 oz