Spring has sprung... hasn't it?

Checking out the new food

Investigating

Yum!

Still loving yogurt!

Playing with all of my fun toys

Not so sure I'm loving this swing thing

Nope, definitely not into the swings!

What a great week! We've had a few glimpses of spring and the warm weather has felt wonderful! I am so looking forward to spending time outdoors with Ethan as the weather gets nicer. As he gets older, visits to the playgrounds, parks, and beaches will be so much fun!

We had a perfect weather for Grandma and Grandpa Y's visit to Maine on Saturday. We spent the day in Portland walking around downtown, taking Barley to the beach, and attempting some playground time with Ethan. I was thrilled to see baby swings at the playground near East End Beach. Up until that point, it hadn't even crossed my mind that Ethan could actually use any playground equipment yet. I put him in the swing and he sat quietly staring at the kids playing all around him. After a few pushes, he decided that he'd had enough and started crying. Oh well, there will be plenty of time to enjoy the swings! We had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa Y. Ethan loved being showered with attention and affection!


It seems that every day Ethan is making a new sound. Every morning we look forward to what new things Ethan has to tell us! This week, he has been all about, "the squeal". He loves hearing himself squeal as loudly as he can. It's pretty darn cute! He has abandoned his "ba, ba's" and "ma, ma's" for now. I'm discovering that his various sounds run on a rotating schedule. Eventually he rediscovers his old sounds and pulls them out again. It'll be so amazing when we can actually decipher what he is trying to tell us.

Our other exciting news this week has been the introduction of finger foods. My friend Andrea has a son named Sam who is just about the same age as Ethan. Her doc gave her the go ahead to try finger foods with Sam, so we decided to give it a shot too.

We spread some banana flavored "puffs" (like cereal) on his high chair tray. He did a great job! Ethan got some of them in his mouth, and the pieces that didn't make it, fell to our food disposal- Barley! I think Ethan really enjoyed feeding himself, though after a while, he got a little frustrated when he couldn't pick up the small pieces of food as quickly as he wanted. Very fun new chapter though- we are having a good time with the food stuff!

While we had a small glimpse of spring over the weekend, this weeks it has been cold, rainy, and we've even seen a few snow flurries. Needless to say, we've been pretty much, hanging out at home. I didn't think having this little guy could get much more fun, but now I realize how much more there is to look forward to once real spring/summer has begun!

**Addendum!
Okay, Ethan has made a liar out of me! This afternoon, he began true baby babble. He's stringing together all kinds of sounds- ba, da, ma, ga! He says it so passionately, as though he really thinks that he is talking. The squealing was cute, but this takes the cake!!

Party Time!

Mama and Ethan at Jack's party

Newly acquired skill- "taking off my hat!"

Ethan is sure he loves food, not so sure about the highchair yet

He'll take his foot, covered, or uncovered!

Breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Fowler

We had a full week of fun activities! Grandma and Grandpa Fowler came to Maine to celebrate cousin Jack's third birthday. Ethan was thrilled to have guests in the house to shower him with attention. My parents and I commented on Ethan's ability to show his preferences for things now. While we were out and about in various stores, whenever we would show Ethan a wall of toys, he would squeal with delight and giggle. Makes the whole "don't spoil your child" thing tough!!

On Sunday we went to Ken and Melissa's house for Jack's birthday party. There were tons of kids there. Ethan loved watching them run around and play. He was particularly intrigued by a baby girl at the party who was a few months younger than him. When we held them near one another, Ethan immediately began grabbing her face, hands, feet- anything he could get a hold of! The girl chasing is starting early!

More exciting news! After a whole lot of researching, testing, returning, and re-buying, we have purchased a convertible car seat for Ethan! I think that he is going to be very comfortable in his new seat. It was a long process! Daddy, Grandma, and Grandpa F were very patient with my indecisiveness about which seat would be the best. Daddy was a trooper as he installed about 5 seats in torrential downpours just so we could test them out!

Developmentally, we are moving right along. Ethan really likes to get a reaction from us. He will squeal, giggle, coo, grunt, groan- whatever it takes to get a smile from us. He is sitting up on his own, though I still like to stay close by to rescue him if he topples. Ethan continues to LOVE food! It sort of amazes me just how much the little guy can eat. Our newest discovery is yogurt. I don't think I've ever seen Ethan open his mouth so wide- can't get enough of the stuff. Ethan has also let us know this week that for now, he isn't a hat guy. He has learned that no matter how cute Mama thinks a hat is, he can take it off by himself- a new skill that makes me a little sad!

This weekend, Grandma and Grandpa Y are coming to visit. More love and attention for Ethan. I'm sure he'll have no problems with that!!

Cruising!

Ready for vacation!

Key West (that's our ship in the background)

Sand! Cozumel, Mexico

Bathing Beauty

Ethan wasn't so sure about the cold water

View from the balcony in our room

Daddy and Ethan on the ship

Ethan LOVED his little umbrella stroller (and so did we!)

What an exciting week we have had! I can officially say that Ethan is an amazing traveler! He experienced more modes of transportation in a five day period than most adults and made it through all of it with a smile on his face (most of the time).

Our journey began last Tuesday. We drove down to Connecticut to leave Barley with Grandma and Grandpa Fowler. Thursday morning, we woke up very early and headed to the airport for our flight to Miami. Ethan was a dream! He fell asleep as the plane took off, and slept peacefully for about half of the 2 1/2 hour flight. After that, he was happy to walk up and down the aisle with Daddy. When we began to descend, Ethan started to get upset (I think that his ears were bothering him) but luckily Grandma Fowler had stuck a lollipop in our carry on at the last minute. Once we popped the butterscotch lolli in Ethan's mouth, his eyes widened and he was quite as a mouse for the rest of the trip!

After waiting for bags, taxis, shuttles, etc, we arrived on the ship. Ethan was a star through it all! He was happy to sit in his stroller and take in views, or sleep in my ergo carrier.

We had a wonderful trip! Though it was a bit breezy on the ship, the sun shined every day and it was so nice to just get away! Our first stop was Key West, where Ethan got to put his feet in the ocean and play in the sand. Next, we went to Cozumel, Mexico. More beach time for Ethan! He was very intrigued by the sand and kept trying to put it in his mouth! Finally, we had a day at sea. We spent the day walking around the ship, and sitting on the deck just relaxing.

While seeing all of the new places was fun, my favorite part of our vacation was simply spending uninterrupted time together as a family.

Monday morning, we woke up early and headed back to the airport for our trip back to NY. We got on the plane, and waited to take off. We sat, and sat. Then, they told us that our flight was being cancelled due to a mechanical problem. All of the flights to JFK for the rest of the day were either overbooked or cancelled. Yikes! Long story short, we booked a flight that connected through North Carolina to Hartford. Ethan was amazing through it all! He waited patiently with us in the airport, flew on two different planes, waited while we discovered that our bags were heading to New York (even though we were in CT) and slept for almost the whole ride home from the airport! It was a stressful, long day for us all, but I am happy to report that Ethan is a stellar little traveler and took all of our hiccups in stride!

Despite our not so relaxing ending, our trip was incredible. I realize that now more than ever, the importance of taking time to stop and smell the roses! This vacation allowed us to do just that- stop, take stock in how incredibly lucky we are to have this little guy, and how much we love being a family!