My little handful!

Well, it's been an eventful week for Ethan (and therefore, for us as well). A week ago today, Ethan's first tooth finally cut through! There have been several rough days over the past few months filled with lots of crying and fussiness, and the pearly white cause of those problems finally made an appearance. We were 90% sure that all the issues were caused by teething, and this confirmed it. I know that this isn't the end of the rough days, but at least we know for sure what the problem is.

Ethan also took a sippy cup (successfully) for the first time this week! Some of you already know that he decided to abandon the bottle back in December after 2 1/2 months of taking it without any problems. We tried everything to get him to take it again: we bought all kinds of different bottles and nipples, we let him cry it out, etc. and nothing worked. He would actually scream if he even saw a bottle. Eventually, we realized that nothing was going to work, so we decided to try out sippy cups. We started giving him a sippy cup about a month ago (although not very often) and each time, he just chewed on it like a toy. But a few nights ago, Dan got him to take about 3 oz! I'm so excited because this means that I won't have to take him with me everywhere I go! Don't get me wrong, I love my little guy, and I miss him like crazy when I'm not with him!! But I'm looking forward to getting out by myself every so often - even if it's just grocery shopping. This couldn't have come at a better time, either. Until now, I usually haven't had any problems bringing Ethan with me wherever I needed to go. But my little guy is so active that he won't sit still anymore. I had mentioned in my last post that he sat so well in his stroller, but that has changed in the last week as well. Now, he sits really well in his stroller for a maximum of 10 minutes - then he starts quirming and fussing until I take him out. But taking him out isn't good enough, because he doesn't want to be held! He wants to walk around and touch everything he sees. So unless I have an extra pair of hands to help me take care of him, shopping (and even going for a walk around the block!) can be quite a challenge. Thankfully, my sister, Joanne, was able to come with me to Walmart last weekend. She entertained him by holding his hands while he walked and took him around to various things that he wanted to see and touch. I don't know what I would have done without her there! I know that every baby & parent goes through this stage eventually, but I didn't realize this would happen after only 5 1/2 months! Oh well...I'm very thankful that I have an active child, and I just need to keep remembering that.

Since my little guy is so active, I'm sure he will be mobile in some way, shape or form pretty soon. As excited as I am to watch him grow up and learn new things, I'm terrified of the new dangers he will encounter when he starts crawling and walking. I know that I can't completely eliminate the dangers around the house (even though we are baby-proofing as best we can), so I've decided to take a child care first aid course so I will know how to deal with most of the adventures he gets himself into. I will still worry about him, but I will probably worry less about my abilities to handle the situation.

And to change the subject completely, my Mom's birthday was on Sunday! (Happy Birthday, Mom!) So to celebrate, we went out for lunch and then went back to my parents' house to hang out and enjoy the beautiful weather. My dad started talking about how fun it will be when he can take Ethan for walks in a wagon. Then he realized, he has a big wheelbarrow/wagon that has tall sides. So he grabbed Ethan, emptied out the dirt, put down a thick blanket, and took Ethan for a spin! The wagon was tall enough that when Ethan was sitting in it, only his head was visible above the edges, so there was no chance of him falling out. It was so cute!! He sat so well, and never fell over or even slouched! However, I think we were more entertained than he was! As you can see in the picture below, he didn't think it was a big deal:).


Here are some more fun pictures!

Here's Ethan playing in the playpen at Grandma & Grandpa Roth's house.

I really like this picture of Ethan with Auntie Dayna:).

This is the only picture we have so far of Ethan walking. One of these days, I'll have to remember to video tape it because it's pretty cute to see him toddle around! Dan took this picture and I really like the way it turned out!
Dad & Ethan watching golf. Oh great - now I'll never get to watch what I want:)!!
Dad reading to Ethan. He really seems to enjoy been read to, although he always wants to touch the pages, and not all of our books are 5 1/2 month old friendly!