Early start at gaming

Last night, Michael was playing XBox online with my brothers, dad, and cousin. He usually starts after Ethan is in bed, but this time they started the game early. Of course, Ethan wanted the headphones. So I grabbed the camera quickly . . .

He's not normally "without shirt" (especially in this chilly weather we've been having), but I was in the middle of putting his pajamas on when he ran for the headphones. And since I'm monstrously pregnant, he can out run me . . . and he knows it too. He runs from me whenever I try to grab something from him that he shouldn't have or when I'm trying to get his jacket on to go out.

Trains, Trains and more Trains

Ethan loves anything with wheels, but trains are definately his vehicle/toy of choice. We were over at the Gerke's house yesterday and came home with a wooden train set that was Michael's when he was a baby. They look like they are handmade and the person who made them wrote his name and "1978" on the bottom. They have dowels on the ends that connect them together, so Ethan is actually able to connect them on his own.
For some reason, this week he keeps laying on the floor to play with his toys, but he keeps putting his feet under the couch each time. It's a tight fit, so he has to squeeze his little ankles in there, but for some reason, he likes it.

Green Rocker

We picked up Lorelai from school last week, so she got to play with Ethan for a while. They both kept climbing on this green rocker together - it was so cute!And then Ethan doesn't like it when someone goes in a room and closes the door without him in there too. My mom was in the bathroom and Ethan kept knocking and then when she didn't open the door, he decided to peep under the door to see what was going on.

"My Girls"

Michael was in the kitchen the other day and I went to give him a hug and he said "how are my girls?" I thought that was cute! I still don't think it's really hit me that due in a couple months. I don't forget I'm pregnant - can't sleep, can't breathe, can't get comfortable . . . the list goes on. But it still doesn't feel real yet. I don't know why. Maybe because Ethan keeps me busy or because I'm scared to have a 2nd baby; who knows.

Anyway, I just thought it was cute that he said "my girls."

Ethan's First Trip to the Zoo

We went with the Whaley's to the Point Defiance Zoo on Labor Day. This was Ethan's first trip to the zoo. He loved watching the animals. And we took a few rides on the carousel. He's never been on a ride before, but he held on to the pole tightly and didn't try to wiggle off the horse (or the pig on the 2nd ride). Emma and Lorelai rode on it too (same with Michael and Allen) but all the pictures of them turned out blurry.

Next, we went to the kid zone and let them play on the toys and look at the animals there. Ethan loved the goat petting zoo area. He wasn't shy of them at all. He actually laughed every time they poked forward at him. He even pet them.

This was the only picture I let Michael take of me (I love my Veto power over cameras :) so if he does take a pic I don't like of me, I get to delete it). We let Ethan out to plat at the water spout area. He was walking so cautiously since he saw water shooting up from the holes. And then he bent down to look closer. Too bad that spout wasn't working - other wise that would have made a great picture of him soaked.

Emma and Lorelai fed the Budgies a seed stick. They were both really serious the whole time. Emma was holding so still cause she didn't want the budgie to fly away. And Lorelai was a bit nervous about holding the seed stick, so Allen held it for her while she held his wrist - but wouldn't smile for the camera.

This is the way . . .

. . . we eat a PB&J sandwich. For anything that's not bite-sized, Ethan holds the food in place with both hands while he chews/gums away at it. I think he's afraid of losing a single crumb, so he keeps it all close.

Little Helper

I had Michael hammer in the wall hooks on the back of a wood board I was taking to someone, and when Ethan saw what Daddy was doing, he instantly ran to his toy bucket and pulled out his hammer. He was trying to hammer with him. Isn't that adorable!

Mt. Rainier '09

We took our annual Family trip to Mt. Rainier this past weekend. We've gone every year since I was a baby (except when we lived in Nebraska during my high school years). Our group has grown from a family of 6 to a family of 12 (with 2 more on the way). And this year we had some other family members join us . . . Spenser (my cousin), and Zach (my cousin), his wife Alyson, and their son Jacen. So our group picture on the log was a big one this year. We've always sat in age order on the log (but the kids bounce around depending on whose lap their sitting on that year). Mom and Dad aren't usually in the picture, but they joined in this year (I think they were confused on where their place in the age order line went :) . . . click on the picture to see it larger.

We put Ethan in a leash thing so he wouldn't jump off the cliff at the top. It was also helpful since it was the most crowded I've ever seen it there. They waived the park entry fee of $15/vehicle this weekend, so I think that made a lot more people come. So the leash helped me not worry about Ethan darting in between other people and since I'm huge pregnant, I don't move very fast right now.
Once we get to the top of our baby hike (I think it's less than a mile), we always take a group picture on that log too. For some reason, we look like a smaller group bunched up this way instead of spread out in a line on the first log.

And here are the couple/family shots that we do . . .

1. Mom and Dad

2. The Whaley's (Lorelai was cold from the wind and wouldn't look up for their family shot)

3. The Gerke's

4. The Otto's (Alex & Jasmine)

5. The Otto's (Nathan & Kari)

A couple random pics . . .

Ethan loves post-it flags

I use the post-it flags to mark pages in magazines or books that I want to come back to for scanning or something else. I happened to leave the pack of them on the back of the couch and my little helper found them.

The Tunnel

My sister passed down some toys that her girls grew out of . . . Ethan loved them instantly. He chases Michael through the tunnel and rides on the green thing a lot.