10 Months Old!

Our baby boy is 10 months old today...double digits!  I can't believe it!  Just look at his adorable smile and his big blue eyes!  He is such a sweet boy and we can't get enough of him. 

Productive Saturday!

We had a very productive day today. After getting up and moving, we headed to Sears to look for a new grill. We pretty much knew what we were looking for after a few "pre" shopping trips, so it didn't take long. Jared did, however, have his work cut out for him when we got home. He got it all put together and then we headed to the store so we could fire it up tonight. Here are a few shots of Jared and his grill.

Almost done...

Ready to eat!

Here is Ethan watching his daddy work outside and wanting to join him.

Ethan also had a great dinner. I put some food on his tray for him to feed himself with so I could finish getting dinner ready and he had a wonderful time. He talked to the food, he smeared and smashed the food all over himself and the tray. It was difficult to look at him without laughing. He went straight to the bathtub after his messy dinner.

Messy, messy boy

...all cleaned up!

Lullaby Concert

On Wednesday evening we enjoyed a lovely concert put on by the Millikin University String Ensemble and our local Baby Talk.  It was packed with lots of kids and parents wearing PJ's.  Jared and I did not don our sleep wear, but Ethan wore his.  The string ensemble played several classical songs and taught us what each instrument was and what sound it made.  We also sang a few songs, enjoyed a reading of 'Goodnight Moon' and finished the night off with a cookie.  It was a great evening and Ethan was ready for bed when we got home. 

The Millikin Students playing their lullabies

Ethan listening very intently

A few pictures...

I just thought I'd share a few pictures from the last couple of days around the house.  Ethan is almost 10 months old and doing new things just about everyday.  It's so fun to see what he will do next.  He has become a quite effecient crawler.  And speaking of effecient crawling...Yesterday he started heading towards the dog bowls (which are very interesting to him), and then he stopped and looked at me and looked back at the bowls.  When I said "no no Ethan", he looked back at me, smiled and then made a b-line straight for the bowls, as fast as he could go.  I beat him to the bowls, but just barely.  Have a great weekend!

Standing at the window, watching everything

"Riding" his new toy

Teething on everything...see his 2 top teeth : )

Just checking things out...

Ethan has found Max's crate and thinks it's a toy.  I think he likes the noise it makes when the latches hit against the side.  It's not really an ideal 'play pen', but I thought it was sort of cute so I snapped a quick picture and then helped him out. 

Loving this Weather!

Today has been such a beautiful day! It is sunny and I'm pretty sure we hit 70 degrees! The first day of great weather is always fun. Ethan and I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and warmth with a couple of walks and a trip to the park.

Max enjoyed the nice weather too : )

Ethan's Dedication

Yesterday was Ethan's dedication service at church, where Jared and I promised to pray for Ethan daily and raise him in a Christian home. Our preacher, Wayne, introduced Ethan to the congergation and then prayed for him and us. Ethan did great. There was one moment where I thought he was going to grab Wayne's microphone and tear it off his face in the middle of the prayer, but he didn't : ). It was great having our parents there as well as Abby and Dustin. We are lucky to have our families close enough to share these times with. Abby was our photographer for the event...Thanks for taking the pictures.

Sunday in Mt. Zion

Today is Dustin's birthday (Jared's brother).   Both our families came up for church and lunch yesterday so we had a yummy ice cream cake for Dustin.  I didn't really take many pictures of our afternoon, but we did have a great time. 

Happy Birthday Dustin!

My dad and Ethan entertaining each other

9 Month Stats

We went for Ethan's 9 month well child visit this morning and he's a healthy boy!  There were no shots today, YAY!  From the looks of his growth charts and percentiles, his growth is slowing down a bit, but nothing to be concerned about.  The doctor said that it's not uncommon around 9 months to see a dip or a plateau in the growth chart since he is burning so many more calories now that he is mobile.  We also learned today that his menu can expand to include meat!  More on that in the coming weeks : ).  Here's our smiley, healthy boy!   

Sitting on the floor, waiting to see the doctor

Stats:

Weight: 19 lbs. 14 oz (45%)

Length: 27in. (20%)

Sign Language Class

For the past few weeks, Ethan and I have been going to Baby Talk, Come Sign With Me classes.  We have learned lots of signs and are working on them at home.  We have been going with our neighbors Heather and Braden.  Braden is 2 days older than Ethan and we really enjoy getting together and letting the boys play (it's nice for Heather and I also).  He hasn't really picked up on any of them yet, but we have a great time playing with the other kids and singing songs.  "The More We Get Together" seems to be his favorite song, whenever we sing it he just stares at me and watches me do the signs.  The main signs we do throughout the day are "more", "eat/hungry", "change diaper" and "daddy's home".  I'm excited to see what he picks up on and when.  Here are a few pictures from our class tonight.   

Ethan playing with all the toys

Braden keeping his mother busy : )

Braden and Ethan listening and learning intently

Happy Birthday Finley!

This past Saturday we made a trip down to Murray, KY to celebrate Finley's (my cousin Micah's daughter) 2nd Birthday! We had a great time hanging out with family and watching all the little ones play.

Finley the Birthday Girl!

 

 Party Group

Abby, Alex and Ethan wearing their Mickey Mouse Ears

Scout and Ethan deep in conversation

(These two are going to be trouble when they are older)

Libby with Haley and Finley

9 Months Old and Counting

Ethan is 9 months old today!  It seems like yesterday that we were anxiously awaiting his arrival (and thinking it would never come).  Again...I am amazed by everything he does.  I will post stats after his 9 month well chilid visit on Wednesday. 

Some of Ethan's favorite things:

Crawling (both army and hands & knees)

Pulling up to everything and standing

Playing with Max and his toys

Chewing on everything! (he now has 3 teeth...and working on more)

Talking
Playing with cups of all sizes

Eating his finger foods