Monday, December 21, 2009

Another Ethan first: He put away the silverware.

Before putting away the last utensil, he was placing more pieces than not into the right place (although I didn’t show him how to differentiate fork sizes). Ethan’s quick learning is coming in helpful. Not counting the five minutes of training and quality control, he probably saved me a good two minutes of sorting.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Another Ethan first: He enjoyed a latte.

(No, he didn’t get to drink the whole glass.)

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Another two Ethan firsts: He threw snow in the river, and he exceeded Daddy’s attention span.

Between backyard toboggan runs, I pulled Ethan down to the river, where we sat on the bank and threw snow into the water. The top layer of snow was crusty from several days of below-freezing weather, yet the lower layers still packed into snow balls. Ethan watched the snow chunks and snow balls snow turn from pure white to dull gray the moment they plunged beneath the surface.

The river was about half iced over and left only a couple-foot gap between the ice sheet and the bank where we sat. Straw-colored prairie grass protruding into the narrow channel of flowing water did its best to snag the floating snow as it tried to pass by. Ethan saw many of the pieces get stuck, but the little chucks snuck through, and the huge pieces plowed through the log jams.

In the past, an activity like this would hold Ethan attention for a few seconds or maybe minutes. But out here, comfortably bundled and with few other distractions (the ducks had left), Ethan seemed like he could have stayed for hours. Daddy, though, was good for about half an hour, as we tried a few different spots along the river bank, before I was ready to go back to sledding. Ethan loves sledding, so it was an easy sell.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Another Ethan first: He wiped his nose.

Ethan has a cold, complete with a nose that runs almost has much as he does. He’s learned to cope with it well. Today, between playing with various toys, he walked over to the end table with the tissue box, pulled out a tissue, and wiped his nose.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Another Ethan first: He balanced a fork on his wrist.

I sometimes wonder about the timing of his inspiration. Did he have to get the idea while eating French toast? I suppose he was using the syrup to his advantage.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Another Ethan first: He asked for his blanket.

One of our favorite events of the evening is slipping into Ethan’s bedroom after he’s fast asleep to check on him and put his blankets on. Ethan has always been too wormy at bedtime to be blanketed—until tonight that is. Just before lying down, he motioned for his blankets. I told him that he’d have to lie still for them to stay on, and he did.

Blankets already on or no, we still slipped into his room later on.

Another Ethan first: He helped build a snowman.

Our first big snow of the season packed very nicely, a perfect opportunity to build a snowman. Ethan caught on quickly to rolling a snowball, although it wasn’t long before the balls were too big for him to roll. After all, he’s not much taller than the big ball at the base of the snowman (which was all that remained for the picture after the big storm).

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Another Ethan first: He shook off his yogurt drips.

As Ethan was enjoying his yogurt, he noticed some dripping from the spoon. He shook the spoon until the drip came free and landed cleanly back in the container. This surprised us, since Ethan gleefully makes a mess with other foods.

Another Ethan first: He climbed onto our bed.

Ethan loves flopping around on our bed, but since it sits up fairly high, he’s needed our help to get on it. He did learn a while ago to lower himself to the point where he could safely plop down to the floor. Today, using the wood rail as a step stool and with a good grip on the bed spread, and pulled himself up to where he could play around.