Sun Sun Summertime

We have made it - it is officially summer time in Alaska!  May is a big transition month for us.  We started out cold, drizzly and brown and are ending the month warm, sunny and green!

The change happens so fast, within days, that it is a wonderful shock to our systems.  After the long Alaskan winters, 65 degrees and sunny is AMAZING.

A friend of ours has organized a group called Skedaddle that meets at different parks around town each week, all year long.  At the beginning of the month we were still bundled up at the parks.  One week we played a few bocks from Aaron's office so he came and ran around with us.  E's surprised excitement as he saw Aaron walk into the park was priceless.  

By the end of the month, we've stripped our layers and now enjoy the parks in the sun!  Ethan loves the time to follow the older toddlers around and sliding down the slides.  Eating rocks is another one of his favorites, which he sneaks in whenever I look away...

We had a few days of rain mid month, but that didn't stop E and I from getting out for or weekly hike with a mama group called Taiga Trekkers.  We pulled out our ran gear and hit the trail.  It has been a lot of fun hiking in the area the last weeks and watching how much everything changes as the green leaves pop on the birch trees and shrubs take over.  

Days we aren't at the park or hiking, we are still outside as much as possible.  We've been picnicing at the lagoon or area lakes, meeting friends for trail runs, bike rides and hikes, or just playing in the backyard with Malley.  

Aaron and I have enjoyed getting back on our bikes the most this year.  We live a mile from some great trails that connect to a large trail system so we can do some easy mountain riding - but can't be too bouncy for poor E's little head!  We can also hop onto the paved paths that connect all throughout town very easily.  We have days where we leave both cars in the garage while we bike to where we're going.

Most of the month of May was spent in Anchorage, enjoying the local trails and the city.  Between E's birthday and Aaron's parents in town, Aaron spending a week working in Houston  and then getting the yard ready for summer, we've stayed pretty close to home.  That won't last all summer though, we're excited to get out and enjoy the state!

Alaskan summers tend to be rainy, so I know these few weeks of sun we've had won't last forever.  While they are here we are soaking up as much as we can!

GG & Grandpa

Aaron's parents came and visited us for a week in May to celebrate Ethan's birthday and play with the little guy.  It was fun sharing our happy guy with GG and Grandpa while they were here.

Ethan loved having new people to read to him... 

...and play with him (especially since they took him outside a lot!)...

...and give him lots and lots of attention.  

As I mentioned in E's birthday post, he really soaked up all the attention and love that his grandparents gave him while they were here.  He would get very excited and loud when everyone was home and in the same room watching him perform.  He loved it when GG or Grandpa got on the floor to play and laugh with him.  

While they were in town, Grandpa Kris went to work and made a new workbench in the garage for us and new stairs on the back deck - I should add that Aaron was also a part of the building.  :)  Ethan got a tool set for his birthday so built right along with them.  

A funny moment of the week was when all three Fuhr guys showed up at Ethan's family birthday party in blue polos and khaki pants, unplanned.  Apparently blue and khaki's are a birthday uniform in the family.

Mother's Day came while they were here and we celebrated by taking a hike along the inlet and then feasting like kings for dinner.  The best part of the day was opening my card in the morning and seeing that my little guy signed it himself, it made me so happy.  It was a great day celebrating being E's mama. 

Ethan's First Birthday Fiesta!

Ethan's first birthday was a fun event at our house this year.  Since his birthday is Cinco de Mayo, we did everything with a Mexican theme.  Grandpa Kris and GG Lorrie came into town to celebrate with us as well!

On the night of his actual birthday, we celebrated as home as a family.  Ethan realized very quickly that this night was all about him and loved all the attention and fuss (like every night in the house isn't all about him???).  As E got more and more pumped up with all the excitement, he got louder and louder and acted silly all night.  I think it helped having GG & Grandpa there to laugh at everything he did.  

I made enchilada's for dinner as part of our Mexican fiesta and found out that this just might be Ethan's favorite meal.  He ate more for dinner that night that he ever has in his life...and that is saying a lot.  

After dinner came the cake!  Ethan got his own little, frosted cake to eat, mash and smear around.  

He even ended up eating some of the cake in between the play.

After he was done he even shared with his buddy Malley.

Then came the presents and this is where E got really excited.  We didn't even have time to put the kiddo's shirt back on before he was in the living room checking out what he got.  

The biggest present was this fun tent from GG & Grandpa, so he played with it first for a while.  

Then he found the push popper toy that he picked out at the toy store that morning.  We actually had his first fit in a store on his one year birthday - I thought that was fitting.  He fell in love with this loud noisemaker in the store and was not happy when we took it away to put it in the cart.  Lucky for his dad and I, this loud noisemaker came home with us...  :)  (by the way, check out that BELLY!)

Once he calmed down a bit from the initial sugar rush, he sat down and opened presents from Nana and Poppy.  Even though they weren't in town for the big day, they still spoiled him with all the fun gifts and clothes.  Although, I honestly think he like the crinkly wrapping paper the best.  My favorite gift to him came in Nana's package - a Skippyjon Jones book.  It doesn't get better than a book about a Siamese cat who thinks he is a Mexican Chihuahua.

He also got a fun jumpy toy from Nana and Poppy that we have all enjoyed bouncing around the room on.  

E was so distracted by all the toys from his grandparents that we didn't make it to anymore gifts that night and just played what he had already opened.  We all had a great evening watching E run around, so happy and excited with all the attention.  I was surprised that he knew it was a special day for him, maybe it was because he got his first bite of cake.

The next afternoon we invited all of Ethan's little buddies and their families over to our house to play and celebrate E's first year.  We completely lucked out and the day ended up being sunny and warm(ish) so we played outside in the yard...and with 10 kids under the age of three, it was NICE to be outside.  

Again, E picked up on the fact that all those people were at his house for him and had a great afternoon running around and playing.  

When everyone gathered around and sang Happy Birthday to him, one of my friends said he completely lit up and smiled when they said his name in the song.  It made me feel like I have already successfully taught my son how wonderful his birthday is!  :)

It was fun throwing a Mexican fiesta for E's birthday because we also got to have margaritas and Coronas for the adults, as we were celebrating Aaron and I surviving our first year as parents.  

We all had a blast celebrating E's first year of life with him.  Happy birthday to our Ethan!

One Year Old

Ethan turned one!  His first year has been a blast for the whole family and we had a great time celebrating the birthday.  He is still a happy, smiley little man that is starting to love being the center of attention.  

In one year, Ethan tripled his birth weight and grew almost 50% taller.  He is still in the 95th percentile for height and just above the 50th percentile for weight.  He is as healthy as can be!

Ethan's nicknames that have stuck a full year are E, Turbo and Bob.  He responds to all of them.  The other day I actually heard Aaron call Ethan by his real name and it sounded strange...he might respond better to his nicknames than his real one.  :)

In his first year, Ethan as been in 6 states:  Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. (does the Seattle airport count as visiting???)

One of his favorite games right now is find things around the room and bring them to me - usually books to read or oranges to peel.  Probably my favorite thing about E right now is his love of books. We read about 100 books a day (usually only getting a page or two in before we move on to the next, but thats ok!).  He loves to point at the pictures and turn the pages.

We communicate very well with him now.  He signs eat, all done and more.  We have also gotten very good at understanding his grunts and points and are working to help him put words behind them.  It's so cool now that he understands a lot of what we say to him.

E now blows on his own food when it's hot.  He has also figured out that things coming out of the microwave or oven are hot.  He starts blowing in the direction of the food whenever it comes out of the microwave to help cool it down...even if he's across the room.  :)


After watching Grandpa whistle to Malley for a day or two he has started to try and whistle at the dog as well.  He also has figured out to blow into his toy recorder make noise.  Blowing air is a big thing in this house.  

E's way of communicating back to us has become YELLING AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS.  He will just wonder around the room in circles yelling nonsense.  Someday we're hoping this becomes actual words at a lower volume.  He doesn't say many words yet, sometimes he will say Dog and Dad and I think I've gotten a Hi or two recently.  He is working hard on forming words however, so I think we're getting close to talking.  

His loves are: being outside, reading books, pushing cars around the room, and eating.  He laughs the hardest at Daddy right now and loves when Daddy makes funny faces and noises.  

Houston 2011

After spending a few days exploring Oregon, we headed down to Houston to visit Aaron's family and all of our friends.  We also went to enjoy 85 degree, 100% humid weather.  Fabulous.    

We spent 4 days jumping all around town trying to see as many friends as possible and see the spots of town we missed the most.  I forgot to pull the camera out most days so not many pictures from Houston.

We met a friend at the zoo so Ethan and her daughter could run around and look at the animals.  Poor little guy was not used to it being so hot outside!

My old roommate treated us right had a bunch of our friends over for a great, yummy crawfish boil.  True Houston eating.

It was fun to have Ethan meet some of our friends kiddos.  

The best part of the trip was getting to spend time with Uncle Nick and Aunt Kristin and Uncle Curtis.  We even got to see Grandpa Kris for a few days.  Ethan loved all the attention.  He also loved that he could just walk out the backdoor and be outside...and walk back in, then out, then in again.  :)  

Ethan spent his first Easter in Houston with Aaron's family.  Auntie Kristin made him a cute Easter basket and he spent the morning finding eggs the Easter bunny hid for him.  After he found his race car and one egg he was pretty distracted.  It took a while to get all 6 'hidden' eggs.  :)

It was so nice to spend time with friends and family that we miss so much!