Bzzzzz

 Happy Halloween!  We started the Halloween celebration last weekend by carving pumpkins and bringing out the bee!  Ethan had no idea what was going on, but I think he had a good time.  :)

It was fun for Aaron and I to celebrate Ethan's first Halloween with him.  Ethan didn't get to actually carve the pumpkins, but he supervised well.  He was really hoping I would let him play in the pumpkin guts, but no deal...

Ethan went through a short phase of blowing bubbles and making the 'raspberry' sound all the time, which was in perfect timing with Halloween and his costume.  I think he really got into the spirit of being a bee!

Aaron's work had a Halloween party at the local Imaginarium so Ethan got to play with bubbles, watch marbles and all kinds of neat science exhibits.  He loved looking at the animals and especially loved watching the jellyfish. 

He's a cute little bumble bee.

E mastered a huge milestone this week - he sits for a long time on his own now! This is trick he's been working on for quite some time and this week he finally got it. Before we would prop him up and he would last at most 10 seconds before toppling over. Last Tuesday Aaron set Ethan down about to take his clothes off to give him a bath (which is why he's in the closet!) and noticed that E wasn't falling over! He figured out how to stablize himself and actually sit!

Another trick Ethan has been working on a while is crawling.  He started pulling up on his hands and knees in a crawling position almost a month ago and it seems like everyday he gets just a little bit closer to actually doing it. He still hasn't actually crawled but he spends a lot of time rocking back and forth, moving his legs forward and he swings his arms forward too. All we need is for him to figure out how to put it all together and actually move! Until then, we're enjoying knowing where he is at all times. :)

Another big event this week was that we finally got Ethan back to sleeping through the night (mostly). At about 6 weeks old I worked with Ethan to be able to fall asleep on his own once I laid him in the crib, which was fantastic. He knew how to soothe himself if he woke up at night.  That lasted until he was about 4 months when he went through a growth spurt which messed up his sleep and at the same time we disrupted his sleep schedule for several weeks when we had family visiting and were out and about enjoying the summer. After we got back onto a normal schedule I just expect Ethan to get back to sleeping through the night...he knew how so it seemed reasonable to me...

The last two months, Ethan would sometimes sleep 7 hours straight at night and then the next few nights wake up every two hours and we couldn't figure out what was causing the difference. I was more tired lately than I was right after Ethan was born because he was sleeping worse than he ever had. Aaron and I realized that since we knew he could sleep longer than 2 hours but wasn't doing it, it was time to help him sleep. So we did it - we made him cry himself to sleep one night instead of rocking him until he was out, so he could remember how to self soothe. It took 45 minutes for him to fall asleep that first night but once he did he slept 6 hours, ate, and slept another 6 hours! The next night we did the same thing and he whined for 5 minutes and fell asleep. Last night he just fell asleep a few minutes after I laid him down without any crying or whining. That first night of listening to our baby cry 45 minutes was horrible, but let me tell you the last three nights of fantastic sleep have made it worth it! We are happy to have our baby back to sleeping well!

Last weekend we went on a family hike with my mommy hiking group and it completely wore the little guy out!  He definitely loves his backpack.

We still don't have snow sticking on the ground down in the city, but the mountains are covered. Last Tuesday we saw a coyote sleeping in the road on our way down.

Turbo

Here's a video of our little Turbo moving in his walker.  This is the first day he figured it out and his little feet are moving!  Now that he's been at a few days he really rocks around the downstairs. 

Ethan in Walker Video

The quality of the download isn't very good, but you can still see his little legs moving away.  :)

Changing so fast...and kinda mobile!

It's amazing how fast babies change!  In the last two weeks Ethan has been going through another growth spurt and is becoming even more aware of the world around him.  The best part of the changes is that he is getting a little silly.  He smiles and laughs all the time and even seems to be playing little games with me.  Its fun to see his cute little personality come out.

Ethan is starting to notice things around the house beyond just the toys we put in front of him.  All of sudden he has found tables and bookshelves and scoots or rolls all over the floor to get to them and check them out.  He also has found the little things in the house we haven't given him as toys and now would much rather have them than his toys...things like the remote, our shoes, cups.  Fun to see him grow up, but this change is not that fun for Aaron and I... :)

Two weeks ago Ethan was getting up a lot during the night while he was working on his first tooth.  Now that it has popped through, this kid has turned into a sleeping machine.  He sleeps for longer hours during the night (yes!) and his naps are much longer.  We noticed that he was starting to put on a little weight and filling out his tummy (his cheeks even look fuller in this picture than previous weeks), storing up energy getting ready to grow.  I'm guessing he's using all this sleep time to grown longer now! 

E is starting to spend some serious hours during the day in maniac mode.  He gets so excited and happy that he just wants to touch and grab anything within reach and bang on it, chew on it, or swing it around.  And I'm not talking about a nice, relaxing chew or bang - he mauls whatever he touches.  And of course with all his drool, anything in his path is soaking wet after he moves by.  To make it even more exciting he adds a lot of excited yelling and chattering to go with all this activity.  It's very entertaining to watch him play right now!

Ethan began hanging out in his walker during the summer when he would hang out at GG's house, but didn't really walk much in it.  He would just stand, jump and chew on the toys.  A few weeks ago he started figuring out that he could kinda move himself around in the walker, but wasn't coordinated to actually get anywhere.  Well this week he figured it out!  Last Tuesday (Oct 19th) I was sweeping and noticed that he was following me everywhere I walked in the kitchen.  He was walking - kinda.  :)  He doesn't have any kind of balance yet, so we're no where near really walking, but it is very cool to see him figure out how to move his feet and get around.  

 

Now that he's figured out how to move, he doesn't stop.  Being able to move himself has opened a whole new world for E - he can now play with the cabinets, the plants, the bookshelves, the walls.  It's all fun for him to touch and feel right now.  Luckily the walker blocks him from opening doors and cabinets, so we have a bit more time before he gets too mischevious! 

We have had such a fantastic fall here in Anchorage - great weather and beautiful colors.  The temps are dropping and I think we're getting into winter now.  We're still getting out and about in the mountains and can't wait for the snow to come (any day now!) so we can get started on winter sports.   Here's E in his cute little snow suit.  He wears it when we hike these days.

Ethan still loves to be outside even in the cool temps.  E and I hike a lot during the week with friends and on the weekends, Aaron, E and I try to get out together.  He we're trying out the backpack for the first time and it was a sucess.  E loved it enough to fall asleep on the way back...

We walked up to Byron Glacier near Portage.  It was a gray, rainy day but still a great hike!

And they're off...

A few months ago we found out that Grandpa Kris and GG Lorrie were getting transferred from Anchorage to Calgary for Kris' job and last week they made the move (Ethan is saying bye bye in the picture).  It was sad to see them go, but we are so grateful they were here for Ethan's first 5 motnhs.  Luckily we're going to get to see them in two months at Christmas (in Hawaii!!!!).

I didn't think to pull the camera out the week Kris and Lorrie were leaving, so instead here's a few shots of our little man with his grandparents last summer that I haven't posted before:

Can't get enough kisses from GG. 

Is there a family resemblance?

Coalie trying to get some of Kris' attention back from the little guy.

Laughing with GG.

Hanging out on the deck looking for wildlife.

Coalie watching over our little man while he plays.

Found some wildlife!  I think this one was the belugas when Uncle Nick and Aunt Kristin were in town.  Ethan didn't get quite as excited as the rest of us...

Hope Grandpa and GG love their new adventure in Calgary, but we're going to miss them!  And we'll be visiting Calgary someday soon I'm sure - we even got Ethan a passport so he's all set!

Cousins!

Last week Ethan and I took a trip down to Colorado to visit my family while Aaron took a trip to Dallas for a weekend with the guys. It was our first trip out of Alaska since we arrived back in February and we were pretty excited about it. Ethan took his first plane ride, first trip to Lower 48, first time meetings his Kimble side aunts and uncles and cousins. Big week for the little guy. 

 We made the trip to Colorado to get to see Nana and Poppy, meet his aunts and uncles and 2 year old cousin Anni as well as meet his brand new cousin Kate!  Here is Nana with all her grandbabies. 

I'll just admit up front that I did a horrible job of taking pictures of the week.  These last two pictures are stolen from my sister's blog.   I didn't get very many shots of E with the family and I couldn't find my camera when the cousins were all together with Nana.  Luckily others stepped up for me. 

One of the highlights of the week was getting to meet my sister's second little girl, who turned two weeks old while we were there. Katelyn Sue is a sweet little baby!  Cari and Glenn got lucky with her as she loves to sleep and seems to have a mellow little personality.

It was also a lot of fun to see my other niece Anni.  At two and a half she's very entertaining, always talking and playing - even her little bits of the terrible two's were pretty cute.  She seems to like being an older sister and didn't have a rough adjustment period at all, very impressive!  (Check out  Hush House o'Chaos to see more of Kate and Anni!)

My brother and his fiance Michelle drove up from Tulsa, OK to hang out with us for a few days.  It was great to see them and catch up.  We can't wait for their wedding in June!

The weather was fantastic that week so we spent a lot of time outside.  Ethan is starting to like dogs a lot and likes to touch them.  Greg's dog, Goose, is still a puppy himself and didn't seem to mind the babies.

We spent an afternoon at the children's museum in Denver to see the bubble exhibit.  The museum was cool, but the best part was the park outside!

Ethan had a good time playing with his Poppy on the park toys.

Ethan thinks he can do anything the big kids do - even if his fingers aren't long enough to hold onto the bars...

Ethan's Nana is very silly and he had a good time playing with her.  I think everyone was surprised to see how Ethan moves a more than Nana's sweet little granddaughters.  He's constantly jumping around and gets in maniac mode where he's so excited he can't help but yell and pound on anything close to him...I'm hoping he slows down a bit before he starts walking!

Ethan did fantastic on the plane rides.  We were lucky to get direct flights from Anchorage to Denver and back, so didn't have to mess with connections.  The flight down to Denver was a red eye and Ethan slept the whole way - it was fantastic.  I think his favorite part of flying was that he finally got to touch a TV screen (on the back of the seat).  He explores his world by touching and putting in his mouth and this TV was actually close enough to touch - very exciting!  (and no, I did not let him put his mouth on it...)

The flight back was an evening flight and after about an hour of being in hyper maniac mode, he managed to sleep for a few hours.  Luckily he only cried for a minute or two before he went to sleep. 

It was a great week for us.  It's always nice to get to see family and fun to get out of Alaska for a bit.  We got the added bonus of getting to see Ethan's Great Grandma Dolly, Carmella my girlfriend from college, and Amanda and Chris Varnon from Houston.  I didn't get pictures of those guys, so instead here is Ethan teaching his Poppy everything he's learned about cards.  :)

First Tooth!

Ethan's first tooth broke through yesterday.  He was a little fussy while we were out with our hiking group in the morning and I was wondering if it was his teeth that were bothering him.  Yesterday afternoon he and I were playing at the house and started chewing on my arm and I felt that his gums felt a little sharper than normal...and sure enough, one little tooth on his bottom gum has poked through! 

Ethan's working on lots of milestones right now - teeth, crawling and someday soon we'll start him on solids.  This is an exciting time in a baby's world!

5 Months

What a happy guy Ethan is!  He went through a few rough weeks of growth spurts and mixed up schedules which left him a little cranky during the day, but I am happy to say my happy man is back!  Ethan turns 5 months this week and is doing fantastic.  He's working hard on cutting teeth, crawling, and moving anywhere he can.

During his 5th month, Ethan has started to suck his thumb (only takes his paci at night when he's winding down to sleep). 

Ethan is doing a lot of experimenting on how to move around when he's on his tummy.  He brings his legs under him and sometimes gets up on his arms in a crawling position.  He hasn't figured out how to move his arms and legs from there, but he has figured out he can spring forward and backward.  He also brings his legs under him to scoot forward and backward.  He's our little inch worm.

My man talks all the time now.  He went through a few weeks where he didn't say much, but he's back to being a chatterbox.  He likes to try out all kinds of sounds and volumes.  He's become our little alarm clock waking us up each morning singing...and if it were an hour or two later on the weekend we would love it a lot more.  :)

 

He of course loves to chew on everything he touches and this last week he has begun to stick his tongue out a lot. 

We like to think of him like our little puppy dog  - drools all the time, isn't potty trained, crawls on all fours and wags his tongue.  He's a cute little puppy dog.

I can't tell you how much fun we are having with him right now.  It's neat to watch a baby's personality develop.  I know it just keeps getting better and better as he gets older, but if it never got better than a baby's personality at 5 months I'd be happy.

Dad's already teaching him the important things in life - how to win at cards...

...and how to throw a football.  Obviously we've been teaching how wonderful the game of football is since birth, but now that Grandpa John bought Ethan his own ball we're down to throwing technique. 

Ethan loves his Daddy time.  Aaron can always get Ethan to giggle easier than I can and has become Ethan's play buddy.  This is nice for me because it gives me an excuse to get out of the house on the weekends so they can have play time!

Ethan is starting to explore his world not just by grabbing and tasting but trying to move around to things.  He loves to use people as a jungle gym because he can push himself around by hooking his feet in our clothes.  He's becoming our little manimal (part maniac, part animal).  :)

The moose are back in Anchorage in full force these days.  Now that it is colder up in the mountains they have come into the city to finish off everyone's garden.  We were visited by three the other day and they cleaned us out.  Here the two little ones are finishing off my herbs. 

My last flower of the season is in his mouth right now!  Hope he found it tasty...

"What the @#$@!" is what this guy is thinking right now.  The dogs next door scared his as he was eating the bushes against the fence.  He panic and tried to run under the swing set but got caught around the neck by the swing.  Poor thing thought he was being trapped and paniced harder put all his strength into getting away from that swing.  Right after he got unstuck his brother came by and did the exact same thing...and now we have a broken swing set.  We love the moose.