Contacts

I don't know if I posted about this, but I've been wearing contacts for about a month now. They are getting quite comfortable on my eyes. And I like that Ethan can't grab the glasses off my face.

That's a bit random, but it's what I'm thinking about tonight.

Birthday

So, it's my birthday. The big one... or rather the first of many big ones that will make me face my mortality every decade or so.

I am officially 30 years old.

But, I have the consolation of having a hot twenty-something wife so I've still got that going for me.

My birthday was actually very fun. Except for the fact that I've had a cold this weekend :( But Mia was great about taking care of Ethan today, even while she was cleaning up.
And actually, Ethan did a great job playing by himself. Normally he's very needy of our attention, he wants us to always be right next to him. Today he was in a good mood and just played along without much trouble. Which was nice because I had very little energy.

I also had a surprise party last night. I was completely surprised. This may stem from a difference that I've noticed between Mia and I when we watch movies. She's always looking to figure out the mystery or twist early in the plot. I'm more content to just watch and let it unfold by itself, waiting to be surprised by whatever happens.
I think that's why I just accepted that Mia really wanted to get the house clean this weekend, and why she made a gigantic lasagna for just the two of us. And why, when the doorbell rang and I thought Beth and Tyler were joining us for dinner Mia wanted me to get it... especially when I sent Ethan to open the door instead (I was talking with my brother online at the time).

So, I was very surprised by the party and I was very glad that everyone was able to make it over. We had about 4 other couples with their kids (about 5 kids total). The kids played well together and the adults all got to chat and eat some good food and cake.

I guess with a birthday like that I can't complain much about being 30. :)

Duck Says Quack

Grandma Linda brought a present out for Ethan when she came to see Mia's play. Not only did he create an immediate rapport with his new duck but the duck now sleeps under a blanket on the floor next to Ethan's bed.

Juggling Cups

Ethan is such a smart little guy. On a whim I decided to juggle some of his plastic cups before dinner. He thought it was great, and after we ate dinner he started saying that he wanted to juggle cups. I couldn't understand him at first because I had no idea that he would have already picked up on juggling.

So anyway, without any more waiting, here he is.

Parenting

So, I want to make just a quick post about active and passive parenting. I've been thinking about this a lot because I take are of Ethan at the beginning and end of the day. And of course on the weekends.

But, in the mornings I find that I'm just coming out and letting Ethan watch TV while I lay on the couch for just a little longer. I've tried to tell myself that I'm not going to do this but when I'm in the moment, in the actual morning, I don't remember those promises.

In the evenings, I do better. We have been making trips to the park lately because the sun is out longer now (thanks DST) and the weather is warmer. I feel better about doing that because it means that I'm engaging with Ethan. But even then, like on our 2 hour trips, I brought a book so that I could just let him run his energy out. I didn't have a chance to sit down and read it all that much but the intention was there.

Active parenting -- The time spent with kids playing, running, reading, doing things.
Passive parenting -- The time your kid spends interacting with things that are not you.

I shouldn't come down so hard on passive parenting. It can be very useful when things like dishes, cleaning, vacuuming need to get done. Or just when then parent needs a little sanity. But it's an easy parenting style to fall into as the default.

Ethan is getting better about playing with himself without just watching TV. He likes to read books, run around the house, and play with trains.

Some of the things that I need to do more actively are read, sing, run, and build things with him. I'll have to keep working on those.

More catching up

So, Mia finished her play last weekend. It was kind of crazy because their Friday show got canceled because of snow, but then re-scheduled for Sunday. Mia had to work a full shift on Monday and was hoping for a day off on Sunday to rest.
David, Chris and family came out to the Saturday afternoon show of the play. And Linda came out for the evening performance. They all enjoyed it very much. The performance really was moving, they did very well with the singing and sets and everything.

So, during the rest of the week we tried to recover from last weekend.

Also, I received a present from my parents this week. It's for my birthday... just some random birthday, no major milestones that would make me feel old. However, to ease me into my next year closer to death, I'll have a boatload of music. An 80GB iPod with video capabilities. I don't even know what I'm going to do to fill it all up. I'll have to start hitting up my friends for music.

On Friday, Mia was feeling pretty sick so I took the day off so she could sleep before going to work. Ethan has been a crazy man lately. Very active, very very active. So, rather than letting him run around the house and wake Mia up, we headed out to the park. We were there for 2 hours. And he still fought me when I took him home. And then, after the nap we went to the park for 2 hours again. I'm going to make a separate post about active parenting, because on Saturday we went to the park for 2 hours in the morning and an hour in the afternoon (it was getting a little cold) and for about an hour on Sunday morning (though I hadn't been planning on it). Did I mention that Ethan's active?

Today, I'm watching the new Discovery Channel's premiere of Planet Earth with their new hi-def filming techniques that let's them film from further away and thus get more natural footage. It's very cool.

And that's my update.

The rest of my rant

I'll finish my rant about the snow now. I don't like it in the east for a couple of reasons.
1. Snow storms are the primary distribution channel. We don't get many flurries or just 'snow'. We get mini-blizzards that drop 10 inches (or much, much more) at a time. This means that I typically have to shovel the driveway when I get home from work just so I can park (yes, it always seems to snow while I'm at work) and then I have to shovel again later that night so that it doesn't pile up too high. This includes the pile that the snowplows have pushed across our driveway.
2. Which brings me to number two. The snow out here is wet. And when the snowplows push it around, it gets more water in it. Trying to shovel the snow out of the driveway is about 10x heavier than the rest of the snow... unless it's iced over.
3. Any snow you leave for the next day gets iced over. It turns into a solid sheet that you can't get rid of until the weather is warm enough to start melting it. And... whatever you do, don't let your car sit overnight with snow on it.

Updates

Just some random stuff here but before I forget it all I want to jot it down.

Ethan and I went to the park twice today for 2 hour stretches. I love that the weather has warmed up.

Karen had her baby. A boy. More details later.

My parents Twitter. They are so cutting edge... or will be once they update it ;)

Fast Post

I hate the snow.

More later.

Fort Couch

The corner of our living room is a great playspace. Recently, I've been making that area into a fort by tossing a blanket over the couch. Ethan likes having his own little place. And he's so cute when he goes in there.