Today was another big day for me and the boy and I.

One little story, I was changing his diaper and he has been so fussy about that. He squirmed and rolled himself right off the changing table. Fortunately, I was holding one of this legs to try and keep him on his back, so caught him. There he was dangling with a poopy butt and me trying to figure out how to get him back onto the table without making a mess of both of us.
I worked it out quickly and didn't leave him upside down for too long.

We also went to a birthday party for two of the little boys in our ward that just turned one year old. It was right when Ethan normally takes a nap, but I've been pushing him back to adjust for daylight savings ending, so he wasn't too tired when we went.
But he was very clingy. He didn't want to play with the other kids, or even let me put him down. It was very odd, but I guess we have been spending so much time together this weekend. Eventually, he started getting better about being down, and finaly, when I thought we would need to leave, he started jabbering and playing and crawling around. Kids!
So we stayed an extra half hour and watched the eating of the cake :) That was fun.
I have some pictures of Ethan in a cute cow costume to post to the site now.

While we were at the party, it started to snow. Not just little snow, but big flakes that were heavy and wet. The news had predicted only flurries, and this was much more than that. It had covered my car by the time we were leaving. I had to brush it off, and keep the wipers on pretty fast to stay clear.
Of course, by tonight it had stopped and the snow is all melted. That's Boston for you.

I'm very excited to see Mia again tomorrow. This has been a fun weekend, a long weekend, but it's definately easier to parent when you have a partner to help. I'm glad Mia and I are doing this together.

Wow, what an exciting day we had.

Ethan woke up happy as usual, and after being super active, he took a two and a half hour nap. It was great, I showered, cleaned and even vacuumed. She slept right through it all. After feeling very productive, I took Ethan to the thrift store to drop some things off.

For the last few weeks Mia has been driving me to work while one of our cars was being fixed. So, Ethan has come to think that when he gets in the car with dad, it's because he is going to leave him. So I load Ethan in the car, and had to run back into the house for one more box. When I came back he was crying and looked so sad. Then, after I get into the car and calm him down, and realize that I forgot my glasses. It makes me sad when he cries.
Then when I was dropping stuff off at the thrift store, I could tell he wasn't going to handle it well and got one of the workers to unload. Then, we tried to drive home, but the roads were being worked on and I had to drive around to finally get back to the house.
Ethan was so happy to get back home and play with me. He gets over things very quickly, which I'm so glad for.

Then later he wanted to play one of his favorite games. He crawls into his room and shuts the door (with you on the outside) then, after you knock, he makes a noise and you open the door and say "There I am"
He promptly shuts the door again.
We have played this game for 10-15 minutes at a time. Usually he gets bored earlier and crawls into his room for you to chase after him. But he sure does love doors.

Finally, we went to the ward Halloween costume party. Ethan was dressed up as a cow, but the costume is much too large. We didn't stay long as it was past his bed time, but he liked looking around at the other kids. I think it will make a big difference when he can walk on his own, and when he's not so tired.

So, we had a big day. And tomorrow we are going to have a big day as well. I'm having fun, but I have to say, I can't wait to see my wife come home.

Well, we made it through our first day.

It was pretty uneventful. Ethan slept in later than expected, which was nice. And he had a great morning.

After his first nap, we went for a walk, paid off the deductible for our car (which came in way under what we thought it would be) and went to the park to play on the swings.
Now, we have done the swings before, a few months ago. And he kind of liked it, but we really had to hold him to keep him upright, even in the baby swings that have a gaurd all the way around them. This time however, he held onto the chain himself, and LOVED me pushing him back and forth. Not hard, but enough for him to feel the motion. We are definately doing the swings again tomorrow.

After his second nap, he was fussy for the rest of the afternoon. I think his second top tooth, which has started pushing through, has been bothering him still.

But, we made it through, and he went to sleep without too much fuss.

I'll see what tomorrow brings.

Tonight is my first night alone with Ethan. Mia and her mother have gone to a scrapbooking conference in CT and I'm taking care of the boy until Sunday.

ALL BY MYSELF! YIKES!

I'll be sure to keep this updated on how I am doing.

Today went pretty well (for me). He got dropped off at a friends house right around his nap time. Well, of course that made him scream and cry. He finally cried himself to sleep for an hour, then woke up and played with their little boy for a while. Then, after hearing the phone ring (I called to say I was on my way) he started crying again.

When he saw me through the window, he really lost it. I could see that he nearly jumped out of the arms of our friend who was holding him. It took a while for him to calm down, I just held him and let him know that I wasn't going to leave.

Once we got home, he was as happy as ever. Smiling and playing and trying to walk. What a cute little boy we have.

Not as much to say tonight, so I'll just mention that Mia is going to a scrapbooking conference next weekend with her mom. She is in a couple of different "tracks" and will be making a 1-year scrapbook for Ethan. It should be fun for her, and the book will be nice to have for Ethan.

He is as cute as ever. We keep a big down blanket in the living room, and he has this game he likes to play with it. He will crawl over, look at you, and then face plant into the blanket (bunched up by the couch).
After rubbing his face around for a bit, he rolls over onto this back and cranes his neck around to look at you again. Of course, while he's doing this, he has one arm sticking straight out and sometimes up.
Then he rolls around some more to try and get into a position to crawl or start over with the face plant. I love watching him do that and will go lie on the blanket with him.
We're going to try to get pictures of that soon.

I have a lot of things to talk about tonight, but first I need to give a quick re-cap of Monica and Zack's visit. They came up on the train (after many delays) and missed seeing Ethan their first night. This was disappointing as everyone who comes to visit us wants to see Ethan right away. :)
The next day, they got to play with Ethan in the morning, and after his initial "Who are these people" reaction, he warmed up to them. Monica and Zack headed into the city to cruise around while I went to work.
On Friday, we all went into the city. This was, I think, Ethan's first trip into downtown Boston. We drove in (we were feeling brave) and parked near the Aquarium. Our first stop was catching the ferry over to the USS Constitution because you can walk around it for free. Of course the ferry was 12 dollars each, but they gave a nice tour of the harbor on the way, so it was worth it.

We toured the battleship from WWII and Old Ironsides both of which were very interesting. We'd like to go back for a longer tour of the ship, including the below deck section. We couldn't on this trip because another group was coming and Ethan was starting to fall asleep in his stoller.

After getting back across the harbor we had lunch at Quincy Market. What a great place to eat. If you have never been to Boston, Quincy Market is kind of like a food court. And by kind of, I mean it's two long (think, really long) hallways that aren't all that wide and little food counters on both sides. In the middle of them is a seating area that is always full (even the standing room is taken). You can get pretty much any kind of food you want. Seafood, Indian food, pub food, hamburgers, steaks, steak sandwiches, it's all there.
Then, parallel to the food court on both sides, are rows of little kiosks selling all kinds souveniers and Boston Red Sox gear.
Then, on the outside of the building, since it's right downtown, there are areas that street performers set up. There are jugglers, break dancers, singers, we saw some guys with bells attached to their legs clapping sticks (I think it's some kind of Folk Eurpoean thing).
And then, surrounding this all are more mainstream retail shops. GAP, Discovery Store, Godiva Chocolate (we get desserts there alot) and so on.
So, all in all, if you are coming to Boston, this is a great place to visit.

After all that excitement, we just hung out on Saturday and played a game called Lost Cities, that Monica and Zack picked up for us at a local game shop. It's a fun game and great because it's two players.
I drove them to the airport on Sunday morning and they were off to Colorado.

So, that's that.

Now, onto the good stuff. Ethan!

He's got another tooth, this time on the top. It's so cute to see this little tooth poking out of his gum. It hasn't come in very far yet, and we think the one next to it is trying to push down as well. Ethan has been kind of fussy and crying and hasn't been sleeping as well. I hope that whatever has gotten into him will pass soon.

Besides the tooth, he's also standing up alot more often. Mia and I decided to get him a birthday present early because of this. We got him one of those little toys that works as a ride-on and a walker. It's a little car with a phone on the front. We gave it to him yesterday and he has been having so much fun with it. At first he tried to lean too heavily on it and he couldn't stand up in time. He would "walk" behind it on his knees. Today, Mia said that he has been getting better about not leaning so hard on it and has been actually walking around behind it.

He's cute when he does. He gets this big grin on his face and has the best time moving around. We love to encourage him because it makes him so happy.
I'm going to try taking some video with our little camera and see if I can get some up onto my site.

I know that I still need to update my blog with some stories from Monica and Zack's visit. That is on the way. But not tonight.

Tonight, instead of watching TV (except Alias of course) or playing games I uploaded and updated the picturing section. You can now see Ethan in all his 9 month glory.

Well, I always feel a little guilty when I do this, so for the sake of disclosure, I've gone back and updated my blog for the last month. So, since about Sept. 16 is all new content, just waiting for you to read :)

One of the best things the Church has done is set up audio feeds of conference on the Internet. Especially now that we have a baby, I'm not sure how we would make it to conference otherwise.

Today, Ethan slept through an entire session. Two solid hours, which is highly, highly unusual for his naps. But, we weren't complaining or about to wake him up.

One thing that impressed me during the Conference sessions so far has been the emphasis on the Book of Mormon. I know that it is the keystone or our religion and that it is never far from the counsel we receive, but I feel the Saints have been energized by Presdient Hinkley's challenge to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. I decided to finish it from where I was (near the end of Alma). This was an inspired way to encourage more Church members to read the Book of Mormon instead of just telling us how important it is. I'm glad we have a prophet to lead us.

I might be setting myself up for a bit of teasing here, but as I mentioned a few months ago, I play computer games. Spefically I play Neverwinter Nights. (And I've got AJ playing with me.)

Well, part of my hobby is playing online in a world that someone else has created. It's been fun, and they have a section for Fan Fiction, which I have been using to kick my writing back into gear. My Mom took a piece around this summer that I did using this game/world as inspiration.

Some time ago, I started writing a short story about this world, and it's turned into a much longer piece. Right now it's all hand-written in a notebook right now, and needs some major editing, but I've been putting off writing the ending. I'm hoping this will give me a better timeline because when it's done, I'll send it off to anyone who's interested in reading it.

I really like writing and just wish I had the dedication to sit down every night and do more of it. But with Ethan, cleaning, and trying to spend time with Mia (Read: Watching TV together) I haven't been doing very well.

There's always tomorrow though right.