Wow, what a difference

October 2008

April 2010

The pictures say it all!

Ethan is 7months old

Eeek! 7 months, that means that my maternity leave year is already more than half over. Boo. I'm really enjoying this stage with Ethan. He's definitely not an infant anymore.

Sleep:
We really cannot complain in this department. He goes to sleep on his own and sleeps through the night. I think that we are on the cusp of switching over to just 2 naps a day, but we'll have to see. The other day he even broke the 30 minute curse of napping in the stroller. He slept for a little over 1.5 hrs. A real first! With the weather getting better, I'm looking forward to taking the kids for a walk in the morning and I'm hoping Ethan can still get a decent nap in the stroller.

Eating:
He's definitely enjoying his solids. We're onto meats now and really there isn't anything we've given him, that he's turned down. He eats about a cup of food 3 times a day plus an afternoon snack of 1/3 banana mixed with applesauce.

Skills:
I feel like it won't be long before Ethan will be on the move. He loves to spend time on his tummy, which is strange because he didn't like it at all before. He can't crawl yet, but he can spin around a full 360 in order to get at different toys. I've been trying to work on sitting up with him, but all he does is lunge forward so that he's on his tummy again.

Ethan has recently found his voice and he loves to use it. I call it his "woman in distress" scream as it reminds me of the old cartoons where the villain ties the lady to the train tracks and she's screaming for help.

One of the best developments is that he can kind of communicate to us. Perhaps it's just us getting better at figuring out what he wants, but I swear that he gives the biggest grin when I sign "milk" to him.

Teeth:
So far he has two of them!! I also think that more are on the way as he's been super fussy today, had a fever last night and he's been drooling like crazy. Going through the teething with Ethan now, makes me realize how lucky we were with Maddy's teething. I guess the days of cute little gummy smiles are behind us now.

Oh boy, we are in trouble. He pulled this box of cards off the bottom shelf of the coffee table.
He certainly likes to get into things.

***Edited on April 16th***

Today at Mother Goose, Ethan sat up for a short while. I'm quite sure that he'll be sitting with no support by the next month's post so I thought I'd add this in here. I'm also willing to bet that he'll be crawling or at least commando crawling in no time. I saw him inch forward towards a vent thing on the floor at Mother Goose. It was definitely different from him pivoting movement. He sure is motivated to move, he's such a go getter and wants to see/touch everything. Better get baby proofing soon!

Catching up

I've had so many blog ideas/stories that I wanted to write about, but haven't had the time. Now that I do, I can't remember them all. So here is a condensed version of things that have been happening around the Blommestein household.

New Wheels
We decided that it was time to get a stroller that both kids could nap in at the same time. I loved my old Bugaboo and we even had a seat that Maddy could sit on while on the wheeled board, but she couldn't nap (meaning we were still stuck at home because of nap times). We are quite happy with the Phil and Teds Vibe stroller and very happy that both Maddy and Ethan are able to sleep in it. It's a lot bigger, but more comfortable for the kids. For now Ethan is happy in the back, but I do dread the day when he realizes that there's a way better view sitting up front. Yikes! I'll have to be sure to keep him in the back seat as much as possible :)

Thanks Auntie Cherie for this picture. We stole it off your site.

Josh's Birthday
Josh celebrated his 37th birthday on March 26th. I know, I know, this blog is sooo late. Sorry babe! I had the idea to cook him a special Tapas style dinner, but not so easy with two kids. Luckily for me his birthday this year was on Friday, so I made dinner for Thursday night because that way I had the whole day with just Ethan at home to cook. Dinner was yummy and it was fun to see that even Maddy enjoyed the different food. That night, Maddy helped me make Josh's birthday cake for the next day. She now knows what 'pudding' is...oh boy. Happy birthday Josh, you're the best hubby/papa ever!



Oma and Opa
Two weekends ago Josh's parents came down from Revelstoke for a visit and to test out their new Vanagon. Herman has been building his dream vanagon for the last year or two. It looks amazing and is definitely a real eye catcher. The Westy made the long trip without any major problems and we got to have a nice weekend visit with Oma and Opa. Josh and I even got to have a 'date night'. Soooo nice.


Long Weekend
I love long weekends...I love that we get to do lots of things, but still have some 'down time'. Easter Weekend was great. We met up with some friends for dim sum and ate way too much. After, we slept off the MSG headache while the kids napped in the car (I guess I should say, I slept while Josh drove. Thanks babe!) That evening, my parents came over for dinner and to play with the kids. It's so fun to watch Maddy go around and tell Gong Gong and Poh Poh all that is new in the house.

The next day we met up with the Browns and the Brown Johns to take the kids to the Easter Egg Hunt at the Roundhouse Community Centre. It was Maddy's first egg hunt and she had a great time. It wasn't the mad dash that I pictured, so it was most enjoyable.

Maddy and Papa making the bunny basket to carry the eggs.

The Easter bunny at the Roundhouse. She was ummm..."high energy"

Afterwards we went for a nice lunch and managed to find a place that would take 6 adults, 3 toddlers and a baby with two strollers. After a trip to the playground, both Maddy and Ethan even napped at the same time, leaving Josh and I with a bit of time to ourselves to walk around.
Now I know that it really doesn't sound like we did ALL THAT MUCH. Believe me it was. Even I was tuckered out. We then spent the last two days of the long weekend at home, trying to get Ethan's sleep back on track. But it was all worth it.

Maddy was super excited to dye some Easter eggs for the first time.

Our own egg hunt at home.

Happy Easter everyone. Now who wants some egg salad sandwiches?

Cute Story
With all the Easter chocolates in the house, we told Maddy that she can have one treat a day. She is really good about this rule and she gets to pick what time of day she wants her candy. Today she had her little egg in the morning. In the afternoon, we were sitting on the couch and she brought up the candy again. Here is how the conversation went.

Maddy: "Mama I want a candy. Can I have a candy?"
Mom: "Maddy, you already had a candy, how many are you allowed in one day."
Maddy: "Just one candy." (In her best mom and dad voice)
Maddy: "Mama, can I have a candy please?"
Mom: "No Maddy, you can't have a candy"
Maddy: "Mama, I love for always, I hug you and kiss you... Now?" (big, expectant grin on her face)
Mom: "Now what, Maddy?"
Maddy: "Now can I have a candy!"
Mom: "No Maddy, just one candy a day. But do you still love me for always?"
Maddy: "Yes Mama, I love you."

I love this verbal stage. She is so cute and it amazes me how much 'she knows'. She definitely comes up with the ideas on her own now instead of parroting what we say back at us.