Goodbyes are Really Difficult

I tried very hard to postpone the inevitable goodbye to Nicole, as she is moving to start her new job tomorrow. We spent a short time today with Nicole and Kara, and the kids got to play together inside and on the driveway for awhile.

Ethan and Kara enjoyed sitting together on the little stoop at the bottom of Nicole and Ben's stairwell

They also had fun tooling around on the driveway in the cozy coupe and on the school bus. Ethan kept trying to sit with Kara in the cozy coupe, but it's definitely not designed to hold 2 toddlers!

The time came when Nicole needed to leave for the airport to pick up her aunt who was kind enough to fly out and drive back cross-country with Nicole so that she would have company on the way. It was really, really difficult to tell Nicole goodbye. We will miss their family dearly!

Nate and Kerry's Wedding

We attended the wedding of a friend of mine from WAY back, Nate, this Sunday evening. We lived in the same neighborhood growing up and went to school together from preschool through our senior year. The wedding was held outdoors at a local gardens venue. The weather was absolutely perfect, and the wedding and reception were a lot of fun. I got the opportunity to catch up with a couple of friends from high school who I hadn't seen in a long time which was really nice. I only thought to take pictures during the wedding itself though, so unfortunately I don't have any photos from the reception. And we owe a BIG thanks to Doug and Lori for taking care of Ethan for us this evening on last minute notice, as my mom ended up needing to go out of town to assist my great aunt.

Visiting with Leonica

Leonica is a great friend of mine from my college days, and we had not gotten to visit with her in person since we attended her wedding (which was 3 years ago!) So, it had been quite awhile, and she had not yet met Ethan. Leonica was in town for a wedding and spent the night with us Saturday night, and we enjoyed getting to catch up on Sunday. Ethan took an instant liking to Leonica, and it was so cute to hear him try to pronounce her name correctly. We walked around at a local outdoor mall on Sunday, and he kept wanting to hold "Le-i-ca's" hand. We will definitely plan another get-together before so much time passes us by again!

Leonica, me, and Ethan

Leonica kindly took a family photo of us (which rarely occurs). I am usually behind the camera, so oftentimes am not in many of our pictures!

The Amazing Race- Yes, We Participated (Literally)!

The church that Ben and Nicole attend hosted a really fun event today that Dan and I were invited to participate in along with them. It was coordinated by a couple in Ben and Nicole's Sunday School class, and they did a fantastic job creating clues and challenges similar to those that are on The Amazing Race (though we didn't have to bungee jump or scale any gigantic buildings). There were 5 teams of 4 that began at the church, and we had to drive all over the city to find 25 clues and complete various challenges. Challenges/activities that we had to complete along the way included: Correctly matching up the Italian names with photos of 10 animals, completing an obstacle course at a bounce house place (similar to the one that we took Ethan and Kara to yesterday), picking 40 apples at an orchard after finding a designated tree from which to pick them, each hitting balls in a batting cage, each of us dribbling soccer balls half the length of a soccer field and making a goal, convincing 2000 lbs worth of Wal-Mart customers to allow us to weigh them at the entrance to the store (somehow the pregnant lady ended up doing most of the talking/convincing as it was easier for me to persuade people- I think they felt sorry for me!), finding a clue in a pile of manure, getting a golf ball in the hole with 4 consecutive hits (one from each of us), finding a specific book at the public library, finding a specific video case at a local video store then each of us had to correctly file 3 returned videos (which was more difficult than we thought!), each had to carry a bag of potatoes around a church member's house on our heads (like they do in Africa with the assistance of a scarf), finding a tombstone with an anchor on it in a large cemetery, plus a few more things. We had SO much fun and made a lot of great memories. Finding all of the clues and completing the challenges took about 3 and a half hours. We had to take a photo upon receiving each clue, so I'll post some of those here. When all of the teams had returned to the church, we shared a delicious taco dinner and had some fun fellowship time. Despite the race occurring over naptime, Ethan and Kara did really well in the nursery and had fun running around the gymnasium while we ate and visited.

Dan and Ben at church before the race began

In the lobby of the library

Just hit the golf ball into the hole in 4 strokes! (Yes, the green was right next to a cornfield)

At the orchard just before we collected 40 apples

After successfully finding a hidden case and filing 12 DVDs correctly at the video store

After each of us carried a bag of potatoes around the house on our heads (we should have gotten a photo of us in action!) I'm sure that we provided amusement for the neighbors...

Ben with Kara and Ethan after the raceKara and Ethan holding hands and cheesin' Our little lady's man (holding hands with 2 girls)

Ethan's First Potty Success!

Ethan is a big talker when it comes to going on the potty. All talk and no action, that is! Until today. Ethan let me know that he needed to go poo poo before his nap this afternoon, so I quickly got him into our upstairs bathroom and onto his little potty. He is funny how he is particular about his privacy; He jumped up from the potty seat and closed the bathroom door (only Waggles was in the hallway ;), sat down on his potty, waited a moment, and then said "There!" with great enthusiasm. Sure enough, he had gone poo poo on his potty. I made a big deal out of his accomplishment, and he got to pull the lever on the "big toilet" to flush. He thought that was just the greatest. From talking with other moms, apparently it is unusual for the first potty success to be "poo poo" as opposed to "pee pee", so hopefully we'll get the most difficult part of potty training out of the way and are on the road to more potty successes in the near future! How nice it would be if Ethan were out of diapers before Baby Q arrives...

Bouncing Fun!

Today Ethan and I went with Kara and Nicole to a local business that has lots of indoor inflatable bounce equipment for the kids to play on. (We're trying to take advantage of every opportunity to spend time with Nicole, Ben, and Kara before Nicole moves away on Tuesday). We were fortunate to have the toddler room all to ourselves for nearly the entire time that we were there! The kids also wanted to venture into the room with larger equipment that is primarily for older kids, and they had a great time playing on the "big kid" bouncy stuff too. Ethan and Kara's favorite activity was going down a slide in one of the bounce houses in the toddler room. It was cute because, after the first time we sent the two of them down together, Kara patiently waited for Ethan at the top of the slide and didn't want to go down by herself (only if Ethan was with her). After bouncing around for awhile, we grabbed lunch at Panera and enjoyed some delicious ice cream at Maggie Moos. We all had a wonderful time- What a fun day!

Going-Away Party for Ben, Nicole, and Kara

This evening we had a going-away party for our dear friends Ben, Nicole, and Kara. Nicole has accepted a job in another state to be closer to family and is moving there on September 30th. Ben and Kara will soon follow, as Ben will stay in town for a few additional weeks to finish up his job. Nicole was matron of honor in our wedding and Ben was a groomsman, and they have been very close friends of ours for a long time. We are very sad to see them go but can certainly understand their desire to be close to family, especially as Kara grows up. Ethan will really miss his special buddy Kara too. They are exactly 4 weeks apart in age and have such a wonderful time playing together. Who knows, we may end up as in-laws with Ben and Nicole someday! ;) We had their going away party in the party room at a local Pizza Hut, which worked out really great with all of the kids. Their party room consists of the entire basement, so we had a large space to ourselves, and the kids had plenty of room to roam and run around without chance of "escape". I took pictures of all of the families who attended as well as some candid pics and will assemble a collage for their family.

A Question of Integrity- Where are Morals and Ethics in Today's Society?

Maybe you can tell from the title of my post that I am pretty aggravated this evening. I'll explain why. I purchased a new DVD player to replace the one that broke (as I mentioned in a previous post) this afternoon. There were 5 available at the store, and 4 of the 5 boxes looked pretty beaten up, so I examined the one that was in the best shape. It looked as though the packaging had been tampered with (it had obviously been re-taped shut). So, I took it to the Electronics desk and asked if it could be opened to verify that all of the contents were there. Sure enough, there was a DVD player packed in thin styrofoam (could see it's shape, but not exactly what it looked like), there was a remote in plastic tucked neatly on its side in a niche in the box, new batteries in shrink-wrapped plastic, and the Philips warranty card sitting on top. It looked as though nothing had been tampered with and everything was there. So, the Electronics guy re-taped the box and I bought it. I opened the box this evening to set it up and put in a VeggieTales DVD for Ethan, when to my surprise, I found that inside the styrofoam was an old, scratched up (obviously used) RCA (not Philips) DVD player with an RCA remote, and several cords were missing along with the manual. Someone had taken great care to remove the new DVD player and repackage their old one (including their remote) in the exact same manner as the new one had been packaged. I can't imagine the gall of someone doing that and then returning it. I was immediately concerned that my integrity would be questioned when I went back to the store and explained what I found because there was no way for me to prove that I wasn't the one who did it!! I was upset that I had been put in the position where I would be scrutinized because someone was so dishonest as to steal a new DVD player from a store and return their old one. Thankfully their customer service, though a bit skeptical at first, said that this often happens. They call it "bait and switch" where an item is purchased, something is put in its place, and then it is returned. They said that recently a $300 trampoline was purchased, someone carefully repackaged the box (even re-doing some strong plastic ties) and returned it, when the box actually contained scrap pieces of wood instead of the trampoline. Thankfully I was able to exchange it for a new DVD player (in one of the beat up boxes), and customer service opened the new one to verify its contents before I left the store. Before I make any future electronics purchases, I'm going to have personnel verify the complete contents of the package before leaving the store. How sad that someone thought that doing this was ok... Ugh.

Visit to the Museum- Playing with a Dragon and Dinosaurs

We had a fun time today visiting a local kid's museum with Nicole and Kara and also our friend Tiffany. It was an interesting visit because, for the first time, Ethan and Kara were really interested and engaged in exhibits outside of the Playscape area (the area that is designed for kids under 5 years of age). Playscape was packed to the hilt when we arrived, so we decided to explore other exhibits, and we never made it back to Playscape because the kids enjoyed everything else that we were seeing. We even got to assist with a really neat Lego project. The museum is going to open a huge Lego exhibit in early 2009, and as part of preparations for this exhibit, representatives from Lego were building a 10-foot tall dragon out of Legos. They had tables set up at the museum and instructions on how to use small legos to build large blocks that were then incorporated into the 10-ft tall dragon. So, Ethan and I and Kara and Nicole each put together a block that was used in building the dragon for the exhibit- Cool! The kids also enjoyed the dinosaur exhibit, and we even ran into one of the Comedy Sportz participants from when Dan and I went on our date night last weekend! I talked with him for a bit, and his "day job" is being the dinosaur guy at the museum, and his "night job" is working at Comedy Sportz. Two fun jobs! We tried to ride the carousel, but unfortunately it is closed for the month of September for renovations. It was a really fun day, and the kids didn't even seem to notice that they were missing their naps! We arrived shortly after 10am, and didn't leave until about 4pm. So we opened and nearly closed the place down (their hours are 10-5)!

Nicole, Kara, Tiffany, and Ethan

Ethan and Kara behaved really well at the museum. They walked around holding hands and checking out the exhibits together.

Ethan had a blast!Tiffany dressed up like a dinosaur, and the kids played with eggs in a dinosaur nest. Having fun with dinosaur eggsHere is the model of the 10-ft. dragon that was being built. This was how far along the project was when we put together our bricks to contribute to it.We stopped by again later in the day, and a lot of progress had been made in constructing the dragon.

Baby Q is on the Move

I have been feeling tiny tinges that might be Baby Q moving around over the last week or two, but I was not completely certain until this afternoon when I felt like Baby Q demonstrated a good karate punch or kick against my belly. I had forgotten what that felt like from being pregnant with Ethan. It's amazing how much you forget in just 2 years!
We have our official "fetal survey" ultrasound scheduled for October 13th, and I am so excited to be assured that Baby Q is healthy and developing on track and also (of course) to find out gender. At our early ultrasound (11 wks), the ultrasound technician asked if we would like for her to make a wager on gender. We were really surprised and didn't realize that was even an option or could be seen that early. The tech has been doing ultrasounds for 16 years and said that she was pretty sure that she consistently saw "something" from different angles, so she said 80% chance it is a boy. However, she said to be sure to save our receipts if we purchase anything before our next ultrasound just in case. So, we'll find out on the 13th whether she was correct or not. I can't wait!

Joseph's Coat of Many Colors

The mom's group that I participate in at our church met this morning, and we had a great time! Ethan again really enjoyed the childcare and had a fun time playing with his friends and making a cute craft. This week they made a magnet of Joseph and his coat of many colors. I thought that it was really cute, and it's proudly displayed on our refrigerator :)

Stampin' Up Class

Before Ethan was born, one of my favorite hobbies was creating cards, scrapbook pages, and crafts using Stampin' Up supplies. I attended some workshops and really enjoyed spending time indulging in crafting. I have made a few cards here and there since Ethan was born, but have not had much time to devote to my stamping hobby in the last two years. My friend Kim invited and encouraged me to attend a Stamp-A-Stack class this afternoon at which you create 2 cards each of 5 different designs, and you also learn new stamping techniques. I was very excited to get back into stamping and really enjoyed the class. Here are photos of the 5 styles of cards that I made this afternoon:
If you're interested in seeing more detail on the cards, the photos will enlarge if you click on them.

What are the Odds?

I picked up Ethan from my parent's house this afternoon, and when we returned home he wanted to watch one of his Thomas the Train DVDs. Dan turned on the DVD player, it made some strange noises, and the DVD never loaded. Bummer. Sounds like the DVD player is shot and will very likely need to be replaced due to a mechanical failure. So, Dan got a VeggieTales VHS tape out and stuck it in the VCR. Ethan watched that tape, but Dan was not satisfied with the picture quality (it had a little bit of fuzzies going on). We haven't cleaned the VCR heads in I don't know how long, so Dan inserted the cleaning tape. After "cleaning" the VCR heads, now the VCR has gone kaput. It will not play anything. So, what are the odds that both your DVD player and VHS player would fail on the same day? Looks like we'll have some electronics shopping to do in the near future... Meanwhile Ethan will be very disappointed that we cannot watch his new Thomas the Train DVDs :(

Ethan's First Overnight Stay and Date Night

Ethan spent his first night away from both Dan and I tonight (my mom and dad babysat him for us) so that we could celebrate our anniversary belatedly. We had originally planned to go to a murder mystery dinner theater, but (of all weekends), this weekend's show was completely sold out before we could purchase tickets. So, instead, we ate at Outback Steakhouse, went to a show of Comedy Sportz (family-friendly improvisational comedy), and rented a movie (Vantage Point). I highly recommend seeing a Comedy Sportz match if you ever have the opportunity, but you're not missing much if you don't get to see Vantage Point. Anyhow, Ethan did really well at my parents house, and Dan and I really enjoyed an evening to ourselves!

Yay! for Garage and Consignment Sales

I hadn't been garage saleing the last couple of months, but decided to check out a few since Ethan needs some fall/winter clothes, and garage sale season will be coming to an end pretty soon! I stopped at a few sales yesterday on our way home from Ethan's dentist appointment and happened upon one that had some pretty good deals. I bought the following items (all in excellent condition) for Ethan for a total of $7:

• 4 pairs of pants
• 1 short sleeved button up shirt
• 1 long sleeved shirt
• 4 pairs of shorts (the plaid pair I'd seen at The Children's Place and wanted to buy for Ethan for this summer, but didn't want to pay $15 for them. They are like new, a larger size he'll grow into, and I paid $1!)
  

My friends (Lori and Emily) and I went to a consignment sale sponsored by the local Moms of Multiples organization this morning. I went to their last sale (in April) near the end and found that many of the booths/consigners slashed their prices in half for the last hour or so of the sale. I was counting on that happening again, so I recommended that we go toward the end of the sale today. I was very glad that we did since prices were slashed in half as I had anticipated! I found a few great deals for Ethan, but was pleasantly suprised to find some bargains on maternity clothes for me. I spent a total of $33.50 (which I suspect is less than the one Old Navy maternity dress that I purchased would have cost retail) for all of the following (Maternity and for Ethan):
Maternity-

• 1 Old Navy dress
• 2 long sleeve Motherhood shirts
• 1 set of Motherhood nursing pajamas
• 1 Old Navy jeans
• 1 khaki capris
• 5 short sleeved shirts (Motherhood, Old Navy, and Duo)
  
• 1 short sleeved Motherhood nursing shirt
  

For Ethan-

• 1 pr Gymboree jeans
  
• 2 pr pants
• 3 pair shorts
• 1 Old Navy fisherman hat
• 1 Old Navy fall jacket
• 1 Gymboree fleece pullover
• 4 Old Navy long sleeved shirts

I just love the adrenaline rush I get from bargains! There is one more large consignment sale that I am aware of that will occur this Fall after we have had our 20 wk ultrasound at which we'll find out Baby Q's gender. I am very excited about that one since I'll know then whether I'll need to shop for any adorable little girl clothes!

Visit to the Pediatric Dentist: Rant and Rave

Well, I have mixed reviews of our visit to the pediatric dentist. I'll begin with the "rave" :) Ethan did spectacularly at his first dental visit! The technician advised me that it would be perfectly normal for there to be screaming and carrying on, but Ethan didn't make a peep and was totally cooperative. He was mesmerized by the cartoons on the TV in the exam room and opened his mouth for the exam, cleaning, and sanding of his tooth. Yes, they did not do an x-ray nor repair the chip in his tooth as I had been advised over the phone. This would bring me to the "rant" part of our experience, but I'll finish describing the "rave" first! Ethan got to pick out a toothbrush (a green one with a train on it) and a prize. He selected a small, squeaky rubber ducky that he thought was just great. Back to the ranting... So the dentist and technician looked at me like I was crazy when I told them that my expectation had been (as I had been told over the phone), that an x-ray would be needed to verify that there was no root damage and that a tooth-colored resin would be used to repair his tooth. Seems there was major miscommunication among their office staff. The dentist didn't think an x-ray was necessary since there was no indication of trauma to his gums or neighboring teeth (which was fine with me), but she said that they would not repair the chip, just maybe sand the sharp parts where it broke. I definitely wanted something done to improve the jaggedness/appearance of the chip, so I agreed to the sanding. However, the sanding was not done evenly (to me it looks like half of his tooth is now distinctly taller than the other half). I wasn't very satisfied, but didn't want to try Ethan's patience. So, we may be consulting Dan and my dentist to see if he can do a better job of sanding the tooth, especially since it is pretty obvious, and he won't begin to lose his baby teeth for several years!

Puppet Fun

Ethan was recently "promoted" as our church terms it to the next age group up in their children's wing. He went from the Giraffes room to Monkey C. This is a really fun change for him, as the kids in Monkey C get to do crafts, attend worship in a separate room, make their own snacks, do skits, and play with lots of new and fun toys. Although (very uncharacteristically) hesitant to be dropped off at the Monkey C room the first morning of my mom's group at church, once Ethan got engaged in playing, he was totally fine. When I picked him up, the wonderful ladies who care for the kids said that Ethan had a blast! They learned about Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac, and Ethan got to play Isaac in a skit that they performed. They said that Ethan even got to wear a wig/costume. They (I'm sure with LOTS of help from adults) also each made a paper bag puppet of Sarah holding Isaac. I wish that I could be a fly on the wall sometimes just to see how Ethan plays and interacts. In the Leapfrog room, I was told that he was a huge helper (when anyone would drop their sippy or pacifier, he would run to retrieve it and hand it to them), in Giraffes I was told he was among the happiest and most easy-going, and that he was clearly the most adventurous of the kids. I was also told that he loved playing musical instruments and that the leader in the room had never seen a little boy get so excited about using the toy vacuum. I'm curious what reports I'll get from the Monkey C room... It's great to know that he is being so well cared for during my mom's group and that he is having fun and learning about God!
Here is a photo of Ethan's puppet of Sarah holding Isaac:

How to Get Rid of a Stubborn Zebra

Intriguing subject line, huh? Ethan got a temporary tattoo of a zebra on his arm during the NICU reunion last Saturday, and we have had a very difficult time trying to wash it off! We have scrubbed his arm during bathtime each evening, and you could still clearly see the "remains" of the zebra on Ethan's arm 5 days later. I am taking him with me to the childcare during my mom's group at church tomorrow, and I didn't want to have to explain why his arm was speckled with black dots in the general shape of a zebra ;). So, I looked online (where you can find info on nearly anything!) for a way to remove a child's temporary tattoo. One website recommended rubbing alcohol, so I grabbed a bottle and tried it out. Yay! It worked and easily removed the rest of the zebra tattoo with very minimal scrubbing. So, FYI, rubbing alcohol is how you can get rid of a stubborn zebra should the need ever arise!

Monkeying Around

I think that the Halloween costumes from Old Navy are absolutely adorable (the lion one Ethan wore last year is from there). So, I purchased a different one from Old Navy off of someone on Craiglist for half of what it would have been new, and it's in perfect condition! Ethan is going to be a monkey this year, and I tried the costume on him for size this morning. He loved it! He is getting pretty good at smiling at the camera and saying "Cheese".
Ethan's Halloween preview:

Tilting his head down so that you can see the monkey's face on the hood

Chipped Tooth?

I noticed today when Ethan got up from his nap that one of his lower front teeth has a fairly significant chip in it. I have no idea how this happened, as I cannot recall any falls that occurred or any other circumstance that would have resulted in a chipped tooth. I already had scheduled Ethan's first dentist appointment for next week, so I called the office to see if they thought I should move his appointment up. They recommended that I move it earlier so that they could x-ray the tooth and make sure that there hadn't been any root damage caused by whatever incident resulted in the chip. They can also match a resin to his tooth and fill in the chipped area which I am very glad about since he likely won't start losing teeth for several more years! I was hoping to get his 2 year photos done sometime in the near future too, and that tooth looks kind of scraggly right now. I am hoping that the resin looks natural and they can restore it to what his tooth used to look like. His appointment is on Friday morning, so hopefully by Friday afternoon his tooth will be as good as new again!

I Love CVS and Target Deals!

I have been extremely pleased with some awesome deals that I've gotten lately by combining manufacturer coupons with store sales. The amount of money we have saved from couponing is borderline ridiculous! Since I've begun CVSing, we no longer spend money on (or very, very little on) the following items: shower gel, bar soap, shaving cream, razors, Q-tips, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, baby wipes, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hand sanitizer, face wash, makeup, feminine pads/liners, and bandaids. And I am talking primarily brand name items (though I have absolutely nothing against generics and have often found them to be comparable, if not sometimes better, than brand name items). I am especially a fan of CVS brand baby wipes- They are just as great as my beloved Huggies wipes! My stop by CVS this week also had the added bonus that their summer seasonal merchandise had just been drastically marked down, so I got some extra good deals that I hadn't expected! I purchased 4 bags of items and managed to come out about $2 ahead. You just can't beat that!
If you are interested in learning how couponing can help you save money, please don't hesitate to ask! My friend (thanks Leslie!) introduced me to shopping at CVS, and I can't thank her enough.
I don't often find spectacular deals at Target, but this week there was an exceptional deal on Kashi cereal. They are running a special where Kashi cereal is priced 4 boxes for $11, and if you buy 4 in one transaction, you immediately get a $5 Target gift card. I happened to have quite a few Kashi cereal coupons that I had received in the mail, so I was able to purchase 4 boxes for $4 and get a $5 gift card to boot! So, Target "paid" me $1 to take 4 boxes of cereal off of their hands. The cashier looked amazed, and I told her that coupons are awesome and SO worth the hassle of clipping and organizing! I could tell that many others had taken advantage of this deal too because a gigantic shelf where the Kashi cereal normally is located was wiped out. After I nabbed some for my cart, there was just one lonely box remaining.

Storage Ottomans are Fun!

I love seasonal clearance sales! I was at Kohl's the other day (surprisingly I had not been there in quite awhile) and came across the student clearance section. Kohl's had stocked a lot of storage/organization/dorm furniture type items for college students, and the remnants of their stock was being clearanced at 75% off. I had a coupon for an additional 15% off, so I checked out what was left. I found two cute faux leather storage ottomans that are very cushiony (can serve as stools too) for a great price. I thought we could use them in the basement or Ethan's toy room for "fashionable" storage that could double as toddler seating space. Ethan LOVES them. He likes to sit on them and also IN them. He was playing before bedtime this evening and climbed completely inside one. I thought it was a cute moment to capture with a photo.

NICU Reunion

Most, if not all, of you are aware that Ethan spent nearly 2 weeks in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) with lots of complications following his birth. Thankfully all of his health issues have resolved. We received an invitation to a NICU reunion in the mail several weeks ago, and we were looking forward to getting to visit with Ethan's nurses and primary neonatologist under much better circumstances than when we had first met. We enjoyed the reunion, but were disappointed to learn that the head neonatologist whom we really liked no longer works at the hospital where Ethan was delivered. Also, just a couple of the 20-some nurses who cared for Ethan while he was in the NICU were at the event to visit with. The event itself was fun though; They had a safari theme with several games for the kids to play and small prizes that were awarded. Ethan got a temporary tattoo of a zebra on his arm and earned a doggie baseball cap (complete with ears), a pair of tiger sunglasses, and a tiger flapper (sound-making) toy from completing the games. There also was a make-your-own healthy trailmix station where you could make up snack bags with trail mix items. They had a family photo area where pictures were developed really fast- so we got 2 pics to take home with us. There were neat door prizes too, but unfortunately we didn't win any of them. Each of us received a bag/backpack when we arrived that had the event's logo printed on it.
I took some photos of Ethan when we got home wearing his new doggie ball cap and tiger sunglasses, and holding his tiger flapper toy and "souvenir" bag:

Ethan squatted down so that you could see his doggie hat better!

Cute pic of Ethan wearing his bag as a backpack (please disregard the mess of toys in the background! ;)

First Session of Mommy-and-Me Gymnastics

I enrolled Ethan in a local park department's toddler gymnastics class this fall. It will meet for 8 sessions, and our friends Chris and Sam are taking the class with us which makes it especially fun! For their first class, the kids practiced some stretching (in the tuck, straddle, and pike positions), sang a song with arm motions, and learned how to do somersaults. Ethan had never done a somersault before, and he did a great job! The instructors taught the kids first to squat like a froggie, then tuck their heads down to look at their bellies, and then to roll themselves over. Ethan had a blast, and I think that he'll enjoy the rest of the classes too. I brought my camera to the class, but it was pretty interactive (with kids and moms), so I didn't get the chance to take any pictures. One funny incident occurred when the instructors got out two pylons that the kids were supposed to stand behind to wait their turn in line. They look just like the cones that Ethan played with in soccer, and the kids were taught to build towers out of the cones and then to practice kicking by kicking the towers over. So, when Ethan saw the pylons, he promptly ran over, stacked them, and kicked them down! Cracked me up, but I had to explain to the gymnastics instructor why he did that :) Ethan was a bit confused when I told him not to stack and kick them over again, but he was excited/diverted by his interest in somersaults, so he didn't try to mess with the pylons again!