Ethan loves his Daisy girl

They have a bond, that is for sure. He smiles whenever he sees her and says "Deezy" - and she goes nuts trying to lick his face. He has now figured out how to hand feed her cheerios and shrieks with joy when she takes it gently from his hand. I am not so fond of the times he lets her lick the cheerio, then eats it himself.

My Little "Helper"

April - 2009

Ethan loves to "help" his Mom in the kitchen, he gets out pots & pans, placemats, tupperware, etc. Unfortunately, he has not learned to put any of it back yet - but he sure does enjoy all the kitchen gadgets!

Fenway Park - April 10th

I flew back to Boston, to host a meeting back in Salem, NH for Amazon.com. I have been managing that relationship for about 5 years so this time we decided to have some fun after the meeting and 7 of us went to Red Sox game. The Sox blew out the Tigers, but the game was really long and high scoring which made for lots of cheering.

I do miss the Sox!!

Things we love

Ethan does love his new push buggy. We took him out around the block with the dogs a couple of times and he thought he was really hot stuff. He grins the entire time, and rocks back and forth and waves. He also enjoys being at the same level as Buddy and Daisy and tries to hold Daisy's leash.

Ethan had a great time with Papa and Mimi in town for his birthday and baptism. I think that the bruise from Papa's "Ethan, Papa" pointing may be finally starting to fade!

Ethan's Baptism

Ethan was baptized by Father Bill at St. Michael's the Archangel on Sunday, March 30th. His Godparents are his Uncle Brenden and Aunt Michele. The baptism was done in a special service, and thankfully there were only 2 children for this date.

Ethan did pretty well during the ceremony, but being that he is all about exploring pretty much wanted nothing to do with being held and was all about crawling away. I was not sure how he would feel about the water part, but given then asked us to hold and invert him I knew we were in for some tears. Ethan's favorite chanter, Amelia was there to save the day and turn him back to happy boy...she can always get him to smile at her with the "Ethan, Ethan, Ethan, Ethan, Ethan" chant.

After the ceremony, the whole gang (both sets of grandparents, Brenden, Michele & kids, Uncle Lary, Aunt Betsy and Grant) stopped over for a quick champagne toast to celebrate this special event.

The 1st Birthday Party

We had a low key party with family only to celebrate Ethan's birthday on Saturday, March 29th. My parents flew in from Palm Springs for the weekend, so for the party it was the 3 of us, my parents, Brenden & Michele and the kids, and Jonathan's Dad. Poor Pat, was so sick and very sad to miss the party!

The theme was Elmo's Mexican Fiesta...with Margarita's, carne and pollo asada and all the fixings..and of course cake (and key lime pie).

Ethan opened his presents, with some help from Amelia and Ryan and then they tested everything out. Sippy cups, books, push lawn mowers, a milk bowling game, alphabet letter magnets, a Vet helicopter team...this kid was on cloud 9. On the top of his list, was the push buggy and for the next 24 hours he was in there about 80% of the time he was awake! It was so funny, his hand immediately went to the steering wheel at 10 & 2, and he of course covers the horn just in case (like his Dad).

Ethan was presented with his own birthday cake, unfortunately the little bugger was pretty worn out by this time but did manage to enjoy the attention and a few handfuls of cake.

After Ethan went to bed, we brought out the house race game. I am happy to report that I was the big winner (about $10), and you have never heard so much complaining (from everyone) to owe $.10-$.40 for a bad dice toss. It was a very fun party - I hope Ethan enjoyed it as much as we did!

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

I greeted Ethan with a traditional Happy Birthday song first thing in the morning, it amused him but I am sure as he gets older he will appreciate my voice less and less. It is so hard to believe that our baby is 1, I feel like this year has flown...everybody always tells you "they are little for so a short time", and I guess I have to agree as he is now about 23 lbs and taking steps. He opened 1 present from his parents (see below) and his cards before daycare.

When I arrived at daycare to pick him up, he was wearing a paper crown and in the bye-bye buggy. Everyone that walked by was talking to him and he had the BIGGEST smile and I don't think I have ever seen him look so joyous. He was loving the attention.

We then met Jonathan's parents out for dinner as Jonathan was traveling and they wanted to help us celebrate!

After dinner we dashed home for a quick bath....and of course, a piece of birthday cake for my little birthday boy. He like the candle more than the cake, but what can you do? He had a great day and was so happy to celebrate his birthday!

Easter - 2008

We did not try to all match for Easter, somehow it just happened that we all ended up in the same shade of blue/green. We went to church at 7:30 with Jonathan's parents, and luckily Ethan cooperated - thanks to being passed between the 4 of us, a cup of grapes, and Biscuit's touch and feel Easter book. We hosted a quick breakfast and then pretty much lounged around and played with Ethan's basket until we went over to Ron & Pat's (Poppy & Nona) house for Easter dinner.

The food was excellent, and the kids had made a Bunny cake and then we played a grown up version of the egg hunt. Ethan ended up being the big winner (as he was really the loser) but Poppy was trying to teach the bibical lesson of "he who is last, shall be first".

March Madness

Yes, even Ethan enjoyed the madness this year as our littlest fan. He was crushed when the Hoosiers lost in the first round.

City Kid

I think we might need to explain to Ethan that we no longer live in the city and grass is now just a part of life. He does not like to sit, feel, crawl in, etc. the grass.

Valentine's Day

Ethan loved opening his Valentines (with a little help from Daisy, of course).

Remembering San Diego.....

February - 2008

Jonathan and I moved from San Diego in the summer of 2000 after spending about a year there. We both loved it, but had not been back together since we left. We flew into Palm Springs with Ethan and spent the night at my parents. My sister Betsy and her family were in town too - so that was the first time everyone had been together in several years. We left Ethan at my parents for the weekend.

In San Diego we enjoyed some down time, we took walks in Pacific Beach and Torrey Pines, went to the PB farmer's market, drove by our old apartments, shopped in La Jolla and had a picnic at the beach, and went to all of our favorite restaurants. It was a great and relaxing trip...and I think it made us realize how much we missed it (but that we were now way old!).

What a good little eater!

Ethan loves real food, probably because it helps him to feel independent to do it himself. I have no idea where he gets that trait from! But, I decided we were on to real food quick when he would wrangle the spoon away from me like Houdini and then throw it and the contents around my new kitchen.

He still has his love of the dog toys and bones. I gave up when he was about 2 months old taking it away from him, but Jonathan kept up the fight until a couple of weeks ago. Ethan is probably wondering why Daisy and Buddy's bones are no longer "that's yucky".

Thanksgiving - 2007

What are we thankful for this year? How about our health, little ones, sold condos, new homes in the future, and living in the same town as family? We celebrated at Poppy & Nona's, which was so easy for us because we are living there! It was a very fun and festive day with football watching, great food, and the noises of a busy and happy house. Ethan is almost crawling and enjoyed mashed potato and little bits of turkey.

The aftermath of the table....that food did not stand a chance! But, I am wondering who did not finish their wine? Of course, we had a very exciting game of Trivial Pursuit and I hate to admit it, but the boys won their trophy back this year. I can't wait until Amelia (5 year old neice) is old enough to weigh in!

Our (soon-to-be) New Home

Welcome to our new home...we closed and moved in on November 30, 2007. We LOVE this house and can't wait to make it into our home. Please come and visit soon!