The Common Thread

Someone Wants to Say Hello...

2011-12-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

Birth story to follow soon!

The Kindness of Others

2011-11-30T16:54:00.001-08:00

I have an incredible family. I love them all dearly, but from afar... I am on one edge of the country, and they are about 3,000 miles away on the other side. Google maps will tell you that you can make the trek from my town to theirs in one day and twenty-two hours, but I'm pretty sure that's only accurate if you're carpooling with a robot that doesn't need to take breaks to eat or sleep. Point is, they're super duper far away. While modern conveniences like Facebook and texting and cell phone calls help keep us all in touch, it's not the same as having them here, in my neighborhood, available to pop over at any time. Especially not when you're about to birth a baby.

I also have incredible friends. Friends that are so kind and supportive that you'd think they were family. Friends that do so much to show that they care, it makes you wonder what you did to deserve them. Friends that are local, that have become an adoptive family of sorts.

I am in awe of these friends, especially recently. So many people have rallied around us to show their support of our expanding brood through countless selfless acts. Throwing incredible baby showers. Coordinating meal drop offs and childcare pickups. Volunteering to spend time with me and the little one to help me heal from my c-section once Ryan has to go back to work. Offering to take Ethan - not to get him out of our hair, but to do something fun with him so that he'll know just how special and loved he is. Taking time off from work to be at the hospital when baby brother is born. They give, and give, and give, with open and sincere hearts. These amazing people are like family to me, and I appreciate them more than words could say. Asking for help is not one of my strong suits, and right now I am surrounded by people that just "do" without waiting to be asked.

Let's face it - when you get to this final stage of pregnancy, and definitely once you have a fresh little newborn at home, you may not want to ask for help, but you most certainly need it!

(And this shot is a month old, so imagine what I look like now!)
Perhaps it's the lingering scent of Thanksgiving turkey, or the holiday tunes that play in the background of sappy commercials, or the fact that my little family is about to change in such an amazing and dramatic way, but I can't stop thinking about how important it is to have a strong, supportive, loving family. Be it through birth, marriage, or friendship, the individuals that I have in my life right now have been blowing me away, and I can only hope that I am as good to them as they are to me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T20:17:00.000-08:00

We had such a lovely holiday! It started with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which, as it turns out, no one in my house is interested in besides me (I know, it's absolutely un-American, but those boys of mine are total party poopers). Ethan was mildly interested when the Buzz Lightyear balloon floated by, but outside of that he was much more into playing with his wooden train tracks. And, while we're on the subject of the Macy's Parade, can we digress for a moment and talk about the fact that Newsies is now on Broadway?!?! What?!?! I was ridiculously obsessed with that movie back in the day. The performance of "King of New York" alone was enough to make watching the parade worth it. My boys don't know what they're missing.

Given that we're exactly two weeks away from meeting baby brother, I kind of cheated my way out of cooking this year. I cooked a turkey, but most of the side dishes were purchased from our local boutique supermarket already prepared. Call me crazy, but spending hours in the kitchen peeling/boiling/mashing potatoes and making complicated recipes from scratch does not jive with the big baby belly and end-of-pregnancy pains and fatigue.

We did most of the ~~cooking~~ preparing while Ethan was napping, but once he woke we pulled a stool up to the counter and let him "bake the bread" (roll up all of the crescent rolls and put them on the baking sheet). We set the table with "fancy" plates and real silverware, dimmed the lights, and lit candles. Music played in the background as we talked about holidays and family, and I almost burst into happy tears several times. I was too busy enjoying the moment to take any photos, which is a testament to how absolutely wonderful the evening was.

However, a Notch blog post would not be a Notch blog post without *some* pictures. As per usual, I'm horribly behind in posting (It's been over a month! Yikes!), so I have a few catching up photos cued up and ready to go.

Here's Ethan as a scary green dinosaur (don't let that goofy grin fool you - he's a vicious beast).

He began asking for a dinosaur costume back in August, I broke down and bought it for him in September, and he intermittently wore it around the house all through October. We got some serious mileage out of that zip up dinosaur suit.

While this was taken with an iPhone camera in my office, and not with one of Ryan's fancy cameras in just-the-right setting, I figured I should post it anyway. This year for Halloween I dressed up as Mother Nature (ba dum ching!). My amazing friend Stacie spent hours with me coming up with the concept and making the skirt and headpiece. I also wore it to Ryan's office Halloween party and when we took Ethan trick-or-treating, so I suppose I got some good mileage out of this costume as well!
I will do my best to post once more before baby brother arrives - I have some recent(ish) belly shots to show you, and should do so while they're still relevant!

Hey, kid - I like you.

2011-10-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

I had a pretty fantastic afternoon. I went to pick Ethan up from preschool, and his face lit up when he saw me. He did a little happy dance when I walked into his classroom. He then ran around to all of the kids in the room and gave them an enthusiastic "Bye bye, (insert kid's name here)!!!" He handed out hugs to his friends like they were candy.

He told me clever things as we walked to the car, got in all on his own, and tried to buckle himself in, stating, "I need to help Mommy." He tried to tell a funny joke. He sang me "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" as we drove out of the parking lot. He danced with gusto to every song on the radio, shouting with glee, "This is my FAVORITE song!" with each new tune. He giggled at me whenever he caught me glancing at him through the rearview mirror.

He asked if he could help me close the garage door when we got home, and asked his stuffed dragon to help me as well. He thanked dragon for being so kind. He requested pizza for dinner and gave me a huge hug when I said yes. He helped me put away the baby clothes that I washed today, and stumbled over the word "onesie" in his cute little voice as he handed me each tiny infant item.

I looked at the boy who has been my only baby for so long, and realized something. I obviously love him. But I also really like him. I enjoy hanging out with him. I think he's funny. I adore his gentle heart and the way he turns a phrase in his adorable, awkward three-year-old dialect. I dig each of the faces he pulls that are so undeniably Ethan.

I love his spunk, his spirit, the way he throws himself head first into discovering everything this world has to offer. He's a pretty amazing kid, and I'm super lucky to be his mom. And when lucky little baby brother gets here, he's going to have a pretty incredible role model.

Newsflash: I'm not Superwoman.

2011-09-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

"I was always hearing talk about golden mystical baby things and precious time,” she recalls. “And I was like, ‘Who are you talking to?!?’ If you could see me naked, you would weep. Children are like crazy, drunken small people in your house.” ~ Julie Bowen, star of Modern Family, on her pregnancy.

I bet I'm not the only mom that can totally relate to this quote! Don't get me wrong, pregnancy is an amazing thing, and definitely worth it, but honey, it ain't no picnic! And while children are beautiful, wonderful, incredible little miracles, they do wreak havoc on your life, your house, your sleep, your schedule, your everything! It's really refreshing to hear people tell it like it is.

I try to take it with a grain of salt, but when I read an article about how Jessica Alba got her pre-baby body back in two weeks, or hear Giselle Bundchen talk about how childbirth “wasn’t painful, not even a little bit,” I can't help but have two simultaneous reactions: mostly smug eye-rolling, with a dash of motherly guilt. I start with the thought of, "of course it's easy to get your baby body back when you have a nanny, personal trainer, and a chef to prepare all of your meals" (though, to be fair, I have no idea about the status of Jessica Alba's household help). But there's a little voice that sneaks into the back of my mind that says, "You could try harder. You could exercise, eat better, keep the house cleaner, be more mellow."

We had a bit of a scare with preterm labor this week. I started having contractions that were 2-3 minutes apart, and ended up in the hospital on Monday night. Thankfully, with the help of doctor-ordered temporary bed rest, all seems to be well now. I won't lie and say that it's been a horrible experience, lounging on the couch and taking mid-day naps. But is has been hard being home all day, faced with everything that I want to do. The floors need to be swept and mopped. The bathrooms need to be cleaned. There are areas of clutter that are awaiting organization. I make the mental list of chores while sitting in front of the TV eating a bowl of ice cream, and the voice in the back of my mind comes back. "You could try harder. You could exercise, eat better, keep the house cleaner, be more mellow."

I think I'm going to listen to that voice... but only the last part. I could be more mellow. I could come to terms with the realization that I can't move at the same pace that I once did. I will spend more time at my desk when I return to work, and less time running around the halls. I will ask for favors. I will not try to tackle everything myself. I will take my amazing husband up on his countless offers to do whatever it is that I need. I will mellow out for my sake, the baby's sake, and the sake of my family. I will listen to my body and slow down. I will take care of myself. I won't feel guilty about it.

(And, because every blog post needs a picture, here's a recent belly shot. Sorry baby brother, we're not going all out on the maternity photos this time like we did with Ethan. I won't feel guilty about that, either.)

Nursery Rhymes Creep Me Out

2011-09-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

Ethan sang me a new song this afternoon. It's a common tune that he thinks goes a little something like this:

Flea flying mice
Flea flying mice
See how day one
See how day one
(incoherent mumbling)
(more incoherent mumbling)
(continued incoherent mumbling)
Flea flying mice
I think we all know that the real story goes more like this:
I'm kind of okay with him not knowing that those poor visually impaired rodents met with a violent end. I don't fancy myself super sensitive, so I'm sure that some of you reading this are with me on the creep-out factor of most nursery rhymes. Humpty Dumpty? Dies. Jack who went tumbling down a hill? Probably dies. And Jill may have too, for that matter.

Some of my least favorite classics:

Goosey Goosey Gander
Is an old man refusing to say his prayers one night justification for throwing him down the stairs? Seems harsh.

Rock A Bye Baby
Call me crazy, but a cradle crashing to the ground after a gust of wind is not the most comforting image to fall asleep to.

There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe
Overwhelmed by the parenting responsibilities of many, many, many small children, the woman starves and beats them.

Ladybug Ladybug Fly Away Home
Your house is on fire and your children are gone?!? *shudders*

I realize the purpose that nursery rhymes once served. I get the necessity for oral tradition and coded messages due to political persecution back in the days of yore. But these are the days of free speech, and the internet, and social media. We'll slap ratings on our TV shows and movies and censor video games, but tell the most awful, depressing tales to our young impressionable children. I'm totally guilty of reading nursery rhymes before bed, or singing lullabyes to Ethan that are less than wholesome. Chalk it up to nostalgia, but even though some of the poems give me pause, I can't really picture childhood without thinking of Mother Goose.

But today, in the car on the way home from preschool, I took a quiet stand. As much as it drives me crazy when people sing the wrong lyrics to songs, I let Ethan belt out what he probably thinks is a song about a flea circus. In all honesty, I'll go right back to reciting poems about locking people up inside of London Bridge or imprisoning wives in pumpkin shells if Ethan requests a nursery rhyme book before bed.

But today, for a brief moment during our car ride home, I preserved a little bit of his innocence.

It's a Boy (and other news)!

2011-09-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to think of a witty way to convey over a month's worth of updates, but I'm coming up with bupkis.

Should I do an alphabet-themed post?

A is for an AWESOME SUMMER!
B is for it's a BOY!
C is for... ugh, this isn't working for me. Way too cheesy. Next!

Should I do a poem-themed post?

The days have flown by and the posts have built up,
And now I have so many things to write about that I am having trouble figuring out where to start and it's super overwhelming and makes me put off posting at all which just perpetuates my problem and...
(Uh oh, that doesn't rhyme. Epic poem fail.)

Should I do an all-photo post?

Yes! That's it! I'll let the pictures truly be worth a thousand words! And then all I have to come up with are the captions. Which is good, because - stick a fork in me - between going back to work and finishing grad school and being pregnant and having a toddler at home, I'm so done. *sigh of relief*

Aunt Mary came to visit us this summer!
Yes, I said summer, and yes, she and Ethan are all bundled up on the beach. That's San Francisco weather for ya.
Ethan had his first visit to Fairyland, where he rode the carousel all by himself! Good grief - I blinked my eyes for one quick second, and now he's all grown up.
We found out that we're having a boy! I decided not to post the pic of his baby boy bits so as to respect his privacy.
But trust me, it's a boy!
We also celebrated Ethan's 3rd birthday, with a special boat birthday cake made by Aunt Mary! Oooohhh, aaaahhh!
And, just because I don't want to leave anything out, here's a quick list of happenings that didn't manage to get captured ~~on film~~ in pixels:

- Ryan got an AMAZING new job! He's now the Senior Photographer for Monster Cable. He handles all of their product photography for packaging and marketing, as well as serves as a celebrity photographer, capturing shots of some of Monster's endorsement partners. So far he's photographed Neil Young, ProHoeZak, JYP (the #1 pop star in Asia), and Chris Botti. Next up are Manny Pacquiao and Lance Armstrong.

- As we'll be needing our third bedroom for a nursery soon, Ryan's office has moved out of the house and into the in-law unit in our backyard that was converted into a studio! It's a great space that not only gives him the room that he needs for freelance work, but will also serve as our guest quarters when out of town visitors arrive.

- We had a bit of a speed bump over the summer when we got the news that the baby only has a single umbilical artery. Apparently, babies are supposed to have two, but our fetus is a minimalist. Our OB sent us to be checked out by a geneticist and a perinatologist, as the single umbilical artery can be indicative of genetic abnormalities, heart problems, or kidney problems. After a bonus ultrasound and some blood tests, everything that can be checked before he's born checked out just fine.

- I designed, and redesigned, and reredesigned the nursery decor with my friend, Stacie, and finally settled on a non-theme theme for baby brother's room. Ethan's theme was monkeys, and this time around I wanted to focus on colors and patterns instead. However, the room has slowly evolved into a woodland theme, but not in an overly obvious way. I'm creating some custom art pieces for the wall, and Ryan spent an entire weekend assembling furniture for me. It's all coming together!
Now all we need is the baby...

Thanks a Lot, Pregnancy Expert.

2011-07-15T22:21:00.000-07:00

My weekly pregnancy update email contained exercise safety tips today. Amongst a list of obvious others, the following movements were banned: "deep-knee bends, jumping, bouncing, or herky-jerky dancing."

I have watched every single season of So You Think You Can Dance, and have never ever seen anyone choreograph a herky-jerky. I took dance classes for years, but never studied the herky-jerky style. What in the world is herky-jerky dancing?

herky–jerky (hûrkē-jûrkē) adj: Spasmodic, not smooth or graceful: marked by sudden movements or changes.

First of all, I may have moments when I lumber like a newborn giraffe while simply walking from point A to point B, but I'm quite graceful and not at all spasmodic when dancing, thankyouverymuch.

Second of all, are you serious, What to Expect When You're Expecting email update? Do you know what we breeder types tend to do after we've had a baby? Keep breeding! That means that there's a high degree of likelihood that when we're pregnant, it's not our first time at the rodeo. We probably have small children at home. Small bendy, jumpy, bouncy, dancing children at home.

Now, the last thing I want to do is to put my baby in any kind of risk. I am a strict pregnancy ban rule follower: no soft cheeses, no seafood, no alcohol or caffeine. No roller coasters, no hot tubs, no contact sports. No sky diving, no marathon running, no bungee jumping.

But no regular jumping, either? Really? And how do you expect anyone with an almost-three-year-old to get through the day without bending down to pick something up at least fifteen times? Should I, for the next couple of months, ignore the "bend with your knees, not with your back" rule, so as not to break the "no deep-knee bends" pregnancy rule?

This particular "helpful" pregnancy email was absolutely not helpful. Send me advice that bans cleaning bathrooms, or orders me to adopt an all frozen yogurt diet, or something that I can get behind. Because this little nugget of wisdom officially puts me in my first awkward position as the parent of two children, and forces me to choose who is more important: the adorable little firstborn who wants me to pretend to be Tigger and bounce around the house with him, or the unborn child who I haven't met yet, but already love. Old blood vs. New blood. Risk vs. Reward. Ethan vs. (insert yet-to-be-named baby's name here).

Not cool, Heidi Murkoff. Not cool.

Weekend Getaway to Monterey

2011-07-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

What do you do on a holiday weekend when your friends are getting married in a beautiful seaside town? You make a mini-vacation out of it! Ethan sensed the pomp and circumstance of the situation when Ryan loaded two suitcases, a daypack, a diaper bag, and the dog's bed into the car. With wide-eyed excitement, Ethan spent the better portion of the drive shouting "road trip adventure!" and dancing like a maniac to the overplayed pop songs that blared over the car's stereo.

Ryan and I always joke that since he's the photographer in the family, there will be little to no photographic evidence of his existence when Ethan grows up. Flipping through our family albums, I'll look like a super fun mom, and Ryan will look like... well, nothing. Nonexistent. Learning how to use (and not be intimidated by) his fancy professional cameras has been on my to do list for some time now so that we can remedy that situation. In the meantime, there's always my little digital point and shoot to fill in the gaps!

I present to you now actual photographic evidence (*gasp*) that Ryan is indeed an incredibly involved and amazing father. Sure, the pictures aren't as nice as the ones Ryan takes, but I think that content far outweighs quality sometimes - especially when my boys are having so much fun together!

The fun continued at Megan and David's wedding. Ethan had a wonderful time exploring the venue (read: insisting that one of his parents accompany him on expeditions to find ramps to run up and down, flower petals to throw into fountains filled with giant Koi, and gardens with mazes of pathways seemingly made for an energetic almost-three-year-old). We did manage to get him to sit in his seat long enough to snap a few photos:

(Why we never, ever think to hand the camera over to someone else to get a family shot of the three of us is beyond me. I suppose it has a lot to do with the fact that we usually have one of the aforementioned fancy intimidating professional cameras with us. Sigh.)

It was much easier to keep him entertained once the music started. That kid is all about the beat. The louder, the better. We took him for a few spins around the dance floor, and the trusty iPhone video camera was on hand to capture his pas de deux with Daddy.

Ethan was so cute in his little argyle sweater vest, and the poor guy was subjected to random kiss attacks from Mommy and Daddy throughout the evening. He thought he looked pretty snazzy as well, and insisted on wearing his "diamond shirt" again the following morning.

Side note: I hope it wasn't lost on you that his goldfish crackers coordinated with his napkin. That was no accident, my friends. That was 100% Ethan, who insisted on trading napkins so that he could match his snack with his linens.

He is so his Mommy's son.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

2011-06-26T12:33:00.000-07:00

Ever since we moved to the Bay Area, Ryan has been working freelance from home. Ethan and I have been spoiled by all of the time we've been able to spend with him and the flexibility that this has created for our family. When I had to go back to work when Ethan was two months old, Ryan was able to arrange his schedule to provide most of the childcare. It was easy to plan for family vacations, as we only have one schedule to work around. Best of all, Ethan had tons of father and son time, and got to go on lots of adventures like this:

Ryan starts a new job tomorrow, which will take some getting used to around here. It's an amazing opportunity (full-time commercial/advertising photography jobs are hard to come by!), and Ethan and I are so proud! That doesn't mean we won't miss having him around, though. Call us selfish, but we really enjoy our time with him!

Especially this little guy, who absolutely adores his daddy.

Baby Notch: The Sequel

2011-05-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

Finally! After what seems like forever (but was really just a little over a year), Ryan and I can happily announce that we're expecting another baby! We've had so much support throughout our journey, and want to officially thank everyone who was there for us through all of the ups and downs - especially the downs.
We love you!

Quick preggie stats:

- At just about 12 weeks, I am already showing! Big time! At three months now, I look like I did at four or five months with Ethan.
- I'm super sick. Ryan says that I was this sick with Ethan, and thinks I blocked those memories out. I maintain that this time around is worse. Either way, no fun.
- I'm also super tired. In addition to the pregnancy fatigue, I'm working full-time, going to grad school full-time, and chasing after a toddler. I'm usually asleep before the sun goes down.
- Notice that "being a wife" is not on the list of things I'm tackling above. Poor Ryan has to pull his weight and mine around here. Cooking? Forget it. Grocery shopping? I can't stand the look/smell of food. Cleaning? Ha! Best. Husband. Ever.
- We do want to find out the gender, but won't be able to until July 27th. Just like last time, we'll tell you if the baby is a boy or a girl, but will be keeping the name a secret.
- Our due date is December 15th, but since we'll be having a repeat C-section, we'll likely get to meet this little one a week earlier.
- Ethan does not yet know that his world will soon be turned upside down. We've started talking more about babies around here, but he has no idea what he's in for.

Come to think of it, Ryan and I don't have any idea what we're in for, either! From jealousy issues with the firstborn to how to manage two kiddos at one time... anyone with good 2nd baby tips is welcome to send them our way!

Peter Cottontail Has Left the Building (About Two Weeks Ago)

2011-05-10T20:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have a confession to make. I am so far behind with this Easter post that I actually considered back dating it. As though writing that this post was published two weeks ago would fool anyone. ~~After Ryan called me out~~ All on my own, I came to the conclusion that honesty is the best policy. So here it is. A post about Easter, over two weeks late.

Ethan participated in his first Easter egg hunt last year, which some of you may remember from this post (which was on time, by the way). He sort of understood the point then, and after 365 days of growth and development I was sure that he would be super jazzed about searching for eggs this year. With that in mind, we scheduled not one, but TWO Easter egg hunts this year. The first one was a community event at a local park, and the second was a small private affair in our own backyard.

For those of you who have read The Hunger Games, here's a quick description that may sound familiar:

- A mob of kids formed a ring in the grass, surrounding all of the Easter eggs and shiny wrapped candies, laying in the grass in plain sight (Cornucopia style).
- The Head Gamemaster counted down from 10 over a loudspeaker, signaling the participants to smash their way to the center with an enthusiastic "GO!!!"
- At this point, all rules of civility were off. Elbows were thrown, kids were pushed to the ground, necessary sacrifices were made to obtain that candy at all costs.

(For those of you who haven't read The Hunger Games, read it! It's fantastic! And then come back and reread this post... it will mean more to you than it just did. I promise.)

As for my little fighter? He just stood there, hands behind his back, taking it all in. Watching the other kids act like fools for little plastic eggs. Sixty seconds later, it was all over, and his basket was empty. Total Easter egg hunt fail.

Easter morning, we set up our own Easter egg hunt in our backyard. Oma hid the eggs, and together with Pa-Pa helped Ethan find each and every one of them, on his own time, without injury. It was much more our speed. Ethan opted to gather eggs in his Zebra backpack instead of an Easter egg basket. He ate the candy in each egg as he went along, and had a great time.

After the Easter egg hunt, Ethan found his Easter baskets (without competition), free to tear them apart all by himself. And that's exactly what he did.

An Outside Day

2011-04-02T14:11:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: At some point in this post, I'm going to complain about the weather. This will seem ridiculous 1) to those of you who know how incredibly gorgeous the San Francisco Bay Area weather tends to be, or 2) to those of you who live in places that are still getting ice and snow this time of year. But stay with me - my complaints are justified, I promise.

My toddler has the energy of a tasmanian devil. Of all of the fine qualities he's known for, sitting down quietly and calmly is not one of them. This kid is a mover and a shaker, always on the go. He's also a guy's guy who likes to run around outside, drawn like a magnet to exploring all of the dirtiest areas of the yard. It's for all of these reasons that the past couple of months or so have been so incredibly difficult for us him. Once a year, like clockwork, we hit our rainy season. A good nine months out of the year are sunny and dry, but the other three are nothing but straight rain. For days and days and days. And days. Which means no playing outside. If you also have a tasmanian devil toddler, you'll understand the horror of the previous sentence.

Thankfully, we've *finally* crossed back into beautiful weather again, and decided to take advantage of it today. From the time he woke up until it was time for his nap, we spent the ENTIRE DAY OUTSIDE. It went a little something like this:

8:00 - Hop in the car, picnic breakfast in tow, drive to the park
8:05 - Arrive at park, greeted by furry dog park patrons
8:07 - Set up breakfast on a picnic table by the play structure
8:10 - Lose breakfast to a sneaky golden lab who jumped up on the table and made off like a bandit with our bagels
8:11 - Move to a different picnic table, finish breakfast
8:30 - Play on the slide and watch the doggies
8:45 - Back into car, head to watch our friend coach baseball
9:00 - Arrive at field, watch game, hang with Coach in the dugout
10:30 - Head back home to pick up Daddy for a picnic lunch
10:45 - Collapse on couch, suck thumb, watch Backyardigans
11:00 - Head to Castle Rock Park for more outdoor adventures
11:15 - Picnic lunch in an open field
11:50 - Run around the park, climb hills with Daddy
12:40 - Head back home for a much needed nap

Doesn't that sound delightful? It absolutely was. And here are the pics to prove it (minus the early morning breakfast picnic with the doggies... too busy defending our food to snap any shots!):

Good riddance, rain. Thanks for making our hills so green... but really, you won't be missed.

Everyone in my house is a red hot mess.

2011-02-17T22:21:00.000-08:00

Ethan went to his first trial day of preschool a couple of Fridays ago. In four short hours, he learned all about sharing... germs. I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure that an adorable little girl with a not-so-adorable faucet nose shared her cold with my otherwise healthy little man. By Super Bowl Sunday my poor kid was just not himself. By Monday he was a mess. He was supposed to start preschool on Tuesday, but we decided to keep him home for the week. On Tuesday evening, Ethan was sleeping about 15 minutes out of every hour, spending the rest of his night in a heap of tears. When his fever hit 104.9°, I called the advice nurse at Kaiser. She told me to bring him in to the ER when his temp reached 105°.

Isn't 104.9° practically the same thing as 105°? Sheesh.

We gave him ibuprofen, and his fever broke. I thanked my lucky stars that we had avoided a middle of the night hospital run.

An hour later, at about 3am, Ryan's back started bothering him. Really bothering him. Writhing around in agonizing pain bothering him. I made another call to the Kaiser advice nurse, and we were told to make an appointment in the morning.

By 4am, Ryan was certain that he needed to go to the ER. I gathered my poor sick boys, loaded them into the car, and drove to the hospital. Since Ethan was in such bad shape, we just dropped Ryan off at the hospital entrance and came back home. After putting Ethan back to bed, I tried to get a bit of sleep myself. I kept waking up, checking my phone for a text or call from Ryan. When a message finally popped up, it wasn't what I expected.

Kidney stones. My husband's back pain was actually caused by a stone moving from his kidney to his bladder. Poor guy.

You can probably get a pretty good picture of what the rest of the week looked like. We're actually all still recovering from it. Even though I wasn't the sick one, I feel like I survived a major illness. I guess that's what sleep deprivation will do to you. Ryan of course ended up with Ethan's cold once he recovered from his kidney stones. Heaven forbid he catches a break after going through what I'm told is the male pain equivalent to child birth. And Ethan? He's over his cold, but is contending with the transition to preschool this week, which has thrown him (and me) for quite a loop.

But that's a post for another day. I'm still a red hot mess and just don't have it in me.

The Great Potty Training Adventure

2011-01-18T21:00:00.001-08:00

Ryan is an incredible father. Seriously incredible. A Superdad, really. But every superhero has a vulnerability, and the thought of potty training is my husband's kryptonite. Thankfully, I have tons of potty training experience as an occupational hazard. That's [one of] the great thing[s] about our relationship - his very few weaknesses are my strengths, and my innumerable weaknesses are his strengths. I'm the yin to his yang, and he's the PB to my J. Together we make an unstoppably perfect pair.

We decided to start tackling potty training over the winter break, when I'd be home for two whole weeks. That, I thought, would be just enough time for me to intro the concept, establish a routine, and hand off the torch. I prepared ahead of time, investing in potty training books of both the resource (for me) and picture book (for Ethan) variety. I bought two giant clear containers and filled them with M&Ms and marshmallows for rewards. I picked up plenty of stickers, a timer, two different types of potty seats, and "special" post-potty Winnie the Pooh wipes for clean up when my little Winnie goes poo. I was ready.

And Ethan was not.

He was definitely into the potty books. He actually requested them as his bedtime story night after night. Our interactions went a little something like this:

Me, pointing to an illustration of a toilet: "What is that?!?"
Ethan: "Pee pee potty!!!"
Me: "Yeah!!! Whose potty is that?!?"
Ethan, excitedly: "ETHAN'S PEE PEE POTTY!!!"
Me: "Yeah!!! Do you want to go sit on your pee pee potty?!?"
Ethan, after a pause: "NO!!!!!!!"

So, in a nutshell, he's not exactly taking to it like we hoped he would. We've made a bit of progress - he went from being scared of the potty, to waving hi to the potty, to eventually sitting on the potty. But that's about it. Needless to say, I haven't had to break out those Winnie wipes yet.

(Don't let that cute little grin fool you - that's a reaction to the "special treat" he earned for sitting on his frog, not pride in his potty accomplishments.)

We'll get there. I figure that he'll eventually be potty trained sometime between tomorrow and when he enters kindergarten. Either that, or we'll have to homeschool him. But I guess we can cross that bridge when we come to it.

Holiday Celebrations

2011-01-01T22:22:00.000-08:00

Oma found a great gingerbread train for Ethan to decorate this year! He did a wonderful job of sticking the candies onto the frosting... until he realized 1) He had candy in his hand - CANDY!!! and 2) The frosting was also ridiculously delicious.

The play food from Mima and Poppa was a huge hit.
So was the fire truck from Pa-Pa!
Ethan soon figured out he could combine his two loves, and spent the better part of Christmas morning placing play food onto the ladder of the truck and pushing it around the house.
We celebrated New Year's Eve with the fabulous Hoke family. One of us had the brilliant idea to turn our babies into New Year's Babies. We made a little paper sash, broke out the cameras, and prepared for a productive photo shoot. The kiddos had a different idea. They both hated the sash and refused to wear it. Should have seen that coming. After about ten minutes and a lot of M&M bribes later, we managed to get this shot:

Not exactly what we were going for, but I like it all the same. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T23:46:00.000-08:00

(*Note - Yes, we are partaking in a Christmas pajama theme. It's a lovely tradition that I'm ~~stealing~~ borrowing with permission from a friend. Next year, I may just order adult footy pajamas so that Ryan and I can be as comfy as Ethan!)

Thankful

2010-11-27T15:50:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for so many things. Countless things. But for this post, I'm going to focus on just one...

That guy.

I'm thankful that he's happy and healthy - incredibly thankful that he's happy and healthy.
I'm thankful for the way he shouts, "Mama!" and throws himself into my arms when I get home.
I'm thankful for all of his little quirks, the inflection in his voice, and the silly expressions of his face.
I'm thankful for his amazing sense of humor, and how it's always so easy to make him laugh.
I'm thankful for the time I get to spend watching him grow and learn new things.
I'm thankful for the way he makes my heart melt every time he gives me unsolicited snuggles.

I'm thankful that I get to be his mom.

A November Post (that's actually about Halloween)

2010-11-07T18:36:00.000-08:00

Ethan "helped" me carve a pumpkin. His version of helping was digging around in the bowl with his shovel after I scooped out the pumpkin guts. As I predicted, he wanted nothing to do with the scooping process. He was, however, super into playing with the shovel. He was not so into sharing the shovel with me so that I didn't have to use my hands.
Ethan: 1, Mama: 0

Ethan also "helped" me with the actual carving process. Sort of. He really wanted to use the sharp, serrated tools, but with some slight of hand and clever distraction tactics (and a little bit of bold-faced lying), I convinced him that the sharp tools were boring, and that this dull plastic punch was where it's at.
Ethan: 1, Mama: 1

I agonized for weeks and weeks over what to do for Ethan's costume. I was looking for a robot, but struck out on all of my searches. I thought about making a robot costume, but that plan had two fatal flaws: 1) All of my ideas involved things like dryer vent hose for arms and cardboard boxes for the body, which Ethan would probably not keep on (if he even let me put them on in the first place), and 2) As much as I love being crafty, I'm crazy busy right now and simply didn't have enough time. Ethan took matters into his own hands by choosing his Tigger costume on an unrelated outing to Babies R Us. He saw it, shouted, "Tigger!!!" and gave it lots of hugs and kisses. Problem solved. Win-win.
Ethan: 2, Mama: 2

After suiting up in both costume and glow bracelets, we headed out to score some free candy. Our neighborhood was filled with trick-or-treaters, and Ethan seemed confused by all of the ninjas, princesses, and pirates walking down the street. With a bit of hesitation, we were able to get him to walk up to doors, though he usually asked me to knock on them.

Can you see the hesitation on his face? I blame it on the Grim Reaper door knocker that had flashing red eyes and an evil "Mwah ha ha" kind of laugh that we encountered at the first house. Towards the end of our night, Ethan insisted on riding on my back, burying his head in my shoulders whenever a door would open. He'd quickly become brave when he caught sight of the candy bowl, and would dart his hand out to grab some goodies.

We had to work on the "thank you" response to being given a treat - he wanted to eat his candy right away and defaulted to excited shouts of, "Open! Open!" followed quickly by a singsongy, "Bye!" to the person/creature at the door. Learning a lesson from countless other "firsts" we decided to head home while we were still on top (and tantrum-free), and turned around after about five or six houses. Our Tigger became very ♫ Bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun! ♫ after we let him finish all of his non-peanut butter, non-choking hazard pieces of candy before going to bed. And after he went to bed, I may or may not have finished the ones deemed too hazardous for toddler consumption. We both came out on top in the candy department.
Ethan: 3, Mama: 3
By all accounts, Halloween was officially a success.

A Halloween Post (that's not about Halloween)

2010-10-31T11:17:00.000-07:00

Of course it's not, because in order for the post on Halloween to be about Halloween, I would have to be up to date with my blogging. Which we all know is just not the case. At least this post is about events that happened in the month of October.

Or, as I have renamed it, the month that Sarah was wrong about everything. Allow me to explain.

1) I stated with authority that the San Francisco Giants would not make it to the World Series. Wrong.

2) My dad and I took Ethan to the zoo, sure of the fact that he would love the animals. Wrong. The morning was spent deflecting shouts of, "No [insert animal name here]! Bye bye, [seriously, insert ANY animal name here]!" He did love the petting zoo, so technically I was only half wrong.

3) I thought that Ethan would get a kick out of the planes during Fleet Week. Super wrong. He was terrified. Thankfully, Ethan did get a kick out of splashing in the frigid waters of the Pacific while Ryan and my dad watched the air show, which distracted him from crying every time a plane zoomed and sonic boomed overhead.

Despite being full of failed predictions, October was a really great month! My dad came to visit for a week, and stayed with us for the first time. Ethan was able to wake up to his Pa-Pa every morning and see him until the minute he went to bed. As usual when we have visitors in town, we packed the week full of activities. One of my favorites was a trip to the pumpkin patch. As my long time readers may remember, I've been waiting years for Ethan to be old enough to enjoy Halloween. From dressing him up when he was itty bitty, to taking him to a pumpkin patch when he wasn't even old enough to sit up on his own, and the trick or treating plans that were ruined by a nasty bout of H1N1, Halloween has always been filled with good intentions, most of which just didn't work out for us.

I don't want to jinx it, but this year may be different. The pumpkin patch trip started us off on the right foot. Ethan had a blast "splashing" in a pool full of beans
and running through the hay mazes and tunnels.

Ethan picked his own costume this year, and we're going trick or treating for the first time ever tonight. If we're lucky, all will go well and Ethan will have a fantastic time. If you're lucky, I'll have fodder for another post about Halloween mishaps. No matter how it shakes down, it's kind of a win-win situation.

And unlike the over/under on the Giants winning the World Series, I like those odds.

A Lot of Catching Up

2010-10-03T23:51:00.001-07:00

Wow. It's been over a month since my last post. Bad blogger. Bad! Can a super cute photo of the boy put me back your good graces?

Excellent. Now that we're pals again, let's get to the catching up part of this post!

You may notice that Ethan is sporting a new, shorter 'do. We took him for his first cut since the hair pulling incident. We've been waiting for the hair to grow back enough to justify a trip to the salon. He hasn't pulled any hair since back in April, and I *think* we're in the clear and successfully broke the habit. Whew!

My new job has me out of the door before Ethan wakes up, and home about an hour before he goes to bed. Well, that is if I put him to bed on time... I've been letting him stay up past his bedtime quite frequently to steal a bit more time with him at night. It's made our weekend time together so precious, and we've been trying to have as many adventures as we can.

One recent adventure was taking Ethan camping for the first time. We went with our amazing friends, the Hokes, who had their little one in tow as well. After setting up camp we took a hike in the woods with the kiddos and the pups. Ethan loved running around in the woods playing with sticks and rocks and dirt and bugs. Though we intended to have him sleep in a tent on his own, we ended up setting up the Pack 'n Play in the back of the SUV due to 1) lots and lots of bedtime protest in a crowded campground, and 2) the fact that it was much warmer and safer in the car than it was in the tent.

The windows were cracked, don't worry.

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic and successful experiment! Exhausting and dirt-caked, but successful!

Another exciting event was Ryan's recent gallery exhibition. He showed pieces from his Tasteful Torment series to a crowd of more than 500 art enthusiasts! It was such a great night, and a wonderful opportunity to catch up with some friends that we haven't seen in way too long. You can read an interview about him and his work here, and check out the full series on his website here.

Coming up this week is a visit from Ethan's Pa-Pa. We've planned a lot of activities, which includes hitting Fleet Week in San Francisco, going to a pumpkin patch, and taking Ethan to the zoo. I'm off from work for the duration of my dad's visit, and am so excited that I'll get to join in on all of the weekday fun!

Now if I can just remember to post about the aforementioned adventures in a timely fashion...

Mondays with Ethan

2010-08-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm back to work five days a week, Ethan and Ryan have a lot more guy time together. They've been getting into all kinds of ~~trouble~~ adventures.

Days with Dada are SO MUCH FUN!

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

2010-08-05T23:31:00.000-07:00

- I spent a ton of time with my little family (I only worked a total of TWELVE hours this summer! Not per week - total!)

- I spent not enough time with my extended family (This is due both to being ridiculously far away and being ridiculously busy. Keep reading.)

- I learned that we would be moving to a new house - a beautiful, mid-century modern Eichler house (...and not to a new state, as we discovered in the eleventh hour. Seriously, our bags were practically packed for Texas. Oh, but to that point...)

- I learned that there's no such thing as packing ahead of time when you have a toddler. (Unless your family lives in the area and can spend some QT with the cutie, while you tackle the packing. But I suppose I've already addressed this in an earlier bullet point.)

- I witnessed countless selfless acts from some pretty incredible, super fantastic friends (Friends who will stay up until two in the morning helping you pack and move and paint - several days in a row, friends who will drive over ninety minutes one way to help with heavy lifting and baby wrangling, friends who will wake up early and meet you at your old place at 6am to help you clean before the move-out inspection, and friends who recognize that the process of moving will suck the life out of you and offer to babysit so that you can recharge. I love, love, love each and every one of you!)

- I did more painting than I've ever done, collectively, in my entire life (We painted the entire house a cool-toned gray color, with a great deal of help from the aforementioned amazing friends! It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it. The previous color was a terrible shade of peachy yellow.)

- I did a lot of celebrating (Ryan's grad school graduation, his thirty-somethingth birthday, our sixth wedding anniversary, Ethan's second birthday...)

- I learned how to keep my house immaculately clean and showroom-ready at all times, and I have the pictures to prove it (Or, maybe we did a super duper cleaning job before Ryan took pics of our new place - and staged the dining room table. Guess you'll have to drop by unannounced and see if the table is set when you arrive to find out the truth!)

I start my new job on Monday, marking the end of what I think was a pretty fantastic summer. It was fast and furious, and not always (or hardly ever) relaxing, but it was perfect.

Birthday Boy Turns Two!

2010-07-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

“A two-year old is kind of like having a blender, but you don't have a top for it.” ~ Jerry Seinfeld

We put our little blender on full blast today for a cupcake decorating celebration. Luckily, we had the foresight to hold our little fiesta outside, with easy access to hose everything (and everyone...) down after we finished our fun. I thought that if I turned him loose with a few bottles of sprinkles, a plate full of cupcakes, and a tub of frosting, Ethan would decorate all of the cupcakes and then eat one.

Two years into this whole parenting thing, and I still have unrealistic expectations like that? Sheesh. Here's what actually happened:

1) Ethan dumps half a bottle of sprinkles on one cupcake.

2) He begins to make frantic "Ahhhhhhhh, ahhhhhhhh" sounds with his mouth wide open, signaling that he wants to do a little less decorating and a little more eating.

3) Ethan quickly scarfs down a cupcake, and sweetly smiles before asking for another one.

4) Mama of course lets him have another one.

5) After he finishes his second treat, Ethan proceeds to take a bite out of or lick frosting off of each of the remaining cupcakes.

It was the perfect low-key celebration, followed by a lot of running around the yard (and a huge sugar crash before bedtime)!

New Post: Coming Soon!

2010-07-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

No, we haven't dropped off the face of the earth, we've just been super busy moving to a new house. Blog update soon, complete with pictures of our new humble abode, I promise!

Picking Peaches

2010-06-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

Where, oh where, oh where is Ethan?

Where, oh where, oh where is Ethan?

Where, oh where, oh where is Ethan?
Way down yonder in the peach tree patch.

Picking up peaches, put 'em in a basket.

Picking up peaches, put 'em in a basket.

Picking up peaches, put 'em in a basket.
Way down yonder in the peach tree patch.

Choo Choo!

2010-06-07T22:16:00.000-07:00

One or two weekends per month, the Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society opens their doors to the public for a train show. We've been meaning to go for a while, but just recently got around to it.

Not knowing exactly how to describe what we saw there, I'll let some of the info from their website do the talking. "The Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society is proud to be one of the most mountainous layouts, and one of the largest exclusively HO scale lines in the United States."

(I have no idea what an HO scale line is, but I'm impressed!)

"At our shows we invite you to visit a permanent 54' x 32' layout with over 4,300 feet of hand laid track on 175,000 individual ties with more than 340 turnouts all enclosed in a building specially designed and constructed by the club members. Mountains rise to 10 feet above the lowest track level, and the railroad may be viewed from all sides. Under normal operating conditions it requires about 45 minutes for one train to complete a single circuit of the mainline."

So, in a nutshell, in the world of railroad enthusiasts their setup is a big deal. They had a whole mission control thing going on, with ten or so guys running all of the trains. During the show the sun set, a thunderstorm showered the show floor with actual sprinkles of water from the ceiling, and the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey blared over the speakers when the sun rose again. It's not a hobby for these guys, it's a lifestyle.

Ethan thought it was pretty exciting, and pointed wildly at all of the trains going in and out of tunnels, around corners, and through city streets. He was a bit frustrated when we wouldn't let him pick up the train cars, and the thunderstorm really freaked him out, but all in all it was a good time!

Long Time, No Blog!

2010-05-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, first things first. Let's go through a quick list of everything that's been going on that has kept me from blogging for the past month or so:

Ethan's hair pulling saga
We decided to give the boy a buzz cut after much consultation with his pediatrician. We haven't seen any of the pulling behaviors since, and are very hopeful that it was just a phase. To be thorough, we're scheduling an appointment with Children's Hospital in Oakland to see a specialist and make sure that we've fully attacked the problem.

Ryan's graduation from his Master's program
Finally! Three years of hard work really paid off for him. He walks on Wednesday, and we are looking forward to celebrating the big event with his parents who will be in town for the ceremony.

New job, new house
I've spent the past month or two setting wheels in motion on a new job. After a couple of rounds of interviews, I received the call yesterday that I'd been selected! This is great news - it's a wonderful opportunity, a big promotion, and without this job we would have had to move out of state. Now we're searching for a new house, as our landlord is selling ours. Soon we'll be right in the thick of packing up boxes, trying to keep Ethan from unpacking said boxes, and moving to a new house.

Now that we've got all that out of the way...

It's SUMMERTIME! Well, almost. It feels like summer is just around the corner. Ahhh, the season of backyard barbecues and lounging by the pool. Ethan was all suited up and ready for some swimming, and then we saw this:

Hmm, maybe it's not quite time yet. Guess it's all about running through the sprinkler for the next few weeks.

Big Ol' Bald Spot

2010-04-28T21:03:00.001-07:00

Ethan is definitely not an easy toddler. He was a breeze as a baby, but we're paying for it tenfold now that he's in the thick of his terrible twos. Here's his latest behavior: pulling out his own hair. He started this when we were on our trip to Washington, D.C., and would mainly pull out his hair during a tantrum. It makes sense - his schedule was off, he was away from his daddy for the first time, and he heard "no" way more than he wanted to during our flights. I only saw him do it a few times during our vacation, but it's really picked up now that we're back.

As soon as I noticed that his hair was thinning out, I called the pediatrician. She was not at all concerned, and let me know that it's very normal. I asked if there was anything I should be on the lookout for - warning signs that would let me know to bring him in to be checked out. She said that unless I see damage to his scalp (from scratching or picking) that there's no need to bring him in. It's a phase, and he'll grow out of it.

The hardest thing about this (other than looking at a GIANT patch of emptiness where his beautiful hair used to be) - he only pulls when he's in his crib. Where he quietly babbles. Or sleeps. But never screams. So what do I make of that? The behavior has now become a way for him to self-soothe. It's like sucking his thumb. He probably doesn't even realize that he's doing it. And since I can't catch him doing it, I can't address it. I've started documenting the damage on my camera phone, so that I can objectively compare over time to determine whether or not the spot is getting bigger. Today was photo #1.

Here's the bald spot:

Here's what we've tried:
- More calming routines at bedtime (bathing, rocking, singing, etc.)
- Tiring him out before we put him down so that he falls asleep quickly instead of crying or playing in his crib
- Keeping his schedule über-consistent (As opposed to our super INconsistent vacation schedule)
- Talking to him about his bald spot ("Owie! No pull - be gentle. *help Ethan softly pat his head* That's right, gentle. No pull, be gentle.")

Here's what we've got left to try:
- Shave his head

That's about it. I really can't think of anything else I can do that will be effective. I need to break the habit, and without being able to give him a replacement behavior for the hair pulling, I'm out of luck. Unless I take away his hair. No hair = no pulling. He'll be forced to kick his habit, cold turkey. By the time his hair grows back to pulling length, he should be over it. Hopefully.

With family visiting soon for Ryan's upcoming grad school graduation, we're holding off a bit longer before we pull out the clippers. That leaves enough time for all of you to share your brilliant ideas for how to solve this little problem of ours. Or to leave a supportive comment, encouraging me that all will be well.

Fix this, please - I'm dying over here!

Think the UN is Hiring?

2010-04-18T09:46:00.001-07:00

Dear United Nations,

I realize that I neither hold a degree in linguistics, nor am I fluent in any other language than my native English. However, I believe that real-life experience should not be underestimated, and that I possess the necessary skills and constitution to join your team of translators. What, may you ask, is the impetus for my inquiry into open positions? Well, sir or madam, the inspiration struck yesterday when I was at the park with my toddler. You see, facilitating a play date is a lot like being responsible for conveying the messages of important heads of state. The same sort of language barriers that are seen from country to country are also evident from age group to age group. Though they were speaking the same dialect only a few years prior, children in the 7 to 10 year old age range simply do not understand the language of toddlers. That's where I come in. With my playground interventions, I bring people together. I clear up misunderstandings. I prevent attacks. I spread goodwill. How much more qualified could one person who doesn't speak any language other than English be?

To strengthen my appeal, I submit for your review a few excerpts from my Toddler Translator. It began as an Ethan to English dictionary, but it's proven so helpful that I've decided to release it worldwide. Some of my favorite entries are listed below:

bup
Etymology: from English "help"
1 : to request assistance or support ("Bup, peas." - See entry "peas" for further translation.)
Etymology: from English "up"
2 : to request to be lifted or carried ("Bup, peas." - Very similar to above definition, and therefore quite confusing.)

maho
Etymology: from English "follow"
1 : to request that a person drops what he or she is doing and accompany the toddler to wherever he wants to go ("Maho me!") This is usually paired with an outstretched hand that the toddler expects the requestee to take.
*See, I'm even skilled at nonverbal communication! Hire me!!!*

nana
Etymology: from English "food" or "snack," derived from first learning how to request a favorite fruit, then extending said request to cover all foods
1 : to indicate that one is hungry, or at least that one wants to eat ("Nana?")

nanana
Etymology: from English "banana"
1 : a specific snack request of a sweet and soft yellow fruit ("Nanana? Nanana!")
*Note how the request with a question inflection quickly turns to a shouted demand. It's best not to delay provision of a banana, unless you want to see what the combination of a hungry AND angry toddler looks like. It's not pretty.*

peas
Etymology: from English "please"
1 : a term of politeness that increases the likelihood of request being fulfilled ("Bup, peas." - See entry "bup" for further translation.)
*Clarification - "peas" never actually refers to the vegetable, as my child refuses to eat fresh veggies.*

While still in development, my patent- and copyright-pending Toddler Translator will in its finished form be quite extensive. I hold complete confidence in its destiny to be the "it" reference book for parents to be (after "What to Expect When You're Expecting," of course). I thank you for your time and consideration, as well as your out of the box thinking when looking to hire your next translator. I look forward to speaking with you further about how I could be an invaluable asset to the United Nations translation team.

Respectfully,

Sarah Notch, Ph.T. (Psychologist of Toddlers)

PS - I also posses skills in the area of behavior management. May I suggest assigning a time out to leaders who break UN agreements? Just a thought.

Jelly Bean Boy

2010-04-03T21:29:00.000-07:00

Can a season bring on a sense of nostalgia, year after year? Spring always feels so special for me. Perhaps it's the rebirth - green buds on trees, the sound of birds singing, and the crisp smell in the air. It marks the end of dull, dreary, frigid winter, and begins the countdown to summer vacations. When I was a kid, my mom would teach us the names of all of the flowers and trees that were blooming. My sister and I would get all dolled up in our Easter dresses and take pictures amongst the daffodils. We'd pick out patterns and spend all spring sewing bags for our summer adventures - canvas sacks that would hold swimsuits and juice boxes and treasures we'd find in the backyard. Now that Ethan is a toddler, I find myself doing a lot of the same things my mom did with me when I was little. Though I've not yet given him a needle and yarn, we've started doing art projects. I'm reading him some of my favorite childhood books. We're starting our own traditions, heavily influenced by things that I remember and adore from my younger years.

In that spirit, we held our first Easter Egg Hunt this year. Not only was it his first Easter Egg Hunt, it was also the first time he experienced the sweet sugary taste of jelly beans. As you'll see from all of the chewing in the video, he enjoyed searching for his yummy treats!

With summer right around the corner, I'm already planning adventures for us to have. I have no choice about growing older, but having a kid means I never have to grow up!

Our First Flight Without Dada

2010-03-26T22:33:00.000-07:00

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go,
I'm standin' here outside the door,
Oh, Dada, Mama's scared to say goodbye.
Cause she's toting a boy, oft forlorn,
(Though mostly calm when a newborn)
Of stress and chaos she will surely die.

So kiss her and smile for me,
Tell her to hang in and see,
If I'll behave when off we go.
Cause we're leavin' on a jet plane,
And soon we'll both be back again,
Unless Mama makes me fly solo.

A surprise grab bag of toys she's found,
So many things to keep me bound
To my seat so I don't cause a big scene.
Every snack she has, she'll give to me,
Countless minutes watching DVDs,
The boss of her for ages I have been.

So kiss her and smile for me,
Tell her to hang in and see,
If I'll behave when off we go.
Cause we're leavin' on a jet plane,
And soon we'll both be back again,
Unless Mama makes me fly solo.
Cause if I scream she'll go bozo,
Best not to tantrum, I'll lay low,
I'll be her ally, not her foe,
When off to DC we do go.

His Father is an Artist

2010-03-16T13:05:00.001-07:00

His father paints with light, apertures and shutter speeds.
Ethan paints with brushes, strokes and colors.

His father mixes talent and hard work to make his masterpieces.
Ethan mixes glue and sparkles and paper scraps to make his.

His father examines his surroundings, searching for beauty.
Ethan examines a beautiful girl as he paints his face.

His father looks at the world, and makes it more spectacular.
Ethan looks at his Pa-Pa, and makes him more handsome.

His father is an artist. And Ethan is, too.

The Bite of the Acting Bug

2010-02-27T14:06:00.001-08:00

Ethan has a love/hate relationship with our vacuum cleaner. Most of the time it's hate. He used to break into a fit of tears upon hearing the distinct noise. Not wanting him to be in such anguish every time we went on a cleaning spree, we worked really hard to make progress towards mending their relationship. Here's a breakdown of our four-step vacuum fence mending process:

1) Mama makes a big deal of waving to and saying hello to the vacuum.
2) Mama gets down on the floor and actually kisses - yes, kisses - the vacuum.
3) Mama encourages Ethan to show an equal level of enthusiasm towards his nemesis.
4) Mama points out vacuum cleaners in the real world (Target, friend's houses, etc.) and repeats the greeting process. No kissing this time, I have my dignity to preserve. At least while I'm in the company of others.

After a few weeks of this, we saw sweet success! Ethan not only was no longer scared of the vacuum, but actually enjoyed seeing and waving to them! Hurrah! We're brilliant parents! BRILLIANT, I say!

And then, out of the blue one day, he re-developed his fear. Ryan pulled out the vacuum, and Ethan reacted in sheer terror. His jaw dropped, his eyes widened, he threw his arms open, and began to shake. If it wasn't so sad to see him scared, I would have laughed.

Okay, I did laugh. Hey, funny is funny.

It was so funny, in fact, that Ryan recounted this story to his parents one evening over dinner, complete with demonstrative reenactment. Ethan saw the silly pose that his Daddy struck, copied it, and got a big laugh from his adoring fans. And a star was born.

He now regularly puts on "Scared Shows" for us, intermittently pretending to be terrified and giggling at his trick over and over again for minutes at a time. We caught this on film and wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!

My Funny Valentine

2010-02-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

It's been a sweet, sweet eighteen months since his birth, which means it's time for another Ethan stats update!

- Is impossibly cute, as seen above, but has a new and inexplicable blinding fear of camera equipment and strobe lights. This made our photo shoot quite difficult, as a screaming, crying, blotchy baby wasn't exactly what we were going for. Luckily, Daddy is a professional, and managed to get a few good shots!
- Weighs a whopping 28 pounds. TWENTY EIGHT POUNDS! Sheesh. Do you realize how close 28 is to 30? I'm honestly quite shocked that I don't have more obvious muscle mass from lugging that big lug around for the last year and a half.
- Measures 35 inches tall, unless you (like I do) think that the nurse miscalculated at his last checkup. I'm giving him a credit of one inch and am calling him an even three feet.
- Uses running as his primary mode of transportation, and as a result has recently split open his lip, scraped up his forehead, and incurred countless bruises.
- Has begun to develop manners, and will spontaneously say "thank you" when you give him something, and ask for "help, please" when he's frustrated. It's sounds more like "tae coo" and "bup, peas" but we know what he means and it's good enough for us!
- Has a mouth full of teeth and a head full of hair, and has received three official haircuts to date. We're still waiting on his two year molars... at least I think we are. I would try to feel his gums at the back of his mouth, but he gets all Little Shop of Horrors on you and clamps down now. I've analyzed the risk vs. reward, and have decided I just don't care enough to know for sure whether or not all of his teeth have broken through.
- Loves all vehicles (the bigger, the better), ride-on toys, bathtub crayons, knocking over blocks, playing musical instruments, and reading books. He also likes to pick up toys, place them in a bucket, and then violently shake the bucket until all of the toys fall out. Peek-a-boo, games of chase, and piggy back rides are also big hits in this house.
- Dances to every type of music imaginable, including muzak in the market, hip hop in the mall, and ballads on Kleenex commercials. He likes tunes with a steady, thumping beat, and will turn around, bob his head, bend his knees and shake his booty, and run in place a la Flashdance.
- Is no longer Mama's little baby, though I must admit I still try to cradle and cuddle him like I did when he was a wee thing. I'm learning to embrace the fact that my sweet baby is a little boy now, and am cherishing every minute of his boyhood... because I know that before I know it, he'll be all grown up!

Who's In Charge, Here?

2010-02-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

Seven Signs That My Kid Is The Boss of Me

1) I adjust my schedule according to his every need. Think Anne Hathaway's character in "The Devil Wears Prada" - Ethan is my Meryl Streep. If he wants/needs/demands something, I hop to it. (What, you want lunch? But not your lunch - you want my lunch? Well, I was kind of hungry, but what's mine is yours! No, take it, please, I really shouldn't have more than a Diet Coke for a midday meal, anyway. After all, that baby weight isn't going to lose itself!)

2) Six out of the six CDs that my car's stereo changer can have loaded are of the kid's variety. Nursery songs, silly songs, songs that are impossible to get out of your head. (I could serenade you with seven different versions of "If You're Happy and You Know It." Some will end with jazz hands.)

3) I get paid in kisses and hugs, smiles and laughs. And smeared crackers all over my pants. And spilled juice boxes. And an army of soiled diapers... but mostly in kisses and hugs. (Seriously, though, babies are priceless. And broke, apparently. I keep checking the mail for my monthly mommy paycheck, but it never comes.)

4) The vast majority of the sentences I say out loud throughout the day are horribly gramatically incorrect. I have to fight the urge in conversations with adults to simplify my sentences to two or three word utterances. ("Ethan want up? Mama help? Good asking!" can quickly turn into "Ryan hungry? Sarah make meal? Good eating!")

5) Instead of movie theaters, restaurants, and bars, a hot date now consists of trips to the park, Babies R Us, or a kid's play place. Our darling little one is a perpetual third wheel. (Feel free to read this and feel compelled to offer to babysit. Really, feel free!)

6) I have so many job responsibilities, I bring my work home with me. I also bring my work to the grocery store with me, to the post office with me, and sometimes to the bathroom with me. (Labor laws flew out the window the second I went into labor - there's no mandatory 15 minute break and 30 minute lunch in this household!)

7) While watching an episode of "The Wiggles" - not that I let my toddler watch TV, of course - I have been known to exclaim aloud, "Oh, I love this song!" when the fab four start to sing a particular tune. (I'm partial to the Captain Feathersword-related ditties "Captain's Magic Buttons" and "Blow Me Down.")

Though he's taken over my life, he's completely captured my heart, and I wouldn't have it any other way! I'd elaborate on all of the mushy gushy stuff, but I think I hear my boss calling me now. Can't be late - he'll make me pay if I dawdle!

Be Careful What You Teach...

2010-01-15T08:08:00.000-08:00

I bet if you have a toddler, or have ever interacted with a toddler, or have even ever seen a toddler, you've wondered how much of what we say gets through to them. For goodness sakes, they barely even speak English, how could they possibly fully comprehend the language?

It's been really interesting to observe little glimpses of understanding over the past few months. Ethan will follow simple commands (i.e. - Get your duck! Take this to Mama! Go find the other sock!) on a daily basis. During our flight to Dallas, we kept Ethan from melting down by recognizing the tantrum warning signs and quickly asking him to "turn on the light" as a preemptive strike. Sure, the constant on and off clicking of the overhead reading light may have bothered other passengers, but probably not more than a screaming baby would have!

We've also focused a lot on stairs safety. We spent a good portion of our holiday vacation trying to keep Ethan from running full steam towards one of the many stairwells at Mima and Poppa's house. The "Backwards Slither" technique wasn't working, so we switched tactics to the "Sit and Scoot" technique. By the end of our vacation, Ethan was automatically dropping to his bottom a few feet before the first stair, and scooting down slowly and safely. Hurrah! However, perhaps we emphasized this a bit too much. What we've seen as a result is a complete over-generalization of his newfound skill. Whenever Ethan encounters two surfaces with even the slightest degree of grade change, he drops to his cute baby bottom and scoots to safety. We're talking carpet to tile, concrete to gravel - you name it, he scoots across it! He eventually does figure out which surfaces are safe to step over/around/onto, but in the learning process he's completely wearing out the seats of all of his pants!

Oh well, better safe than sorry!

Snow Bunny

2010-01-03T21:56:00.001-08:00

Whew - is anyone else exhausted from a whirlwind of holiday traveling and events? Ryan, Ethan, and I went to Dallas for Christmas, had a day upon our return to readjust to our time zone/unpack/decompress, celebrated my *first annual* 29th birthday (...because no matter what Father Time says, I will not be turning 30. Ever.) the following day, and then woke up the next morning and drove up to our usual spot in the Sierras for a wintery New Year's celebration. I'm tired all over again just writing about it!

Christmas in Dallas was literally a record-setter this year. For the first time since the National Weather Service began recording snowfall in 1898, the area received a measurable amount of snow on Christmas Eve. Three inches, to be exact. Now, yes, I am from the East Coast, and, yes, I am aware of the Great Blizzard of '09 that wreaked havoc on the Mid-Atlantic, but this was big news for Texas! Winds were gusting upwards of 50 mph, the roads iced over after sundown, and there was nary a snow plow to be found since they are never, EVER needed in that area. It made for quite an exciting trip to our candlelight Christmas Eve church service, that's for sure! Luckily, we were in a car driven by an experienced Michiganite-turned-Coloradan who could more than handle himself behind the wheel in a snowstorm, and did not end up in a ditch like several other drivers we passed.

Poor Ethan had a cold for our entire Texas trip, which turned him into quite the crankypants. As a result, we don't really have any ~~photos~~ postable photos of him or our festivities. However, we do have pictures from our New Year's trip. This has been a Notch Family tradition for the past five years, and we absolutely love it. The town we stay in has a population of less than 100 people, is right outside of Lassen Volcanic National Park, and has exactly four commercial buildings (used loosely... very loosely) - a lodge that can accomodate about twenty people, a restaurant that seats about the same, a gift and ski shop, and a general store. All of the buildings are owned and operated by one family. It's tiny, quiet, peaceful, idyllic, and relaxing. When we were there last year Ethan was just a wee little thing, making this the first year that he really got to experience playing in the snow. It took him a few minutes to warm up to the cold crunching under his feet, but he was a pro snow-walker in no time and really enjoyed running around.

From our family to yours, here's to a happy, healthy, and peaceful 2010 filled with laughter and love!

Enjoying the View

2009-12-12T23:40:00.000-08:00

Change is good, and in that spirit we decided to spice up our holiday travels this year. Instead of flying back to Washington, D.C. to visit my family for Thanksgiving, we picked a location, rented a house, and all met up there for the week. This was all Ryan's idea, and I have to publicly give him credit for devising such a brilliant plan for our holiday! Speaking of Ryan and his brilliance, he has launched a new website for Ryan Notch Photography, which is absolutely stunning. I encourage all of you to swing over and check out his work!

There really is nothing like the scenery in the American West. We did our best to take advantage of the beautiful landscapes around Sedona, and tried to get outside as much as possible. We also took advantage of having grandparents with us to babysit - a luxury we don't have back in California. Ryan and I went on a hike together on the Brins Mesa Trail one afternoon.

He took his 4 x 5 camera and I had the digital, so you're getting not only one, but TWO pictures on this blog actually taken by me! Can you believe it?

Since we were so close, we took a day trip to the Grand Canyon. I'd never seen it before, and was blown away by how breathtakingly gorgeous it is. Ethan had a great time barreling at a full run towards the railings, until I ruined all his fun by putting him in the stroller. Now that he knows how to walk, he's completely over the whole stroller thing. He's also mostly over the "carry me" thing, unless I happen to need my arms to complete some household task. Then, and only then, will he want to be held. But I digress.

Cashing in another babysitting chip, we dragged Mary out on a hike to the top of Bell Rock. Treacherous at times, the hike was a fun challenge for the three of us (well, for two of us at least - Ryan's a real outdoorsy type, so it was a piece of cake for him).

The view was unbeatable, and once we scaled enough of the walls to get to the top we had some time to sit and take in the calm stillness of our surroundings.

Our next adventure was a ride on the Verde Canyon Railroad. Their website touts the ride as "Arizona's Longest-Running Nature Show" and after chugging along with them I'd have to say I can see why! The engine winds through the canyon at a crawl of 12 mph, which makes it easy to take in the sights and snap some photos. As the route goes through Prescott National Forest, you're surrounded by natural landscapes for the entire ride. The few exceptions to this are two houses that were grandfathered into the zoning laws and the ghost town of Perkinsville. I use "town" loosely, by the way.

Ethan was the train's unofficial ambassador, and took his title quite seriously. In order to fulfill his duties of passenger greeting, he ran up and down the cars, waving and blowing kisses to those he passed.

Considering that the train departed at two, that Ethan's nap time was supposed to begin at two, and that the ride lasted four hours, Ethan did an amazing job of holding it together on the trip! Of course, having an animal sound baby application on my phone helped keep him calm in the final stretch of our journey.

We had so much fun, and are already in talks about our next joint family vacation. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, we'll see you in 2011!

Untitled

2009-12-07T21:27:00.000-08:00

I sat for hours trying to come up with a narrative that would do justice to Ryan's images from our Thanksgiving trip to Sedona, Arizona.

I finally came to this conclusion:

Sometimes there are no words.

Ahhh, California, How I Love Thee.

2009-11-14T10:36:00.000-08:00

I feel so lucky to live a state with such a diverse and beautiful landscape. It's honestly one of the things I love the most about the Bay Area. Drive in any direction for a few hours and you'll find cliff-lined beaches, bone-dry deserts, snow-capped mountains, and sky-scraping redwoods.

We took advantage of being so close to one of the most incredible National Parks and recently set out on a road trip to Yosemite. Ethan was practically perfect on our journey. He didn't nap much, but was happy and calm, fascinated by the sights. We heard quite a few "Ooooooohs" coming from the back seat as we travelled along, both due to the beautiful landscapes and the big trucks that would pass us on the freeway. Turns out Ethan has a thing for vehicles - the bigger and noisier, the better.

Not daring enough to attempt tent camping with the E man, we rented a little cabin at a campground right outside of the park. It had a petting zoo and playground to keep Ethan entertained, though he was just as happy playing in the dirt. When Ethan was sleeping, Ryan and I would play nerdy board games outside by the light of our lantern. We held a rousing spades tournament. We grilled dinner over a fire. We unplugged and unwound. Okay, we didn't really unplug... the campground had WiFi. But close enough.

If you haven't been to Yosemite, I highly recommend it. The landscape is so impressive, and (WiFi access aside) it elicits a sense of peaceful isolation. Being a newly proficient walker, Ethan shunned his stroller and wanted to discover the park on his own. This was only a problem when we were on the edges of cliffs - which counted for about 85% of the vistas we explored. Thankfully Ryan had a no-fail trick up his sleeve to keep Ethan happy while being carried: the Daddy Shoulder Ride. Worked like a charm, every time.
*For a closer view of the beauty of Yosemite, click on the image to display it in a larger size!*

Fox in Socks Crew with Flu

2009-11-05T21:59:00.000-08:00

(*Fox in Socks is one of my favorite books, and I humbly post this with apologies to the incredible Dr. Seuss!)

Crew.
Flu.
Boo.
Blue.

Crew with flu.
Boo, we're blue.

Look, sir. Look, sir. All the crew, sir.
We're all sick with the swine flu, sir.
We're all sick and boo we're blue, sir.

First, we'll run, not walk, to doc's block.
We'll whoosh in without a knock, doc.

Please, doc. I don't like this flu, doc.
My fever's hot and I am blue, doc.
I can't control my hacks and coughs, doc,
It's hard to turn those acks right off, doc.

Just a few short days ago, doc,
We went to play outside all day, doc.
We went to ride the Tilden train, doc.
Had Mima and Poppa to entertain, doc!

Did someone sneeze and make us weak, doc?
Make us wheeze and feel so bleak, doc?

Take the meds and stay in bed, now.
Never let your germies spread, now.
Quarantine yourself instead, now.

Come Halloween we were still ill, sir.
No candy sacks for us to fill, sir.
No tricks or treats for us, but still, sir.
We dressed up and had quite a thrill, sir!

Superman, come save the day, please!
Take away the cough, ache, and sneeze!
Rescue us from H1N1, sir!
We've had enough, and now we're done, sir!

Thankfully, the flu chose not to stay.
In ten days our symptoms went away.
Leaving us with lots of time to play
In Yosemite Park (a post for another day)!

Swine Flu - Cause for Concern or Hogwash?

2009-10-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

There are lots of decisions to be made when you're a parent. Some of them are easy, many are inconsequential, and others are very, very difficult. Our latest dilemma: deciding whether or not to give Ethan the swine flu vaccine. Lots of thoughts ran through my mind when listing the pros and cons.

Pros:
1) Obviously, protecting against swine flu.
2) Flying during Christmas = Germ City.
3) Our pediatrician recommends it, and last time I checked neither Ryan nor I have attended medical school.

Cons:
1) Brand new vaccine... should I be worried?
2) I have little to no faith in flu vaccines in general.
3) The stress of constantly calling the doctor to see if the vaccine is available yet is less than appealing.

We decided not to bother with it. There's a lot of media hype and public hysteria, and we refused to get sucked into it. Our minds were made up.

And just as quickly as we had made our decision, we started second-guessing it.

We talked to a friend who DID happen to attend medical school, and he said it was a good idea to get the shot. Another friend, feet firmly rooted in the pro-vaccine camp, passed along articles with lots of GREAT information (and attention grabbing titles!), such as Swine flu still spreading; blamed for 76 child deaths and Sebelius: Americans must get swine flu vaccination. I referenced FluTracker, which maps confirmed H1N1 cases and fatalities in the US and around the world. I checked Ethan's horoscope (nothing about swine flu, but apparently he's going to have an incredible financial opportunity arise in the near future). It certainly gave us a lot to think about - what we thought before was a good decision was perhaps, with a little more research and some input from trusted sources, not in Ethan's best interest.

After careful consideration and countless conversations, we've re-made up our minds and are definitely going to try to get our hands on the H1N1 vaccine for Ethan. We're also taking further precautions, just to be on the safe side.

Bring it on, swine flu, we're ready for you.

Ethan's First Haircut

2009-09-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

Unless you're talking about bank accounts or stock portfolios, it's never a good thing when you can compare your baby to Trump. Over the past fourteen months Ethan's mop top has turned into an unintentional tribute to the Donald. If we had waited much longer, our little boy would have looked like a mini Billy Ray Cyrus or an itty bitty Dog the Bounty Hunter. Ryan and I finally decided to say goodbye to his wild locks and took Ethan to get his first haircut. It was time, don't you think? Even Ethan agreed, as evidenced by his saucy post-haircut grin.
The salon was equipped with fun seats, TV screens at each station, snacks, and wall murals. Ethan got to sit in a snazzy red car that just so happened to match my dress.

Ethan seemed very interested in the whole process, and when the shininess of the situation wore off he (thankfully!) was very interested in his snacks. The stylist remarked several times that his first haircut stamina was quite impressive.

It only took about ten minutes for Ethan's mullet-in-the-making to disappear. It's definitely a huge improvement, and I'm so glad we did it! Still, a little piece of me is sort of hoping that I'll get to see those cute little curls again one day...

Charts and Graphs (not PHOTOgraphs)

2009-09-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

When Ethan was a newborn, I kept data on everything. Perhaps I went a little overboard, but hey - occupational hazard. I tracked his feedings, recorded his diapers, and tallied his sleep hours. As he's grown up, the era of presenting his pediatrician with such detailed information has passed. All I have left now is counting his teeth and tracking his weight and height stats at his checkups.

After graphing the "normal" stats, I started to think about what else I could visually represent. I was right in the middle of a good train of thought when Ethan let out a blood-curdling scream, followed by a satisfied chuckle. It was then that inspiration for the following graph struck:

I figured Ethan's volume has ranged from 0dB (the weakest sound that can be heard) to 95dB (the level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss). Don't bother yelling at me for making a graph using estimated instead of empirical data... I can't hear you.

Ooh, this is fun! Should we try one more?

Ethan and Max are pals. Most of the time. Some of the time. Well, Ethan likes Max, at least. Unfortunately, Ethan's form of lovin' is shown in swats, tail pulls, and eye pokes. Usually Max is pretty tolerant. Considering the fact that Ethan plays with the dog's toys, crawls into the dog's bed, and has taken away most of the dog's attention, Max has the patience of a saint. Dogs will be dogs, though, and sometimes he can't resist teaching the boy a lesson:

You'll see that Max does get in a few good licks here and there. While much more infrequent, the dog's wallops pack a bigger punch. On Friday, Ethan fought the dog and the dog won. Ryan is calling Ethan "Scarface" while his wounds heal - though he assures me that the scratch on my baby's face will not result in a permanent mark. I guess you can call this our first taste of sibling squabbles.

So what does the analyzation of this data show me?

1) My boy is growing fast.
2) I need to invest in earplugs.
3) Maybe we'll wait a bit longer before thinking about baby #2.

Big Boy in Black and White

2009-08-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this post? Back in May, I was amazed by all of Ethan's changes in the span of a little over a week. After the new things I witnessed yesterday, the list of changes from that old post seems like nothing! Here's what our little goober accomplished in one short day:

- Said "banana" to request his favorite food
- Said "hi" to me when I entered his room after nap time
- Waved "bye bye" every single time he was prompted
- Slid down backwards off of the couch instead of nose-diving

Oh, and today he accomplished one more thing... Ethan started to walk. He can WALK! He took three steps in a row tonight. Hurrah!

Ethan is 13 months old, has 16 teeth, weighs 25 pounds, and is 32 inches tall. He can say Dada, Mama, baby, yeah, hi, thank you, nana (or banana, depending on his mood), gege (for doggie), baa (after we ask what sound a sheep makes) and blah (the sound that his dragon toy makes). He crawls at lightning speed, eats as many finger foods as he can get his hands on, and rejects all things baby. He's a big boy now...

... quite possibly the most gorgeous big boy in the world.

Obsessed

2009-08-15T08:08:00.000-07:00

I've developed a lot of obsessions over the past year. There are baby products that I couldn't live without. There are tools of convenience that make mommyhood, well, more convenient. There are Ethan's chubby little toes and sweet chipmunk cheeks that beg to be squished, pinched, kissed, and tickled.

And then there's the iPhone 3GS. More specifically, the video function of the iPhone 3GS. I was hooked from the moment I pressed the record button. It's sleek. It's accessible. It's easy. I'm obsessed.

It's become a bit unhealthy, I must admit, as I'm starting to view my life in video clips. Instead of simply enjoying the moment, I frequently think, "Gee, I should really grab my phone and take a video of (insert heartwarming or funny baby behavior here)."

Not wanting to be unproductive, I've decided to make use of my newfound obsession by posting some of my favorites for your viewing pleasure. To make it a bit more interesting, I've also decided to challenge you to come up with a witty title for the last video clip. Leave your best idea in a comment on this post, and the winner* will be chosen and announced for all to admire. *Note - the "prize" for the "winner" of this "contest" is an ego-boosting dose of pride.

Don't be daunted by the amount of videos below... most are only fifteen to thirty seconds long!

Ethan cozies up with his toys

Learning how to walk

Saying "gege" (E's form of "doggie")

Playing in the park with Dada

Learning how to play fetch

Max doesn't want to share

Grass feels super icky

Contest clip - take your best shot!

Well, what are you waiting for? Name! That! Video!

A Birthday So Nice, We Celebrated Twice!

2009-08-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

Did you know that 2+2+2 = 1? It's true! When you combine...

~ 2 family visits full of fun

~ 2 yummy birthday cakes

~ and 2 sets of presents to open

You end up with 1 unforgettable experience for a super lucky birthday boy!

Thanks to Pa-Pa, Aunt Mary, Great-Great Aunt Anne, Great-Great Aunt Wanda, Mima, and Poppa (and all other family and friends who were with us in spirit!) for making Ethan's first birthday so memorable!

Birthday Wishes

2009-07-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

One year ago, Ethan James Notch was born.
365 days later, my heart has at least tripled in size.
8760 hours have passed since our lives have changed in beautifully complicated ways.
525,600 minutes of incredible memories have been captured both in mind and on film, thanks to my fabulous artist husband.
31,536,000 seconds have been spent thinking about, loving, protecting, relishing, playing with, smelling, feeding, bathing, diapering, snuggling, kissing, teaching, learning from, and being thankful for my beautiful baby boy.

I've been thinking a lot about birthday wishes lately. This is probably due to the hours spent agonizing over the logistics of a party for a one-year-old who could care less about unwrapping presents or blowing out birthday candles. To him, it's just another day, perhaps slightly more overwhelming, but normal nonetheless. To me, it's so much more.

Since Ethan doesn't understand birthday wishes yet, I figured I should make some for him.

I wish you a lifetime of happiness spent with those who love you.

I wish for you the tools to get you where you want to go.

I wish for you to always find joy in the little things.

I wish you a life full of excitement.

And, finally, just in case you get your Mama's sweet tooth, I wish for you to get your Daddy's metabolism!

A Year of Memories and Forgotten Glimpses

2009-07-11T21:35:00.001-07:00

This time last year, I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little boy. I was as big as a house (check out this post for photographic proof of my prodigious pregnant belly). I was uncomfortable, but excited. I was on constant contraction alert, and did the "freeze-count-wait" thing about ten times a day, wondering if I was going into labor. I took naps ~~whenever I wanted~~ whenever I could get comfortable enough, knowing that my sleep patterns were about to drastically change. I obviously knew that I loved my baby, but I had no idea how deep that love would become. I feel like I remember this time last year like it was yesterday.

But recently, I discovered that memories that are oh-so-sweet can be oh-so-fleeting.

Our friends Matt and Laurie recently celebrated the arrival of their second precious baby boy. Holding a floppy, gurgly, cooing, tiny newborn again made me realize how much time has passed since Ethan was born.

There are things I can't remember:
~ how intense my labor was (I read this to remind myself)
~ living in a world of equal parts euphoria and insomnia
~ Ethan's newborn noises, smell, mannerisms, and habits
~ how often Ethan nursed and napped in the first few months
~ putting him down and knowing that he would stay in that spot
~ Ethan weighing under twenty pounds

There are things I hope I never forget:
~ my baby's sweet disposition and joyful laugh
~ watching him figure things out and discover his world
~ the excitement of his "firsts"
~ what his smile looks like with only a few teeth
~ how incredibly grateful I am for this little boy

Luckily, I've got a photographer/filmmaker on permanent retainer, and he's madly documenting each and every phase. Here's Ryan's latest project:

*If video is jumpy, pause it and let it completely load, then restart from the beginning*

Family Vacation, Texas Style

2009-06-30T23:21:00.000-07:00

We're back, loyal readers! Did you miss us? You'll have to excuse us for our absence - I wanted to write, but one's poetic wax instantaneously melts in the hot Texas sun. We just got back from our summer vacation to Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio, and have plenty to tell ya'll! Ethan flew through so many developmental milestones that our heads are still spinning. Included on his long list of new tricks is learning how to clap, high-five, wave bye bye, say the word baby, drink from a straw and a "big boy" cup, and starting to cruise (which is taking a few steps while holding on to something for support, for all you non-baby-owning people out there)! We had a lot of fun visiting Mima and Poppa and countless friends-that-are-like-family, including the Wilders, the Fullers, and the Quattrochis!

We also visited the Alamo in San Antonio...

... and the State Capital Building in Austin.

While in Austin, we took Ethan to watch the bats fly from under the Congress Avenue Bridge. Though you can't see them in this picture, the sky was peppered with an estimated 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats. It was quite a sight to behold.

Being spoiled by the temperate Bay Area climate, we forgot all about what Summer weather really feels like. Ethan beat the heat in a baby pool Mima and Poppa set up for him, and loved splashing around and spraying the spectators with the turtle head fountain.

Here's some post-pool photographic proof that Ethan can clap...

... and may even start juggling one of these days!

Perhaps one of the most special parts of our trip was Ryan's first Father's Day. We kept things low key as Ryan unfortunately developed a case of food poisoning the night before, but made sure to let him know how much he means to us!

Ryan humored me and allowed (for one day only) matching Daddy-Baby outfits. He also handed over his camera and allowed me to snap this rare picture, not only of the coordinating wardrobe, but also of Ryan in front of the lens for once. Ethan adores him and thinks that Ryan is the funniest fellow. Just look at that joy on his face! Happy Father's Day, Ryan - we love you!

Ethan's Favorite Things

2009-06-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

Playing with my Exersaucer for hours,
Banging out tunes on my musical flowers,
Toys linked together with colorful rings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

From out of her purse snacks that Mama produces,
Sippy cups filled up with yummy fruit juices,
Stuffing my face when the dinner bell dings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When I fall down,
When I'm teething,
When I'm feeling sad,

I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad!

Baby Mystic Tan?

2009-05-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

We finally took Ethan swimming - or floating and bobbing, to be more accurate - for the first time a few days ago. He spent some time in his raft, and did a great job of kicking his legs and splashing his parents. When he got tired of that, we took him out and he zoomed around in Mama's arms and on Daddy's shoulders.

With the way I slathered him with SPF 475 sunscreen, Ethan will surely stay that lovely shade of pasty white all through the summer. Could somebody find out how old a baby has to be to get a spray tan? I'm sure Britney Spears would have the answer.

Now that I look at this picture, perhaps we should investigate 2-for-1 discounts on Mommy/Baby tanning sessions. I could use a bit of color, myself!

The pool experience was yet another confirmation that Ethan lives up to his California Baby image. Our blond-haired, blue-eyed boy is super mellow, loves the beach and pool, and eats organic. He's an animal lover, nature lover, and social butterfly. He has the spirit of a pioneer, always exploring new territory.

Now if we could only get him that beautiful bronze glow...

In Trouble...

2009-05-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

Ethan's in trouble because he had a poop party today. Upon waking from his nap with a dirty diaper, he decided to live up to his monkey nickname and make a giant smeary mess all over himself and his crib. We didn't take a picture of that. You're welcome.

We're in trouble because in addition to today's little escapades, Ethan has found a lot of new ways to get into mischief. Most of these involve crawling to and playing with off-limits items, such as Max's food bowl, the fan in his bedroom, and the stairs. Yup, he can climb stairs now. We don't have a picture of that either, mainly due to the fact that we are too busy keeping him from falling down the stairs.

Ethan's in trouble, and to show him that mischief making and poop parties are not cool, we've locked him up. He's doing hard time in baby jail (otherwise known as his room) and only we know how to open his cell door (otherwise known as his baby gate). It even has a clear plastic panel in the middle so that he can see what he's missing on the outside. We'll show you who's boss, baby.

Aww, but with a face like that (well, maybe not that last face...), we can't stay mad at him. Which means when he's old enough to really defy us, we're in trouble.

What a Feeling!

2009-05-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

With my first Mother's Day behind me, I have been asked a lot about how I feel as a mom. I've heard it said that while men become fathers once their baby is born, women become mothers the second they find out they are pregnant. While I can see some truth in that, I really had no idea what it meant to be a mom until Ethan was born. Actually, in all honesty, I think it took me a bit longer that that. The first few days, weeks, even months, are such a whirlwind that they seem almost surreal. Every waking moment is spent in anticipation of the next, second guessing decisions, holding your breath, marveling in the beauty of the tiny creature that you created. I went through a mental checklist every time I scooped newborn Ethan into my arms (1: Wrap the ~~baby straight jacket~~ swaddle, 2: Support his head, 3: Bounce, jiggle, rock, repeat). I sanitized EVERYTHING, and made all visitors scrub like surgeons before touching the baby. I changed my body wash and shampoo to neutral scents that wouldn't offend Ethan's delicate sense of smell, and washed my clothes in baby detergent so that his skin wouldn't be irritated when in my arms. I caught glances of myself in the mirror, babe in tow, and almost didn't recognize myself.

Wow, how things have changed.

I was chatting with a friend the other day while Ethan squirmed on my lap. Instead of jumping up and starting the frantic bounce/jiggle/rock dance, I stayed seated and switched Ethan's position about five times without missing a beat in the conversation. It was then that I was hit with the realization that (while extraordinary) being a mom has become ordinary. Routine. Comfortable. Delightful. I really like this mellow mama version of myself much better. Mental checklists are out the window, except when leaving the house (Diapers? Check. Wipes? Check. Cheerios? Check. Keys? Where are my keys?). I let the dog lick Ethan's face, and allow Ethan to "explore" (ie: chew on) Max's toys. I am guilty of blowing dirt off of a dropped piece of food and popping it back into his mouth. I'll scoop up my non-swaddled, sturdy boy ten different ways, sometimes even *gasp* throwing him into the air or flipping him upside down. I can change a diaper in less than 30 seconds flat. I make baby food. I sing lullabies. I stare in wonder as my little man discovers the world around him. I'd rather be home than anywhere else in the world. Okay, that's a lie, I'd rather be on a beautiful sandy beach in an exotic foreign country, but only if my boys are with me. I know that with each new phase I'll learn and feel something different. For now, though, I can say that I've learned what it feels like to be a mom, and it is incredible.

How to Lose a Baby in Ten Days

2009-05-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

This little bed head baby has been very busy turning into a brand new boy! Blink for longer than a second and the Ethan you saw when you closed your eyes will be totally different when you open them.

We've been absolutely astounded by all of his changes since our last post. His fifth tooth broke through his gums, and he's putting it to good use eating more finger foods and fewer purées.

Within the span of ten days, he has:
~ Learned how to sit up from lying down
~ Mastered super speedy crawling skills
~ Started to pull up to a standing position

To keep up with him, we've had to:
~ Install baby gates
~ Lower his crib mattress
~ Get serious about baby proofing

We're keeping our eyes open and soaking up as much baby as we can... before you know it, we'll have a toddler on our hands!

Smooth Move(s), Mama.

2009-04-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

*Disclaimer - those with weak stomachs should proceed with caution.

Oh, man, doctor's appointments can be brutal.

We took Ethan in today for his 9 month check up. The experience was probably doomed from the beginning, as his appointment was scheduled for 4:00. Those of you who are familiar with my color-coded, spreadsheet-worthy, regimented sleep schedule (and really, who among you haven't memorized it?) know that Ethan's afternoon nap starts at 3:30. Sharp(ish). So why, you may ask, did we schedule the appointment for 4:00? It's definitely not because that time is best for my schedule. Surely I didn't choose my wants and needs over those of my baby.

Not me.

As one could predict, 4:00 came and went, as did 4:10, 4:20, and 4:30, and we were still sitting in the waiting room (one of us spent those thirty minutes eyballing everyone who coughed, obsessing about swine flu... guess which parent that was). We had done everything but stand on our heads to keep Ethan from a major meltdown. For the record, when he's tired Ethan is not amused by an aquarium full of fish, a handful of Cheerios, Mama's silly faces, or those toys that EVERY pediatrician's office has with the wooden beads that you push along the twisted wires. Harried and out of ideas, I finally went up to the receptionist and asked how much longer the wait was. Three people were still ahead of us. Yikes.

I explained that we only had a few minutes before my baby would turn the peaceful, fish-tank-bubbling ambient sounds of the waiting room into the background track of a horror movie, and begged that she do whatever she could to move things along. After not so subtly suggesting that it was somehow our fault for choosing the 4:00 appointment time (a comment that my rightfully-so perturbed husband couldn't let slip by without a justified retort), she said she would see what she could do. We were called a few minutes later. It's a good thing, too, because I had already decided that I would move closer to the reception window if Ethan started wailing.

The nurse came in right away to weigh (23 lbs.) and measure (29 in.) him, and assured us that the doctor would be in shortly. She was. As usual, she had glowing reviews about Ethan's development, and ~~baby~~ big boy got a clean bill of health. There was only one more hurdle left - the most dreaded one of all - a needle. Well, two needles, to be exact. In addition to an immunization (yes, I do work with kids with autism, and yes, we did decide to vaccinate our child), he also needed a blood test. One "simple" finger prick later and Ethan's little baby hand was gushing an adult amount of blood. While he was screaming, the nurse fumbled with the bandage before giving up and asking me to apply pressure instead. She moved on to the shot, which was met with the same amount of crying, albeit a lot less gory. His finger still bleeding, she finally applied a band-aid and rushed from the room. We followed quickly behind.

Now a fully 90 minutes past nap time, battle-worn and hungry, Ethan was loaded into the car. I hesitated for a moment, deciding whether or not it would be a good idea to take off his bandage for the ride home. What was the bigger risk - blood on the car seat, or an ingested band-aid? I chose to keep it on, which was probably the wrong call... within two minutes of pulling out of the parking lot I heard the sound of what I would later learn was my baby sucking all of the blood out of his band-aid. Ew.

Hey, at least it was organic.

To the Beach, Okay?

2009-04-20T21:29:00.001-07:00

Can anyone besides Ryan identify that quote? Anyone?

My King Prawn Muppet-adoring husband (Google it, people!) suggested we escape the heat wave by venturing out to Baker Beach on Sunday. For the very first time, Ethan watched the waves crash on the shore, smelled the salty air, and ~~ate the~~ felt the sand between his fingers. He seemed fascinated with the new sights and sounds, and squealed with delight when the water washed over his feet.

The sun, surf, and sand made for one super spectacular day!

Round and Round He Goes...

2009-04-08T23:33:00.000-07:00

Sure, he may look sweet and innocent
with a childlike curiosity for his surroundings
but do not be fooled, this baby is a MONSTER
who leaves in his wake a path of destruction
because that's how he rolls. Literally.

Babies Look Cute Dressed As Old Men

2009-04-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

I realized that I haven't done an Ethan stats update in a while, so here's a quick run-down:

- Weighs at least 22 lbs. (as of last weigh in about two weeks ago) and is at least 27 inches long (as of last measurement two months ago)
- Has had his diaper changed more than 1560 times (and yes, fellow mommies, my husband DOES do diapers and is responsible for changing at least 1/2 of those!)
- Is not crawling yet, but can roll across rooms to get anywhere he wants to be (will employ snazzy 3-point turns if he needs to change directions)
- Doing lots of babbling, and frequently refers to Ryan as "Da-Da" (then again, I am also referred to as Da-Da... and so is Max... and the occasional preferred inanimate object...)
- Is eating a ton of different foods, his favorites being anything orange (sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, etc.)
- Has four teeth, two on top, and two on bottom (and perhaps more coming in - lots of drooling and finger chewing going on)
- Is starting to play with other babies by reaching out to touch them, handing them toys, and accepting toys handed to him (oh, and pulling hair - we're working on that one.)
- Laughs, laughs, laughs all the time, especially at ANYTHING that Ryan does (apparently he already realizes what a goofball his father is)
- Super good buds with Max, and loves to pet him, pull on his tail, and grab his paws (much to Max's chagrin)
- Is the apple of his mommy's eye, and the subject of his daddy's photography (though this is probably not news to loyal blog readers, it does act as a nice segue to the following image)

Sniffle, Sniffle, Cough, Cough

2009-03-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

Ethan has been sick for the past week. He just has a cold, and yet my heart absolutely breaks every time he cries, sniffles, coughs, or looks up at me with confusion and pain behind his eyes. My nights are sleepless, spent either nursing him, rocking him, or worrying about him. I wonder with every intervention I try whether or not I'm effectively treating his discomfort. I second guess my decision to break the "let him cry it out" rule when I run to scoop up my wailing baby, yet end up justifying it by telling myself that all bets are off when he's sick. My entire world is upside down, with everything that I have been used to (a champion sleeper, eater, and all-around happy baby) replaced with a weaker, crankier, insomniac version of my child. All I want is to be able to fix him, to banish his symptoms with a wave of my magic mom wand.

Did I mention he just has a common cold?

What is it about motherhood that turns women into mush? I've always been sensitive, but every single emotion I've ever felt has intensified in my eight short months as a mom. I can't hear about children that have met with tragic ends, mothers who have been separated from their little ones, or babies that are actually horribly ill without getting teary. At the same time, I also feel like motherhood has strengthened me, that I am now capable of things that I never thought possible. I am the strongest ball of mush you've ever seen.

One of the most effective ways to make Ethan feel better has been to give him a bath. He loves splashing around in the water, and it turns him almost instantly from crabby into charming. See for yourself:

Oh, how I love my sweet, sweet little boy!

"Baby Ethan" Got a Facelift!

2009-03-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

No, no, we didn't take Ethan in for elective surgery - his handsome little face is perfect just as it is! Our blog, formerly entitled "Baby Ethan" is the one that went under the knife. There are lots of changes in store, the first being that I (Sarah) am going to stop posting in third person. There are so many personal thoughts and stories I want to share, and trying to do so without being personal is cumbersome and awkward. Before getting pregnant, I'd never read a blog, let alone written one myself. The original intent was to enable our friends and family living far, far away to have a way to experience the pregnancy with us. Those of you who know Ryan could have predicted that our journey would be well documented, visually. The purpose of blog version 1.0 was to provide a platform to share his art, with my words merely serving as a side dish - a written compass guiding the reader from one image to the next. Since becoming parents, our lives have changed completely, and it's high time that our blog evolved as well. Thanks to those of you who have phenomenal sites of your own (I read blogs now!) that have inspired me to do more, think more, and say more. Stay tuned, friends, for good things to come.

Future Golfer?

2009-03-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

We took a day trip down the coast while Pa-Pa, Oma, and Aunt Mary were here visiting. We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and introduced Ethan to fish, sharks, sea otters, and Oma's favorite - penguins. While we were there, we also toured the 17-Mile Drive at Pebble Beach. It's an absolutely gorgeous route along the beach and on the edge of rocky cliffs.

Sarah jokes that Ethan will not be allowed to play football or hockey when he grows up due to the risk of injury. Golf is found on the short list of her pre-approved sports, along with swimming, bowling, and ultimate frisbee. Perhaps the early exposure to one of the world's greatest golf courses will instill a love of the *safe* game.

We also took a tour around San Francisco, visiting the Ferry Building Farmers Market, Alamo Square, and the Cliff House for a sunset dinner over Ocean Beach. Ethan was such a trooper, adjusting easily to napping in the car or stroller instead of his crib. Even though he missed out on a few hours of sleep, he stayed pretty happy all day - especially when we made our way to the playground.

He sure does love swinging, and we have a great time listening to his happy squeals of delight!

Babble Boy

2009-03-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

We had a great visit with Pa-Pa, Oma, and Aunt Mary this weekend! Though it's only been a few months since we last saw them, it feels like Ethan is completely different now. Baby growth is so similar to dog years - a short time on the calendar makes a HUGE difference developmentally. One of the many milestones that they were able to witness was Ethan's babbling. He usually chatters with "da" and "ya", but recently discovered "ba" and seems to be a big fan of his new sound. Aunt Mary grabbed her camera to take a video during a particularly chatty car ride. Every single time Sarah went to wipe his drool, Ethan would start talking to us. We got such a kick out of it, both for the predictability and repetition as well as the silly way he was turning down the corners of his mouth.

Did you notice how he flashed a toothy grin when he saw the camera in the beginning? Daddy has trained him well. What a little ham!

Swing, Swing, Swing!

2009-03-01T14:15:00.000-08:00

While Ryan was at class yesterday, Sarah and Ethan were lucky to spend all day with our friend, Laurie, and her beautiful boy, Joey. We took advantage of another momentary break in the rain to take the boys to the playground. There are so many trails and parks around here, and we love taking the strollers out and going for a nice, brisk walk whenever we can. Joey is old enough to really take advantage of the playground, but we didn't want Ethan to miss out on all of the fun. We decided to see if he would like the baby swings. After packing him in with jackets and blankets for extra stability, Sarah gave Ethan a little push, and watched in delight as his face absolutely lit up. Always prepared, Laurie was armed with a camera to take a video of the experience since Ryan wasn't there to see it for himself.

When we got back from the park, Ethan and Joey played with one of Ethan's new toys together. It was so cute to watch the two of them - Joey very quickly figured out how the toy worked, and Ethan stared at him intently, studying his every move. He'd even try to copy what Joey was doing!

We can't wait until Ethan gets a little bit bigger and can really play with his buddy!

Chillin' in My Hood

2009-02-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

It's been so rainy and yucky lately that we jumped at the chance to spend some time outdoors during a brief dry spell. Ethan has pretty much mastered the art of sitting up unassisted, even when he has the interference of a dog sitting on his lap!

His sitting isn't the only thing that's changed in the short time since our last post. He has four teeth now, and loves eating his oatmeal cereal. He'll crane his neck forward and open his mouth in anticipation of the spoon. My, how things can change so quickly with this little guy! Sarah started making and freezing the next few foods that Ethan will be introduced to. This weekend he will have his first taste of sweet potatoes. Hopefully he hasn't inherited his Daddy's disdain for veggies, otherwise we'll be stuck with a freezer full of baby food mush!

Another new trick Ethan learned is blowing raspberries. He takes a deep breath in preparation (which gives us a two second warning to shield our faces), and then lets the spit fly. We know we shouldn't laugh... but it's so darn cute that we can't help ourselves! He's already discovered this is a great way to get a rise out of us, and it's encouraging him to find every opportunity he can to soak Mommy and Daddy. He squeals with delight every time he does this, which makes us laugh even more. He's such a funny boy!

Owie Teefies!

2009-02-07T09:45:00.000-08:00

Wow - it's been so long since we've posted! A lot of things have happened in the last few weeks. Ethan's first tooth broke through, and he wasn't too happy about it. Our good little sleeper refused to take any of his naps, and cried all day when his tooth first came in. He got over that quickly, though, and was back to his sweet self in no time.

He also recently had his six-month doctor's appointment. His current stats: 19.5 lbs. and 27.5 in., which is in the 90th percentile for both. Perhaps it's because we think he's a genius, but we were convinced that Ethan recognized where he was and remembered previous doctor's appointments. As soon as it was time for his shots, we placed him down on the table. He immediately started crying, perhaps in anticipation of what was to come. The doc said that most babies eventually do figure out the correlation, but not usually this early. It both made us proud and broke our hearts - it's not fun to see him so upset!

Ethan is trying his best to sit up, but he hasn't mastered that skill yet. He can tripod sit, supporting himself with his hands, and he can also sit if we're propped up behind him. His mass is working against him - Ryan likens it to trying to balance a watermelon on the end of a pencil. He'll get it eventually, he just has to keep practicing! He is rolling and scooting all over the place, can transfer toys from one hand to the other, and babbles up a storm. It's so much fun watching him discover new things!

A big new discovery today was food! We started Ethan on rice cereal, with much more success than we anticipated. He wasn't a huge fan, but he definitely didn't hate it. As with all of the new milestones, Sarah enjoyed it about ten times as much as Ethan - notice the giant, goofy grin on her face, in contrast to Ethan's confused grimace.

We'll keep working on developing his taste for food... if his obsession with milk is any indication, he'll be eating like a champ in no time!

Laughing and Sledding

2009-01-14T19:22:00.000-08:00

Ryan took some cute videos while we were at the cabin over New Year's. This one is of Ethan's first sledding experience. Before you get worried, Sarah tested the "hill" (more of a speed bump, really) sans baby prior to going with Ethan. She did not, however, practice getting up from the sled with a baby in her arms, as you'll see in the video. Another thing you'll notice is that for all of our preparations (buying a saucer, building a little snow hill, and conducting several test runs), Ethan is not really into sledding. Oh well, it was lots of fun for Mommy, Daddy, and Max!

The next video is of Ethan cracking up during a game of peek-a-boo. He was having a great time with his daddy for a few minutes before we grabbed the camera. Max moonlights as the "dog-that-is-sooooo-not-amused-by-this-whole-baby-thing" (as you'll see by his icy stare at the end of the video).

Despite his apparent contempt for the uninvited house guest who refuses to leave, Max and Ethan are really becoming great friends. They play together a lot now and Ethan thinks Max is super funny. Max will hop into Ethan's playpen, Ethan will pull on Max's ears and try to shove them in his mouth... Max is a baby's best friend!

Oops!

2009-01-08T22:20:00.000-08:00

Sorry, Aunt Mary... how could we forget to post this picture?

Ethan loves his Aunt Mary so much! He misses her a lot, but when they do get to spend time together it's always a lot of fun. She's such a cool aunt!

Eastern Excursion & Western Winter

2009-01-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

We had a great time visiting our East Coast family for Christmas! It was quite a whirlwind vacation - we had less than a week to make stops in Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., and Charlottesville. We did a lot of driving, but it was absolutely worth all of the time on the road. We were happy to be able to spend time with so many people we love, and introduce Ethan to more family members he hadn't yet met.

Here are some photo highlights from our trip:

Ethan had a lot of fun playing with his Grandma!

Not fun, however, was Ethan's first experience with Baby Orajel. Teething is yucky on so many levels.

An Emerson family tradition, Pa-Pa showed Ethan all of the bells and whistles on this year's Hess truck.

Our goofball with his Great Great Aunts Anne, Wanda, and Nancy.

We arrived home on the evening of the 29th, and turned right around the next morning and drove to a small town in the Sierras for New Year's. We've rented a cabin and spent some time in the wilderness for the past several years as a post-holiday travel decompression. It's so beautiful and secluded, nestled high in the mountains in a forest of Redwoods and Pine. Ethan got to see snow for the first time, and even tried sledding on Mommy's lap (down a very small hill).

When we arrived we discovered that our cabin was buried in a good amount of snow!

We bundled Ethan up and took him outside to explore the Winter Wonderland.

Ethan absolutely adores being up on Ryan's shoulders.

Daddy is so much fun!

It was so cozy on the couch in front of the fire, and we spent a lot of time cuddled up with Max. Ethan is learning how to pet the dog, though he still tugs on Max's ears and legs a lot. Max is so patient with him, and the two of them are fast becoming buddies.

We hope everyone had a holiday as nice and relaxing as ours was. Happy New Year!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

2008-12-25T08:08:00.001-08:00

We got a really sweet book from Ingrid, and thought we'd share some of it in our holiday post. It's called, "Once Upon a Baby's First Christmas," by Anne McEvoy. It's a tale of a little bunny that has a lot of questions upon discovering a cradle in the woods that contains a strange, unknown creature.

"What is it?" Bunny whispered, on tiny tippy toes.
"A baby," came the answer, with a lot of oohs and ohs.
"A baby?" asked the Bunny - "so what are babies for?"
"For cuddling," said the others, "and to snuggle and adore."
"It's tiny," said the Bunny, "it can't be very strong."
"That's so you can pick them up and rock them all night long."
"And what's this baby thinking?" They all looked and stared a while...
"Must be something sweet to make that precious little smile."
Thinking hard, the Bunny asked, "What do babies do all day?"
"They fill the world with wonder and steal your heart away."
"A baby is like Christmas," the Bunny finally sighed.
"It makes the world seem brighter and your heart feel warm inside..."
The others nodded slowly as the snow began to fall...
And all agreed a baby was the sweetest gift of all.

We send our warmest wishes, and hope that your holiday season is filled with love, joy, and wonder!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2008-12-21T22:01:00.000-08:00

By the time you read this, we'll be on our way back East for Christmas (or already there!). As we write this, however, we're still in the Bay Area, frantically completing our last minute preparations. We learned a lot about traveling with a baby when we flew to Minnesota for Thanksgiving, and are hoping that this knowledge will serve us well on this trip. We'll be flying into Washington, D.C. to see Ethan's Pa-Pa, Oma, and lots of aunts and uncles. We'll also make our way to Pittsburgh to visit the Ventura family, and Charlottesville to see Ethan's Grandma. We're so excited about this trip, and are almost all ready to go. Thank goodness Ethan is around to help us pack!

I'm Watching You...

2008-12-12T21:01:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, we could put Ethan down somewhere, say in his bouncy chair or in his crib, and he'd stay put. Well, those days are over now! Ethan is constantly moving and exploring. His hands are reaching out to grab everything in sight, he rolls around from one end of his crib to the other, and is attempting to sit up on his own. He's also lifting up his head super high when he's on his belly. Ryan noticed that Ethan was stretching up his neck to peer over the walls of his play mat, and snapped a few pictures of our little spy.

Before we know it, this little guy will be crawling. Let the childproofing begin!

Gobble, Gobble!

2008-12-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

We're back from Minnesota, still full from our delicious Thanksgiving feast! Ethan was happy to see Grandma and Grandpa Ventura again, and enjoyed meeting the rest of the family.

Ethan and his Grandma Ventura resumed their singing duets!

Cousin Logan (sporting Great Grandma's rain bonnet) tried to teach Ethan how to play with cars.

Ethan was a big hit with his ninety-year-old Great Great Aunt Frannie!

Ethan did a fantastic job with his first flight! He was sweet and quiet for the entire ride to Minnesota, but had a bit of a meltdown when we arrived. We think his ears were bothered by the landing, so you can't hardly blame him for howling. The plane ride back to California was a different story. He did a fantastic job for the take off and landing, but was very clingy for all of the parts in between. He was fine as long as Mommy held him and walked the aisles!

Ethan had his four-month doctor's appointment today, and received another glowing review. We're so thankful to have such a healthy boy! He weighs 17 lb. 14 oz., measures 26 3/4 inches in length, and is in the 97th percentile for both weight and height. Ryan jokes that Ethan should be in the 100th percentile. "Ethan is bigger than 100% of all babies on Earth," he quipped earlier today. "Call Guinness!"

The Godfather

2008-11-19T21:56:00.000-08:00

We were happy to have our friend Ryan Hoke in town for a couple of days this week. We hadn't seen him in a few years, so it was quite a treat! While he was here, Ryan got to meet Ethan for the first time. He was very sweet with him, and gave Ethan lots of cuddles, smiles, and even a bottle!

Ethan had a fantastic time with Ryan, and we're really looking forward to him meeting Candace! We won't have to wait too long, as the Hokes will be joining us in Minnesota for Thanksgiving weekend.

It's also been a few years since we've seen our family in Minnesota. We're braving the airport crowds and will be taking Ethan on his first plane ride to Minneapolis for the holidays. We're having Ethan baptized while we're there in the church that Ryan's grandmother has been attending for years and years. We asked the Hokes to be Ethan's Godparents, and they will be making the trek up from Milwaukee to join us for the big event. We'll be sure to post pictures of the baptism when we return!

Not Quite as Exciting as Black Gold or Texas Tea...

2008-11-15T21:17:00.000-08:00

Come and listen to a story about the Notch family,
Kicked out of their house because of termites, you see,
Got a call from their landlord, who rang them to say,
"We've got to relocate you to the Extended Stay."

Hotel, that is. Small room. Big inconvenience.

Y'all can't come back now, y'hear?

Well... that's not entirely true. We were allowed to return to our pest-free abode on Saturday afternoon. It was quite an adventure, being packed into a tiny space with Max, Ethan, and all of the baby gear. After the first very trying and frustrating day, we learned that the key to surviving a hotel room with a baby is to be in it for as little time as possible. Taking advantage of the need to be out, we decided to take Ethan on his first hike.

It didn't last that long - the days seem so short now and the sunset crept up on us - but it was a nice diversion.

With all of the trails around here, it will be so much fun to repeat these hikes when he's old enough to run up the hills ahead of us. For now, at least we know he likes the change of scenery.

He's really interested in his surroundings, and we'd like to think that he appreciated the views on our little adventure!

Heads Up!

2008-11-06T17:23:00.000-08:00

Remember the post not too long ago where we said that it took Ethan about 20 minutes to roll over? He's made so much progress since then. Not only is he rolling over almost instantly from his back to his belly, we also recently discovered that he can roll back the other way! His routine when we put him down in his crib is as follows:

1) Roll over to his side
2) Insert thumb into mouth
3) Hang out for a few seconds
4) Take thumb out, roll over to belly
5) Reinsert thumb and fall asleep

It's pretty cute.

Ethan has also made a lot of improvements with his head control. Gone are the bobblehead days - this boy is doing a great job of using his neck muscles to hold up his head! Check it out:

He was doing this for about ten minutes yesterday before Ryan picked up the video camera, so he had lots of practice! Ethan is also practicing his laugh, and has tried out several different squeaks and squeals in the last week or so. He cracks himself up, and gets caught off guard by the sounds that come out of his mouth. He's such a funny boy!

Boo!

2008-10-31T21:33:00.000-07:00

One more Halloween photo for your viewing pleasure... enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

We're very excited about Ethan's first holiday! Sure, he won't know the difference between the 30th and the 31st, but it's still fun to celebrate. Though he won't remember, we're looking forward to starting our holiday family traditions. Sarah is also looking forward to getting free candy again... babies who go Trick-or-Treating do get candy, right?

We used all of the goodies we got from the pumpkin patch to shoot Ethan's three month photos. He wasn't a big fan of being stuck inside of the slimy pumpkin, but was much more content once we lined it with a blanket. We can't believe that he's already three months old! He's about sixteen pounds now, and has gained a lot of strength and skills in the last month. Sarah was shocked to find Ethan on his belly when he woke up about a week ago. It's official - he can roll over - but it's about a 20 minute process that usually only happens when he's agitated. He loves sleeping on his side, and can hold himself in that position for a loooooong time. He's able to hold up his head for much longer periods now, too. No propping necessary for this photo shoot... he got a great neck muscle workout supporting himself the entire time!

He's losing his hair, which is both sad and exciting. We hate to see his baby locks go, but can't wait to discover what color his "new" hair will be. Do you think it will be dark like his Daddy's? Ryan's hair was actually blond until he was about three years old, so who knows if this new batch that grows in will be his true hair color.

We couldn't resist getting him a Halloween costume. Usually there aren't many options for a baby his age, but since he's so huge he was able to fit into a 6 month-sized costume, which opened a lot more possibilities. We chose (what else?) the cutest little monkey costume we could find. Actually, we chose the cutest little monkey costume that Aunt Mary found!

Ethan sends his love to all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends that are far, far away. He also sends instructions to mail all of your leftover candy to our house, addressed to him in care of Sarah. Happy Halloween!

I'm Only Gonna Tell You Once...

2008-10-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

Seriously Daddy, if you don't put down the camera I will start screaming!

You have been warned.

Punkin' Pickin'

2008-10-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

We took Ethan to his first pumpkin patch over the weekend. He 1) had just woken up from a nap and was still drowsy, and 2) is far too young to appreciate holidays, so you can definitely tell in the pictures that we were enjoying it much more than he was. There was a petting zoo with pigs, goats, and bunnies that we observed from outside of the fence (Sarah wasn't sure that she wanted the baby to get too close to the critters). It turns out that Ethan is just as interested in farm animals as he is in Max... he barely even gave them a glance. He'll love that kind of stuff when he gets older, but for this outing he was largely unimpressed. That didn't keep us from having fun with it, though!

In other news from the weekend, we're happy to report that the swaddle-free sleeping is going really well. We had expected to wake up a lot to a crying baby, but Ethan (as always) is sleeping through the night. He's actually sleeping longer than he ever has - almost twelve straight hours on average! Yes, we're well aware that we're spoiled, and are prepared to pay the price for our good fortune with a super fussy baby the next time around!

Say Cheese!

2008-10-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

Our little smiley one was particularly happy the other day, so Ryan grabbed the video camera and got some great footage. Ethan smiles a lot lately and we get such a big kick out of it. Señor Chubbycheeks is getting more and more expressive every day, and will "talk" to us in a cute coo that makes our hearts melt. Seemingly overnight, we went from "I think that's a smile" to the big, obvious grins that you'll see in the following clip:

We know we write about it in almost every post, but Ethan is growing so quickly! We officially said goodbye to the memories of our eight pound infant, packed up all of his newborn clothing, and pulled out the 3-6 month size items. It was sad to see his cute baby onesies get put away in boxes, especially the sentimental items like his coming home outfit. It was fun, however, to hang up the big boy clothes such as overalls and collared shirts. We took the newborn insert out of his carseat, removed the sleep positioner from his crib, and, since he's busting loose, will attempt bedtime sans swaddle tonight. With every goodbye comes an introduction to a new and exciting phase. It's bittersweet to watch the traces of infancy begin to disappear, but such a joy to witness all of the changes.

Where Does the Time Go?

2008-10-03T20:57:00.001-07:00

The days have flown by, and our baby boy is already ten weeks old! He's changed so much over the past two and a half months, and we delight in seeing what each day brings. Our favorite development is Ethan's smile - he lights up and it shows all over his whole face, which is so cute! We weren't fast enough to catch the big smiles on these shots, but you can see a glimpse of our happy, happy boy!

He's holding his head up more and more, and is getting super strong. He'll "stand up" and bear his own weight if he has someone balancing him. We recently had to start buckling him into his bouncy chair, as he'll kick and wiggle his way right out of the seat. He's no longer a limp sack of potatoes - our strapping boy is all muscle and solid as a rock. Ethan is very considerate and sleeps for about 10 or 11 hours straight at night, which we know is unusual for his age. We are lucky, lucky, lucky to have such a good baby!

In the last few weeks we've found Ethan at the opposite end of his crib when he wakes in the morning. We're amazed by how he can squirm his way around when he's swaddled and doesn't have use of his appendages. He's also a budding Houdini, and has managed to escape from his Miracle Blanket on more than one occasion. For those of you who haven't seen the Miracle Blanket before, it's essentially a little baby straight jacket, and is as impenetrable as Fort Knox - unless you're 15 pounds of sheer muscle. No blanket can match the brute strength of our little brusier!

More Fun, Fun, Fun!

2008-09-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

During Kelly's visit, we left Ethan in Ingrid's incredibly capable hands for nine whole hours! We knew that he would be fine, but it was still hard for Sarah since she had never been away from him for that long. We took advantage of having an excellent babysitter and went up to Sonoma for the Harvest Party at our favorite vineyard, Stryker. In addition to wine tasting, we were able to get more hands-on and learn about the winemaking process. The first thing we did was sort through the grapes on the crush pad.

We were a bit shocked to learn that they were letting us amateurs handle the grapes that would eventually be turned into their award-winning Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. We're pretty sure they'll mail us a medal if they win again this year, since we're now official honorary winemakers.

Other events that day included a grape stomping contest and a tour of the vineyard. We're lucky to live near such a beautiful location. It's so peaceful in Wine Country, and it has been a long time since we were able to make a trip up there.

We had a great time with Kelly, and are so glad that she was able to come visit! A special thanks goes out to Ingrid for taking such good care of our baby boy while we were out having lots of fun!

In other news, Ethan had his two month checkup yesterday. He's now 14.6 lbs, which is in the 97th percentile for his age. He's a high scorer for his length, too - a whopping 24.5 inches puts him in the 90th percentile! His doctor continues to be so pleased with his growth and development, especially the fact that he's sleeping for nine to ten hour stretches at night. What a good baby we have!

We have a particularly fun photo shoot planned for the two-month shots, so check back in a few days!

Fun, Fun, Fun!

2008-09-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

The Notch household has been buzzing with activity lately! We've had so many adventures, in fact, that we're making this post part one in a two-part family fun series.

Grandma and Grandpa Ventura arrived for a visit and got to meet their new grandson for the first time. They were both a big hit with Ethan, who showed his love with lots of smiles and cuddling.

Shortly after their arrival, Aunt Kelly flew in to join in the family fun. We had a great time touring the city, especially when we stopped by Musée Mécanique to take some photos in an old timey booth. Technically, this was Ethan's second photo booth experience, as Mommy and Daddy took some pictures together right before Ethan was born.

To commemorate his birthday, Grandma and Grandpa Ventura brought over a cake, complete with a zero candle! Ethan was sad that he didn't get to taste it, and is looking forward to next year when he will not only get to eat his cake, but will also get to smear frosting all over his face!

We have more pics of and stories about the fun family visit and will post them in the next few days. Be on the lookout for part two, coming soon to a computer near you!

Better Late Than Never!

2008-09-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, we're really behind on posting this last picture from Ethan's one-month photo shoot. You know what they say, though... good things come to those who wait. Those eyes! That hair! The sweet little cleft in his chin! We're so enamored with our little man, and (like all parents, we suppose) happen to think he's such a handsome baby boy.

Don't I look all grown up? Thanks for the big boy shirt, Aunt Mary!

Of course, he's not sitting up on his own yet, but with careful incognito off-camera propping by Mommy, and Daddy's quick shutter finger, it appears as though he can!

We had a great time with Grandpa Emerson last weekend! We started the visit by "breaking into" his hotel room to set up several framed pictures of Ethan and leave a special snack. Grandpa arrived so late that he wasn't able to see his little buddy in person on Friday, so we figured some pictures scattered around would be the next best thing. While in his room on the eighth story, a 4.0 earthquake struck, pretty much centered directly below the hotel. We've felt lots of earthquakes before, but it's a different story when the quake is so close and you're up so high! In accordance with tradition, we had a wonderful breakfast at a rustic, bear-themed diner on Saturday morning, the site of Ethan's first restaurant experience. We took a walk to the park, spent a lot of time eliciting cute little baby smiles, and made sure that Grandpa had plenty of quality cuddling time. We also worked in a quick photo shoot. Here are some of the highlights (click on picture to view in larger size):

Grandma and Grandpa Ventura arrive for a visit tomorrow, and Aunt Kelly is soon to follow. We're so excited about their visits and can't wait to introduce them to our sweet baby boy!

A Tribute to Dr. Kaplan

2008-09-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

Sarah had her last post-baby checkup appointment today with the most amazing OB in the world, Dr. Alan Kaplan. At the end of the appointment she shared pictures of Ethan and taught Dr. Kaplan all about baby blogging. Feeling a bit remiss for not having more classic Kaplan anecdotes in our blog postings, Sarah promised to write a proper tribute to our favorite doctor.

Dr. Kaplan put us at ease from the moment we walked into his office. Being that this was our first pregnancy, we were a bit nervous and neurotic (and let's face it... by we, we really mean Sarah). Dr. Kaplan not only took all of our questions in stride, but also put a spin of humor on everything. His laid-back attitude and East Coast sarcastic personality made each of our visits entertaining as well as informative and reassuring, a combination that is very rare to find in a physician. He always listened to all of our concerns and questions, and never made us feel rushed or as though we were wasting his time. In fact, we quite often spent a few minutes after each appointment chatting about Ryan's photography or Dr. Kaplan's fishing vacation. For all of the fun we had at our appointments, it was never at the expense of top-rate care. We trusted him implicitly, and from our scare with placenta previa to Ethan's eventful delivery, we knew we were always in the very best hands. Thanks, Dr. Kaplan, for bringing our beautiful baby boy into this world safe and sound (and keeping us sane through the entire experience)!

Our Big, Big Boy!

2008-09-04T22:08:00.000-07:00

Ethan had a pediatrician appointment today, and has definitely grown a lot since birth. He now weighs 12 lbs. 13 oz. and is 23.5 inches long. That's exactly four pounds and two inches more than he was when he entered this world! The doctor assured us that not only is this much growth okay, it's a really good thing. Sarah did some quick math, however, and determined that if he keeps growing at this rate, we'll have a one-year-old that weighs over fifty pounds and stands almost four feet tall! Thankfully, his growth will not continue in such outrageous spurts... and if it does we'll at least have the privilege of calling Guniness to see if he qualifies for a world record.

In other growth and development news, Ethan is continuing to build his strength and is doing really well with supporting his own head. While he's not able to consistently master this skill, he's certainly spending a lot of time practicing. He also is able to roll onto his side and has discovered his hands and feet. He enjoys toys now, especially rattles and anything with flashing lights. The most exciting new skill of all - he is smiling! He's smiled here and there for the past couple of weeks, but he's now deliberately smiling as a reaction to things (and people!) that he likes. It's such a heartwarming thing to see!

Speaking of heartwarming things to see, here's another pic from Ethan's one month photo shoot. We have a few more, and will post them soon. The round two photo shoot attempt was much more successful than the first, thank goodness!

We're getting really excited for Grandpa Emerson's visit this weekend, and will soon be counting down the days until Grandma & Grandpa Ventura and Aunt Kelly arrive! It's hard to be so far away from our families, and we feel very thankful that so many people have been able to come out for a visit!

Animals and Babies...

2008-08-28T23:35:00.000-07:00

There's a show biz saying that you should never work with animals or babies. Boy, oh boy, did we find out why! While it was not as serious as a Hollywood production, our first attempt at a photo shoot with Ethan was met with only mild success. He was not a big fan of the strobes and was cranky almost the entire time. We did manage to get a few good images, and will make a second attempt tomorrow. Hopefully we'll have a happier baby then! It was our fault, not his... we started a bit later than we anticipated, and Ethan was super sleepy. Bad move, Mommy and Daddy. Here's what we have so far, and we'll post the others as soon as we are able to successfully capture them!

The experience must have worn him out, because he slept for EIGHT STRAIGHT HOURS after the shoot! Perhaps we'll make that part of his bedroom routine every night...

Almost a Month Old!

2008-08-22T22:51:00.000-07:00

Wow - it's hard to believe that it's been almost a month since Ethan was born! He's changing so much each day, and has grown a LOT. Weighing in at 8 lbs. 13 oz. at birth, he lost weight in the hospital and got down to 8 lbs. 1 oz. At his last weigh in, he was closing in on 11 lbs. - that's almost a three pound weight gain! Needless to say, nursing is going well and our hungry little boy is a good eater!

He's made progress in other areas of development, too. In addition to the new facial expressions we've been seeing, Ethan has started to track movement. His big, bright eyes followed as Daddy walked around the bouncy chair the other day, which was a first! He's discovered and delights in mirrors, and loves to stare at himself during diaper changes. Thanks to our recent introduction of tummy time, Ethan's neck muscles are getting stronger and he'll sometimes support his own head for short lengths of time. We've seen some hints of a smile out of him, and can't wait until he starts laughing. He's an amazing little guy, and shows us something new each and every day!

Our big photo shoot will happen in the next few days, to commemorate Ethan turning one month old. Be on the lookout for those pictures, and enjoy these in the meantime!

He likes tummy time, but often falls asleep on the job. Lazy baby.

Is he throwing a massive fit, or just rocking out? You decide.

Growing By Leaps and Bounds...

2008-08-12T23:12:00.000-07:00

We knew that babies grew fast, but this fast? Ethan already seems so much bigger than he was when he was born, and has definitely developed in personality since then. He spends a lot more time with his eyes wide open, looking around and taking in the world around him. He has a ton of new facial expressions, and a cute new belly button now that his cord has fallen off. Daddy has been waiting for this to happen before setting up Ethan's first photo shoot, so be on the lookout for some great new pictures soon! Here's a little something to tide you over until then:

Ethan went on his first field trip last week, visiting Muir Woods to see the Redwoods with Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma & Grandpa Emerson. Grandpa had a great time carrying Ethan through the park in the baby sling and, judging by his snoozing, Ethan was quite fond of the experience, too!

We've never seen Grandpa quite so happy as when he was with Ethan!

Remember the Gloworm dolls? We think he's the spittin' image...

We're having so much fun watching Ethan develop into a little person, and can't wait to see what tomorrow holds!

A Week Full of Firsts!

2008-08-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, so technically EVERYTHING Ethan does for the next few weeks will be firsts, but they're still exciting to note! Since bringing him home from the hospital, he's taken his first car ride, had his first sponge bath, gone for his first stroller outing, and "eaten" at his first restaurant. He's also met a lot of family and friends for the first time. Believe it or not, we haven't documented every single experience (shocking, we know), but did manage to catch a few on film. Here are some of our favorites!

Coming home from the hospital - what a big day for all of us!

Ethan pretty much slept through the entire meal... thank goodness!

Mommy, Grandpa E., Great Aunt Laura, Grandma E., and Aunt Mary!

Aunt Mary was always eager for cuddle time with her new nephew!

So far, Ethan has been a really good baby! He sleeps well, eats well, and is a happy, happy boy. We are having such a fantastic time with him and have learned a lot about love - just gazing at him makes our hearts melt! Thanks to everyone who has sent kind words of congratulations, and a special thanks to all of our visitors (especially those bearing food... yum, yum!) for making Ethan's first few days so special!

Ethan Makes a Grand Entrance!

2008-07-30T21:17:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are the details of our wild ride of a birth experience:

Sarah went into labor at around 9:30pm on Thursday night. Wanting to make as much progress as possible before heading to the hospital, she labored at home until about 3:30am. When we finally went in we were a bit disappointed to find that Sarah was only 1cm dilated. The contractions progressively became stronger and more frequent, but after a few hours there was still not much progress. The doctor decided to put Sarah on Pitocin, which encourages the contractions to increase significantly in intensity, frequency, and duration. Her water broke on its own shortly after that, and we thought we were on our way to a speedy delivery. Ryan was particularly excited since he chose the 25th as his guess for the baby's birth date!

As we all know know, a speedy delivery was not in the cards. Sarah lasted for about 24 hours before opting for an epidural for pain relief. She was much, much, much happier once the medicine kicked in, but had only dilated to 3cm. Still, she was able to get a bit of much needed rest. She slept comfortably until the epidural stopped working. The anesthesiologist came in to check things out, and determined that Sarah would need a second epidural administered. As with the first, the second lasted for a short while, and then began to wear off.

Shortly after the second epidural stopped working, the baby's heart rate crashed. Buzzers started sounding in the room, and about eight people rushed in and started working on stabilizing the baby. At the same time, Sarah's temperature shot up to almost 103 degrees, so more people came in to work on her. It was very difficult for Ryan to watch, unable to jump in and help. Thankfully, after what seemed like forever, the baby's heart rate returned to a more normal rhythm. The doctor checked Sarah's progress, and somberly announced that she was only 5cm dilated.

It was at this point that an emergency C-section was decided upon. Sarah's fever could have been an indication of an infection that would be very risky for the baby, and with his unstable heart rate there was really no other option. Sarah was rushed to the operating room and Ryan prepped to join her.

The last hurdle to jump was the anesthesia for the surgery. As indicated by the failed epidurals, it was impossible for the doctors to get Sarah totally numb without being completely put under. Disappointed not only with the fact that she would not witness the baby's birth, Sarah thought that Ryan would not be allowed into the operating room.

It wasn't until she came to after the surgery that Sarah discovered that she was wrong - not only did Ryan get to be present in the delivery room, he also was able to participate in a lot of important "firsts" with the baby! He was able to cut the cord, put on Ethan's first diaper, and was there for the weighing and measurements in the operating room. Ryan rolled the baby's crib down to the nursery where he saw the sponge bath, helped with the footprints, and combed Ethan's hair. After the baby's first pediatrician exam, Ryan put on Ethan's first shirt - and quite skillfully, according to the nurses! Finally, after all of that was finished, Ryan and Ethan went to the recovery room where Sarah had been since the surgery. It was good timing, as she had recently woken up from the anesthesia and was very ready to see her boys!

Even with all of the pain, fear, and curveballs, our experience was an absolutely incredible one. While we have the option of a natural delivery with the next baby, for safety's sake we'll probably opt for a repeat cesarean. When we were faced with the placenta previa, we were a bit bummed about missing out on the total pregnancy experience. Though we ended up with a C-section, we still experienced Sarah going into labor, having her water break, contractions, and the waiting game. Most importantly, our beautiful baby boy is completely healthy and an absolute joy.

He's Here!!!

2008-07-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

After about 36 hours of labor and an emergency C-section, we are overjoyed to announce the arrival of Ethan James Notch! He was born July 26th at 8:05 am, weighing in at 8 lbs. 13 oz. and measuring 21.5 inches long. More details of his birth are to come soon, but for now we thought we'd post some pictures and a video of the newest member of our family!

Ethan James Notch just minutes after his birth!