Just Like Grandpa

It has been said for a long time that Ethan resembles Aaron's dad, Dan, when he was boy. We have a picture to prove it. When we ask kids who it is in the picture, they say Ethan though it is Dan.

Emmett, however, clearly resembles my side of the family. Many people will tell us that he looks like my dad, Gene.

Within 24 hours this week we heard this again from people who don't know real well.

On Sun. when we were at the pumpkin patch, my parents' neighbors, Adam and Melanie, also happened to be there. From across the hay ride wagon, Adam said to me, "I never realized how much your little one looks like your dad!"

Then, on Monday morning as I was dropping Ethan off at school, one of his teachers came out and said, "I just have to be nosey." "Okay", I said, a little apprehensive of what was to follow. "Is your father-in-law Dan?" "Yes", I said. She said, "I figured it had to be! I'll just look at Ethan sometimes and the look on his face just looks just like Dan." She, too, doesn't know the family real well. Her dad and Dan were friends, I think, and Dan played music for her wedding.

It always shocks me when it is someone who doesn't know us real well who sees the resemblence. And, I thought it was funny that the two boys were pegged for their grandpa resemblences within 24 hours.

First Day of School!

Well, I can't believe that Ethan is really in school already. We pulled out the baby video footage last night. It is just crazy how fast the time really goes. He did great today, though. He wasn't upset at all about me leaving. He made a friend at orientation, Chance, and when he got to school saw that their lockers were right next to each other. Carson's is on one side and Chance's on the other. When I got home I checked my voicemail and there was a message from his bus driver. She said she stopped by yesterday to meet us, but we weren't home. When I was clearing off the caller id numbers, it said her last name and then Pastor. So, I am excited to know that his bus driver is married to a pastor! Here is Ethan with his temporary teacher. His teacher just had a baby yesterday, so this is the long-term substitute.

Transferring Activity

I tried a transferring activity with Ethan the other day during nap time. He enjoyed this. I gave him tweezers and put marshmallows in a medicine cup and an empty one for transferring. I thought we'd start with something soft so it would be easier to grasp. He did great! As you can see, he transferring some to his mouth. We did it, too, with chocolate chips.

Today, I gave Emmett and Ethan the opportunity to try transferring water in small metal creamers. They loved this, too, but they fought over it. So, I pulled out the medicine cups again. We tried rice, too, but I had to run the phone out to Aaron and when I came back they were transferring it to the floor! So, that was the end of our educational activities for the day. I thought I should probably have them clean it up, but rice on a hard floor and kids sweeping ... no thanks, I'll just let it be a lost opportunity for teaching them with natural consequences.

More Birthday Pictures

Ethan Eating his Sundae, Emmett and Mia, Playing in the Trail, Inspecting the Grasshoppers

Happy 4th Birthday Ethan!

On Sun. we celebrated Ethan's 4th Birthday. Friends and family came over to create their own ice cream sundaes. We polished off 2 gallons of ice cream in no time! The kids had a great time, too. They ran all over playing on the swing set and in our Adventure Trails. Aaron even organized a grasshopper catch competition to see who could catch the biggest grasshopper. It was cute to see them all running around the yard chasing after grasshoppers. Ethan received great gifts and many of them Transformer related. He got a lot of new games for us to play as family, which I am very excited about. It is fun that he is getting to the age where we can play games now. Carson ended up spending the night ... they just kept talking and talking. I think they finally crashed just a tad before midnight. Just too much stimulation with new toys and a Transformer pillowcase to sleep on! More pictures to come once I get them from Tabitha's camera!