Two...and then the honest truth

My sweet Ethan is two.  Two.

Finding the words to describe my feelings for my baby has never been my strength.  How can I explain or even put into words how incredible it is to be his mother?  How can I explain how deep my love is for him?  How thankful I am for him every single day?  He sure isn't perfect, but neither are we.  He is SO perfect for us.

At two, Ethan can do so much.  He has such a huge vocabulary and speaks in clear sentences.  He loves music and to sing and dance.  He loves the water and running through the grass.  Seeing the beauty and wonder of the world through his eyes has been a wonderful experience for me.

But oh my goodness, this child is teaching me this summer.  Teaching me what it means to have patience.  That it is time for the REAL parenting to begin.

I'm going to be really honest here...Ethan has been challenging this summer.  I swear, he woke up on his 2nd birthday and somehow, he knew, he was now supposed to be in the "terrible twos".  I was ready for it, but man, it happened FAST.  One day, my sweet, cuddly bubba, and the next day...well...

I've broken down his behaviors into 3 categories:
1.  "It's MINE"- I hear this phrase like 10,000 times a day.  It is hard to be around other kids, because I know he will get possessive over every single item he comes across.  I know it is totally normal, but it still embarrasses me.  I've tried to explain taking turns, but a meltdown still occurs every. single. time.
2.  Boo-boos- We have hit a pretty fragile stage.  When learning to walk, the kid took a ton of spills and was able to brush it off.  Now, I swear, he wakes up with boo-boos.  He always needs to me to "kiss all better now" and, of course, I oblige.  I hope to find a place of balance, so we don't have a 10 year old that still needs his parents to kiss his boo-boos. But for now, I'm kissing every single one of them.  I just keep telling myself that there will be a day where he won't ask.  And then I'll cry :(
3.  The random temper tantrum/crying/whining- He doesn't want to wear socks, he doesn't like how the lawn mower sounds, he hates his tshirt, his milk has a red top, I could go on and on and on.  And I know this one isn't going to stop anytime soon.  I've had more wine in the last week than I had in the last 6 months.  Holy cow, the whining causes wining!

I've totally scheduled tons of things for us to do this summer.  We have only had about 2 full weeks together this summer, and we have done so much.  Zoo, concerts, music class, parks, swim lessons, camp, play dates, splash pads.  We get out of the house every single day, which definitely helps, but gives us tons of reasons for tantrums and freakouts.

Yesterday, my mom told me that my expectations for him are just too high.  He is two and this is how two year olds act. I've been thinking a lot about that comment.  Were my expectations for this perfect summer (like we had last year) just too high?  Should I set a low expectation for every day and be happy if it turns around?  I definitely need to find a balance, so I don't find myself becoming frustrated with him (and myself) every day.  And so I don't become an alcoholic ;)

I absolutely adore my child.  He is spirited, smart, observant, outgoing, and caring.  He gives the best hugs and kisses, and I love when he sings with me each night.  He is absolutely the best thing that has happened to me, and I thank God every day for allowing this precious being to be in my care.  I hope to do everything right as his Mommy (but I know that I don't/won't).  I just hope he knows how hard I am trying to give him my everything, because that is exactly what he is to me.

*And of course, today was the best day we have had all summer.  Camp in the morning, a nice lunch and nap, followed by some time at the neighborhood pool.  Minimum tantrums and tons of kisses. :)

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HELLO June!

It's June!  WHAT????

May was a complete whirlwind.  May is my favorite month for many reasons.  First of all, it is the last month of school.  It is super crazy and busy at work, writing report cards, grading, and wrapping up the school year.  BUT once you get through it, you are FINISHED for 10 weeks!  May is also the month of Mother's Day, Ethan's Birthday, AND my birthday.  Finally, we ended the month with my little sister's wedding!

I blogged a couple of times about doing the Whole 30 during the month of May.  It was a tough month, because we had a lot of celebrations, but it was a perfect month because I LOST weight instead of gaining it.  I ended up losing 6.5 pounds during the month, and actually 5 of them were during the first week.  It was pretty amazing to meet my goal just in time for my sister's wedding.  Since then....welllllll....not so hot.  I feel like it's been a downward spiral for the past week (snacks, pizza, cookies, etc.) and I'm already starting to plan to start another clean eating challenge.  I just don't have will-power on my own, and for some reason, a clean challenge makes me do it.

We celebrated Ethan's 2nd birthday in the middle of the month.  I can't believe my sweet boy is TWO!  We celebrated with a little Elmo party (although he really isn't as obsessed as he was when I chose the theme) of just our immediate family.  Since I went a little overboard with his first birthday party, we decided to keep it small this year. 

When I started the Whole 30, I had every intention of following it, EXCEPT for on my 30th birthday.  Yup, I turned 30 a week ago.  All I wanted for my birthday was a fiesta with my closest family and friends, a Qdoba bar, and margaritas.  And baby, I got it.  I had such a wonderful night, and feel so lucky to be healthy and have reached this milestone year.

After I came off of my birthday hangover, it was time to celebrate Ali's wedding weekend.  It was an INCREDIBLE weekend.  Tornado warnings during the rehearsal dinner and not a drop of rain on her wedding day.  Everything was perfect and I swear, she was the prettiest bride I have ever seen.  Ethan was a perfect angel (except for getting the tux on, which we knew would be a fight), and he walked down the aisle like such a big boy.  We are so happy to have Kyle in our family and our post-wedding lives to get back to normal :)

Now it is finally time to enjoy my summer vacation off with my little man.  We are booked with stroller-fit classes, swimming lessons, music classes, and mommy-and-me camp.  Excited to experience summertime with my family and friends!

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Preserving Memories

Something I have never been good at is organization.  I am a self-proclaimed hoarder (I mean, not as bad as the people on TV but I HATE throwing things away) and have been known to have piles of "stuff" all over the house.  My OCD husband can't stand it and gets great joy out of throwing stuff out (asking first, of course).

I decided to upload all of our pictures to Shutterfly.  That way, I could order prints, create books, and have a place that would store all of my pictures.  (Wishing I would have done Flickr too because when Shutterfly doesn't exist anymore, a bunch of my pictures won't either.)

I have two 12 by 12 Shutterfly albums- one of my pregnancy photos and one for Ethan's first year.

When I was pregnant with Ethan, I was inspired with all of the pregnant mamas taking weekly pictures.  Although I never posted them, I wrote a few sentences and posed in the basement each week and described how I was feeling and what was new that week.  I had to turn into a complete nag to get my husband's help but I am so happy with how our little project turned out.  (MAN, I got big!!!)

 Once Ethan was born, I knew I would need a baby book.  I searched the shelves at Barnes&Noble and Borders, searched Etsy, and look up online-templates and nothing fit what I had in mind.  So instead, I created my own through Shutterfly and I ABSOLUTELY love it...all 111 pages of it.  I kept a Word document to record all of the monthly "happenings" and just cut/pasted it into my album where I needed.  Here are some of my favorite spreads:

I also create 8 X 8 books for each of our professional photos sessions.  I always try to keep an album created in my "cart" because Shutterfly often offers free 8 X 8 books.  For Ethan's Goodnight Moon photos, I added the words from the book to his pictures and he loves to hear the story and see picture of himself.  So cute!

I am definitely behind in our vacations photos.  I haven't made a book for Italy (yeah, 3 years ago) or Alaska but they are on the to-do list.

I also like to upload all of my cell-phone pictures to Shutterfly and drag them all into an 8 X 11 book.  I fit 6 pictures on a page but each year, my book gets longer and longer.  Waiting till a good coupon code comes through to order my 2012 book but it is finished and waiting in my cart.

 Back before Ethan when Mia was boss.

I posted about my memory keeper for Ethan from Paper Coterie for Ethan, but I recently purchased another one.  Because I didn't have a place for our wedding "stuff", I decided to get another memory keeper to hold our wedding invitation, program, shower invitations, and various wedding items.

 I had a coupon code (of course) so I ended up ordering a book to keep track of the hilarious things that Ethan says and does.  I ordered it when he first started talking about 9 months ago and I am so glad I did.  He is like his mommy and has A LOT to say.  He is also like his daddy so he is pretty darn funny.  It is so great to have a place to put it all. 

So, that is what I do to try to capture and preserve our family memories.  Although I was completely organized his first year, I can honestly say that more pictures are taken on my iPhone than real camera.  I haven't uploaded anything to Shutterfly (because there isn't anything to upload but cell pics...ugh).  Even though I'm married to a professional photographer, we don't take many pictures of our own family.  Always striving to improve in that area. 

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Ethan's Room

Ethan's bedroom was actually the very first room we painted on the very first day we moved in.  We wanted him to feel comfortable in his new home (and sleep) so we wanted to get all of his furniture and belongings in the room as soon as possible.  All of the furniture and prints are from the nursery in our old house. 

BEFORE:  Beautiful, purple checkerboard :)

 

AFTER: We ended up using a pale blue color for the walls.  It is called "Tropical Surf" by Glidden (Home Depot's brand paint).

Much better!  Still need window treatments (I'd love to have red chevron of something) and maybe a mural on the wall above the crib.  But man, SOOO much better.  It is amazing how big Ethan's room is now (especially compared to his old room).  He loves it and so do we!

Next room on the to-do list?  Our BRIGHT green master bedroom. 

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18 months

My sweet Ethan is 18 month old and I feel like change is happening so fast.  Each day, Ethan looks more like a boy and less like my little baby.  And today we are closer to 2 than we are to 1.

He really is so amazing.  He is learning so fast and says so many new words each day that I can't keep up.  Last time I counted his list, he was up to around 50 words.  He is now starting to recognize his letters.  He definitely knows E, M, and C (he finds them in his blocks and bath letters) since they are his initials and he randomly gets I, A, O, and B.  Sometimes I think he is just a lucky guesser but he is really starting to learn them.

We just started with animal noises (I know, I am behind) but he can consistently do cat, dog, monkey, sheep, and cow.  It is hilarious listening to him try to do an elephant.

He LOVES music.  Singing and dancing are two are his favorite things.  Anytime he hears music, he will stop in his tracks and started to dance.  His moves just crack us up.  His go-to dance move looks like he has water in his ear.  He squats down low and bounces his head from side to side.  He sings the "la la la" part of the Elmo song.

Speaking of Elmo...the kid is obsessed (and obsessed doesn't even quite describe it).  He doesn't watch television but we started to watch short songs and clips of Elmo on YouTube on our phones or iPad.  Now, we can't take out our phones without him screaming for "ELMO" and crying if he doesn't get to watch.  We have created a monster.

He has great fine motor skills.  It is very easy for Ethan to take marker caps off and carefully put them back on.  He stacks blocks pretty high and understands the concept of balance when they start to sway back and forth.  While I see his love for music developing (which is my area of strength), I am also seeing his innate art skills emerge.  He holds a pencil/marker/pen perfectly (better than me) and I hope he gets some artistic talent and creativity from his daddy.

Sometimes, I feel like Ethan can be a bit of a bully. He loves being around other people the kids and is always smiling and waving.  Sharing is a hard concept for him to grasp (which is completely developmentally appropriate right now) but it is a bit embarrassing when he walks up to a kid and pushes and takes away his/her toy.  He goes through phases with this behavior and we are always reminding him to be nice and gentle.

He loves his doggy.  Sometimes in the car, he will randomly yell out "MIA".  He always greets her in the morning and he gives her sweet hugs.  She is quiet fond of her brother, too.  She follows him around and is very protective of him.  For a big and hyper dog, he is careful around him and rarely knocks him over.  Ethan has recently started telling Mia to "sit", "stay" and get "down" and it is so cute!

Overall, I can't feel more thankful for such a healthy and happy boy.  He really is such a good boy that loves to be around people, smile, and socialize.  He is developing a sense of humor and enjoys making other people laugh (he definitely gets this from his funny daddy). 

My heart is so full and I am so lucky to be his mother.  Ethan truly is the love of our lives and is a perfect child for us (even during his Elmo tantrums, his hitting spurts, and his random middle of the night screamfests).  We love you more than you know, little man.  Thank you for being you.

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Goodnight Moon

Ethan starred in a Goodnight Moon-inspired photo shoot from the creative, genius mind of our dear friend and photographer, Cheryl. 


In the great green room, there was a telephone, and a red balloon, and a picture of-

The cow jumping over the moon

And there were three little bears sitting on chairs

And two little kittens and a pair of mittens

And a toyhouse and a young mouse

And a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush

And a quiet old lady who was whispering "hush"

Goodnight room, goodnight moon, goodnight cow jumping over the moon

Goodnight light and the red balloon, goodnight bears, goodnight chairs

Goodnight kittens, goodnight mittens, goodnight clocks, and goodnight socks

Goodnight little house and goodnight little mouse

Goodnight comb and goodnight brush, goodnight nobody, goodnight mush

And goodnight to the old lady whispering "hush"

Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere


And of course, a few extra favorites:

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