Risky Business

Ethan did his best impression of Tom Cruise's character in Risky Business and danced on the couch in his underwearz the other day. Okay, I might have prompted him a bit. I'm sure he also appreciates that I was able to capture the moment on video!

Note: His favorite position to read books is, yes, standing upright on top of the couch. He has one favorite page in each of his books and when we get to that page he will clutch the book open at that spot and then crawl (well, he kind of scoot/hops on his knees and back of his hands since he is trying to keep the book open) over to the couch just so he can read standing up. It's not enough to just lean against the base of the couch, he has to climb onto it and lean against the back cushions. LOL...

Rock-A-Bye Baby

Bob mentioned that I should add these pictures to complement the previous post on Ethan being a mini-Bob - this was Ethan back when he was less than 2 months old! Ethan used to always sleep on his side just like Mommy - although now I think he prefers to sleep on his tummy.

And one of Bob and Ethan:

I'm drooling...

over the Olympus E-P1 camera. We have taken a gazillion pictures of one very cute boy over the past year, but our camera is just not up to snuff. I want to take amazing pictures in low light situations and have been eyeing the Nikon D60 for a few months now, but since we always want to capture every little moment I think it would be difficult at this time to carry around both a 20+ lb. toddler as well as a bulky camera. If only Ethan would show some interest in walking! So when I heard about this pen DSLR (well, Olympus advertises it is a DSLR) I've decided I'm in love. The two big drawbacks that are preventing me from buying it right now? Well, it is seriously $$$ and two, it has slow switch on time and focusing speed. It definitely wouldn't be a good camera to use for sports, but I'm wondering whether it would hold up well for scrambling kids as well. Hmm...maybe if I win the lotto I'll get this camera. Until then, I guess we will just stick with our point-and-shoot.

Ethan 2.0

We typically cut Ethan's hair with blunted scissors but since we recently unearthed a buzzer in our bathroom cabinets we thought it would be more fun efficient to give Ethan a buzz cut. The last time I used the buzzer Bob was left with a large bald spot, but I figure even if it comes to that our little monkey would look pretty darn cute bald. Luckily the haircut didn't turn out too bad. Now just a bit more practice and maybe Bob will let me near his hair again.

Before:


During:

Ethan being quite the good sport in indulging our whims.

After:

It's a bird, it's a plane...

It's Super Ethan!

Like Father Like Son

Bob and his mini-me.

More scrunchies.


Ethan sporting the seksi windblown hair look.

When I grow up...I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be...

A Professor or Musician!!

Even though we threw Ethan a birthday party early, we couldn't let his actual birthday go unmarked. So we had another mini celebration. Not only did Ethan get his first taste of sugar, he got two cakes within a week! But at the second celebration we also played the traditional Asian 'choose your career game' where you place objects in front of the birthday boy and he chooses what his future will hold.

We used the following items:

Money: Wealth
Crayons: Artist
Book: Author/Professor
Pen: Scholar
Calculator: Scientist/Engineer
Golf ball: Athlete
Bowl of Rice: Prosperity
Thread: Long Life
Ipod: Performer/Musician
Prescription Pills: Doctor

I know, I know...that is a lot of items. We got carried away. We let Ethan choose two items, hence the two different career options. Or maybe he will be a professor at Julliard. Or an author that writes biographies on famous performers. The possibilities are endless. You have a wide open fantastic future ahead of you Ethan!

Hmm...what should I choose?

Aha! The book!

We then rearranged the items in a different location and let Ethan choose his second item:

He stared at the thread for a long time, but then...

chose the Ipod!

Stair Master

What is a typical day around here? Ethan wakes up, eats, plays and then sleeps. Rinse and repeat a few more times and that is our day. Play time however is hard work! Ever since Ethan learned how to go down the stairs last month all he does is climb up and down things - the couch, the bed, the stairs, you name it Ethan is all over it. Since he usually torpedoes down the stairs, I haven't had a chance to video tape it (wielding a camera and trying to be a safety net at the same time is tres difficile, esp. when baby can crawl downstairs faster than you can walk). But the other day Ethan decided give me a break and did a leisurely stroll down the stairs all the while pontificating the 1,000 reasons why climbing up and down is so much fun.

A few favorite things

I realized I forgot to give an update on what Ethan is into these days during his 1 year post:

A Few Of My Favorite Things
Favorite Food: Everything. Ethan is still on chunky purees predominately though. While he wants to self feed and can pick up food really well, the problem is that he tends to just swallow the food without really chewing it. I'm hoping when his top teeth fully come out (the four front teeth are now here giving him six teeth total!) he will get better about chewing. Although I guess they say you really need your molars and babies generally just gum things until then. He does well with diced ripe fruit and cooked veggies and we are slowly introducing things with a harder texture. He is a super fast eater however. He downs his milk (~8 oz a feeding) in 5 minutes and goes through his solids (~ 6 oz a meal) in the same amount of time. He sure loves to eat!
Favorite Book: The Hungry Caterpillar, Hey Wake Up!, and Maisy's Favorite Things.
Favorite Toys: Ethan loves credit cards. No joke. He will clench them in his hands and crawls around and pull himself up with the backs of his hands so as to not drop the cards. He also likes the laptop and mouse. I don't know why I bought him so many toys.
Favorite Color: Green! Then blue, yellow and lastly followed by red.
Favorite Activity: Climbing up and down the stairs and any piece of furniture within reach.
New Sounds: He can now say 8 words: Daddy (Da-deee), Ball (Baw), Quack Quack (Gwah Gwah), Hot (Hawt), Hi (Hi-ee), Yes (Yeshh), Banana (Ana), and Mommy (Maaa-ma). He also knows how to do the sign for 'more', 'all done', 'no', 'hi/bye'. I don't think we will be teaching him more signs because I think he is picking up words much more quickly. It's funny how you can really differentiate between his babbling. If he is complaining he will babble 'nignignig', if he is happy/excited he will let lose a string of 'dadadi', if he is tired he will start schreeching 'awoaha', if he is bored he will start with 'bababa', and if he wants something he will go 'uhn-uhn'. Yes I am a baby whisperer.

Babies - They're Just Like us!

I will admit it - I love me some celebrity gossip and to unwind sometimes there is nothing better than just curling up with the latest copy of US Weekly. So this post is my ode to the mag's section: Stars - They're just like US!.

They brush their teeth.

They ponder what to order.
'Lemme see...the fish? Or the chicken? Is tuna chicken or fish?'

They drink diet soda.

They have 'working' lunches.
'Hold on, TOYSRUS stocks are going down, gotta buy buy buy!'

They hide from the paparazzi.
'Mom, I told you not to take photos of me in this outfit - now I'll be on fashion police!

They like celebrity gossip too!
'Whoa - John and Kate are dunzo?'

They talk on the cell.
'Hey Dad...so you were you able to get me that Fisher-Price toy?'

'They were sold out? That's terrible!'

They show off their dancing skills.
'This is what happens when you party too hard on your birthday'

The First Twelve Months

Here are Ethan's monthly ducky pictures. Aww...he has grown so big!


And the kooky monthly pics!

And we are one year old!

From Mommy:
I can't believe that Ethan is now 1 year old! Wah, where did my little baby go? The other day I sneaked in on him napping (yes, I still do this - I miss him for the hour or so that he away from me. Laugh) and was shocked to see that he takes up a full 3/4 of the crib where when he was just a few months old he could fit crosswise in the crib with room to spare. While I'm so excited that he is growing up and becoming more independent and learning so many new things each and every day I am also sad and already missing the newborn days. He will always be my baby (though I will try hard not to baby him too much and be the mom that embarrasses him by kissing him in front of his friends after dropping him off to school. Who am I kidding, of course I will be that mom). I love my Ethan!

From Daddy:
So from a daddy point of view, I actually can't wait for Ethan to get bigger so that we can do more stuff together. He's at the point now where he enjoys getting thrown around and crawling all over me and wrestling with me. We've also gone swimming a couple of times and he really likes that. Unfortunately, he finds it boring sitting in the stroller when I run with him.

It's also great to see him developing his own sense of humor. He cracks up when flicking the tip of his bottle or sippy cup and splashing me all over. If I'm not wearing a shirt, he immediately goes for my nipples and starts poking at them and cackling.

We've also had some pretty gross moments. Last week, carrying him to the bath, my dear son pee'd on me. The week before, he pooped on my hand. I could actually feel it coming out into a bigger and bigger pile on my hands. Yum. As with all males, poop is always funny.

The best though, is when he crawls up to you and wants to get picked up. He bounces up and down on his knees and throws his head back and waves his arms. Pretty cute if you ask me. As for the next year coming up, we'll work on training him to run the mile.

From both:
Happy birthday Ethan! The last year was so rewarding for us and having you has made our lives complete. We love you so much!