THREE!!!

I know I should be doing a Father's Day post, but it has been a while since I posted, so I am still catching up.  The events in this post actually took place on Mothers Day!

Ethan turned 3 on May 22.  It was the Tuesday after the May long weekend (Canada's Victoria Day).  Because Ethan's Aunt and Uncle and their kids usually go camping on the May Long Weekend, I decided to throw his party on May 13, which also happened to be Mother's Day.  A word of advice - throwing a child's birthday on Mother's Day means you don't actually get any time to yourself or to enjoy anything. But it's still worth it!

We went to the Midway that was in town that weekend as part of his party.

Ethan with his Dad and Great Grandma

Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake

Right after he blew out the candles

Ethan and his cousins playing with the fibre optic Mickey Mouse he got as one of his gifts.

Ethan had a pretty good time, even though he was cranky and kept screaming he didn't want to go on any of the rides at the Midway.  We forced him to go on a couple of rides, and even though he cried through them, he was happy to have gone on them after.  My Dad and step-mom, Mike's parents, Mike's Grandma and Mike's brother and his family (including my sister-in-law's dad) all came out for the party.  I think everyone had a good time, but I know for sure Ethan had a good time, and as far as I am concerned, that's all that matters.

I sent all the Mothers home with a couple of flowers from a bouquet I bought at Sobeys, as a small token for Mother's Day.

I still find it hard to believe it's been three years since Ethan was born.It still feels like yesterday.

Mother's Day

Ethan's gift that he made at daycare.

This is what he (and his Daddy) got me:

I had been too afraid to carry my Kobo with me, but now I have a snazzy case!

I love both gifts.

(this post was delayed because I got a new laptop sometime in between all this and I FINALLY uploaded all my pictures...)

I miss my blog

I miss my blog.  I think of things to write every day.  Then life happens and I don’t get a chance to post, or I am too lazy and just want to veg without thinking.

ETHAN

Ethan is changing almost every day.  His words are getting better each day.  He says so many cute things I should really be on here at least posting one cute thing he says each day. 

There is one funny thing he started doing - but I sort of taught it to him.  When I would ponder what to eat for supper, sometimes I would see Ethan and tell him we were having Roast Ethan for supper - then I would pretend to rub him with oil and spices and then pick him up and hug him and tell him I was going to throw him in the oven.  Now he does the same thing to me - "We having Roast Mummy -I rub with butter, now 'pices, now roll Mummy into oven".  He then proceeds to roll me around the living room until I am "done".  I am usually too busy laughing to protest much.

Ethan’s potty training is going so/so.  He now pees on the potty 95% of the time we put him on there. We usually only end up getting him to go about 4 times on the weekend – once mid morning, once before his nap/quiet time, once around supper time and then before bed.  There are SEVERAL times in the day when he will yell loudly that he does NOT want to go on the potty. We are still a long way from putting plain underwear on him.  We keep telling him he can go poop on the potty, but I think it will be a while yet before he does that. 

Ethan is still getting sick at least once a month (fever, cold), but his infections are getting further apart. I upped his Vitamin D intake last month, so I’ll know soon whether or not it is helping any.

ME

I am busy trying to get in shape (yes, STILL).  I bit the bullet and paid for 3 months of Weight Watchers online.   I tried to do it using Sparkpeople, but I wasn’t getting the motivation I needed.  I like that Sparkpeople tracks fitness minutes, so I am still using that to keep track of how much exercise I am getting.  Weight Watchers seems a little easier for me to follow, especially since they allow you to eat fruits and veggies as much as you want - based on the Points Allowance system they are “free”.  I like that because it encourages me to eat a banana when I am hungry instead of a piece of bread.

Anyway, on the health side of me trying to get healthy – I saw an ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat specialist), but he wanted to refer me to an ENT that does sinus surgery as her specialty so I have to wait until July 17 to see her.    Thankfully I started going to massage therapy and the chiropractor again, it seems to ease the headaches somewhat.  And now that I am truly exercising regularly I notice my headaches aren’t as bad either.  Maybe because I force myself to breathe through my nose, making my sinuses clear naturally?

FAMILY

As a family, it is getting easier to do things together.  Ethan is a little more able to try new things now that he understands what we are talking about.  He remembers past outings as well, and looks forward to things now.  It is really fun to watch J  We go to a picnic spot in the provincial forest sometimes, and he really enjoys it. 

**I will update this with pictures soon, but I needed to post something, it was driving me crazy***

What have we been up to lately?

I have been neglecting my blog for a while.  This is supposed to be here to chronicle Ethan's life, but I have been too busy trying to get our lives under control to come on here much.

Ethan is doing pretty well.  He is still getting sick fairly often, but he hasn't had any infection of any sort since Christmas, which is a small victory for us :)

Ethan is still in the slow potty training process.  The good news is that his daycare sits him on the potty and he goes, and he goes for us usually (80% of the time) at night before bed.  I am not pushing it too much, but hoping that he will eventually get used to the idea that he will be doing this for the rest of his life :)  I am hoping that in the summer we can switch him to regular underwear one weekend and see how he does.  I can't really imagine that right now.

We finally had some snow and hopefully we will be doing more sledding soon.

This year is the year I take control of MY health.  I have been sick and tired (and overweight) for far too long and that needs to change fast if I want to be here to see Ethan grow up and become an adult.  I am hoping that by getting my sinus headaches under control (waiting for a follow-up visit to an ENT) and by getting in shape and eating better that I will be a happier, healthier version of myself so that I can devote more time to my family.

So far my plan hasn't made much progress.  I am back at the chiropractor and have started seeing a massage therapist in the hopes that the alternative therapy will help me feel better and I can actually START getting in shape without worrying about the sinus headaches that plague me EVERY DAY.  So far, in the 2 weeks since I have started this, I have only had a couple of sinus headaches.  I do have a bad cold this week, so that is a minor set back.  I did get up and work out on my elliptical trainer this morning however.

Yay Team!

This picture was taken on January 9, 2011 (pretty much exactly 1 year ago when he was 1.5 years old).  I had been so excited that he was getting interested in sitting on the potty - he even has the book :)

Fast forward 1 year, and he has refused to sit on the toilet at all, with about 4 or 5 exceptions.  I have been getting a little nervous, wondering if he will ever potty train.  He is finally getting out of his really bad "no" stage (No isn't always his standard response now).  So today I told him that starting tomorrow we were sitting on the potty and wearing big boy diapers.  I asked him if he wanted to practice tonight, so when we were getting his pyjamas on I asked him if he wanted to sit on the potty and he said "yes" (cue excited music).  So I watched him pull his pants down and I helped him sit on the potty.  I went to get him a book to read, and by the time I got back he had gone pee!  Yay!

Of course I made a big deal out of it, and I called out to Mike to come upstairs and rejoice in the potty moment.  I was so excited I said "Yay Team" and Ethan thought that was the best so he was saying it the rest of the night.

So here's hoping that this streak continues through until tomorrow.

Are Ethan's naps gone?

Ethan decided today that he didn't need to nap.  He did pretty well, playing and being relatively quiet.  I was wondering if this meant the end of naps altogether.

At 3:58 pm I thought Ethan was a little quiet so I checked up on him.  This is what I found:

I guess I don't have to worry about him phasing out the nap yet.

Independence

My little baby is growing up.  At 2.5 he is sitting on the couch, relaxing with a book and drinking his milk.   When I ask him to please start getting ready so I can take him to daycare he says "I stay here.  You go by self Mummy" and waves me away.