Back from Edmonton again!

I am home now...Ethan and I flew home on Monday arriving at the London airport at 9:40pm...Nathan took the night off work so he could pick me up at the airport and so we could spend some quality family time together. Even though it is tough being away from each other, I have to admit it is nice to feel missed (I am sure Nate feels the same way)....and I feel a little time and distance every now and then is healthy for a relationship...It makes us appreciate our time together more...Reminds you of how much you love and miss each other if you know what I mean. I feel bad Nate was away from Ethan but I thank him for supporting our trip.  I went to Edmonton to visit my brother Joe and help him out...What a great brother I have...we had some good bonding time and lots of fun with the kids.



This is the night we got home...Nate couldn't put Ethan down...he missed his little guy!




Sitting on a chair at the airport waiting for our airplane

  

So to fill you in on the last couple of weeks... Ethan can now crawl like a big boy on his knees, he still will pull out the army crawl but now that he has figured out he can move quicker with the big boy crawl the army crawl is seen less and less.  He is getting really good at pulling himself up to a standing position while holding onto something (he is even trying to climb stairs), this is frightening because he falls all the time...I try my best to anticipate his falls but I often miss a few (poor little guy).  Just last week he started to imitate me (For instance when I start clapping he claps and just yesterday the lady I sat beside on the airplane taught Ethan a trick...she made a popping sound by putting her finger in her mouth and flicking her cheek while pulling it out...Ethan thought this was pretty neat and smiled as he watched her do it a few times and then...wallah...he started doing it too. It was so cute to see him imitate her and watch his little mind in action. 

I can now put Ethan down for naps without getting him to sleep first...I have been working on this for a couple of months now...Ethan may cry for a couple minutes after putting him in his crib but within 5 minutes he is out!  So nice that he can self sooth now!  He still tends to sleep with me at night. This is partly because he likes it but I have to admit I love it...since Nate works nights and isn't home until 3-4am, I quite enjoy having my little guy to cuddle and keep me warm and since I am alone it is refreshing to have the company...Ethan often likes to feed a couple times during the night so this makes that very handy...anyhow the only problem is that when Nate gets home it is often too crowded for all three...sometimes we just put up with the lack of space or often one of us moves to the spare bedroom...recently Nate and I have decided to get a king size bed to give us more room...This is the perfect solution and truthfully we really don't mind co sleeping with our baby.  So my bedroom currently sleeps five (Nathan, Ethan and I on the bed and our two dogs, Winston and Miles on the floor)...This is just perfect!

Ethan got sick the last time I was out West a few weeks back (Jessica and Markus were both sick at this time)...anyhow upon my return home he had good days and bad days (cough, irritability, congestion)...but never a fever and he was eating well...however one day he started to throw up his food (not normal for Ethan), tug on his ear and he developed a fever during the night. I gave him some Tylenol and was up all night attending to my sweet little guy...I see sick little ones all the time at work, but when it is your own it is absolutely heartbreaking.  Anyhow I took him to the doctors first thing in the morning and he had an inner ear infection and strep throat...Wow I was totally shocked about the strep throat (he got it from my Jessie and Markus who were also diagnosed with strep throat)...So he was put on antibiotics (Amoxicillin) for 10 days and I gave him Advil for a few days.  It was a little stressful trying to feed him his medicine three times a day as he wasn't too keen on the taste at first...I ended up mixing it with applesauce or his grain cereal. After his antibiotics were done he seemed 100% better but after a few days he was tugging at the ear again so I took him back to the doctors for another check up...the ear was still red so we are currently finishing another round of antibiotics...those dang ear infections...I guess this is what happens when he is exposed to school aged children (his cousins).  Oh well I can look on the bright side...he is building a mean immune system.  I am happy to report that Ethan seems to be back to his normal self and is stronger then ever (I am still going to take him in to make sure the ear looks good after he finishes the antibiotics)...Jessica and Markus are better now too.

Below are a few pictures I snapped while out visiting Joe in Edmonton!!!






The first time I saw Ethan crawling on his knees like a big boy...all of a sudden he just did it!




And he didn't stop




Climbing on the trampline in the basement





"Look Mommy I am standing"




The cousins! (Jessica, Markus and Ethan)





Joe's friends (Albert and Krista and there two kids) invited us to there parents house for a swim...I had to take pictures of this place...It was amazing...It had a huge  indoor pool surrounded by huge windows...
How cool to have an indoor pool in your home.





Markus swinging on the rope into the pool...such a fun place for kids!
Note the animal heads on the wall...Krista's dad is a hunter.





I told Markus to flex..."look at those muscles"




Jessie loved floating in this

 

The kids swam for a good 2 1/2 hours...Markus was the last one out




Some pictures of the animals up close




Crazy!  Imagine coming up against that in the woods!




So cool...sad it is dead of course




Ethan and Uncle Joe chilling by the pool!

 Today I spent the day unpacking and organizing.  Ethan is growing like a weed and many of the baby clothing in his drawers are too small now...So I spent some time putting away clothing that no longer fit him. I labelled the bin (0-6 month clothing, BOYS).  It is crazy because the next time I will be into this bin is for my next baby boy...what a strange reality!  I got out the  12-18 month clothing that I tucked away from my baby shower 8 months ago. I also went through a bunch of clothing my cousin Joy gave me that her son Lucas has outgrown...I picked out the items that Ethan will be into this summer/fall...Joy & Alex (and Lucas of course) if you are reading this thank you again for all the hand me downs...I appreciate everything so much! Lots of cute outfits that I am excited to dress Ethan in! I have to admit that I love hand-me-downs. They are the best!  I remember as a little girl getting boxes of clothing from some older girls in my neighbourhood...it was always so fun and exciting anticipating what I would pull out of the box...it was fun trying on my new outfits!  I guess the bonus is that getting nice items free is much more exciting then spending an arm and a leg for new items.  But that is just me!