Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan

It is hard to believe that our Ethan is a little two year old now...

Even though we miss our little guy as a baby we find
this new stage of his life so fun and exciting.
It is really neat to see Ethan's little personality develop...
He is such a friendly, kind, funny and happy little boy,
He loves to laugh and make others giggle.
He is always on the go and runs himself to sleep.
He loves to play with toys and try new things.
He loves to be wrapped in cuddly blankets...
He plays with his hair when he is tired...
He also loves to give cuddles, hugs and kisses.

He loves his little brother!

He calls him "Toddy"
He is always happy to see Todd in the morning,
And keeps an eye on him through the day!
He lets me know if Todd is awake or asleep...
Often in the car Ethan will say...
"Mommy Toddy asleep" or
"Mommy Toddy awake"

Ethan loves Thomas the Train, Caillou, Trucks,

Airplanes, Going to the airport and the "choo choo" track,
Story time, Riding bikes, the park (especially the swings),
stroller walks, splash pads, playgroups, bath time,
playing with balls, Nursery time at church, playing with kids
(When Ethan sees little kids he points and saids "Mommy friends")
Ethan loves animals, he loves to chase Winston and cuddle with Miles
Ethan loves to have us run after him, or hide and jump out at him.
He loves ring around the rosie,
He loves to wrestle with dad and run to him with
smiles and excitment when he comes home from work.

Ethan is a little rascal at times and can often be
caught drinking from puddles or the dog dish.
He likes to get wet or dirty...He is a very messy eater...
He will often rub his food in his hair and face...
He usually is upset when getting his teeth brushed...
I have to pin him down while trying to make him laugh.
This task is a little stressful to me...
(He will thank me later when he has his pearly whites I guess!)
He likes to pull things out of cupboards...
He likes to climb on the table...
He is defiantly at the stage of testing his boundaries!
I have started time out and it is working like a charm...


When mommy and daddy are away Ethan
gets to have the best babysitters...Grandma Boland or
Aunty Shayna or Aunty Karen or Emma...
We are so lucky to have family
to help us with our special boy!

Ethan is a good little eater...
Some of his favourite foods are
Berries, pizza, gummies, beans, carrots, apples, chicken,
seeds/chip blend from Pop's, juice, berry banana protein shakes,
crackers, cheese, dipping sauces...
(really I could go on and on)
He loves it when I showcase a
variety of foods in a muffin trays!

His favourite books right now are
-Clifford the big red dog
-I am a dump truck
-The Potty Book for Boys
-Are you my mother
-Wake up Elmo
-Sing along with Elmo
-That's not my monkey
-Cookie's First Book of numbers
First Colors
-Baby Beluga
-Where's Spot

Ethan's vocabulary has really expanded over the past few months.
He can repeat most words and is now using 2-3 word sentences.
He can count to 3 then usually jumps to 6,8 and 10!
He is learning his colors...He knows red, blue and yellow!
It is much easier to communicate with him
and his tiny voice is so darn cute!
He saids please and thankyous without being prompted
(most of the time that is!)
He is VERY observant...
He is the first one to pick out an airplane in the sky,
to let me know if we go past train tracks,
He loves to point out cars, trucks, buses,
motorcycles, the moon, bugs, friends ect.
He is such a smart little guy and I am so proud of him!

 

One Month

11 months

2 years old

I wanted to throw a big Thomas The Train

themed party for Ethan this year...but

Due to a busy school schedule I opted

 to go a little more simple this year!

June 24 landed on a Sunday this year...

We celebrated Ethan's Birthday at my Mom & Dads house.

Ethan's buddies Jake and Ben helped to make the day special for Ethan!

Aunty Shayna got a cake with a pile of gummy worms on it...

Ethan thought this was pretty cool!

Mom prepared an amazing dinner as usual...

Ethan loved the cake

I didn't have cake candles so we ended up
lighting up a big candle for Ethan to blow out!

Ethan very wide eyes and the cutest stunned look on his face
 when we turned the lights off, brought the cake and candle to him,

and sang the Happy Birthday song.
He wasn't too sure what was going on!

It was really cute!

Ethan enjoyed his gummy worm cake!
Thanks Shayna!

After dinner, I gave Ethan a quick bath
(he was covered in dinner and chocolate cake)...
Then the boys went outside to play!

A picture of Mommy and her special two year old

Present time! Ethan loved his Thomas the Train water bottle and "play in the sand kit"
From Aunty Shayna, Greg, Ben and Jake

We had Nate's side of the family over for cake a couple days later at our house!

Cake number two...Ya...I was a little disappointed...

Usually I make ice cream cakes for birthdays but

this time I tried a Martha Stewart chocolate cake recipe and

a vanilla custard cake recipe off of Pinterest...

They were not very good...The chocolate cake was dry

and the custard vanilla cake was strange...I didn't like it!

Oh well not a big deal I guess!

I got Moose Tracks ice cream from costco and

made Thomas the Train sugar cookies which were yummy!

I also made homemade spinach dip which is always a hit!

Once again Ethan had that stunned look on his face

when it was cake, candles and singing time.

We played a game called "name that chocolate bar"

which is a fun one for all ages!

Even though this year I went pretty simple

I think Ethan had a good week turning two!

We are excited for the "Terrific two's"

Had to include Thomas some how as Ethan loves
Thomas the Train right now!

Ethan got a dump truck from Grampa and Grandma
It was a hit...He plays with it everyday!

It is funny how kids always love the bags and boxes

I did say this party was for Nate's side...What I should have said was
Nate's side plus Shayna!  She is such a good Aunty!

Uncle Jorge and Aunty Karen

Aunty Karen and Todd having some fun!

The outfit Ethan is wearing was a Birthday present from Grandma and Pop's Boland!

Cousin Avery and Shayna

Cousin Emma and Todd

Toddy had fun celebrating his brother's birthday too!

After everyone left we went
outside for a quick play before bed!

Ethan loves to point out bugs...
You can hardly see the bug in this picture...
Look close...It is there!
Ethan followed it around for a bit...
Yelling "A Bug...A Bug...Mommy A Bug"

A couple days later Uncle Jorge and Aunt Karen

showed up at the door with this huge bear for Ethan.

When they came in the door the dogs had quite the reaction!

Ethan did too...He kept hugging, jumping, and rolling on his new friend.

I asked him what he wanted to name his bear,

Ethan said "YELLOW" in a cute little Ethan voice

So meet Yellow Bear!

Ethan loves to jump off the couch onto Yellow!

Todd loves Yellow Bear too

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN

WE LOVE YOU

A Day at the Strawberry Patch....Literally!

Ethan loves berries...

Every Sunday my mom has a big glass bowl of berries for dessert

and Ethan goes to town...I don't know how he fits them all in his little body!

He devourers them when he gets his hands on them....

So the idea of taking him to the strawberry patch was genius!

I was curious to see if he was old enough to get the concept..

I braved taking him and Todd on my own on a very hot and humid day...

My plan was to enjoy a tracker ride...Eat some berries

Get some cute pictures...and watch my little man get all excited

Then come home for nap time!

Yup that’s what my vision was but it didn't exactly happen that way.

Me being "clever" I took my car key off the chain

and stuck it in my shirt because I didn't want it to fall out of my flimsy pocket.

I put Todd in the wrap and enjoyed a tracker ride and picking berries...

Ethan was so excited...He was all smiles on the tracker

And a field of berries was so crazy to him...

He couldn't eat enough!

He kept pointing at the berries yelling "Mom" "Mom"

He was just covered in red strawberry juice...

I kept putting them in the basket and he kept eating them...

The worker was right there and didn't seem to care!

I even met a really nice family with 3 kids and she asked if she could hold Todd

Her and her children played with Todd while I attended to Ethan...

I love friendly people...It was so helpful on such a hot day!

After we picked for a bit we got on the tracker

to go pay for our berries and head home...

Once back at the car I stuck my hand in my shirt to pull the key out

My heart fluttered...It was gone...Yup lost in the strawberry field!

Oh boy this is when the day took a turn...

After searching for an hour I gave up

Unfortunately Nate was on the road working,

I didn't even have a cell phone...

So I borrowed one of the workers phones

and called any numbers I could remember

I called my parents, Nates dad, my sister and sister in law

No one was home...

I thought about calling a cab but I couldn’t because I needed car seats

The nice family who was playing with Todd offered me a ride

But once again I couldn't accept because no car seats!

So the boys and I hung out...and hung out and hung out!

We had shade, water, strawberries and

breastmilk for Todd so I guess we were just fine...

Ethan kept me on my toes! He is a body full of energy!

Finally Emma my niece got the message I left at her house...

Her and my sister in law Karen came and saved us!

I was never so glad to see them..I love you ladies!

So our one hour outing turned into five hours!

And about a half hour after being saved a big storm

came pouring down I would like to add!

Phew that would have been interesting!

Anyhow Ethan was so tired by the time we got home.

I quickly fed him dinner...which he hardly touch

(most likly because he was full of strawberries)

He got a bath, we read a couple books, had prayers...

During our nightly cuddle in the rocker

He fell asleep..He was out!

I love it when my kids fall asleep in my arms!

I could hardly keep my eyes open so

I brought Todd on my bed and passed out with him for an hour…

Then had to get up to finish an assignment…

I was a bit grumpy about this!

Today I got a call from

Heemans Strawberry Farm

So funny...they found my key in the patch today!

I laughed!

So since I have to drive out to get my key

 I guess we will be back picking strawberries again next week!

One sweaty, sticky, scrumptious boy!

Beach Day

We had our first beach day of the year on May 30th

We went to Port Stanley

The water was cold but that didn't stop the

kiddies from putting there feet in!

I played tag with the boys in the sand...

They had a blast...and we had some good laughs!

A picnic lunch, Mackies fries (with secret sauce)

and lots of toys for the boys to play with...

Todd and Emma chilled in there Bumbo chairs under the tent!

It was a fun day...

Ethan was exhausted and slept the whole way home!

I love summer!

Really looking forward to our 2 weeks at the cottage :)

 

Ethan and Mommy

Todd and Mommy...
I have a similar picture of Ethan during his first visit to the beach

Noah, Devyn, Ethan

Handsome Todd and Pretty Emma

Todd, Suzzette and Devyn

Ola and Emma

Todd is such a happy baby...Love him to pieces!

Track Season

For Father's Day Nate decided to surprise his dad
by picking him up in Greg's beaut of a car for an outing to the race track
Off to Sparta they went...A regular Friday activity for these two
However I think it was a little more exciting this time!

What is it about men and cars...
It is a mystery to me!
"Cars" is a topic that comes up pretty often...
Especially when Nate and his Dad get together...
I can't say I speak their language...
But I have to admit I am learning...
My favorite car use to be "a Red Car"
now its a "Red Convertible GT500 Shelby Cobra"
That's right!
Thats what happens when you marry a car fanatic I guess!

Nate is just itching to get his dream car!
I would love that to happen for him
But we just can't yet...One day though!
For now however his baby blue Probe will have to do
(The Probe was his favorite car as a teenager)
I wonder if the Probe will still be around when Ethan turns 16?
Nate thinks we will still have it!

I am pretty sure Ethan and Todd are going to be car lovers too!
Nate talks about having a project car with the boys...
Getting an older style Mustang and working on it!
Then taking it to the track to race!
I can just see the excitment on my boys faces!