On November 7 we had a little birthday party for our buddy Ethan to celebrate his first year. This was the first first birthday party for one of our kids where they were not sick! Yeah Ethan! We had a real good time with family and friends and shared lots of smiles all around.
We are so thankful for this little guy. We love you Ethan.
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The video version for the relatives who could not make it:
The little guy is one year old! Unfortunately for me, I am out of town and cannot be with my little wrestling buddy today, but I am sure his two big sisters (actually, he outweighs one of them) and mommy will make him feel special today. We love you Ethan! It has been a fun year and we look forward to a lifetime with this guy, watching him grow up.
Anyway, following our tradition, here is a montage of Ethan’s first year.
Ethan and his awkward little scooting motion he uses to get around.
When your summer is as cool as this one has been, you have to cram in your summer activities whenever you can, and that was exactly what we did the first weekend of August!
We had been wanting to go camping with friends, but with daytime highs of 14C (mid 50s F) and lots of rain, camping would not be fun. That just isn’t right for the first week of August. Thankfully the forecast changed to something resembling summer and so we hastily made some plans. It was also rodeo weekend here in Olds, which we didn’t want to miss. So, we went to the parade and rodeo on Friday, and Saturday we headed east to Drumheller for our first big camping adventure.
At this age, the kids are pretty easy to entertain. Just give them a big enough area and they chase each other around. The campground we stayed at was pretty nice. All the individual camping spots were taken, so we ended up getting a “group” spot. For two families it worked out to be cheaper, plus we had a huge are for the kids to run with with grass (normal camping spots were pretty much empty of grass), and we were away from the crowded main area! The downside was the pool. We got in and it was a bit murky. I joked about how you couldn’t see your feet in the pool, then I stopped laughing when I looked down and realized it was actually true. Just before we got out I noticed this thick, slimy stuff floating in the corners. I pointed it out to Alan and made a comment about how it couldn’t really be more gross when we noticed Adelaine holding someone’s band-aid she had found in the pool. That was the final straw and I was desperate enough to overcome my cheapness and use the pay showers.
We had a nice fire and stayed out late talking to our friends quite late after the kids went to bed. The night was pretty cold (10C!) and Ethan and the girls woke up in the night, but isn’t that all part of camping?
Drumheller bills itself as the Dinosaur capital of Canada and the place had lots of dinosaur figures, paintings, stores, and activities around town. So after breaking camp in the morning we went off for lunch and then to Fossil World, a kids mini museum and activity place.
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Nutty circle runners:
At Fossil World:
Before she stops jumping up and down, she is saying that she wants to take a picture. That is my girl!
It was a very busy weekend, but we loved it. Lots of fun with good friends outdoors. Ahhh.. a nice summer weekend.
Ethan at seven months old.
Poor Ethan has gained a few (temporary) nicknames around our house since he’s joined our family. Chubby Buddy, Chunk and Chub just to name a few. (Don’t worry, we have nicer nicknames for him too.) But due to his large size, he has come by these names quite honestly. We have been told that generally a baby should double their birthweight by six months and triple it by 1 year. Well, Ethan more than tripled his birth weight in six months and is well on his way to catching up to his oldest sister in weight (at 22lbs he’s already surpassed 2 1/2 year old Adelaine). He’s in the 95th percentile for weight and is in the 75th for height.
At seven months old he squeezes into 12-18 month old clothes, has outgrown his car seat, and gets very impatient if we don’t keep the spoon coming with food.
Though Naomi gets her workout carrying him around, we are thankful for this evidence of his good health and appetite. We’re sure that once he gets moving more, the pounds will drop off and we’ll have to come up with new nicknames.
Many joke about Ethan being a Linebacker (I suggest he is more like a mini-sumo wrestler, especially in a diaper), so here he is:
While he liked the ball enough, he isn’t quite ready for the game, as evidenced by his self-tackle and fumble.