Ethan's Art

Ethan drew this picture yesterday. It's the first time I've seen him draw something that looks like- something. When asked what it was a picture of he said "daddy, mamma, and ethan" (pointing to the little scribble in the middle).

Pretty good for 2 1/2 years old I say!

Lucia + Nonna = Bath!

Nonna loves taking baths with her grandchildren in her tub! Lucia was able to expereince this the other night. She was a bit fussy at first, but soon loved it! She was kicking her legs and relaxing!

leaves

Ethan "helped" Jim rake leaves the other day. Of course we had to get a few shots of him in the leaf pile! In the top pic he's a bit disgusted by the fact that we placed him in the pile and didn't want to touch the leaves- oh well!

























Action Shot!

Fall Colors

I love this time of year! If I could live somewhere where the seasons included Summer and Fall in a continuous loop I would! Francesca took these awesome shots on their walk at Pickerel Lake!
Jim is color blind and doesn't understand what all the fuss is about and that makes me sad- I wish he could experience the fall colors too!

Angelic Ethan

Cecca took this great shot of Ethan on their walk around the lake- I love it because the light is hitting his face just right- as Cecca said- it makes him look like a little angel!

Pickerel Lake

Some pictures- courtesy of Francesca- from their trip to Pickerel lake. The colors on the trees are amazing!

Ethan, Cecca, and Jarrod

Cecca and Jarrod spend a lot of time with Ethan and take him on all sorts of adventures. Recently, they brought him to the Meijer Gardens (top pic) and to Pickerel Lake (bottom pic) to see the fall colors. Ethan had a blast!

In Other News . . .

Ethan and Lucia have finally switched rooms. Ethan is now in his big boy room/bed and Lucia is in the nursery. Ethan is doing great sleeping in his new room and in his new big boy bed. The first few days we tried to have him nap in his new bed were a disaster- we would hear him running around upstairs, getting into things, putting blankets on his sister because "she's cold", etc. Then my sister-in-law Sunny had the great idea of putting the gate in his doorway (instead of the top of the stairs). That way he can still run around and get into things in his own room, but not destroy the other rooms upstairs. Well, I tried it and it worked! At nap time, he will still run around his room and play with his toys/books (or take his clothes out of his dresser and scatter them about), but eventually (after about 30min) he falls asleep- in his bed! It's great! I'm so happy because I was not ready to have Ethan stop napping- I need that 2 hours in the middle of the afternoon for me time!
I will post some pictures of Ethan and his big boy room soon- I tried to get some the other day, but he was not cooperating.

Ethan and Chihuly

They are still running the Chihuly exhibit at the gardens- what a neat thing to see!

Oma and Lucia

Oma and Lucia inside the barn at Meijer Gardens. What a hot day Monday was- more like August than early October. What a fun time we had though!

Lucia and Mamma

A pic of me and Lucia- I don't have too many of those! And one with both my kids- even though they are not looking at the camera . . .

Ethan and Lucia

Here are a couple pics of Ethan "holding" Lucia. I think she really did enjoy herself at the pumpkin patch, though you can't really tell with her facial expressions!

Pumpkins!

Ethan, Lucia, Oma, and I went to Meijer Gardens on Monday to see the pumpkin patch of oversized pumpkins they have out this time of year. Ethan had a great time climbing and exploring the pumpkins!

Big Smile!

Here's a really big smile from her bath today. It sounded like she was almost laughing back at us! I love that Lucia is starting to interact more and more each day- it's so much fun!

Lucia 8 weeks

I can't believe how fast two months has gone by! Lucia had her 8wk appointment on Friday and everything checked out great. She is right on track with Ethan in terms of height/weight. Lucia weighed 14lbs 9oz (Ethan was 14lbs 15oz) and she is 24in long! She did great at her appointment, until it was time for shots! Ethan looked on with a bit of a horrified look on his face- he came along to the appointment so he could get his flu shot (he actually didn't get a shot- but got the flu mist they squirt up the nose).

Lucia continues to do well at night- she will usually sleep from around 8:30pm to about 6:30 or 7am! However, the past few nights she was up around 4am- hopefully she gets back on that awesome track she was on!

More Artprize

Ethan, Lucia, Oma, Grandpa, and I went downtown earlier this week to look at more of the artprize entries. Ethan does not enjoy big sculptures and was terrified as we approached the big elephants outside the GR Children's Museum. Grandpa had to pick him up, he was clinging onto Grandpa's neck saying "I'm just gonna close my eyes now." He did okay by the "baby elephant" and let me snap a picture.
Ethan also liked the piano art entry. An artist has positioned piano's all around the city in a piece called "Play me I'm Yours." It was a beautiful day and Ethan did great walking around!