Rock

When Mike and I started dating Rocky was only 3. She didn't talk at all and couldn't walk yet. I had never been around disabled people much and Rocky has taught me quite a lot. It has been amazing to watch her grow and I can't believe she is 17 now. She has been a huge help this week while I pack by playing with Ethan.

Ethan and Rocky are playing so well right now. Ethan calls her Rock or Rockawido (trying to say Rockalito). They are best friends and wander around the house playing all sorts of things for hours. Rocky helps Ethan use his imagination to play. They put on hats and right now Ethan is Bob The Builder. I was asking if Rocky was Wendy, Bob’s trusty sidekick. Ethan replied, “I’m not a side cake. I’m Ethan.”

I wish I could freeze their friendship for a while. But I know that Ethan will keep growing up and Rocky will pretty much stay the same. Rocky is an interesting combination of a 3 year old and maybe and 8 year old. She likes a lot of the same things as Ethan but is able to think about other people in a way that older children do. It’s a great combination for Ethan’s 2 almost 3 age and imagination. She stretches him in play and he loves it. I’m so thankful that he’s growing up knowing and loving a handicapped person. I hope it helps shape how he sees others with handicaps.

Happy Halloween!

We enjoyed a Fall Fest Carnival that Compass put on. They went all out and that had something to do with my inability to get either of my kids to look in my direction for a picture. There were too many wonderful things to look at. The train and the big inflatable stick figures were the biggest attention grabbers. Ethan was supposed to be Yoda but wouldn't wear the green ears (when I first tried it on him I said, "Look you're Yoda!" He took one look in the mirror and said, "No, I'm not. I'm a bunny rabbit!") so he ended up being a Jedi Knight. You know Mike LOVED the light saber! Caleb was an adorable monkey with a round belly.

We went to Tanaka Farms with Ethan's Mommy & Me class and had a delightful morning. It was a bit crowded with everyone making up their rained-out field trips but we had a great time none the less.

Handsdown the boys favorite part was the tractor wagon ride. Ethan was giddy (see last picture) and Caleb cried when we had to get off. He as so happy sitting like a big boy all by himself! Not a chance that he was going to look at the camera.

Yay! The tractor ride!!!

The summer relived

Seeing how it is now fall (but the weather feels more like summer) it seemed the right time to continue my update...

We swam as often as we could at Mike's parent's house before they moved. Ethan particularly loves swimming with his dad and Mike can get him to do way more daring things than he'll do with anyone else.

Caleb and Evan are only 8 weeks apart and it's fun to watch them interact. Evan is already army crawling everywhere while Caleb is quite happy to be sitting on his bum, thank you very much!
Ethan and Emily are doing Humpty Dumpty and Emily does great big falls while Ethan's are a bit more conservative.
Can you hear him laughing?
So sweet!
Standing up on his Aunt Emy's board.
I love watching them together at bath time. Caleb has figured out how to take the drain plug out and do the little lever on the wall. He's very proud of himself and very determined.
One of our many family trolley trips to Main Beach in Laguna. When I think back over the summer as a whole the trolley and Laguna Beach are the big stand outs.
Day trip on the trolley to the park. The best!

Keeping the update going

Well, my dad did not approve of my short post. He said there weren't enough pictures. Picky, picky. I will resume where I left off...

We celebrated my sister's birthday a little belatedly with a busy, fun morning. The boys and I had breakfast at her place. Ethan helped point out any non-toddler proofed items.



After breakfast we headed over to Color Me Mine. Kim wanted to paint a pot and then have the boys put their handprints on it. A 2 year old in a store filled with breakable items is a little stressful on a mom but it was so cute to watch them make their mark.
Caleb really like the feel of the paint brush. I'll have to get a picture of the finished product from Kim.
My dad was VERY excited to take Ethan to a DODGER game. There were some logistical issues with getting there and it turned out that Mike had to meet them there. I was needlessly apprehensive about the 45 min car drive and my dad's ability to handle any meltdowns. I gave my dad a full arsenal of E's favorite snacks and even the ipad. He didn't need any of them. Apparently, Ethan didn't want to play with the ipad because that meant he would have to take off his baseball glove. He was just about as excited as Grandpa.

The entire way home Grandpa had him practice saying, "Go Dodgers!" and it actually stuck for a few weeks. He's been asking to go to another game ever since.
Sweet sleep.
We only made it to one concert in the park this summer and we had a blast! It was Beatles night and we road the boys down in the bike trailer. They had such a wonderful time and Ethan cried when we left.

I tried to get a picture of Caleb in his Angels Tori Hunter shirt before I couldn't fit it on him anymore.
Whenever Caleb wore his Angels then Ethan HAD to wear his too! (sorry Grandpa)
Does this look familiar to anyone? :)
Ok, that gets us to early Aug. More update later

Ultimate Granola

I made this granola for our annual trip we take with our college friends and I promised to put the recipe up again. It's very flexible so use the nuts and dried fruit you prefer.

Mike and I enjoy watching cooking shows and recently Mike came across a particularly good one. The following recipe is from Tyler's Ultimate and it is both very yummy and very easy. Enjoy!

ULTIMATE GRANOLA

4 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup raw almonds
3/4 cup raw pecans

1/2 cup flax seeds or pepitas (I used flax seeds at Shaver)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup canola oil (or olive oil)

1 tsp vanilla

desired dried fruit (I enjoy raisins)

Preheat oven 300 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. Warm honey and oil in pan and add vanilla. Stir. Pour over dry ingredients. Mix well but gently. Spread evenly onto cookie sheet. Bake 20 min. Stir. Bake another 20 min. Cool and break up any clumps. Add dried fruit as desired.

At Grandpa's Request

You wouldn't know it if you "follow" the blog but I actually think of new blog posts on a daily basis. They just don't make it onto the blog. My dad noted that I hadn't done an update since July and I'm guessing that he needs new material to show everyone who walks through his office door. ;)

Well, first of all, Ethan is starting to say more and more comical things. There isn't a day that goes by now that he says something in all seriousness that makes me laugh. Today as I was making lunch he wanted to know what the mayo was. I told him and then held up the mustard bottle and asked him what it was. He informed me that it was "mustache." I tried not to laugh too much because he was being serious and I let him know that it was actually mustard. He was very sure and said, "No, Mom. It's mustache." I love it!

Mike and the boys at Montage beach towards the end of July.

Don't leave a two year old alone with a bottle of paint even if you think the bottle is sealed!
We went down to Laguna for my dad's birthday (July 6th Happy Birthday again, Dad!). Here we are waiting for the trolley. Ethan is not in timeout. He is attempting to rest his head on his hands.
This is just after his nap. I put him down in just the green shorts but when he greeted me at the door he had added his boots! In case you are wondering he is saying "MUSCLES!"

Well, that's what I have time for. Maybe I'll make it to Labor Day soon. :)

Beach Time and other stuff

Note: pics are in order from newest to oldest.
Snuggle with my Dave!

Afternoon at Main Beach in Laguna with Mike's parent's and sisters. We need to remember to bring our gorilla tripod so we get a decent picture of all of us.

I could look at this forever.

E and Grandpa Dave

All boy!

We had a few trips to Disneyland. Here's E at Goofy's house.

Fun afternoon at Montage Beach with the Wheelers. It was beautiful! Ethan and Mike explored the tide pools and poking crabs. We took the free summer trolley to town in Laguna and got gelatto. We loved it so much we've gone back 3 more times in the past two weeks. Ethan loves the Blue Bus!

Here's Ethan pre-hair cut.

Mike and I celebrated 8 years of marriage with a great day with the fam and Emy in Laguna Beach (we love it there) and then Mike and I went out that night just the two of us.

Caleb is so ready to laugh. Those gums are no longer completely empty. A few days after he turned 7 months his first lower tooth finally made an appearance.

Ethan calls this the blue park. He's getting so much more adventurous on the playground.

Ethan's favorite swing down at Main Beach in Laguna

Happy boy!

Ethan has decided that Sam is very fun to play with. He likes to climb all over him and his favorite game is feeding Sam one Cheerio at a time. Sam has been so patient and there seems be be nothing Ethan can do to get a growl out of him. I think it has something to do with the bribes Ethan gives him.

We got a bike trailer! We've had a great time taking it over to Aliso Woods. It feels so good to ride again.

Ethan is teaching his little brother how to bounce!

I try not to leave my laptop open during the day because Ethan constantly gravitates to it and pushes all the buttons. I was in the other room feeding Caleb and I realized I left my laptop open on the counter because it had an oatmeal cookie recipe I was going to bake next. I figured it wasn't a big deal and I would just have to close some extra programs or maybe turn it back on. Instead I found he was interested in something else this time...

What the boys have been up to:

Caleb-

~Getting going on solid foods. It was a slow start but as we get into more interesting foods he's enjoying it more. I'm doing Super Baby Food and I it has been super helpful.

~I can't wait for the 2nd tooth to come through because teething isn't so fun.

~He continues to adore his brother even when Ethan plays a little rough with him.

~He's babbling "Da Da" much to Mike's delight. We encourage Ethan to teach him words and Caleb couldn't enjoy the attention from his big brother more.

~As long as this guy isn't tired he is very happy and willing to entertain himself with toys. Non-baby toys would be his favorite (especially electronics).

Ethan-

~I love it when he uses the wrong word for something. For example, today we met a guy named Greg and Ethan called him Grape. He talked about him over and over. "Let's follow Grape." "Grape went that way." etc.

~He is starting to enjoy sand. I think we might have some sand castles in our future this summer.

~He saw Toy Story 3 last weekend and he loved it! With the help of a few snacks he made it through the whole thing and asks to see it every day.

~His imagination is starting to blossom and I hear him talking for his cars. They don't say much more than "hi" to each other but its a start.

~Saying Ethan loves the Blue Bus is an understatement. He talks about it all the time. As new passengers get on at each stop he says "Welcome Aboard!" He talks to the other cars through the open windows when we are waiting at lights. And he is THRILLED every time they ring the bell (which is quite often).

~Every night the past week Ethan has been getting up after Mike puts him to bed and wants to snuggle with me. Even though I'm looking forward to all the things I get to do after they go to bed I really love that snuggle time. I know that before long he's not going to be interested in that any more.