Merry Christmas to all.....

Christmas 2012 has come and gone, and it was a really memorable one. It was very special for both kids. It was special for Violet, because it was her first Christmas ever, and special for Ethan because he discovered that Christmas = presents! Last year Ethan was still a little young to understand the concept, but this year, we were sure to make Ethan well versed in the idea of Christmas. We put up lights together, we went and picked out a tree, and then decorated it. We took him to the mall to see Santa, and even stopped by the train museum for a special choo choo ride the big man.

Ethan woke up Christmas morning and saw that all that sucking up to Santa paid off, because Ethan had a Christmas tree full of presents! Within minutes, the house was delightfully littered with shredded wrapping paper, and a dozen new toys, which consisted mainly of toy cars, trucks and motorcycles. He even got a remote controlled helicopter (thanks alot Uncle Andy & Adam).

Since we live so far away form the rest of our family, we made sure and skype with grammy, Poppy, Uncle Keith, Krista, and Jenna. We even got Grandpa on the computer for a little bit and it was really nice to see our family. Grammy Litch and Uncle Joe came down the weekend before, and grammy Rechenberg and Poppy are coming down in a few days, so we will get to spend some quality time with the family after all!

Since we live in Maryland, the idea of a white Christmas is a relatively far fetched idea, but this year, not only did we get a dusting on Christmas eve, we got a good inch+ of snow the day after as well. That inch of snow was just enough to stick to the road and allowed us to dust off the sled and tear up the neighborhood. We even found a cool little hill in the woods behind our house, and Ethan and our neighbor Bella were having a great time! That was a nice little touch to a very special Christmas. We can't wait to see what next Christmas will be like

2012 is coming to an end, and what a year it has been for our family! We have had some amazing times this past year, and we've even added to the size of our clan. It has been great to watch Ethan grow into a little boy with a great, friendly personality, and a ton of energy. His language skills have grown so much over the past 12 months. When 2012 began, he had very little speech capability, and now, he is speaking sentences (Just today, he said "I wanna go outside Daddy". It's amazing how far he's come. As if that wasn't enough excitement, Violet entered our lives this year, and our family finally feels complete, with two parents, two kids, and two cats......perfect. She has been amazing girl through the first two months of her life. Her sleeping has been pretty darn good for a baby her age, and she is generally a happy baby when she is awake. She smiles all the time now, and is a very alert, and vocal baby. The greatest thing about Violet entering our lives is how much Ethan loves his sister. With all of the craziness and temper issues that come with being a toddler, Ethan is always kind and gentle towards his little sister. He doesn't hesitate to give her a kiss, or a pat on her head, and that makes this ride all worth it to see and to be around.

.....and to all a good night.

Me and My Sister

This picture says it all. Thier first encounter was a little shaky to say the least, but in the past month, Ethan has really taken an interest in his baby sister, and they've really bonded with each other. Violet just turned a month old, and just like her brother, she has taken to the witching hour(s). She has been feeding very well, and she does sleep a lot, but it's just unpredictable as to when she could go down for a nap. Sometimes she'll sleep for 20 minutes, and sometimes she sleeps for 4 hours. The night hours are especially fussy ones, and Mommy and Daddy are feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. The toddler all day and the infant all night makes for a very interesting combination. She makes us realize how good of a sleeper Ethan really is. His napping can be tricky at times, but his nightime sleeping is really good by comparison. He does like to get up before 7 every day, but at least it's predictable.  We will be happy when her schedule regulates in a few months (gulp).

Ethan has been handeling the transition into a two child household pretty well. The first week was filled with more time-outs than normal, but he has since calmed down (a tiny bit). He has trouble with understanding the concept of "hold on one minute dude", and once he figures that out, it will make everyones life a little bit easier. His talking has been really great. We are so happy with his progress in his speech. He knows how to say hundreds of diffrerent words, he can repeat anything back to you pretty well, and he uses 2 and 3 word phrases pretty well. He loves talking on the phone and skyping people now, and Daddy has even let him take some of the incoming calls to the house by telemarketers (tee hee).

Some of Ethans favorite activities right now include watching spongebob, riding anything with wheels, especially his blue bike. He loves sitting in Daddys truck, playing with the windshield wipers and the radio, and beeping the horn a few times. He loves playing with the trucks that Grandpa gave him (although he managed to dismantle a die cast metal truck!) He loves gymboree class and taking his gymbo class home with him by jumping on everything from his couch to his bed. He also loves being naked, and disrobes at every givin chance. He loves the m&m's he gets from makin  pee pee on the potty, even though he sometimes flushes them down the toilet. He loves walking around with daddys hat and mommy's shoes, he loves the cats, although he needs to learn that he'll never catch Dinga.

We'll be taking our first family trip together next week, when we make a trip to New Jersey to visit Daddy's family for Thanksgiving. Hoping for the best on a smooth trip (gulp)!

Ethan and Violet!

Violet Marie Shannon   born, 10-14-12 10:53 am  8lbs 4oz,  21".



Ethan is now officially a big brother! His sister Violet was born a few days ago, and Ethan is getting more and more used to having to share Mommy and Daddy's attention. Although the first introduction didn't go as smoothly as we thought it would, now that Violet is home, Ethan is warming up to the idea of her more and more. He is giving her kisses, and directing Mommy and Daddy to put her in her newborn swing so he can push it back and forth. The tough part is making sure that Ethan plays very gently with Violet, since she suffered a broken arm during delivery. Overall the interactions between the two have been good, and Ethan hasn't been acting out too much, as many children do when a sibling is brought home. Hopefully it will stay this way.

While Mommy and Daddy were in the hospital, Grammy Rechenberg came down to visit, and to help take care of Ethan in our absence. This was such a huge help, since we don't have any family that lives in the area, luckily we have some great friends and neighbors that helped us. The biggest help wasfrom Grammy. She spent 2 nights in a house full of cats, even though she is deathly allergic to them. She suffered through this so that Ethan could sleep in his own bed, and wasn't displaced too much during this whole ordeal. This was great, because not only did Ethan not get jostled around too much, he got to spend some quality one on one time with Grammy, and that proved great for both of them. Since they are both machines that never stop moving, it was a match made in heaven.

Violet has been sleeping a whole lot since she's been home. It seems that she only wakes up to eat, and then back to sleep again.  As previously stated, Violet has a broken left arm that she suffered during the delivery, due to whats known as shoulder dystocia. Considering the possible injuries associated with a dystocia, the broken arm wasn't a terrible outcome. She should be completely healed in a few weeks, and she doesn't even need a cast. Luckily for us, we live 20 minutes from Johns Hopkins, and Dr. Tis, the pediatric orthopedist who saw Ethan for his hip dysplasia, so we know that we are in good hands.

Ethan says the alphabet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4FxOFOasao&feature=youtu.be

Two and Change

As September rolls in, we think back to everything that happened this Summer, and how the Springtime feels like so long ago.  So much has gone on in Ethans life this Summer. This has been the Summer of words, as Ethan wasn't saying much in the Spring, and now he is quite the chatterbox. While he might be still behind the curve according to the "experts", we're not worried about his speech anymore. We've ceased formal speech therapy, but Mommy and Daddy work hard on his speaking every day. Now he can repeat back the entire alphabet, he can tell you most of his colors, he can use 2 and three word phrases now (my fav is "Oh my gosh"), and he loves singing songs including "Twinkle Twinkle", and "We want we want gymbo" set to the tune of "We will rock you".

A few weeks ago, Mommy got to take a much needed rest and relaxation day back home, while Ethan and Daddy took a boys trip to Jersey for  cousin Ciarra's Christening. Ethan and Daddy drove Grandpa to the church, and Grandpa took Ethan to the daycare room at the church where they had a sand table. Later, Daddy Krista and Jenna left the service early, got Ethan from the daycare room, and explored all of the classrooms together. After the service, Ethan Daddy and Grandpa went to Breakfast. Ethan was a very good boy, partly because daddy was letting him eat orange marmalade.

Uncle Keith, Krista and Jenna came to visit us all in Maryland last weekend. They stayed in Baltimore at a hotel, and went to the Aquarium on Saturday. Sunday they came to our house. This was the first time Krista and Jenna have seen our house. Ethan showed the girls all the cool stuff in the house, including the kitty cats, and all of daddys musical instruments. We all has a big jam session in the basement, with Ethan showed everyone his killer guitar skills.

Ethans current favorite things:

Cheese (just found out he's not allergic)

SpongeBob (loves it)

Purple (vacuum)

playing in the mud

leafblower (why Daddy ever let him rev it he doesn't know)

his bike

running in the new stroller (he better for $600)

beeping the horn on the car

cuttting his nana in the morning

laying on his back and kicking the door when he should be sleeping

shrieking, and luring other toddlers to do the same

Sing along Ethan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LkTVl9TDuQ

2 Years Old and 3 Feet Tall

It's been 2 years since Ethan came to the world, and since then he has changed so much. We've seen him grow up from a baby into a little boy. Up until now, all of the milestones that we talked about were either motor skill based or language based, but what we're really appreciating now is how he is developing his own personallity, and how he is learning to use it to navigate the world on his own. He remains to be Mr' independant, and there is rarely a time when he is awake that he is not moving at 100 mph. Even the most energetic of adults can be taken down by a few hours at top speed with Ethan. That being said, every once in a while he will take a break, and will snuggle up on a lap and hang out for a few minutes.

 Ethan had a great 2nd birthday party. All of his friends and neighbors came, and everyone seemed to have a good time. This year it was a zoo theme, and we had zoo animals all ove the house. Like last year, we had famous Dave's bbq cater the event, we had a Madagascar cake, and we had not one, but two pinatas this year. Luckily it wasn't too hot, so everyone hung out in the backyard. We set up a bunch of kiddie pools, as well as the water slide that Uncle Keith sent along as a present. Ethan had fun splashing around with all of his friends

The week after Ethans birthday, we all took a week long trip to New Jersey to visit with Daddys side of the family. The trip began with Grammys backyard getting destroyed by a freak storm that passed through the area just before we got there. It knocked out Grammy's power, so we all spent the night at Grandpa's house. Now that Ethan loves cars, Grandpa's house is the ultimate playground for Ethan, considering Grandpa has a million model cars in his house. The next day, we made it over to Grammy's house, and spent the remainder of the vacation there. Ethan loved hanging out with Grammy, Poppy, Uncle Keith, Krista, Jenna, and Ciarra.

 During the trip, Ethan made a real breakthrough in terms of language. He finally learned his "M" sound, and started saying "mama" spontaneously. He also started repeating anything you say to him (not always perfectly, but close). We had a great time in Jersey. Ethan went to the ocean for the first time, and he loved the beach so much. He really enjoyed jumping waves, chasing seagulls, and running in the sand. One night, Mommy and Daddy took Ethan to the Seaside boardwalk, where we ate funnelcake, and went on some boardwalk rides, including the superslide, and the big kid roller coaster. Ethan was pretty much fearless when it came to the rides. He was a little nervous about the rollercoaster, but was cracking up by the second turn. We might have a daredevil on our hands.

Almost another number!

Summer has started to come in full swing, and nobody is happier than Ethan. He has turned into quite the outside kind of person. Although he can be a little tough to keep happy when in the confines of the house, when he is outside running free like a gazelle, Ethan is at his happiest. Now that the weather is warm again, Mommy and Daddy are taking full advantage, and letting Ethan play outside as much as we can. Last week, we had a few days where is was downright hot, and we discovered that Ethan is quite the water bug. We don't have a pool, but we took the hose out in the backyard and filled up Ethans baby pool. He really enjoyed filling up his wagon and dumptruck with the hose, only to take it over 5 feet and dump it on himself.  We just put a swimmy diaper and some swim shoes on him and let him splash away. He had so much fun.

Things have been a little cooler lately, and it hasn't been quite water weather since, but we still go on multiple walks every day. Ethan gets a kick out of the squirrels, and birds, and he always waves at the passing schoolbus and says "ba bye". Once the really hot weather comes, I'm sure we'll all be getting down with the water games. We can't wait until he tries out Grammy Rechenberg's heated pool and all the fun pool toys she has. We're all taking a trip there for July 4th this year. We can't wait to visit the family!

Ethan's birthday party is in two weeks, and today, Daddy picked out the majority of the decorations. It's going to be a zoo theme, and since the pinata was such a big hit last year, we might have two or three for this party. All of Ethans friends from Moms group will be there, as well as his bff Isabella and her new brother Benjamin. It should be a great time!

Look who's Talking Now

dada
wawa            
shoes
socks
teeth
kittycat
juice
apple
pepper
bath
truck
grape
cookie
cracker
choo choo
brush
et.al.


.........and to think that we were worried that he wasn't talking.

Ethan has a new skill now. Talking!  He has really caught the talking bug, and is saying almost a new word every day. Of course he is a little late in his language development (according to the average) and he has a way to go to catch up to his peers. We always figured that his motor skills were so advanced, that he spent the majority of his focus on that, and that he would start talking eventually. That didn't stop Mommy and Daddy from playing the role of overly-concerned first time parents, enrolling him is speech therapy, and getting him a hearing test. The latter of those two seemed to be the most beneficial, because it turned out that he had hearing impairment from chronic ear fluid. Once he got the tubes but in his ears, we really noticed a change in his responses to our speech and other sounds. The first month after the tubes, he still didn't talk much, but his receptive language was developing rapidly. He knew dozens of words and could point to things in books when asked. The next step for language development is the expressive language, which he is really starting to progress with now. It's both relieving and exciting for us now, because it seems like the last year has been spent waiting for him to talk, to no avail. It's so much easier to communicate with him now. Just the simple fact of him being able to say "no", and point and say what he wants, makes all of our lives much easier. We can't wait to see hear what words he may say today!

My Second Easter

Ethan now has two Easters under his belt, and this year was a lot of fun. The whole family made the trek up to New Jersey to spend the holiday with Daddy's family. Ethan got to experience the Shannon family tradition of walking the Point Pleasant boardwalk (a tradtion started over 20 years ago).  The whole extended family walks from end to end, stopping at the bench that has the family name engraved on it in honor of Ethan's great grandparents (Jim and Peg Shannon). Ethan had a good time, considering he loves the outside so much. Grandpa pushed him in his stroller while Daddy gave piggy back rides to cousins Krista and Jenna. Mommy and Daddy chose this family event to anounce that Ethan will be  big brother later this year, and everyone was surprised and excited for us.

After the boardwalk, we all wet back to Nancy's house, where the family had a series of egg hunts, organized by age group. Ethan spent most of the time trying to run into the road, but he found a few eggs, and had a good time. I'm sure next year, he will be more into the egg hunt part of Easter. After Nancy's house, we went over Uncle Keiths new house, where he planned a little egg hunt for Ethan, Krista and Jenna. Ethan loved tooling around uncle Keiths backyard, playing with the rocks and riding Jennas scooter until he wore a hole in his pants. We all watched as Jenna attempted to master the 2 wheeled bicycle. She'll have it down pretty soon!

After all of the outside activites, we went back to Grammy's house for Easter dinner, and Keith brought over the newest addition to the Shannon family, Ciara Rose Shannon. She arrived in a cute Easter dress with patent leather shoes and a cute flower hat. Ethan had to keep his distance, because he was just getting over a cold, but he'll be able to give Ciara hugs the next time he sees her. We can't wait to see everyone again.

Tubes n stuff

 

March has arrived like a lamb, in fact, the entire winter has been quite lamb-like. We haven't had more than an inch of snow all year, which stinks because not only does it mean no skiing for Daddy, Ethan would have really enjoyed frolicking in the winter wonderland.  He would have loved sledding, but we'll have to wait till next year to find out. Spring is getting closer, and we all can't wait to be able to be outside a lot more. Ethan is starting to get sick of hanging out in the house all day. We always try to get out of the house and go to the store, or go out to Gymboree, but even in a mild winter, we can't always go outside when we want to. Ethan loves being outside, and running away from Mommy and Daddy at any chance. We are really excited to get him to the beach this year. He is going to really love playing and running on the sand and splashing in the waves.

 Since the last installment of this blog, Ethan had tubes put in his ears. We had taken him to get a hearing test, spurred from his speech delay, and the findings were that he had a slight hearing imparement, probably due to the fluid stuck in his ears. The doctor said that he was a prime candidate for tubes, so we  went ahead and had the procudure done. Daddy went back in the operating room and stayed with Ethan while he got put under. Everything went fine,  and although he was grumpy when he first came to (he beat Mommy and Daddy in the recovery room), by the time we got home, he was back to his normal self. He even skipped his nap that day. In the weeks since the procedure, we've definitally noticed an increase in his sound sensetivity. He is noticibally more vocal, although he is still using not very many actual words. I'm sure that he went so long with a hearing issue, that it's going to take more than a few weeks for his brain to start processing all the new sounds that are being introduced to him. Mommy and Daddy are just waiting for him to figure out that it's much easier to navigate the world by using words. He'll catch on soon.

Just last week, Ethan got a new cousin! Uncle Keith and Aunt Vicky welcomed to the world a new baby daugher. Ciara Rose Shannon was born Feb 23 2012. We are so happy that Ethan has 3 cousins now, and he can't wait to see all of them soon.

19 months and counting!

Christmas has come and gone, and we are now into 2012. Ethan is a few days away from being 19 months old, but he thinks that he's terrible 2 already. Although the winter months mean being couped up in the house a lot, we are dealing with it well. Ethan just started Gymboree class once a week, and he really loves it. Daddy tried story time at the library, but that was more suited for the stationary child, of which Ethan is definatly not!  The Gymboree lets him explore freely, with some organized activities peppered in. In typical fashion, Ethan spends about 2-3 minutes on any one activity, then he meanders off to another adventure. This is a good thing to do for him, because it will allow Ethan to interact with other children his own age. Since we don't have him enroled in day care, this will provide an athmosphere that will help his social development, which is really important for him at this age.

Although his motor skills are well above average at this point, Ethan is still struggling a little with his speech develompment. Ethan babbles quite a lot, and he does have some words in his repertoire (up, out, cookie, dada, bath, all done), he should have many more by now, so Mommy and Daddy have been taking steps to investigate the possible causes. His receptive language seems very normal (he understands many more words than he can say). We are aware that some children (especially boys) tend to just talk late, so we aren't too worried at this point, but considering Mommy is a Speech and Language Pathologist, it make sense that we are addressing the issue early.  We had his hearing screened, and there were indications that he has fluid in his middle ear, which could contribute to his speech delay. We are meeting with and ENT next week, and hopefully the doctor will have some more possible answers for us........