Guess I'd better get our coats...

Ethan climbed up to the window, banged on it and yelled "Byeeeeee!"

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Naptime Battle Royale: Mommy 1, Ethan 0

Ugh, this week guess who learned the word "no"? Doesnt he understand by losing this fight, we BOTH win? ;)

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ALERT: Lion Cub On the Loose Around the City!

 First he was spotted running loose in a pumpkin patch!

Then trying to blend in at playdates...

And finally, Trick or Treating around the neighborhood!

(do you think we made use of this costume or what?  don't worry, that's all of the costumed pictures... for this year at least!)

Ethan's First Haircut!

"So you're planning on doing what to my hair?  What's wrong with it the way it is?!"

It started calmly...

but kind of went downhill from there...

"Are those the beautiful locks I was born with Mom?  There!? On the FLOOR?!"

"Where are the curls?"

"But wait, look at that!"

"I'm still mighty adorable!"

Boo! (or is it Growl?)

Here is your Halloween preview!  This year is going to be much more fun now that he knows he is in costume and can walk himself door to door to trick or treat.  (he's still not eating any of the candy though :)

Here's our little lion cub practicing his best growl!

Practicing running door to door.

He's a bit clumsy, the costume doesn't allow for any peripheral vision!

His best "Can't I have just one candy bar, Mom?"  

"Nope!  We're going to keep you in the dark as long as we can on how yummy sweets are!" 

Followed by evil sounding "Muhawww haww haww" laugh.

 This seemed like the perfect costume as he has a long ginger mane and is his Daddy's little Simba.  

Here's our little cub at Shenandoah National Park at four months old.   

Get ready to see this costume a few times, I'm putting it on him every costumed occasion I get this fall! :)

Our little ham!

Here are a few more shots of our little man from my birthday photo shoot!

Chris adores how long his hair has grown.

 It was very hard to...

keep him in front of the camera long enough to get a shot!

The third installment brings the debut of Ethan's Halloween costume! :)

A birthday to remember!

Today we spent my birthday capturing some memories... literally!  Here are the first set of pics I'll share from our photo shoot:

Why do they always ask, "Where does he get the red hair?" :)

 Practicing his catwalk.

THIS is your idea of fun on your birthday?  Golly Mom!

First it was my turn with the "prize-winning" model.

 Then Chris' turn!

First comes love...

then comes marriage...

 then comes Ethan in a baby... suit!

It was a perfect way to spend the day to remember how blessed I am.

Stay tuned, those were only the formal shots! :) Next are the candids and finally- Halloween Costume Time!

Dancing on the Ceiling

He's so active he's literally climbing the walls!

(view the video evidence at www.livingingear.blogspot.com)

These are the faces of people with a sitter!

This past weekend we were guests at the beautiful wedding of our friends Brian and Gabby.  The couple actually offered the coolest wedding favor ever- complimentary babysitting below the reception!!  

Ethan enjoyed playing with the other kids, but seemed to realize the fun he missed when he came upstairs!

Here he is strutting his stuff down an impromptu runway in his suit:

(view the blog www.livingingear.blogspot.com to see the video, apologies for the odd angle!)

Times truly have changed!

Friends and family who thought I'd have more time on my hands after leaving my formal job are probably as surprised as I am that my hands are literally full more of the time as a Super At Home Mom.  Did you know the average toddler takes 176 steps... a MINUTE!  I think Ethan has that average beat too, every teacher he has from his music class to swim class comment on "wow, your son sure is... active."

Have you wondered why almost all of the photos I post are of him sleeping, well that's usually the only time I have my hands free to take a picture! :)

But I finally have had the time to fix some bugs on our computer and sit down and bring you up to speed.  Motivated by my Grandma and Grandpa who always show such great interest in their Great-Grandson's latest escapades, I will try to be better about sharing our silly stories.

Let's see, what are some new things that Ethan has done since I've last updated you...

1. He's a sign language machine.  I'll have to post some videos and details on that later, but he signs to us the words "more," "milk," "eat," "all done," "car," "bird," "dog," "airplane," "please," and "thank you."  He communicates all the time and it's really preempted a lot of whining instead.  The funniest part is when he signs what he wants in the middle of the night, in the dark, and I play Helen Keller feeling his hand to read what he's telling me!

2. His teacher calls him her little gold fish at swim class as he dives right in the water and giggles the whole class through.  (Unless he didn't have a big enough breakfast and stops to sign "eat" and "milk" with fierce urgency!).

3. Ethan's kissing.  Kissing other moms at play groups, little girls he thinks are cute, and his Daddy and Mommy most of all.  The time he kisses the most?  When he's being put to bed.  How hard is it to be firm when this little red head is bobbing up and down giving you open mouth drooly kisses. If I resist, he pulls my face to him to give me 10 more!

4. He's obsessed with dogs.  Small dogs.  Large dogs. Black, white, brown, spotted dogs.

5. He's even more obsessed with books.  That line above is from Clifford the Big Red Dog.  I didn't need to look it up because I've read it outloud to him over, and over, and over.  I could type the entire book to you right now.  Whatever you are doing in the house, you can count on a little red headed man tugging at your pants with a book in hand.  Sit for a moment, and he snuggles right next to you ready to help turn the page and point to any dogs or birds he sees.

6. Ethan's eating a much larger variety of foods!  His favorites? Hummus, steamed broccoli, hamburger meat (his Mom's son there!), and the forever favorite, plain cheerios.

7.  The biggest development of all?  WALKING!  Two weeks after his first birthday, he took off! I was saddened that all of our family didn't get to see him run around during their visit during his birthday until I realized he wouldn't have cooperated for any of the site-seeing!  Now that he knows he's mobile, strollers and carrying are so beneath him!

The biggest change lately has been more of this:

We have had so much more time together as a family and it's been such a blessing to raise our son together instead of in shifts.

Now here's the video I tried to post from my phone of our little man walking around.  This time it will work (if you are viewing this from a reader, email, or Facebook, go directly to www.livingingear.blogspot.com to view the video).