Happy Birthday, Little One

From the first day we met you, we knew you were

something special.  

Happy 1st Birthday, Ethan Gregory Swenson

March 28, 2013

Cabin Fever

So...no pictures this week.  I think we all have

a bad case of cabin fever.  First of all, the commute

has been brutal.  I know people in the Cities don't

believe it but roads outside the metro area have

been treacherous.  I actually stayed in the city

more this week than any other week all winter...

and this week included the first day of spring!

I know I usually post cute pictures and humorous

stories about adventures in babysitting but let

me tell you how the week started.

I spent Sunday night at Jesse's because another

winter storm was bearing down and I wanted to

avoid the morning commute.  As Briggs and Everleigh

were being dropped off at Jesse's on Monday, Ethan dumped

an almost full bowl of Grape-Nuts on his head

including his brand clean outfit, the table and

the floor.  The dog was going nuts in the garage.

And I was trying to get everything organized for

the morning including breakfast, drink cups, snacks

and play zones.  Got the milk mess and Ethan

cleaned up including a complete change of outfits.

Got the dog taken care of and the rest of the

little ones busy playing in Jesse's newly remodeled

lower level (carpet was just laid last Friday).

The remodeling created new spaces and the kids

insisted on playing with all the new doors, jumping

on the bed and trying out the new carpet

on the basement steps (all accidents waiting to happen.)

Andrew is usually a very sweet little boy but for

some reason (see title above) he wanted to

fight me at every turn...no, he couldn't run the

water in the bathroom sink indefinitely.  No, there were

no cookies.  No, he couldn't swing from the chandelier 

(ok I'm making that part up...but you get the idea).

He finally collapsed in front of the tv at 11:00.

Meantime, Ev was a little freaked out by

Andrew's behavior and started to cry.

And Briggs was hungry.

Luckily, Jesse came home for lunch

and soothed Andrew who was not

looking too well.  He turned out to be fine

but I have no idea why he was being so difficult.

I think he'd just had it with being so cooped up for so long.

Tuesday, I couldn't get Ethan to nap.

Wednesday, Andrew, who is doing a great

job with potty training, wanted to pee standing

up into his little potty chair.  Between his aim,

the size of the target and the distance the

bathroom needed a thorough cleaning.

And that day Ethan was completely

out of sorts.  He's being weaned from
and the academy award for most distressed
baby is his.

Thursday, Everleigh had a dramatic event

when Briggs knocked over some Lego towers

she was building.  This happens all the time

but for some reason, that day it was a major drama.

All 4 kids were at Ami's that morning and things

were going well except for little Ethan who

didn't want to eat the strawberries or bananas

his mom had packed for lunch....and this kid
usually loves to eat!

jeesz....

So....lest anyone think taking care of little ones
is all sunshine and hearts, it has its moments.
And would I rather be anywhere else?  Absolutely not.

We're looking forward to temps close to 40 this coming week.
We need to slide down slides, swing in swings, run through
the grass, pull the wagon, ride the trike and soak up
some rays.  Come on, spring!

And so it goes....

As you can see from Everleigh's painting in the

background, it's March and she painted a

big shamrock.  Here she's showing Ethan

how the train table at her house works while Andrew

watches.

Later that same morning, Briggs was teaching

Ethan to pull all the books off the bookshelf

before beginning story time....so helpful...

Fine dining...daycare style

After lunch the kids decided to put on a "drum" concert.

All four of them really got into it.  I'm sure the neighbors

were pleased.

Later in the week, back at Andrew & Ethan's Everleigh

and Andrew welcome Briggs to their "rocket", which is

a tent on its side which they drive with a toy

laptop and a tool bench.  Seriously, toy

companies should follow these kids around

for ideas.

Here, Everleigh & Andrew are doing play dough.  Note

Andrew's shirt has a Superman cape attached...cool.

Of course, play can't really start until all the toys

are out of the toybox and on the floor.  Love the

look on Briggs' face as he gives Ethan some pointers

on clearing the toy box.  After the box was empty

Andrew and Everleigh set it up as a bed with blankets

and pillows.  The toybox has a lid which they thought

was hilarious to close on themselves.  Only

one of the many reasons it's hard for me to

get a "potty break" for myself.

Ev had just given Ethan a small triscuit and I caught

him red-handed.  Don't let that innocent look fool you.

I ended the week at my sister, Annie's.  She has 5

little ones in daycare so I try to provide an

extra pair of hands when I can.  Here my sister, Sue,

is reading to 4 of Annie's and Everleigh. Ev had a

sleepover at my house that night so spent the day with me there.

Annie's little ones are Max (2), Claire (3.5), Mara (6 mos) and Brody(3)

Maverick (9 mos) was napping when this photo was taken.

Just a couple of other thoughts this week:

Maybe the Catholic Church likes all the Pope media coverage

but frankly, it got a little too secular for my taste with talk

of "favorites", "odds", and the personalities involved.

In my mind, it's a divine "call" that has nothing to do

with any of those things.  Now that he's been

selected I hope they just let him answer his call without

all the politics.

I am soooo over winter.  All this hoar-frost (when the

trees are covered with  glistening frost in the morning) and

snow-globe snow falling was nice in December

but I'm ready for spring.

I am officially  addicted to "Downton Abby".

I'm usually pretty slow to jump onto bandwagons

and this has been around a couple of years,

but after borrowing the Season 1 DVD from a friend,

I'm patiently waiting for my Season 2 copy

to come from tpt as my membership premium.

I love the storylines, the characters and

mostly all the attention to detail in the lifestyles

of that era.

Thanks for listening!

Vacation's over

So...back from vaca and back to days with little ones.

Below, Everleigh and Andrew are playing doctor.  Everleigh

is the patient while Dr. Andrew checks

her blood pressure.  They come up with some

interesting story lines.

 Ethan and Briggs at the train table.

Then Dr. Everleigh treated Andrew by checking

his temp.

Later in the week at the Swenson's, Andrew and

Ethan set up tents on Andrew's bed.

Ethan thought it was pretty cool.

Here's a "project" Everleigh worked on this past week.

It involved, sand, shells, glue and paper plates.

Not sure why one of the fish is laying on the bottom

though...hope he's ok.  We also made some

colored ice melts to monitor the outdoor temps.

Didn't get any pictures of that project but any time

you have toddlers, water and food color there

isn't much time for pictures.

If you look real close you can see that Briggs is

springing some curls.   He's gonna be a heartbreaker for sure.

You wouldn't think that much would change in the11 days we

were gone butin that time, Ethan is crawling everywhere, Briggs has curly hair,

Andrew is potty trained and sleeping in a big boy bed

and Everleigh is 3 going on 13....

Getting away was good but I missed these guys.

They grow up so fast.