Methods of taking away the madness

I should be taking notes. I plan on having other children (not because I want to raise them, but because I'd like large family gatherings when I'm older) and the things that I'm learning now about raising Ethan will likely help me when I have another carseat screamer. By carseat screamer, I mean a baby who absolutely hates the carseat. Whether it's sitting backwards (I'd be mad if I had to do that) or hating the motion of the car, Ethan can't seem to enjoy a good car ride.

Before I ever got myself into this mess - by giving birth to a baby- everyone told me that "when your baby won't go to sleep or when he won't seem to stop screaming, you can always take him on a ride in the car. Babies love the motion of the car." Yeah, worst advice I have ever received.

Ethan thinks cars suck and because of this, so do I. It used to be really bad (he screamed the entire hour home from Sandee's once) and I began scratching my eyeballs out. It's calmed down a lot thanks to Ryan Adams' cover of "Wonderwall," by Oasis. Seriously. One day, Ethan started crying and I just happened to be listening to this song and since I've exhausted all other options, I turned it up so loud that I could feel the bass buzzing my rump. And he went silent. Just like that.

Of course, last night it only worked for part of our trip home from Sandee's. But a few minutes is all I need sometimes.

A very different little boy

A few months ago, I felt that I had done something terribly wrong - I had a baby. In doing so, I had brought on hell to my life. All I did all day long was feed the little ungrateful blob and in return, all he did was scream.

He didn't sleep - not during the day, not at night - and he didn't even really eat very well (though by the look and feel of him you wouldn't believe it). My visiting teacher brought me the book that was supposed to solve all my problems. It didn't (Shane, you are the best visiting teacher in the world and I am really grateful for the book - I'm sure it will help with my other babies). It was just Ethan. He was the worst. And nobody would believe me, either, because every time someone else came around he would go quiet or fall asleep.

Things changed, however, when my mom and dad visited us mid-May. All of the sudden, Ethan slept like, well, a baby. And he didn't really even cry that much.

Now, he is the best baby in the world. He loves to laugh, talk and cuddle. He watches us and loves to touch and discover things. He almost always smiles when you look at him with a smile. I am suddenly realizing why all these other moms tell me they love being a mom. It's a great feeling.

Weird

"I layed (sic) down for a minute now i can't get up"
That's the text message I received last night from a unknown phone number from Cache Valley or rural Utah. This is troubling for two reasons. 1. I haven't received a text message since I lived in Utah. 2. Someone in Cache Valley or rural Utah can't get up and they summoned a stay-at-home mom in Arlington, Va. to help them. ;)

News from the mom

This is Ethan's blog, but every once in a while I just have this urge to write about me. It may be because I like to hear myself talk (or watch myself type?). Anyway, since I have a difficult time writing in my journal, this is a good place to air my thoughts every once in a while, right?

While touring the national art galleries, I happened upon a collection of works by Jasper Johns and was instantly drawn to it. My favorite piece by him is "0 through 9." Right when I entered the room, I immediately saw the 3 in the piece but after a few minutes looking at it, I could only see the 4. What number did you see first? Here are more of his works.

I thought I'd get prints of maybe "Savarin" and "O through 9" to go in my house, and decorate around those pieces. I'm sure I'll change my mind next week and my apartment will likely NEVER be decorated.

So that's my two cents.

the 4th of july in our nation's capital

Independence Day is one of my favorite days of the year. I absolutely love fireworks. They are right up there with Ryan and that fabulous Chart House molten chocolate dessert. And I feel very lucky to be a citizen of the U.S.

Since we live right across the Potomac from our nation's capital, we decided to join the insanity that is Washington D.C. on July 4. Ryan's parents Ken and Judi came down to our house from Kensington, Md., where they are serving an LDS mission and his brother Rob (who lives and works in D.C.) met us in the city. We had lunch and wandered through the art galleries. Ethan was the absolute best baby.

After all the art we could stomach (though Rob would have gladly spent the rest of his mortal life in there), we headed over the the National Mall to find a place to watch the concert and fireworks. Only we were turned away. We didn't really know what was going on then, but we found out later (thanks to the 11 p.m. news) that there was a tornado warning in D.C. After we took off (we split back to Pentagon City to watch them at a distance) the Mall was evacuated. Of course, there was no tornado (the weather people here are seriously jumpy. Every time there is like two inches of snow, school is canceled and people stay home from work).
We ended up watching the fireworks on the very end of Arlington Ridge. It is just a block down from our apartment. There were so many people there that the people behind us (and I mean, breathing down our necks) were sitting on each other's laps. All lanes (except the shoulder) of I-395 were stopped to watch the fireworks. I felt bad for the people who were actually trying to get places, because there is no way they could have gotten anywhere on that highway. It was a really fun family time and Ethan was a real trooper for not having any real naps and going to bed so late. The fireworks and weather ended up being beautiful.

He's a boy, alright!

While I am doing everything possible to make sure that Ethan doesn't have any gender issues as an adult, the strangers we see every day are making it real hard.
"Oh, how old is she," I hear from some passerby almost daily. Often it's, "Oh she is sooo cute."
Yep, he is a really pretty boy.
So now we comb down this little natural curl that he has on the front of his hair in an attempt to make him a little more boyish.

Today we took a field trip to Ryan's office to eat sushi and visit his co-workers. The secretary at Ryan's work, an older woman named Mary Ann, asked to hold Ethan. She only held him for a few seconds, however, then quickly gave him back and said, "I can't hold him anymore. He is so heavy."
In fact, he is very heavy for his age. He is 18 lbs. - in the 95th percentile in weight for his age. It sure makes him cuddly.

In other news... We finally got to see our new little lover, Craig. He is sooo darling. Apparently he got an infection while in the womb so they kept him at the hospital for a long time. He is supposed to go home today. Ethan and I can't wait to see him in a month.

Discovery...

That is what I would call the new phase that Ethan is going through. He is feeling and watching and listening. It is so fun to watch his extremely expressive eyes as he discovers something new.

His brow furrows while his pillowy hands grab the Wall Street Journal as Mom reads it and crumple it. Right before we put him down to sleep the other night, Ethan found Ryan's stubbly chin. Earlier that day, he decided to feel those white (OK, off-white), shiny things in Mom's mouth.

Then, after he's scratched at it for a while, he will grab whatever object he is discovering and, with all the strength of his pudgy arms, pull that thing into his mouth. He is such a slobbery kisser.