Long time...

OK, it's been quite awhile again, but I thought the time was right to update some of Ethan's stats on this site. Really what forced me to do it was some of the things Ethan said to me tonight.

First thing's first, Ethan has an adult tooth coming in behind his existing baby teeth on the bottom of his mouth. Jenny and I don't really know anything about this, so we took him to the dentist. He has a very loose tooth that is about to be replaced by this much larger one, but it is not out yet, and the new tooth appears to be hindered by another not loose tooth on the other side. Luckily the dentist said everything looks OK. He seemed to be a bit concerned that he was getting these teeth already since his mouth is not big enough to accommodate these new teeth, but at least we're OK for now. In the mean time, Ethan is very excited to have the tooth fairy just around the corner.

I'm sure I've said it before, but putting Ethan to bed is the source of many very interesting conversations. Tonight was no exception. We started out with our prayers, like we normally do, and Ethan surprised me when he recited the Hail Mary almost perfectly. He and I had been working on it for quite some time... Well, I had him repeat after me when I said it, so I was surprised to find out that he knew it. At first I thought he had just learned it from me and was fooling with me in not letting on that he knew it. Then he let it out that they were actually learning it at school. After I found that out, I think he thought I was upset that he didn't learn it from me, so he changed his tune and told me that he learned it from me. I told him it was OK hat he learns things from his teachers...

Later in our conversation we talked about what his uncles do for a job. He asked first about uncle Rosco (Bryce). I explained that he worked for the Electric company. He asked if he drove a truck or if he fixed things, but I had to explain that he opened envelopes and processed payments. It is a difficult thing to explain to a kid how people, like Bryce, my dad, and myself, can have jobs were we really don't do anything that they think of as work. Explaining uncle Blaine's job was much easier, he's a teacher, and Ethan understands teachers. Most difficult, however, was explaining how uncle Brett didn't work, he went to school. To Ethan, only kids go to school, and uncle Brett was an adult. After trying unsuccessfully to explain that uncle Brett was not an adult, I changed my tact to explain how you go to college when you are an adult, and that uncle Brett was now going to college.

The last conversation turned to Santa Clause and the presents that Ethan wanted. He explained some toy that I have never heard of, and told me that he's never seen it before either. The toy is some spaceship with blinking lights or something. He said that he's never seen one, but I told him that he should still ask Santa and maybe Santa would be able to make one. Ethan told me that Santa couldn't buy it, so what would he do, make one with magic? I said maybe. He then said, "well what if some other kid gets that one?" I said that Santa would maybe make two, to which he responded, "what if some other kid gets that one?" I thought this was a pretty good step in the understanding of the concept of finity (is that a word?). Ultimately I told him that Santa would never give him that present unless he laid down and went to sleep. Yep, the same tricks that worked with me are working on my son now.

Northern Exposure

It's a lovely evening in the North Woods. This week is our family vacation, and this year we have chosen to spend it in St. Germain, WI at a cabin on the lake. It's absolutely lovely up here!!! We're not more than 30 feet from the lake.

We weren't here for 10 minutes before Ethan had his swimming suit on and was in the water!!! It's really amazing to me how he's taken to the water in the last few months. Anyway, he no longer has any problem with water over his head (as long as he's wearing a life jacket). The beach is literally 30 feet from our house, so he's been in the water more than he's been out of it for the last 30 hours.

Today he made a new friend. Andrew, the 7 year old from next door, introduced himself and they have become fast friends. It's hard for Jenny and I since Andrew is used to all kinds of independence. Today they went over to the location of the "camp fire" without telling us. I followed them (from a long ways back) and got yelled at when I finally caught up to them. "Why are you here," they asked me. "Just not ready to let my baby go," I should have honestly responded.

Grandpa and Grandma Grady are here today and tomorrow. Tibbett's are coming on Wednesday. Ethan really seems to be enjoying himself!!!

Jack Black

I just found out that my son is cool. He knows who Jack Black is and wants to see Nacho Libre, and in my book, that makes you cool.

Yesterday we were outside talking about the new DVD he took out from the library. He said that one part doesn't play very well, and told me that the reason was "probably because mommy put a fingerprint on the shiny side."

The things kids will say...

First joke...

Ethan told me his first real joke the other day. Here it is... "Why is the corn stalk mad? -Because people are always pulling on their ears!" Of course he followed this up with "Why is the bear mad? -Because people are always pulling their hair!" So maybe he doesn't have that great of a sense of humor...

Clowns...

It was Jenny's birthday a last week. Ethan and I were outside waiting for her to go roller blading. While we were waiting, I started talking to Ethan about Jenny's birthdy present. Here's how the conversation went down.

Daddy - "Hey Ethan, you know it's mommy's birthday this week, don't you?"
Ethan - "Yeah."
Daddy - "What do you think we should get her?"
Ethan - "Maybe a pretty necklace or something."
Daddy - "That's a good idea" mommy enters "Shh, don't tell mommy what we were talking about!"
Ethan - nods
Mommy - "What were you guys talking about?"
Daddy - "Um, clouds..."
Ethan - "Yeah, clowns."
Mommy - confused "Clowns?"
Ethan - "Yeah, like they're funny and stuff. And they have funny noses."
Mommy and Daddy - laughing
Ethan - "We weren't talking about your birthday present."

When I'm 16...

Last weekend, Grandpa and Grandma Grady were down to visit for a couple of days while Grandpa had a convention. They brought down their old truck which they are going to be keeping here on a permanent basis. Ethan loves this truck. I'm not sure how it transpired, but Grandpa has apparently promised it to him when he's 16. He was later talking to Grandma about when he could have the truck, and said, "not until I'm 16, right?" Grandma nodded. Then Ethan said, "Do you think Grandpa thinks I'm 16 already?"

Everybody is naked...

Today, Ethan told Jenny and I that he was going to start a band and it was going to be called "Everybody is naked," and everybody in the band had to be naked. We actually thought that would be a pretty good name for a band. He got the idea when we were listening to the "Barenaked Ladies" during lunch...

5 Years Old

My baby is 5 years old! This year's birthday was particularly fun. Not only was he really looking forward to his birthday, but he was looking forward to his parties as well. So far Ethan's had 2 parties. The first was on his birthday, last Wednesday. We had the Abholds, the Witte's, and the Kelchen's over for supper and cake. Ethan loved all of his presents he got there. Then, last weekend, we went up to Minneapolis to have a joint birthday party for Ethan and Bryce with the Grady's. Also very fun. Jenny and I bought him a Rescue Hero Hyperjet, which is this huge carrier ship looking toy that Ethan loves. He loves it so much that we had to put it in the van and cart it all over the midwest this weekend!

Grandpa and Grandma Grady secured a new motorcycle for Ethan. They got it from a friend of theirs whose son had outgrown it. Of course, we are just "borrowing" it as Teddy wants it back when we are done. Ethan was very excited about the motorcycle initially, but his enthusiasm quickly faded when he realized he couldn't quite ride it yet. I'm trying to get him outside on his bicycle more often to teach him how to balance better, so hopefully he'll be more excited about it soon.

One more party to go. We're having 4 boys over to the house this weekend for a birthday bash. So far we know we are going to open presents and have cake. Beyond that, I'm not sure what we're going to do. Some sort of game, probably... I'll post pictures.

Wisconsin Dells

We took our annual trip to Wisconsin Dells last weekend. We met the Hupperts, friends of ours from Seattle who now live in Baldwin, WI, at the Wilderness Resort for the evening. Ted and Sue have two little boys, Teddy, who is 3.5, and Charlie, who is 1.5. Ethan had a very good time with Teddy this time. He gets along with kids younger than him very well. Ethan is getting braver and braver as he gets older, but he is still a bit scared of certain things. He had no problems going down all of the kids' slides, even the big ones. I was even able to get him to go on a family tube ride one time. It was pretty dark inside the ride, though. After the ride he told me, "that wasn't so scary." So I asked if he wanted to go again, to which he promptly replied "No!" It was a fun weekend.

Ethan continues to be very curious and seems to be learning quite a bit at school. We pass a lake on the way to daycare on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and in lake there is an island. He tells me that it is the "Galapagos Island." He also told me today that hermit crabs are nocturnal, meaning they "sleep during the day and are awake at night." He then parlaid that into asking if he could maybe get a "hermit lobster" someday.

Tonight was a big event for Ethan. It was the first time he rode a two-wheeler bike by himself. He got it in his head that he wanted to ride a two wheeler, so he made me take off the training wheels, and off he rode. He didn't even want me to hold the bike up while he got started, but after a few failed attempts he conceded that he might need a little help. He can go about 20 feet or so before he falls down. Now he wants to practice each night.

Ice Age - The Meltdown

Here's another in my series of reviews of Children's movies. This time, Ethan and I went to see Ice Age, The Meltdown. Ice Age 2 is the second movie by Blue Sky Productions (I think) under the Fox production company. Like the first Ice Age, it is a computer animated movie about three prehistoric animals who became a "herd" of their own.

This time around, the world is warming up and all of the animals live in a large bowl formed by an 80 foot high ice dam. They have to make it to the other end of the valley before the end of the week before the dam breaks and they all drown. Along the way, Manny, the mammoth, starts to believe that his species is extinct. That is, until he meets up with a mammoth (I forget her name) that thinks she is a possum. Her and her two "brothers" add hijinx to the film by injecting pop phrases and making fun of the other three. Anyway, the gist of the movie is about loss and getting past it. It's kind of a deep subject for kids, but I think it is enjoyable enough for them to stay interested even they don't really "get it." You see, Manny lost his entire family (wife and child) to a group of hunters and he's never really gotten past it. Now, faced with extinction, he has to try to get past his feelings of loss and try to start over with this new mammoth (played by Queen Latifah), but first he has to convince her that she is not a possum.

All in all I enjoyed this movie very much. I would say it is quite a bit better than Madagascar, but still not quite as good as Shrek or The Incredibles. Personally I liked Ice Age better than this outing, but Ethan tells me that "This one is way better than the first one." I definitely recommend this movie to both kids and adults.

Four Year-Old Wisdom

Nothing very long today. I just have some nuggets from the past couple of days that are worth sharing.

Yesterday we were driving back from KFC and Ethan could smell some of the food. He mentioned something about how good the food smelled and then said, "Mmm, the sweet smell of french fries!"

Then, today we were outside changing the oil in the lawn mower, and Ethan turned to me and said, "Dad, if you eat fire, then you will fart fire, and your tongue will be on fire, too." I guess I never thought of it...

Parent-Teacher Conferences

We had our second parent-teacher conference with Ethan's teacher, Mrs. Matyas yesterday. This conference went much better than the first conference. Apparently Ethan is progressing very well and doing a wonderful job in school. He still needs work on his fine motor skills, but he at least knows enough to raise his hand before he talks. I guess he still loves to tell stories. In fact, he tells everybody that he is going to have a baby sister. Unfortunately, Jenny is not pregnant, so that is just not true... I guess he is the only kid in class that is an only child, and that makes him feel left out sometimes.

Ethan's favorite expression lately is "Awesome." "Hey dad, look at this, isn't it awesome!?" He has such emotion when he says it that makes it very exciting. I think he truly thinks all these thing are "awesome."

Ethan Update

Nothing special today. I just wanted to jot some random thoughts down about Ethan so that they wouldn't be lost.

• The other day Ethan asked me, "Dad, is Jesus stronger than Superman?"
• Ethan has quite an affinity for his "booty." The other day, he pulled his pants down in the back, exposing his plumber crack, and asked me, straight-faced, "has anybody seen my underwear?"
• He is very interested in babies and how they are made. He is especially interested in how they get out of their mommy's stomachs. I told him I didn't know but that he should ask Micky, our friend who is pregnant. He told me that maybe the come out of their ears.
• Last night, Ethan told me that poop comes from your brain. Not sure how he came up with that one. Everybody knows that's where boogers come from, not poop.
  

Cowboy Ethan

 

Funny Sayings

I can't remember the exact context, but the other day Ethan was saying some pretty funny stuff. He was talking about liking something or not liking something (what, I can't remember), and a couple of minutes into it he said, "I changed my mind, I like it. I must be out of my mind."

Today we took Ethan to the Curious George movie. Jenny and I both liked it, although it doesn't have as much to enjoy for adults as do some other recent "children's" movies. Will Ferrel is just a funny, funny guy. I would laugh just watching him drink coffee. He stars as the voice of Ted, George's human friend. Very cute movie. I recommend it for any child over the age of 3 (and I think they were all there today).

Pajama Day

Ethan is so excited. Today he gets to wear his pajamas to school. When I told him, the first thing he asked me was, "is everybody going to wear them?" After I told him yes, it was full steam ahead. He picked out the pajamas he wanted, made us wash them, and picked out some slippers. This morning he told me that he didn't want any milk on his cereal so he didn't get his jammies wet...

We're also having interesting conversations regarding a new baby sister. Ethan wants one, and bad. We think the pressure is coming from school where they are discussing families in Spanish. Ethan may be the only single child in his class, and I think that sort of upsets him. Anyway, he has decided he's going to have a baby sister, and he's going to call her Paige Grady. He will feed her, put her to bed, and change her diapers when they are wet, but mom and I have to change them when they are poopy. Also, she is not allowed to use his bathtub because she might poop in there and that would make it smell... These discussions have also brought up the inevitable, "where do babies come from" discussions. He knows they grow in the mommy's belly, but he really wants to know how they get in there... I keep telling him that I will tell him when he's 10.

March of the Penguins and other movie reviews

One of Ethan's favorite things to do is to watch movies. He is probably one of the youngest movie "quoters" that I know. In the last few days, Ethan and I have seen a couple of new movies that are notworthy in that they have left an impression on Ethan.

The first movie we saw was during the Bears-Panthers game on Sunday, Hoodwinked. Hoodwinked is the story of Little Red Riding Hood told from perspective of those involved, Red, Grandma, the Big Bad Wolf, and the axe wielding Schnitzel truck driver. All in all it was a very funny movie and an interesting take on the fairy tale. One of Ethan's favorite parts was when one of the characters said something strange then bowed off the screen slowly, all the while smiling, while another character said "awkward..." What's funny to me is that I'm sure he has no idea what that scene, not to mention that word meant, but he thought it was so funny that he decided to quote it later to Jenny and I. Anyway, I give Hoodwinked 3 stars and caution parents with children that have no sense of humor to stay away from it.

The other movie we saw just last night was March of the Penguins. This is a movie documenting the annual travels of the Antarctic Empire Penguins from the sea, where they can get food, to their nesting grounds, some 70 miles from any open water and source of food. It was a very good show, much better than I expected, and pretty kid-friendly. It is rated G, but I would say it is perhaps less kid-friendly than the likes of Hoodwinked, which is rated PG. I say that because March has to deal with very difficult topics like death and starvation, which are somewhat alien concepts to a suburban American four year old. At one point in the movie, the mothers have to go back to the sea (now up to 80 miles away due to continued freezing in the winter) because they have spent 1/3 of their body weight to deliver their egg. When they finally make it and start gorging on the buffet of fish and crill, they are met by a hungry sea lion who, after some tense chases and close-up shots of his sharp-toothed open mouth, finally lands himself one of the mother penguins. This mortified Ethan. He would not (and has not) stop talking about it. He kept asking me, "what is going to happen to her baby," and, "why did the sea lion eat that penguin?" I tried to explain that sea lions have to eat, too, and if he didn't eat that penguin he might die. Ethan didn't care, he hates sea lions now. It got to the point that he started asking about other animals that might eat penguins. "Do sharks eat penguins?" Not really knowing, I said no, they eat sea lions. Without hesitation, he looked at me and said, "well good. I'm glad that somebody is protecting the penguins." I give this movie 3 1/2 stars and recommend it to parents that are itching for some stimulating conversation with their children.

Little snot...

Wow, has my son turned into a little snot all of a sudden. If this is what it's like to have teen-agers, I want no part of it. I know, I know, those are much worse! I'm not sure what happened, but since I picked him up from school today he has been quite a little snot. He started by informing me that I'm not the boss, and that he didn't like me anymore. I asked him why, and he told me that he didn't like the things I said to him...

"What things?" I asked.

"Those things with all the words," he responded.

"Like what words?" I implored.

"Things like 'go to bed,' and 'eat your food,' and stuff like that," he replied.

Right now he's up in bed because he didn't want to accept my authority and eat his food. Wait, maybe we do say those things too much. Isn't that what parents are supposed to do, though?

That aside, we had a very nice New Year's this year. Ethan came with us to a party at my friend Bert's house. He made it all the way until midnight and celebrated with us, then rewarded us by sleeping until after 9:00 the next morning, so we all got some sleep...

Another Christmas Program

Ethan had a second Christmas program this year, this time at his old school (daycare). At the daycare Christmas program, you can only watch your child sing because there just isn't room for everybody to be in the LMR (large muscle room) at the same time.

Anyway, after Ethan's portion of the program was done, we joined him, his classmates, and their parents in his room, the 4 1/2 year old room for cookies and punch. Ethan was sitting next to Jenna Weinfurt, who we've heard in the past, was his "girl." Jenny and I got to talking to Jenna's mom, who claimed that Jenna had told her that Ethan was her boyfriend. As those two were sitting next to each other, Jenna's mom decided it would make a cute picture, so she positioned herself across from the two of them and focused her camera and tried to get their attention. Jenna looked right away, ready to have her picture taken, but Ethan was interested in something else (what, I do not know, but it must have been on the floor because that was where he was looking). After several unsuccessful attempts at getting his attention, Jenna looked at him and said, sternly, "Ethan!" Immediately his head popped up and he smiled for the camera, for what I assume was an adorable picture. I guess this behavior either is instinctual, or it starts very, very early.

Christmas Concert

Last night was Ethan's unnofficial first Christmas concert as a "grade schooler." He's had a concert every year in daycare, but this is the first time he had an "audience." Both sets of grandparents braved the 200 mile trek to see their grandson dance and "sing" Christmas songs with his classmates. It was a nice concert, held in the church with all the other kids in St. Bruno's school, which includes kids through 8th grade. It was obvious that he didn't really know Silent Night or We Wish You a Merry Christmas, but he made up for not knowing the words by doing a little dance while the rest sang. It was pretty cute.

Last night Ethan and I had a somewhat awkward conversation. First he wanted to know how babies got into their mommies tummies. He was convinced before that the mommies didn't eat the babies, but he was wondering how in the world they got in there. I'm not sure how I got around that one, I think I might have said that they are made in there or something. Anyway, satisfied with my answer, he proceeded to ask how babies got out of their mommies tummies. I told him that the doctor had to do an operation on mommy to get him out because he didn't want to come out. I was pretty proud of myself for avoiding that whole uncomfortable situation, until he asked how Tim and Laura's new baby, Ava, got out of her mommies tummy. That was when I had to try to explain something I called the "birth hole" to him. He asked where it was, and I told him I didn't know (I couldn't take it anymore) and that he'd have to ask his mommy sometime. Hopefully he'll forget until he's 10...

A Treasured Christmas Memory

Life should be filled with more days like today. It was one of the most relaxing, yet fulfulling days I've had in quite awhile, and will not be soon forgotten.

It started out last night, really. The whole family went to Kohls to do a little "midnight" Christmas shopping. OK, it was actually about 7:30 when we went, but for all intents and purposes (from Ethan's standpoint) it was close to midnight. After fulfilling many of our gift purchasing obligations we went back home and watched the first 20 minutes of Sky High, a movie about pubescent super heroes. It's a great movie, and I had a hard time making Ethan turn it off at 11:00 to get him to bed...

This morning, Ethan woke me up around 8:00 (my how things have changed since he was a baby) and we watched the rest of the movie. Jenny had to go to work this morning since she is in the midst of open enrollment for her company and they haven't yet discovered the benefits of the Internet for doing things like this... Before she left, though, she brought some breakfast up for Ethan and I which we ate while watching our movie. When the movie finally got done around 9:15, we put on our snow clothes and went outside where we spent about an hour shovelling the snow that has been accumulating for the last three days. Well, I was removing the snow, Ethan was playing in it and throwing it at me. After a quick snack, we got in the car and travelled about 10 miles to a tree farm south of Dousman where we went Christmas tree hunting. Ethan made several comments like "we look like hunters, don't we, dad?" We walked all over that tree farm before finding a tree that both of us agreed on. It's amazing what an opinion he has already at 4 and a half years old (never say that he's four!). We cut down the tree, dragged it out to the road, and got into the car to warm up. With our trophy safely tucked away in the van, we headed home to brag and display it to mommy, who was very impressed.

After lunch, all three of us now spent the afternoon making cut-out cookies. Ethan enjoyed rolling out the dough, but especially putting his hands in the flour. Once the cookies were safely out of the oven, Ethan and I went back outside for some more snow fighting and to bring the tree into the house where we could mount it the trophy room.

Like I said, it was one of those simple days, not particularly taxing physically, and we didn't do anything out of the ordinary, but it is a day that I will not soon forget.

First Birthday Party

Ethan had his first non-family birthday party on Sunday. It was for Robert Dent, a boy from his daycare, who was turning five. They had the party at M&M Gymnastics in New Berlin and it involved doing some tumbling and eating pizza. Looked like fun. Mostly, though, it reminded me how old Ethan was getting.

Ethan also got to spend the day with our friends Micky and Tim on Saturday as Jenny and I had to go to a wedding. Apparently he was a very good boy, and even helped Micky setup her Christmas village. We were happy to hear that he was a good boy since it is always difficult to leave your child with friends and have them remain your friends for too long. He was very excited to go to their house, but for a strange reason. Jenny bought Ethan a shirt and tie for his upcoming Christmas concert. The shirt came with a tie, and she also bought him another, more Christmas-looking tie to go with it, so he had two ties. He was really excited to have a tie, but one of them was quite a bit too small for him. So he decided that Jacob, Micky and Tim's 2 year old son, would like to have a tie as well. Ethan wore his tie over there, on a t-shirt, and apparently spent the better part of the first hour over there trying to convince Jacob that he should wear the other tie. Jacob did not agree, so Tim ended up having to wear the tie...

The Ghost with One Black Eye

Ethan told me a story today. He asked me, "Daddy, do you want to hear a scary story?" I of course said I did. After which I was delighted to hear the story of the ghost with one black eye. What impressed me the most was his sense of theatrics while telling the story. He had different voices that he would use for the different characters, and whenever he was getting to a "scary" part, he would whisper very quietly. It was one of the best stories I've ever heard, though I'm not sure I could ever retell it as well as I heard it.