Ethan is 8

That title basically sums up the last month of my life. Well, that and a wedding/trip to Arizona somewhere in the middle there, but mostly it's been about the boy child. I started out writing this post on February 25th, the day he actually turned 8, but then life got all kinds of busy crazy, as it tends to do.

8 facts about Ethan:

1. Ethan has a birthday twin. I called Rachel on the morning of February 25th, 2003, to give her my baby news. She said something to the effect of: "Dude, I'm in labor!" And later that evening, Emma was born. Ethan was one week overcooked and Emma was two weeks ahead of schedule, so they apparently had an agenda! Here they are at 6 months:



2. When he was about 15 months old, I tried to give him a haircut. It did not turn out very well and so Ben got out the trimmers to fix it. As Ben was trimming the back of his head, the attachment fell off, and it made a huge bald spot. I stood there and bawled as I watched Ben shave the rest of my baby's golden locks off to match the gaping baldness. We left to AZ for a funeral right after, and I spent lots of time giving the evil eye to people who stared in public. I cried inside when relatives at the funeral said, "What a beautiful little girl!"about Mila. And then, "Oh, and...you have a boy!" Unfortunately, the hair really makes the baby in some cases, as we learned the hard way. Basically, he went from:

this...

...to this. Poor kid.

3. Right after he turned two, he really wanted a duck.

Incidentally, whenever he used to get mad at me as a 3 year old, which was a lot, he'd say, with all the rage he could muster, "Mom, if you don't stop saying that, I'm going to turn you into a DUCK!!"

4. When he was 3, Ethan developed a weird, bumpy rash all over his leg. We found out it was called Lichen Striatus. It doesn't hurt you in any way, it just kind of shows up and looks really creepy for a few months, then disappears. The doctors that diagnosed it were totally pumped because they had never seen it in real life, and they got to get out their special picture books and show me really gross pictures. But now, I wish I had taken a picture of Ethan's, because he would have loved to show his friends today.

5. Ethan never went through a train or superhero phase. He saw Cars when he was 3, and so Lightning McQueen reigned supreme for a few years, mixed in with some Scooby-Doo, until he discovered a little thing called Star Wars. Then it was all Jedi, all the time. Today, he still loves Star Wars, but he is also into Indiana Jones and Harry Potter.

6. Ethan was the nicest baby on the planet. He smiled at everyone and went to everyone. Just super pleasant and happy all around. Today, he is social and outgoing and loves to make his friends laugh. His church and school teachers tell me that he is a natural leader and the other boys in the class watch him to see how he will react in different situations (I don't know where he gets it from! No, seriously, I really don't.) He's not always happy. If he's upset with me, I know it. He has a crusty pout to rival all others. He also seems to enjoy butting heads with his older sister, because they certainly manage to do it a lot. But he also prays for Heavenly Father to listen to the prayers of homeless people, which melts my heart.

7. These days, his favorite things are frozen yogurt tubes, pizza, Top Ramen, Chinese food, playing board games as a family, Lego XBox games, his Nintendo DS, his cousins, his stuffed animals, play dates with friends, recess, Sponge Bob Square Pants, Cub Scouts, chasing the twins, going to the park, reading Harry Potter, and pretending to be embarrassed when he's snuggling with mom. His least favorite things are homework, bullies, his church pants, any pants (they never fit right!), Mila bossing him around, not being able to run around outside with friends, most of school, and being teased about liking Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez (to my knowledge, he doesn't like either, so I don't know why it's so funny to tease him about them. It just is.)

8. I love him a lot. He stole my heart when he was born and has yet to give it back.










Next up, the 8th birthday party...