Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Another Ethan first: He returned to skipped pages.

Ethan chose Dr. Seuss’s Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? for his bedtime story. After “He can go like a train”, he turned several pages at once, landing on “he can even make a noise like a goldfish kiss”. The page skip might have been intentional because the next page was his favorite, “Mr. Brown makes thunder!” He had been talking about that sound.

Quickly then the book came to The End—too quickly for Ethan. I was about to put the book on his dresser when he started flipping backward and forward through the pages. He skipped pages we’d already read, ending up on a fresh page. So I read a few more pages, and we made more wonderful sounds, just like like Mr. Brown can do. Then after a little bit of Big and Little Nutbrown Hare, it was off to bed.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Another Ethan first: He said which pajamas he wanted.

As I was about to put Ethan's pajamas on him, he started saying "monkey" and pointing. It turned out he had a favorite pair in mind. Not wanting him to roast that warm summer night, I was grateful for his pliability in considering other nightwear.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Another Ethan first: He just wanted to go home.

While Beth was at voice and violin lessons, Ethan and I took a stroll in the meadow behind our house late this afternoon. I caught a frog for Ethan to see and touch. Later we followed a turkey. It was walking along the same path as us, about fifteen steps ahead (Daddy steps, that is). Eventually, the turkey left the path into the tall grass, which we thought was the end of our fowl adventure. However, further on, the path came right up to the river. As we approached the bank, just a few steps in front of us, the same turkey darted out of the tall grass, got a good running start, and flew across the river into a tree on the other side. (This turkey was alone, which is unusual. It had been on our deck hours earlier and was at the end of our yard just before we went on our stroll.)

We had many other fun little adventures—broad patches of tall grass gone to seed, flowers, lone daisies, moths, butterflies, even stretches of path that were soggy wet (but thankfully not muddy, so wearing quality sandals and carrying Ethan worked well). We fought off the mosquitoes in the deep woods and appreciated their absence when we returned to the open meadow.

Ethan had a wonderful time. He walked himself the entire way, except where it was wet. In the past, we would carry him or pull him in the wagon much of the time. Finally though, he hit a limit. Weary from the journey, Ethan stopped, looked at me, and said, “Home.” He didn’t realize we were already heading home and were half way there. I picked him up so I could show him our destination in the distance: home.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Another Ethan first: He tested our consistency.

Sitting at our friend Bill’s dining room table, we all had organic vanilla ice cream for dessert. Ethan finished his bowl about the same time as the rest of us. He turned to me and said “more ice cream”. As impressed as I was with the three-word construction, unfortunately, he’d had all that we wanted him to have for now, and so I had to gently give him an answer that he didn’t want to hear.

So he asked Mommy. (She said no, too.)

Dislocated thumb?

Ethan found an entertaining ride during our recent visit to an elderly friend’s house. We brought dinner, and while Beth was preparing the final touches, Ethan asked to ride the motorized stair lift. Normally Bill, who can no longer walk, uses it to get up or down the stairway. For Ethan, however, the lift was an ongoing source of amusement, once I showed him how to use the rocker switch at the end of the right arm rest to command the chair’s movement.

After countless round trips, Ethan hopped off and came over to join us as we started eating. At the table, Ethan pointed to his left thumb and complained that it hurt. This was the thumb he had used push and hold the rocker switch, something that required a lot of force for him. As I looked at it, I was shocked. It looked completely out of place! I took his hand and started to examine what I believed to be a dislocated thumb, but was quickly relieved to find that in reality, he was just fine. I showed him how to do some thumb exercises, and then he felt fine.

While comparing his thumbs, I was impressed by his far-reaching range of motion. Unless something changes as he grows up, I think Ethan will be double jointed.