Good Bye 2012 - Hello 2013

Wow, what a year it has been. Lots of changes in our lives and many ups and downs, but overall the year has been the ending of something and the beginning of others.

Ethan has become a very well adjusted and amazing little boy. Our lives as a 2 person family have had their hard times, but over all it has been an amazing adventure that is just going to be even more exciting this coming year!

As the first day of 2013 draws to a close I thought I should write a quick note to say how excited I am for this coming year. 2012 can kiss my a** and 2013 is being accepted with open arms.

April 2012 was the start of a new venture for Ethan and I and so far I think we have done a great job. With the amazing support from my parents who have given me the help when needed, as well as my close friends who have been the shoulders to cry on and to vent to. Thank you to each and every one of you (you know who you are). I can not express to any of you enough how much I love you and how much our relationships mean to us!!

Summer 2012 came the beginning of meeting some amazing new friends who I hope to keep close to my life and my heart for many months and years to come. Amazing people who have gone through similar situations and who have accepted me for who I am and what I have been through. Everyone should be so lucky to meet people like this. Completely open, honest and non-judgemental. Since joining my 'separation 2 success' group I have found my life again, and reinvested in my happiness. I have gotten back who I was before and re-acquired my social life. It has been amazing to meet each of these people and although it is sad to see that divorce is what brought us all together, it is nice in the end as we have made some very close bonds.

Christmas this year was a strange one. Happy yet sad, Lonely yet Loving! Surrounded by my family and my son for Christmas morning was all I could ask for. The day ended with a very quiet night at home, but allowed for some great reflection time.

New Years 2012 - What can I say - WOW! Again a quiet evening with time to reflect on the past year and to start thinking about how 2013 is going to be. A new job, new friends, and new life to live. Special people have entered into my life and I can't wait to see how things develop over the near and far future. Again you know who you are :)

Life has its ups and downs, and its twists and turns, but in the end it knows what it is doing. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger and we will fight forward to find the perfect life to live. We will be the ones to choose what we will do with our lives and when the time is right to move forward. No one can tell us different for it is only us who knows our own heart!

My resolution for 2013 is to find true happiness and keep being me.

Christmas Is Coming

So some new words have been heard this week:

Ow
More
Help
Keys

More and more learning happening and more and more character developing.

We had our 18 month check up on Friday which was great. Ethan has reached all the milestones that he should have by this age, and is doing great. Mommy was worried about his weight but he has remained on target and at the same growth cycle since birth.

There were absolutely no tears with his needle this time around, but there was a lot of irritability and lots of 'ow, ow, ow' for the night as he pointed to his arm :( Poor little guy.

He is now 24.5 pounds, and 33 inches tall.

He is becoming more and more aware of his surroundings and understanding the things that I ask him to do which is awesome. From cleaning up his toys to putting his books back on the book shelf; or taking my hand and taking me to where he wants to go; He has been conscious of my sore knee pointing to it and saying 'ow' every time he accidentaly knocks it ... lol ... He is becoming such a big boy.

Meal time has become interesting here at the house. He will sit in his little seat for about 3 bites of food, but then he wants to come out and he will eat at his leisure while wondering around, just picking when he wants. Drives me crazy as I really would like him to just sit down and eat nicely, but hey, I guess as long as he is eating that is what matters.

Just over a week until Christmas. It should be a fun year this year, although a strange year as he will be visiting his dad half way through the day on Christmas day until Dec 27th. He will be with me and my family for Christmas eve and morning though so that should be nice. It will be fun to see how interested he is in the whole present thing and how much he understands.

We tried to sit on Santa's knee today and it was a definite no go. I got the death grip before we even got close to Santa's lap, so no Santa pic this year .... hopefully next year will be more successful!!

Time is Flying - 18 months old .... wow

Well as I figured I still have a horribly hard time remembering to update this damn thing as much as I wanted .... but here goes another entry.

Tomorrow will be Ethan's 18 month 'birthday'. I can't believe how old he is and how big he is getting.

This age is again become one of my favourites as he is learning and doing so much more. Each day he amazes me more with the new things he is doing!

So many words, so much character and personality, and so much fun. The kisses, the hugs, the laughs, the smiles, the attitude, the tantrums, the words and songs. Love this little man to pieces.

Ethan is almost done cutting all of this 'pre 2 year' teeth. We are working on the final 2 eye teeth on the right hand side, and I can say once again, Thank god for Camillia teething medicine and his amber teething necklace. Without those 2 things life would be miserable.

Ethan has become a parrot and a shadow. Everything you say he is trying to say it back, and everything you do he is copying you. He has become a real monkey with climbing on everything, jumping around and loves to dance.

One night about a month ago he brought tears to my eyes when I told him I loved him at bed time and he said 'love you' back to me. Such an amazing moment as a mother. He has only since repeated this 2 more times, but I say it to him all the time, and most of the time I get a smile and a nod ... lol

We have many more words now including:
Hi
Bye
Ouch
On
Off
Down
Up
book
hot
truck
Plus all the others that he has been saying for months.

Friday is his 18 month check up and I am anticipating good things as usual.

I think in January we are going to start to potty train as he is fully knowledgeable when he has gone #2 and he points it out to me .... He has am thinking it is just about time to start that venture.

Teeth and Words YAY

Well we have 2 more teeth to add into the count. This last week Ethan got his upper left and lower left first molar :) And it looks like the right are on their way soon also.


We are working on talking and trying to get some more words formulated.
I think we have:
Ball
Duck
Door
Bye
Done (sometimes)
Light (sometimes)
Mama
Dada
Baba (bottle)

And we are working hard on many more. He is trying so hard to talk the last couple of days it is just so exciting!!! Love it :) Again we are entering what is proving to be another favourite stage!! So awesome :)

Getting so Big

As I figured, I am having a hard time remembering to update this thing, but I guess if I can manage to write something every few months it is good, even if I dont write it when it happens!!

So, what is new?

Well, Ethan is starting to 'run' never mind just walk. He is climbing on everything and just exploring his world. It is such an exciting time with him. So many new things he can do and enjoy. We can now go to the park and he can play on the playground, and the slides, and loves to chase the birds. And of course, loves watching the other children play.

He is still a huge flirt with all the ladies. No matter what kind of mood he is in, once we are anywhere there are people, especially ladies, he is smiling and laughing and flirting with them all. Way too cute.

This week was a rough week with him being sick. He had a double ear infection, throat infection and eye infection. The walk in clinic put him on amoxicillin and we discovered that he is allergic to it. After a few days he was completely covered in hives. So, no more penicillin products for him.

We are adjusting in the house quite well and adjusting to life as just the 2 of us. We have some rough days, but for the most part, we are doing great.

Ethan is loving his daycare provider, and the kids that are there with him. He is learning so much, and getting lots of socialization. I love getting his little crafts home and seeing what he gets to do each day.

Lets see, new things that we have figured out:
Clapping
High Five
Drinking from a straw
Crouching
Going from 'sitting' to standing - although still working on this


We also have 3 more teeth, making the total now 8! 4 on top and 4 on the bottom :D

Ethan is back to loving the water and swiming as well, which is awesome! Now we just have to try and make sure we go swimming at least 1 x a week :D

The Walking Begins

We are almost walking all on our own without any prompting and it is so much fun!! It has been about a week and a bit since the first few steps were taken and boy oh boy is he ever proud of himself when he walks!!

He is becoming a bigger monkey then ever and is climbing over and on everything. Definitely keeping mommy busy.

We have moved into our new house and although unpacking has been difficult with a 10 month old, we are managing to get things done slowly! It was a tough adjustment to the life changes, but each day gets a little bit better.

Mommy is looking for a job and hoping that something comes up soon so that we can plan and have a better idea of our future. Really hoping to somehow keep our new house even with the recent changes which have taken place.

The Fun Continues

Well, the fun continues in our house.

Ethan is getting bigger and bigger each day and is learning many new things. He has started to stand on his own without holding onto anything, he is walking along any and all furniture that he can find. He is trying to climb on anything and everything. If there is something that he can climb over he will; tv tables, toys, legs, benches, foam cubes, steps; nothing can get in his way, and he certainly will not go around.

He has mastered climbing stairs as well, even though there was no practice required. He saw them and climbed them as if he was a pro and had been doing it forever. It was unbelievable.

He enjoys practicing his walking, and will tip over any of his larger toys to push along the floor to practice his walking. It is really quite cute.

We are running into issues with eating and sleeping again. Sleep has been very sporadic and all over the place. Still not doing much napping during the day, and if he does manage a nap it is usually a huge fight to get him down, and it only lasts for 30 mins to an hour tops. Night time is horrible with being up every 2-3 hours again for the last 2 weeks. Mommy is one tired lady. Not too sure if the sleep issues are due to teeth, 9 month sleep regression, night terrors, 9 month wakeful period or what, but I certainly hope that it will end soon and we can get back to sleeping.

Ethan has become what I want to call a picky eater ... lol ... although it is totally day by day what he will eat and when he will eat it. One day he will love something and the next he will just spit it out. So, I have no idea what is happening there, but it is keeping me on my toes and making me try and figure out new things. I never thought I would let my kid eat jello, yoghurt and animal crakers for dinner, but hey, if that is all he will eat, then I guess that is what he is getting :P

We have also figured out how to wave, say mama, and dada and telling many many different types of stories now. Can't wait for some of these sounds to turn into more words :D

Not looking forward to returning to work in a couple months as things are getting to be so much fun with him, but I know that it will be worth it in the end. Still trying to decide on what to do for work, and where to work, but hoping to find something in the durham region so that I dont have to do the commute to downtown and miss almost all the waking hours of Ethan's day. We will see what happens; so far no applications have resulted in anything!

Until next time :D