Love is in the Air

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone had a nice day. It may still be pretty cold, but at least the sun has been making an appearance on and off. It's been a few days since I posted, and I feel like a lot has happened. Last Saturday, Will's parents took us all to see Jersey Boys and out to dinner at Brassiere Jo. The show was phenomenal, and dinner was incredible. Two strong words. Really, we loved the play and have been listening to the soundtrack daily. Ethan's getting real tired of us making him "Walk Like a Man." If you have a chance, go see the play!

On Monday, we finally got Ethan's basement play area set up. Will set up mats in one corner and created "walls" around the area with a play yard we bought at Babies 'R Us. We moved the couch against the wall and my old dresser on the other wall with the television on it. My mom had given us a little couch from her old daycare and my sister gave us a kids table that belonged to their neighbors. I found a great deal on two area rugs and a slipcover, so it looks pretty homey. Now, I'd rather there were non-concrete walls and an actual ceiling, but this is definitely a start. I'll put pictures of it up. Ethan and I have been playing down there all week, and twice I worked out while he played in the "playroom." And, actually, one idea Will had was to hang a swing from the steel beam down there, so I guess that is one advantage of an unfinished basement. How many kids have a swing in their basement? Oh, and don't worry, mom, we set up a heater fan so Ethan is not cold. The novelty might wear off, but I like having an area other than my living room to go to. Our living room looks like a living room again...well, almost.

The play area has really been my big project of the week. Today, though, I busied myself making a nice Valentine's dinner for Will. I made his favorite: turkey meatloaf (Still loving that recipe, Mr. Miagi.) with mashed sweet potatoes. I also made and decorated a really nerdy cake for him. I bought a decorating kit from Homegoods because I aspire to be as good a cake decorator as my mom (see Hooter Cake picture from earlier post). You will see from the picture of my cake that my skills are in need of polishing. In my defense, I rushed through frosting the cake because I knew Ethan would be waking up soon, and I wanted to finish it before he was up. The cake was not as cool as it should have been for me to frost it properly. Plus, I made the frosting myself and the consistency wasn't the easiest to work with. I got a lot of cake bits in the frosting and the piping on the edges was runny. :( It's the thought that counts, right?

Ethan is doing very well. He's been sleeping like a super stud lately, usually sleeping from around 6pm-6am. It's been amazing. He has his days (or nights, I should say), but he's been sleeping like this most nights for a couple of weeks. Somebody grab some wood and get to knockin'! He's a maniac in his crib and loves to twist and turn around in it. We have a video monitor and I love to watch him when I put him down for his naps. The camera only catches on half of the crib. Yesterday, I put him down and went in the office and turned on the monitor. But he was not in the picture at all. Now, I had just put him down, so he must have wiggled himself out of view very quickly. I could hear him talking to himself for a few minutes, and when that stopped, I peaked in his room. He had turned his body in the complete opposite way of how I put him down and his head was stuck in the corner and his butt was up in the air. Priceless.

(By the way, Ethan must have known I was typing about him because he is currently flailing around in the crib and fussing a bit. Shhhhhhhh...)

Other than his disappearing act, Ethan also has started a Baby Olympic act of throwing his pacifiers out of the crib. It used to be cute. Now, it's just plain annoying. Today, I went in to get him after his morning nap. He's playing in the crib, happy as can be, without any pacifiers. He started his nap with two (we always give him a backup). Sure enough, they were on the floor. I picked them up and put them in my pocket to throw in the dishwasher later.

(He has stopped fussing and is quiet, but is actually mooning the camera right now. His knees are tucked underneath him, and his butt is right there, pointed at the camera. Why do kids always do this? It just doesn't seem comfortable. Oh, he just fell over onto his side. Yikes...and he's tipping a paci out over the crib. It's like he's toying with it, playing pacifier god...)

Ok, so anyway, I got to thinking that he didn't seem to have any clean pacifiers in the container we keep them in, despite the fact that the dishwasher was empty. That's when I found his stash. That's right, everybody, I found a hidden stash in Ethan's room. I moved his crib out from the wall and there were seven , count them, SEVEN pacifiers on the ground. They were all fuzzy and full of dusty goo, reminding me I really ought to swiffer back there. I couldn't resist videotaping my find as Ethan cooed innocently in the crib. What a weenie.

(Will and I are currently dying laughing at Ethan's crib gymnastics right now. Will is especially entertained because he doesn't see it during the day like I do. It's like there's a pea under his mattress or something. Our little prince just can't get comfortable, it seems.)

Time to say goodnight. Be sure to say a prayer for all those affected by the NIU shooting tonight. It's a scary world.