July 22, 2005
I haven't written in over a week and therefore I've fallen behind again. So expect another long-winded journal. By the way, I've also finally updated our "About Us" page to include the arrival of Ethan. About time, huh?  I was "googling" myself, and the number one thing that came up was that page, so I went to it for the first time in over a year. I discovered that we were short one family member, and plus two cats. Oops!

At the beginning of this week, we were expecting to be in Minneapolis right now, getting ready for Phil's brother's "wedding". (I won't go into why that's in quotes...except that he's been married for 4? 5? years now...) Well, anyway, we didn't have the money to go, so we're here instead. Actually, we did have the money to go, because we've been scrimping and saving all summer long, hardly ever going out to dinner and being very frugal with groceries and everything else as well, but then within this past month we had to buy a new engine for Phil's car and a new roof (ugh) for our old house that we're closing on next week, yes, the one that we were supposed to be selling to this buyer "as-is", so the money we saved was gone just like that. We're sad about not being able to go, because Phil's family sees the kids so rarely as it is, and Dave (Phil's brother) has never seen either of them. 

There have been more milestones this week. On Saturday Ethan stood by himself for the first time. I was on the phone with my sister, sitting on the couch, and Ethan was next to me by the side table, reaching for the coasters. (As usual. They seem to be quite a favorite toy with my kids.) Suddenly I looked down at Ethan and he was holding one coaster in each hand, and just standing there, not leaning on anything. He stood there for a good 5 or 6 seconds. He hasn't done it since, but now I know he can! 

The second milestone was early this week. He started using his first sign, other than "bye-bye", "hello", or that universal kid sign for "I want up" (hands raised eagerly to us). I was tickle-kissing his tummy, and he was laughing and rolling around and having a great time. When I stopped, he looked right at me and signed "more". Natalie said it by tapping her index fingers together. Ethan says it by tapping one index finger into his other palm. So I tickled him some more, and then he signed more again, a few more rounds. Later that afternoon I was giving him Cheerios, and he repeatedly signed "more". I would ask him (just because I like to be sure it isn't a fluke) if he wanted more, and he would sign "more" again. It's so cute!

The third milestone of note was this afternoon. My son found a new toy to play with...one conveniently attached to his body. He found it at the most inopportune time, when I was cleaning up a massive, full-diaper poop; the biggest diaper in recent memory. Yuck!!! I've mentioned before what a focused, determined child he is, and this situation was no different. I could not distract his hands away, therefore I was cleaning up poop from his cute little fingers. He got upset at me and protested when I put a new diaper on him, effectively stopping the exploration. Oh goody. Of course I had to call and tell Phil this one. "Guess what your son discovered?"

Speaking of toys, I forgot to mention last time that Ethan gave up his pacifier last month. For the last couple months he wasn't so gung-ho about it, but he'd still take it when we were in the car or at night time after he finished nursing. When Phil would put him in his crib at night, he'd take the plug with him and if Ethan started to wake, Phil would give it to him and he'd drift back to sleep. Then he started protesting when we started giving it to him at night in lieu of being continually attached to me. He started spitting it out - with force - and crying all the harder. By his 11 month birthday it had been a couple weeks since he'd used it at all. I've seen him pick it up from his toy pile to play with it once this week, but he played with it by putting it in his sister's mouth and then mine. My baby is growing up! I'm glad he didn't get all that attached to it, because the way he took to it right from birth I was a little concerned that we'd be having to break a habit later down the road. 

Ethan had his long-awaited appointment at the Children's Hospital pulmonary clinic on Wednesday. He's been doing fine since about the start of summer, and in fact hasn't used the nebulizer for a couple months. But I wasn't going to cancel the appointment, because we've waited for months to get in. He had x-rays of his lungs, which looked clear. (I found out that he weighs 25 pounds now, by the way.) The doctor listened to his lungs and said they sounded good right now. Which means what we went through starting last November through the Spring was a passing thing, or it was allergies, meaning we might see it again come Fall, or he is developing asthma. There's lots of asthma in both our families, so it wouldn't be unlikely. There's lots of allergies too. So basically, I don't know any more now than I did before. The doctor said it's premature to diagnose asthma, since many kids outgrow it by age 5, and it's not something to put willy-nilly on a medical record. He gave him a new inhaled medication, this one to be given to him once a day to prevent wheezing, and he'll be back for a follow-up at the end of September.

One more thing I wanted to add today, and that's concerning Natalie. Oh, two things concerning her, actually. The first is that she doesn't have a UTI. We thought maybe she had one because she had three accidents in four nights early this week, and she's been holding herself a lot more lately (great, now both of them) and also telling us that "my body hurts". ("My body" for Natalie always means her bottom area, for some reason.) So we took her to the doctor on Monday and we had her pee into a little cup (that was fun), but it came back clear. So I don't know why she's had those symptoms. She hasn't had any accidents since Monday, though, so hopefully that was a passing phase. So that was the first thing. Secondly, she got into a pretty good argument with her friend Sarah this morning. April (my neighbor and Sarah's mom) has been babysitting Mickey, from church, this week. Sarah told Natalie this morning that Mickey was her friend. Natalie came over to me in sudden trauma and tears, saying "Sarah is only my friend, not Mickey!" I attempted explaining to Natalie that Sarah can be friends with Mickey and with her, and even went through the list of all Natalie's friends, having her name them, but it still didn't sink in. After naming all her friends and then me "summing up" by saying cheerfully, "see, you have lots of friends!" Natalie came back with the same tears and said "But Sarah is my friend only!" Oh, the drama. I didn't think friend rivalry hit until school-age years. I remember the trauma of having two best friends growing up, whenever they got mad at each other. As ever the peacemaker (or the one not wanting to make waves), I was always stuck in the middle of the two that suddenly didn't want me to be friends with the other. I told Natalie that she was Sarah's favorite friend. That helped for the time being.

July 13, 2005
Ethan is 11 months old! It's just so hard to believe we're closing in quickly on his first birthday. And I thought Natalie's first year went fast. I've been thinking about Ethan's first birthday party for awhile now, but it seemed to be in the distant future, too far away to start thinking about. Well, now it's a month away so I've got to start figuring it out. This month he seemed to grow a lot more...kid-looking. He hasn't been to the doctor (hooray!) so I don't know how much bigger he's gotten, but he just seemed to suddenly turn less baby-like this month. This afternoon my friend was holding Ethan and I was struck by just how big he is -- when he's nursing in my arms (his typical place these days; he's been a little velcro boy) I look down and still see a little guy. Sometimes I look at him and feel a little sad that my little baby boy is no longer such a baby anymore, but I also know that I started to really enjoy Natalie as she got older, so I know good things are to come. 

He didn't start walking this month, like lots of people predicted, but he's been making lots of strides other ways lately. (Just re-read the past few journals.) A couple days ago he started something else: he grabs my cell phone and either puts it to his ear or mine, and says his version of "hello!" I haven't figured out a way to write it out yet, the way he says it, but I know what he's saying because he says it every time he puts the phone to his face. It's so very cute!

We've been getting by okay around here, but it's been a difficult week. And my house is so yucky dirty, and it just drives me crazy. I hate seeing everything (dishes, clothes, everything) piled up and cereal crumbled all over the floor, and I can't do anything about it. I did dishes two days ago and it really wore me out to stand up for that long. Plus I can't carry dishes across the room -- both hands are already occupied -- so I just piled the clean ones up on one side of the counter. Phil has been doing a lot, but he can't keep up with daily mess. We run out of kid cups really quickly, too, because in the mornings before Phil leaves, we've been filling up about 5 cups of milk or juice and putting them in the fridge, ready for Natalie to grab. Not only is it annoying to have to pull myself up to get her yet another drink, but I can't really carry a cup half-full of juice over to the sink to fill it with water. So we get them all filled in the morning. Natalie's been my little helper, though. Lunch time is really hard, to get everything together and over to the table for all three of us, but she's been, well most of the time, very willing to carry stuff to the table for me. I ask her if she would bring me something or take something somewhere, and she usually answers, "Course I can, Mama." Ethan, on the other hand, just won't get over the fact that I can't pick him up to take him across the room. I hobble over to where I want him to go, then say, "Come over here, Ethan. This way, little boy!" That's usually when he starts reaching for me and the storm cloud face comes out.  Oh, yeah, and he's also now pointing at things these days. I remember when Natalie did that, she would grunt "uhh!" as she pointed, until we named the object. Ethan is just happy to point at things he likes.

July 8, 2005
Before I get to the FUN (said with a 'bright' smile) news, I first want to say YAYYYYYYYYY! about what came in the mail last night. It was Phil's license from the Assemblies of God. He's now officially a licensed minister! (Actually, he apparently has been since the first week in June, but the license was sent to our old address and was bounced back to them.) The envelope was addressed to Rev. Philip W. Gerth, which was really neat to see in print. So, now Phil's name is technically Reverend Philip W. Gerth, Esquire. I told him he needs to go about getting his Doctorate now, just so he can make it even longer. He'd take up an entire line on a wedding invitation! Phil will be officially installed by one of the district people on a Sunday morning in the near future.

So, here's the big, fun news. Remember how I fell down (and dropped Natalie on her head) on our driveway when Natalie was 10 months old? I spent the next few weeks hobbling around on crutches and being an invalid on the couch while Natalie toddled around by herself. Well, I now know that even though that was a difficult time, it's even harder with a 10 month old who is even more mobile, plus a 3 year old who has her usual requests and demands that can't be easily satisfied when you are using both hands to hold the crutches so you can't even get a cup of juice for her, let alone prepare lunch for everyone. On Wednesday evening, I was over at my neighbor friend April's house, along with my stepdad Brett, who was there to take a look at a van they have offered to give us. Phil was working late, at a meeting at a restaurant that (we found) wasn't listed in the phone book, and of course it was the rare day that Phil forgot his cell phone. So I had no way of contacting him. I was out in her garage, holding Ethan in my arms, when suddenly my left ankle (same one as last time) rolled outward and I fell down. This time I managed to keep a hold of my baby. It hurt, bad, but at first I just thought I just pulled it a little, but within a minute or two it was throbbing worse, I couldn't wiggle my toes or point my foot, and it was beginning to swell up. I lay on April's floor for awhile, with my foot up on a stool and a bag of frozen chicken pieces on it, but it just started hurting worse. We couldn't get a hold of Phil, so Ethan and Natalie stayed at April's house (and ended up having a really good time, by the way -- I shouldn't have worried a bit about Ethan; April kept shoveling tasty bits of food into his mouth and he never even cried the whole time) and Brett drove me over to Mt. Carmel East ER. Three (very painful) hours later (have I mentioned before that I really can't stand MCE? The place is perpetually packed with people there for non-emergency visits), I was finally out of the waiting room and getting x-rays on my foot. And finally at about 15 after 10, Phil called me on my cell, after coming home to a curiously empty house. He said, "You must be at April's house!" I said, "No, but the kids are. Go get them right now. I'm at Mt. Carmel East. Go get the kids and get Ethan to me, and I'll explain later." I thought that by that time, Ethan was probably screaming his head off to be nursed. I had x-rays taken of my entire lower leg and my ankle and foot. They thought I might have broken something in my lower leg, because of the way I turned my foot and when they poked around it hurt there too. That just turned out to be some residual pain. The doctor (the only one there that night) finally got back to me over an hour later with the results. My ankle bone has a tip fracture on it, and I've got a sprain in pretty much the same place as last time. The whole back left side of my foot is really yucky looking because of a big purple bruise and the swelling that's still there. It's wrapped up the same as last time, with an ace bandage and a splint, and I've got crutches again. (We just threw all that stuff away when we moved...) We finally got out of there at 12:30 pm. Both kids rode in the wheelchair with me, because Natalie had fallen asleep so hard in Phil's arms that we couldn't get her awake to walk out. By the time we left I was SO hungry! I had been planning on cooking dinner for April and her kids that night, after our quick trip to look at the van.

I got a prescription for some pain pills, but it's for Lortab, which is not allowed with breastfeeding. So, I'm just taking the 600 mg ibuprofen that I got when I had mono. It helps some, but my ankle pretty much is still throbbing constantly and I've got to keep it up most of the time.  Which is really hard with the kids. Natalie just somehow knows that I can't do anything much to discipline her, and so she's pushing every button she knows I have, and Ethan of course just has his normal needs and wants, which lately has included being held 24/7. He cries instantly and angrily every time I put him down to hobble somewhere.

He did learn another cute thing yesterday. (When April and girls were over to help me out.) April taught him "give me five". It's so cute. It's so amazing all the things he's learned just in the last week or so. He must just be in a mental growth stage instead of physical. Though with all he's been nursing, I expect a physical growth spurt too! He hasn't gotten any closer to walking yet this week, though, so that has apparently taken a back seat right now.  I just wish he'd give my arms a little rest every now and then! (Yes, he's been in my arms this whole time. I got good at one-hand typing with Natalie.)

July 5, 2005
On this long weekend, there were a few cute Ethan developments. But first, about tooth #4 that popped through on Friday night -- it bled a whole lot! Natalie never had any teeth bleed when they popped through, not even her molars. He must have had some kind of blood blister or something on his gum where the tooth cut through, because it bled and bled. I know some of it is that a little blood mixed with spit makes it seem like a whole lot more than there really is, but he soaked a whole napkin that I was holding on his gum! I gave him his cold water-filled teething hand to chew on, but it got all covered too, so then we gave him a popsicle. It got yucky too, but hopefully the popsicle flavor helped him not taste the blood so much. Poor boy. Growing up is full of so much trauma.

This weekend he learned how to dance. He's starting to like the Wiggles, and he loves it when I pick him up and dance with him around the room. On Saturday we were watching the Wiggles, while I was over in the kitchen doing dishes, and I went over to the living room and started dancing and singing along. (Yes, I do, and no, I'm not the least bit ashamed to admit it.) He looked up at me and started bobbing his head and whole torso along with me. It was SO cute!!!  Now, whenever I start to sing something or I say "dance dance dance!" he gets a big smile on his face and starts to dance. He moves his head back and forth, and his whole upper body too. My boy's got rhythm! You know, there are two Ethans mentioned in the Bible. One was a man that Solomon was compared to -- it says that Solomon was even wiser than Ethan. The other Ethan was a musician. 

On Saturday night, Ethan finally decided to learn "bye bye". Now he does it all the time, and boy I had just forgotten how adorable those baby bye-bye waves, little fingers going up and down, are.

On Sunday afternoon, we all learned a fun game with the best kid toy ever invented -- wooden blocks. All four of us were each holding a block in each hand, and we were banging 'em together (name that movie reference). Natalie was giggling. Ethan was giggling. A fun time was had by all. Ethan really loves playing with balls too, and he loves to roll them back and forth with us, but that was the first time all four of us have played a game together, with the youngest an actual participant and not just an observer.

July 2, 2005
Last week we went with my mom to get Ethan and Natalie some shoes. My mom has always gotten Natalie Stride Rite shoes, which are the same kind of shoes I wore growing up. I couldn't wear cheapy shoes because my feet were too narrow. Well, Natalie inherited that from me. For the past couple months she has really needed new shoes, but instead of paying $40 for shoes we just tried first Wal-Mart, then Target shoes. None worked. We had gotten her some cute Dora the Explorer sandals that she of course loved, but made her fall down several times a week, causing lots of tears and boo-boos on her knees. Finally we just threw them in the trash when she wasn't looking. Then we found some cute light-up sneakers at Target for under $10. She wore them twice and both times complained about her feet hurting. One time she even awoke in the middle of the night in tears, saying they were hurting. So much for that; back to Stride Rite. She's a size  9, narrow. Ethan came in at size 5 -- wide. Ha ha. Too bad I can't average out the two, then I'd be able to get shoes anywhere!

Ethan got his first pair of walker shoes, and also some Robeez, which are moccasin-type shoes. Natalie got some pretty sandals, and also the most purple tennis shoes ever. Oh, are they ever cool looking. But they're not sharp. We had to go to Nordstrom's to find Natalie some Stride Rite sandals because the Stride Rite store itself said most of their sandals sold back in March. (March -- when we still had SNOW??) As we were walking through the store to get to the kid's department, she was bouncing around (literally) in her new purple shoes, clearly loving them, and I said to her, "Natalie, aren't those purple shoes sharp?" Natalie responded with, "No, they're not sharp!" I said, "Oh, really? Okay, well are they cool?" She said yes. Later on we went past some spiky high heels, and I couldn't resist. I showed them to Natalie and asked her if these shoes were sharp. She said yes they were.

Ethan is now saying "block" (or, really, "ckkk") for everything he wants to share with us. It really is cute. Last night at dinner he was giving me his spoon, and said "ckkk!" every time he handed it my way. I said, "No, that's a SPOON, silly boy!" To which he responded "ckkk!"