Six Years and Four Months Old

Ethan is almost finished with Kindergarten. I can hardly believe that he will be a first grader soon! Walter and I are constantly amazed at how many words he can read. He reads the road signs while we are in the car now; He's quite the back seat driver! He can read many of his own books now. It's so exciting!

The other day he was playing with a 2nd grader friend in the yard and she lost her balance on his swing and it hit him in the mouth with the force of her weight which is significantly more than his is at 43 pounds, he was spouting blood and crying; She was freaking out in panic! I ran to him and held my hand over his mouth and as it quickly filled up with blood, I knew we had to go to the ER. I sent her to get Walter and we got in the car and went to the hospital and sat for 3 hours to be told that although he did have some lacerations and quite a lot of ecchymosis, there was really nothing they could do because they don't stitch the inside of the mouth - it may abscess. So, they gave him some tylenol and prescribed a lot of popsicles and peroxide rinses until it heals. He's fine now and nearly completely healed. The swing has not been touched for four days!

Six years and four months old. What a big helper!

Six Years and Three Months Old

Kiss!

Mr. Incredible

What a wonderful brother!

The chase is on!

Six Years and Two Months Old

Me and My Shadow

Ethan has gotten taller and thinner this year, so far. He is reading on the first grade level and is good at math. He loves art and PE and excels in music. We are blessed to have such a boy!

We Got Enough Snow for a Snowman!

February Snowman 2005

Walter and Ethan built this snowman yesterday. They were soooo cold when they came in, but they sure did have fun!

Six Years and One Month Old

6 years and 1 Month

Ethan had a fun do for Crazy Hair Day at school. He requested two rubberbanded pigtails and the rest of his hair sticking straight out from his head. I had a lot of fun making it so!

Ethan is reading and loving school although he has some trouble with being too chatty and giggly with his friends. We are working hard on responsibility of self and asking for help from an adult when we are unable to behave.

Ethan is a good, smart, creative boy!

Back To Normal

Ethan is back to normal. He is eating and drinking as he did before his stomach/intestinal virus. Tonight he had a book from school to read at bedtime - he wanted Daddy to read it tomorrow night though. He called me into his room to "show me something." He was reading the book on his own! He can read words like "monster" and "truck", I am just amazed that he has begun to read on his own. He's an expert at sounding out! Woo HOOOO!

It's a joy to have such a smart, creative, fun, boy for a son!

I am one blessed woman!

He's well!

Ethan is well! He does not (at least not yet) have HAE! I am so relieved!!

It took some real patience to get his stomach to stop rejecting food, but after a few hours of an ounce of fluid per 15 minutes, he was much, much better.

He is such a good boy. He loves the idea of me keeping kids at home, of course he knows and like the kids, so that helps.

I am proud to be Ethan's mom.

Stomach Flu?

Ethan was sick on Wednesday afternoon and into the night with what we thought might be a stomache virus. He complained of major abdominal pain. He vomited everything out over several hours and then dry heaved the last time in the wee hours of the morning. It was just awful.

He seemed better Thursday, though he was tired and cranky and he said his tummy was sore and hurting. We kept him home from school. Today he went to school, but this evening after dinner, he complained of pain again and threw up all of his dinner.

Could my little innocent boy have HAE? Could I have given him this horrid hereditary disorder? The thought makes me ill.

I think I will have Dr. Sauder do a blood test to see if it's HAE. I am praying that it's not.

Ethan - 6 Years Old - with Daniel

For Ethan's sixth birthday we decided to do a bedroom makeover. He had really wanted an extreme home makeover, like on TV, but of course that's not really something we could do! On Friday the 14th we drove up to IKEA in Woodbridge and got some shelves and storage boxes for his room. Ethan loves to go to IKEA because they have a really cool indoor playland where parents can leave kids. It is a well staffed, tricked out room with a ball pit, climbing wall, slide, etc. Kids can stay for 45 minutes at a time. Ethan went twice! We had lunch there (they have a really inexpensive, yummy food restaurant too). So that took the entire day and when we got home, Walter went to work and Ethan, Daniel and I went to Applebee's with Nana and Di. On Saturday we got up and drove to Charlottesville where we got some bulk groceries at Whole Foods and a gate and booster seat (for Ethan) at Toys R Us. On the way home we dropped Walter off at Ian's and they went and picked up a bunk bed that Ian got from freecycle.com. Saturday evening we went to Walker's 5th birthday party at Skate Town. Ethan had never been skating before and was afraid to skate by himself. Walter and I walked him around the rink a few times and he was off by himself. He was pretty good at it by the time we left! Sunday was a rush of church and cleaning. We got the house pretty organized before the party. Ethan's room is still kind of a jumble, but we got the shelves and the bunk bed built and in place. I hope to get some organizing done this week. Today I'm going to rest! Ethan has Josiah over and they are playing Nintendo. Whew!


Ethan's 6th Birthday CAKE!


Sam, Will, Ethan, and Walker Waiting to Dive In

Sun Bread

The other day, Ethan and Mommy read a book called Sun Bread. Ethan really enjoyed the story and because there was a recipe for sun bread on the back cover, we decided to make our own sun bread.

Ethan ended up watching the making for the most part, but he did knead the dough and was very proud of the final result. Notice how similar the bread on the book cover and our creation look! FUN!

SUN BREAD
Written and illustrated by Elisa Kleven (Dutton, '01)

A baker brightens a bleak winter by baking a golden, glowing sun bread, which lifts the spirits (and bodies) of all who taste it, while it lures the real sun out of hiding!

"With rhyming text, brilliantly colored illustrations, and her trademark collages, Kleven depicts a world teeming with animals who celebrate the joy of baking bread and the return of the sun. With a sun bread recipe on the back cover.

The Book


Ethan and His Sun Bread

What Do You Do With a Scary Pirate?

Ethan was sitting at his desk earlier drawing and cutting and singing a song. I asked him what he was singing and he promptly began singing again:

What do you do with a scary pirate?
What do you do with a scary pirate?
What do you do with a scary pirate?
Make him walk the PLANK!

It was really funny. He never even stopped cutting and drawing.

I wonder if he will remember that he learned this song in Kindergarten if he ever hears "What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor?"

I wonder if his music teacher thought twice about teaching him a drinking song (OK, a modified version, but still...)?

Five years eleven months old, with Daniel.

Five years ten months old.

Five years nine months old.

Five years eight months old, with Daniel.

Five years seven months old.