First Bottle

Cayne even used the Boppy yo make it seem like a "normal" feeding.

Back at the very beginning of December, Cayne got to give Ethan his first bottle of expressed breastmilk. We wanted to make sure we'd be able to go out without him for more than a couple hours. We weren't sure how the bottle-feeding would go -- our doctor had told us some babies will just take the bottle, but for others, if mom is in the house they absolutely do not want the bottle -- they want the real thing. Well, Ethan just latched right onto the bottle and enjoyed being fed by his daddy! Ethan didn't mind that I was there either -- I think that all he cared about was eating some yummy food! It was sweet to see Cayne getting to feed Ethan (and it made me a little teary-eyed too).

Gaining Immunity

Waiting to get his shots at the doctor's office.

Today, I took Ethan to his 8 week doctor appointment where his received his first round of vaccines.  I've been talking up this day to him for the past couple of days -- so that he knows how important it is to get vaccinated.

The doctor said Ethan looked great during his check-up.  He now weighs 12 lbs and 9 ounces and is 23.25 inches long.  He does have a bit of dry skin on his scalp (aka "cradle cap"), so we just need to keep using a baby brush on his scalp to gently stimulate the oil glands -- the doctor did say we could also use some baby oil or mineral oil to help.

When it was time for his shots, Ethan was a real trooper!  He got the oral rotavirus vaccine first and then received the other 3 shots in his legs.  He only fussed for a few seconds out of surprise and was perfectly fine by the time I picked him back up.  He even smiled at the nurse before she left (Ethan is going to be such a flirt)!  It wasn't easy to see him get the vaccinations but I'm glad he got them and that he handled the visit so well.  Hopefully, he'll be this easygoing for every shot he needs to get!  He had a long nap this afternoon as we drove around Nashville with Chris and Christine (Cayne's friends who live in Germany that are visiting us before Christmas) but seems pretty normal -- no signs yet of fever or more-than-normal-fussiness caused by the vaccines.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays this way.

Our little boy is really growing up -- I can't believe little Ethan is already 8 weeks old today and that he'll be 2 months on Christmas!

Happy to be home after his visit to the doctor's office.

Look at that big belly!

Look Mommy!  Matching band-aids!

What, me worry?

Ethan's First Art Project

This morning I took Ethan to Precious Prints in Franklin to have his hand and footprints pressed into a ceramic plate.  This is something I've been meaning to do ever since I saw one at the pediatrician's office.  Mary and Bob were great with Ethan and got some good prints from him.  I definitely recommend going here if you're looking for print wall hangings, stepping stones, or ornaments.  My job was to hold him (and keep his non-pressed hand and foot out of the clay).  Ethan seemed interested in what was happening but wasn't too sure about the cold, squishy clay while his hand and foot were in it.  Afterwards, however, it was smiles and giggles all around!



His prints look amazing in the clay -- Ethan's feet really are big!  I can't wait to see the finished product in a couple of weeks.  It has to dry and then be glazed and fired before we pick it up.  I also look forward to seeing Ethan try to fit his hand back in the little print when he gets older!

True Grit

Last night Cayne and I went to a screening of the Coen Brother's remake of "True Grit". We weren't sure how crowded it would be so we knew there was a chance we wouldn't actually get to see the movie. We had passed on an opportunity to see "How Do You Know" a couple weeks ago because I just wasn't sure about leaving Ethan for so long (considering his sometimes erratic meal-time requests). But when I got the email about a Coen Brother's movie screening, it was hard to pass up. Also, Cayne and I have really been getting into watching Westerns this year.

So knowing that we'd see the movie at some point anyway, even if we had to wait until it opened and actually pay to see it, we decided to give it a go. Mom and Dad agreed to babysit and our plan was to head to Coolsprings and see if we got in -- if we didn't then we'd just have a nice dinner out. Well, we got there about 40 minutes before the movie started and the line was pretty long, but we managed to get in, and even though we were nowhere near the front of the line, Cayne found us some awesome seats almost in the center of the theatre. We sat behind some die-hards --- one dressed as "Rooster" wearing a cowboy hat and eye patch and one dressed as "LaBoeuf", complete with a leather fringe jacket and bullet belt slung over his shoulder. I admit --it was a little nerve wracking to sit behind someone carrying lots of bullets into a movie theatre, but I suppose I'd rather see bullets in a movie theatre than in a bar (sorry, TN legislators). And I do wonder if they guy wearing the eye patch took it off to watch the movie or if he stayed in character for the entire screening.

The movie was awesome! I haven't seen the original yet (we'll have to do that now) but the story and dialogue were just wonderful. See the trailer here. I definitely recommend this one...and yes, I'll admit that some of the recent Coen Brother flicks haven't been all that great, but the story here is just really, really good. Cayne put it best -- he said, "It's like it could have really happened."

Oh -- and Ethan was perfectly happy to play with his grandparents while we were enjoying the movie!!!

SANTA!!!!

Ethan met Santa for the very first time today!  Unfortunately, he slept the entire time -- nothing would wake him up, not even Santa's "Ho, Ho, Ho's".

As usual, the preparation for leaving the house was pretty much chaos.  We had to change his diaper just before leaving, and Ethan decided to pee again while changing him.  Luckily, it didn't get on his clothes, just all over the changing table...BUT, then he immediately spit up all over the cute outfit we were going to have him wear (and that I had been protecting from spills and dribbles all day with a bib).  When we tried to get him in his carseat, we couldn't get the straps buckled -- they were too tight!  So we had to figure out how to adjust those (although we are happy about that --because it means he has grown!).  Finally, we were all bundled up and headed out to Coolsprings Galleria to see Santa.  We really wanted to beat after-school and after-work traffic and we did!  There was no line to wait in (although one family came up while we were getting pictures).

Because there wasn't a line we had time to tickle and move Ethan around, but he just wasn't going to wake up!  But we got some cute sleeping baby pictures and Santa told Ethan to keep being a good little boy and to enjoy his First Christmas.  About 5 minutes after we left Santa, Ethan's big blue eyes popped open!

Santa's wondering why I'm taking  a picture right now.
It's because Cayne was very nervous about handing our baby to a stranger!

Everyone's getting comfy!

I think the blue sweater we chose works great in the photo!
Maybe this shouldn't have been the auxiliary outfit
and should have been our first choice instead.  

Photo Time

Today Ethan and I had fun taking pictures.  We played games while changing him into different outfits and I snapped away.  Some of the pictures turned out really nice, but most have blurry hands or feet from him wiggling around.  It was still a lot of fun for both of us so we will have to do it again!

In a hat and blanket knitted by his great-grandma Philips years ago.

Little Fisherman!  In a hat made by his Auntie Monique in NZ.

An adorable sweater also made by Auntie Monique.

Very happy and toasty in the gift from Auntie Glenys in NZ.  

A shot of the whole outfit from Auntie Glenys.

Little angel in the knitted gown from his great-grandma Timperly in NZ. 

Black Friday at Opryland

Yesterday we went to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel to drop off the grandparents for their stay and to enjoy an evening looking at lights.  Since it was the day after Thanksgiving, I had a feeling there would be a lot of people headed to the hotel (especially since they only recently reopened after the Nashville flood earlier this year) so we decided we'd better head up there well before dark so that Dianne and Colin could check in before the hordes descended.  We left our house around 3:30, and we were way too late to beat the traffic!  Since there were no traffic/parking lines for hotel guests, we finally parked sometime around 6:30 that evening.  We self-parked because the valet line was also ridiculously long and the traffic guards said we'd have about an hour wait for valet.

Finally!  The lobby!

Happy to get to their room after the crazy wait in traffic.

Ethan, playing with finger puppets.

Ethan playing with daddy before heading out to see the lights.

Anyway, the self-parking lot for hotel guests was nowhere near the hotel lobby, so Dianne and Colin had to lug their suitcases through the Cascades garden area (and all the people) while we searched for the lobby.  Finally, they got checked-in to their room.  We fed and played with Ethan while Dianne and Colin tried to find us something to eat for dinner.  Well, the hotel was completely over-run and under-prepared, because every restaurant had over a 2-hour wait.  Even room service had a 2hour+ wait (even though they have a "30 minutes or it's free guarantee").  A free meal wasn't worth sitting in the little room that didn't even have a table to eat on so we decided to try something else.  Since leaving and coming back was not an option (since the traffic would be even worse coming back), Colin got a refund on the room, we walked around the hotel to see the pretty decorations and then headed to Outback Steakhouse for a fun, relaxing (and delicious) meal before heading home.