Archive for 2017

Dear Etrain,

While we didn't really do as much as I had originally planned this year, we still had a pretty packed Christmas holiday...and it started the day after Thanksgiving. Dada had that Friday off so we enjoyed the day together and that night went for a walk down in Dana Point Harbor because they had it all decorated for Christmas. Turned out to be one of the most festive places we visited for the holiday. You kept telling me how much you loved it there.

Dear Etrain,

Don't mind me. I'm just over here ugly crying. How is my baby boy already three years old?! It really is exciting to watch you grow and develop into the coolest little dude, but man it's hard knowing you're getting farther and farther away from being a little boy, my baby.

Dear Etrain,

First of all...you're three! So cool! But we'll get to that later because we had a jam packed month to talk about. I'll just go in order.

Dear Etrain,

For the past four years, Auntie Ansley has been taking family photos for us. The first year it was just me and you in my belly, but the next year we did a Christmas photo shoot with Dada too. A first we just thought it'd be fun to have nice photos of us all together, dressed up and all, but it turned out it was also nice to make Christmas cards out of it. We also took photos together last year, but I didn't feel too pretty in most of those photos (I should have planned more time to get ready...and I should have picked out a better outfit), so I got a card out, but didn't make a blog post for it. I'll dig those up sometime...there were cute shots of you.

Dear Grandson Ethan,

Dear Etrain,

As I mentioned last month, we started potty training. I got a book named Potty Training in 3 Days, so the plan was that the weekend after all our vacations we were going to hunker down in the house for three days and do it. You actually did very well, I think. The first day there were accidents, of course. The next day you seemed to get the hang of it. The last day was Monday, so I kept you home from school. I was pretty confident you got the hang of it all until you peed all over the floor (like full blown, had been holding it all night, morning pee) downstairs. Which set me back in confidence on taking you out in the world. So I opted for taking your underwear off completely...and that seemed to work. We did that again on day four, Tuesday, and skipped My Gym to stay home and practice some more.

Dear Etrain,

This year Halloween season was packed with activities and fun. It all started with a Daddy and Me pumpkin carving event at your school. You and Dada headed to your school early one morning for some doughnuts and pumpkin carving. Looks like you two had tons of fun. Your pumpkin turned out pretty awesome, although sadly he didn't make it to Halloween. He was carved a bit too early and sort of melted...you'll see photos below.

Dear Etrain,

My poor boy. You were basically sick all month long. You only had a cold, but it just wouldn't go away. It probably didn't help that we went on a couple vacations and had busy weekends, but you didn't seem to mind. Even when you're sick, you're still the coolest, sweetest, most fun, little dude.

Dear Etrain,

We just got back from an awesome trip to New Mexico and you were the best little travel buddy. You had another cold (almost finished shaking one off, then caught a new one before we left), you met all these new people and went to all these new places, and did great the whole time. You were understandably shy to start with each new place/person, but eventually warmed up and had a blast...especially since everyone seemed to have a new toy for you to play with. Lucky boy. Dada and I were so proud of you.

Dear Etrain,

This was a busy month for all of us so I'll jump right into it. Dada's work had a family movie night at his office. You had a great time sitting in the firetruck they have inside, running around, eating the snacks, and (I thought) watching the movie, Sing. You seemed really into it, but it was getting late so we left before the movie ended. Dada brought the movie home for us to finish, so one night I put it on. Well, I got the DVD in the player and the start screen came up...then you started crying and begging me to turn it off. I put it on mute, but let the previews run, which you seemed into, but once the start screen came back, the tears started flowing again. I asked you why you didn't want to watch it, and after lots of coaxing I figured out you were scared of the "monkeys" (gorillas) in the movie. At Dada's office I thought you liked them because they drove cars (getaway cars) fast in the movie. I thought wrong. Either way, after you went to bed I put it on for Dada and I to finish watching, and that's when I noticed the PG rating. Poor boy. We don't really let you watch movies so I'm not used to checking movie ratings...and it didn't even occur to me that they'd show a movie that wasn't suitable for all ages. I'm sorry, son. Now I know.

Dear Etrain,

Our month started out pretty fun....and kept going. Our old neighbors from our old house were having a birthday party for their daughter, who was turning 19, and they invited us. There were lots of adults and older kids there, so you didn't really have anyone to play with, but you were a trooper and kept yourself entertained with the balloons....and cars of course.

Dear Etrain,

This past month started with Father's Day. I got you and Dada some "copy, paste" shirts. You two looked pretty cute in them. We went out to lunch with Nana and Papa at Wood Ranch and it was very yummy. After your nap we spent some time in the pool...well, the spa (less expensive to heat). Now that the weather has warmed up, spa time has become pretty regular. You LOVE to splash around, jump back and forth to us, get your face wet, blow bubbles, and climb over our legs aka the bridge. We still need to work on floating and swimming though. We'll get there.

Dear Etrain,

Two and a half! I can't believe what a big boy you are now. You are just so fun. I mean, you've always been fun, but it's just different now. You're a full blown little person with thoughts, feelings, opinions, habits, and a bunch of personality. Oh, and you may be the sweetest little boy that ever lived. You love to snuggle, hug, and kiss and lately you'll randomly just walk up to me, give me a huge hug and tell me "I love my mom." Oh wow, that melts my heart. As you're reading this, if you've stopped doing that, will you please start again right now? I love, love, love it and I always will.

Dear Etrain,

Oh wow, this was a busy month! I'm sad to report that you were still sick pretty much through the whole month, but it didn't really seem to phase you. You were the same happy kid you always are.

Dear Etrain,

I'm determined to keep going on these posts from your early years. They were just so precious and I'm sad that it's already over. But looking through all these old photos (and videos! yay, I found videos finally) makes me smile as I think back to all the wonderful memories.

Dear Etrain,

This month we were sick...all. month. loooong. (In fact, we are still getting over it. Ugh.) The first two weeks were really tough because we couldn't go to any of your classes, so were stuck at home and had to come up with things to do around here. There was lots of playing around the house and visits to the park.

Dear Etrain,

Oh my, you were a cute baby. I mean, you're still adorable, but just look through these photos. I have mom brain now so my memory isn't that great, but I still want to try to recap the things that come to mind when I see these pictures of you. Here's what I remember of the month leading up to you turning two months old...

Dear Etrain,

You're such a big boy now! And you're all boy. You love to run, jump (which is more like a free fall), climb, play in the dirt, and play with trucks...all day long. Trucks (or cars, etc.) go with us everywhere. You have so much energy and I find myself making sure we run around and play outside a lot so you burn out that energy.

Dear Etrain,

Today is Dada and my anniversary. We've been married for five years and together for eight. In my post last year I told you about our first date. This year I thought I'd tell you about our wedding...well, weddings. Yes, we had two. I'll explain.

Dear Etrain,

I started this blog late and I missed a bunch of your first months, which makes me sad. I get notifications on my phone all the time showing me photos of "this day a year ago" or two years ago and so on. So I get reminded often of all the pictures I took of you when you were a little baby. I have to admit I don't remember all the tiny details, but seeing these photos makes me smile.

Dear Etrain,

This was a pretty exciting month! It started out with our usual simple adventures that are always lots of fun...like going to the park and playing in the mud.

Dear Etrain,

It has been a while since we went on a family vacation, so Dada and I decided to scoop you up and go to Mexico. We had some bumps along the way, but it was overall a wonderful trip...and I kind of wish we were still there.

Dear Etrain,

Oh my. You've reached a whole new level of toddler. Let's start with "hit". You're really into this right now and it is so not cool. We've tried talking it out, redirecting, and even several timeouts. Nothing seems to be getting through that hitting is bad. I suppose it's just your age, but it's VERY challenging while your sweet baby boy is swinging for your face.

Dear Etrain,

Not too long ago I lucked out on a beautiful sunset and it was the perfect scene for a photo shoot of you on the beach. It was so gorgeous and you were (are) so darn cute, I just kept snapping away until my phone died. Well, I lucked out on another gorgeous day today. This time we were at the park.

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