Ethan has had birthday presents accumulating on the table for the week before his birthday. He did a great job not sneaking into them, despite the fact that he told me I should hide them so he wasn't tempted to open them.
Mike and I went downstairs singing happy birthday before Mike had to leave for work. Ethan was up, but groggy, and very surprised to see us. Then, the present opening began!
Mike had been teasing Ethan that he was going to open Ethan's gifts, which Ethan interpreted as Mike wanting to open them. So, Ethan insisted on giving every one in the family one gift to open.
Sleepy puffy eyes.
"It's what I wanted! It was on my list!" (Ethan made an Amazon wishlist with me this year).
Opening the "big gift".
Batcave! I was SOOO excited that Ethan wanted to do a superhero birthday party and get superhero toys this year. After 3+ years of trains trains trains, I was more than ready to move on. He's had an interest in super heroes for awhile, so we got recommendations from friends on good toys to meet that interest. Thanks Grandpa Joe for the Superhero stuff that Ethan and I are both so excited for! :)
After presents, we went to Trent's house. His mom was nice enough to invite us over for a birthday breakfast and swimming which really made Ethan's day special. He is always thrilled to go to Trent's house!
Here they are playing with Ethan's new Batcopter from Grandpa Joe that Ethan chose to bring with him.
Birthday candle on the pancake and whipped cream. Ethan is making a silly face because it was a 3 candle.
This our first time trying out the slide, and it was a big hit. We will probably copy this idea next year! The water is a bit chilly in October (76*), especially in the shade, but the kids are tougher than the moms and enjoy it anyway.
We came home, ate lunch (scrambled eggs, per Ethan's request), and put Benton down for a nap. At this point in the day, Ethan usually goes downstairs for quiet time while I work, but I offered to play one of his new games from Nana. We played Rivers, Roads, and Rails. It's a fun game, and he still likes trains a lot, so he stayed totally engaged as we played and built this "network". He had to include a villain in the picture (he thinks having a villain named Penguin is hilarious).
He spent quite awhile arranging the Batcave for this picture because he wanted every person and accessory to be visible.
After quiet time, it was off to the park to try out this stomp rocket from Uncle Joe and Aunt Lauren. Mike surprised us and got home right before we left. I swung by McDonald's on the way because Ethan wanted chicken nuggets for dinner and I was out.
Here are some action shots of the rocket.
Ethan would go 20-30 yards back and run thinking the running start would make the rocket go even higher.
Benton struggled to get them off unless Mike held him for the jump. Then Benton would say, "whoa!!!"
We made a new friend at the park who joined in on the fun.
Ethan's picture of how high the rocket went. I decided to include the picture because it shows how beautiful Arizona is this time of year!
Ethan rode his bike to and from the park. He is getting fast enough that I had to run all the way home with him in my flip flops. I told him that he could start riding next to me when I go running and he said, "You mean I can ride next to you? Instead of sit sit sit, boring (meaning in the stroller)?!?"
At home he had an ice cream sundae in a home made cookie bowl.
I'm very excited for this year with Ethan. He has matured a lot lately and is much easier to have around all day. The fact that he plays with a variety of things makes it easier for me to have fun playing with him. We ride bikes, play soccer, build with blocks, swim, etc. It's also been fun to see how he has changed from preschool last year to this year. Last year, he struggled to sit and complete an assignment and to do the assignment as instructed (he wanted to do it his way). This year he puts a lot of effort into his work and is much more willing to follow directions and actually enjoys creative projects.
He recently got to decorate 3 pieces of paper in anyway he wanted. The first below was of him, I forget what he was doing, probably playing with trains. The second represents channel 8-1 because Mike had taught him how to push that on the remote to get to PBS. Then he drew a dinosaur skeleton surrounded by dirt. We had just finished a unit on dinosaurs and I taught them about fossils being in the dirt. I love seeing how he comes up with different ideas and actually takes the time to complete them. Simple, but a big step for him this year.
Another project picture that I happened to find on my phone was a free writing project. He had to complete this sentence on his own. In trying to write "Halloween" by himself, he ended up with "HWEEE." I was impressed that when I told him he just had to try and write by himself, he didn't insist that he doesn't know how to write, he actually tried really hard to sound out the word. This is the first word he's ever sounded out to write himself. Then he drew this "Halloween house" by himself. Those are pumpkins in the windows. The maturity that these show in comparison to last year gives me a lot of optimism for the fun we will have in this last year with him at home (and in preschool with me). I'm really glad I decided to keep him home one more year before Kindergarten!
(He can do his name better than that, he just messed up with an extra "t" and I guess figured out that he could make it into a capital "H".)
Ethan is a really sweet boy. He is sensitive and, most of the time, very bubble and expressive. He loves to be silly and tell stories. He loves to take pictures and videos and has started building impressive block structures. He has so much enthusiasm and energy; I wish I had a fraction of his excitement! He is very outgoing and loves to play with friends. We're really lucky to have such a sweet kid in our home!
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