Ethan. His Development. Fatherhood. Awesomazing.

Knock Knock.  Anyone still there?  It's been 3 months.  Facebook kind of kills the need to blog more.  Sonia and I end up updating more on there then using our blog.  In the sense of looking back on this as a journal, I/we will continue to blog.  It would be nice if there were more blogs, but we'll do the best we can.

So, Ethan, man, he is amazing.  Being a father is awesome.  Being a father to Ethan is awesomazing!  He is developing so much over the last few months and it is remarkable to be a parent and watch your child develop.  Watching him learn new things and then applying them to his every day life has been an outstanding experience.  Over the last few months he has learned how to sit up without any support.  He does still topple over sometimes and bonk his head on the floor, his toys, etc but for the most part he sits up pretty well.  Think about that.  I am commending Ethan on sitting up, something we all take for granted.  As a parent though, seeing your child learn something like sitting up is an achievement!  It is weird how that changes.  I would hear or read about my friends child(ren) achieving things like sitting up, walking, talking, etc and thinking "thats cool" but not thinking much more of it.  Well, when it is YOUR child accomplishing these new things, it is a big deal.  If you are a parent, you get what I'm saying.  If you aren't a parent, you are likely doing what I used to do; thinking "that's cool" and not fully grasping what I'm saying.  Anywho onto other things Ethan has learned...

Ethan has also learned how to crawl.  He does an army crawl all over the living room and down the hallway.  He hasn't quite learned he can prop himself up on his knees and crawl that way yet.  Along the same time he learned to crawl, about a week or two earlier, he learned to roll over; tummy to back and then back to tummy.  So he would roll a few times to get somewhere...then he learned to crawl.

One hilarious memory I recall that really cemented the notion in my brain that Ethan knows how to crawl is when I was watching him on a Wednesday (I will work from home and watch Ethan).  I left the living room to go to the bathroom and put my contacts in.  As I am putting my contacts in I hear Ethan in the hallway and he is grunting and breathing heavily.  He was in full army crawl and doing all he could to follow me to the bathroom from the living room.  Its like a 20 foot crawl and he was wearing himself out to follow Daddy.  So upon hearing him breathing as if he were exhausted, I poked my head out the door and saw him in the hallway.  I started laughing at the sight of seeing him in the hallway, he looks up at my laughter and smiles back at me as if to say, "Look Daddy!  I did it!"  It was adorable and hilarious.  I had to snap a pic of him in the hallway and send it to Sonia so she could share in the moment.

The newest feat Ethan has learned is pulling himself up on just about anything, stable or not, and standing up while holding on to whatever he pulled himself up on.  He gets this big smile on his face once he realizes he is standing up.  He knows he is doing something new and its an achievement and cracks his big cheesy grins.  This of course has led us to adjusting his crib so the mattress is at a lower height so he doesnt stand up on the rail and fall out.  With the rate he is growing (which is fast by the way, at 6 months, which is now a month ago, he measured 29 inches tall and almost 22 lbs.  Off the charts in both areas) I get the feeling I will be adjusting the crib's height again very soon.  Also, once he learns something new like sitting, crawling, and standing, it is all he wants to do.  When he learned to sit up, laying down on the floor was no longer an option.  He had to sit up.  Once he learned to roll and crawl, staying in one place was no longer an option.  Now he can stand, so sitting and laying are much less preferred.  Even when we change his diaper or get him dressed he wants to flip over on his tummy and crawl away or stand up.  So those tasks have become tougher.  We now have to fight his urges to crawl and stand.

He is also starting to "talk" more.  He is upping his performance of his baby gibberish lately.  To which I just throw some gibberish back at him and we "communicate."  HaHa!  Who knows what we are saying but its been cool hearing him "talk" more.  One last thing I've enjoyed seeing my little goomba man learn is recognizing me when I pick him up from my mom's house once I leave work.  When he sees me, his face lights up and he gets so happy.  We play for a bit, hang out, and then head home so we can wait for Mommy to get home so she gets to experience that great feeling of Ethan recognizing her and being happy to see her.  With that, I'll end here, leave work and go enjoy this very experience of seeing Ethan recognize me and seeing his face light up.

More to come soon, hopefully...stay tuned!  Thanks for reading!  =)

I've been tagged to do a survey type blog...

Kiara, a very loyal and interactive blog reader of ours – one of my favorites, over at The Buechler Heartbeat, tagged me in her post, so here you go, a nice non-photo-bomb post:

Rules:
1. You must post these rules.
2. Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
4. You have to choose 11 people to tag and link them on the post.
5. Go to their page and tell them you have linked him or her.
6. No tag backs.
7. No stuff in the tagging section about ‘you are tagged if you are reading this.’ You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

First 11...

1. What was the best thing that happened to you this year?
This is the easiest question I will ever answer, ever. The best thing to happen to me this year, 2011, Ethan Alistair Rossman on August 26, 2011. The birth of my fantastic son is easily the best thing to happen to me in 2011, and ever.

2. What is your #1 pet peeve?
I absolutely cannot stand people who do not know how to drive well or drive as if they are the only person on the road. These people need to cut their license in two, throw their keys in the ocean, and forever sit in the passenger seat next to someone who knows how to drive.

3. What's your favorite place to vacation?
I haven’t traveled much but my favorite among the places I have traveled is hands down Cancun, Mexico where Sonia and I honeymooned and then returned the next year for our 1 year anniversary. All-inclusive, 2 story suite with a hot tub on the roof overlooking the ocean, free, full stocked bar in the room, decent food, great service, outstanding room, relaxing yet fun. And now I want to go back. Le sigh…

4. Favorite place to eat?
Oh man, this is gonna be tough. I’m a foodie. I like a loooooot of different foods. I could eat Mexican food at anytime. All you can eat Mongolian Grills are always great. WingDome, money! I love a good steak and lobster mashed potatoes dinner at Daniel’s Broiler. Jimmy Johns or Jersey Mikes for a sub sandwich, delicious. Italian food, pizzas and pastas, yum! So give me a place where I could eat any and all of that like an ultimate sampler and that place will be my favorite place to eat!

5. Who truly inspires you both in your own life and someone you've never met?
This is something I’ve always struggled with in life – looking up to someone else for inspiration. There are people I see doing big things that would be things I’d love to do and get jealous. Is that inspiring me then by making me jealous? Or is the inspiration when I look at these people and what they are doing, or have done, and I change my life to follow what they have done?

6. Best and worst movie you have ever seen?
Like food, I love movies. I have a lot of favorite movies. Since it is Christmas time, and I watch this movie at least a dozen times between Thanksgiving and New Years, I’ll go with “A Christmas Story.” I’ve loved watching that movie for as long as I can remember. The worst movie I’ve ever seen in theaters is “House of the Dead.” It’s a movie made from a video game and it was god-awful with terrible acting and a terrible story. It became laughable and then worthy of a walk-out.

7. What is your guilty pleasure?
Hmmm…something I enjoy that I would be embarrassed for others to know I enjoy, but willing to admit here. Ha! I’ll go with watching garbage TV shows like Jersey Shore, TNA Wrestling, Kardashians, 16 & Pregnant, Teen Mom, etc. It’s crap TV, but hey, I watch it.

8. Describe your dream home?
A paid off one!! HaHa! My dream home is one I would design where money would not be an object and includes a landscaper, a pool cleaner, housecleaner, and personal chef. 2 or 3 stories, a sweet man cave with an amazing home theater, a pool, hot tub, lots of windows for natural light, lots of floor space, high ceilings, interesting wall angles and layouts, bad ass kitchen, huge bathrooms, 4 car garage…I could go on and on.

9. If you could switch places with any blogger friend for a day, who would it be?
I’m not really sure since I don’t have a lot of “blogger friends.” Since he is awesome and blogs sometimes, I’ll go with Alex Akana.

10. Do you believe in love at first sight?
Heh, nope. Lust at first sight is totally real. Love at first sight, fairytale stuffs.

11. If you could go back in time to witness any historical event, what would it be?
Helluva question and this one requires some time to think about it but I guess off the top of my head I have always wished I went to TOOL concerts in the 90s and early 2000s.

Second 11...

1. What is your favorite fruit? Favorite veggie?
Strawberries and Cucumbers (with ranch dressing)

2. Regular soda, or diet, and why?
Regular, it tastes soooo much better. Worse for me but hey diet sodas have no calories but have questionable “sugars” in them.

3. Would you change what you majored in college, and if so, what to? If you didn’t go to college, what would you want to study if you went now?
Ehh, no I wouldn’t change. My degree is in Business. Pretty general, I can take it anywhere. I hate school.

4. What kind of cell phone do you have? Do you have a home phone?
HTC Inspire (suck it Apple iPhone) and nope, no home phone. I have no use for one.

5. What is your favorite office supply?
A very nice pen is always key for me.

6. Do you take a daily vitamin?
Heh, nope, but I should. I really should.

7. If you could go back and do your senior prom all over again, what would you change?
HaHa! Wow…not really. I don’t need to re-live any of that stuff. A girl I was seeing I caught seeing someone else, I dumped her before the prom and ending up going with another girl, a friend, last minute. We had fun, it was cool. I’ve never even thought about it being something I would go back in time to change until this question. HaHa.

8. What was the first thing that popped into your head when you heard Michael Jackson had died? Osama Bin Laden had been killed?
MJ, man, no awesome world tour finale, no more awesome music?! OBL, cool…but, yeah, sure, prove it. Still waiting. ;)

9. What is your favorite hair product, and why?
Water? HaHa!

10. What would be the hardest thing for you to give up for a year?
My son, Ethan Alistair!

11. Would you ever run a marathon?
Sure, why not? Am I in marathon running shape? Hells no!

Firsts! Many of them...

First, you’ll have to forgive me, forgive us for being MIA on this blog. Apologies for not making time in the last 3 months to not provide an update outside of our small, quick posts on Facebook. It’s like riding a bike…I’m jumping back on, so let’s go!

Many events have happened since my last post in mid September. Ethan’s first Halloween – first pumpkins, first costumes, first experience but better ones are to come once he gets older.

Ethan’s first Thanksgiving – first turkey, first feast, well witnessing it anyways as he only got a small finger dab of sweet potato as a treat/experiment, first Thanksgiving Day football games, first family get together at the holidays.

Now, his first Christmas – first Christmas tree, first stocking, first Santa photos, first time seeing Christmas movies (we haven’t watched any yet but we will), and of course first time opening gifts and getting together with the family for Christmas.

Besides the holidays, we have had a few other nice firsts. First photo shoot, first Apple Cup, Mommy’s birthday, first time meeting some Seahawks, first time meeting some great Seahawks fans, our friends, family, first time meeting Nessa coming up from California, first time teething, first time discovering he can use his hands to reach out and grab things like his toys, first time actually playing with his toys, first time discovering his feet and that he can grab them, first story times, and several other firsts, I’ve listed enough. ;-)

Seeing my son develop has been a life-changing experience. It is so interesting to see him learn new things we adults take for granted, like touching our feet, using our hands, smiling, laughing, etc. It’s hard to explain to people who do not have kids but there is just something awesome about sharing those little things; little to us, but so monumental to him. Fatherhood has been amazing and I wouldn’t trade anything for it. Ethan is such an awesomazing child so far. I love that little guy with all my heart. His smile is contagious and his love is infectious. I just love being around him and look forward to many more firsts…and seconds…thirds…thousands.

P.S. Feel free to shoot me any questions on my feelings/opinions on things that have happened thus far. I’d be happy to expand upon a topic and write about it. Thanks for reading!

PICTURES!

ETHAN!!

What a stud! WOW!

Dear Ethan, [part 2]

Hi son! Life has been crazy busy since you’ve arrived but I would like to take some time to finish writing my letter to you that I started the day you were born. I last left off with Mommy and I going to sleep to take a quick nap before Mommy started her pushing. Reading back Part One I can tell I was pretty sleepy. So shortly after I posted, I fell asleep. We slept for about an hour. I was awakened by a busy birthing suite full of people ready to help you arrive. Your grandmas and grandpas helped wake me up in time to help Mommy. I was so excited that I did not allow myself to really wake up, so I was still sorta asleep when I put my contacts in so that I could see you the best I could when you arrived.

Apparently I was causing a short delay as everyone was waiting on me to get ready, to get into position to help Mommy. My role was to hold one of Mommy’s legs up since she couldn’t feel them from the epidural medicine (it makes Mommy numb from her tummy down so she doesn’t feel any pain). I was also going to be there to comfort her, time her pushes by counting to ten, feed her ice chips, and tell her how much I love her and how great she was doing.

With everyone ready to go, it was time for Mommy to push. The midwife and nurse would tell Mommy when she was having a contraction and she would begin pushing through the contraction. While Mommy pushed, Auntie Kali and I would help Mommy with her breathing, holding her legs, timing her pushes, and encouragement. Everyone once in awhile Mommy would like at me like a little baby bird with her mouth slightly open; this meant she wanted an ice chip. Mommy couldn’t eat or drink because of the epidural so all she could have was ice chips. So I would give her some ice chips whenever she asked.

After an hour of pushing, we could see your head, your head full of hair! A little time later, Mommy gave birth to you, Ethan Alistair Rossman! You were born at 8:44am and weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and were 20 inches long! I got to cut the umbilical cord after you were born too!

Unfortunately, there was a concerning issue with your birth. You had pooped inside the womb and ingested it into your lungs. This poop is called meconium and of course, this stuff is not supposed to be in your lungs. You were having trouble breathing. So a special doctor and nurse from NICU (newborn intensive care unit) came to our suite to take care of you. They determined that you needed to be taken to the NICU to be cared for, cleaned up, and monitored. Before you left, Mommy got to hold you for a quick minute. Then Daddy left with you to go to NICU, so I could be by your side. We were there for a couple hours while the doctor and nurses took care of you and determined you were okay to leave NICU and go back to our room and be with Mommy and the rest of the family!

When we got you back to the room, everyone was so happy to get to really meet you, admire you, talk to you, and love you. First up was Mommy because boy, you were HUNGRY! You made that known while you were in the NICU. So Mommy began feeding you and you two got to bond, skin-to-skin. Once you and Mommy figured out how to feed, you got a full belly - and became sleepy. So we wrapped you up (Daddy makes a great baby burrito swaddle) and let you sleep after such an amazing adventure.

This was the beginning of the new chapter in our lives, the rest of our lives. We are so happy to have you join our family. You are a very handsome young man and we look forward to watching you grow. We love you Ethan!