I should really post more often...

Not sure if it's that we're so busy, what with all the gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands and fretting over why our son DOES. NOT. SLEEP, or if it's a touch of the blues, what with all the gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands and fretting over why our son DOES. NOT. SLEEP, but either way, this month has not been a banner month for me and mah blog.

Anyhoo, let's give you some updates, shall we?

At almost 21 months, Ethan is discovering more of the world around him every day. He is obsessed with being outside, which is not entirely convenient considering it's the dead of winter and 40 degrees on a good day. My New England blood has thinned out a bit since moving *south* and my former self would call me a big fat wuss. I agree, but I still don't want to go outside, mkay?

But you can find us, most afternoon, bundled up like the little kid in A Christmas Story, toodling down the road, stooping over to pick up rocks, stopping in our tracks to touch shrubs and squealing gleefully at trucks passing by.

Today we went to the open gym time at our local county recreation center (where we took our tiny time gym class in the fall) and Ethan's head nearly exploded at the sight of all the ride-on toys and deargodalltheBALLS!!!!! He spent an hour chasing after random soccer balls, each one more exciting than the last, and stealthily staking out the coolest riding toys, lying in wait until the kid currently enjoying it stepped away for a nano-second, then pouncing. Very proud of my little man, he has managed to learn how to assert himself in those situations without being a big old bully but without letting the bigger kids walk all over him.

Yes, there were a few little hissy fits. There are a few little hissy fits every day now, which I suppose is to be expected since he's on the same sleeping schedule as say, Britney Spears who reportedly hasn't slept in 96 hours or something insane like that (and can I say, much as I have a hard time finding sympathy for that girl, whoever is tracking her sleeping habits and is reporting them to the news media has stepped over all kinds of lines. Perhaps she can't sleep because you are in her face 24/7). But overall, Ethan's hour co-existing with about 40 other toddlers within the confines (albeit expansive confines) of a gymnasium, was a whopping success.

His vocabulary, thanks to a new found love of books, seems to be taking off on another explosion. He is starting to learn him ABCs, and he's pretty in love with A right now, with B coming in a close second. To him, the ABC songs sounds very much like A,B,B,B,B,B....
And thanks to a Staples' "That was easy" button that somehow wound up in our house (seriously, I have no idea where this shit comes from), Ethan now says, "That was easy", but of course has no idea what he's saying. He's also fond of saying "alligator" and "helicopter" although I think only I could actually identify the words as such.

Little man is closing in on the 20lb mark. Between our hospital stay for croup in early December and a follow-up visit with the pediatric pulmonary specialist, he had gained almost a whole pound; the first time he's jumped a pound in a month since he was 6 or 7 months old. At this rate, he may actually be 21 pounds by the time he hits 2 years.

Many apologies for the lack of any attempted wit or clear transitions or cohesive story. I am typing with one part of my mind while the other part prepares itself for the night ahead which I am sure, if it is like the past 4-5 nights, will include a child who is awake until midnight and who then tosses in his sleep until 6:30 am before deciding he's had enough of sleep and begins a new day as cranky as, well, a toddler on 6 hours of sleep...who refuses to nap. And I want another one of these?