Our sweet boy has been a wonderful addition to our family since day one. His heart, his sense of humor, and his curiosity lend a nice dimension to our family every day. He still brings joy to people around him through the week, both young and old. We are thankful to have Mr. Ethan in our family, even when (especially when?) he makes goofy faces for pictures.
During the last year, Ethan has continued to grow and change and learn. He is now about 43 inches tall (which means he can ride bigger rides ... more on that later) and is still quite solidly built. Ethan has developed an interest in drawing and coloring, but vehicles and the mechanical workings of objects around him are still his first love. Ethan has also shown more of an interest in music during the last year, both listening to it and making his own. He still loves being in the water and has come a long way in the last year with his swimming skills.
The day before Thanksgiving, the boy and I took a fun hike at Lake Kegonsa State Park, my go-to introduction "hike" for our kids. He was SO much fun. I wish the weather had been nicer during other parts of November to allow us to do more of these little trips just the two of us.
Ethan's birthday celebration actually started on Sunday. Since we knew none of the kids had school on Monday and since Ethan has been asking for months "When are we going to the Kalahari again?", we decided to do a family trip up there for his birthday. The plan was to go to church on Sunday morning, then come home and have him open his first gift, which would announce the trip. Then we'd all pack up and spend the rest of Sunday and as much of Monday as we could handle in the Dells.
But then Kate woke up with a nasty earache on Sunday morning. I'm pretty sure that we have had about a half dozen viruses travel around this home in the past month. Kate hasn't exactly been fully healthy since sometime in October. I'm fairly confident that the nasty cold she got during her swim week turned into bronchitis, but since she never had a fever and she was steadily (if slowly) improving, we decided to just keep pushing fluids and rest with her.
Earaches with Kate are a different story, though. The few times she has had them in her life have been like this ... cold upon cold until one day her ear really hurts. Each and every time (which have only been four), she has an ear infection, gets antibiotics, and feels much more like herself within 24 hours.
So Sunday morning, Kate and I were at Urgent Care by 8 a.m., and home with her antibiotics a little after 9 a.m. But she still felt cruddy. We opted for church at home and then Matt and I had a conference with both girls about the initial plan for Ethan's birthday and then our options. Poor Kate said, with tears in her eyes, that she didn't really want to go to the Kalahari while she had an ear infection. Sweet Anna suggested going up with Matt and Ethan, but then thought that idea through and realized it wouldn't be fair to Ethan.
In the end, it worked out for the best. Matt and Ethan went up to the Dells on Sunday and had the whole afternoon and evening to do whatever they wanted. Mini-golf, go-karts (which Ethan is tall enough for now!), dinner in the room, and then lots trips down water slides were just what Ethan needed and wanted. As with my trip to Colorado with Kate, this trip with the boys could go faster and more smoothly without having to think about the whole family.
The girls and I stayed home and had some girl time together before going to bed early and sleeping well. Then we headed out bright and early on Monday to meet the boys for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, where birthday hugs were shared by all.
After changing in the hotel room, we all headed to the water park for about 2 1/2 hours, definitely the longest we have lasted together as a family there. Medium water slides, big water slides, the wave pool, and the lazy river were enjoyed by all. Here's a few of Anna's milestones from that morning:
1) She climbed the stairs for the tall water slides for every trip but 3, when Matt carried her partway. Way to go, Anna!
2) She confidently walked into the zero entry wave pool with her walker.
3) She didn't need any sensory breaks the entire trip.
4) She managed the entire Thanksgiving weekend with NO hydrocortisone.
When we got home, Ethan opened up his gifts from the sisters and proceeded to play with the new hot wheels tracks the rest of the day.
All was prepared for him to be special person at school on Tuesday and he was even in bed by 6:30 p.m. on Monday night. But then he woke up with a fever in the middle of the night :( He has definitely been more low key throughout the day, but I think he'll be back to normal in time for school on Wednesday.
Except for that little issue with a fever, I think his birthday experience will be kept as a happy memory in his mind :)
Thanksgiving
Please give thanks that Ethan is a happy, healthy, typically developing 5 year old.
Please thank God that our family is blessed to spend time with Ethan every day.
Please give thanks for all of Ethan's attributes and their affect on the rest of us.
Requests
Please ask God to continue maturing the faith that is already growing in his heart.
Please pray that God continues to give us wisdom and strength as we continue to develop our parent relationship with him.
Please ask God to continue to shine through Ethan's life to those around him.
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