Ethan's 5 Year Check Up

We took Ethan for his 5 year check a few weeks ago. He was so worried all day that he was going to get a shot. I didn't think he was going to get one since she told him at his 4 year check up that he wouldn't get any more until he was 12. But his friend Colton had to get a shot at his 5 year so I wasn't sure. When the doctor came in I said just ask her if you're going to get one. That was the first question out of his mouth and he was very relieved to hear her say no! After that he was all smiles and bubbly.

We discussed his picky eating habits and his occassional stuttering. She didn't think either one was an issue. His hearing and vision checked out perfect. I guess he only can't hear me. ;-)

He weighed 43 pounds and was 43 inches. That explains why his is looking so skinny to me. He only gained 3 pounds in the last year but grew 3 inches. She said he used to be on the chubby side of the growth chart but now he is right on track. You think he'd be huge with as much pasta he eats. I guess he needs it for fuel for all of his super hero work.

He wanted me to take a picture of his "broken arm" (that's the wrong arm). I did ask her about the bruise on the inside of his arm from the break. I asked her if that was really bruising since it had been 3 months since the break. She said it looked like his skin was thicker in that area and it was most likely scarring from the cast. She said we could put some Mederma or cocoa butter on it to lessen the scar. Luckily Nana had some cocoa butter at her house. Ethan likes to put it on after his shower now because he says he smells like chocolate. We'll see if it helps.

A Wiggly Good Time

We've been saying for the past year or two that we needed to go to the Wiggly Play Center in Frisco. Well, we finally went and I wasn't that impressed. It was super crowded so that didn't help...that's what we get for going on President's Day when everyone was off. There was one bouncy house and one climbing structure. There was also a tiny climbing structure for toddlers. Of course the kids loved it and were looking for the characters to come out so they could hug them. I think they only have Dorothy and Wags characters and they only come out on certain days at certain times. We stayed for several hours and ate at the "Yummy Yummy Cafe". Maybe we would go more if we lived in Frisco but I didn't think it was worth the drive.

This tv was in the toddler area. Lucky for Caleb it was showing his favorite: "Ho Ho Wiggles" or at least that's what he calls it.

There's Caleb climbing on the toddler one. He only went down the slide once and decided he was too big for it. He went looking for Ethan after that.

Here's a view of the bigger play structure.

View of the bounce house and eating area.

At first Caleb wasn't too sure of all the kids and just stood around looking for Ethan.

Once we told Ethan to take care of his brother, things went much smoother. They were inseparable. Ethan was a great big brother that day.

Ethan was really sucking up and gave Caleb a kiss.

A pic of the Yummy Yummy Cafe. It wasn't really that yummy.

Ahh, just like peas a carrots in their Batman shirts.

The side view of the play structure.

Ethan loved the slides and even tried different positions going down.

Caleb on the other hand, took a little coercing. We finally told Ethan to give him a gentle push because we knew once he did it he'd want to do it again. Notice how he is wedging his legs so he won't go too fast. He had the biggest smile once he did it and he said "again!"

He was looking for Ethan and yelling, "Bub-ba!"

There were 3 rooms that had tables and chairs and a tv. I think they were party rooms. Caleb kept pointing to all of the characters on the wall and getting so excited.

Ethan made a little friend. They were calling me from across the play center because they needed money to "ride" the rollercoaster. So cute!

Ethan had to talk Caleb into going down the slide in the bounce house. Ethan went down first then Caleb wouldn't go. We told one of the kids waiting to go down to take him with him. You could tell the kid had younger siblings. He was so sweet to him. Of course once Caleb went down he wanted to do it again.

Let's play a game of where is Caleb?

Caleb was falling asleep on the way home but we didn't want him to go to sleep. I found some stickers in the car and decorated the kids with them. Ethan was totally into it.

Caleb was no so entertained by the stickers...but it did keep him awake!

Showing me his Dorothy the dinosaur. He also got a Wags the dog. Ethan got a feathersword. That's another reason we can't go there often, we'd spend too much money!

Snow Days!

Wow! Who knew Texas could have 12 inches of snow?! The kids really enjoyed playing in it. I was so glad that we had ski clothes that they could fit into from last year. I wasn't so happy about having to put it all on though. Especially on Caleb. He doesn't sit still so it takes twice as long to get him dressed just to be outside for a few minutes then he wants to go in. Then after you get all the wet, snowy clothes off he wants to go back outside. Ugh! I'm glad I don't live in the north!

This was from the first day. I was inside sleeping because I worked the night before so they played outside with Daddy. What a good guy to get them dressed in all of their garb all by himself!

Caleb making a snow angel.

Ethan making a snow angel...his turned out a little better than Caleb's. :-)

Ethan getting ready to smack Mondo with a snowball.

The front of our house.

Ethan's snowman on day #1.

Our snowman on day #2. See the Spiderman hat?

Our neighbor helped Mondo and I lift the snowman pieces then he took a family pic for us.

The side of our yard.

Our neighbor's yard across the corner. You couldn't even see her house or drive down the street. Crazy!

Big branch off the tree in our backyard. Of course it doesn't compare to the rest of our neighbors branches and giant uprooted trees. We were very lucky. My parents lost power for 2 days. I'm SHOCKED that we didn't since ours seems to go out when the wind blows.

Caleb playing on Tyler's swingset.

Jeffrey and I took Ethan, Tyler, and Caleb tubing down a hill in our neighborhood. They had a blast! Jeffrey and I were exhausted!

He doesn't look like he was having fun but he was!

Mondo made this giant snowball in the backyard.

Caleb thinks he's just as big as Ethan. :-)

This is the same snowball...a WEEK later! (Note Ethan standing on it in flip flops!)

We let Ethan destroy it.

Ethan tubing. And no, he didn't land in the water every time.

Caleb tubing. We got better each time so he got to go faster, just didn't get a video of it.

Sherry Baby

Here's a video of Caleb saying "I love you" and singing "Sherry Baby" (he sings it all the time thanks to watching The Jersey Boys on American Idol last year).

Ethan's Birthday Party

We gave Ethan several options for what he wanted to do for his birthday this year: Pump it Up, Chuck E. Cheese, Rainforest Cafe. I was actually suprised when he chose Rainforest Cafe. It is his favorite restaurant but I didn't really see it as a birthday place. We actually had not eaten there in several months. Mondo took the boys there a few weekends ago to finalize some bday plans and have lunch (I was home sleeping after work). He said Caleb totally freaked out! He climbed into Mondo's lap and buried his head in Mondo's chest and was shaking. He kept saying, "No monkeys!" Mondo had to take their lunch to go and ate it in the food court. Caleb was so traumatized that he even brought it up to me the next day: "Daddy...hold you...no monkeys...no dragon (the alligator)." Poor little critter! So, needless to say, Caleb did not attend his brother's birthday party. :-(

The birthday boy outside of Rainforest.

The birthday crew. I didn't have a chance to take a picture before the party so this is after...when they were all tired. Note Ethan and Will's face. :-) And Liam had already left. Left to right: Will, Caroline, Tyler, Ethan, Colton.

Tyler and Ethan when we first got there.

All of the kids were able to choose what they wanted for lunch off of Ethan's special birthday menu. The parents feasted on appetizers.

The birthday table.

It was a really cute set up. All of the kids got to keep their hat, they got a goodie bag, and they got to keep the Rainforest plate (a clean, prepackaged one of course).

We had the whole restaurant to ourselves...a perk of having the party in the middle of the week! The kids ran around and checked out all the animals.

They climbed on the tables to look at the fish.

Waiting for lunch wearing their birthday hats. Ethan's said "King of the Jungle".

Chowing down on lunch. Ethan had mac and cheese...of course.

I tried to get a nice picture but he was in a silly mood. This was the best I could do.

He requested a Superman cake this year. I was suprised by that since he doesn't really play with Superman stuff. And I guess Superman is going out of style because this was the only cake that all of the stores had. Luckily he thought it was cool.

Note Caroline and Liam in this pic: they are covering their ears. It is a loud place which is why Caleb doesn't like it. Caroline's mom said she wasn't a fan of Rainforest so I was proud of her for toughing it out!

They sang the Rainforest Cafe version of Happy Birthday. Our waitress shouted out to the empty restaurant, "Attention everyone! It's Ethan's 5th birthday!" I just had to laugh...there was only 1 other family there.

Missed the candle blowing shot. The boy is too fast! He couldn't wait to pull Superman out of the cake and lick off the icing. Apparently Will couldn't either...check out his tongue! Ha!

Anything Batman is a huge hit! Thanks to Jeffrey for picking it up on his lunch break, as Tyler informed us. :-)

He had plenty o' help opening presents.

Super Hero Squad!

Oh wait...one last suprise present...it's Colton!

After we had lunch at Rainforest, we headed over to Gameworks where the kids each got a one hour game card. Liam and Ethan really enjoyed this super hero game.

I hope this is the only motorcycle I ever see him on!

Tyler and Ethan were so cute "riding" this rollercoaster game. The chair vibrated and moved up and down as they watched a rollercoaster on the tv screen. They were cracking up the whole time.

Liam, Tyler, and Ethan playing pinball machines.