I'm a walking machine

Ever since Ethan started walking on Halloween that was it, he wanted to walk and walk and walk.  Most days you see him walking from one place to another for no real reason but that he can now.  I know most people say its so hard when they start walking because they are into everything, well I guess in that regard nothing has really changed for us considering Ethan was into everything before he was walking.  Ask me in a few weeks when he gets really good at it, but right now I think its a lot of fun.  I can't get enough of just watching him walk all over the sight never gets old for me as I sit there and marvel how he went from crawling to walking. He likes to follow us around the house, never wanting to take our hand when it is offered almost like "I can do it mom and dad." One of the new habits he has taken up since walking is carrying around his blanket.  He has a specific blanket my aunt Maria made him that he sleeps with every night.  And in the mornings when you open the door he is standing there in his crib dishoveled and blurry eyed but with one hand holding the end of his blanket.  As the day progresses you will see him walking around holding onto the tip of the blanket as it is slung over his shoulder trailing behind him like a cape.  Matt says that this is his favorite thing about his new ability and he doesn't think he will ever get sick of seeing him do that.  We joke that he we should just call him Linus after the character in the Peanuts cartoon that carries his blanket everywhere.

This isn't his blanky but Matt caught this picture after Ethan became really quiet he looked and he had fallen asleep like this

He can walk and hold his bottle at once .. Action shot

A few weekends ago Larkin and Willa came to RR for a visit.  Gerry and I loaded all three kids into the Jenny's van and took them to a near by park.  It was the tallest play structure I had ever seen, and also the most elaborate.  This was Ethan's first time going to the park since being able to walk and he had a blast.  He went all over not really letting the uneven tan bark knock him down or make him loose his balance.  He even figured out how to crawl up the play scape to the slide and after a few assisted attempts he wanted to go down by himself (me keeping my hands on his legs because I wasn't ready to let go).  When the girls wanted to kick the ball on the grass he kept trying to escape back to the slide he had become obsessed!  I can't wait to take him back.

Can you see Willa & Larkin in the bubble ?

Walking around the park

Playing with the ball in the grass

Eating a snack after playing hard

Nadine came into town to visit us this last weekend.  She was working in Dallas and decided to come see us! Even though it was a super short visit (the lucky duck got invited to a cowboys game something Matt says as a Texas resident his whole life hasn't done)  we had so much fun.  Ethan was super shy at first putting his head into my shoulder and then peaking out at her.  But by the end they were BFF.  He would climb up on the couch and snuggle up right next to her.  And in the car they were playing in the backseat in their own little world that it was almost like Matt and I weren't in the car.  She was a natural with him, and you could tell she had a fan in Ethan.  We really can't wait for her to come back!

Ethan & Deanie cuddling on the couch (Ethan has chocolate ice cream face)

Happy Halloween

This year for Halloween we thought it would be really cute to continue the tradition (ok I know we only did it one other time) while we can get away with it and have Ethan and Tuck dress to fit one another.  So Ethan was a monkey, and Tucker was a banana.  The plan was to dress the boys up and go to a couple of house over near Bill and Gerry's  but well Ethan had other plans. The really cool thing about the start of the night was Ethan started walking like crazy, almost as if to say "ok guys its Halloween take me trick or treating!"  His fabulous mood ended when we put his costume on.  Lets just say that Tucker was the better of the two at keeping his costume on.  Matt had warned me that he hated it and had a complete melt down when he tried to put it on him to model for Larkin and Willa the night before(which by the way if Auntie Jenny hadn't run it back to us after we forgot it he wouldn't have even been able to dress up Thank You).  And tonight we had a repeat.  I didn't think we would even get a picture, but we managed to snap a few good ones after a thousand attempts.  
Since Ethan was in such a bad mood we decided to take him outside to watch the trick or treaters.  He and Tuck sat out front and greeted them all.  They both really loved it.  Tuck would go right up to them Ethan in tow and he would just start blabbering away.  Ethan managed to get the snaps undone on his costume so his costume just sort of hung once it was like that he didn't mind the costume as much.  He was walking all over the front porch area and going up and down off the chair we have sitting out front.  Towards the end of the night (when the bigger kids come out) a kid that was probably eleven came up and Ethan went to greet him as usual until he looked up and saw the kid was wearing a scream mask.  He completely lost it and started screaming hysterically.  The kid was so good and took it off immediately.  But after that he was a little more hesitant to go right up to the kids.
Here are a few photos from our night.

Melt down

Look at Tucks face

We gave him candy and it went better

Monkey!

Monkey and Banana

Banana

Monkey

The boys waiting for Trick or Treaters 

Sadie Baby!

We are so excited to announce that we have a new addition to our family Sadie Brynn Bock!  She was born October 9th at 10:35pm.  Weighing in at 8lbs 3 oz and 20 1/4 inches long.  

Just born!

A real close up of her when she was three days old  I love seeing those eyes!! 

So far we have got to see our new little peanut three times!  She is so easy going spending most her time sleeping but when she is awake she just looks around.  I hate to jinx Jenny but she doesn't even really cry.  Mom and baby are doing great!  In fact the whole family is doing beautifully Larkin and Willa are amazing big sisters.  We can't wait to watch her grow and play with Ethan!

Lots of change!

I know it has been awhile since I have posted a blog but a lot has changed since my last post.  I found a job!! With that came with a ton of change for the Wigmore family.  So long were the days of the calendar being empty we now all are juggling our new adventure.  For me it was going back to work full time, Matt it was his first semester taking a full load and for little boop it was starting daycare. There is still a lot to figure out, but I am happy to say we survived our first month something that seemed impossible those first few weeks.

Our first day

We have been keeping up on documenting Ethan as he grows even though I haven't posted in awhile.  Here is a quick highlight of what we have been up to:

My family from Dallas and Seattle came to visit one weekend.  Karen & Melissa live in Dallas and Sherri lives in Seattle.  Sherri was visiting and also brought her and Karen's mother Dolores.  It was so much fun to see them.  In fact we always have so much fun that my mom and grandma Ray came as well. Since it was a girls weekend Matt kept to himself ( I don't really blame him since we mostly did a lot of chatting, which I enjoyed since I live in a house with all boys)!  I think the highlight of the trip was taking them to the Oasis.  Melissa brought her baby Abby and we got the cutest pictures of Ethan and her.  She was a doll she kept posing with all the statues and entertaining everyone as they walked up.  It was a really nice night to be out too, it was one of the few nights it was tolerable to even be outdoors.  The evening was topped off with frozen yogurt which Ethan ate most of, and believe me when I say he got the Wigmore gene for love of ice cream although I can think of a particular Great-grandfather on my side that loves ice cream too...

The gang at the Oasis 

Cute little babies!

The first weekend in October we grabbed Gerry and met Joel, Jenny, Larkin and Willa out at the pumpkin patch.  It was the same place we went to pick strawberries when we first moved here.  Jenny had told me about how great it was at Halloween time because of all the activities they provide.  It was a first for me to be picking pumpkins in 100 degree weather, it made it so it was a very quick decision.  But while we were there the girls picked flowers out of the flower field , and we went for a hayride.  Ethan was terrified, poor little guy clung to Matt, which we probably should have expected since he is afraid of the sound of the vacuum and a tractor is twenty times louder.  Along the path of the ride they had setup little scenes made of scarecrow people.  Willa was so excited she kept tapping me and would say "look at that one"  or "wave Auntie Laura you have to say hello."  After being in the sun for so long the kids all got some homemade pumpkin ice cream which they devoured not even sharing with any adults (Ethan included).

Those are Ice cream smiles

Flower field 

Which one should we pick?

Ethan has really taken off lately.  He is a chatter box now even though you can't make out half the words that come out of his mouth.  But the few he does say are very clear.  His communication skills are growing by leaps and bounds as well as his appetite!  The other day I was doing the dishes and  he was eating in his highchair and my back was to him and he yelled MOM and I turned around he just grinned at me and pointed at his empty tray, obviously telling me he wanted more.  Tucker and him have become closer and closer.  I was worried for a while that they would never have the Lassie and Timmy relationship I had dreamed about.  But little by little (Tuckers tummy isn't getting little more like bigger from all the food Ethan feeds him) they are really starting to get a long and actually play.  Matt said that Tuck will even play tug a war with his baby with Ethan and when he looks like he is about to fall over backwards he lets go.  Ethan even snuggles up and puts his head on Tuck and Tucker doesn't immediately bolts up.  The real change was the other day when Ethan woke up and started to cry I walked down the hall and Tuck was anxiously waiting in front of Ethan's door with a worried look telling me "Hurry up he's crying".

Snuggle up 

A few new things about Ethan:

He has: four top teeth and one bottom tooth

His favorite thing to carry around : drum sticks he got with a drum he got for his birthday

He still : Is not walking (he can but just doesn't trust himself)

His new funny thing:  pretending to sneeze so he can hear you say "bless you"

New love: Dancing! He hears music and just goes crazy moving and grooving and clapping

This is one of the many videos we got lately of Ethan dancing!

My first Birthday in California!

Matt and I went out to California the last weekend in August to celebrate Ethan's first birthday and my grandma Nancy's birthday.  Ethan and I flew in before Matt because he had school.  We got to go to Tahoe for a couple of days and it was so nice to be in 70 degree weather.  I think Ethan went for a walk in his stroller probably three to four times a day, including 6am walks up to the Starbucks with my dad and I for morning coffee.  At the house we rent when we go up to Tahoe (my family has been renting this house for years so its awesome to be able to bring my husband and baby there) there is a private beach so the first night we were there after dinner we walked over to the beach at sunset and watched it set over the lake.  It was one of Ethan's first experiences with sand and he loved it.  My dad got him a pail and a shovel so he was having a great time.  Friday we picked up Matt in Reno and then on the way back stopped at one of my favorite little whole in the walls for lunch called Crosbys.  Once we got back to the cabin we took Ethan back to the beach to play on the beach and splash around.  He was a brave little guy and actually let us sit him on the edge of the water so the waves would come up over his feet.  He didn't even mind the cold water.  Every night we were there we enjoyed great company, good ole fashion bbq and good wine.  It was so nice to get out of the heat and actually spend sometime outside.  Most of the day was spent lounging in chairs outside.  Ethan even got a little power wheel type quad that goes one mile an hour so he road around the backyard on it.  Matt joked that if he could he would sleep outside naked it was so nice up there, I think I won him over with Tahoe.
Saturday we had to leave and get ready for Ethan's first birthday open house back in Castro Valley.  It was so great to see everyone.  Both sides of the family showed up and we had a great time chatting and having cake.  Poor Ethan was pretty tired from all of his traveling and he was two hours ahead but he did great.  Thank you everyone that came it was so special to have everyone there.  We left California early on Sunday morning.  Our flight home wasn't booked all the way so Ethan got his own seat and that made a world of difference.  It was probably the best flight I've had with him by far.  We were greeted with the Texas heat as we drove home from the airport the car read 109.

Group pic at the beach in Tahoe

playing in the water 

Ethan and Grandpa (notice the shirt)

Playing in the sand

Silly hat in a tahoe shop

In all the excitement of Ethan's birthday and traveling I haven't been very good at blogging lately and I am sorry.  I failed to say that Ethan popped his first tooth right around his first birthday.  Since then he has had two more that are poking through but haven't come down.  He hasn't walked on his own he can but just won't.  He went to his one year check up and he is 21.4 lbs and in the 90th percentile for his head (lots of brains).  They said he was a healthy little guy and he had the green light to start eating everything but nuts and honey.  He now enjoys meals with us and it is so nice to just give him what we are eating.

Birthday boy at his party

My First Birthday Party!!

Ethan's first birthday is rapidly approaching and this last weekend we had a birthday party to celebrate!  My grand-parents Earl & Rae and my mom and Shane all flew out from California to join us for a Texas birthday party.  It was such a nice blend of family from California, Texas and friends.  We had the party at Ethan's Uncle Joel and Aunt Jenny's house in Austin (thank you guys), which provided us with a little more space to party!  Larkin and Willa helped me decorate the house in Sesame Street themed decorations, they were so cute telling me exactly where they thought the decorations would look perfect.  They really have an eye for it because the house looked amazing once we were finished.  Jenny and I made a joint attempt at Ethan's cake (she did all the professional looking icing work) it was a giant cupcake and the top part was a replica of Cookie Monsters head with a chocolate chip cookie stuffed in his mouth!  When it came time to sing "happy birthday" we told everyone that we had to sing softly because due to a trial run the night before (in celebration of great grandpa Earls birthday) we knew that if sang loudly he immediately starts to scream.  I guess we should have figured because he is so scared of loud noises.  As everyone started to sing he slowly started to twist his mouth as if he was about to start to cry but then pulled himself together (proof of the change to a big one year old) and decided it was great and ended up applauding everyone after the song was over.

Matt cut up a regular person size piece of cake and plopped it down in front of him on his high chair tray.  At first he just sort of played with it.  But after the cake touched his lips it was game over, he dug in.  He devoured that piece.  In fact at one point it looked like he was going to fall right over onto his cake from the amount of sugar he just took in.  After he was done he threw one arm up in the air like "yah I did it."  The rest of the party he spent playing with the balloons we got as decoration.  They were pure entertainment for him and he kept hitting them and laughing.  The girls helped us open his presents because he wasn't interested in ripping paper which surprised me, since he has pulled tissue paper, toilet paper among other things before.  I think it was once he saw the first toy he got he zoned in on that because it was something new to play with.  Overall it was a great party we had a lot of fun and were so touched that everyone came to celebrate this monumental occasion for our family.  I think it is more of a celebration for Matt and I that we made it through the first year.

For the rest of the weekend and visit with my family from California we relaxed and had fun.  We took Ethan to the pool at my grandparents hotel.  He loved it.  Matt was pushing him around in the water and he was splashing  his hands and kicking his feet.  He was even sitting on the edge of the pool and would fall forward into one of our waiting arms.  No fear for this little guy.  Each time he goes swimming he gets more and more comfortable its really cute.  Later that night we had dinner at Bill and Gerry's and it was such a cheery atmosphere.  It is so nice to have parts of the families together, that is one of my favorite things is to be around family.  Matt and our little family definitely feel the love from everyone, thank you!

Cookie Monster Cake

Yummy cake

Party boys

Yah I'm done

Everyone enjoyed the blue cake!

Ethan & his Great-Grandpa Earl & Great-Grandma Rae

Oh my am I growing

I can't believe that we are one month shy of Ethan's first birthday, in some ways it feels like just yesterday we brought him home and in others I am reminded of what a crazy 11 months its been.  I think one of the things I have enjoyed most a long the way is seeing the changes in him.  It boggles my mind that he went from not even being able to hold his own head to walking on his own two little feet (assisted of course not a solo walker quite yet but close).  Each time he hits a milestone I think to myself I can't get anymore excited or proud and then he hits the next one and some how I am.  Lately, it seems like he becomes more of a little person than a baby, almost daily he does something that pushes him out of baby land.

Two weekends ago was a first for me, I left him in the care of his grandmas (yes that is right plural he is that cool to have double the fun) and went away to Houston for a wedding with Matt.  We had a great time and really enjoyed our mini vacation and I know it was due to the fact that we knew he was in good hands.  To our surprise we came back and he didn't even want us (it hurt my feelings I am not going to lie), a sure sign he was well taken care of.  Not to mention the little bump of a belly sticking and the 7 oz he gained.  While we were gone he was introduced to peas, which have now become his favorite thing to eat.  He also learned how to flip light switches on and off, and if he grabs your nose he expects honking noises to come out of your mouth.  His Mimi (my mom) stayed with us for the week and treated Ethan to an early birthday present of a "big boy" car seat.  No more "infant" car seat for our little man.

I decided to try out a Gymboree class last week I have noticed more and more that Ethan is at the age were he wants to interact with other little human beings.  If he sees another baby his size or even a toddler he immediately starts jabbering away to them or starring at them.  So I figured a Gymboree class would be a good start.  When we got into the play area I set him down seeing what his reaction would be and man did I have another bout of hurt feelings when he crawled off and left me in the dust, not even a leg tug or unsure look towards my way.  It was the cutest thing seeing his reaction to all the new things he was introduced to like bubbles, he looked at me like "mom are you seeing this it's amazing."  He even  made a friend in the middle of the parachute they were sitting on, the little boy came up and hugged Ethan and Ethan spread his arms and hugged him back.  Everyone "awwed" at this and to seal the deal as if it say "we accept you into the club" the little guy licked Ethan on the forehead.  I think he was trying to kiss him, because when Ethan tries to kiss he sticks his tongue out too at any rate our boy is in!  As fun as it was Gymboree is way over priced for 45 minutes once a week so I think we are going to go in another direction, but it was definitely a great start.

An example of Ethan's constant ability to get into things he shouldn't

My mom got this tent with a tunnel for Ethan to play in the other day we couldn't find Tucker and this is where we found him.  He loves hiding out in there and if Ethan tries to come in he uses the tunnel connected to it as an escape route.

Ethan in his tunnel grabbing his ball.. so far the only way we can get him to go in it

Silly baby with my sunglasses.. quite the ham

His new cars seat looks like its comfortable

Matt and I at the wedding .. we got to see all of our friends from the Marine Corp it was a lot of fun catching up.

Ty, Jason, Josh, Brian, Matt
"Old Marine buddies"

Vote for Ethan !!!

We have entered Ethan into the Gerber baby contest!  You have to have facebook to vote but you can vote everyday.  Even if you don't have facebook tell your friends lets get this baby out there.  Hurray!

ENTRY ID: 147349

http://apps.facebook.com/gerbe​rphotosearch/entry/147349/etha​n.aspx

Ethan has been moving around quite about lately.  If it is strong enough for him to pull up on he does.  the other day he shimmied over to my leg from the ottoman to the couch and put his mouth on my leg, and quickly realized he could make noise.   It was the funniest thing.  After this charade went on for a while matt tried to mimic him and his reaction was priceless.  Beware you are going to laugh!!

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More fun with family from out of town!

This last weekend Shane, Auntie Kathy and Brian came for a visit!  Brian drove from New Orleans and Shane and Auntie Kathy flew in from California.  We had a lot of fun showing them around the Austin area, and stuffing them with all of our great food.  They stayed in a hotel near by so on Friday we took Ethan swimming for the first time in a big pool.  He didn't know what to think of it at first, he clung to me like a monkey and we couldn't pry him off me.  He wouldn't even go to Matt which has to tell you something since he is usually a daddy's boy.  But we figured out he wants me when he wants to be comforted and Matt when he wants to laugh, so in a big body of water he has never experienced before I guess it makes sense he would want me.  But after a while with lots of silly faces and noises we got him to relax and he started splashing around and kicking his feet.  Pretty soon he was bonking Uncle Shane on the head, splashing with Auntie Kathy and braving the deep end with Matt.  I think next time will be even more of a success.

First pool experience

Saturday we went to downtown Austin.  I had never been so it was a first for me.  We walked through the famous sixth street and up to the state capitol.  It has beautiful architecture with tons of detail.  It has this impressive ceiling that has a star in the middle so Matt said get a picture of Ethan I will hold him up.  I said "ok" and watched confused as he proceeded to lay on the floor I looked at him and said "now where do I go?" he said "under us" so I just got on the floor and laid down next to them and snapped the photo.  This was in the middle of the building with a crowd of people.  My aunt and Shane broke into a fit of laughter at the ridiculous lengths we went to get the photo.  After I said "why didn't you just put him above your head and I would snap it facing upward" he said "I don't know what I was thinking" it was pretty funny to witness.  We were pretty hungry since we walked to the capital in hundred degree weather so Matt came up with the idea of asking the "fattest security guard" where the best place to eat is he recommended a chili parlor down the street so we headed that direction.  Before we left we posed for a picture with a canon they had displayed on the grass, it looks like Ethan is riding it.  After that we dropped Ethan off to hang with Jenny and the girls since the adults were going to hit up sixth street.  Jenny said the girls had a lot of fun helping get Ethan for bed and feeding him, its so great we have that help!

Silly picture taking

Shooting a cannon baby

The result of our silly picture taking

The oasis 

Sunday we didn't do much since the boys were recovering from their night out.  But I did take them to the Oasis.  It was so crowded people were parking a mile away and walking in to be there.  We only stayed long enough for sunset and got out of there before we got stuck.  But it is still a beautiful sight to see the sunset over the lake.  Monday was the fourth and we had a BBQ at Bill and Gerry's.  Shane and Aunt Kathy made a really cute American flag cake so after dinner we all enjoyed our patriotic dessert.  We didn't see fireworks because they were banned this year since there are such dry conditions.  It was ok though because honestly I think Ethan would have been scared out of his mind since he is terrified of the vacuum cleaner.  We finished the night off with a movie and a bottle of wine.  Everyone had a great time, Brian even said we would be his new evacuation route when the hurricanes hit New Orleans!

Tuck & Ethan our little patriots

All american boy

Flag cake (we told Ethan he couldn't have any yet)