He's a perfect 10!

10 months that is! Who knew our hearts could be so full? Ethan is such a source of joy! Over the past month, Eric and I have been reflecting on a song called Oh how He loves us . It's amazing to consider the depth of emotion that we feel towards Ethan despite our love being imperfect and flawed. And yet, God's love towards us is perfect and flawless--He is jealous for each one of us! How grateful we are to understand and experience these truths about God more fully through our son.

Ethan is full of curiosity and attentive to details. He is fascinated by light switches and doorbells--stopping to examine each one as we pass by. Though not "truly" crawling, he can commando-crawl, which gets him where he wants to go. He has just started moving from his stomach to his hands and knees and then into sitting. He is beginning to master standing at the foot stool for a minute or two on his own. His favorite games are pushing the blocks into the shape sorter, chasing bubbles, swinging, removing puzzle pieces and turning the pages in books, especially ones with flaps or "touch and feel" pages. This is him reading one of his favorite books with our friend, Luke, who is 4 months old.


Meal times continue to be a very social affair. He now drinks independently from his sippy cup. We are starting to see his willful independence if we offer help or try to give him food off of a spoon. He is much more interested in doing it himself, and even succeeds occasionally. He also greatly enjoys "sharing" with Mommy or Daddy, placing a piece of something from his tray into our open mouths.

We invested in a good backpack for Ethan and hired Daddy as a a private sherpa :) Our first expedition was blueberry picking (seen at right). Ethan really enjoys his new adult-level view of the world. He and Daddy go on long walks around the neighborhood whenever he can. We are excited about using the pack during our upcoming Cape Cod and Colorado vacations.

Daddy also successfully managed Ethan's first viral rash while Mommy was away at a women's retreat in July. Turned out to be hand, foot and mouth disease--very common and contagious during the summer and fall. He had a fairly minor case and was back to himself by the time Mommy returned. Thanks, Daddy!

The garden continues to grow, despite some low nitrogen issues with our soil. We are enjoying green beans, swiss chard, red peppers, banana peppers, tomatoes, carrots, our first zucchini, basil and a bounty of cut flowers. Needless to say, Betsy stays busy harvesting and freezing our goodies. Eggplant, cucs, raspberries and butternut squash should be ready in the next month.

Grandma and Grandpa Urban arrive on Friday for a visit and we are all very excited. Ethan just got his first BIG box to play in--so I'm sure Grandma will be excited!