Summer Adventures

We've had a couple fun summer adventures recently. Eric wanted to show Ethan how to hunt for fireflies one night so we headed outside to do that. I ended up doing most of the firefly catching so that we could show them to Ethan. He was pretty indifferent, but enjoyed a shoulder ride from Eric.

Yesterday we did the Slavic Village Treasure Trek. It's an organized bike ride scavenger hunt designed to introduce you to a neighborhood within Cleveland. You have to ride around and find specific places, then they give you beads when you find them which you can turn in at the end for prizes. The harder to find places have gold beads. It was warm, but Ethan enjoys riding in his carrier and it was neat to learn some history of the city.

This was my favorite stop. Most of the others were businesses, but this one was some serious Cleveland history. The European immigrants that lived in this neighborhood burned this bridge during the race riots to prevent the African Americans from crossing into their neighborhood. It also served as one of the chosen body hiding spots for the Cleveland Torso Murderer back in the 30's. That's back when Elliot Ness was an investigator. The serial killer mystery was never solved. Fascinating stuff. The guy manning this stop on the tour read us a riddle in a "bridge troll" voice before we got our beads. Hilarious.

Ethan was a trooper. He was awake for the majority of the ride, but conked out at the end. He even got some ice cream along the way. 

Enjoying all the pirate booty mom and dad worked so hard all day to get.

Playing with the treasure map.

First Haircut

We got our first haircut this weekend! His hair was getting pretty long over his ears. Eric's regular stylist has a little boy so she agreed to cut his hair. The place is called "The Man Cave" and it's awesome. Private TV at each chair always tuned to ESPN. Ethan loved it. He barely even noticed it was happening. He watched soccer and played with his girraffe and just let her do her thing. We had worn him out pretty well earlier in the day. He went for his first long bike ride with us in the Metroparks. He did 15 miles and loved it!

Mom, move so I can see the soccer game. 

Tuckered out with a clean cut.

Big boy holds his own bottle now.

Trip to the Park

Well we had Ethan's 6 month check up and Eric finally got his long awaited ok from the doctor to put Ethan in the bike carrier. He suggested we keep the rides short until we see how he does with it. So we took a little journey to the park. We have one just up the street from us that has baby swings and everything! He seemed to really like the bike ride. Eric picked out a good one that has a shock system to limit the bumpiness. Once we got there he enjoyed some swinging, I took him down the slide, and Eric held him while we did the teeter-totter. He loved all of it.  

All ready for my bike ride!

Acting cool and chillin in the swing.

Easter

My parents came out to help Ethan celebrate his first Easter. We visited the botanical gardens and had lots of fun playing together. We also had Ethan's 6 month check up last week. His growth has slowed down quite a bit. He's 14 lbs 6 oz and 27 inches long. Eric finally had his chance to ask the doctor about putting Ethan in the bike carrier. He gave us the go ahead as long as he's not jostling around in there too much. It's been rainy ever since so we haven't tried it out yet, but I'm sure he's going to love it. Ethan is always surprising us with new tricks. He can now easily grab his pacifier and put it back in his mouth all on his own, he's getting close to crawling, and is just all around adorable when he plays.

Exploring the botanical gardens with Pa.

Finding grass to be interesting.

Checkin out flowers with Gram.

Being goofy with mom.

Working on my sitting skills.

Love to read (and eat) my books.

Just a cute picture.

Still occasionally interested in my thumb. 

Precarious Sleeper

Now that Ethan has truly mastered his ability to roll, he is never in the same spot as where I left him when he sleeps. He is rolling and scooting all over the crib. He'll get himself into uncomfortable situations too and sometimes he gets upset with those situations and sometimes he could care less. Mostly he just enjoys sleeping "butt up" with his little butt sticking up high in the air.

Precarious sleeping position that he couldn't have cared less about.

Sleeping "butt up" just like daddy did as a baby.

This little Nebraska sweater was made by Eric's grandma Janice Fassnacht for his dad Dan when he was a baby. 

My little angel playing in the crib while I put laundry away. Note the ISU shoes.

We had a gorgeous St. Patrick's Day. We started the day by going to the West Side Market downtown. Eric rode his bike and met us there. We had some crepes and shopped around a bit. The rest of the day was spent outside on the patio with some friends that came over.

Mini Eric

Here are baby pictures of me and Eric. I think it's quite clear he's a mini Eric. I think he has my head shape, but Eric's face.

Baby Eric

Baby Katy

Leap Day Fun

Our Leap Day was a beautiful 65 degree day. We took Ethan for his first walk sitting in the stroller like a big boy. He loved it! He enjoyed looking at everything we went by and just kept happily babbling in the stroller.

He really goes after his little giraffe while sitting in the bumbo. Look at that determined face!

Happy little eater.

He loves to pull on this vibrating frog toy while sitting in his car seat.

Leap day walk in the stroller like a big boy.