Ethan continues to make great strides forward managing to amaze us.
Sunday, April 20 was our first Sunday back to our churches. Randy left a little after 8:00. I dropped Ethan off at Dick and Joann’s at 8:30 and went on to my first service at 9:00. Joann and Dick took Ethan to Faith at 10:00 for Sunday School and worship at 11:00, where I was reunited with him following the service.
Ethan handled the morning so well! I was nervous going into the 11:00 service, but he was fine. Dick and Joann are doing a terrific job with him. They were so kind to give their time in advance to get acquainted with Ethan.
Other updates …
Getting teeth. Ethan now has a total of six teeth. He had his lower two front teeth when we brought him home. His two upper outer front teeth came in after we got him. Now his upper middle front teeth are poking through!
Preparing to walk. Ethan is still preparing to walk. His balance has improved so that he can stand and dance with no hands. He also occasionally does what Randy calls “squats” to strengthen his leg muscles. He loves for us to take his two hands so he can strut his stuff from one end of the house to the other! It won’t be long until he’s walking on his own.
Learning to chew. We have been trying to teach Ethan to chew. He sometimes makes big chewing motions while he’s eating his baby food (usually with his mouth open). Gerber Graduates Finger Foods were recommended because they easily melt in the mouth. In fact, the Banana Puffs were part of the success in our travels to Asbury last week (he started chewing two days before the trip!). Ethan was so excited to pick up a Puff from my hand and get it into his mouth and chew! This kept him quite occupied while we traveled. (He is a bit confused, though, when we read one of his books that has a “choo choo” in it. 🙂 )
Mom and Dad are making strides too. Ever since we’ve been home from Korea we have been keeping a running journal on what and how much Ethan eats and when and how much Ethan sleeps. We stopped keeping track of his eating a couple of weeks ago, thinking we pretty much have that down now. We are now ready to stop recording his sleep. His night sleep is pretty standard (10-11.5 hours). His naps are more sporadic. He takes a late morning nap regularly. We are considering letting go of the afternoon nap — he doesn’t always go to sleep and it just makes mom and dad more tired trying to get him to sleep.