Video of Ethan walking!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8vAiL0CzQk

Today was a VERY exciting day in the Driscol household - Ethan took his first steps! He walked about three feet from Shawn to me. We're so proud of him! It won't be too long before he's full on walking, I don't think.

We started a gymnastics class last week, and he loves it! He gets to do all kinds of fun stuff - jumping on a trampoline, hanging from a bar, climbing stairs, walking on a 'bridge', and playing with other kids his age. It's nice for me, too, because I get some adult interaction!

I can't believe that Ethan will be a year old in a month and a half. This year has gone by SO fast!

The photo gallery is updated with his 8 and 9 month pictures. :)

Continuing in my fine tradition of once-a-month updates, here we go. :)

May was a pretty crappy month. Shawn has been traveling to Florida on business every other weekend all month, and is there this weekend as well. It's really starting to wear on both of us, because we rarely get time to just hang out at home anymore. And we probably won't for a while yet - next weekend is Natalie's wedding, so we're going back to Postville, and the weekend after that is a possible Florida trip as well. We're really hoping he doesn't have to go on that one, though. And then starting in July there will be trips to New York, but Ethan and I are definitely going along on one of those. We're hoping it will be 2 consecutive weekends so we can just spend the week inbetween doing the touristy thing instead of flying home on Monday just to go right back on Friday.

In Ethan news, we have 2 more teeth! Bringing the total to 4. He's got his 2 bottom front ones that are sticking up quite far, and two top ones off to the side that just poked through the other day. I can't tell yet if they're incisors or cuspids - the little bugger won't let me get a good look at them!

No walking or talking yet, though every day he seems to be getting closer to both. One day last week he stood up from a crouching position without having anything to pull up on, but he hasn't done it again since. He does let go of whatever he's holding on to occasionally, though - sometimes he falls right away, other times he stands alone for a few seconds. As for the talking, he babbles a lot more than he used to, but doesn't really say anything yet. There have been a few times where he's said BaBa when he's hungry, but I'm not sure if he's trying to say bottle or if it's just a strange coincidence.

I've been working a lot on my design business lately - I set up a new website and got all my existing designs put up. It's always a work in progress, though, because I come up with new ideas (and get asked for certain themes) all the time! So if you know anyone who is looking for birth announcements or birthday invitations, send them my way! www.fbrandbaby.com

That's about it for this month. I'm working on uploading a new set of pictures right now, so check out the photo gallery. :)

Last month was a pretty busy month for us. We all went to Shawn's mom's house for Easter and stayed a few days. On our way there that Thursday night, we drove through some pretty nasty storms. We got to Kalona around 11:30, and saw some emergency vehicles driving toward Iowa City. I checked the IC Police activity log when we got there, and it said something about looting at Happy Joe's. I was very confused, so I went to the Press-Citizen website and saw that tornadoes had hit! And we drove right through the storm that produced them! That was a bit scary. We drove around and looked at the damage, and it was very sad. I cried when I saw Dairy Queen reduced to a pile of rubble.

That Tuesday, we went to my parents' house, and Shawn came back home on Wednesday because he had to work. So Ethan and I spent a week and a half in Postville. We visited a bunch of family, went to Natalie's bridal shower, and bummed around a lot. It was a nice little vacation, and Ethan really liked having the run of Grandma and Grandpa's house. :)

Katelyn went to two proms while we were there, so we got to see her all prettied up two weekends in a row.

We came back home on the 30th, and it was very strange to be back home after being gone for almost 3 weeks! We're back to our normal routine, for the most part, but it took a few days for Ethan to get back in his groove.

This past weekend, Shawn went to Florida on business. He went to Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, and of course he was in heaven. :) He also went to New Smyrna Beach, and luckily headed back to his hotel before they closed the road out of there because of the wildfires! We picked him up from the airport last night, and he was glad to see us.

Ethan is still growing like a weed! Poor thing has a cold right now, so he's in a pretty crappy mood. We went up to visit my friend Michelle and her son Riley in Madison last Friday, and he had a good time playing. Riley is only a week older than him, and it was so neat to see the differences in their development. Ethan is much more mobile, as Riley isn't crawling yet, but Riley babbles a lot more and shakes his head 'no'. Very cute.

Ethan's latest thing is sitting with his legs folded underneath him, and he likes to bounce, both in that position and while standing. He's not quite to the point of being able to stand by himself, but he tries to let go quite a bit. He always ends up on his butt when he tries, though. He loves to explore the apartment, especially the dog bowls. I finally had to start putting them up on the kitchen table, because he'd make a beeline for them no matter where I set him down.

Abbie is doing well - I let her sleep in bed with me while Shawn was gone, and now of course she gets disappointed when she has to go in her kennel. She's also decided that laying on the couch is beneath her, and prefers to lay in my recliner. Silly dog.

I've added some new pictures to the photo gallery, so be sure to check them out! I think there's some new videos on the camera, too, so I'll try and get those uploaded sometime soon.

Not a whole lot new around here. Ethan is still getting way too big, but that's to be expected. :) He's getting really good at pulling himself up, and is quickly learning that lowering himself down gently is much superior to falling and bonking your head!

Here's some new videos, and hopefully I'll get a chance to upload a new month's worth of pictures to the gallery this weekend.

Pissed off 'cause he can't get up http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q9hgRDOl_f8
Gimme that camera! http://youtube.com/watch?v=WIBn3WrYvUc
Hanging out in the crib http://youtube.com/watch?v=AqUpIKuMXEg
My little wiggleworm http://youtube.com/watch?v=3BViYuU1ErA
Splish Splash I was taking a bath... http://youtube.com/watch?v=JJyUiWa_6PA
Come get Mommy! http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z21nB6TqXZ4
Standing up! http://youtube.com/watch?v=UDtMfirmnoE

OK, I finally had enough time to work on this website, including the photo gallery (link on the left!). I'm working on getting all of the over 2000 pictures up in there - and to think, I don't think I'm taking enough!

Things are good in Ethan land. He's growing up WAY too fast! Last week he mastered crawling, and this week he's working on sitting up on his own. He's getting pretty good at it, though he still has some moments of bonking his head on the floor. And today, he pulled himself to standing on the Lovesac! 5 month old babies are not supposed to be doing all this! *lol* We've been blessed with a fast learner. :)

He's been eating solids for about a month and a half now. His favorite by far is oatmeal and bananas mixed together. He's also a fan of apples, sweet potatoes, and peas. I'm looking forward to making more complex things for him.

Here are a few videos of him in action -

Crawling - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH6GpU1iNJs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2caJTTWsLA

Grabbing a patch of sunlight -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABv9lHdyxHE

Welcome

Welcome to Ethan's blog. I plan to post pictures, tales of his latest accomplishments, and other life updates here. Keep checking back for new stuff!