I don’t have any new pictures to post because Kari has the camera right now, but I thought I’d give you a review of what transpired this week.

 

Monday was a pretty normal day.  Nothing real exciting to report.  That night as Ethan was doing his usual routine of playing and tantrum throwing sprinkled with a little of his ADD and Kari commented that he’s like a little drunk person which is a pretty accurate description of his behavior most nights.  He falls all the time cause he never pays attention to where he’s walking or what’s in his path.  Quite often he’s completely irrational.  He thinks everything he says and does is hilarious.  And lastly he has almost tourettes like behavior with his yelling and random outbursts.  So anyway… that’s life with Ethan.

 

Tuesday was a big day for Ethan.  He moved up to his new room at day care and is now in pre-school.  He loves it.  The kids up there are more advanced and of course he has a whole new set of toys to play with.  That night while we were playing Ethan had out his beach toys and put the bucket on his head and started yelling into it.  We of course start laughing and he notices this and immediately starts performing for us.  His yells get louder and he adds whipping his head back and forth really fast to the routine so the bucket falls off his head.  Once it does he starts laughing hysterically and starts all over and continues to get louder and shaking his head faster until the point drool is flying out of his mouth.  It was quite the performance.  As I’m watching all I can think is all the trouble he is going to get in later in life “performing” for his peers.  I bet he breaks my principal office visit record in his rookie year of school.  I had to go twice in one year… neither one was my fault though.  Just an innocent bystander caught up in the misbehavings of others. 

 

Wednesday was a normal day again.  I picked him up from daycare and they told me he had gotten a Thomas the Tank sticker at lunch for eating a couple grains of rice.  He was very proud of it and was quick to show it to me.  They all cheered for him for doing so… its sad what this has come to trying to get him to eat anything.  Though he did start eating apples this week at home so at least we’ve added something somewhat healthy to his otherwise completely unhealthy diet.  I had run during work that day so my feet hurt and I asked him to rub my feet while I was lying on the couch.  He yelled “No!” and ran off before I could argue with him.  So, I’m the only left in the house who will rub my feet.  I may as well be talking to a wall when I ask Kari.  This is the part where you all think, ‘poor Joel… he really has it rough’ and you know what… you’d all be right.  On top of genetically handicapping me with the fat gene and quickly thinning hair my parents also gave me the gift of flat feet.  Maybe if I get a signed note from the doctor Kari might actually help me out.  ANYWAY… while he was snacking he told me he had to go potty so we rushed into the bathroom and I tried to put him up on the toilet to go and he took that opportunity to put both of his feet into the toilet.  Wonderful.  After getting everything arranged the way its supposed to be Ethan put all of 10 seconds into sitting there and with nothing happening he declared that he was all done.  So we put his diaper and clothes back on and then he wanted to stand on the toilet and flush it and then wash his hands as if he had actually gone to the bathroom.  So, at least he has that part of the routine down.  Now if we could only get the first step down so I don’t have to change anymore poopy diapers.

 

Wednesday night I went to the airport to pick up my old college room mate Steve.  He was supposed to get in Wednesday morning but he had a 12 hour delay in San Francisco.  Thank goodness we didn’t have that same experience.  They did get him a hotel room for the night, but he didn’t get there until 4:00 AM and then he had to get up and jump on a 14 hour flight.  Brutal.

 

On Thursday Ethan spent the day jumping off a balance beam they had set up at day care.  The lady said he literally did that the entire day.  When I got there he was still doing it and it was the first day he hadn’t run up to me when I got there.  In fact, outside of smiling at me he pretty much didn’t acknowledge my existence.    So, I watched him jump for a couple minutes and then he had me help him jump off the high one which was about as tall as him.  Once again, no fear.  That night Steve and I went to the bar with some co-workers and after a lot of chirping from both sides it turned into a Team USA vs. Team Australia drink off.  That alone should be evidence of our decision making capabilities at the time and if that wasn’t enough the night ended with Steve and I drinking whiskey and water.  I don’t like whiskey when its mixed with something… with water was incredibly unpleasant but I had to sacrifice for the team.  Team Australia stayed out longer so they won… but after seeing everyone this morning I think we all lost in the end.  As we were stumbling home we stopped to get a frozen pizza and trying to count money was far beyond our comprehension so we just threw a bunch of money on the counter and told him to take what he needed.   It was like watching mom in Mexico trying to deal with the people in the markets.  In our defense the coins here are a pain in the arse and that’s what we were trying to pay with.

 

Anyway, while Steve and I were doing our best to get moved up the liver transplant list Kari and Ethan went to the park.  Kari told me everything they did last night but I only remember some of it.  I know they played and had a cookie and were almost attacked by a bird cause it wanted Ethan’s cookie.  Other than that the details are sketchy at best. 

 

Today was uneventful.  As you can probably guess work was less than pleasant.  Steve spent the day at the beach and I hate him a little bit for that.  He and Kari are back at the bar now.  My liver is on the DL for at least a couple days so I was more than happy to stay home.  Ethan and I spent the night playing and wrestling.  As soon as I got him dried off after the bath and was hanging up the towel he sprinted out the bathroom butt naked and laughing and then stood in front of the patio door.  Its his new favorite thing to do.  Hopefully the neighbors haven’t noticed.

 

Ethan has developed a new strategy for trying to get himself out of trouble.  As soon as you start to get mad at him he runs up to you and says “Hi Daddy” or “Hi Mommy” all excited and sweet and hugs your leg.  Of course it works… for now anyway.  It kind of reminds me of Homer’s strategy of not looking at you when you’re yelling at him cause if he doesn’t see me I must not see him. 

 

Ethan’s other new thing is to yell “YAY!” after stuff when he’s happy about it.  That’s a terrible explanation but let me give you some examples.  Last week when Kari had him at the park and she told him he was going to McDonalds and getting chicken he yelled “McDonalds, YAY!” and “Chicken, YAY!”  The other night it was “yogurt, YAY!” and “Thomas, YAY!”  Its pretty funny.

 

He’s also fond of saying “Ummm” when you ask him a question and he has to think about it.  Often times its when you’re holding him and looking in the cupboard or fridge for what he wants to eat.  Its fun to watch him think and see the gears turning in his head.

Anyway… that’s it.  Have a good weekend.

 

Sincerely,

Joel