ExerSaucer

Gary has entered a whole new world of putting things together. I've been so proud of him; he has put more things together in the last 6 months than in his whole life. My mom bought an ExerSaucer for Ethan, and Gary put it together this week. At first we thought that maybe it was too advanced for Ethan, but he is enjoying it and even turning around in it. Here are some pictures.

This is a picture of the first time we put him in it. He has a look on his face like "What in the world is this?" He quickly figured it out later in the day as you'll see below... after changing his outfit due to a leaky diaper...ahhh, moving up in diaper size once again- he's such a big boy!

Look at that concentration!

Ah, yes, the concentration paid off! It's in his mouth! He's at that stage of putting everything in his mouth. After he played with the pig, below, for a bit, he tried putting it in his mouth too. Notice his thumb and two fingers in the mouth. He was sucking his thumb, but that's not been enough. Lately, it's been his thumb and one or two fingers at the same time.

And, of course, I've got to put the cute smile on here.

No Anemia

Last month when Ethan got his immunization the doctor tried to check him for anemia. I think that I mentioned in a previous post that she wasn't able to find a blood vessel, so she said that she would try at his 4 month check-up. I can see why it would be difficult. He has quite a bit of fat to keep those blood vessels hidden. :-) So, last week we took him to the doctor for another try. Here is a picture of him all bandaged up from where they put some kind of cream on him so it wouldn't hurt so badly. Though he wasn't smiling once they started poking him with a needle. They put this cream on 4 different places and then put bandages around them. They still couldn't find a blood vessel in his arm, but they did succeed with finding a capillary in his heel. The results came back that he doesn't have anemia anymore, so we are thankful for that good news.

Another New Friend for Ethan

Ethan and I were both glad to see Gary back home. Emily offered to babysit Ethan, so Gary and I went out to eat last night. It was so nice after him being gone for 8 days. THANK YOU Emily!

Ethan didn't really notice his new little friend and just looked at Michelle when we were trying to get him to look at William. Michelle had William yesterday by an unplanned C-section. Thankfully they are both fine. It was weird going to Telki to visit them today. The last time I was in the car on the way to Telki I was in labor. Michelle is in the same room that I was in, so that brought back memories too. It's hard to believe that I just had Ethan 4 months ago! I definitely like how things are now more than those first few months. I'm sooooo thankful that those are behind me.

First Time Flying Solo

Gary has been in Poland teaching for the last 8 days. His train arrives in Budapest at 10:30 tonight. I'm counting the hours now!

This was the first time that he has traveled since Ethan was born. I was real nervous and dreading him leaving. The first few days that Gary was gone were pretty difficult, but then it got better. Since Ethan's naps are usually 30-45 minutes a couple of times a day, I knew that I wouldn't have much time to cook and clean dishes, so I prepared my meals and froze them before Gary left. I'm so glad that I did that. The hardest part of him being gone was him not coming home in the evening and me eating dinner alone. Thankfully, I did not eat alone Sunday-Wednesday nights.

Monday night Laura and Emily (mine and Gary's 'adopted daughters')came over, and we made pizza. After 3 years of living here, Laura is heading back to the States. I will definitely miss her! Here is a picture of us.

There was a Michael W. Smith concert on Tuesday night. It was the 1st time that he has held a concert in Central or Eastern Europe. Gary encouraged me to go knowing that I would need to get out and socialize, and since this type of thing doesn't happen often. I kept going back and forth, but finally decided not to go. Between getting there, the concert, and getting home I probably would have been gone around 5 or so hours, and that was going to just be too expensive to pay for the concert ticket and a babysitter for that long. I was really disappointed, but I praise the Lord for blessing me with such a great Tuesday. I found out on Monday that Edit's husband was going to the concert, so I invited her and Zsuzsi over for dinner. A couple of different Hungarians invited me to their homes earlier in the day, Michelle and her mother-in-law popped by, and then Edit came over. So, it was a day full of going from one social thing to another... which Ethan and I both loved! It was Ethan's (and my) best day that Gary has been gone. Here is a picture of Ethan and Zsuzsi. He will be 4 months old on Monday, and Zsuzsi is a little over 5 months old. I think that Ethan looks like a football player next to her.

This is a typical picture to show how Americans dress their children and how Hungarians dress their children in warm weather. It was about 80 degrees on Tuesday. Ethan- short sleeves, shorts, no socks; Zsuzsi- long sleeves, pants, and socks. Edit and I just laugh about it.

I also have to brag about my wonderful husband. He e-mailed Emily and Laura from Poland and asked them to buy me flowers and bring to me when they came over Monday night. It was so sweet when they showed up and said that these were from my husband. He is so thoughtful!