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August 13 - We made a good dinner tonight, and ate our first eggplant from the
garden (a Thai dish, very spicy and sweet, yummy), plus a bunch of green beans
(with chicken, green curry), and a cucumber and onion salad. Bountiful. Ethan
makes the change sign when I lay him down on the changing table and make the
sign to him.
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August 14 - Ethan signed to Jeff that he wanted to be changed. Brilliant. Today
Jeff says Ethan said "bye-bye" a lot. He's so cute.
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At Sunday dinner at Ann and Zack's place, Ethan said "light" (well, almost)
imitating me. He does the sign for it, too. Suddenly he's learning signs and
words at lightning speed.
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August 17 - Jeff's friend Carter visited. I had two shows -- one at the Oregon
Nikkei picnic, then later downtown at the India Cultural Festival. Tom and his
girlfriend, Chiaki, stopped by on their way up to Canada. Carter, who is a
Montessori teacher, said she could hear Ethan saying a lot of stuff that we
weren't understanding. We'd thought he maybe said, "Here" a few times, but she
was certain he did -- in fact, she heard him say, "Here you go." So now I think
we're more likely to believe that we heard him say something the first time.
When we were sitting oustide, I asked if he wanted food, and he made the food
sign. Then I asked if he wanted milk, and he made the milk sign. I guess he'd
take either one.
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August 20 - Ethan is one whole year old today. Amazing. I've been thinking a
lot about giving birth a year ago, and what that was like, and how amazing the
whole thing is. We had some people over -- Molly & Chris, Ann & Zack, Karla and
her mother and the twins, Dane and Chad, Jeff's dad. Also, Sarah from next door
came by.
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I was a little more stressed than I should have been, getting ready for the
party. Made two salsas, a salad, Jeff made hummus. I made my first cake ever,
but was I content to follow the recipe exactly? No. I altered it. Instead of
chocolate buttermilk cake with chocolate buttermilk frosting, I substituted
orange zest for the chocolate in the cake. It turned out quite delicious, but
it was a very short cake. Which was fine, once we got it all frosted and
everything.
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I'd said in the email that people didn't have to bring presents, but of course
everyone did. He got a package in the mail from Angie and Dave, including a
ball-pounder and some books. Some clothes from Karla. Books from Dane.
Aquaducks lessons from Ann and Zack! Clothes and toys from Jeff's dad -- great
toys, like a train that scoots along, and a little electronic keyboard. So, he
had some cake -- not much, mostly just mushed it around in the grass. But he
enjoyed doing that. I don't think he liked the chocolate very much -- stuck out
his tongue. It was a nice, mellow gathering, just sitting outisde on the grass
and chatting. Will and Anna are so cute. Will totally got in Ethan's face and
kept trying to eat his shirt. Very funny.
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Today we started a new game: we say "Rrrawr" and make claws. Then he tries it.
It's SO FUNNY. He makes claws, and then says, "Rah!" while he clenches the
claws into fists and squinches up his eyes. He's pretty scary-looking.
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August 22 - Erika's present arrived today -- a rocker/trike thingy. Ethan loves
it. It's supposed to be for 18 months to 5 years, but he already really likes
it. He rocked, and he also scooted around on it with the handle out. It's less
likely to fall over than the giraffe. He can scoot backwards pretty quickly,
though he hasn't got the hang of forwards yet. Also, Jeff turned it upside-down
for him and he spun the wheels. A multi-use toy.
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August 27 - Down visiting Mom for the week. I spent the morning in the park.
Ethan had fun on the swings and the slide. We also visited the hospital again.
Mom's looking well. I had dinner with Julie at Stanford Shopping Center. She
heard Ethan say "bright light" and "more water." Could be. Ethan walked down
the hall with Mom, she with her IV and he pushing his stroller. He really likes
to do that.
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August 29- Julie was over most of the day, which was great. I left her with
Ethan asleep so I could just run to Campbell without him, to take care of
Pumpkin and Harry. When I got back he was awake, had finished off the Cheerios,
and, Julie swears, he said "tomato." We walked to the park together. Mom came
home in the evening, after a long day waiting for the doctor to clear her to
come home. Glad to have her home.
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August 31 - Dave and Angie and Nicholas came up for a visit. We had scones.
Ethan and Nicholas played through the legs of a chair. Also, Nicholas showed
Ethan how to climb into the Lego box, which Ethan imitated as soon as Nicholas
left. Then we walked to the park. Swings, slide, sand. Ethan really likes the
twisty slide. I even lifted Nicholas up to the top of the slide -- once. It was
great to have Dave lift Ethan up sometimes, and also just really nice to see
them.
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Nicholas' diaper started coming undone on the slide, and finally it came off,
so we decided it was time to go home, since they hadn't brought another with
them to the park. As soon as we got home, Dave took Nicholas, and Angie went to
get a diaper... and Nicholas started saying "Pee! Pee!" which is something he
now says right before he pees, clever boy. Dave was getting very anxious, but
fortunately they got the diaper on him before he let loose. Nicholas can stand
up by himself, and takes a few steps.
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ethan