Play Ball!

We signed Ethan up for T-ball last summer, and Abbey enjoyed watching him so much that she asked to play this year, so they both got to play in the coach-pitch league.  Eight games in one month, plus a playoff, although they each missed two games for illness and another two for a poorly-scheduled vacation.  They enjoyed it, but neither seem very enthusiastic about playing again next year.  We'll see how they feel next summer.

Isaac always had the option to stay home, but he chose to come to every single practice and every single game.  Maybe he just wanted to stay with his playmates, but I think we'll see about getting him into T-ball next year.

Ethan dances with Tigger, and Abbey feeds her doll

Ethan loves to dance with Tigger. And Abigail is really starting to use her imagination as she takes care of her dolls: besides feeding them, she also puts them to bed and changes their diapers.

Ethan's first shoes

This was taken sometime in early to mid August, shortly after he started walking. He'd just been to Walmart with Debbie to get his very first shoes.

Ethan's first peach

Ethan found a peach on the table and wandered off with it. Debbie said he ate about half of it, which is pretty good for only having his front teeth.

Ethan Making Friends with Striker

Striker hasn't been all that enthusiastic about having kids in the house. It's hard to find a peaceful place where they won't bother him. There are some benefits, however...

">

Cars and Trucks

Ethan is way more into playing with cars and trucks than Abbey is, even at 16 months old.

Ethan, advanced walking

This was taken just last night, when Ethan surprised me by walking all the way across the living room from the TV to me. I'm hoping I can get a video of him crawling before he completely gives that up, but it might be too late already. I'm happy he's walking---he's so excited!---but I'm also kinda sad to see him stop crawling. He was/is such a cute little crawler!

New Milestone for Ethan

On February 18, Ethan achieved his first mobility milestone (if you don't count scooting): he started crawling!

="">

More Sibling Fun

Taken just last night (October 25, 2009): Abbey's playing ring-around-the-walker with Ethan.

Corn-shucking

Taken August 18, 2009: I was prepping the north side of the house for some touch-up paint, observed by Ethan, while Abbey was learning to shuck corn.

Abbey helping in the kitchen

Learning to bake...

Ethan learns a new trick!

This is from late June: the first day that Ethan rolled over (half way, anyway).

Petting the goats

We ended our day at Binder Park Zoo with a visit to the Children's Zoo, which included this petting enclosure, with very friendly (which is to say, they ignored us) pygmy goats.

It's not a one-baby household any more!

Here's Debbie just after noon, as we were packing up to head to the hospital.



Ethan Gary Williams was born at 1:56pm, 7 lbs 11 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. The labor went really fast, only an hour after we were admitted (Abigail, by contrast, took 12 hours from admittance). He came out so quickly that there wasn't enough time to get an epidural or any other kind of pain-killer in, so Debbie had to go all natural. She did very well, though I hope she doesn't have to go through that again!

Piano-playing

This was taken February 26, back during happier times for Abigail. Since then, she's come down with some kind of stomach bug that keeps her from doing much of anything. Yesterday she felt too blah to do anything besides sit on someone's lap: today she has the energy to cry but is still pretty wiped out. We hope she gets better soon!

Playtime!