52 : 52 (part 4)

It is hard to believe that Ewan has been with us for 208 weeks. He joined our family at 3:33pm 208 weeks ago today... While he has 4 more days of 3 the celebration began with a "Secret Pizza Party" (his favorite book about his favorite food) party with his school friends. We celebrated with pizza cupcakes, story time, and a copy of the book for each of his friends.

52 : 51 (part 4)

Last week we had to say goodbye to our Barley. She was our first baby and the third resident of our home, and for the first four years of Ewan's life she was his buddy. We took a day to calm ourselves down and then we told Ewan. We worried about telling him because he feels all the feelings. As we expected he was crushed and asked a lot of questions. Since we shared the news he has been pretty attached to his Barley and Coco stuffies and probably reflexively looks for her like we do.

52 : 50 (part 4)

This week Ewan's class celebrated Valentine's Day with crazy hair and treats. We made lightsabers out of Pixy Stix for each kid... we are sure their parents' appreciated the orange scented sugar highs.

52 : 49 (part 4)

Mama and Daddy returned from a long weekend away with expectations of a quiet dinner and baths for the babies, at this point they know better than to have expectations, but this was a good reminder.

All seemed to be going well until Ewan was getting lotioned by Daddy, and tried to run to Mama, and dislocated his elbow. Mama and Daddy were in denial that this was even possible for our strong boy, but little did we know that at this age tendons are longer than bones and this is really common. After a quick trip to urgent care, with nice nurses who offered crackers, Ewan was all fixed up by a quick moving Doctor. No real downside except for the fact that he now thinks doctors can always fix him so he is verging on fearless!

52 : 48 (part 4)

For Christmas Ewan's Grampy got him a wagon that he promptly named "Wagon the Dragon". He loves taking Dragon to the park and on neighborhood adventures with his baby.

52 : 47 (part 4)

At school Ewan traces or writes his name every morning when he arrives. How many they trace or write depends on how they are doing with the task. After the holidays Ewan came back to largely just writing his name, one day of tracing, and this last week they added his last name. We are obviously proud, and so is Ewan.

52 : 46 (part 4)

This past weekend we made our way to LA to celebrate the life of Ewan's great uncle Dennis, a man that could make anyone feel welcome and loved. To shake our legs out after a 6 hour drive we stopped at daddy's alma mater, UCLA, and we found out we may have a future bruin on our hands.

52 : 45 (part 4)

As a big almost 4 year old Ewan likes to tell us how not tired he is through big yawns and eye rubs. We are very happy to have a big almost 4 year old that still naps daily...and even when he trys to resist 5 minutes in the car will do it every time!

52 : 44 (part 4)

This picture was technically taken last week, but since Ewan keeps on talking about it I have decided that it is worth commemorating in this week's post. Ewan has been pretty Star Wars addicted since his Daddy showed him all 6 films when Mama was away on a long business trip last Spring. His favorite character is by far Darth Vader and he is pretty amazing at identifying many of the characters. One of our favorite Star Wars memories of late was when he started singing, "you're a mean one Boba Fett" to the tune of the Grinch song. Shockingly I think this memory was usurped by a conversation we had while enjoying Episode 7. Part way in to the movie I turned to Kevin and said, "is that an AT-AT?" To which Ewan piped in with an exacerbated (due to my ignorance) "Yes, it is Mama!"

52 : 43 (part 4)

For months all Ewan could talk about was this dinosaur, he politely asked Santa for it when we visited him, and the old man delivered. He loves that this dinosaur stands, and walks, and growls, and burps... his parents tolerate it for his happiness. His Mama and Daddy also surprised him and his sister with a teepee since he has been so excited about building forts lately. This Christmas he was definitely a spoiled boy, but he was so appreciative of every gift he got, except for the clothes his Mama got him, which elicited a stink eye she did not know he was capable of (and unfortunately it was not captured on film). Ewan is proof that Christmas is for kids and he made the day so special for his Mama and Daddy.

52 : 42 (part 4)

Ewan does not go on many dates, but when he does he respectfully requests a hand hold from his companion. This week we went to Zoo Lights at the SF Zoo and had so much fun - we got up close and personal with the giraffes, got glowing tigers, took the little puffer, and played on the playground until we got rained out and ran for the carousel. It was a very fun outing and the perfect holiday date.

52 : 41 (part 4)

Today Mama had a family holiday party at work so Ewan got to go to the office with her all day long. He took BART, attended a meeting with associated video conference, went to the mail room, visited friends, played iPad games, visited Techforce, got hot chocolate at the cafe, explored the city a little, watched "Grinch" on his iPad under Mama's standing desk, did crafts, and snuck a lot of chocolate from the kitchen. Everyone was very impressed by how good he was and are now dreading days when he is not there to lighten the joint up!

52 : 40 (part 4)

You-You:

You are 3 and 3/4 now and while your comprehension of fractions is not quite there you are still rather excited to be that much closer to the big 4! This last quarter of your life was a big one - you have grown, what seems like a ton, physically and as a person.

You are a good big brother 99% of the time, with your largest problem offering Darby too much love as she doesn't like to cuddle like you and me. You say Darby is your best friend and that you will marry her when your both big, maybe when you are 5 you say. Cuddling is your favorite thing these days, either that or you are becoming an expert at avoiding bed time by pulling mama's heart strings. 

Your Daddy and I have really loved watching you become that much more of a talker over the last few months. You say the funniest things and definitely have some catch phrases -

• Of course I can

• Easy peezie, lemon squeezie 

• Come on!? (when you are questioning something we said)

• I am a little lonely (when you want a cuddle)

• I am on it

You sometimes mix phrases up, I should have written those down when they happened so I could have memorialized them here for you too, but the basic summary is you start one saying and end it with another. You also ask us the funniest questions and make hysterical observations -

• Mama when I get old and have no hair I will have to drink a lot of wine

• Mama when I grow up and am a Daddy will Daddy die? (this may not seem funny, but you genuinely thought that you becoming a Daddy meant that your Daddy could not be one anymore and you have been a little fixated on the concept of death, which we are taking in stride)

We are getting excited to celebrate your 4th birthday with you buddy and I have one request for you. Please decide what you want to have/do sooner rather than later so Mama isn't running around like a crazy person trying to make your wishes come true with no time to spare - your wishes coming true is a top priority for us!

Cuddles, 

Mama

Ewan Porter - 3 years 9 Months

52 : 39 (part 4)

The process of picking the tree, paying for it, strapping it to the car, putting it in it's stand, bringing it in to the house, and decorating it mesmerized Ewan from start to finish. And as the boy of the house he was responsible for putting the star on!

52 : 38 (part 4)

Not many kids get to spend Thanksgiving in paradise, but this year ours do as we escape the carousel of life and celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. Ewan has been anticipating this trip for months and did not believe us that the Caribbean would be as cool as Hawaii (he now does). Ewan enjoyed 4 days in St. Thomas with us + Grampy (who we convinced him had a new job as a pirate) and Jamie, and then 4 more days in St. John with just us. Ewan loved the swimming, the smoothies, and the hole digging. In this week's picture he and his dad are digging on the beach in St. John, many kids walked by and complimented how deep their hole was! Another highlight was the swim up movie at the Westin, they had a huge blow up screen and showed "Rio" while we swam, so cool!

52 : 37 (part 4)

It is important to us that Ewan has a giving heart and understands that others are less fortunate. We discuss this concept pretty often and try to bring him to volunteer and community events. When his school announced their food drive we googled a list of what food banks really need and bought one of each item on the list. PLUS cake and frosting, because Ewan said, "every kid needs cake!"

52 : 36 (part 4)

As a child I hated the angst of school pictures... what to wear, how to do your hair, and then waiting to see the images weeks later. But as a mom I LOVE PICTURE DAY! And picture day is even better when the school does sibling shots... Ewan in his camouflage polo makes my heart melt, such a big boy!

52 : 35 (part 2)

Months ago we asked Ewan what he wanted to be for Halloween and he responded quickly (and with gusto) that he would be a praying mantis. If you google "praying mantis costume" you will not come up with much so Kevin took it upon himself to make a costume. Many hours of hand sewing, spray adhering, and hot gluing later Ewan was the BEST preying mantis EVER!

52 : 34 (part 4)

This week at school the kids celebrated Halloween with an Imagination Day Parade. For the festivities each class picked a story to be and made the applicable costumes. Ewan's class did "Beekle The Unimaginary Friend." He was just the cutest Beekle ever, and so proud of the costume he made!

52 : 33 (part 4)

The last two weeks I have been traveling for work (mostly, but I made time for play), first to Spain and then to Half Moon Bay. Ewan was very excited to have me home and he sweetly crawled in to bed with me multiple nights in a row to make up for missed cuddles.