Christmas is near

Christmas is just around the corner and we are really looking forward to seeing family and spending our first Christmas with Ethan (and as a married couple). Kinda funny how in the craziness that raising a baby brings we totally forgot that although it is Ethan's first Christmas it is also our's a Mr and Mrs! On top of the coming holiday I had to have hernia surgery pretty much putting me out of commission for a few weeks leaving all the heavy lifting, literally, of baby raising to Fatima.. During my more lucid periods I have seen how awesome she is and has really reinforced all the butterfly feelings that I feel for her since the day we met!

We are the funniest parents sometimes because we go through a period of time with the best intentions to do things "right" and then totally forget some of the obvious things that we should have done.. We took Ethan to the mall to get a picture with Santa and when it was all said and done realized that we should have all been in the picture and then used it as our family Christmas pic. Oh well, it turned out pretty good without us!

He has to be the cutest boy on this planet! 

Over the past few months we have noticed that he has a buffer of time from when he first sees someone new before he begins to all out cry. So, with that in mind we had a plan to get the best Santa picture. One of use would talk to the photographer and let them know that as soon as he is in Santa;s lap that they should snap the picture as quick as they could. Plan worked and the picture turned out great!

I also purchased a new video camera this month so I can capture better quality video of Ethan and our adventures in raising him. I got the Kodak Playsport Zx3, which is pretty cool because not only can it fir in your pocket with no problem creating more opportunity for use but it also shoots 1080p video at 30fps and 720p at both 30 and 60fps (for fast moving situations)! On top of those specs it can shoot 5 megapixel stills and is water proof to 3 meters. Needless to say that cute face of Ethan's will be shown in full HD resolution! Here is a sampling of the camera (and Ethan) in action!

Plenty more video where that came from and plenty more to be taken. Mater of fact, I have been thinking about the best way to put that video footage together into something that is a bit more manageable. I started to use Picasa for picture and video management and so far it has help with that a lot. Unfortunately, my last camera has left me with a lot of low def footage and video files in the wrong format so I have had to convert them to a more cross platform useable format and has taken some of the joy out of playing around with putting together some sort of video montage. Maybe I will try and do a few milestone videos of Ethan; like birth, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, etc.. Any other ideas would be great!

Halloween 2010

It was Ethans first Halloween and Fatima made him a costume. She made him into a giant Ice Cream Cone! Pretty awesome! We went to the new park down the street from us and met up with a bunch of families that are all affiliated with the West Loop Moms group that Fatima has been doing stuff with. It was fun seeing all the little kids (under like 2) in their costumes! We took a bunch of pictures that you can check out in the picture feed to the right. We also went to the pumpkin farm and got some pumpkins and Ethan got to pet a bunch of animals, both domestic and exotic! It was all a lot of fun and we can't wait till next year when he is walking and can have a little more fun with this holiday!

Ethan's First Haircut

We took Ethan for his first haircut today! He did really awesome and just sat there and let the lady do her thing and cut his hair. We kept it long because we felt it increases the cute factor! Here is the video!

First Time Eating Solid Food

Ethan ate solid food for the first time today! Well I guess you can call it solid food, rice cereal! He did a pretty good job for his first time, I was at work but Fatima recorded it for me so I will post it once I get it uploaded!

Today's Adventure

Went for a walk today from a park by our house to Greek Town (about 8 blocks). We decided that it was such a nice day out that it warrented a leasurly walk and then lunch outside at one of the many greek resturants on Halstead, west of downtown Chicago. We get to Greek Town and decided that we wanted to eat at Athena, which has a great outdoor eating area (complete with multiple levels and a great fountain). The food was great and Ethan slept most of the time untill just before we were finishing up with lunch. He starts crying so I unbuckle him from the carrier and pull him out. Surprise, poop all down his right leg and all over the carrier! Straps, cusions, buckle, my pants (very small amount), and all over his Onesie had poop on it.. Well, needless to say it was a very messy ordeal! You know what though, I handed him to Fatima and she got him cleaned up and changed in the bathroom then I went to work on cleaning the carrier (and myself). We make a great team and because of times like that I know we are going to be great parents and Ethan will grow up to be a very well adjusted person!

Ethan the Movie

Been a while

As you can imagine it has been a busy 3 months since Ethan's arrival! I will tell all of you this, what a game changer! When my little man popped out the world as I knew it got better (and I got less sleep). When I saw Ethan for the first time I, well to be honest, I cried.. What an emotional experience that is, to see your child born right before your eyes! So I cried and in retrospect I can deduce that this expereince was one of maybe 3 that I can think of in my whole life that I couldn't physically hold back the flood gates and keep my man composure. Ethan came and all I could think of was how I was not ready to do this, to be this little guys Dad. Then, the nurse put him in my arms and I think at that moment I knew that I had better be ready and that as long as I do everything I can to be the best dad I can be everything would work and Ethan, Fatima, and I would be a happy family. 

Now, 3 months later, I think these feelings have solidified and all I can think about is whats next. What grand adventure is around the bend for the 3 of us. The great thing is both Fatima and I, although in our 30's and Ethan in his >1's, are completely new to all the coming expereinces and so just about every minute of the next ..... many years will be new and exciting for all of us! 

Although I might not share often on this site I hope to be a little more regular then 3 months! Stay tuned!