The Butcher's

I just have to share this latest Ethan adventure. It's too funny.


About a month ago I took Ethan with me to run errands. My first stop was the supermarket. As soon as Ethan saw the crisps, he began to whine. By the time we hit the frozen food section he was on full-blown yelling; "Mommy, I'm hungry. I want ice cream!" Yeah right! If he's hungry he'd want food and not ice cream. But he kept whining. And I kept strong. I kept promising him, that we could go home and he could get something to eat there (knowing full well that he wasn't really hungry)


Our next stop was the butcher's. We walk in, and once again Ethan announces "I'm hungry." Sure. We're at the butcher's, there's no ice cream here. Suddenly the owner comes to Ethan with a piece of sausage. There you go; food! HA!


Two weeks later, Ethan and Scott head to the butcher's and Ethan comes home with a sausage.


Last week Ethan and I go back. He does his "I'm hungry" routine again, but this time, there's no South African there to feed him. Ethan left distraught!


Yesterday we head back (yes we go often. it's fresh and no need to stockpile freezer when you never know if power will go off). And Ethan's buddy is there. Ethan lets him know that he came last week (10 min ago is last week for Ethan) and "you not here". lol. Poor man. Felt ever-so-guilty and gave Ethan .... you guessed it.... a sausage!


Now for a boy that's not a big sausage eater, he sure likes the ones at the butcher's!

3-year Wellness Check

So I thought I should share Ethan's 3-year wellness check. But first, I have to backtrack a little. I'm a little bit of a paranoid mother when it comes to Ethan. I tend to worry about everything. It drives Scott crazy. And I know I over react. If I were teaching at home, and had a parent with concerns that I sometimes have, I'd tell them they have nothing to worry about.

Ok, so back in March I started to worry about Ethan's motor skills. His running was weak, he wasn't able to jump with 2 feet, and his fine motor skills were horrible. There's a wonderful new pediatrician at our clinic, so I decided to have Ethan checked out by him.

After being reassured that Ethan was ok (he was a little behind but not delayed), he did mention that he'd like to do a follow up in 6 months. He suggested Ethan do some climbing (like there's a lot of parks here!) and swimming (Ethan was in swim camp in July, and takes swimming lessons once a week) to help his motor developemnt. He also thought we might want to consider taking Ethan to a neurological pediatrician if we were planning to go home this summer.

Well now Ethan's three. I decided to have his wellness check with the pediatrician instead of his GP, because Ethan also compalins about his ears alot. (That's all better now) So here are Ethan's stats:
Weight : 12.2 kg (he's gained a whole 200 grams since March)
Height: 97.8cm (3.2 feet)

But... the best part of all..... he was very impressed with the improvemnt in Ethan's motor skills. He said while he was sure in September there would be some improvement, he didn't expect this much. (Yeah Ethan!) He also doesn't see a need for Ethan to see a specialist, unless we'd like to for our own reassurement. Yeah Ethan!

Did I mention, Yeah Ethan!

Little Einsteins

Ethan has a new favourite show. Little Einsteins! He got a DVD for his birthday, and let's just say I not only know how to make Rocket Soup, but also know the entire script by heart and often find myself singing the theme song.

And since I don't want to be the only one singing, I've included the lyrics for you to join along!

We’re going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship


Zooming through the sky, Little Einsteins


Climb aboard, get ready to explore


There’s so much to find, Little Einsteins


We’re going on a mission, start the countdown


5, 4, 321


Everyone to rocket, rev it up now


RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR


We’re going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship


Zooming through the sky, Little Einsteins


climb aboard, get ready to explore


There’s so much to find, Little Einsteins


come On - Let’s Go - Little Einsteins


We need you, Little Einsteins - Yeah

Zanzibar

Zanzibar is only a short flight (or ferry ride) from Dar but we haven't gone as often as we'd like. In fact, I think Ethan's only been once. Scott and I went when Ethan was about 9 months. We thought we'd have a lovely Easter weekend in Zanzibar. However, Ethan was unable to make it. Instead "Teething Ethan" joined us. Not pleasant.

Then in November, Scott's friend, Mel, came from SA and we went for a short visit. Ethan came along as well.

This weekend we took another trip there. Ethan enjoyed the flight. He was so excited. Was telling everyone that he was going to Zanzibar in a "big plane". No, small plane, but for Ethan it's big. When we got to the airport, Ethan and his dad went to see all the airplanes. Ethan chose a red one and decided that's the one that would take him to Zanzibar. We finally convinced him to board the white plane, it has red on it.

We haven't stayed at Mtoni for years, but I think this is the favourite hotel, and the place to stay from now on. They have an amazing infinity pool, a kids pool with slide, a kid's playground, a beach restaurant as well as a sports bar, a beach, oh and best..... only a 10 min drive to Stone Town!!!!!

We had a very relaxing weekend, of sitting by the pool and swimming. Ethan lived in the water. From the minute we got there, he saw the pool and demanded to go swimming. First thing he'd ask for in the morning, to go swimming. And even when he'd come out of the pool, teeth chattering from being so cold, he'd want to go swimming again.

Thomas the Train Party

So Ethan's now 3, and it's time for his party. We choose a Thomas the Train theme. The idea was we'd get him some more Thomas items as a gift, so that would make a great theme. Ethan was also excited to have a train theme.

All the kids were given train conductor hats upon arrival. Ethan learnt, and practiced "chuga chuga choo choo" as each child was given a hat. Ethan's also developed a love for face painting. He HATES clowns, but loves the face painting, so we got Val to come in. Val was told ahead of time, he'd probably have 5 Spidermans, 3 Batmans, and maybe a butterfly to do. We were close, there were 3 Spidermans!

To keep with the train theme, we had train shaped chicken nuggets, train shaped cookies, oh and yes, a train shaped cake!!!

Happy Birthday my love. Only 360 days till your next birthday. Time to start thinking of themes!

Happy Birthday Ethan

Happy Birthday Ethan! I can't beleive my baby is now 3. I guess that means he's no longer a baby. Ethan's party is on Saturday, but we wanted to make this day special and memorable.

Ethan awoke to what one might have thought was Christmas. He got spoilt. However, I'd like it noted there were gifts there from friends of ours, so he wasn't utterly spoilt by us (just regular spoilt).

We have a birthday tradition. Every year, we take a picture of Ethan on his birthday, as we take pictures of him all the time. LOL. But then, we dress Ethan up in his dad's Leafs jersey. It's an idea I stole from Oprah. lol It's nice to see how much he's grown, and you can see it in the way he fills into Scott's shirt more.

Today we had Ethan's mates over. They baked cupcakes together, then decorated them before devouring them. He had a blast. It was a special day for him.

And of course, no birthday would be complete without cake. As Ethan and his grandmother share the same birthday, we had them over this evening. My mum and Ethan blew out the candles on his cake together, and we all enjoyed the cake.

Happy Birthday my dearest!

XOXO

Summer Babies

Dar is a great place to raise kids. Ethan has a nanny, a great school, great friends, lots of different cultures surrounding him, the opportunity to travel, etc. The only downside is most schools finish the school year early/mid June. While that's not a big deal, since most of our friends are Expats, a lot of Ethan's mates go away for the holidays as soon as school is let out. Which means there aren't alot of people here when it's time for Ethan's birthday. So to make up for the fact that more than half his classmates aren't here, we had a little birthday celebration for Ethan at school. And since he's obsessed with Spiderman, what could be better than a Spiderman cake?