I recently came across some digital pictures from when Ethan was first born and shortly thereafter when we were living in Maryland. He sure has grown a lot. It is really amazing how time passes. He was about 5 months in the picture where he is sitting up with the blocks. This morning he was asking me how old he had to be "to have a girlfriend" - and he's only five. He was also making a very cute pitch at dinner last night for a Nintendo DS - what happened to Winnie the Pooh?

Ethan had his first trip to NYC this year - November 2006. Ethan went to cheer mom on as she ran the New York City Marathon. We met grandma Sharon from Florida, Gail and Grandpa Billy, and Aunt Claire in NYC. Ethan had a lot of firsts on this trip. After arriving at the airport, Ethan had his first Taxi ride! Ethan visited Central Park - during the marathon. The photo at the top was taken just after mom finished running right outside of Central Park. Ethan visited the dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History. We also went ice skating in Rockefellar Center! Ethan seems to have perfected the art of ice running. He zoomed around the rink somehow running on his skates - everyone had a great time - especially grandma! After skating, mom, Grandma, and Ethan took a bicycle taxi back to the hotel to dry off -that was a real treat!
We also visited the top of the Empire State Building. As we were looking at the skyline point out the sights - statue of liberty - chrysler Building - Roosevelt Island - etc.. Ethan yells "look I see McDonalds!" Here he is pointing out "the Golden Arches." Ethan also took several subway rides on this trip. It was a great experience for everyone.

Halloween 2006 - This year Ethan was a Ninja. I think he wanted to be a Ninja just to have an excuse to carry a big plastic sword around. He has also been going around the house asking me to hold various objects such as either end of a popsicle stick or a twisted piece of paper and "karate chopping" it. Here is a picture of Ethan in his costume with his friend Zane. Ethan went trick-or-treating with William and me and Zane's dad - later in the evening we were joined by a friend from Ethan's class and her mom. Two of Ethan's older friends also went with us. Before we went out trick-or-treating I coached the kids about saying "trick-or-treat" once the door was opened and "thank you, happy halloween" after they received their candy. As the night went on this turned into the kids running up to each door and saying "trick-or-treat, happy halloween, and thank you!" before the person had even grabbed the candy bowl. It was actually quite funny and usually got a big laugh from the candy giver. Here is a picture of Ethan and Dad playing Ninja...

This year we went to three Halloween Carnivals. One at Ethan's school, one at the YMCA, and one at Ethan's friend Henry's school. At Ethan's school carnival, he got his hair spray painted green, red, and silver. He also got to climb the climbing wall which was a little scary for him ...