Kindermusik

Here we are on way to Kindermusik today! It was sunny (YAY!) this morning and I always feel bad looking back at Ethan while he's squinting and turning his head away from the sun. So, today when we left, I found his sunglasses and put them on thinking they'd probably only last until we got down the driveway! But, to my surprise, he left them on the whole way there (class in Zeeland)! He looked so stinkin cute, I quick gabbed a picture while we were at a stop-light! For those of you who don't know about Kindermusik, it was created in Germany (as you probably guessed by the spelling) and there's been lots of studies on development and music and how beneficial it is for our growing babies and toddlers. I first tried it when Ethan was around 6mos, and he really seemed to enjoy it. Ever since the class, he's just always loved music! Yes, I know ALL kids love music, so I don't totally attribute it to the class. I just really enjoyed that it was something outside of our house and around other mom's and babies. Unfortunately, it's not very cheap, not unreasonable, but kind of on the expensive end. So, with the economy etc., we decided to take a few months off, I figured Ethan was getting older and we be getting out and about and stuff. Recently, I started thinking that maybe I was doing him a great disservice, but him not being in daycare. Don't get me wrong, I would NOT trade what I have in my mom and my mother-in-law for anything in the world!!!! We are INCREDIBLY spoiled! (yes mom's we know it and we love you to pieces for it!) But, I was just concerned that he wasn't getting the socialization. I have play dates here and there with my friends and their kids, but everyone's busy and the playdates aren't as frequent as we would all like. Anyway, I popped to sign him back up this winter and last week was our 1st week. I was a little worried how he might do. I thought he'd be clingy to me and want me to hold him all the time instead of playing with the other kids. Much to my surprise, he ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! His class is actually pretty small compared to the last one we were in. There's only 4 kids and they're all boys! They're all about the same age so it's great! We've been learning about "pretend" play, which I've never really done with Ethan yet. They had to "walk" like dogs and "wag" their tails, "Sit" and "rollover". It was so cute! Of course all of the mom's had to participate too (not that cute, I'm sure!!). Anyway, that's our newest adventure!

This Ethan's new favorite thing. He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES watching Baby Einstein or "ein-nine" as he calls it! He's always been way to busy to sit in front of the TV or watch anything for longer then a couple mins. But all of the sudden he'll sit and watch the entire baby Einstein. It's so fascinating to me to watch his expressions as he watches, he'll even try to repeat what their saying. I got him a portable DVD player for Christmas (best $50 I spent this year!) and he puts it on the 2nd shelf of the end table (so it's right at eye level) and sits in his little chair and watches them!