Textron Systems Children's Center

We were shocked to learn that Textron has decided to close their on site day care effective June 19th. We have had Ethan in their loving care since I went back to work 18 months ago and we are heartbroken for the families and teachers that are being displaced. The staff and families have been so wonderful and nutruring and we have been so lucky to have them in our lives and caring for Ethan. Ethan has such great friends there that he's been growing with all this time. He and Katie will most certainly be separated since Mark and Bridget are planning to move further west of here and it won't make sense to move her twice. I'm planning to reach out to the other parents to find out where the kids are going so that maybe we can keep a few of them together. I'd like to see where some of the teachers are going too because they have been amazing to us and Ethan. It's difficult to know what to do first. The whole center is in mourning. It really feels as though someone has died. I'm sure that sounds dramatic, but it's been such a supportive community for us that it's hard to imagine leaving him anywhere else.

Just last week was their annual art show. We weren't able to stay, but we did find a few of Ethan's contributions to share with you guys.

This is E with his paper plate pig.



Supposedly he put this together himself, but I'm not convinced...it looks a bit too perfect! Although we have been putting in a lot of hours with Mr Potato Head so maybe they're paying off.





Wish us luck as we figure out where to go from here with our child care.

Sarasota Jungle Garden's

We spent all of our mornings having breakfast on the lanai. We cheers at most meals these days.



Unfortunately, Sunday was cold, rainy and windy. We weren't sure what to do with ourselves until GGJack suggested The Sarasota Jungle Garden's. Luckily the weather was sunnier an hour north, but it was still pretty chilly. I didn't really need a fleece jacket on, but I didn't have a sweatshirt. Ethan continued his obsession with playgrounds and climbing. There were animals all around, including monkey's, but he kept asking for the playground.









The flamingo's were just out walking around! They were really loud and Ethan was not too cool with that but he was ok while I fed them. It's funny how the little ones really do follow your lead. As long as I was cool, he was cool. A couple of times one of these guys would sneak up on me and I'd jump a little and E would tense right up and tell me was scared or that they were too loud. Jamie loved it!





Ethan climbed up onto this bench all by himself. He was very proud of himself.



Alligator wrestling...of course.



He really wanted to close the alligator's mouth.



I have a cute picture on my phone of E with GJ standing on one leg like the flamingo's, but these will have to do for the blog! They have so much fun together.





I think you can see behind us all of the beautiful parrots that were there. We could choose any parrot we wanted to hold for a picture and this is the one Ethan picked. The little guy!





We spent hours entertaining ourselves there. We took the long way home and took E to the playground again. It was still really windy back in Englewood so we didn't last very long. We went and got drinks and apps instead. Not a bad chilly day in Florida!



Next post...pictures with the GG's and Lowry Park Zoo!

C-Sox Spring Training

Saturday was a gorgeous day for a Red Sox game! We left later than planned so we didn't get to meet any of the players, but City of Palms Park is really family friendly. As we learned when we tried to take E to a Harlem Globetrotters game a few weeks ago, he does not have the attention span for sporting events yet. We weren't sure how he'd do but he lasted almost 2 innings because he was busy eating and drinking. After that we had to take turns walking him around the park.

Our little man is growing up and he's starting to say "Red Sox" instead of "C-Sox". He also says "downstairs" very clearly now too which is a bummer. We got so used to his way of speaking that it's hard to hear him speak more like a big boy! It is funny to hear him talk though. He has an excellent vocabulary, but he gets really tripped up when he tries to string words into sentences. It's still pretty slurry speech, but that's ok with us.

Jamie and I totally stalked Wally for this picture! We spotted him from our seats and I grabbed Ethan mid-bite (hence the chicken finger in his hand) to chase him down. Security almost tackled Jamie but she showed them that she was with E and me and not just some crazed Wally fan. Ethan was not afraid of him at all. He checked him out and gave him 5 and waved goodbye. I was very impressed. However, towards the end of the game Wally was on the lawn and I took E to get his autograph and apparently that was not cool. He completely freaked out and was crying not to see him. Being the good mother that I am, I ignored that and went and got the autograph anyways. Of course now he is super excited about his Wally autograph. Sometimes mother really does know best.

Ethan was trying to drink my beer and I kept explaining that it was "my beer". Well anytime you tell this kid that something is yours he instantly declares it his.

We couldn't get near the Red Sox dugout but we could walk right up to the Northeastern team. Ethan liked getting so close to the baseball players. He couldn't understand why he couldn't go out on the field which caused a few issues.

This kid is obsessed with water bottles. Any and all water bottles are his...don't you know.

It was a great day and the Red Sox beat Northeastern University 14-0. We hit one more major milestone while we were at the game...Ethan had his first ice cream headache! It was so sad actually. We got a soft serve towards the end of the game and he was loving it! We were out of the stands and he looked like such an all american kid that random old people were taking his picture. That part was kind of weird, but I decided to take my own picture of him all sticky'd up. I turned to get my camera and when I turned back he had this look on his face like "oh my god...what is happening to me" and then he burst into tears! It was so sad and I just kept telling him that it would pass. It did, he recovered, and then he wanted some more.

Next post...Sarasota Jungle Gardens!

Our Florida Visit

Ethan, Grandma Jan, Auntie Jamie and I headed to Tampa and on to Englewood for a visit with Great-Grandma Peg and Great-Grandpa Jack!! This was Ethan's first trip with his own seat and he was very excited. He was not at all interested in sitting still or having that pesky seat belt on, but he was a good boy overall. There was a 3 year old sitting behind us and there were some mean games of peek-a-boo going on.



We couldn't wait to get into the sun so we headed to the pool right after lunch. Since we haven't kicked the diapers, E couldn't go in the big pool but he was quite content to splash around in this little one they had.



There was a playground walking distance from the apartment that we visited every day. Ethan has really gotten adventurous! It was great to see him climbing all over the structure and going down the slide and trying to keep up with the bigger kids. He can be so timid at times, but he's really doing great climbing these days...lucky us...



Anybody who's met my grandparents knows that they are into crosswords...big time. Ethan was not immune to the fever and he took his "work" very seriously.



Our first night there was a typical, I'm not tired, I'm not tired, I'm not tired...crash night.



Friday morning we could not wait to get to the beach!!





Friday afternoon Pop-Pop and Grandma Suzanne came to see us and we headed straight back to the beach. In our morning beach session, Ethan marched right into the freezing water (it really was cold...there was nobody swimming) and then was traumatized by how cold it was. He would not go near the water again unless it was via piggy back and his piggies were far from the waves. Therefore, we all turned into water fetchers for the spoiled only child.









Friday night we went out to dinner and E got to make a wish with a penny into the fountain and then had time for a cheers with GS.



We had to wait a while for a table but there were lots of random fun things to entertain him.



However, he hadn't eaten well all day and was a complete disaster when we finally got our table. He was so hungry but didn't want to eat anything until he tried Suzanne's soup. Apparently their minestrone was to die for!





Saturday morning GS and PP took Ethan for a walk to the playground before we left for a Red Sox Spring Training game.



On the way they saw a dolphin! Ethan was hoping it would come to see him, but there was no open air diving.



Showing off some of his climbing skills.



Loving his Pop-Pop! Ethan was very excited to have PP around. I think he missed his daddy and he's been on a complete daddy kick since we've been home.



Then we were off to City of Palms Park for the game. I'll have a whole post dedicated to that later. I have no time for this poor blog anymore!!