Hank Cameron Ewing

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

MOVING!

Hi There!
Please go to the NEW, SHINY, UPDATED blog:

hankandhudson.blogspot.com

Because it's been a long time and Hank has a new brother, Hudson (which you know, because you've been patiently clicking back to see if she's updated SOMETHING since he was born, but you STILL see that same ol' post announcing his birth)...and now he's almost 8 months old and it's ABOUT TIME you saw some new stuff!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Welcome, Little Brother Hudson!

On Tuesday, September 21st, we welcomed Hank's brother, Hudson (Hud) William Ewing to our family. He was born at 10:59 AM (no, not 11!) at 8 lb 2 oz at 18.5 inches long. Short and stocky with lots of hair...this one might not be as blonde as his brother, but we'll see! My proud moment - 11 minutes of pushing and he was here! Woohoo!

Here's our new family:

Friday, September 10, 2010

Me and the Little Guy

In just a few weeks (or maybe sooner - who knows?!), Hank is going to have a baby brother. It's odd to think of there being another one and I know the blog will change after that...we'll see if there's even time for one! Hard to imagine loving another kid as much as we do this guy - but there are lots of families with more than one kid, so I know it's possible (I mean, I was THIRD and I always felt loved!). Now...if only we had a name :)

He Sleeps Great in His New Bed!

Here is Hank napping in his new bed. Hehe...nothing like a lack of oxygen to help you sleep better :)
A few disclaimers: NO, we didn't put the pillow over his head (he did it himself...and oddly enough, I find Bret sleeping like this a lot!), and YES, he had a good flow of air out one side (I swear!).

**Okay - anyone remember the "Heaven's Gate" cult? I totally think of the pictures from that when I see this...kinda twisted-hehe. What can I say, it does!

Yes, More Food Pictures...

I'm starting to notice a little trend with my posts lately...food, food, and more food! You can tell what we enjoy doing...going out and eating yummy food! :) Hank will be a little expert on Seattle "good eats" by the time he's four! Grandma jokes that he'll be raising money mowing lawns so we can move out of the burbs and into Seattle! Here's a little sampling:

For ice cream...Husky Deli in West Seattle has the classic stuff...or maybe you want frozen custard from Old School Frozen Custard on Capitol Hill...but if you like the fancy flavors, there's always Molly Moon's...and if you want gritty with an arcade, there's Full Tilt in Columbia City! Ridiculous, huh?!

When it comes to pizza, it's pretty much the same - we have a favorites all over town. You prefer stupidly big slices, then it's Talerico's in West Seattle...you want gourmet and delicious, it's Flying Squirrel on Genesee...Neopolitan style (and good tiramisu!), Tutta Bella's in Columbia City...bar style with a thick crust and yummy salad bar, it's gotta be Bison Creek in Burien, and for just New York style, our favorite has always been Piecora's on Capitol Hill (we had our rehearsal dinner there!).

This past weekend, we hit up Piecora's and they had the Mariner's game on...pizza and baseball. The little guy was in a good place - and we were too!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Sweet Stuff

Does this kid know how to enjoy the good things in life? Let's just say, we don't hold a lot back (could be a bad thing-haha). On one of our many trips to West Seattle to hit all our favorite shops, we had to make our normal nice weather trip to Husky Deli for ice cream. As we got in line, Hank said, "ICE CREAM! CHOCOLATE!" hehe. No vanilla for this kid - he knows what he likes, and he likes chocolate! The video cracks me up, because it seems to prove the sugar = hyperactivity theory (Is that a theory that even needs proving?!). Check out his "happy feet" followed by an impromptu run down the block...which you'll notice is where the video stops, because we have to chase him-hehe.

Gardens Full of Strawberries!

Hank has had the best time this summer picking strawberries straight out of the garden. Lucky him, his Tutu and Papa Andy had a garden full of them early this summer, and late in summer, he got to munch them out of the yard in Endicott with Grandma and Papa Tom. Such a fun thing to go out each day and see what new strawberries are ready for picking...yum! And apparently, he does his best strawberry picking in Disney shirts-hehe...

This first picture is at Tutu and Papa Andy's...this is where he actually LEARNED how to say "Da-Berry" for the first time. The garden was full of strawberries, so all weekend he got to go out and chomp away.

This was just this past week in Endicott. There were a few strawberries for him to pick each day and he was thrilled (the squeezed closed eyes are his "smile" for the camera)...and he's gotten even better at saying, "Straw-berry" too :)

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Dog Days of Summer

Just a warm day, eating watermelon on the porch...how nice :)

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Disneyland 2010

This was Hank's second exposure to Disneyland, but last year hardly counts (click here to see how little he was...or scroll to the end of the post for a few pictures). He and I flew down with my students (no Dad and no Grandma!) and he was a total champ on the plane. While we waited for Dad and Grandma, we spent a lot of time with the stuffed animals at the Disney store. Dad and Grandma came later that evening and they got to spend time with Thomas, Vanessa, and Josie. My group performed on Friday and I got time to hit the park with my students, and then we had a family day on Saturday. Same favorites as last year...Small World and the carousel! He was pretty good with the characters, choosing to cling to me while they were close and then waving and blowing kisses when we got a safe distance away! He met Chip and Dale and when we saw a shirt with them on it at Target a few weeks later, out of nowhere, he said, "CHIP!" My mom and I were shocked - it's amazing what sticks with them!

(I can't believe I didn't buy him this Mickey...but I figure, there will be many more trips to Disney and we have to save something! At least, that's what I tell myself to feel better!).

Mickey was the first character he saw when we got to Disneyland...as long as I was close it was okay, but he DID NOT want to touch him, no matter how much I hugged Mickey, aka Hot Dog, yes, Hot Dog. My students got a kick out of the fact that he calls Mickey Mouse, "Hot Dog". At this point, he can say all the names (Minnie, Daisy, Donald)...but you try to get him to say Mickey, and all that comes out is "Hot Dog!" This all started because the album we've listened to in the car since he was tiny was They Might Be Giants...who just so happened to write the closing song to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...guess what the song is called...HOT DOG! Once he got old enough to put together that they were talking about Mickey, it just stuck. For awhile, he'd point to his mouse ears and say, "Hot Dog" and we were all so confused. Then it all clicked...and so, "Mickey" is now "Hot Dog". The end :)

Spotting the "Choo-Choo" right above us!

Leaving the park...he skipped and jumped the whole way (if you look closely, you'll see that his feet are off the ground!). The kid was having a great time!

The whole gang...well, except for me, but someone had to take the picture!

Josie and her new doll...she was a madwoman while driving the doll in the stroller. We all had to watch our ankles! Very funny!

Hanging out at T and V's house in Long Beach...the two goofy cousins!

This is how tiny they were last year! Oh my goodness - they're so grown up now!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Massages...

Hank is the lucky recipient of many foot/leg and arm massages. He loves them (um, who wouldn't?). I'm planning to teach him how to drive a.s.a.p. so that I can sit in back and get a foot massage from Grandma instead...I mean, who's 7 months pregnant?! The goofy thing is that he can go from worked up and fussy to totally catatonic in .2 seconds. Grandma starts to rub his foot, he tosses the other one her way, and then ZONES out. Here's a picture of the zoning out in action...notice the blank stare...

A ton of Gemini's means lots of cake and ice cream...

Hank has officially learned that birthdays are a very good thing...they mean cake and ice cream - yum! This is our May/June:
May 24 - Auntie Katie
June 1 - Me
June 9 - Auntie Megan and GG (Great-Grandma Winnie)
June 16 - Papa Tom
June 19 - Tutu (Grandma Connie)
and even though she's a Cancer, it still counts because it's so close...
July 2 - Grandma Rhonda
Not sure if you can see it...but even though Auntie Katie's cake hasn't been cut into yet, Hank already has frosting on his face.

Eating the frosting off the candle...he was supposed to be smiling for the camera (like his mom and dad), but instead, he was grabbing that candle! He knew our defenses were down!

Auntie Megan's ice cream cake:

Grandpa's ice cream sundae. Notice how his face has had to contort just to get that big ol' spoon in his mouth...this was the start of a big mess!

I love this video...I'm not sure if you'll be able to hear it, but there are quite a few, "Mmms" and "Yummms" as he's dipping away.

And why not?!

What better place is there to watch tv? I'm in the other room fixing lunch and I come around the corner and here he is...must have looked comfy!

Guy Time!

Hank is a big fan of guys and stuff guys do...drive cars, play sports, mow the lawn, etc. In the car, I regularly drive while answering questions about where every "guy" is that Hank has every met. "Where's Dad? Where's the Guy (Josiah)? Where's Tom? Where's Mike? Where's Andy? Where's Dad? Where's Mike?" etc. After a long drive and answering, "He's at work, he's probably at work too, he's in Portland, he's at work, he's..." I wanna SCREAM! So, here are pictures of Hank and some of the guys he regularly talks about! Can't wait for the "Why?" stage...

Josiah is "The Guy" that started all "The Guy" stuff. This was before Hank was saying names other than Dada and Papa...so everytime Josiah would enter the room, he'd exclaim, "The guy!" And when Josiah would leave the room, he'd quickly say, "Where'd the Guy go?"

Hank in sport-heaven!

Hank with Papa Andy:

Father's Day in Portland:

Hank and his Dada:

Hank doing "guy" stuff with Papa Andy, Mike, and Dada (setting mole traps...how manly):

Shootin' hoops:

At the arcade with Dada and Papa Tom. Papa Tom was the first to be called by name...one day, it just came out..."TOM!" and it's been non-stop ever since. Sometimes I'll drive from Papa Tom's house (AND Grandma's...but we women are just chopped liver in Hank's man-world) back to our house, all of three miles, and answer the question, "Where's Tom? Where's Papa Tom?" about 1,000 times.

Shopping at Target with Dada...because men shop too!

The shelves that Dada and Papa Tom built in the garage...it was a truly wonderful day for Hank to get to watch all that action. Now, everytime we pull in the garage, he points to the shelves and says, "Papa Tom!"