everything you ever wanted to know about ethan~

So, I'm finally getting around to the next installment. The first picture here is of Ethan relaxing by the pond at my grandparents' house in Kentucky. We always have a good time fishing there.

I know the next picture is pretty blurry, but it's such a great picture of his personality that I had to include it. The third picture is him with the animal kingdom set he got for his birthday. And that's not even a fraction of his whole collection. I really do live in a zoo. And yes, the last picture is from that ill-fated day that Ethan went to school as Julius Caesar, a full week early. I claim mommy brain.

Here it is, everything you ever wanted to know about Ethan...



1. Ethan, although he was my second biggest baby, probably would win the award as the potential biggest. Although Haven was exactly nine and a half pounds, he was 13 days late. Ethan was 11 days early (my New Year's Eve baby!) and weighed 9# 6oz. so he had the potential to be bigger. He was also my last hospital birth, but my first natural birth.


2. Ethan has this deep, awesome, scruffy voice that I love. There are high school boys I'm sure that would love to have his voice :o)



3. Is a former member of the pacifier club. We finally took it away from him abruptly around the age of 2, and since then, the guy constantly has something in his mouth. Constantly. We can pinpoint which super heroes and animals belong to him as all the paint is chewed off their heads. Given the current state of concern over products from China, I did have his lead levels checked and everything was OK. One day at church our worship leader decided to display a lost & found large Superman in front of his mic, and from the back of the church a chorus of kids says, "That's Ethan's! It's bald!" Thus began a parade of Hutchison kids marching toward the front to retrieve the finally found, balding Superman. Funny story: One day Ethan is examining one of his animals very closely. He looks up at me and says, "Mom, I just love China. They make the best toys!" I about fell out of my chair.


4. Ethan loves apples. I'm not talking a fond affection. They are hands down his favorite food. He eats probably five a day. I buy fifty apples a week. Thirty-five for Ethan, fifteen for the rest of us. Often they are all gone by Thursday or Friday. I should look into (invest in) learning how to grow apple trees.

5. Loves super heroes and animals. The super hero thing has really taken a back seat this last year to his current fascination with sharks, wild animals, and dinosaurs. He has quite the collection and he knows precisely how many velociraptors, great whites, tiger sharks, squids, t-rexes, etc. that he has, which size, color, etc. He is always on the look out for new animals to add to his collection and can tell you at a glance if he already has one of that type. I think his facination has superseded the action figure thing since he learned to read. There's a lot more to read about animals than action figures. Caleb is my outside, builder, hunter guy. Ethan, not so much. He loves to be inside reading and playing with his animals. We tease him that he loves dinosaurs so much because I watched The Lost World, you know, Jurassic Park 2, while I was in labor with him. Which is true. Go figure.

6. Ethan is my reader. He literally taught himself to read (which, by the way, has made Kindergarten a breeze...thankfully, given my crazy year!) He absolutely loves it. He is constantly reading. He reads cereal boxes, magazines, books, flyers, pretty much anything in front of him. If he is going to be sitting down or riding in the car, he brings something to read. He's just like me :o) Finally, I have a reader!

7. Going back to the super hero thing. As I said, he's not into them so much anymore, although he does have a Batman backpack and lunchbox, but a year or two ago, that was his obsession. I believe it started because when I was pregnant with him, Anna insisted he would be named Woody (after the Toy Story movie). She would tell everyone in public, whether they asked or not, "My mom is going to have a baby, it's going to be a boy, and his name is going to be Woody." I have no idea where she got that idea and she had to have heard me a million times explain to people he was not going to be named Woody, but still, she insisted. When asked what she would do should her parents decided to..gasp! give him a different name, she declared she would call him Woody anyway. Strangely enough, it was Woody and Buzz Lightyear figures that replaced his pacifier, he could most always be found carrying both around, one in each hand. He was a mad man for a few years, absolutely obsessed with Buzz Lightyear. He then graduated to other super heros and last summer, literally for about seven or eight weeks, wore two shirts only. One Batman, one Superman. That was it. Talk about staying on top of the laundry.

8. Is built just like Glen. Long torso, shorter legs. The poor guy is almost six and a half and still wears a 4 or 5t. Last summer he could still wear some 2t shorts. Given that neither Glen nor I are exceptionally tall, it's not anything to be concerned about, but he sure is a stocky little guy. What he lacks in height, he sure makes up for in personality and spunk, though. Throw that scruffy, deep voice in the mix, and he sure is a cutie. Here's a mental picture - imagine him standing on top of the table in the Sunday School classroom, waving his hand back and forth in the air, while jumping up and down, swinging his hips, and leading all the kids in singing, quite loudly..."You've got to move it, move it. You've got to move it, move it." Yep. That's Ethan...Mr. Life of the Party. I was mortified...yet highly amused once I found out it was from the movie Madagascar and he hadn't picked up some questionable hip-hop song and decided to share it with the world :o) Strangely enough, as I'm writing this, I'm remembering a certain winter retreat when his father, Mr. Supposed-to-be-a-Counseler, was standing on top of one of the tables in the mess hall (along with some friends, he wasn't the only crazy person) singing some song and shaking his head back and forth (and I have the picture to prove it!)

bonus #9. Is a daily delight and never ending source of smiles and kisses. Yes, he is still my
ACE - Adorable Cuddly Ethan. Mr. Affectionate, still in love with me and not yet figured out that that's not so cool. And you can bet I'm keeping him in the dark on that as long as possible.