As he passed his 8 month birthday yesterday, Ethan Joseph has become a grabbing machine.  If this keeps up he will be well on his way to being a Hall of Fame Third Baseman; I don't think even young Brooks Robinson was quite the picking machine our boy Ethan is.

He is not quite mobile (though that is changing--he started to pull to stand recently), he makes up for it with a powerful lean and grab move.  Sitting him down anywhere now requires a massive clear space around him, something like a circle with a three foot diameter.  I remember when Isaac was this age and I am not sure if he was even close to being this grabby, probably because he had two parents that brought him everything.  But poor Beethan has to contend with an older brother and hence his increase in resourcefulness.  

The thing that is truly stunning is his speed.  One minute he is a meditative Budda.  The next he has swiped my watch and put it in his mouth, because like with an Octopus, all of those arms are designed to do one thing--bring things to Ethan's mouth.  Given his speed and aggressiveness I am certain that he actually has a few extra arms.

There is a reason it is used as a torture method--sleep deprivation is very effective at driving you crazy.  Over time, it shuts down all sorts of parts of your brain.  And right now, we are in the midst of an epic sleep deprivation cycle. 

Beethan was an awesome sleeper, STTN around 6 weeks until around October 1st.  This is coincidentally the time when he was "strengthening" his immune system at daycare.  Since then it has been no perfect nights and only two or three with more than six hour chunks of sleep. 

I can't remember what it is like to sit down and not want to fall asleep.  Additionally all of the contorting we do to get him to sleep is crazy.  Isaac has even started asking if Ethan had a good sleep night in the morning.  Isaac has been, of course, awesome this whole time and Bianca, God knows how she is functioning.

Well, hopefully things will improve.  Otherwise I am going to get one of the hospital drip bag stands and care it around full of Red Bull. 

Sleep Beethan Sleep.

One day they are a squealing baby and the next they are sitting up and then after that its something else.  Talking to Isaac today on the way in to school we talked about how fast little kid brains are and how quickly they can learn. 

Isaac's impressive uptake at school is astounding.  He is picking up on letter sounds and site words.  He is doing a very good job reading basic books (Star Wars themed, of course).  He is also learning how to be around other kids.  Some people that started out as not friends are now fast buddies.  Its really impressive.

Beethan has been showing off his own skills.  He has becoming everyone's number one fan, as he is in love with his index finger and pointing at things.  He is also really a fan of grabbing just about anything.  If it is in his reach, and by reach I mean arm length plus fall forward body length, he is going to try to grab it.  But that is not all.  Beethan has also started making all sorts of pre-word sounds.  He is apparently encountering native South Africans on a regular basis as he has developed a complex system of clicks, not too different from Xhosa.  He also has a frog sound that is basically impossible to replicate. 

Two boys, two different stages of life, incredible learning capacities.