Ethan is becoming less of a baby and more of a little boy every day, especially when compared to his little sister!  He is constantly cracking is up with the things he says.  He is becoming much more independent and we love seeing his imagination developing.

Ethan continues to be a picky eater.  We are trying to encourage him to try new foods, but he would still rather eat his usual favorites of yogurt, waffles, pancakes, and french fries.  He also loves anything made out of sugar.  I was trying to get him to eat a quesadilla one night and he kept saying “need cupcakes! need ice cream!”

Jason and I are loving watching Ethan’s personality come out.  He says such funny things and he is always making us laugh.  One of Ethan’s favorite stories is Dr. Seuss’s Wacky Wednesday.  One of the lines is “A shoe on the wall?  Shouldn’t be there at all!”  The other day we were walking down the stairs and his toy hammer was on the landing.  He saw it and said “uh oh hammer, shouldn’t be there at all!”

He is very interested in saying who is a boy and who is a girl.  Most of the time he is correct.  He will say “Mommy is a girl and Noelle is a girl.  Daddy is a boy and Ethan is a boy.”  Sometimes he will say “Mommy is a boy” and laugh because he knows that is wrong and he is being silly.

Two of Ethan’s favorite toys right now are “Elmo Street” (his Sesame Street play house) and Legos.  He loves playing pretend and narrating his characters.  Common story lines are characters going to the bathroom, going to take a nap, going to the store, or making something to eat.  He named one of his Lego characters Noelle and refers to her as “Noelle Wego.”  We love seeing his imagination and the things he comes up with.  He also loves to play in his play kitchen and “make” us food.

Ethan is so sweet with his little sister.  I am so impressed with how much he genuinely loves her.  He is constantly hugging her, kissing her, and touching her.  He is still learning to be gentle and sometimes bothers her too much.  He wants to know where she is when he wakes up.  He even talks to her in a high pitch baby voice “Hi Noelle! Hi!  She’s a sweet girl.”

Ethan is still a great talker and surprises us with some of the things he says.  He frequently speaks in complete sentences, though sometimes we don’t understand all of the words.  He adds new words to his vocabulary so frequently  that we can’t always keep up.  When we are trying to figure out what he is saying I will repeat back to him what I thought he said and if it is wrong he will say “Yeah! No.” and say it again.  He doesn’t seem to get frustrated when we don’t understand what he is saying and will keep repeating it until we understand.

We have been lucky to stay relatively healthy most of this terrible cold and flu season.  Ethan had a 24 hour stomach bug and a bit of a cold, and Jason had a cold, but Noelle and I have been healthy.

Here are some pictures of our sweet boy.

 

 

 

 

This post is very late, but we had such a great Christmas this year and I don’t want to forget it.  I am so glad that Noelle decided to wait until after to make her appearance.

Backing up to the week before, I was very blessed to have Jason home for a few days.  Between that and the weekend we were able to get the house clean, finish a few projects, and get extra rest.  The day before Christmas Eve my parents came to get Ethan for the night.  Jason and I were able to enjoy the night by going to PF Chang’s (as we did right before Ethan was born).  The next day we had more time to get things done around the house and get all of Ethan’s toys put together and under the tree.

Christmas day was so much fun.  Ethan woke up in a good mood.  He of course didn’t understand what was going on immediately saw his new bike and guitar.  After playing with them for a while, he was very excited to open “birthday presents” as he called them.  He would open one, get excited about it, and then say “open more birthday presents!”  It took us quite a while to get through all of them but he never seemed to get tired of it.  He played and played with his guitar and his other toys.  At some point we enjoyed baked french toast, bacon, and fruit for breakfast.  I’m so glad that Noelle decided to let us have this day at home with Ethan before she arrived!

We cannot believe that we have a 2 year old!  We have had a very busy October complete with birthday parties, sickness (for Daddy and Ethan), weekends away, and preparing for baby sister.  Ethan’s little personality is really coming out and it’s so funny how much he is changing.

Ethan has started to become more shy lately and is having some new separation anxiety (mainly mommy separation anxiety).  He is usually very social and outgoing but lately gets very overwhelmed in big groups and new situations.  We are trying to help him in these situations and aren’t sure if it is a temporary phase or more of his personality.  We would not be surprised if he stays this way since he has two introvert parents!  He also does not like to be away from Mommy!  He cries almost every time I drop him off at daycare (but it doesn’t last long) and even gets mad when I leave him at home with Daddy.  This weekend I worked and he was very mad that mommy was gone when he woke up.  Some of his favorite phrases these days are “mommy carry you (mommy carry me)” and “Ethan hold mommy (mommy hold Ethan).”  We spend lots of time snuggling but I am also trying to teach him that in a few months he will need to do things like go up and down the stairs himself and that mommy will not be able to hold him all the time.  But I am enjoying my lovey little boy.

Ethan is still talking like crazy.  He amazes us with the words and sentences he comes up with.  He also loves to sing and will frequently start singing out of no where.  He knows a lot of songs now and impresses us with how many songs he has completely memorized.  It is so cute to hear him sing.  Some of his favorites are Old MacDonald, If you’re happy and you know it, The Hokey Pokey, You are my sunshine, and Jesus loves me.

Ethan has officially transitioned to his big boy bed.  He has been napping in it for a few weeks and sleeping in it at night for about a week.  He finally stopped his nap/bedtime shenanigans and is sleeping better without such a fight.  He still wakes up early sometimes and is taking shorter naps (I really enjoyed the 3 hour naps!) but I will take it compared to the fight he put up over the past few months.  He seems to enjoy the extra space in his new bed and he especially loves the pillows.  Thankfully he does not get out of his bed on his own because it is too high.

Ethan did great at his 2 year appointment last week.  He weighs 28lbs 15oz (61%) and is 34.5 inches (59%).  He did great for his check up and was so distracted by playing with the otoscope that he didn’t even cry for his shot.  We did find out that he has an ear infection (he has had a cold for along time) and he seems to be feeling better after a few doses of antibiotics.  Dr. Wheeler says he is perfectly healthy and totally adorable!

Ethan enjoyed several birthday parties and is now an expert in singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles.  In fact, he still asks to sing Happy Birthday, blow out candles, eat birthday cake, and open presents.  I learned quickly that I should not let him see a cake until it is time to eat it or I will hear “Ethan bite birthday cake!” until it is time.  Ethan got lots of fun presents for his birthday and is enjoying playing with them all!

This weekend Jason, Ethan and I went to the Pumpkin Fest at the Country Market in Zionsville.  This was the first year we have went so we weren’t quite sure what to expect.  The weather was supposed to be nice but it ended up raining a little, but wasn’t unbearable.  Ethan had a great time!

Ethan got a little pumpkin but dropped it as we were walking back to our car.  We decided to dissect it the next day and Ethan had a great time pretending to cut it open.

Here are lots of pictures of our fun day!

 

We have been so busy the past few months that I am a little behind.  I will try to summarize quickly and not get too long winded.

Ethan has been through a lot of changes over the past few months including:

• Saying bye bye to his good friend “bee” (pacifier)
• Moving to a new daycare, and going 3 days a week instead of 2
• Starting to transition to his big boy bed

Per usual, Ethan has changed so much.  Especially over the past few weeks, he has grown up a lot.  He has been talking even more than usual and has a whole new vocabulary lately.  He is saying a lot of  new words and we have no idea what he is saying.  A few of his new favorite words/phrases are:

• Oh my gosh!
• Watch Thomas Train?
• Rufus puked.
• Go away, mommy/daddy!
• No, mine!
• Reduce, reuse, recycle!
• Ethan drive daddy’s car.

Ethan has been eating very well lately.  A few new foods he now eats are toast with peanut buter, chicken nuggets, apple slices, blueberries and grapes.  We’re hoping he keeps it up and will keep trying new things!

Ethan is very opinionated and has lots of favorite things.  He wants to have a say in everything that goes on, and also likes to change his mind every second.  Some of our conversations go something like this: “Music?  No music.  Music?  No music.  MUSIC!!!!” And he wil proceed to have a meltdown after I finally tell him I will not turn the music back on again.  We are working on his manners and sometimes we tell him if he asks nicely he can have what he is asking for so he will say “mommy, please” or “mommy, please music” and then he will be happy with what he asked for.  Here are a few more of his favorite things.

• Thomas the Train
• Music and musical instruments – guitars, drums, microphones
• Baby sister (or seester as he calls her)
• The cats
• His blankies
• His table and chairs and kitchen accessories
• Elmo and Elmo songs
• Sitting on the potty (but not actually going potty)

Ethan also survived his first ER visit.  He touched a light bulb on a lamp we had moved to the floor so we could move a piece of furniture.  The burn ended up not being as bad as we initially thought but we are glad we got it checked out.  And, he thought it was awesome to have his hand all bandaged up.

Here are some pictures of our silly little boy.  He cracks us up so much these days!

First day at his new daycare, which he calls “school library”

Taking “baby seester” for a walk.

Can you tell Ethan is enjoying this way more than Rufus?

Making “hot coffee” and “hot toast” for Elmo.  He might be slightly obsessed with things being hot.

Driving a car at the Children’s Museum

Sharing chicken strips, french fries, and apples slices with Mommy at the Children’s Museum

First nap in his big boy bed

 

 

 

Ethan has been growing and changing as usual this month.  We got him to stand on the bathroom scale and found out he weighs 28lbs!  Though I’m still not sure how he keeps gaining weight as his eating habits are not improving.  He seems to be eating even less these days.  We have got him to try cantaloupe and strawberries this month.

Ethan continues to talk like crazy.  The cutest new thing he says is “I love you.”  He will say “I love you Daddy” for a long time after Jason leaves in the morning and will say it before he goes to bed.  He absolutely cracks us up with the things he says and repeats.  He recognizes almost all of his letters and will say them when he is in the mood.  Speaking of mood, he is very opinionated these days and can be very disagreeable sometimes.  Every day he wants to pick out his food, shoes, books and pretty much everything else.  Some nights we have to go through 10 books before he will agree to read one.  And most days it is a battle to get him to wear anything other than his blue crocs!

Ethan still loves reading, music, and little people.  He also enjoys “cooking” in his kitchen and loves making “lettuce soup.”  He loves playing with his musical instruments and insists that mommy and daddy play a song with him several times a day.  He is also currently obsessed with The Laurie Berkner Band, or “tv show” as he calls it.  It is a DVD of songs and he is completely mesmerized by it!

We are trying to get Ethan excited about being a big brother.  We have been reading a lot of new baby books and talking about babies.  He is very interested in babies in general and will now say baby when I ask him what is in my belly.

Here are some pictures of our little darling.

Ethan sharing his milk with Mickey

Ethan kept saying “Emo meh” and we couldn’t figure out what he was saying, then he came in the kitchen and he showed us Elmo – with a mint in his mouth!

One of Ethan’s favorite things is riding the carousel (or neighs as he calls it).

Ethan loves playing with the horse stable playhouse at the library.

Ethan watching “tv show.”  You can tell he’s just a little bit excited!

Ethan is becoming such a big boy.  I can’t believe that in just a few months he will be 2.  His little imagination has really started coming out the past few weeks.  He has started to play on his own better and give me a few minutes to myself.  He will narrate his playing and chatter the whole time he is playing.  It sounds something like “Yeah, ok.  Hello.  Swing, swing.  Nigh nigh.”  He will also add lots of babbling and his own made up words.  His favorite toys are his little people including his pirate ship, airplane, and batman.  We were lucky enough to find a Noah’s Ark little people at at garage sale for $0.50!

Ethan is still very chatty and knows lots of words and phrases.  Some of his favorites lately are “hot day” which he says every time we go outside and “happy daddy day” which he has been saying since Father’s Day.  When he is being disciplined and I say “Do you hear me?” and will repeat “hear me!” which just makes me laugh.  He is communicating with us very well which is nice but he gets mad when he doesn’t get what he wants!  Lately Ethan has also been obsessed with “washing” hands in his play kitchen.  He will take us by the hand over to his kitchen and we have to wash and dry our hands.  He is also learning some letters and loves singing the alphabet song.  He recognizes A, B, C, M, O, and P.  Some letters he knows they are a letter but doesn’t know which one, so he just says whatever letter comes to mind!

Ethan has done a better job of trying new foods lately, though he hasn’t added a whole lot to his normal menu.  He does like watermelon (which he calls “nummy”) and eats a lot of it these days.  He recently tried baked beans but immediately spit it out.  We are making him eat whatever we are having for dinner so some days he doesn’t eat any dinner.  He is developing “normal” toddler eating habits of eating a lot for some meals and nothing for others (even if it is food that he likes).  He is still gaining plenty of weight – some days I feel like I can barely hold him!

Ethan finally has enough teeth to be helpful.  In addition to his two bottom and four top teeth, he now has 1 bottom molar and and he just got 2 bottom molars.  They came in as quite a surprise to us.  We didn’t even notice until they had both cut through.

His favorite new game – daddy is his “neigh”

First trip to the splash park this summer.  It took him a while to warm up to it but I think he is a fan.

Serving up some ice cream at the Children’s Museum.

Silly boy, he always wants to ride the lion water fountain at the park.

Another 18 month picture I never posted.

Ethan seems to have transformed into a little boy over the past month.  He is has a mind of his own likes to tell us what he thinks!  He has also become more interested in his toys and playing on his own.

Ethan’s speech has really blossomed this month.  He is speaking regularly in 2 and 3 word phrases.  His most frequent words include “more, mommy, daddy, no, yes, help.”  This week he has started saying “are you?” (where are you?).  He will say “Ginger, are you? Rufus, are you?  Mommy/daddy, are you?”  He will also “call out” to items he wants.  “Milk, are you?”  “Elmo, are you?”  It’s pretty funny how he understands exactly what he is saying!  He can also count to ten, though he is not interested in actually counting objects.  He spends most of his day constantly talking.  He alternates thru babbling in his own language, saying a bunch of random words that don’t make sense, and speaking clearly, usually asking for something.

Ethan has a few obsession that we find hilarious.  He likes random objects around the house that aren’t toys.  We let him play with them until he shows signs he is going to break them or do something to hurt himself.  For example, he loves playing with the Wiimotes right now, but today he was running around with the plug in his mouth, and I was afraid he would trip with it in his mouth.  He was also obsessed with the immersion blender (with the blade removed).

Ethan still loves to read and has several books he has memorized.  He will say certain words he knows when we are reading and sometimes he will open a book to a page and say the word he knows.

Ethan has been struggling lately with hitting and biting.  He have to remind him on a daily basis that he should not hit or bite mommy or daddy or anyone else.  Discipline continues to be a challenge but we are working on it!

Ethan has loved the warm days and we play outside almost every day.  Some days he will bring me his shoes to put on him, then take my hand and walk towards the door and say “play play play?”  He loves to “swing” and “slide.”

Ethan has tried a few new foods over the past month.  He is officially a lover of french fries and will occasionally eat chicken nuggets.  He also tried grapes, celery, and fried okra.  He still loves ice cream, cookies, and donuts!

Here are some pictures of our big boy!

Playing at the Children’s Museum

Ethan snatched my computer off the desk, opened it, and went to work

Silly boy

Ethan is prepared for the tornado warning

Trying grapes for the first time

Playing with the computer at the Children’s Museum

Making sure he gets the last drop of ice cream out of his bowl

After his bowl of ice cream, he stole my cone and ate it all, making a huge mess!

One of Ethan’s 18 month picutres

Ethan is a year and a half old!  I can’t even wrap my mind around the idea of him being closer to 2 than 1.  Though he is looking more and more like a little boy every day and doesn’t resemble a baby at all!

Ethan has added one more food to his menu this month: bacon.  We let him try whatever food he wants off our plates and recently he has really enjoyed bacon.  Not exactly the next food I would have picked for him, but I’m glad he is trying new things.  He has also added one more tooth to his mouth bringing the grand total to 5.  We can see #6 ready to come in any time.

Ethan did great at his 18 month appointment.  He weighs 25 lbs and 14 oz (51%) and is 31.5 inches long (28%).  He did well for his exam but did not care for his shot and finger stick.  He had to get his hemoglobin checked again since he doesn’t eat any meat (and it was fine).  He let everyone know for a long time that he was not happy.  After his appointment I told him we could go get a donut and he said “dona, dona, dona” the whole way to the bakery.

Ethan has started saying two word phrases which is quite cute.  He frequently says “bye bye daddy” and “thank you mommy.”  Sometimes he will say “help please mommy.”  He is learning more words to figure out how to eat what he wants.  His new favorite words include up,  ice cream (which he says for anything sweet) an juice.  After a few visits to Traders Point Creamery Ethan is now obsessed with cows and wants to go see them all the time.  He stands in front of the cows and moos at them.  And when we are home he will say “moo? moo?” and head for the door.

Ethan sure loves his mommy and daddy and wants to let everyone know it.  When we are around people he doesn’t know he will point to us and say “mommy” or “daddy” as if to tell everyone around that he belongs to us.  Lately he has also wanted to be held more and will hold on with all his might when I try to put him down.  When he sees Jason and I hugging he gets very jealous and wants in on it and will say “huh, huh (hug).”

Ethan has got in trouble at school a few times this week for being aggressive and mean to his school friends.  We are hoping this is a phase and will go away when he moves up to his new classroom next week.  He is always very sweet and gentle around most kids and usually reserves his aggressiveness for mommy and daddy!

Ethan loves playing outside, especially on slides.  He loves when he came walk up the stairs of the slide by himself while holding onto the hand rail.  And he has mastered going down slides by himself too!  I love seeing the look on his face as he slides down!

Playing with his favorite toy, a room thermometer that he broke.

“Hi, hello, hi”

Handsome man hanging out in his jammies.