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.