Quick Blog

This video was yesterday. The kids doing "smurbs" on my belly. And also hugging the belly, too, hehe.

Then there's a pic of the kids hugging! Willingly!!! ... and the other picture- Ethan walked over to me & I saw him like this! Completely on his own, he opened my bottom drawer, got a pair of my underwear and a sports bra, and put them around his neck. He just came over, as though to show me what he did, and smiled, knowing he's funny! Ha!

I somehow forgot to mention in yesterday's blog that Ethan is getting good as repeating his ABC's! We will say one letter at a time, and he will repeat it... and there are only a few he cant say correctly, but he's doing really well! Soon we'll hold up the letter, so he can associate what he's saying with that letter. Its really fun to hear him say them, and he seems to enjoy doing it!

Just in the past day, he has also said 3 new words! Barn! stop, only without the S.... and also phone... he says like pome. Its so cute!

Boots!

I decided MONTHS ago that Ethan & Diella were dressing up for Halloween as Dora and Boots. I knew Ethan of course wouldn't mind what he went as, but I really think he liked his costume a lot more than we expected! Plus, he's recently learned who Dora is, and says her name and everything when they watch her on tv. I was excited to make their costumes, but never thought they would turn out this good! He was the most adorable Boots ever!!!

Here are lots of new words Ethan is saying… toe, boo boo, ok (otay), dinosaur (id-do), hello, Dora!, play, airplane is ah-mane, bird, nice, done, pumpkin is puh-pin. I've heard him to E-I-O during Old MacDonald!!! He says truck, but he still cant do the K sound. I think the TR sound would be harder than the K sound, but he has "Tra" down perfectly! Just needs that 'ck' on the end! Diella and I have always done cheers with our cups or spoons or food, and now Ethan joins us, "Chee!" He also says 'oh my!' ... Oh and he also says his name! He can say E, and he can say "thin" … but he'll never put them together… usually we'll say the E, and he'll finish, with 'than' hehe, but at least he knows he's saying his name!

Every little girl we see, Ethan calls her Aria. Aw! And every old man we see, Ethan will point and shout Papo! (thats what we call Papa O.) its so cute! Also, when we're right about to pull into our driveway, and Ethan can see our house, every time, he says "home." I love that!

Ok, Ethan is SO a boy…. he cracks up anytime anyone toots or burps. We ARE teaching him to say excuse me, but we cant help but to giggle when he laughs at other peoples' bodily noises!

I gave Ethan another hair cut a few days ago. Its technically like his third one already! Its only really noticeable to those who see him really often, but I did cut quite a bit this time! Jake and I keep trying to decide if we wanna let it grow out at all, but he just looks so handsome with his hair all clean cut & short!

Ethan does this new thing where he'll take one or both of his arms, and slowly make big circles. I think its a dancing thing, but other time he'll do it at random. Its SO adorable! And he does it with a silly look on his face too, so you know its in attempt to be funny, I love it!

so his big sis often jumps off of things, like the couch or the stairs, etc. Well, he's been wanting to jump so bad lately! Diella finally taught him how to jump on the bed, holding onto one side. He's now a pro! Well, he also has finally gotten the hang of jumping with two feet, on the floor! I remember Diella being only like 15 months when she accomplished this, but Ethan is thrilled that he's finally got it! You can just see, when they're playing, how badly he wants to jump onto and off of things like she does, and how much he wants to keep up with her!

A long time ago, Diella would do these flops onto the bed. Like from a standing position, flop to the bed either forward or backward, without bending the knees, and without catching herself with her hands! I remember me & Ahna & Caeden all doing this with her before. Well yesterday I was in my room, on my computer, and I look back… and without us teaching or prompting him, he begins to do this same thing! (usually he does things once he sees his sister do it first), but just out of nowhere, he's flopping backwards to the bed! It was great to watch, and of course he kept going, as long as I would laugh & cheer!

Readin the Paper

This pic was NOT prompted! He grabbed the paper & started "reading it" ! … I thought it was adorable, so I took a pic… thing I didn't notice, that Jake pointed out to me later, was what the paper says! It says "Where to Begin?" HAHA, priceless!

We think Ethan is getting his bottom two eye teeth. Poor guy. He was So not himself last night. Lets hope they come right in & this is over with.

He's starting to run SO fast! Cool!!!

He's still not very interested in learning the ABC's, but if we go through each letter & ask hi to repeat them, he usually will, which is a good start! We'll keep trying!

Also the potty, we've been trying out once a day. He still hasnt gone yet, but he's got a good attitude bout it, at least, hehe… not afraid of it or anything.

He has rediscovered dancing. He LOVES to now! And he's been putting his WHOLE body into it! Its the greatest thing to watch!

And we were trying to teach Ethan a while back, how to raise his hand & say "Me!" when mommy asks, 'who wants to ____?" … well now he does it all the time & its SOOO great!…. even he'll do it sometime when we don't ask. Like I'll say 'ok, lets get in the car!' and Ethan will go, "meeee!!!!" haha!

He still loves to say Aria! He says it so clearly too! I count it as his official first 3 syllable word!

Diella likes to sing the Hallelujah song from Shrek. Well, now Ethan sings it along with her! COOL! Its kind of like Hal-la, but still so cute!

Video!

Well, I have a lot less to say about Ethan this time around. But I DO have a video! He learned how to jump on the bed, hehe!

Two new cute words he says are "warm" and "hurry" , hehe love it!


Man, one morning, I went to get him out of his crib… and he had no shirt on! I have no clue how he got it off, but somehow he took off his own shirt!!?? and if I remember correctly, I believe it was even long sleeved!! Weird. Well, ok now that I think about it, sometimes I ask him to help when I'm dressing him, but its ALWAYS with pants, I've never had him try the shirt. It was cool though.

He does this new thing where if he wants me to go somewhere with him, he'll hold out his hand for me to take it, and then pull me along. It. is. the Cutest thing! … and you should see how he does it… palm up, and even his chin goes down towards his chest a little, and then he looks out the top on his eyes… all innocent. Melts my little heart!

ok, and monumental thing in Ethan's life… He now gives CLOSED-mouth kisses! hehehe, YAY!!!

My 18 month old

Ethan is saying a million new words!!! I'll list a few, but really, by now, he'll try almost any word you ask him to! Well, he'll usually get at least the first two letters, here. Door, me, teeth, sister (dit-da), keys, flower, bug, moon, boat, bed, peas, dog. And some of the ones that impress me the most- I LOVE when he says woah, its so cute!, he says Bell very clearly, as well as happy!, also turtle, ice…. oh and my mom taught him how to say 'I poop' ha, thanks mom. There have been a few times recently he's put two words together! Like bye dada, and 'all done wawa (water)' !!! Oh and we were at the doc, check up for Diella, and they were checking her hearing, asking her to say beep when she heard the beep. Well she wasn't very interested in cooperating with that, so I was showing her how, saying "Beep", then we all cracked up when we hear little Ethan shown his big sis how, he calls out "Beep!" HAAHHAA!

He's also doing a few new animal sounds. Like the sound for monkey, horse, and owl!

My last blog talked about the ABC books that he looks through, and how he's started to recognize & point out certain pictures to me. Well one night he did it with a TON of them all of a sudden! He's picking up on LOTS lately!

The other say he snorted when he laughed, HHAAAHA!

Ethan loves to play under things, like endtables n stuff… its s cute, like his lil hideout! Even the other day was plain under my bed! Fun!

I. Love. the way this kid walks. Its with such confidence & manliness! Ha! Chest out, stomps his feet a bit, and swings his left arm… it. is. adorable!

He loves bellies, huh! He loves to lift my shirt & poke my belly, and hug it, and even lately blow zerbets (or smurbs) on it! Then we found out its not just my belly, but anyone's… he does it to Ahna too! here, fun!

When Diella was around Ethan's age, and when I'd ask her to sing, out would come these two little notes, one higher one, then one lower one, back to back. Well now that we ask Ethan to sing… no joke… he does the SAME thing!!!!

These kids, even though sometimes they don't get along perfectly, one thing that i love is that when one is taking a nap, the other will ask for them. Diella asks for Ethan, and Ethan does the same when she's asleep. Aw! Like, "where's my play pal!!??"

Oh and this kid, quite the charmer he thinks he is, lemmie tell you! … he does this ADORABLE inflection in his voice when he says Hi, its kind of like 3 notes, goin up & common back down… well…. he's done it a few times when he's being told No. Its like "hm, if I sound cute, maybe I'll get out of trouble… Hiiiiiiiiii" haha

I was gone all day a while ago, shooting a wedding, and made it home before the kids went down for bed. Ethan greeted me with enthusiasm, as usual, and as I hugged him, and neither of us let go for a minute, I was swaying back and forth, us enjoying being with him… and he starts humming! like a satisfied, content, with his mommy tune…. wonderful moment!

Oh, and he has officially, just the past few days, gone from two naps to one. And then next week we start going without a binky. THEN after THAT... we're gonna put the kids in one room, so they get used to the idea before the baby comes. Lots of changes! Ah!

What a Talker!

In these pictures… the kids were into this whole holding hands phase… it was classic!!! There’s one where Ethan is showing us his crack, thank you. Jake says he inherited that from me, ha! … and the one with him holding his bib on the back of his neck, he kept doing it to make us laugh, and it worked!

So a few funny things Ethan has been doing… sometimes when he walks, he’ll put his hands like on his back… like on his hips, but back farther… other times he’s got one hand behind him, with his fingers inside the top of his pants, resting his hand there… like a man. Its hilarious! .. ok, and even once in a while, if he’s got like elastic waist shorts on, he’s got both hands in the back of his pants, and he like grabs his cheekies… it is really funny!

Also lately, he has this funny walk, where its almost like he’s proudly stomping around the house, legs spread… like a giant, tromping through the village. Ha!

Ethan is blowing kisses now! Cute!!!

I’ve mentioned before how he loves shoes… well one day I said “Ethan, go get your shoes.” … not sure if he’d get it right without me pointing them out or anything… but he looked around, then walked across the hall to diella’s room, and in her closet where the shoes are, and he brought them to me!!! Very cool!

He is starting to love the ABC books, which makes me so happy! The other day, he came running in with the “D” book, opened to the page with the duck, and he was excitedly saying “duh! Duh!” (which is duck)… and a few minutes later came in with the “B” book, opened to the picture of the banana, saying “Binna! Binna!” He was showing me the picture & yelling it out, like “Oh, I KNOW this one!!!” there was a third one he did too, but I don’t member which one?

So Ethan is NOT interested in signing, like Diella was. He’d much rather jus try to SAY the word. Well, the more & more words come spilling out of his mouth, I have been trying to keep up, and finally started keeping track & writing them down. Well guess what, he’s about 16 and a half months, and he’s up to 40 words!!! Of course they’re not all very clear, but they’re ALL things that he’s indentifying and KNOWS what they are! Here’s a quick list of the words he says (the ones at the end being the newest ones for him)… hi, bye, mama, dada, Ahna, Papa, Ella (Diella), pizza, binky, up, down, all done, uh oh, hot, book, shoes, choo choo, ball, yea, thank you, bath, duck, diaper, doctor, nite nite, hello, banana, stuck, Elmo, boom, mine, apple, achoo, num num, home, Einstein, wa wa (for water), amen, help, hotdog, and baby. Woo hoo!

Growing Up!

Ethan got another molar! That put him at 9 teeth, still missing that bottom right one. But he just got that one 3 days ago as well! So ten teeth now!

He is officially running now, for at least a month! Getting quick!

He’s also able to climb up onto the dining room chairs, and in turn, up onto the table as well. Sigh*

He has again mastered going down the stairs (backwards). He had it down, then fell 3 times within like a week, then refused to go down for a long time. But we worked on it some more, and we’re all set now!

He laughs on command & its hilarious! He also does this long laugh til his breath runs out! Everyone who hears is Cracks Up!! Its SO Funny! He does it a lot when he gets something he wants. Like if he asks for milk, and then we give it to him, he long laughs.

Ethan was JUST NOW doing the motions along with “if you’re happy and you know it”!!! he was clapping his hands & stomping his feet when they were!!! Even swaying while they were singing! COOL!

He’s starting to discover his singing voice, just a bit, its cute!

He’s got 2 new animals sounds! Monkey & cow!

Ethan LOVES books! He gets so excited & points & says Buh! At a book! Especially when we put him in the car, even before we’re done buckling him in, he says book and is looking all over for it. Then he does is silly laugh when we hand him a book, hehe!

He also Loves to wear shoes! When we first got him wearing shoes (a long time ago, of course), he hated them! Now, I think its because he can SAY shoes, (its kinda without any vowels, he says “shz”), he wants to wear them. He’ll bring em to me & says Shz, and I’ll ask, “you wanna put em on?” He smiles & nods. Then we put em on & he takes off! Hehhee

He’s such a little jokester sometimes! Whenever he finds his binky (which he can ONLY have for sleeping, and we will ween him from it at 18 months, like we did with Diella), but when we accidentally leave it in his reach & he gets a hold of it, we smile & say “take your binky out” … he’ll smile, take it out, giggle, and very quickly put it right back in. That usually makes US giggle, so then we’ll playfully snatch it out of his mouth, and he Cracks Up! HaHA!

A new discovery that we’ve made about him (and that he made about himself, really), is that he loves to be wrapped up! Whether its in a towel after his bath, or in a blanket before bed, he LOVES it when you wrap it around his back, so that he’s holding it in front! Its so cute!

He’s also still very cuddly! I will NEVER get sick of this! I cant get enough of him coming over at random just to sit on my lap, or hug me, or literally wrap his arms around my neck! Please Ethan, Never change this

He’s getting smarter too! Things like when you ask “do you want some water?” He’ll not only nod, but then head towards the kitchen. He knows that’s where you get the water from. Same with brushing teeth. We suggest that, he nods & head for the bathroom. I like this.

Ok, one thing he’s doing that I DON’T like… his cries have become more like screams. This is the ONE thing I CANNOT STAND that kids do, is scream! We’ve always taught Diella to not scream for no reason… so now we’re trying very hard to teach Ethan the same, cuz the screams drive me bonkers!

He & Diella like to hold hands! Sometimes in the car, occasionally during our walks. Its adorable. Although sometimes she tries to hold his hand & he doesn’t want to. For some reason that cracks me up, ha!

He’s been saying Papa a lot! He loves his Papa! A few times he’s seen some pictures with Papa in it, and he’ll point & say Papa. But now he says Papa and EVERY picture he sees, hehehe.

This kid is still such a good sleeper! He not only takes 2 naps, but the morning one is 2 and half hours long, and the afternoon one is about 90 mins long! Then at 9 c’clock bedtime, he practically BEGS us to go to bed!!! Rubs his eyes, says ni-ni, and reaches for the bed as we lower him into it! He sometimes gets a tad bit whiny, and even one time put his face right in front of mine, so that we made eye contact, and when I said, “you ready for nap?” he smiles & nods! Even just now he did the same, but I really thought he’s not ready for nap yet, so we just went upstairs and I figured I’d let him play a little. So he did. He played for about 5 mins, then brought me his blanket! Woo Hoo!

And his few new words… he says Apita. Dunno what it means, and apparently Chanson says it too!! But yea, that’s a very frequent word around here, hehe. He also says book (buh, like book, without the k), shoes – shz, all done (ah duh), yea, doctor (which comes out dot-da), banana (binna) and that’s sort of his word for any food really. He says Elmo (which is kinda like Emma), he repeated us when we asked him to say ‘good’ the other day, and he also says diaper when I get out a diaper to change him, its like “di-dah.” Lots of new words!

He is So laid back, and just such a cool kid! This is the very fun stage where he’s understanding & responding to everything! Great Times!