18 months

This little boy 

will be 18 months old in three days.

How did that happen?

He went from this:

To this:

in what seems like minutes.

It probably would have been smart for me to wait to write this post until I took him to his 18 month well check up at the pediatrician.

But if I am being honest I totally skipped making a 15 month appointment and who knows when I will get to the 18 month one.

His height and weight aren't really what is important to me right now anyway.

I want to remember his personality.

His manerisms.

What makes Ethan, Ethan.

Well, this woudn't be a post about Ethan without his blankie.

It is his favorite thing in the whole world, and I am so thankful that he found another one to love.

He carries that thing around with hiim all day long and loves to cuddle it while he drinks his cup of milk both morning and night.

He always hands it to me before I get him out of the crib to make sure he will have access to it at all times.

Some of the words he can say (and by say I mean in correct context . . . side note:  I get really annoyed when parents say their kids can "say" words when all they do is repeat sounds with no connection to anything.  That is not cognitive skill in my humble opinion.)

Mom - Yes, he calls me "mom" not mommy or mama.  I blame it on his older brother.

Daddy - yes, daddy gets the cute version.  Who knows why?

Bu-bye - See ya

Hi - in greeting

No - as in the opposite of yes, this is a frequent word in his vocabulary

Blankie - Obviously

Nouna - My mom's grandma name

Papou - My dad's grandpa name

Eat - This was an early one as well for obvious reasons

Please (sounds like Peas) - We forced this one to keep him polite:)

Cheese - Whenever a camera comes out

Oh, Cool - I definitely taught him this one.  It is the funniest thing.

Night, Night - Bedtime

Uh-oh - Mess up

Ball - for balls (hard one, I know)

Two - If I say one, he will follow with two and then "ee" which might mean three.  Jury's still out on that one.

That is all I can think of at the moment.

He does understand a lot more words because he can follow basically any command we give him.

He is just so much fun.

I love all the learning he does on a daily basis.

He loves to put on his shoes, his brother's shoes, his daddy's shoes, his mommy's shoes.

He doesn't discriminate. 

Shoes are shoes to him.

He will imitate sounds like snoring if you pretend first.

He pretends to actually read books with voice inflection and everything.

He does karate motions and says, "hi-ya."

He loves to be chased.

He laughs hysterically if you say, "I'm gonna get you."

He loves to be outside.

He will run for any open door at any given time.

He loves to take off his pants.

Pulls them up and down all day long and thinks it is really funny while he does it.

He always wants to use his own utensils while eating.

He can identify his nose (points to it), mouth (sticks out his tongue), hands (waves them), feet (wiggles his toes), belly (sucks in his stomach), and his head (pats his hair)

Barney is his favorite show (unfortunately).

He thinks dancing is a serious activity.

Everytime music comes on he stops whatever he is doing and begins shaking his hips and looking around to make sure everyone is doing the same.

He doesn't like to be held much anymore when we go places.

He wants to walk like his big brother and hold hands with the adults.

Ethan,

We love you so, so, so much.

You are such a joy, and we thank God for you every minute.

We are so blessed by having you!