Little boy

Ethan is not a baby. But if you ask him if he's a big boy, he answers "Nope! I'm a little boy!" And he really is. Over the last couple of months, he has really begun to master the whole language thing. He's been really great about putting together full sentences to express complex ideas. He's definitely not just parroting anymore. He's finally able to tell us what he's thinking and how he's feeling and to share his ideas with us.

I love our Daisy, but she has a real talent for getting underfoot at the most inconvenient moment. When I get frustrated with her, I sometimes let loose with a "Frickin' dog!" One night, I was trying to get Ethan to go to sleep. He wanted me to talk to him, but I was not replying. He tried to get my attention..."Moooommy. Moooommy." No reply. "Mom. MOM. Frickin' MOM!" I couldn't help it...I cracked up and had to hug and kiss my crazy kid.

He's starting to understand phonics. He will often see letters and tell us what sounds they make, or he'll hear a word, repeat the starting sound and say "Mommy starts with M!" or "Pillow starts with P!," etc. It's funny because he can't say the hard G or C sounds yet, so he'll say stuff like "duh, duh, doat starts with G!" or "tuh, tuh, tat starts with C!" (That's translated as Goat and Cat, btw. :oD)

He's also developing a cute little sense of humor. Who knew that little boy potty humor starts so early!?! He likes to pretend someone "tooted" and laugh. Sigh. He's also having fun pretending to be animals. He's usually a kitty thanks to "Kitten's First Full Moon", but sometimes he's a puppy and gives me puppy kisses. Sloppy, but funny.

Ethan also tries to be just like Daddy. He likes to pretend he's "going to work" and loves playing with doors and announcing that he's home. Several weeks ago, Jim took Ethan upstairs to get him dressed for the day. Over the baby monitor, I heard Jim asking him what shirt and shorts he wanted to wear. Ethan kept rejecting all of Dad's suggestions, but he finally agreed to a shirt and a pair of shorts, and I heard Jim laughing as he got Ethan dressed. When they came downstairs, Jim got my attention. He had been laughing because Ethan picked a shirt and shorts that matched the ones Jim was wearing...he wanted to dress like Daddy!

Another funny pretending story: we had a couple of hail storms come through over the last few months, so everyone in our neighborhood has been getting new roofs. Ethan has a firetruck tent that has a little ladder painted onto one side. A few weeks ago, I watched him lean the ladder panel of the firetruck tent against another little tent in his playroom. He picked up a toy hammer and pretended to climb the ladder, then he started hammering the top of the other tent and announced that he was fixing the roof. I was so surprised that he was able to put so many ideas and actions together and act them out...pretty complex!!

When we're driving around, he likes to yell "Green light meaaans, GO!" and "Red light meaaaans, STOP!" This has become a game during our evening walks and we now green light go and red light stop our way through the neighborhood.

He's very cuddly and sweet right now. He's generous with the "I love you's" and hugs and kisses. I'm totally eating this up because just a few weeks ago, he'd wipe away my kisses and tell me they were "Yucky! Blech!" I'm sure that phase will be back soon, so I'm going to enjoy the love while I've got it!

He's also doing a great job of following directions and trying to be helpful. He likes to "carry" things for me and help me clean. He's also enjoying putting things in time out...including Mommy. As I type, he's taking a school bus to time out, saying "Time out, school bus. Two minutes. What's the rule?? (I make him tell me what rule he's broken when we do a time out.) Stay in time out. Ok. All done."

Ethan is very hyper. He bounces, runs, talks and pretends non-stop, and he just wears me out! By the end of the day, I am exhausted. But although he can drive me crazy sometimes, he is so yummy and funny and CUTE, I feel lucky to be here with him all day.