Happy Halloween and update on our boys!

 

Ethan is 13 months and growing and changing every day. He is running all over the place (still running INTO things too, often falling or bonking against tables and such.) He is adding lots of teeth (now has 11 which includes two molars and one incisor) and starting to add new words to his vocabulary daily. Some that we hear often include "ball", "at" (cat), "bubba" (brother Ryan), "ah-bahl"(which is his own little word for his bottle), "ahda"- all done, "up", "out", "apple", "bubble", "yeah", "mama, dada, nana", and most recently "dan-dada" which was to his Grandaddy. He "woofs" at dogs and yells "meow" at the cat constantly and still prefers outdoors over indoor playtime. Ethan loves everything involving a ball and throwing and will play with a tee, baseball, and bat for literally an hour outside if I let him. He is quite a little character and definitely getting spunky, learning to be tough and fight for what is his from his big brother. He also gives big brother the sweetest hugs that just melt my heart! Teething has had its challenging moments as he is biting on everything and has his fingers in his mouth constantly. I am ready for him to just go ahead and bust out those last 5 teeth and be done with the whole thing for awhile. I hate seeing my little guy in pain and so Tylenol, Orajel and Icy Teethies have been our friends lately.

Both our boys have been battling a virus and croup for the past two weeks which is so sad to see them sick and is tough on my energy level as I have had several nights of interrupted sleep lately. This is Ryan's 3rd year in a row to get croup (he actually got it 3 times last year, so 5th time overall). However, this is Ethan's first illness other than 24 hr colds or allergy/sinus stuff. His fever reached 103 earlier this week where he had never been above right around 100 before. With this brought his first sick visit today as well. Typical treatment for croup includes 3 days of oral steroids (Ryan was on them last week) and Ethan will start his round today. Humidifiers have been running constantly in our house, but hopefully will be able to be put them away next week!

Ryan is learning quickly and growing each day and has had so many fun experiences this month. We had him stand against his wall measurement the other day and he was about 2 inches taller than where we marked him when he turned 3 yrs old. It is hard for me to believe it is only a little over 3 months until he will be 4!! Where has the time gone? Ryan is a bundle of energy and loves to laugh. He thinks many things are funny and already laughs at boyish things like "toots" and "burps", etc. He enjoys joking around and chasing/wrestling with his Dad. Ryan loves the shows "Jake and the Never land Pirates" and "Doc McStuffins" and will only watch "new" Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes, so they are fewer and far between these days unless we turn on to watch the "Hot dog dance" for Ethan. Ryan is learning to write and has a few letters and numbers that he does well and depending on the day will attempt to write his name for you. He is recognizing site words in easy reader books very well and we are amazed how quickly he is picking up reading small basic sentences. One of his favorite things is to go to the library and pick out his 10 books each week and we are starting to encourage some of the shorter books lately that he can practice reading. I love seeing the wheels turning in his head and how excited he gets when he recognizes a word and realizes how he can read some for himself. He still will sit with books and "story tell read" by looking at the pictures and making up what he thinks is happening in the book and this can be very entertaining as well. We are so blessed by each of our precious boys!

This year our family dressed up for our church carnival "Shreek on the Creek" as a Toy Story family. Michael was Woody, I was Jessie, and both boys were Buzz Light year. They looked so precious and we received many compliments. I enjoyed doing something a little outside of the norm for us in dressing up as a family. It was a lot of fun. Be sure to check out facebook for a few photos of the family. I don't imagine we will dress up every year with the boys, but I am glad we made it happen this year! Happy Halloween everyone!