February Meal Plan

*So many people asked for my meal plan for the month of February I just decided to post it here. We typically eat out once on the weekends or have leftovers so when it says "out" that is my night off. ;-) Hope this is helpful.

February Meals

Sat-1
Out

Sun-2
Chicken/red potatoes/green beans bake (Marisa)
Recipe: 9x13 pan, 2 Chicken breast, red potatoes, fresh green beans.  Top with a package of Italian seasoning mix and then 1 stick of melted butter.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Mon-3
Ground Turkey lettuce wraps (Lisa)

Tues-4
Kung pao chicken tacos (recipes Facebook)

Wed-5
Crockpot Zuppa Toscana (recipes 2 Facebook)

Thurs-6
Ryan's Birthday his pick!

Friday-7
Cajun chicken penne (shrinking kitchen)

Sat-8
Out

Sun-8
Crockpot Roast, potatoes/carrots (st luke cookbook)- packet onion dip mix and can cream of mushroom

Mon-9
Chicken curry in a hurry (Renee- in recipes folder)

Tues-10
Mustard and dill fish filets (Madsen cookbook)

Wed-11
Chicken fried rice

Thurs-12
Loaded baked spaghetti (Kelsey)

Fri-13
Garlic ginger tofu (allrecipes)

Sat-14
Family Vday celebration
Homemade pizzas & movie

Sun-15
Chicken enchilada casserole (MOPS)
Rice and beans

Mon-16
Baked ranch chicken with mashed potatoes and veggie

Tues-17
Caesar chicken and parm Bow tie pasta w/ salad (recipe cards)

Wed-18
Amatriciana (all recipes)

Thurs-19
Hamburger stroganoff (Mimi's recipe)

Sat-20
Out

Sun-21
Crockpot chicken tacos/nachos
(Vivian)

Mon-22
Baked eggplant Parmesan with noodles (recipe cards)

Tues-23
Fish and veggies foil bake

Wed-24
Mac n cheese and turkey sausage

Thurs-25
Sausage pasta (all recipes)

Fri-26
Hamburger tacos/taco salad

Sat-27
Out

Sun-28
Breakfast for dinner

Christmas in a nutshell

We were so blessed once again this Christmas season to be healthy throughout all the holiday parties and spend lots of time with our family. We had many get-togethers starting with the Smith cousins party, followed by the Swan family Christmas, Mimi Roberts' Christmas, Roberts Christmas Eve, Santa at our house, & Campbell family Christmas.

Our children were very well loved by their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts & uncles and received a wide range of wonderful gifts. When asking Ryan about his favorite gifts he says: my train set, Wall-E & Robin Hood movies, Jessie doll, Spider man board that he colors, his Jake pirate ship & karate. Ethan seems to enjoy his elephant that shoots out balls, his new chair with his name on it, lots of cars, a talking phone, his big Thomas train, and Mom appreciates all his new clothes.

Mike received some new clothes, tennis shoes, books, a new mini-beverage fridge for upstairs, a 4 slice toaster, bullets for his 9mm, and gift cards among many other things. I was grateful to get to pick out two new light fixtures for our home that were gifted to me from Mike. I also am finally the owner of a large food processor which is pretty awesome. I also received some new purple luggage, new books, ornaments, Arthur Court grapes pieces, and clothes were among the many thoughtful gifts we received. We were gifted some money this year as well which was a big blessing as we were able to buy a few fun "want" items as well as pay to have the garage door replaced and painted over the holidays and take care of other household needs.

To all our family, we are so very grateful to have you as a part of our lives and are especially thankful for your thoughtfulness as you gifted to us and our children this Christmas season. It was wonderful being able to spend time with you all and we realize how lucky we are to have almost all of our family so close in proximity to us. Thank you for your generosity shown throughout the season.

The week after Christmas we were lucky to have Mike home from work with us and the boys thoroughly enjoyed soaking up a lot of extra "Daddy" time. We relaxed and enjoyed playing with our new gifts and just taking it easy after the busy week leading up to Christmas. We were thankful to have such a nice break with Mike around before he had to head back to a very hectic schedule awaiting him at the beginning of the year. The boys and I sure miss him when he works long days, but are very thankful for the hard work and hours he puts in for our family to provide for us.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season and are enjoying a great start to 2014! Here are a few photos from the season.

Ethan 15+ months...

I realize it has been quite awhile since I have made any kind of blog post, so I am hoping to do a little bit of updating today starting with some stories about Ethan and including his 15 month stats (a month late...)

height: 32.75 in, 95th%
head circumference: 47cm, 50th%
weight: 22lb 4.5oz, 50th%

Last month Ethan cut his 15th tooth- lower right incisor, and he is days away from the 16th lower left incisor breaking through. The tooth is huge already just hasn't yet broken the skin. Poor baby has had a busy time since his 1st birthday in cutting teeth.

Around November (14 mo) he took his first bubble bath with mom and brother. I really thought he would love it since he loves blowing bubbles outside, but instead the bubbles really seemed to scare him. He clung to Mom the whole time and didn't want the bubbles to touch him, which resulted in a rather quick bath. I am hoping to try bubble bath again sometime soon and see how he does.

In December (15mo) Ethan finally stopped crying when dropped off at nursery during church and MOPs meetings which was a big step and relief for Mom and Dad as I always hate leaving him crying because it tugs at my heartstrings (even though I know he is better in less than 5 minutes)

As of 15 and 16 months- Ethan's favorite books include; "Pat the bunny" he wants to read it over and over and (his favorite page is playing "peekaboo" with Paul.) Also loves his hand me down ELMO books of his brother's and now requests them each by name except the food book "ball, baby, woof (puppies)". He also loves his foam books that he can take the pieces out of.

Ethan is newly discovering "craft" type play and loves play doh, although he mostly tears it apart and puts it in and out of the container. He loves stickers and I am finding them around the house especially on the floor. He also likes when he gets the opportunity to write in dry erase marker on his brother's marker board.

Probably one of his favorite people however is his big brother and he loves just being with his big brother, Ryan and playing. He asks about his "bubba" when he is at school and when I take him to the car for pick up he typically asks "Bubba?" and when I say "yes we are going to get him from school" he gets very excited, such sweet brotherly love.

Newest discovery to Ethan is various body parts. He takes delight in pointing out body parts on everyone in the room over and over again (ex: nose, ears, mouth, belly button). He will poke you right in the eye if you aren't careful!

I have begun singing a song to Ethan before bed each night while we sit in the rocking chair for a few minutes of cuddle time. His favorite song seems to be "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (with motions ever since I showed him a few weeks ago) he points to the sky to request it and says "yeah" if I ask if that is what he wants to hear.

About a week ago I started feeling like Ethan really wasn't adding too many new words and so I started keeping track of the words he was saying on a daily basis to see if I felt like he was still on track. After 4 days of trying to remember to write down his words, here is my list. At just about 30 words, I think he is doing just fine. :)
16 mo words in no particular order:
boo (for peekaboo), baby, done, book, more, milk, up, mama, dada, nana, dis (this), nack (snack), hi, bye bye, night night, yeah, owie, uh oh, cheese, bubba or bruhbuh (brother), bubbles, ball, dat (that and cat), dog, badle (bagel), duck, brr (when it's cold), bear, sounds: meow, oof oof (dog), arrr (lion)

Ethan is really developing and starting to be so smart just like his brother. He is definitely a mimic and likes to copy sounds and words that his brother will say and laughs like brother is the funniest guy in the whole world. He also seems to pay attention to directions just like his backseat driving sibling and already recognizes when we pull up to certain locations such as Nana's house, our home, and school to pick up brother. He is rather sensitive and when told "No" he will generally cry. He gives the biggest hugs and kisses and is our little lover-boy. I absolutely love the cuddles and love that he shows to his Mama. He also seems to be fairly accident prone and I am certain will be my child that gets broken bones and stitches :-/ oof... not looking forward to that. He is quite fearless as he doesn't always know about the consequences yet. Outdoor and upstairs play continue to be his very favorite places in the house. He wakes up between 7:30-8am daily and is in bed by the same time each night with a 2.5-3.5hr nap somewhere around 1pm. Ethan is so happy a majority of the day. He is learning how to stand up to his brother and wants to get "his own way" already of course, which does lead to occasional tiffs that I know are just beginning. We sure feel blessed to be Ethan's parents and are loving life with our sweet yet spunky little 16 month old. What a blessing he is to our family.

Love,
Emily (Mom)

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!

Ethan is ONE!

It has happened, our baby boy is now a ONE YEAR OLD! People really aren't joking when they tell you that life flies by when you have kids. (It really does!) Below are some of the details about our precious Ethan at a year!

Ethan had his one year check-up with Dr. Wallace today and here are his stats:
Weight: 20lb 7oz (34%), 31.5 inches long (96%), and 46.5cm head circumference (62%). He was actually in between 31.5 and 31.75, but the nurse picked 31.5. Mike took a look at Ryan's stats and he was 32 inches and almost 3lbs heavier. It is interesting to see how alike and at the same time how different our two little boys are built. Ethan is wearing size 3 diapers and still in size 12 month clothes. Some clothes seem to fit perfectly and others are still big. However, I think we will be heading into 18month pj's in no time! I am personally ready for some cooler temperatures because I feel like Ethan has been wearing most of the same clothes for 6 months and I am ready for a change!!

My children obviously develop their personality and preferences/opinions at an early age. Ethan has always been our good little eater, but he is definitely starting to show his preferences these days with regards to eating. (Bummer!) I am still trying to offer things I know he will toss off the tray and expose him to new things when I can, but I am truly shocked at how quickly he seemed to transition from eating basically anything I offered to even shunning a few of his favorites. Some things he will never turn down include: YOGURT! oatmeal (baby kind, still not a fan of adult kind- I tried), cheese, mashed potatoes, crackers/bread, oatmeal bars/cereal bars, apple sauce, almost any fruit with the exception of apples and pears (must be a texture thing). His favorite fruit seems to be strawberries, blueberries, grapes & peaches. Bananas, which used to be an absolute favorite have become hit or miss. He will either eat almost an entire banana at once, or no bites at all! He is also beginning to show an aversion to messy hands as his brother did and he will wipe mess on his tray, his hair, or sit and play with his messy fingers with a look as if to say "what is this mess on me?" Foods he won't even try anymore and tosses includes: carrots, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, avocado (used to love this!), and squash. He is a pretty good meat eater and will eat turkey lunchmeat and chicken from our dinners pretty routinely. Sometimes he will eat hamburger meat, other times not really a fan. New foods this month included peanut butter (loves) and cow's milk (not sure about).

Ethan is still nursing 3 times a day (wake up, mid afternoon, bedtime). I have never really had to fully wean a child as Ryan pretty much gave up on it on his own a few weeks before turning one. At this point it isn't much of a time commitment or inconvenient for me so we are kind of just taking it one week at a time. Ethan will have his first 3 nights away from me in another week as Mike and I are traveling to South Carolina, so we will see how he does with that and how he responds when I return. I am attempting to cut out the middle of the day feeding this week and replace with milk in a cup. Our pediatrician today suggested offering it at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and perhaps mixing cow's milk with some breast milk to help him as he transitions. Nursing is such a special bonding time for me and Ethan and since we are in no rush to add to our family at this point, I guess I just haven't quite set a "stop date" in mind, but it will be kind of nice in some ways to be past this phase just for my own freedom. As you can see I go back and forth on the whole issue so time will tell.

New accomplishments for Ethan this month include learning to "high five", nodding his head yes, basically almost running at this point- he is walking great and ALL OVER THE PLACE! The first of his 1 yr. molars came through on 9/12 two days before his birthday! The molar is the top right side and though it doesn't seem to be disturbing his sleep much overnight, he has been more cranky in the daytime and is hating us brushing his teeth currently (which he also used to love!). I think his poor mouth and gums are just sore and sensitive. New words for Ethan this month include "yeah" as he shakes his head yes, "ball" (which includes balloons), "up", "buh" (book), "buh bah" (when asking about Ryan, brother I guess?), & "ow" (not sure yet if this is actual pain or for the cat as he has used it in both references). He also opens his mouth big and says "Ah" when referring to a snack and when I ask if the "snack" is what he wants he nods and says "yeah". Haha! He is trying his best to communicate what he wants.

Ethan is a sweet little cuddle bug, but certainly has some "spunk". I have a feeling he will certainly stand up to his older brother when he needs to. When things aren't going his way he occasionally will still fall to the ground in frustration, or sometimes he will walk and back up into a wall and bang his head gently against it (this is rather entertaining). It must be so frustrating to know what you want and not always be able to communicate it to people. After learning to "high five" he now seems to hit sometimes, but no biting (yet) like brother did. He still deals with some separation anxiety and cries when Mom or Dad leave him, but this Sunday I let him walk into his classroom instead of handing him over to a worker and he went right on in to play without a tear! (HOORAY!) I guess we will have to continue trying this way.

Ethan is currently sleeping closer to 11 hrs uninterrupted overnight, sometimes 12. (7:30pm-7am it typical) His nap schedule has been pretty wacky lately because of Ryan starting back to preschool and just us being busy overall. I am nervous about us losing our afternoon nap so early, but some days he manages with just the one nap and then is in bed by 7pm. We really try to stick to our schedule on non preschool days in which case he naps around 10am and then again around 2:30/3pm. He really needs the two naps to function properly and not fall apart in the evening. On a one nap days (Sun/Tues/Thurs) he naps for 2-2.5hrs, on two nap days it is 3 hrs sometimes a little more. Ethan sleeps with his green frog lovey, blue and white lovey, horse lovey and a blanket though often he will toss things out of his crib, but always keeps one item which is often the green frog Ryan picked out before he was born.

Ethan loves all things Mickey Mouse, loves cats and dogs, loves books (for brief moments- he picks one and backs up and sits in my lap), LOVES big brother Ryan, loves throwing things including balls/cars, adores our play kitchen and emptying out my Tupperware cabinet, and he absolutely is happiest when he is OUTSIDE!! (The new patio addition this month and play house for his birthday are a HUGE hit!)

We are so blessed to have you as part of our family, Ethan Robert Campbell, and we all LOVE YOU so much! Thank you God for the blessing of our sweet son! We are eternally grateful as we learn about you and continue to grow as parents along the way.
~Mommy

 

 

 

 

Ethan is 11 months!

Ethan is 11 months!! It is hard to believe. It has been a busy month with a busy little boy. Here is the latest:

Shoe size 4, diaper size 3, clothes 12 month some 9month separates. Ethan is more slender built than brother was so he seems to fit in clothes a little longer. His hair is really starting to grow which is blonde and adorable, just a tad bit of wave currently.

He got a new tooth last month number 8- bottom left one over from middle July 20th.

New foods:
Tuna, nectarine, asparagus, hot dog, cottage cheese, graham crackers, raspberries, & catfish. (He liked them all except the asparagus). He eats fruits, grains, dairy, and meats very well, but isn't a huge veggie person (shocker), we are still working on this. Ethan currently nurses when he wakes up around 8am, right before lunch, after his afternoon nap (4ish), then again at bedtime. He eats 3 meals a day and occasionally a snack, but typically due to nap time schedule and his afternoon milk, he doesn't seem to desire much in the form of snacks. He does generally eat very well at meal time.

 Ethan is sleeping through the night 7:30pm-7:30/8am though often stirs or fusses in his sleep for 10-15min at some point between 4-6am. He naps twice a day about 3 hrs total. Occasionally only 1 late morning nap- 2.5hrs long, but we are trying to stick with 2 naps. He enjoys tossing out his blanket and loveys when he first wakes up or when trying to delay napping.

On July 1st he took his first 3-4 steps alone from Dad to Mom. Then, July 24th took off across the room about 15-20 steps on his own! Now he is confidently walking all over the house often with his arms out or up, which is adorable.

He is stacking rings on a stick now rather than only taking them off and throwing them (though he does this too because throwing is fun!). Favorite toys are walking toys, things he can chew, balls, cars, and especially things in the play kitchen. Oh yes, and KAZOOS (obsessed!!). Ethan doesn't have many new "words" this month, other than "Ah-NN" he seems to call Ryan. It is mostly sounds this month, "oof oof" for dogs, "ah ah- oo oo" for monkey, a high pitched "Aaaa" is what he calls Toby. It is a particular sound and always used for him, but not quite "cat" or "meow", ha ha. For everything else he will point and sign "please" to get what he needs.

Ethan "organizes" my Tupperware cabinet many times daily. I find these items scattered through the kitchen and living room and stowed away in the play kitchen too. He is becoming pretty clever with his hiding techniques. He has also discovered small trash cans around the house and enjoys putting toys inside, so now I have to be careful not to throw away toys!

Separation anxiety seems to be in full swing and Ethan is becoming quite the "Mommas boy".  He will happily smile or laugh at any stranger, but you want to hold him?? No thanks. He has his select pick of people including grandparents mostly that this is allowed. He cries when we drop him off at the church nursery, but I just walk away quickly because I know once I am gone he will play and have fun. Love seeing his face when he sees me return too! :-) He is also quite the snuggler which I love. I enjoy his sweet hugs and love pats. He also loves blowing kisses when we say bye bye to just about anyone.

This month I plan to begin offering whole milk once a day and reducing nursing from 4 times a day to 2-3. Ideally Ethan will need to be weaned two weeks after his first birthday since Mike and I will be leaving on a trip, so I am trying to take it slow and we will see how it goes. It is hard for me to believe we are on the home stretch to his first birthday! His party will be on his actual birthday this year and preparations are underway. I am using the same theme I did for Ryan's "friends" party because I had so many things left over from it. Therefore, I only had to order the invitations and food this year. I will make the cake a day or so before as well like I did for Ryan. I am also going to be making some decorations, but pretty simple. We have decided to keep it to our close family this time versus any large parties or parties with friends, just so it is not too overwhelming for Ethan. We will likely plan a "family/friends" combo next year. I just wanted to explain as I have had some sweet friends asking me about the date for the party so they could put it on their calendar. You are so kind to think of us and him. Enjoy the photos from Ethan's 11 month snapshots! (So glad I only have one month left of these to take because it is becoming increasingly challenging)

The last is my favorite and best depicts him- Always on the go!!
~Emily

Ethan is 10 months!

Ethan is 10 months old!

Getting ready for the flash!

Ethan loves to blink at the flash so I have about 20 various "squinty" photos

This one you can see all those teeth!

Happy baby

Standing and starting to walk!

Precious boy

I love this sweet face!

Sweet 10 month old!

Well, I am about a week late in getting this post out there, but things are busy around here as we prepare for our family vacation to Breckenridge, CO. Ethan is such a character these days and really growing quickly. Here are some of the latest in "Ethan's world".

Ethan wears size 9 & 12 month clothing, although I am beginning to weed out many of the 9 month items. Ethan wears size 3 diaper & size 3 shoes, but hopefully will be in a size 4 shoe soon so he can wear his big brother's early walkers.

Ethan still naps two times a day generally around 10am and 2:30pm. There are always a couple of days a week that we get out in the morning for an activity (or church) and his nap suffers and he has to go down around noon or 1pm (if he can make it). So, he has made it through a few days decently with one nap which always means he and brother don't nap at the same time. (bummer) Total nap time is around 3-3.5 hours usually. If he only gets one nap though it is usually only 2.5hrs. I am definitely not pushing the only one nap thing yet, I will enjoy those 2 naps as long as he will take them! Ethan sleeps around 11-12 hours every night and this month has made big strides in sleeping through the night again. I am generally only in his room once or twice a week now over night as opposed to once and sometimes twice a night! Yay Ethan! Mom is enjoying the extra sleep for sure. Ethan is also still breastfeeding full time and nurses 4 times a day and occasionally 5 times if we are out at a late night activity I will nurse him right before bed. A typical day though is nursing 7:30am, 11:30/12, 4pm, 7:30pm.

New Foods this month:
Wheat crackers, French toast, mango, animal crackers, Chick Fila chicken, ground beef, oranges, red and green bell pepper, Hawaiian sweet rolls, pancakes, french fries, mushrooms, turkey sausage, homemade ice cream, squash. Pretty much if we are eating it, he wants it! He will get very upset if we are eating something that he is not allowed to have (so I try not to eat things in front of him that I won't share).

Ethan has pretty much mastered the sippy cup at this point although he can still make a mess when he plays with it. He is generally just offered water out of it, but he can have breast milk out of it as well when needed.

Ethan is beginning to enjoy books, but certainly has his favorites. These include almost any touch and feel or lift the flap. He often brings me his "That's not my..." books, Peek-a-who?, "Where's Mommy?", "Eyes, Nose, Fingers & Toes", a variety of Sandra Boynton books and "Bubbles Bubbles".

Ethan loves climbing stairs and is trying to climb just about anything he can including step stools, fireplace, window ledges, etc. He has actually lifted himself up in his crib where he is leaning up on the railing and feet in the air already which is scary to Mom because she doesn't want him climbing out. (yes, the mattress is at its lowest setting already...) However, his brother was able to get out of his crib by 18 months and hey, that is only 8 months away! (WOW!) I am not ready to think about toddler beds again just yet. Although, Ryan is anxious to have Ethan move into his room, which I think we will talk about around the time Ethan turns 2.

This month Ethan has taken his first couple of steps alone to Momma. He started doing this around July 1st. He has taken about 7 steps in a row several times and will sometimes take 3-4 steps over to a toy or from a table to a couch or something on his own. He is not venturing everywhere on his own just yet, but I imagine that will all change by his 11 month post.

Ethan enjoys giving kisses and even makes the "mwah" noise sometimes when you say "kiss". So cute! He has started learning how to "blow kisses" too and puts his whole hand in his mouth and says "mwah" and flings his arm (and often some drool) in your direction. ;-)

Ethan is a little chatterbox. He jabbers a lot and has lots of new sounds he is trying out and I love to see his facial expressions too. He has a few new words as well. Just this past week: "uh oh", "whoa" and "yay" have become prevalent to add to "Mama", "Dada", and "hi". The word "yay" is always joined with clapping his hands. It is adorable!

I'm amazed at how many words Ethan shows he already understands: no, all done, more, milk, night night, nap, bye bye, hi, yay!, uh oh, book, ball, bear, cat, on/off, light, etc. Children really do soak up knowledge and information so quickly. I know I always take for granted how much young little babies can understand and learn. We have continued with baby signs for Ethan to help him communicate and he currently uses "all done", "more", "milk", and "please". I know "thank you" is another one I did with Ryan, but we haven't done it yet and I will have to look up a few more to teach him after that.

Opinions and preferences certainly begin early. Ethan's small little tantrums have begun already this month mostly over things being taken away from him. Some examples include brother or parents taking away a toy, or him not getting a food item he wants, or taking him away from an area he is not supposed to play. The way he displays his dislike is generally by crying and then laying down face down to the floor ( I have noticed him sometimes biting the carpet too). These little early tantrums are typically very short lived and while I know it certainly won't be funny later it is kind of humorous to me now. Ethan is trying his best to communicate his needs and likes and dislikes and definitely gets frustrated when things don't go as he would like. You would think their little world was ending the way my little ones can be so dramatic sometimes.

That is pretty much Ethan in a nutshell from this past month. What a precious and sweet little boy he is. We are so thankful that God gave him to us and feel so blessed!

~Emily