Ethan is 17-months-old today. His favorite thing in the world right now is drawing. He says "Draw! Draw! Draw!" while pointing at the little craft table at least a dozen times every day. It used to be that he just wanted to draw when Caleb was drawing, but now he wants to draw for his own sake. He prefers markers, but he will use crayons or even pens and pencils. And there have already been several times when I have forgotten that he has a marker in his hand and I have run up to the kitchen for something, only to return to a big marker streak across the wall or the carpet. (I think he immediately jumps down and starts drawing on forbidden places the moment I hit the stairs.) Thankfully, they are washable markers and come out of everything very easily. Another change from last month is that Ethan says "Please" and "Thankyou" now, though they come out as "eeze" and "ay-oo".
A funny bi-product of the homeschooling stuff I do with Caleb is that Ethan is addicted to the starfall.com phonics website. All day long he begs for "leh-lehs" (letters). He even asks for specific letters now! He'll say "wan ah!" when he wants us to start the animation for letter "A" or "wan puh" for letter "P". I think he may learn the phonic sounds for each letter before he learns their actual names. Probably no harm there. It's also funny that he is afraid of several of the animations. The bear in "B" or the dinosaur in "D" causes him to slide off our laps and run away from the computer crying. He calls "Bye-bye, bye-bye" from across the room, which is his polite way of saying "go away" (his impolite way is screaming "NO" at the top of his lungs). When we click to the next screen, he runs back and clamors to be back in our laps. It really is hilarious. Both Marcus and I deliberately go to the "scary" ones sometimes because it is so funny to see Ethan go through these antics.
I am using time-out with him a lot right now, and it seems to be having somewhat of a positive effect (or else he is just outgrowing his impulsive hitting a little bit). He sits in time-out for hitting, pinching, pushing or snatching a toy. I usually give him a short chance to apologize and make it right (give the toy back) before doing time-out, but if he refuses, its to the booster seat he goes. He sits for about a minute, and then I ask him "Are you ready to say sorry?" He says "Yes, yes," so I unstrap the buckle and lead him over to the victim (usually Caleb), where he says "orry" and gives a hug and a kiss.
Ethan is a pretty good sleeper these days (and has been since he got his ear tubes at 11-months-old). He goes to bed around 7:30 pm and gets up between 6:00 and 6:30 most days. He's down to one nap, which lasts for about 2-hours (usually from 1:00 to 3:00 pm). So he sleeps 13 hours out of 24, which I think is pretty average for his age. He is easy to put to bed as well. We just read him a few baby books in the rocking chair in his room, and then rock/cuddle him while he drinks a cup of milk. Then we put him in his bed, say a little prayer, and leave the room. He plays in his crib for a little while and is almost always asleep within 15 minutes.
He is a cutie-pie, and we are so glad that he is ours!
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