Ethan was 18-months-old yesterday! This month, he seems to have made the transition from "Baby Ethan" to a full-fledged little boy. I don't know if it is the fact that he is in pants now instead of shorts, or if he has actually grown, but he seems so tall lately. His face has lost almost all of its baby fat, which makes his eyes look larger and even more intense than usual. In some ways, he has mellowed out a bit, and in other ways become even more challenging. One improvement is that he occasionally accepts "No" without a protest. Another positive is that his verbal and other communicative skills have taken another leap forward. It is very important to Ethan that we understand him. Now that he can communicate even more, it has given him a sense of fitting in his environment, and he is less on edge than he has ever been. He is actually a very happy kid most of the time these days.
A negative is that he has gotten MUCH faster, as well as more calculating. You may thing I exaggerate, but Ethan can glance at me across the room, accurately estimate the distance between us (and the time it will take me to cross that distance), and then proceed to whop his brother on the head and RUN. He is sometimes on the second floor before I can catch him. It amazes me how fast he has gotten. I've taken to keeping him in the stroller most of the time when we're out (even though I'd rather him be walking and burning off energy), but it is just too dangerous. If he is more than 3-4 feet from me and he decides to take off, it is very hard for me to catch him. His physical strength is also becoming a problem. It is VERY hard for me to keep him in my arms if he doesn't want to be in arms (like at the register at a store). He pushes, squirms, wiggles, twists and arches, giving me a full workout for whatever amount of time I need to hold him.
Dancing has been a favorite activity this month. He has enjoyed dancing with Daddy and Caleb since he could walk, but this month dancing has taken the forefront of favorites. We have this Wiggle Dancing video that Caleb loved at Ethan's age, and now Ethan loves it too. He is always running to the TV (Ethan doesn't walk anywhere) and exclaiming "Dance! Dance!" The cute part is that he always does a little jig complete with arm and leg motions, in case we don't understand the word "dance." Usually we just dance to music, but once in a while we break out the video.
Ethan still loves going through the letters on Starfall's website. The cool thing is that now Caleb is good enough with the mouse to lead the two of them through the letter exercises. It might be one of the cutest things I've ever seen to watch Ethan sitting in my computer chair with Caleb standing beside him asking, "Which letter do you want to do now? P? Okay, we can do P." Then Caleb leads him through the whole exercise, encouraging him and praising him when he makes the right sounds. (I'm determined to get the video camera out and tape it tomorrow. It gives me a feeling of how happy God must feel when he sees us show love to our brothers and sisters in him. There is nothing in the world like seeing your kids work together with kindness to accomplish a common goal.
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