Ethan (Monthly Update)

Ethan was 23-months-old yesterday. The last couple of weeks with Ethan have been very challenging. He is totally immersed in a hitting-everyone-and-throwing-everything stage, and I am running the gammit of consequences trying to find something that makes a difference. He hits for two reasons: first, when he feels wronged or frustrated, he lashes out physically. The other reason that he hits is to instigate (in other words, he does it for fun). Caleb will be building a block castle, and, lightning-quick, without provocation, Ethan will pick up a block and hurl it at Caleb. Tears, anger, time-outs and apologies always ensue, but when it is all said and done, Ethan is pretty pleased with the chaos he created. I'm coming down much harder on the power-trip, instigative aggressiveness than on the retaliatory kind, but both are a problem.

On a more positive note, Ethan is such a cooperative, personable little guy on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, when Caleb is at school and Ethan has me all to himself. When it is just the two of us, whether we are out and about with other people or just getting stuff done at home, Ethan is the sweetest, most charming little guy. Friends who have seen Ethan in his terrorist mode with other kids and then later been around him all by himself wonder if it is the same child. I often joke with friends and family that Ethan should have been an only child, or at the very least a firstborn. He just loves to be the center of attention, particularly the center of Mommy's attention.

In the potty-training arena, it's been a little over four weeks since I put him in big boy underwear, and he is still doing really well. Most days, he has one pee-pee accident, and some days he has none (like yesterday). If he has an accident, it is ALWAYS when we are out-and-about. At home, if he has to go, he either tells me or he just goes up to his potty seat in the kitchen and takes care of things himself. But if we are out, it is hit-or-miss on whether he will tell me, so I just have to take him to the potty pre-emptively. Even with these extra efforts, I sometimes miss the mark, so I always carry an extra pair of pants and underwear.

Consistently landing #2 in the potty has not been as smooth of a transition. He still poops in his underwear about half the time, though this week has been our best week yet, with four days of the last six being poopie-accident free. Regardless of long it takes him to master this part of the gig, I am very excited that I haven't used a diaper in over a month!