Ethan (Monthly Update)

Ethan is 2 years and 10 months old today.  He is doing really well with recognizing his letters.  He knows most of the them, capital or lower case, on site, as well as the phonetic sound.  A few cause him some trouble, like "V", "J" and "W."  He loves to do his ABC puzzle, write letters, or do letters on the Starfall website.  He is learning to recognize his numbers as well and knows about half of them.  He can count a group of objects of up to five consistently, which he does multiple times of day.  He knows his birthday, our address  (at least the street, city & state part), and is well on his way to being able to recite Mommy's phone number without help.  He can say the seasons, the days of the week and all twelve months in order, most of the time without missing any.  He loves to sing the songs "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Jingle Bells."

His love for his Superman costume has not waned in the six months we've had it.  At some point around Christmas time, I started limiting him to wearing it just one day each week (to avoid the battle of getting dressed in other clothes all the other days).  So for the past two months, he has asked every morning what day it is, since he knows that he can only wear Superman clothes on Monday.  His second-favorite thing to wear is absolutely nothing, which is only allowed for a little while after baths (since it is the dead of winter). After naked-time, his next choice is pajamas, which he wears almost all of the time we are at home.  He does not like regular clothes at all (particularly pants), and getting  him dressed to go out is always either a negotiation or a battle.

Ethan has a lot of favorite toys right now: a baby iguana (a little TY beanie baby) that sleeps with him every night and every nap, an Imaginext Batman plane with a specific Batman figure (we have 3, but he only plays with his favorite one), a Superman figurine (we have two of the exact same one, but he will only play with the one that doesn't "kick him's legs"), a long orange Tinker Toy stick that is a sword to him, and a flashlight that Uncle Mike gave him at Christmas time.  He totes some (or all) of these toys around the house with him all of the time, and he doesn't like to set them down.  If he needs his hands for something else, he wants me to hold the toys that are in his hands.  Usually I just help him find a nice corner to pile them in for the moment.

He is still very generous and forgiving and protective of others.  He always shares his treats, is quick to forgive almost every offense, and is the first to jump into a (literal) fray to defend someone else.  He will go so far as to hide the switch when he hears me tell Caleb that he is going to get a spanking.  When Caleb has been caught by the "tickle monster" and is being mercilessly tickled, Ethan stops mid-run, turns around, and jumps right into the conflict to pull Caleb away.  He is an energetic little sweetheart and we love him dearly!