biscuits - helper in the kitchen

vocabulary

Ethan's vocabulary has taken a huge leap this week! His most used word of the week is "NO". Practically every question I ask him he answers with a shake of his head and a serious "no", even if the answer really is yes. Since he'd seemed to have conquered the n sound, I have now gotten him to say noodle, neck/necklace (na na), banana (also nana), and a few others probably. He also also started saying "up", whereas before he'd say "ba" for up. He loves to shout "Hi Hi Hi" but it comes out I, I, I :) And the sentences have started in full force. He loves to point out different things and tell me whose they are, like "mama chair" "dada book", etc. And the funniest sentence of the week was definitely when he ran around behind me and said "check, check?" lifted my shirt up and said "no poo poo". He refers to himself as Edee or Esee and usually sticks his finger up his nose when he points to himself, haha. And I am finally "mama". He has gotten the m sound down too, and stopped calling me baba. While he was getting it down, he would refer to me as all sorts of in betweens like bama, maba, and my personal favorite mamba. I love hearing my boy call me mama!

18 months!

Ethan turned 1.5 this month, and had his 18 month check-up. He weighed in at 27.2 lbs (67th %ile) and measured 34" (90th %ile) and his head circumference is 19.5" (90th %ile).

He amazes me lately at what he remembers and has the verbal ability to tell me. When we went on a walk a few weeks ago we passed by a dog on a leash bound to a bike rack outside of a building. He was fascinated by the dog for a while and then we said bye to the dog and went about our way. When we passed by the same building a few weeks later, he stopped right where the dog had been and said dog! Then we had to talk about the dog for a while until he said bye to the dog that wasn't even there and continued on. Cracked me up!

Then today at the library for story time, while we were leaving he remembered that we had visited a fountain nearby and asked to see the "wa wa" again. I told him no, that it was too cold to walk to the water fountain, so he pondered that for a bit and then said "bye bye wa wa" and went to the car.

He also remembers that Steve has taken him for a bike ride down to the lake to throw rocks into the water after dinner. Sometimes as we're finishing up dinner he'll throw up hands up in the air and say "wa wa! row (throw) ra (rock)!" to suggest going again.

He loves to play that he's calling people on my cell phone and knows that talking on the phone involves saying hello, jibber jabbering a lot as you're walking around the house, then laughing a lot and saying bye bye.

Books are still a favorite, as well as sesame street, any type of ball imaginable, and his lawn mower and baby doll stroller. He's getting so fast and loves to run, and his vocabulary increases daily. If I ask him to say something, he will give it his best shot :) If I can get him to sit still for a second or two, I am going to attempt to catch a decent 18 month bear pic!

trip to the farm

We had a blast this past weekend! Ethan and I made a trip to New York to visit my mom's side of the family. Ethan had a wonderful time running around my grandpa's farm. He especially loved the tractors, trucks, cars, etc :) He learned very quickly where the cookies were made, and didn't hesitate asking for tastes! He did so well traveling and meeting so many new people. I got to meet 3 new baby boys that were all born since I had been there last over 2 years ago.

abc's

I've been asking Ethan "can you say A?" "can you say B?" and he always wants to skip the a and b and just yells "cookie!" because of this video. He's crazy about cookie monster :)

counting