Slow Down Little Man!

Ethan will be 18 months in another week. Where has the time gone? It seems like every time I turn around he's learned something new. Here's a rundown of some of his recent milestones:

Favorite Toys: balls, cars, trucks and tractors. he'll even make appropriate sounds for each vehicle and they are each a little different

Favorite Foods: spaghetti, ribs, yogurt and bell peppers

Favorite games: peek-a-boo and mommy monster

Favorite routine: cuddling with mommy in her bed every morning. I lay next to him and tell him stories. If I don't put my arm over him (which I do on purpose sometimes) he'll grab it and put it over his belly and say "there". If we don't cuddle in the morning he is one cranky kid

Favorite animal: doggies, hands down.

Vocabulary: it's really started to expand recently. "pea" (please) "dan-do"(thank you), "go ou-ide" (go outside), bru-da (brother), "dri" (drink), "a-ma" (amen), car, "drut" (truck), "dac-dor" (tractor) and "wu-wou" (love you) are some of my favorites.

He's learned to fold his arms when we pray. There's is something so adorable about my little man when he folds his arms. Maybe it's because his arms are still so short they hardly even cross. Or the big grin he always gets because he's knows he's doing the right thing. Or maybe it's that moment of reverence coming from a crazy little boy, a little boy that was so recently with our Heavenly Father. In some moments I am absolutely certain he remembers and knows so much more that I could even imagine. On Sunday at church he saw a statue of Jesus and was very interested in it. I told him a few times it was Jesus. He smiled, laughed and said "wu-wou" (love you) speaking directly to the statue.

He loves music and loves to dance to it. Sometimes he'll grab my hand and lead to the piano because he wants me to play. I look for any excuse to spend a few minutes playing and that's a pretty good one!

He loves his siblings. If one of them is crying he'll curl up their lap or as close to it as he can get and cuddle with them until they stop.

He's learned most of his body parts- eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, nose, tongue, hands, head, feet, belly, arms and legs. I think we may start on colors pretty soon.

He can pick Greg's truck out from all the other diesel trucks on our street (and there's a lot). When he hears his truck he runs to the door and fusses until I let him outside to see his daddy.

Some things haven't changed. He still loves to eat everything. We tried gardening with him the other day and it was an epic fail. He ate tons of dirt and I'm pretty sure quite a few seeds. He still hates being left with adults other than family (it's getting better but I'm very concerned about nursery). He still throws his plate of food on the ground when he's done eating. He doesn't like to share and screams when he doesn't get his way. But I love every little thing about him.