special surprises

One of Ethan's favorite things to do is open anything that can be opened and take stuff out and put it (or something new) back inside. A few examples of the "surprises" we have found around the house lately:

Measuring spoons in the cookbook box.
Various toys in the kitchen drawer.
Not pictured would be his water cup put in his little kitchen microwave, my cell phone in our dirty clothes hamper, keys on the windowsill behind the curtain, toys in Pete's ticket box, and on and on.

Another new favorite are the "decorations" Ethan has put on our Christmas tree.
And lastly, he has enjoyed taking off the candy canes and putting them back on the tree, all in the same place.

18 months

Ethan turned 18 months old on December 6th. I know I say this all the time - but the time really does fly! At his 18 month check up last Friday Ethan weighed in at 33 pounds and is now 35 inches tall (still off the charts in both categories, of course).

Our toddler is a bucket of energy. One of his favorite things to do these days is run back and forth from the front of the house to the back, giggling and laughing. We continue to teach him again and again to watch where he is running, as he still remains prone to head bumps and tumbles. Right now we are really working on boundaries and listening. Ethan often thinks it's funny or a game when we say no to something he is doing and just keeps trying to do the things we have said no to. Apparently he is not the only toddler who does this, as I have been busy asking various moms what they are doing to start teaching discipline and boundaries.

Ethan is also very interested in putting things in and taking things out of baskets, buckets, drawers, file cabinets, etc. He is so curious about everything and wants to try to see how things work. When he gets frustrated (or doesn't get what he wants) he stomps his feet in place to vent. He is constantly talking in his jibberish language and is learning new words all the time - he can probably say around 20 words but tries out new words every day.

He still loves reading, especially his Larry book (Larry the Cucumber, from Veggie Tales) and any book that sings or that we sing to him. He loves to dance to music - we love listening to Christmas music during the day and every time I turn it on he starts to dance.

Dancing, running, reading, laughing, giggling, playing, climbing, wrestling --- our days are full! Full, but so, so sweet.