The past two months have included some of my favorite developmental stages. We have been enjoying watching Ethan make so many connections.
What has Ethan been up to? So much that I probably should have split this into two posts. Ethan has been BUSY! He ...
-Learned to dance. I was really surprised by this one. He loves music and I dance around with him, but I didn't know he connected the word "dance" with moving his own body rhythmically. Matt was watching a Pearl Jam concert on television (the same one Ethan clapped to) and we asked Ethan if he wanted to dance. He started rocking back and forth! Now he bounces up and down when he hears the word "dance".
I tried to upload a video of this a few times but I can not get it to work.
-Learned to climb stairs. First he climbed just 2 and by the end of the month he learned to climb up our staircase fairly quickly.
{He was so proud after he made it to the top!}
-He is becoming more consistent with signing. He signs for milk whenever he hears the word. He also started asking for milk by signing. He has signed for "more" and has his own special sign for "all done". It looks like he's signing for milk or waving with both hands.
-Attended our family's annual Cookie Baking Day. He was quite a distraction and not nearly as many cookies were decorated as previous years but it was a great time!
-Saw his first snowfall and was pulled in his sled for the first time outside of the house.
-Learned to comb his hair. He was playing with a comb and knew to put it to his head when I said "can you comb your hair?". Again, I'm amazed at all of the verbal connections he is making!
-Showed us that he knows his socks and shoes go on his feet. He lays them across the top of his feet when he's trying to put them on himself! It is cute!
-Saw a new allergist and tested positive for allergies to milk, egg, wheat, cat, and dog.
-Learned to pull up and get himself back down. There were a few days in between where he would get frustrated because he couldn't get back down but it didn't last long.
{Yes, those are Penn State baby legs! They looked ENORMOUS when they arrived more than a year ago. I can't believe they fit him now.}
-Mastered moving himself from lying down to sitting up. I expected him to do this a long time ago but he took his time to do this.
-Started giving objects, like stuffed animals, hugs and kisses. He likes to give hugs and kisses to us too. They're still big, open mouth slobbery kisses and his hugs resemble headbutts some days but we love them.
-Ate Kix cereal for the first time and is now currently obsessed with it.
{We do have those "snack traps" and love them but obviously didn't use one here.}
-Dropped to one nap a day. He went back and forth between one and two naps for a while and at nearly 11 months old he stopped taking his second nap.
-He started to give up an afternoon nursing session, but I was sick and my supply dropped so he picked it back up.
-Ethan's upper right first molar broke through! The week before his first birthday a corner of his upper left first molar broke through. His first upper left Cuspid is about to break through any day now too! So, that would total 11 teeth at age 1! He also has 2 other swollen white bumps (lower right Cuspid and lower right First molar) which I'm sure will break through by my next update. I'm glad his teeth seem to be coming in all at once because then teething will be over sooner!
-Learned to blow kisses. He hasn't done this very often but we're continuing to prompt him to try.
-Celebrated his first Christmas, New Years Eve, and BIRTHDAY!!! Lots of pics of those events in separate posts.
-Fell in love with the vacuum. He is afraid of the dust buster though.
{He chases the vacuum around when we use it.}
-Ate buckwheat cocoa cake for the first time. We trialed it so he could have it on his first birthday. He didn't have any noticeable reactions aside from a sugar high (1st time eating sugar too). After he ate it he climbed up all of the stairs for the first time then spun around in circles.
Edited to add that he also trialed an icing recipe for his birthday cake and began eating chick peas ... for protein.
-LOVES to throw balls and throws them far!
-Started saying "Boo" or "Boom" for ball. Whenever he sees or throws a ball he says it.
-Puts his face down to blow bubbles in the tub. He did this on his own, without prompting.
-Started resting his head on us and cuddling more often. It's very sweet.
-Went to his friend, Eva's first birthday party at Gymboree and loved it.
Went to his friend Kora's first birthday party, which solidified his love for balloons!
-Continues to "army crawl" but has crawled short distances on his hands and knees. He uses his arms and legs to army crawl but doesn't push up to his knees often. He's the fastest army crawler I've ever seen :)
-Learned to use
this toy. At first he pushed the balls through the sides and down the inclines but now he knows how to pound them down through the top with the mallet!
-Responds with "mmm" whenever we ask him if he is hungry, if he wants to eat, if he hears the word Kix or sees the Kix box!
-Knows the word mouth. I tell him to put his food in his mouth when he looks like he's about ready to throw it. He usually stops then puts it in how mouth. He can also point to our noses when we ask him to but not consistently yet.
-Said "tee" for tree whenever we showed him the Christmas tree. If you asked him where the tree was he would look at it or crawl over to it. If you asked him to say tree he replied with "tee".
-Started saying "saay" for see. This lasted for about two weeks in January. He moved on to saying "a-dat" which reminds us of "what's that" whenever he wants something he sees.
-Learned to put phones to his ear/near his ear.
-Moved to the "Young Toddler" room (1-2 year old room). He's adjusting.
-Learned to make a clicking noise with his tongue and other various noises with his mouth.
-Has moved to eating more finger foods and few purees. His favorites are peas, sweet potatoes, and apples. He refused pureed peas but loves to eat whole peas. He really enjoys sharing apples with his daddy.
-He continues to give us a cheesy smile on cue. When we ask him to do too many things in a row he gives the cheesy smile too. I think he gets confused as to what "trick" we're asking him to do. We were teaching him to use a toy (pushing buttons, raising and lowering things, etc) and then asked him "where's Daddy?". He just threw his head back and smiled instead of looking at Matt.
There have been so many changes in just two months. One thing that hasn't changed is that he is still our greatest gift ;)
