Little Helper

Ethan and his friend Mia hold hands

Another haircut! Note the chocolate on his chin- who knew M&Ms were so necessary for haircuts?

Helping Daddy feed Barley

Ethan loves his pup

Our new potty arrived in the mail- Ethan was not so sure about it.

Investigating

I guess eventually this will work...

Ethan didn't really want to sit on the potty, so he decided to give Elmo a ride instead

Finally figured it out!

Ethan loved eating the mini snowmen that we built while taking a break from snowshoeing

I can't believe how quickly the weeks are flying by!  Ethan will be 18 months next week, which completely blows my mind!!  We are having lots of fun this winter playing in the snow, and finding creative activities to do indoors when it's too cold to go out, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm dreaming of warmer days!  Ethan is so mobile and curious about everything and so I can't wait for the change of seasons so we can go out and explore our yard, watch things bloom, and most importantly (to Ethan!!) not have to bundle up in order to leave the house!

To keep busy indoors, I've been enlisting Ethan to help me with chores around the house.  It is the most adorable thing to watch how proud he is of himself when he helps.  He helps me take laundry from the washer and put it in the dryer, and the other day I was carrying a laundry basket and he ran up and grabbed one side of it to help me carry it into the living room- cute!  He helps clean his high chair tray by picking up all of the pieces of left over food, and then wiping the tray with a wash cloth.  He loves to help feed Barley by pouring his kibble into his bowl.  All of this seems so simple, but to me, it signals that my little guy is growing up sooooo quickly!  It's amazing how much he changes from month to month! 

Ethan's vocabulary is growing by the day. If he falls down, or he drops something, he'll say, "Boom, boom."  He says "Go, go, go" and he'll say the initial sound of a lot of words- "B" for bird, Barley, and "Beh, beh" for Big Bird.  He's got great inflection- when we are leaving he'll wave and say "Bye, bye" in a high pitched voice.  He has his own language, complete with hand signals to tell stories about events that are happening around him. 

Recently Ethan has started taking notice of his clothes.  I ordered a new pair of shoes for him and when they arrived I put them on his feet.  He was thrilled to see that they had dogs riding in cars and proceeded to run from room to room (we were staying at my parents house) showing everyone his new shoes.  That evening, when we were getting undressed for bath, Ethan tried to put his shoes back on his bare feet.  He is beginning to look at the patterns on his shirts and pajamas and is especially pleased when it's something he loves- cars, trucks, or trains!!

As you can see from the pictures, we recently got a potty for Ethan.  I know that we have a while before we start official potty training, but over the past couple of weeks, Ethan has been telling us when he has poo in his diaper.  I figured that having the potty in the bathroom, and allowing him to get comfortable with it couldn't hurt.  So for now, if it provides a place for Elmo to hang out, that's just fine, and if Ethan wants to try and use it, that's great too!!