17 Months

You will notice the hint of blur in all these photos. That’s because he is always. always. moving.

 

He now has a name for each of the “sissies”. “Oh-woah”, “Nat”, and “Be-be”. As of yesterday, we still had one little girl that was very sad that he hadn’t come up with a name for her yet, but he redeemed himself by saying her name over dinner last night. : )

He’s been on a little 2-3 week stretch of waking up at night again. I’m blaming it on the giant molars that have come through. Seriously. They are humongous. I never had lots of teething issues with the girls – the occasional fever, runny nose – but this boy knows how to teeth. Thankful that it seems most of that is behind us now … for the time being. : )

And we’re off!

 

Wordless Wednesday // Leaping Baby : )

Celebrating with the best of friends.

Sixteen Months

He is sixteen months.



He loves balls. LOVES balls.



He is always on the move. Running after sisters, running away from sisters, chasing Daddy. Always running.



He has discovered some of his books and will sit quietly in his bed for a few minutes and look at them by himself.



He constantly has a drippy nose right now. He's cutting one of his two-year molars just a wee bit early and the nose will. not. stop.



He wears 18 month clothes for the most part. Other than a few pair of 12 month pants that fit, he has definitely out grown that size in shirts.



He has added a few new words to his vocabulary:

please (peeeez)
thank you (taaa u)
eat
night night
dog
ball
shoes (shuz)
Mama
Da
car (caw)
diaper (diii - puh)
Uh-oh (hah ho)



He knows where his tummy and toes are.



He is a delight and joy.

Fifteen Months

Such a big boy. So very busy.

Can go up and and down the stairs, although we don't and haven't encouraged this at. all.

Wants to be outside whenever the girls are and is not longer peacefully content to stand at the door for very long and just watch them play and ride their bikes.



Can climb on most of our chairs and couches in the house, ergo anything on a table is no longer safe. If you walked into the school room, you would note that all the chairs around the school table are laid on their back on the floor unless someone is sitting in them. He hasn't figured out (because he has tried yet) that he can climb onto the kitchen chairs yet thankfully.

He doesn't have too many words yet - dada and mama are there, but he doesn't really call us by them yet. He can, clear as bell say, hi and ball. He LOVES balls. He also makes little "vroom" sounds now when he pushes his cars around. I love it and I love that we didn't have to teach this boy to love balls or make car sounds. He figured that out all on his own.



Thinks anything his sisters have is a prize worthy of obtaining. He loves to go into their rooms, climb on their beds and dig in their stuff. They are less impressed with this. If they leave one of their cups around, he pounces on it and drinks it as quick as he can before he gets caught.

Finally sleeps through the night consistently. Yay! He started doing this around 13 months, but I didn't say much about it because I thought it was too good to be true. He might wake up once or twice a week, but it's usually just to get his blanket straightened out which I'm more than happy to do for him. He MUST have his Grandma blanket with him when he sleeps - he prefers the full body / head cover and likes to chew on the corner of the blanket.

Wears size 12 and 18 month clothes. Mostly 18 on the top and 12 on the bottom. Adorable, chubby, short little legs.



Is very left-handed. That makes two right-handed (N1 & N2) and two left-handed (B & the boy). T and I are both left-handed.

Loves to laugh and be silly. I have a feeling he's going to be a funny boy the more his personality develops.



His eyes.

I love this stage so much.

Wordless Wednesday

On the move... : )

Slowing Down

Well, I had high hopes of a few things to post this week, but we have been derailed by a very sick baby boy.

Croup, along with something calls "stridor", has worn our little guy out over the last 24 hours. In four children, we have never had croup before so this was quite scary watching him struggle for air. (Croup apparently is the struggle to exhale, hence the cough that sounds like a seal bark. Stridor is the struggle to get air in so he had it coming and going).

We are so thankful for our pediatricians office who let us hang there for a good part of today while they watched him, checked respiratory rates and oxygen levels, and gave breathing treatments. God has taken care of us today and we are hoping for some good rest tonight for him.

Hoping your week is MUCH less exciting. : )

Ten

Actually 10 1/2 months, because Mama's a little late. : )




The boy cruises around on EVERYTHING. Where we used to barely be able to see over the school table, we now stand at least a half-head taller than the table and our reach is loooooong. Nothing is safe from the little guy, especially sisters' stuff.

In the last two weeks, the boy has cut two more teeth. One which resulted in a long and sleepless night for both boy and Mama and the second which showed up out of the blue, thankfully. We are getting more hair and his eyes are still blue, blue, blue. I'm really hoping that they don't change and it doesn't seem like they are going to. (T has blue eyes; I have brown, as do N1 & B. N2's are more hazel and sometimes change a bit with her mood.)



While he didn't care so much for sand on his first tasting, he does love to eat and feed himself. Right now, fruit takes priority over anything else offered. Favorites are watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, peaches, pears, and cantaloupe (sometimes). He also loves peas and cooked carrots, yogurt and unsweetened applesauce, turkey and ham, and ice cream if anyone offers it to him. He has learned how to sign "more" and "all done" in his high chair and is quick to express his needs and wishes at mealtimes. : ) He's still nursing at least three times a day and once at night ... definitely a mama's boy in that regard.



He is starting to look like such a boy as opposed to a baby. Gone (for the most part) are sweet little one piece rompers. Now we wear shirts with collars with our shorts and (see below) our first pair of blue jeans with a button-down shirt just like Daddy wears. Shoes are another story. He is NOT fond of shoes although we are working on changing that so that his feet don't freeze when the temperature starts to drop a bit.



He loves any time in the water whether it be pool or bathtub - our first one that has loved it at this age. Swimming with Daddy is a highlight for him. Actually anything with Daddy is a highlight right now! Loves to wrestle in the evening before bedtime to get all that last minute energy out.



We are loving having this busy little boy around with his easy smile and sweet personality.

Back and Forth

Someone ...



has figured out ...



how to open and go through ...



the swinging door in the kitchen ...



So proud of himself!

8 Months

Eight months. How HAS the time gone by so quickly?

I know this isn't a great picture of you, buddy. You were being such a trooper with Noelle and Mama at the library this week and you did NOT feel good. You have been battling this same ear infection for a month now and we are ready for you to get to feeling better.




You are such a happy, happy boy. You are so easy to take places, although the ability to nap in your car seat is becoming less frequent. You just roll right along with whatever Mama has planned and I love taking my big boy with me. You are definitely a mama's boy - you will have nothing whatsoever to do with a bottle, no thank you. This is the longest that I have nursed any of my babies and I am so thankful, especially since you are my last one. I would appreciate it, however, if you would kindly start sleeping a bit more at night. That would really, really make Mama happy. : )



I caught this picture of you sneaking into your sisters' room. They have some really cool stuff in there - some of which is off limits. You found a little ball though and claimed it as your own. You are such a BOY.



Some of your favorites right now include:

• blueberry yogurt - your eyes light up when I get out the container!
• carrots (actually, you will pick an orange veggie over green any day)
• pulling up to stand on everything!
• your Daddy - you always reach for him the moment you see him.
• cousin JoJo
• waving bye-bye
• taking a bath
• sitting in your big boy carseat (it's easier to see the sissies in the backseat)
• going to the pool (we were amazed at how fearless you were in the water compared to the girls. Amazed.)

These eight months with you have been fabulous big guy. Even though I am a little sad at how fast it is all going by, I'm starting to get excited about a first birthday party for you and how to make it super-duper-special.

Love you, Ethan-boy.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday ::: Here Comes Trouble

Exhibit A: Sweet, innocent, adorable.



Exhibit B: Fast.



Exhibit C: Over-achiever.



Exhibit D: Trouble.

Weeks 18 - 23

Layout heavy post. The latest pages for the boy's weekly album as I have snuck a moment here and there to catch it up. This digital layout system for his first year has been working really well for me. On the other hand, a couple little girls have asked why they have so few pages in their baby books. I may have a summer project on my hands. : )

All pages are uploaded in Flickr if you would like to look at them closer.

 

All supplies from Crystal Wilkerson's Vintage Cupcake Valetine's Day collection
Template: Crystal Wilkerson's Rounded Corner Templates
Font: American Typewriter



Grey and yellow paper: Carina Gardiner's Daisy - little uniform
Cream paper - Crystal Wilkerson's Neutrals Pack
Graph paper & red circle - Crystal Wilkerson's Office Supplies
Template: Crystal Wilkerson's Rounded Corner Templates
Font: American Typewriter



Template: Crystal Wilkerson's rounded corner templates
Papers:
From her new Spring/Summer 2011 collection:
-distressed solid (green and light brown)
-small polka dot paper
Elements: lion graphic from Me and My {BABY} Brother
Font: American Typewriter



Template: Jessica Sprague
Papers and Graphics all from Echo Park's Little Boy collection
Font: American Typewriter



Template: Crystal Wilkerson's rounded corner templates
Papers:
From her new Spring/Summer 2011 collection:
-distressed solid green
-small green polka dot paper
From Office Supplies collection: graph paper
Font: American Typewriter



Template: Crystal Wilkerson's rounded corner templates
Papers:
From her new Spring/Summer 2011 collection:
-distressed solid red and brown
Font: American Typewriter

15, 16 & 17 Weeks Layouts

Materials used:
Rounded corner template from Crystal Wilkerson
All papers from Cosmo Cricket's Mr. Campy
Owl & UR Special element from Mr. Campy elements
Font: CK Man's Print



Materials used:
Rounded corner template from Crystal Wilkerson
All papers from Cosmo Cricket's Mr. Campy
Font: CK Man's Print



Materials used:
Rounded corner template from Crystal Wilkerson
Brown & turquoise paper from Crystal Wilkerson's 2009 Bonus Paper Pack
Striped label from Sept 2009 Lots of Labels by Crystal Wilkerson
Font: CK Man's Print & CK Ladder

You can click any layout to see it bigger in Flickr.

Weeks 10 - 14 Baby Boy Layouts

Playing catch-up here on posting my Ethan-boy scrapbook layouts. I've been getting them done each week (or every other week in a couple cases), but have been behind on posting. Time is flying by so fast with this little guy ... I am so glad that I'm taking the time (that I don't really have) to do these layouts for him while it's all so fresh. You can click any picture to see them larger in Flickr.



Materials:
Template by Cathy Zielske
Red polkadot paper from Crystal Wilkerson's Playground pack
Brown & Cream from her Neutrals pack
"Cherish the Moments" wordart from Playground Word Art Elements
Fonts are CK Marker & CK Ladder



Materials:
Template by Cathy Zielske
Blue & brown papers from Me and My Brother by Crystal Wilkerson
Yellow paper from her Playground Pack
Fonts are CK Allison & CK Ladder




Layout details:
Template from Rebecca Cooper's monthly layouts
All digi supplies are Crystal Wilkerson's:
Brown & graph paper from Neutrals Paper Pack
Red polkadots from the Playground paper pack
Snowflake & Heart are Merry & Bright elements

Fonts:
Amelie, CK Ladder and Lazy Days



Materials:
Template by Cathy Zielske
Plaid & gray paper from Me and My Brother by Crystal Wilkerson
Fonts are CK Sassy & CK Ladder



Materials:
Template by Cathy Zielske
Cream circle paper & owl element from Me and My {BABY} Brother by Crystal Wilkerson
Brown paper from Me and My Brother by Crystal Wilkerson as well.
Font is CK Ladder