The obligatory 12 month post

Yes, yes, I know it's late and you're tired of hearing about Ethan turning 1, but I gotta do it. Don't worry, there are pictures, so you're welcome to skip all my blabbering about things I want to be sure to remember and go straight to the pictures if you want.

Ethan had his 12 month appointment yesterday, so I thought I'd wait until now to do his update. He's now 30 inches long (50th-75th percentile) and weighs 20 pounds (10-25th percentile). He went down on his percentiles a bit, but the doc isn't worried, especially because he's so active and was sick last month.

Nowadays, he's all about getting into stuff. He crawls everywhere (that's right, I said crawls, no walking yet), and he goes FAST. He loves to climb things as well, and can now climb up onto the couch with us. He hasn't been using his walker toys as much anymore, but he still loves them. His favorite past time is to be outside. He's happy to just crawl back and forth on the deck, although sometimes he'll bring a toy out with him or chase a ball.

He's now saying a few things too. His first word was "bye" and that started awhile ago. Now, he says "Avery" quite often. It sounds more like "Ehhvvvvee," but he only says that combination of sounds when he's around the dog, so I know that's what he's saying. He says "mama" and "dada," but I'm still not quite sure he really knows them yet, although I know he recognizes and understands them. He'll also respond when I say "Where's your foot?" by sticking his right foot into the air with an adorably goofy smirk on his face. I love it.

Eating is still a challenge. He'll eat plenty of what he likes, he just doesn't like much. It's all about the textures for him. He expects everything to melt in his mouth, and if it doesn't, he sticks his tongue out and spits it out. So he still eats some purees and lots of soft stuff.

The goofy laugh is still going strong. He entertained quite a few nurses with that one yesterday. He also loves to do this excited deep breathing thing, which is pretty weird, but cute. Oh, and he pants like a dog too, just for fun. I have quite a ham on my hands.

I think that's about all for the memory book stuff, so I leave you with a year of Ethan. Best year of our lives so far. He's absolutely amazing, and it's hard to remember what life was like without him. My heart swells with love for him; it's indescribable, as I'm sure you all know.

One Month (I just didn't have the stickers yet)

A few more from the 12 month shoot, since this is his 12 month post and all:




Happy 12 months Monkey! I can't wait to see what surprises you have in store for us in the next year!

Wordless Wednesday

Vents at Gramma and Papa's house are fun.

The Party

So are you ready for a million pictures? Because I took a ton, and still wish I took more. Oh, and I had the settings weird on my camera and didn't have time to play with them when I was running around, so I'm sorry if they're kind of wonky. Guess I should use auto sometimes.

Anyway, E's birthday party took place Saturday afternoon. It was all family, well except for a friend I've know since first grade and she's basically family. We served mini hamburgers (sort of like White Castle), pasta salad, sweet potato fries, chips, and of course cake and ice cream. The day was beautiful, so fortunately I was able to use the deck as I had planned. It was quite a lovely party if I do say so myself ;) Thanks Mom for being my co-host, you're the bestest.

I'll tell you the rest with pictures...

The decor:

I sewed all the flag banners and made the sign. I told my mom we might have to break those out for another birthday someday. I'm thinking I'll wait a few years and maybe people will forget...

The cake. Made this too (NEVER again). The little one on top was E's smash cake.

His highchair all ready to go.

The bar with all the food. Horrible picture.

Now for the action.

Ethan with his Great Aunt Elecee.

With Uncle Lyle.

Cory's Uncle Gary and Aunt Elecee.

Most of Cory's brother's family, Kalie, Madeline, and Lyle.

My Aunt Diana, cousin David (E's Godfather), and Uncle Mark.

My friend, Kathryn and her boyfriend Mike.

Ethan taking a ride in his new wagon from Nana.

Cake time.

He knew what to do right away, just like the day before.

He seemed to like the icing the best.

He might have eaten the whole thing if I would have let him.

Avery enjoyed himself too.

Opening presents:

Playing with his favorite toy of the day, a stick that went with a stacking blocks set. Crazy kid carried it around forever.

Me and the birthday boy.

All of us.

Showing off his other birthday shirt (also made my his loving mother, inspired by something I saw on Etsy).

And that was the party. Ethan took a short nap afterward and then we went out to dinner with the out-of-town family. He's been worn out ever since and has been a fabulous napper. I wonder how long it'll last.

Thanks everyone for celebrating with us!!

Ethan's Birthday

Can you believe our baby is one already??? I think I'm still in denial.

However, we had a lovely weekend full of celebrations, and I have about a million pictures to go through and show to you. I started with his actual birthday on Friday.

We started the day by going to an Easter Egg hunt with some of our friends, and Ethan enjoyed hunting/chewing the eggs. He found a few and enjoyed the yummy treats inside (baby treats, not candy. Don't worry).







Then, we headed home for a little party with my grandparents, my mom, Aunt Paula, and Cory. His big party was Saturday, but we wanted to celebrate on his actual birthday as well.

His cake.

Singing "Happy Birthday."

He couldn't wait to get his hands on the cake.

We let him dig in and he loved it.

He caught on right away, and stuffed himself full of sugar.

It was adorably messy.

Next was presents.

And more presents.

And playing with the presents.

His new swim hat. We can't wait to go swimming this summer, and now E has his own pool and cool new swim gear.

Checking out his new chair.

Testing out the bubble machine.

All tuckered out. He crashed hard.

And that was part one of our exciting weekend. More to come...