See what the monkey is doing? Walking! It's about time, huh? It started a couple of weeks ago with a few steps here and there, and has progressed into long strolls. He still prefers crawling over walking, but he will do it quite a bit at home. I'm soaking up the time I have left before I'm constantly chasing him around.
We have video evidence and I'll post it soon, I promise.
Since the weather has been warm enough, we've been enjoying the outdoors a lot more. Actually, it's pretty much just hot, so we're spending a lot of time around water.
Ethan received a water table for his birthday from our friend Don, and he absolutely loves it. We play with it almost every day. Here's pictures from when we first tried it out:
Can you tell he likes it?
We also took a trip to a sprinkler park for the first time. E was a little apprehensive at first, but after awhile he was crawling all over the place getting nice and wet. Only problem was, he kept trying to crawl away from the water onto the hot cement. He'd get mad at me for not letting him, and he'd get mad if he made it far enough for the cement to hurt his hands and knees. Crazy kid, I tried to tell him I was helping him out.
Checking out the water with his buddy Kinley.
Figuring out it's pretty fun.
Serving himself from the soggy goldfish buffet with his friend Connor. Kinda gross, I know.
Sorry there hasn't been any blog updates lately. I just haven't felt up to it, and it's mainly because of this specific post. However, I really wanted to share pictures from our trip to the beach, so I didn't want to skip the post altogether.
Explanation: Our trip to Port Aransas was bittersweet. It was Ethan's first time at the beach, but we weren't exactly there on vacation. My grandpa passed away on April 16. He had been fighting cancer for about 6 months, but the fight ended. He and I were very close, to say the least. He was like my grandpa, father, friend, and hero all wrapped into one. It has been rough, and I will miss him forever.
Papa wanted our whole family to go to Port Aransas and spread his ashes, so that's what we did.
Ethan really enjoyed the beach, just as any boy with Charles as a middle name should. He probably crawled miles along the beach checking out the sand and the shells. He even enjoyed the water once he got used to it.
It was actually a nice trip and it was really great to have Ethan there being his happy, hammy self. I can't wait to go back in the many years to come.
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)
Happy 12 months Monkey! I can't wait to see what surprises you have in store for us in the next year!
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.
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.
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).
