Golden Poppy Press: Ethan at Twelve Months

Ethan is officially ONE! He had a busy month leading up to his first birthday, with travel, holidays, and one super birthday bash. Here are the highlights. Oh, and by the way ... the past 365 days with E have been pure. joy.

He can

Stand on his own, without holding onto anything. I am so proud of him. He will even push himself into a standing position from kneeling and sitting down. And did I mention he'll stand on his own and dance? Adorable.

Wave "hi" and "bye" appropriately, like when Mike or I enter a room or are heading out of a room. He still doesn't always wave back if other people initiate the waving, but I love, love, love seeing his little hand wave to me when I come downstairs. Who could ask for a better welcome?

Use a spoon to eat his own yogurt. Not that he's always in the mood to eat his yogurt, mind you, but when he is, he spoons the yogurt out of the cup on his own and puts it in his mouth. He also likes to dip things, like his graham crackers into cinnamon dip or his chicken nuggets into sauce.

He knows

Where his head is. We'll say, "Ethan, where's your head?" and he'll put his hands on either side of his head. We'll clap, and then he'll clap, too. After all, knowing where your head is is pretty exciting stuff.

He eats

All his usual faves, but we've added veggie sausage into the mix and he gobbles it up. He's actually chewing food and swallowing it now, too. I don't know that he's actually swallowing all that much, but food is being chewed and swallowed, so I'm one happy Mama.

He went

On a little trip this past month, for his Uncle Kevin's wedding. We flew into Philadelphia and drove around Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware for the wedding and then visits with friends and family. Ethan did so incredibly well on the plane. He had his own seat and he napped, ate his snacks, and watched Sesame Street like a good boy the entire way there and back. It was great for him to visit with family, and we had a blast showing him all around Philly where Mike grew up.

Trick o' Treating! Mama picked a shark costume for E's first Halloween outing. I didn't think he would want to wear the hat part, but he was actually fine with that but hated the body part with a passion. We ended up taking the body part off and just walking him around with the shark head - still pretty cute, if I do say so myself. He didn't really get the idea of Halloween at all, but we did go to about ten houses just for the fun and experience of it.

On a road trip with Mama and Daddy to southern California to pick up our new puppy. He was a total trooper for the four hour drive and entertained himself by pulling tissues out of a box and taking in the views.

He says

Lots and lots of gibberish. He is working so hard on his sounds, and putting sounds together. I feel like we're going to get some more consistent words really soon.

I am 80% sure he is trying to say "Elmo." Whenever Elmo comes on the screen during the opening sequence of Sesame Street, he makes the exact same sound, unique from other sounds he makes. It's kind of an "Eeeehhhhhllllll" noise, but hey, "Elmo" isn't the easiest thing to say.

He celebrated

Halloween! The only candy he wanted was a Tootsie Roll, which he preferred to chew on through the wrapper.

This is E showing us where his head is in between bites of Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving! He ate sweet potatoes, turkey, green beans, and asparagus. He loves veggies and I'm pretty sure he actually swallowed a decent amount.

His birthday! We had a party for him the weekend before, and on his actual birthday we opened presents and went to his fave restaurants.

He sleeps

Totally through the night, as per usual. He still sleeps on his belly, often with his booty scrunched up in the air.

He plays

With his Fisher Price CD player, a new fave.

His Peter Rabbit stacking blocks.

A lot of non-toys, like kitchen things and random items he finds around the house.

He loves

His chapstick.

Veggie sausage.

Getting flown around the house by Mike while the Superman theme song is being sung.

Dancing and music.

Sesame Street.

Going on walks.

Riding in shopping carts and his stroller.

He hates

Getting his face or nose wiped off.

When Mama or Daddy leaves the room.

Apparently birthday cake. ;)

In honor of E's first birthday, I'll be doing a series of posts celebrating my little boy. There will be posts on his birthday party, a "day in the life of E" post, and some others. Thanks for reading about our first year with Ethan and all of his milestones!