16 months!

We were a little tardy to Ethan's 15 month visit but it was calculated.  

Vaccines never sit well with my babies and I didn't want Christmas to be tainted by the side effects.  

I rescheduled them until after Nana's visit.. so I planned anyway.  

My little Ethan James is growing rapidly, running around nonstop and getting into everything! 

He's 24 lbs (39th percentile) and 32 inches (70th percentile).  Perfect in my book.  Everything checked out great.. which was a blessing.  Ethan is our first child that hasn't had the chronic ear infections and tubes. We're so grateful! He braved 4 shots and he didn't cry too long thanks to the help of a dum dum.  

He has the most adorable goofy smile, hilarious laugh and darling gap teeth. He keeps us giggling constantly. He'll do anything to get a chuckle out of his audience and his 'fake' laugh is beyond funny. 

His vocabulary consists of dad, mom, monkey calls and caveman grunts.

He's constantly trying to figure things out and regularly tests the limits of things, including his body.

He loves to terrorize Luke and has him in tears almost every day. 

Ethan loves to wrestle, throw things and gnaw on people and things.  

He loves music and every time he hears it, he can't help but dance.  

Taps his foot, shakes his head, claps his hands and gets jiggy with it.  It's my favorite! 

Witching hour always consists of a dance party! It's how this mama makes it through.  

Sometimes he'll slow down for one second and I can capture a moment like this.. it's rare and I cherish every millisecond it lasts. 

He started to get insanely finicky in his eating and loves to throw food.  It pretty much drives me insane. Ethan goes crazy over popcorn, grapes and chocolate. 

He loves his binky and bottle a little too much.  Something we need to work on. 

He prefers to drink his bottle while walking around.. and I die laughing every time he does.  

His cuddles are few and far between.. which breaks my heart.  I can't handle my baby growing up. 

He loves shooting hoops with Dad, playing cars, throwing balls, destroying Luke's train tracks, playing Petshop with Mylie, taking long baths and showers, climbing on tables and chairs, running and browsing books. 

I find him coloring on my floors with markers consistently and throwing things away.  I don't even want to know how many toys, binkies and silverware that have been in the garbage! 

Here's an example that I posted on Instagram not too long ago of our busy boy..

"In the last hour and a half.. Ethan has dumped out his wipes, poured baby powder all over the walls, got into a jar of lotion and smeared it all over himself and the carpet, put his binky in the toilet, dumped his bottle all over the floor, put most his favorite toys in the trash, played with a toilet brush, ruined a roll of tape and hurt Luke a few times. I'm sure I missed something.  Can the terrible tows be here already? He's not even 15 months! I'm tired."

Ethan honestly considers himself one of the big kids and is always keeping up.  He adores Mylie and Luke and they are sure fond of him! He can't wait to see Luke after preschool and loves it when Mylie walks through the door at the end of the day. He loves it when Daddy comes home and is right there next the big kids for his hug, cold hands and attention.  

Ethan loves tucking the big kids in bed.. and can't help but go back to say goodnight time and time again.  He blows kisses to them nightly.  I think they love it as much as he does. 

The only part of family prayer that Ethan participates in are the hugs and kisses at the end.  

He goes around and offers hugs time and time again.  

It's too tender for words.  It encompasses why we love this boy so much! 

Ethan makes our life so much more fun.. so much busier.. and filled with so much more love. 

He's our tasmanian devil.. our whirlwind.. our second brown eyed boy..our squishy.. our final babe..

I wouldn't have it any other way.