Ethan is Two!!!!

Today Ethan officially turns 2! I can't believe it! Two years ago I held the newborn Ethan in my arms...having no clue what was to come. Now my little baby is TWO! I still have no clue what is coming but I have two wonderful years of motherhood behind me. I have learned so much from Ethan and my love for him continues to grow. He is such a joy.

We aren't doing a lot to celebrate his birthday today because we had his party with my family on our Disneyland trip, but I couldn't let the day pass without a tribute to my sweet Ethan.

Ethan playing outside with a birthday balloon he got today from a very sweet friend.

Here are some things about Ethan at age 2:

-He says TONS of words and now puts together two and three word sentences often

-He is very detail oriented...he notices minute details...he can cut with scissors and has figured out how to actually use nail clippers YIKES. (I have to start hiding them)

-He likes coloring but loves to color himself (meaning his own skin)...ugh...at least it isn't the walls yet

-He loves to play with cars, puzzles, balls, blocks and toys that make sound

-He is very good at getting into just about anything

-He loves going for bike rides and walks

-He loves music and songs...he often asks for songs and will not take a nap or go to bed without getting a song first.

-His knows all of his colors

-He loves books...he says the name of everything in his books and often names the colors too.

-He likes rough housing with daddy

-He is such a BOY! I just have to bonk my head or do something silly and he will laugh and laugh

-He can jump and actually get both feet off the ground.

-He loves to sing along with "I Love to See the Temple" his new favorite

-He is pretty fearless, which scares me

-He not so fearless if I leave him...he can be a little clingy

-He loves to be a part of everything I do no matter what it is.

-He counts 1-10 but often out of order and still doesn't exactly get why he is counting

-He knows letters A, B, and C and will point them out when he sees them.

-He is actually going to nursery without screaming and doesn't really cry the whole 2 hours!

-He has a very hard time sitting still, sacrament meeting and FHE are a battle

-He still struggles with having a little brother sometimes but is very sweet sometimes too. He will say "mommy, Cameron sad", if he hears Cameron crying. He also likes giving Cameron hugs and kisses.

-He says "excuse me" when he burps

-He talks a LOT! He mostly tells me the name of anything and everything within sight and then waits for me to repeat the word back to him.

-He can say long words pretty clearly like "sacrament", but he struggles with words that have the sound "moo" at the beginning. He calls movies "ooovies" and music "ooosic".

Mommy and Daddy love you Ethan! Happy 2nd Birthday!

Pumpkins for My Little Pumpkins

We went to a pumpkin patch for FHE (Family Home Evening) last night. It was a huge hit with Ethan. He ran all over the patch trying to pick up pumpkin after pumpkin and yelling in excitement.

He climbed on and off the hay bails and tried to pick up pumpkins of every size. He was ecstatic.

Ethan found his pumpkin...he was SO excited!

Daddy gave Camron a pumpkin while he was sleeping...

He didn't like it much

After we got home from the pumpkin patch we got Ethan ready for bed. He cried and cried because I wouldn't let him sleep with his new pumpkin. I did let him keep it on his night stand but he wanted it in bed with him. I am such a mean mommy. This morning when I got him out of his room he had his pumpkin in his little arms and he keeps carrying it around today. I think he is in love.

Howdy!

Our church did a Foot Rodeo this past weekend (October 23rd). They had a whole slew of activities from sheep riding to chicken chasing. I felt like I was back in Idaho for a few hours. Ethan was too little to participate in most things but he did try some of the food, horse shoes, and a ride on a cart pulled by a pony.

He was fascinated by the horses...and to be honest, so was I. YEEHAW!

Ethan wanted to be the camera man for a little while with the assistance of Daddy, of course. So cute!

Boise State Bronco Fan

We got Ethan a Boise State "Bronco's in Training" shirt for his birthday. (We had his party while we were in California, but he still has a week to go until he is two). To be perfectly honest the shirt was more for Grandpa Banner and Daddy than for Ethan. Here is a cute video of Ethan cheering for the team, with a little help from Mommy!

Ethan in his BSU shirt! GO BRONCOS!!!!

(I took a ton of pictures and this is the BEST one I could get. Toddlers are very difficult to photograph...I'm just say'n)

And Cameron being cute as usual. Check out the fuzzy hair!

Posts and pictures of our Disneyland trip and Ethan's 2nd birthday party to come.

Like Father Like Son

Ethan found Daddy's hat today while I was getting ready. He said "hat" then he picked it up and put it on his head backwards. He wore it around like that for about 20 minuets. I thought it was so cute! My mini Jared.

Big

Cameron hit the four month mark on September 27th. He laughs and smiles a great deal of the time. He just rolled over today for the first time. I put him down for a nap on his back and he started crying. When I went in to check on him he was on his tummy. So although I haven't seen it with my own eyes, Cameron can finally roll over! YAY! Here is my 4 month photo shoot of Cameron.

Ethan just hit the 23 month mark. I will officially have a two year old in a month! Ethan is always doing and saying new things. He has started to say a few full sentences like "Put the chair away". He knows all of his basic colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, white, and grey). He has learned his first letter "A". Ethan cuts with scissors like a big kid and he holds his pencil like mommy with the pencil pinched between his two fingers instead of holding it with a fist. He loves balls, cars, puzzles, blankets, and books. His new favorite stuffed animal is Kermit the Frog. He is getting really good a cleaning up. He has to put everything away in his room before he will go to bed. Maybe he is just stalling but I don't mind if he's stalling by cleaning his room. He has just recently tried to sing. The only songs he sings along to are, "I Am a Child of God", "Popcorn Popping", "I Love to See The Temple" and "Follow the Prophet". Speaking of prophets... all during conference this last weekend he kept pointing to all the speakers and kept saying "Prophet". So cute!

Ethan playing in the rain