Ethan is now 13 months! He is so much fun to be around. We recently went on a family vacation to Grand Haven, South Haven, and a day in Holland - we had a great time. Ethan was as good as gold the whole time we were away from home. However, you could tell he was ready to get home and he was THRILLED to be reunited with his familiar territory and all of his toys, again. :) Since we have been home he is struggling to get back in the swing of things - I think we might have made our little boy over-tired!
Here is a video from our trip. We were in a little museum and Ethan loved playing the Piano. He didn't want to get up from it. What do you think? Is he a natural? :)
Ethan learned how to drink through a straw while we were on our trip! We went out to eat a lot - he kept wanting our water - so he finally figured out how to get it through the straw. He was so proud of himself. :) He also has mastered the art of flirting with every girl that he saw at restaurants. He made quite a few "girl" friends while we were away. He would just get those eyes, smile, and talk. He had James and I (and the girls) laughing.
He is just starting to fully pull himself up on things. He has been pulling up on our stairs and just yesterday started to climb up a few stairs himself. He also took a pretty good fall while doing that. He is now walking a little bit with his walker. Today he was pushing his truck - but not too thrilled about it while he was doing it. ;o) I think it is still going to be a little while before he is fully walking by himself - he just prefers to crawl right now. ;o) That is fine with me, but at his new "learning center" he will be starting at - all of the other toddlers are walking - so I hope he catches on soon.
Here is a video of him this morning, pushing his truck.
He still babbles a ton. He seems to try to say some words at times, but only James and I would probably recognize what he is saying. We talk about his cousins Rece and Brody a lot and he seems to try to say Rece - or at least we hear the "c" sound. Sometimes we swear that we hear him say something - but we don't know if it is purposeful or not. The other day I was getting ready and James told Ethan to say, "hurry, Mommy." It sounded as if he repeated that. When we were on our trip, James went to change Ethan's diaper. It appeared as though Ethan was waving his hand in front of his nose. James said, "Did you make a stinky PU?" Ethan said, Yes." :)
Ethan can now show us where his head, nose, belly, and toes are. However, a lot of times I ask him and he ignores my request - but on occasion he will show us. He tries to put his socks on and he gets excited when we get out his shoes (that means we are probably going outside). He tries to say "shoes," too. When he wants to, he can point to lots of things in his books - dogs, monkeys, ball, baby, horse, etc.
I am hoping that his learning really takes off once he starts at the center next week. We were there for a little bit today and I am amazed at all they try to teach the kids. They do sign language to the songs they sing, have center time and read books. This week their theme is farm animals - so when we were there they were practicing all of the sounds. All of the kids know to sit there during center time - but of course, Ethan was busy crawling all around and looking at the toys. Hopefully he catches on, quick! They did flash cards this morning to practice their colors and shapes, too! I was impressed.
Here are a few other pics from this past month.
At the beach with Rece and Brody
At Kensington Petting Zoo.
At the beach with his friend, Kade. 
In his favorite little coupe. 
Having fun at Castaway Cafe for a playdate.
