Whew. Christmas is over. And we survived.

We had a great time out in Albany. There was so much family to see and we were excited that we got to see everyone. I don't think anyone was missing... I'd have to check with Mia.

Ethan was a little ball of energy. He had fun ripping open his toys on Christmas morning, though after getting into the first he was more interested in playing with it then opening more. I'll give a rundown of his loot this weekend, there was a lot of it.
Unfortunately being at other people's houses meant that he didn't sleep as well. I had to hold him for each of his naps. Which was fine as I got to nap along with him. :) He's cute once he falls asleep but getting him to go down without his crib takes a while.

When he was awake he discovered that he loves to climb stairs. I couldn't believe that he did it so well, but any time he got near a staircase he wanted to go up. Then, once he was at the top he'd look back down and want me to carry him down for another trip. What a boy!

We can't believe that the year is ending so soon. It seems like just yesterday Ethan was born and we were bringing him home from the hospital. I guess it will be like that every year, even when he's old enough to move out.

Christmas is almost here. We are so excited to have Ethan's "first" Christmas. We know that it really isn't but it's the first one he will really be aware of, so we are counting it.

Well, the boy hit another milestone today. It's a good one, but the timing is bad. He learned how to climb up onto the couch.

Why is that bad you ask?

Because our Christmas tree was in a corner between the two couches to prevent him from getting to them. There was also a little gate covering the gap between the couches.

Today at work I got a call from Mia telling me that the boy had gotten himself onto the couch and promptly crawled to the arm and tipped himself over. He tried grabbing the tree, the ornaments, and the presents. Anything within reach before his mom could pull him back out.
Then, after he was extracted, he cried all day because he wanted to get back. When I got home, I sat on the couch with him to take off my shoes and had to restrain him as he wailed and tried to grab ornaments off the tree.

Sadly, our Christmas tree came back down tonight. We got a few pictures, so it won't be totally forgotten.

I can't believe what a busy month December is. You would think that with the holidays coming you could get ready to relax, but it just seems to add to the pressure.

The shopping is pretty much done, so that's not creating any stress, but there are just so many other things that pile up. And now that Ethan can walk on his own pretty well, it's even harder to keep the house clean.

But we manage somewhow, and the boy just keeps getting cuter, so we don't mind so much.

Well, Ethan is one year old. And what an active boy he is too.

He can pretty much walk whenever he wants. That isn't all the time, but when he is in the mood he can really go. So, he was definately walking before one year. I don't know that it means anything, but at least it makes us feel proud of him.

His birthday was a pretty simple affair, on Friday we had Linda over and opened a few presents. He had a cupcake but mostly he just smeared it around his tray rather than his face. It was fun to sing to him and watch him look around at all of us as we waited for him to do something messy with his cake.

On Saturday, David, Chris, and the boys came out to visit. We opened a few more presents and again had a fun day. Ethan loved playing with Bryson especially. We think that Ethan viewed him as close to his own age (5 years apart) and so wanted to be a show off. We have some great video of him wrestling that consists of Ethan standing up and then falling onto him. Very cute.

So, now we officially have a toddler. I'm sure our lives are going to change in so many ways because of this.

Well, Thanksgiving went great. It really is one of my favorite holidays.

When I lived in Utah, Monica and I, along with our cousins, would pile into the car each year and drive down to California to visit Grandma and Grandpa Jo. Those were great trips, and having the big dinner with them was always fun.

Since we have been in Boston, we've done Thanksgiving with our friends. It's a whole different experience when you have to do the cooking and cleaning at your house. I'm still trying to get all the dishes clean from Thursday. :)
This year was Ethan's first Thanksgiving and he absolutely loved it. He loved getting some of the Jell-o fruit salad and being around all the people. He's such an active, social boy that being around so many people really wound him up.

Even today he was so happy and talkative. He walked around (with his car or a chair) so much today. He wanted me to chase him around the house when he was crawling. And he took two really, really long naps. We think he must be growing again.

I'm taking some video this week, I want to get some good footage before his birthday, then I'll make tapes and get them out to the family for Christmas. You can then show off the cutest boy in the world to all your friends :)

Our little boy just gets cuter and cuter every day. We were in the living room this weekend and Ethan was being quiet by himself looking at a book.
All of the sudden he makes about three short quick breathes. Mia and I both look over, and he has his book open to a page that has 10 dogs on it (it's a counting book).

Well, in a different sign language for babies book, their is a page for dog, and the sign is making a panting sound. Mia and I both do this when we read to him, and it was so cute to see him doing it on his own.

When we went over to look at what he was doing, he did it again. I can't believe how fast he is growing up.

So, I didn't get to see much of Ethan walking yesterday. He took a step or two, but still knows it's faster to crawl around.

However, he very much enjoyed standing up. He got next to one of our couch pillows on the floor and kept pushing himself up on it. This is different from using something taller than him to pull himself up. So, it's quite a big step... well, not step exactly, but it's big.

We are trying to get some video of him walking, I think we are going to end up with alot of him standing around before we get anything :)

Well, today was a big day for Ethan. According to Mia he took about 4 steps today and didn't fall over.
He's napping right now, but I'm excited to see this for myself. I'll keep you posted on how he does.

Poor little Ethan has a cold. And a yeast infection. And his cheeks are chaffing.

Needless to say it's been a rough week for the little guy. We have been trying to do what we can to comfort him, but it isn't always easy. Especially since he can't really blow his nose, so it either runs down his face or down his throat. I think the down his throat option has been what wakes him up at 4:00AM.

But, it's been about 3 days and he is on the mend. I think he got my immune system. :)

In other news, he will let go of whatever he uses to stand up and just stand by himself for a few seconds (quite a while it seems like) before sitting back down so he can move. We've been trying to help him walk to things, but he knows that crawling is still faster.