Another Ethan first: He pointed out his nose.

Mommy has been working with Ethan on identifying body parts, but I ended up getting to do the honors: holding him on my lap, I asked him, “Can you touch your nose?”  And he did.

Another Ethan first: He balanced Mr. Potato Head’s feet on his head.

Ethan finds it amusing to see an object balanced on my head for a while and then slowly slide forward and fall off. He likes making things slide off own head, too. This afternoon, he stayed still enough to balance for quite some time the blue shoes ostensibly containing Mr. Potato Head’s feet. This evening, he did even better: he balanced a funnel on the edge of his crib.

Another Ethan first: He dug a hole.

At the beach today, Ethan made friends with a boy who had a shovel. A hole in the sand was the product of their joint labor (well, Ethan was just playing, really). Later, when it came time to join forces with me, Ethan reversed the process and filled in a hole, demolishing what semblance of a sandcastle I had started.

Another Ethan first: He body slammed the cat.

Julius was standing in front of Ethan, sideways to him. Ethan walked up to him and dove on top, immediately plopping Julius flat to the ground. Julius never left the ground, so it wouldn’t qualify as an official pro wrestling body slam, but the move carried all the entrainment value and then some of what I’ve seen from the staged sporting event.

Another Ethan first: He ate with a spoon.

Another Ethan first: He caught a bun with his feet.

Ethan was all buckled into his car seat, holding Big Blanky Bun in his hands, when the bun suddenly slipped down on its way to the floor. However, Ethan put his feet together to save the bun the from the fall and recovered it all by himself.

Another Ethan first: He led me by the pinky.

Ethan came up to me as I was sitting in a chair and took hold of my pinky finger. I got up and he pointed to Big Blanky Bun, who was up high out of his reach, so I got it for him. I didn’t mind being the gofer; his new way of asking for help is much nicer than the way he’s previously known—crying.

Another Ethan first: He zoomed his truck across the room.

It was one of those moments when everything just felt right with the world. I was heading down Grandma’s stairway with suitcase in hand, when across the room I saw Ethan push a little red fire truck from one end to the other. On his way back, our easily distracted boy saw Mommy and Cousin Ava playing with blue ball, which he picked up and tossed to them. It was a moment to reflect on how our Ethan has grown from baby to boy and reminded me of how much God has blessed us with such a wonderful addition to our family.

Another Ethan first: He went blackberry picking.

Grandpa and Grandma have some blackberries growing around a big, old cedar tree. I showed Ethan how to pick one and gave it to him to taste. He liked it, so I found some where thorns weren’t in the way, and showed Ethan. He plucked them right off and enjoyed the treats.

Another Ethan first: He rocked in a rocking recliner.

If Ethan can get a good enough grip, he can climb up almost anything, including Grandpa’s recliner with the rough, burlap upholstery. He noticed it moving as he got on and sat square in the middle, just like he’d seen the adults do. With a little shifting of his weight, he was rocking away. He slowed down a bit after a while, which is when Grandpa took the video.

Another Ethan first: He spun a metal top.

Ethan has spun a baby top before, but this was his first time with the version for big kids. He kept it nice and straight and pumped fast enough to keep it going a good while. He also did a couple mini spins, one of which we captured in the video.

Another Ethan first: He fed the ducks.

We had some corn kernels for the river ducks. On a bridge over the river, I took one and showed Ethan how to throw it into the water so the ducks would eat it. Ethan took a kernel out of my hand and fed… himself. I showed him a couple more times, and he got it. He started taking the kernels and feeding the ducks just like Daddy.

Another Ethan first: He climbed up to the top of the big slide.

Even if the steps are so steep that they could be a ladder, the process is still the same: one step at a time. That’s what Ethan did to reach the top of a twelve-foot slide, the biggest in the park. I don’t think he knew how to look down and fear the height like I did.

When we got to the top, I was glad to be off the steps. Ethan was glad because he could start diving head first down the slide. However, for this slide, I wasn’t willing to give him that much freedom, so I scooped him up and we slid sitting together. It wasn’t as adventurous as his way, but it made Mommy, Grandma, and me feel better and was still lots of fun.

Another Ethan first: He held hands in prayer.

Normally, Beth and I hold hands when we pray over a meal, and we’ve tried including Ethan, but he hasn’t liked having his hand held when he’s at the dinner table. But this evening, Ethan reach out and took Mommy’s hand as I was thanking the Lord for our food. Thanks God for Ethan, too!