Another Ethan first: He climbed down from his high chair.

Within a couple weeks of learning to climb in, Ethan now has the high chair round trip figured out.

Another Ethan first: He asked permission to eat a cookie.

At the fellowship meal after church today, I watched Ethan reach up to the serving table and take a cookie. Then, to my surprise, he came over by me and held up the cookie, as if to ask whether he could have it. I said yes since I was so glad that he asked and because it was a rather healthy type of cookie. Of course, my decision was also influenced by the way he carried it over to me: in his mouth!

Another Ethan first: He called for Daddy.

Ethan goes to sleep at night very well. We have a bedtime ritual that we do after washing hands, brushing teeth, and reading stories. I always ask him if he can say “Mommy, and Daddy, and Ethan, and Buo”, giving him lots of kisses and tickles on “Buo” (pronounced boo, short for buoy).

Next, Ethan asks me to let him hold various objects around the room. On a wall shelf he has a windmill music box, a bear-in-a-hammock music box, his infant knit cap, his baby hair brush, a Precious Moments figure of a boy with his bun, and a little Peter Rabbit book. On the window sill, he has the music box from his baby mobile. On his dresser, he has a lion-holding-a-lamb music box that plays, “Jesus Loves the Little Children”. Ethan asks for three, four, or sometimes more of these items. For any music boxes he selects, I wind them up, except the bear (his favorite), which he can wind himself. It doesn’t bother him at all to have two, three, or four music boxes playing at once.

Ethan also asks to look out the window, so I’ll lift him out for a moment to gaze with me on the dark (or not so dark, depending on the snow, clouds, and moonlight) backyard and river valley. He usually points out the window and makes the “tweet, tweet” sound he uses to imitate a bird. I remind him that there are no birds out, that they are all in their nests sleeping. I don’t know why he makes the bird sound, but it provides a nice segue back into the crib.

Last, Ethan asks for his blankets, and Beth or I put them on him. He usually goes right to sleep without any crying. Sometimes, he wants to overextend the ritual, so he starts crying after I leave the room, but fortunately, after a few seconds he puts his head down and begins to doze off. Today was one of those brief moments of dissatisfaction, only instead of just making a crying sound, he cried out “Daddy”. So sad and cute at the same time—good thing it was only for a few seconds.

Another Ethan first: He tried to tell me.

This afternoon we were packing up to go ice skating as soon as Ethan woke up from his nap. Beth packed up most everything while I changed Ethan. There was only one item remaining: Big Blanky Bun. I started walking around the house, carrying Ethan and asking him to help me find it. I couldn’t find it anywhere, and Ethan wasn’t pointing to anything. He did keep saying, “Bun”, however, which didn’t make any sense to me. After I was ready to give up and brave the car ride bun free, he turned in my arms and said, “this”, holding in front of my face Big Blanky Bun, whom he’d been carrying all along.

Another Ethan first: He climbed up a sled hill.

We have a gently sloping sled hill in our back yard, which is good for starters. The neighbor two doors down has one much steeper, though. Tonight with the fresh new snow, the neighbors were out, so we decided to join them. After going once, he didn’t get back on the sled for me to pull him up like normal. Instead, he discovered the other side of the sledding experience: climbing back up the hill. This was no simple feat for our little boy, but he was determined and eventually made it to the top, just in time for a nice sled ride home.

Another Ethan first: He climbed into his high chair.

Getting ready for meals just got a bit easier. Our little monkey can now climb into his high chair all by himself.

Another Ethan first: He arranged his bunnies around his crib.

From the day he was born, little stuffed bunnies have kept watch over Ethan while he slept. They have long been a source of entertainment, especially the bunny toss. This evening, he showed a gentler side as he carefully arranged the bunnies and other stuffed animals around the perimeter of his crib. He now has a more organized nighttime environment, and his creatures can observe our little boy better than ever.

Another Ethan first: He used a walking stick.

Ethan had fun today with his latest imitation of Daddy: belly sliding down the sled hill. Later at the top of the hill, he found a big stick that came up to his chin, and he used it to steady himself as he walked down the hill a little way. The stick has a large, blunt end, about an inch in diameter. Still, we heard his mother say, “Don’t poke your eye out.”

Another Ethan first: He scolded Julius.

Our cat Julius is thirteen and has long known where he can safely push his limits with us. Now, he has a more energetic patrol to deal with. When Ethan saw Julius jump onto the dining room table, he did his best imitation of Mommy saying, “Julius, get down!” It didn’t matter to Julius that Ethan couldn’t articulate the words; he got the message!