Ethan is 13 months!

Is it really mid July???? Has it really been a month since his birthday?  Where did the summer go?

I know he is a one year old now, but we are going to continue to do the montly recap for a little bit longer.  While the gorilla is not in the monthly picture anymore, we did add a cute little bear.  This was a present from Great Grandma Flynn for his birthday.  His name is Hammy, after Josh Hamilton. 

He changes so much all the time.  This month has become the month of chatter.  His vocabulary consists of mama, dada, "dog", hi, bye, and Gra.  Then, of course, there is 'gob'.  We are not sure what it means, but he says it frequently so it must be important.  All of this chatter includes his arms spread wide and raising them up.  Some of his favorite things right now are clapping, hugging, playing in the new playroom on his big slide, veggie straws, balls, cars, and throwing a ball for Turk.  He is also really showing his love for Mom right now.  He can't get enough of me -- can you blame him, I am pretty awesome.  It is a little exhausting some days to be so loved.  This being because this extra love comes with wanting to be held more often than normal.  I am trying to just enjoy the extra attention and snuggles as long as I can get them.

Giving Turk hugs.  The things that Turk will endure from this kid

Both waiting patiently for a veggie straw

They are BFF.....

Sliding down the big kid slide at McDonald's

His first ice cream cone with Pop...and demonstrating the clapping skills.

Teeth: We are working on our 5th tooth, lateral incisor, top right .
Bottles: I know my days of snuggles while he is drinking his milk in the morning and before bed are numbered.  He is down to only those two bottles a day.  I am giving us until early September to quit all together.  I am just going to have to start a new nightly routine that involves snuggling before going to bed, maybe we will start reading a little later at night.

I still can't believe this lovable little guy is growing so fast.   Everyday I look forward to listening to him babble through the monitor when he wakes up in the morning.  And I love watching him play with whatever stuffed animal I left in his bed when he wakes up from a nap.  He really enjoys a good body slam with giant giraffe or elephant.  He is truly too smart for his own good.  One afternoon I found him after a nap with the battery pack of his glowworm, well Robert's glowworm, pulled and he was trying to figure out how to put it back in.  He has also mastered the art of putting caps back onto his food pouches and twisting them to stay on.  Smarty pants.

We are all really enjoying his fun little personality and hoping this sweet guy doesn't turn into that "terrible" toddler we hear so much about anytime soon!