oh, BOY!

On December 20, 2010, the day we found out we were having a boy, nobody could have prepared me for what my future held.  Of course I had seen  boys play and how much different they were than little girls, but to actually have one of my own - I had no idea!

Ethan is constantly climbing, jumping and running.  If I chase after him, he runs faster.  He's always dirty, losing things and breaking things.  He never sits still and is always getting into mischief.

I will clean my house top to bottom and in 3 seconds it's destroyed because he's smashed his goldfish everywhere, brought pockets full of dirt inside or opened up his sippy cup and spilled milk everywhere.  Some days it seems impossible to say the word "no" one more time. 

Ethan loves to crash trains and he often crumbles up his food to make "dirt" to drive his trucks in. We don't leave the house without a toy car, but they rarely make it back home. He is obsessed with tractors and anytime we see one he yells: 'tractor, tractor" 

When a door opens up, he darts outside. It doesn't matter what he's wearing (or not wearing) he thinks an open door is an open invitation to run circles in the backyard. When we are at a playground, he's the first one to run to the every top, which means mommy is constantly running up the stairs, too.  Each day is very exhausting and alot of times after he goes to sleep I just collapse.  Some days it seems easier to leave the house, but other days that's just as difficult.  It's impossible to keep him in a buggy at a store and in fact, he's been known to climb out and ride the conveyor belt.    

He's fallen off our retaining wall outside onto the concrete and I thought he needed stitches, but it didn't keep him down for long.  I still (daily) have to remove him from the same wall.  I've never seen a child like balls, trucks, tractors, dirt, sand, tools, and heavy machinery so much in my life. It's a HUGE difference from Hannah who, at this age, would sit and brush a baby doll's hair for an hour straight.

Although life is CRAZY with a boy, to say the least, we wouldn't trade this crazy monkey for anything.  Life is a little more tiring these days, but it's all worth it!