Our Family: Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan

It is hard to believe that our Ethan is a little two year old now...

Even though we miss our little guy as a baby we find
this new stage of his life so fun and exciting.
It is really neat to see Ethan's little personality develop...
He is such a friendly, kind, funny and happy little boy,
He loves to laugh and make others giggle.
He is always on the go and runs himself to sleep.
He loves to play with toys and try new things.
He loves to be wrapped in cuddly blankets...
He plays with his hair when he is tired...
He also loves to give cuddles, hugs and kisses.

He loves his little brother!

He calls him "Toddy"
He is always happy to see Todd in the morning,
And keeps an eye on him through the day!
He lets me know if Todd is awake or asleep...
Often in the car Ethan will say...
"Mommy Toddy asleep" or
"Mommy Toddy awake"

Ethan loves Thomas the Train, Caillou, Trucks,

Airplanes, Going to the airport and the "choo choo" track,
Story time, Riding bikes, the park (especially the swings),
stroller walks, splash pads, playgroups, bath time,
playing with balls, Nursery time at church, playing with kids
(When Ethan sees little kids he points and saids "Mommy friends")
Ethan loves animals, he loves to chase Winston and cuddle with Miles
Ethan loves to have us run after him, or hide and jump out at him.
He loves ring around the rosie,
He loves to wrestle with dad and run to him with
smiles and excitment when he comes home from work.

Ethan is a little rascal at times and can often be
caught drinking from puddles or the dog dish.
He likes to get wet or dirty...He is a very messy eater...
He will often rub his food in his hair and face...
He usually is upset when getting his teeth brushed...
I have to pin him down while trying to make him laugh.
This task is a little stressful to me...
(He will thank me later when he has his pearly whites I guess!)
He likes to pull things out of cupboards...
He likes to climb on the table...
He is defiantly at the stage of testing his boundaries!
I have started time out and it is working like a charm...

When mommy and daddy are away Ethan
gets to have the best babysitters...Grandma Boland or
Aunty Shayna or Aunty Karen or Emma...
We are so lucky to have family
to help us with our special boy!

Ethan is a good little eater...
Some of his favourite foods are
Berries, pizza, gummies, beans, carrots, apples, chicken,
seeds/chip blend from Pop's, juice, berry banana protein shakes,
crackers, cheese, dipping sauces...
(really I could go on and on)
He loves it when I showcase a
variety of foods in a muffin trays!

His favourite books right now are
-Clifford the big red dog
-I am a dump truck
-The Potty Book for Boys
-Are you my mother
-Wake up Elmo
-Sing along with Elmo
-That's not my monkey
-Cookie's First Book of numbers
First Colors
-Baby Beluga
-Where's Spot

Ethan's vocabulary has really expanded over the past few months.
He can repeat most words and is now using 2-3 word sentences.
He can count to 3 then usually jumps to 6,8 and 10!
He is learning his colors...He knows red, blue and yellow!
It is much easier to communicate with him
and his tiny voice is so darn cute!
He saids please and thankyous without being prompted
(most of the time that is!)
He is VERY observant...
He is the first one to pick out an airplane in the sky,
to let me know if we go past train tracks,
He loves to point out cars, trucks, buses,
motorcycles, the moon, bugs, friends ect.
He is such a smart little guy and I am so proud of him!

One Month

11 months

2 years old

I wanted to throw a big Thomas The Train

themed party for Ethan this year...but

Due to a busy school schedule I opted

to go a little more simple this year!

June 24 landed on a Sunday this year...

We celebrated Ethan's Birthday at my Mom & Dads house.

Ethan's buddies Jake and Ben helped to make the day special for Ethan!

Aunty Shayna got a cake with a pile of gummy worms on it...

Ethan thought this was pretty cool!

Mom prepared an amazing dinner as usual...

Ethan loved the cake

I didn't have cake candles so we ended up
lighting up a big candle for Ethan to blow out!

Ethan very wide eyes and the cutest stunned look on his face
when we turned the lights off, brought the cake and candle to him,

and sang the Happy Birthday song.
He wasn't too sure what was going on!

It was really cute!

Ethan enjoyed his gummy worm cake!
Thanks Shayna!

After dinner, I gave Ethan a quick bath
(he was covered in dinner and chocolate cake)...
Then the boys went outside to play!

A picture of Mommy and her special two year old

Present time! Ethan loved his Thomas the Train water bottle and "play in the sand kit"
From Aunty Shayna, Greg, Ben and Jake

We had Nate's side of the family over for cake a couple days later at our house!

Cake number two...Ya...I was a little disappointed...

Usually I make ice cream cakes for birthdays but

this time I tried a Martha Stewart chocolate cake recipe and

a vanilla custard cake recipe off of Pinterest...

They were not very good...The chocolate cake was dry

and the custard vanilla cake was strange...I didn't like it!

Oh well not a big deal I guess!

I got Moose Tracks ice cream from costco and

made Thomas the Train sugar cookies which were yummy!

I also made homemade spinach dip which is always a hit!

Once again Ethan had that stunned look on his face

when it was cake, candles and singing time.

We played a game called "name that chocolate bar"

which is a fun one for all ages!

Even though this year I went pretty simple

I think Ethan had a good week turning two!

We are excited for the "Terrific two's"

Had to include Thomas some how as Ethan loves
Thomas the Train right now!

Ethan got a dump truck from Grampa and Grandma
It was a hit...He plays with it everyday!

It is funny how kids always love the bags and boxes

I did say this party was for Nate's side...What I should have said was
Nate's side plus Shayna! She is such a good Aunty!

Uncle Jorge and Aunty Karen

Aunty Karen and Todd having some fun!

The outfit Ethan is wearing was a Birthday present from Grandma and Pop's Boland!

Cousin Avery and Shayna

Cousin Emma and Todd

Toddy had fun celebrating his brother's birthday too!

After everyone left we went
outside for a quick play before bed!

Ethan loves to point out bugs...
You can hardly see the bug in this picture...
Look close...It is there!
Ethan followed it around for a bit...
Yelling "A Bug...A Bug...Mommy A Bug"