Ethan 1.5 and Maddy (almost) 3.5

I wanted to do a separate snow day post, but that's not going to happen. So here they are.

I know I missed the ball on the 17 month update, but I'm really proud to say that I didn't procrastinate when it came time to writing report cards. Usually, that is when I get some posts up because I'm supposed to be working on report cards. Not this time. :)

Ethan

Ethan has changed a lot since the last post. I think near the end of 16 months, Ethan figured out how to nod his head to say yes. It has been a great help in his communication. Ethan is also just beginning to try and copy some words that we say. He has his own way of saying the following words: Dog, Bird, Bear, Cheers, Bye, Duck Ball. He is beginning to try and mimic what we say so I'm wondering if a word explosion is on the horizon.

I was reading his 16 month post and back then he was fighting the high chair. Well he is officially out now! It's so great to see the 4 of us sitting at the same table for meal times. Another change is that he's become much better at feeding himself with a utensil. He even eats cold cereal with milk in the mornings now. We LOVE that!! I almost forgot that he is even using a regular cup at meal times. It's still touch and go and he needs to be reminded to "maan, maan lay" (slowly in Chinese) but he loves this new push toward big-boyhood.

Ethan's 'second childness' definitely shows with how much faster he's moved towards doing things on his own. I think because he sees Maddy doing all these things and so he wants to do it too. I love the proud look he has on his face when he knows that he can do something. Right now he loves to finish eating and bring his plates and utensils in put it in the dishwasher for me. He'll even put the fork into the proper utensil basket for me.

Lastly, I've noticed a real change in Ethan when it comes to books. As a baby we started with reading books during his sleep routine. The problem was that he was never very interested in the books. That has been the trend for the most part until now. Lately, Ethan has really become interested in books and he'll often grab a book and ask us to read to him. Right now he really loves 1,2,3 to the Zoo by Eric Carle and Woolly Stops the Train by Usbourne Books. I love when he comes to me with a book and then settles down in my lap to read with me. One of my favourite times.

Maddy

Maddy is quickly approaching 3 and a half years old. She is definitely showing us her desire to be herself. It took a while for us to clue in that she was wanting more independence, but now that we finally get it, Maddy has really grown. She loves to pick out her own clothes right now and as long as it's appropriate for the weather, we're good to go. She is really big on 'matching' and that is usually the basis for her clothing choice.

Maddy continues to love crafts and drawing. She can spend almost an hour with her watercolor paint set and pages torn from a colouring book. I plan to do a separate blog to show some of her art, so stay tuned! For Christmas Santa gave her some books with pages that help to practice scissor skills and she can pretty much cut a straight line on her own. I know that one day soon Maddy and I will be heading off to the scrapbooking store and having a great time!

Another new step for Maddy is that she goes to swimming lessons on her own. She had a couple weeks of crying at the beginning of the lesson, but now she loves it. It is so cool to see her on her own and to watch what she is like as a student. The class sizes are 1:4 so they do get a lot of attention, and Maddy loves that.


Life these days is really great. I'm really enjoying this stage with the kids. We can generally get out and to do something in the morning and come home for Ethan's nap. Maddy is pretty flexible and will nap some days and others not. I feel like such a lucky Mama to have my two kids. Each day, even on the hard 'stuck at home' days, one of them will do something funny and have us all laughing.