15 Months

My oh my how time is flying, Ethan is 15 months old and so much fun! Here is what he's been up to lately.

• Is a full on walker and never crawls anymore. 
• He's a pro at walking, hardly ever falls and can step over thresholds, through toys, walk down or up small hills etc with out breaking stride.
• We are constantly reminded at each milestone that Ethan likes to take in all the information and waits to do something until he has it all figured out and then he does it really well as if he's been doing it for a while
• Loves walking around with his snack cup in one hand and bottle hanging from his teeth.
• Does twirls and little spins, slowly,  and pivots on one foot to turn
• walks up and down stairs holding our hands. The steps are about as high as his legs are long
• Brings me things from all over the house. He will get toys, books etc that weight about what he does and carry them over. 
• Loves playing chase and now is starting to take a few 'running' steps at a time. 
• Has a great sense of humor and does silly things to get us to laugh and surprise us which makes him laugh
• Is super ticklish and loves to be tickled and/or I love to tickle him because his laugh is the best noise in the entire world! I just can't get enough of it, it's a full belly, body shake laugh with the biggest smile on his face!
• Has silly times when he's just loopy and it makes us laugh so much!
• Says ohh when he sees something he thinks is cool (when we were in Fl he found my foot in the sand and grabbed my toe and said ohhh when he saw my nails were painted)
• says ahh when he has figured something out or done something he is proud of
• Says Ya, Yes, Hi, Doggie, Daddy, and Mom - none of them all of the time 
• Sleeps really well from about 8-7 and takes 1 nap a day and will sometimes have quite playtime in his crib to just chill for a bit
• He likes putting himself to sleep. After a little rocking and a story he is ready to lay down in his crib and play with his mickey and puppy for a few min before falling asleep 
• I love listening to him play with his stuffed animals in his crib and talk to them, it is adorable
• Still gives cuddles and kisses, just not for as long. And still needs snuggled from momma and dada 
• Gets upset when he doesn't get his way but quickly is distracted by something else.
• Loves walking around the porch, going up and down the steps and finding rocks while exploring the yard
• Shows us his belly when we ask him to and will also put his hand on his head when ask 'where's Ethan's head?'
• Got another haircut... I think that's 3 now...
• Has freckles and looks more like Andy every day. He got his first freckle right around 13 months and now has about 10 of them
• Stands with his head on the floor and his bum right up in the air - it's baby yoga :)

Ethan is surprising us everyday with all the fun new things he is learning and discovering! I love my little monster and am so thankful that I get to be his momma.

Florida Beach Vacation

Where oh where to begin.... our Fl trip was awesome!! It was a great week, very relaxing, lots of fun, lots of new experiences and fabulous family memories.

We rented a condo across the street from the beach in a little town called Bonita Springs just south of Ft Myers. This was perfect for us because we could go play on the beach in the morning and head back to the condo when Ethan was getting tired for a nap. Sun, ocean, sad, lots of laughs and smiles from all, especially Ethan, tasty food, relaxing on the patio at night and no responsibilities (well less than normal)... it was ideal. I could go on for ages and post about a million photos and video clips. I'll try to keep it a bit fewer than a million...

Day 1: Wednesday - First Day & Trying Out the Beach
After an early morning arrival to DIA and two flights Ft Myers we grabbed our swimsuits out of our bag and headed straight for the beach once we got to the condo. Ethan loved it!! He was so funny, we weren't sure how he'd do with the waves but we couldn't keep him away. Andy took him in the ocean and as each wave came in and hit them Ethan would laugh and yell throwing his arms up in the as if to say 'oh ya bring on another one!' he had the biggest smile on his face! That moment alone made the long day of traveling and early morning totally worth it.

Day 2: Thursday - Beach Time & Sanibel / Captiva Island
We headed to the beach in the morning, played in the sand building sand castles and in the played in the waves. Ethan discovered looking for sea shells and loved collecting them and bringing them too me. He'd walk around the beach looking for sea shells, it was adorable. It became one of his favorite things to do on the trip. (I brought quite a few of them home because I just had to keep Ethan's shells)  After lunch and a wee nap for Ethan we decided to drive over to Sanibel and Captiva island to explore, check out an old lighthouse from 1884 and drive across a cool causeway to get there.

 

Day 3: Friday - Pool and Lakes Park
Andy got up early with Ethan and took him down to the pool to play while they let me have a lazy morning and rest after a not so restful night. (I will never get a lemon in my drink at a restaurant ever again). They were so cute together down there at the pool, I could peak down and see them from our balcony which was great.  Ethan loved his blowup wave runner and was even holding himself up on the edge of the pool. (he is totally a little water baby) Andy said this was actually one of his favorite times during the week, just hanging out with Ethan.

In the afternoon we headed to a Lakes Park, checked out the cool water playground, trains and walked along the boardwalk. Ethan had a ton of fun walking up and down the boardwalk.

Feeling a bit desperate for a some dinner and after a bit of a search we settled on a little place in downtown Ft.Myers. We picked it because we were really hungry and it had a nice little patio but we were very presently surprised the food was fabulous! The seafood was super fresh and perfectly cooked and we ended with some key lime pie (you have to if you're in south Flordia Ethan was a happy little guy sitting in a big seat trying some fish and  watching everyone out on the streets. It was a wonderful way to end the day.

Day 4: Saturday - Gators in the Swamp & Beach
We went to the Corkscrew Swamp Preserve - 1200 acres of protected big cypress swamp full of wildlife. There is a really cool 2.25mile boardwalk that we walked along to discover some awesome sights. It was so cool seeing The big exciting part was the 6 alligators that we saw! That's right, 6 gators in the wild!

I found this photo on the camera and love it. I think it is inside the visitor center right before we left

After lunch and a nap back at the condo it was time for the beach and to try out the boogie board we found in the condo!

finding sea shells with momma

Day 5: Sunday - Mother' Day and Dolphins at Lover's Key

What an amazing way to spend Mother's Day, it was perfect! I got to spend the entire day with my wonderful son and husband totally relaxing, enjoying family time and the beach!

Andy made breakfast before we headed to Lover's Key for the morning to hang out on the beach and play on the boogie board again. While we were playing in the water I saw a dolphin jump about 20ft behind Andy and Ethan. It was awesome, we had no idea that we'd get to see dolphins. We sat in the water for a while and just watched as the dolphins jumped and played. I was like a little girl on Christmas.

In the afternoon we headed down to Naples to to walk the boardwalk and get sushi for dinner. My oh my was it good sushi!! Loved it. Then off for a walk along the beach to watch the sunset. I love the mountains but there is just something oh so wonderful, beautiful and relaxing about a beach sunset and walk with my boys. It was a perfect way to end the day.

Day 6: Monday - Boat Day

Ethan woke up extra early this morning so we figured a morning walk on the beach was a good way to enjoy it. We built some sand castles, found more sea shells, and just played.

In the afternoon we rented a boat and away we went out to explore! Andy was a natural captain of the vessel and did a great job getting us through the water ways and to a cool little beach to play for a while. Ethan did not love wearing the life vest but did have a lot of fun getting to drive the boat with daddy! It was fun to get out on the boat and cruse and cruse around for a while. Ethan was so tired from all of the boating excitement that he fell asleep right when we got back to the condo and took a super long nap, we had to wake him up to eat dinner and then he went right back to sleep.  As Ethan slept Andy and I enjoyed watching the sunset from the condo.

Day 7: Tuesday - Our Last Full Day 

For our last full day in Fl we decided to try a little taste of the local history. The Edison and Ford Winter Estates was our destination. The property and all of the plants that Edison had were pretty but also pretty overpriced. Other than the school class that was there we brought down the average age by about 50 years. My favorite part was watching Ethan wounder around the gardens and happily walk around the covered porches. 

We couldn't resist one more afternoon on the beach. Followed by take out sushi from the delicious sushi restaurant from mother's day followed by one last sunset on the beach. It was so hazy our last night there because of a huge fire that was burning in South Fl. 

Day 8: Wednesday - Going Home

This is the reason why we chose the condo that we did. Andy fell in love with this wall at first sight. :)

Ethan was too funny hanging out hiding under the glass top table. He thought it was a pretty great place. 

View of the beach from the condo. 

All in all it was a fabulous trip and I wouldn't change anything about it. Ethan was an excellent traveler, he only had a little melt down on two of the four flights and was amazing the rest of the time we were there, so chill and happy. Maybe we'll go back for another trip in a few years