The Newest ONE YEAR OLD on the Block!

Somehow, all of a sudden even though I've known it was coming and tried to prepare myself like a mother ostrich by burying my head in the sand, my baby boy turned one yesterday. Words are lost on me when attempting to describe the momentousness of this occasion, so we'll just take a little trip down memory lane instead:

Brand new little Ethan man

Months 1-4

Months 5-8

Months 9-12

And there you have it--one whole year of unbelievably adorable awesomeness! 

Happy (Halloween) Birthday,
little cowboy!

In the past month our little man has been pretty busy developing his personality and learning how to interact like a big boy. Every morning on the way downstairs for breakfast, we stop and look at the gallery wall in our stairwell. He gets super excited and practically squirms out of my arms trying to look at the pictures of each family member. He loves pointing everyone out and saying "Mommy!" and "Daddy!" about a million times. He hasn't quite mastered Marie and Erik's names on his own, but will repeat them, and will point out the "doggie!" with excitement every time he sees Samson. (Poor Samson usually makes a quick escape to avoid getting his tail yanked). His other favorite words are "ball," "uh-oh," and "more." He spends most meals devouring whatever we put in front of him and demanding "more! more!" so often that we can't keep up with him! I taught him baby signs for a few words such as 'more,' 'please,' and 'thank you,' but he happened to start saying the word 'more' at the same time he started signing it, so it's also funny to hear him make his demands while frantically clapping his hands together, too. He also does a funny little shuffle/run now instead of just walking, and has mastered going both up and down the stairs...I remember Marie still learning how to do this at 14 months, so it's crazy to see how much sooner Ethan picks it all up after watching big brother and sister!

And now, for your viewing pleasure:

Trying to escape from getting his PJs on one night as I chased after him...toddling like a champ and saying 'uh-oh' and 'ball!'

Demanding 'more' pancakes (Daddy makes some really yummy Saturday morning breakfasts)!

Taking the gallery wall quiz! (Sorry for the horrible filmography...it's surprisingly tough to film a child you happen to be holding)!

Yesterday, on Ethan's actual birthday, we celebrated with a Halloween birthday party (I embraced the fact that decorations would be easy to find) and dressed the little man up as a cowboy for his first taste chocolate cake. He was surprisingly tidy with the first piece since he didn't want to waste a crumb, and immediately made his demands for "more!" cake. The second round was slightly messier, but there still wasn't much left. Guess we have another chocolate hound in the family! Now for the rest of those pictures and videos I know you're dying to see:

Pumpkin pull-apart cupcake cake! Since I
surprisingly couldn't find any good tutorials,
(Pinterest, you have failed me!) here's a tip: put
cupcake papers on a cookie sheet instead of in a
muffin tin; the batter will spread out when
baking, resulting in nice flat cupcakes!

Hurry up with the cake, Mom!

Woah. This chocolate stuff is amazing. 

Why is everybody singing? And why can't you just take a hint and give me that cupcake already, Mom? I'm about to fall out of my high chair trying to get it!

No good smash cake moments since it all went straight in the mouth...but he started to get a little messier on his second cupcake!

Happy birthday sweet little (big) boy...it's been an amazing year watching you grow and we can't wait to see what the next one brings!