Ethan just turned 3 a week ago, and I can hardly believe it. A monumentous day that was filled with laughing, shrieking, running, and playing.... and in the midst of it, I was sad..... I was trying to figure out why, so I talked it out with my good friend, Lauren, who shed some light on the reason. I really miss my baby Ethan. I LOVE who he is now, and wouldn't change anything about him, but I just really was grieving the baby who he was..... it's almost like the loss of a person and an experience. I had an incredible baby experience with him, he was an angel, and a true gift from God. I soaked in every minute of his life, studied him, held him, knew him better than I'd ever known another person. It was an incredible year for me, a whole new world I had known nothing about. I had no idea how much I could love his innocent, dependent little life: his big smiles, the mischievous twinkle in his eye, celebrating his firsts with him, encouraging his independence, and getting to know his personality. I felt like I got to re-live the simple and pure joys of life. So when I look at my little boy who reasons with me, challenges me, and says witty things, I can't believe it's the same person. I love both of them equally, but there is something special about that first year with your new baby
So, enough about that, now for who Ethan is today! The first words that come to my mind are:
- smart- he is seriously going to be an engineer or something similar because from the time he was old enough to walk, he has always figured things out, been obsessed with tools and putting things together, and loves to focus on problems until he figures them out. Everyone who knows him agrees. He's totally a mathematical and logical thinker, and has little interest in playing pretend. I'll give some examples of how he plays: at any play group we go to, he will always play with the doll houses, but not in the way you'd suspect. Instead, he finds all different sizes of cars and trucks, and fills each room of the doll house with them, LOL! (I'm not saying that's a sign of being smart, but more of how he's a mathematical thinker). He actually plays with hot wheel cars all day, and never gets sick of them. He has little trailers for them to go in, so he fills them with the same 5 favorite cars, then takes them out. If he's not fitting his cars in different small spaces throughout the house (like the central vac. hose), then he's hauling them around, trying to carry as many as he can in his arms.
- mischievous- I always know when he's doing something he's not supposed to, because he looks straight at me and smiles :D Seriously, rather than run and hide when he's being naughty, he just looks at me and smiles! But it's not a regular smile, there is a sly look on his face that is thrilled with himself.... actually, now that I think about it, I have a feeling it's because I almost always laugh when he's mischievous... oh boy, I better work on that....
- silly - he loves making us laugh, and loves making Anthony laugh. It's so great watching them play together (when they're actually playing, not having a tug-of-war with a toy), it's getting more and more, the older they grow. They chase each other up and down the halls, roll on each other on the floor, jump on the couch, jump off the couch, crawl DOWN the stairs headfirst (yeah, Anthony learned that from Ethan!), and sometimes they'll play with cars together.
- sensitive - Ethan has a very soft heart, and can easily get hurt feelings. He totally fits the mold of the oldest child- always aware of the moods of others ("mommy, please be happy"), very conscientious ("mom, Anthony's spilling his water!!" or "Anthony's not supposed to touch that!"), and looks out for his baby brother (he'll often just pat Anthony's head or make sure he's included in things). We are very aware of Ethan's emotions, and make sure we always validate them. It's easy to shluff off a pre-schooler's antics, but we've noticed it goes a long way when we just ask him why he's crying, and he'll tell us. We can then very easily reason with him, and he's fine. I still find him very easy and a true joy. Sometimes at night, I still miss him when he's sleeping, and I find myself with a tear in my eye because he is such a precious soul.
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