HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY ETHAN!!

I can't believe that another year has passed already, but here we are celebrating Ethan's birthday again. Sometimes Scot and I wish Ethan would stop growing up so fast so that we could enjoy these stages more, but alas. He seems learn so many things every day, interacts with us on such a fun level & never runs out of conversation. ( : Here are a few more things that I want to remember about this stage of his life:

- Ethan refers to himself in the third person all the time. "Ethan do it", "Ethan - cold cereal", "Ethan build a boat", "Ethan fishing, golf, soccer, baseball, swimming"...you get the picture.
- He loves to help his mom & dad do everything, but lately he's really into helping his dad. He loves to go on daddy errands, help clean & organize the garage, prepare for golf outings, tie flies for fly fishing, "fix the boat" for fishing trips, watch golf tournaments together, or just have Daddy watch him as he practices his own golf & fishing skills, etc.
- He loves to talk on the phone, and will carry on some pretty great conversations (when he's not playing WHILE talking).
- Whenever I ask Ethan "Who does Mommy or Daddy love", he smiles and says "me, me, me."
- At naptime & bedtime when I lay him in his crib he always says "Night Night Mommy. Love you."
- When Ethan wakes up from his naps, he calls out "Mommy, Ethan sleeping, all done!" or "Mommy, Ethan finished sleeping."
- Ethan loves to sing & lately he's been totally into the song Jesus Once Was a Little Child. He can fill in the words at any time when I stop singing, & often sings songs to himself as he plays around the house. It's absolutely adorable... just one more thing I need to catch him doing on video. (This song and all the others he'll sing along to).
- He's becoming quite the dog handler & is often heard saying "Dylan, COME."
- His vocabulary is incredibly large, and he speaks very clearly for a 2 year old. He seems to surprise people with the words & phrases that he uses on a regular basis.
- He likes to help clean and even when we're not technically cleaning, he'll pick up random things and wave them over the top of a table (or whatever is close by) while making a spraying sounds...I hope his love of cleaning lasts (his wife would thank me for that someday).
- I love the way he says "Mommy, close the door". He enunciates each word perfectly. ( :
- He loves hanging out and playing with his older friends, particularly Jake Likes (5), Olivia Ovard (8), Lauren Tannyhill (6) and Ben Tannyhill (9).
- He loves reading scripture stories & has a particular fondness for the story of Jonah & the whale. He requests it often.
- Ethan LOVES Jesus. He talks about him all the time, which is great. Aside from making requests for a Jesus cake, yesterday when I asked him what he wanted for dinner he said "Jesus come dinner". I told him that I'm sure Jesus would love to come for dinner, but we'd have to wait for another time.
- He loves to cuddle & will often hold my hand when we're driving in the car. I absolutely love it.

There are so many things that we adore about Ethan that I could do on and on forever, but I won't. ( : Scot and I feel so blessed to have this amazing little boy in our lives. We love you Ethan! Happy 2nd Birthday!