Catching Up

I have been terrible about keeping up on Ethan lately, so here is a little picture recap of what Ethan has been up to. (These are phone pics--I'm not really sure where my real camera is at the moment).

Getting ready for church in an adorable outfit from Aunt Lisa.
Ethan learned to drink from a straw!

Getting adventurous and curious. He gets in cupboards, climbs on his toy buckets to throw books out of his closet, etc.
This is a terrible picture, but Ethan climbed up these steps and started drinking out of the drinking fountain by himself (he had a helper to hold down the button).
Painting with water at the museum is a favorite activity.
He loves to get up on this chair all by himself, sit, and swing his legs.

Ethan's first tie! In the past we have not been able to get the top button fastened on a dress shirt because of Ethan's chubby neck, so this week was the first time Ethan got to wear a tie to church. He is in this bouncy chair so we could see how big he looked in it compared to when he used to sleep in it. It was leaning almost to the ground with all his weight! This was the only time all Sunday that Ethan held still long enough for me to get a clear picture of his big boy outfit. Thanks for the new pants and shoes Nana!
I let Ethan drink out of a cup by himself at breakfast today. He was doing well until he got distracted, missed his mouth, and poured cold water down his chest. It was funny to see him start gasping in reaction to the cold. I took the wet shirt off, and after breakfast he got to play without a shirt for awhile. Ethan loves putting on necklaces lately, so every time he finds a string of beads, he immediately puts them around his neck. Those two stories combined = this lovely outfit.
Today Ethan has been very into sitting on his toys. I found him like this, and then he started sitting on the front of a ball that is about the size of his head--it looked like he was ready to exercise on a "stability ball."
Also, today is my last day babysitting Sam. It made me sad today as I watched Ethan and Sam chase each other in and out of our closet, hiding behind our clothes, and then popping out to make each other laugh. They have so much fun together, and we'll miss getting to play with Sam every day! The worst part is Sam is moving all the way to Illinois, so this really is good bye--we'll miss you!