I never intended this blog to be a burden, but I have to admit that it has been the source of some stress. Since it was started to catalogue Ethan, I can't help but feel pressure to keep up with it. I don't know where the time has gone this summer, but I hope to be a bit more regular in my posts from now on. Also, since I haven't posted pictures since June, I am just going to put a link on here to our Shutterfly share site, which I just today updated (the last album was from July of last year!), and you can look through the July and August albums if you'd like. There are some great pictures of Ethan at the lakehouse, where we spent a lot of July and August. Here's the link:

http://ethansantics.shutterfly.com/

Since it would be impossible to describe all of the latest Ethan business, I'll try a top 10 list of "What's New with Ethan." In no particular order, here goes:

1. Ethan talks a lot now, like non-stop. Most of his talking involves telling me what he's doing. For example, "I put this in the trash in Mama's room" or "I play with the bus in the driveway." He's a huge fan of the prepositional phrase. I find all of his talking hilarious.

2. Along with talking, he's also become a bit of a sassy boy. The other day at lunch, he asked for milk. I said, "How about some water?" to which he replied, "How 'bout some milk?" Now, when he asks for any drink, he says, "How 'bout some ________."

3. Over the course of the summer, Ethan's hair has gotten quite blond. I guess spending every waking moment out in the sun will do that. It's also pretty curly. He is in need of a haircut, but I sort of hate to cut off his curls since they're so cute, especially when he wakes up from a nap with sweaty head.

4. Wednesday, Ethan will start a pre-preschool class called Parents Day Out (PDO). It's at the Methodist church in town, within walking distance. He will go every Wednesday for 3 hours! I've been warned there will be crying the first few times. A lot of Ethan's friends are in the same class, including his best bud, Derek, so I don't think it will take too long for him to get used to it. I'm looking forward to having one day a week to get some things done without a toddler in tow. But I'm also feeling a bit anxious about how he will do. I know it will be good for him, though, and this is the same place I hope to send him to preschool next year, so it will be great practice.

5. Ethan's moving to a big boy room! Just today, we made a lot of progress in his new room, and we hope to move him in sometime in October. I will put pictures up once the room is finished. His quilt is a transportation theme, so I already have a few ideas for some homemade decor. Stay tuned. Oh, and any advice on making this transition is very welcome.

6. Two year molars are making an appearance and they are coming with a vengeance. This past week was a challenging one for me, and likely for Ethan, as he battled some pretty severe teething. Long story short, he was acting like a beast - all day. He was up very early, thus making him cranky, and I heard the word NO screamed more times than I could count. He was exceedingly irrational, too, yelling NO to things like, "Would you like a popsicle?" Ugh. People have told me these molars can take around two months to fully come in. Pray for us.

7. Since we spent so much time at the lake this summer, Ethan became even more comfortable in the water. In fact, his Aunt Laura had a breakthrough moment with him at her pool by getting him to blow bubbles under water. He does it all the time now, in the bathtub now, and has no fear of water. His other favorite water activity, besides blowing bubbles, is going One, Two, Three, Plop (in Ethan's voice, it was "Ya Ya See Pul-LOP") off the pier. He talks about it all the time and wants to do it whenever there's water.

8. If I had to think of the activity we did most this summer it would be reading. Ethan loves reading more than anything else. I think it's the main reason he doesn't give us any trouble going to bed or down for naps. As soon as he's up in the morning, he's bringing me books. He takes books in the car. He reads books to himself in his room. We have books in about 5 different places in the house because we need to have a stash of them everywhere. And if we didn't, he'd just bring them to us anyway. I'm thrilled he loves to read, but I admit there are days when I really, really, really don't feel like reading Katy No Pocket (about an unfortunate pocketless mother kangaroo) for the 1,000th time. I do it, though, because he loves it.

9. Other than books, Ethan spends quite a bit of time playing with his garbage truck. It's pretty cool, really, since you can make the garbage bin go up and down and dump it into the truck then push the trash (in Ethan's case, the trash is just crumpled bits of paper that he has kept all summer) in the back. He loves all things trash and enjoys seeing garbage trucks in person, watching them through the window, following them down the street, and pointing them out from the car. I'm honestly thinking about having him be a garbage man for Halloween but perplexed as to how to make his costume recognizable.

10. One last obsession of Ethan's is the car. When Will comes home from work, he often lets Ethan sit on his lap as they pull into the garage. It started out as an adorable little tradition. Now, though, Ethan wants to play inside the cars all the time! He would honestly sit in the car for hours on end if we'd let him. We typically have to bribe him somehow to get out or simply take him out kicking and screaming. We've recently taken to trying to lock the cars in the garage so he can't get in and play.

Despite the challenges Will and I have faced this summer with the daily grind of simply having a two year old, it has really been so fun as he's started communicating. I love that he can tell me what he's doing and ask for things. One of my favorite things he does is say, "Oh, hi Mama" if I walk into a room or if he comes to where I am. It just melts my heart every time. And even when he's being a total terror, I love him to bits.

I do have a few pictures to post. There were all taken by Will's Aunt Marge, who is a fabulous photographer. She took about 200 pictures this night. Here are a few of my favorites: