Ethan - 13 months

I feel like Ethan has grown so much in the last month. He seems so much more grown up in some ways. He just had his 1-year check up recently, so here's the update:

Weight     23.9 lbs        61%tile
Height     30.25 in        58%tile
Head       18.7 in          77%tile

Ethan is very healthy and I didn't really have any concerns for the pediatrician now that he has learned to crawl and cruise along furniture. He has basically caught up in his gross motor skills. Because he was so late in learning how to get from his tummy to sitting and learning to crawl we decided to have him evaluated by a physical therapist just to be safe. Fortunately, from the time I made the call to the time he was evaluated he had made tremendous progress. The therapist did report that he has mild low muscle tone which is probably what caused the delay, but I'm not concerned anymore. Ethan has no problems getting around our condo, and he can even stand on his own for about 10 seconds if he's distracted and doesn't remember that he's not holding on to anything.

Waving to me with his sippy cup

After our doctor's appointment I started giving Ethan some of the foods I had been holding off on. One of those foods was peanut butter. I only gave it to him twice and he broke out with red blotches around his mouth both times. Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to hold off on the nuts for the near future.


His new skills include waving to people and actually connecting it to the meaning. It's fun to have him wave to us and wait for us to wave back. If we say "High Five" instead of "Hi" then he raises his hand and holds it still so we can slap it with our hand. He loves it!

Ethan also likes to stand and push kitchen chairs or the garbage can around the living room but gets frustrated when it gets stuck and he can't push it anymore. Similarly he likes to keep an object under his hand and push it around on the floor while he crawls. He slides things like books, flip flops, lotion bottles, or cars all around the condo, usually to wherever I am. :)

Ethan verbalizes a decent amount, but it's hard to pick out anything that really has a meaning. I think he says mama sometimes when he's crawling around looking for me, but it's hard to tell still. I keep trying to help him work on forming words. He does seem to be picking up more receptive language like "Come here" or "Go get." He's also pointing to a lot of things and waits for us to tell him what it is.

Pushing kitchen chairs around the floor

He has also recently recognized the iPad for the cool device that it is. I bought an app called "Peekaboo Barn" that he really likes. He basically just touches the screen to open and close the barn door to reveal a new animal that makes a noise. It's amazing how quickly he caught on to the idea of touching the screen to make something happen.

Another major change is that I finished weaning him completely and he now gets all of his milk from a sippy cup. The transition went pretty smoothly but there were times we were both pretty sad about it. In some ways it is kind of sad to recognize that he's growing up and that this phase of his life is over. I'm glad that breastfeeding him was such a positive experience for both of us and hope that I will be able to do it again in the future.

Playing Peekaboo Barn

Walking around the park

Getting into trouble :)

Swinging at the park

People in Utah

Jason could only stay one week in Utah, but fortunately Ethan and I got to stay two weeks. Outside of family reunion time we were able to visit more family and friends. We would have loved to have seen more people, but we just ran out of time. I forgot to get pictures of everyone we visited, but here are at least some of the great people we got to see.

Great Grandpa and Grandma Richards

It didn't take Claire long before she took over the job of walking around with Ethan. :)

James, Claire, and Ethan

The Nields

The Olsens

Melody, Charlotte, and Kate

Katrina and Anna

Ethan with his party hat on

Lillian and Amelia at their 3rd birthday party

Grandma and Grandpa Burningham came and joined us for church our second week there

Ethan and I with Sara

Cruize and Erica

My parents, sisters, and our children at the Ogden Temple Open House

Ogden Temple (It's hard to believe I got this great pic on my phone!)

This is Sister Curtis. She served here in Northern Kentucky and she flew home on the same flight as us so we got to meet her parents. :)

Chelsey came over to visit and see Ethan.

Fun picture of Ethan's first experience with bubbles

 Aunt Edie and Aunt Karen came over for a few minutes to see us and meet the new babies.

Fun time with the sisters!

Rogers Family Reunion

We had a great trip back to Utah for our 2014 Rogers Family Reunion. We had everyone from my side of the family there which included my parents, three sisters, two brothers, and all their spouses and children--bringing our family total to 14 adults and 16 grandchildren (ages 7 mo - 8 years). We rented out part of a large house in Holladay near Cottonwood Canyon and just played and ate and talked. We were all together for about 4 days. We took turns being in charge of a big meal for the family and then helping with clean up. The house we rented ended up being an adventure in and of itself and turned out to be great for playing hide and seek. We had a bedroom to ourselves with a King bed. The bed was about the only thing that fit into the room, however, so Ethan slept in a pack-n-play in the closet. Fortunately, he slept well and did well with all the new people, places, and things we experienced in Utah.

In addition to hanging out at the house, we also swam at the Cottonwood Heights outdoor pool and splashpad with most of the grandkids, walked around Silver Lake near Brighton Ski Resort, played with the parachute and frisbees outside, attended church altogether in the ward we grew up, put on a talent show starring the grandkids, enjoyed a women-only lunch and men-only bowling outing, and had several nights of talking and playing games after the kids were in bed. It was very enjoyable and nice to be together again. I'm glad we have these times to get together to help us stay close and let the grandkids play together too. Family time is the best time!

Ethan's first flight and he did amazingly well

Here's the place we stayed in Holliday

Silver Lake with Micky Mouse Mountain in the background (Such a beautiful place, I just love the mountains and the smell of pine trees!)

It was only about 62 degrees by mid-morning --much more chilly in the mountains

Most of the grand kids from oldest to youngest (and yes, this picture includes three sets of twins)

Hanging out at the house

Ethan doing his favorite activity with Daddy

Each grand child got a shirt with their birth order number on it. Ethan is grand child number 14 out of 16

Ethan got new pajamas for his birthday from Grandma and Grandpa Rogers

Jason throwing up Kira at the swimming pool

Ethan liked the pool but didn't want to go into the deeper end

Eating Sunday dinner and dessert at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Melody with one of her twin girls - Charlotte - and grandma.The grand kids decorated this apron for my mom with their hand prints and ages.

The kids had fun playing with the parachute outside one evening. And of course the popsicles were a big hit too.

Happy Birthday Ethan!

We had a lot of fun on Ethan's birthday. In the morning we met Katie and Kerrigan at South Fork Park. They brought presents for Ethan's birthday. Katie's parents, whom we met at Kerrigan's birthday party also left a gift for Ethan before their trip back to Iowa--which was so nice and unexpected!! What great friends we have!

Later in the evening after Jason finished working from home, we celebrated some more. Jason gave Ethan a bath before dinner and Ethan just loved splashing and splashing in the tub! It was hard to get him out.

After a homemade pizza dinner, we ate cupcakes for dessert. Ethan got a candle in his cupcake that Jason blew out...and then Ethan devoured the cupcake. He really liked squishing it between his fingers and then licking his fingers. :) After we cleaned him up, Ethan helped unload the dishwasher while Jason loaded it. Then we opened gifts. It was a happy day!

Ethan is a cute 1-year-old who loves to be mobile. He likes to crawl or walk around with my fingers. He's eating more table foods and eats almost whatever I give him. He still sleeps really well. He doesn't like the grass and will pick up his feet off the ground to avoid touching it. He likes to be with me almost all of the time and will follow me around and pull to a standing position on my legs. He likes to point to things to get my attention. Ethan loves bath time but he is afraid of big swimming pools.

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Ethan's first major haircut

Opening presents

Helping unload the dishwasher

Ethan also likes to look at books. One afternoon when I thought Ethan was taking a nap he actually figured out how to get all the books from the basket into his crib and spent the time reading instead.:)We are so grateful to have Ethan in our family!!

A Trip to the Cincinnati Zoo

We took a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo with our friends Katie and Kerrigan. They have a membership there and invited us to go with them and get in free. I'm glad we got in free because we still had to pay $9 just for the parking! We picked a perfect day and the weather was great. I really enjoyed the trip and hope we can go back soon. Of all the things I've done so far around here, the zoo has been my favorite.

Holding hands :)

Ethan, Julie, Kerrigan, and Katie