I have been wanting to do a post about Ethan and Jane's personalities as one year olds, so I can remember the endearing, quirky things that make them who they are.
Ethan David Shumway
Kind, loving, happy and playful - E is a sweetheart to the core. I know this might sound silly, but I told Dave the other day, that I think Ethan has a heart of gold.
Cuddly - Recently started giving long, drape-over-your-shoulder type hugs.
Sensitive - Dave and I sometimes call him a "sensitive little flower" because he doesn't like when other people are unhappy. When Jane cries, he will crawl over to her and try to lay his head on her or sometimes he'll just crawl over and sit next to her.
His favorite 2 games are peek-a-boo and being chased. Favorite color is red (we have a book of colors and he always turns to the red page and laughs). Favorite song is Wheels on the Bus. He always stops what he's doing and smiles when we start to sing it.
Ticklish on his back and feet to the extreme. You can get some of the best laughs out of him this way.
Ethan laughs if you just look at him and smile. Dave and him have this thing where Dave just looks at him and laughs and Ethan laughs back and then Dave laughs again and Ethan laughs harder...and it just keeps going. Laughing over nothing except each other's laughs.
He has been holding his bottle by himself since about 10 months old, but recently, he just one hands it while he's sitting up. No more laying down, relaxing, and drinking a bottle. Now it's drink it down and get back on the move. He gets a bottle before bed and before naps.
Speaking of naps, this boy acts like he doesn't like them. But oh how he needs them. He would rather keep exploring and playing than lay down, but when he skips a nap (by talking to himself/his puppy the whole time), he spends the rest of the afternoon following me around the house saying, "ma ma ma ma" in a tired voice. He usually whines when I lay him down, until I give him his puppy and bink, then his eyes close immediately as he sinks into sweet slumber. It might last 30 minutes, or 2 hours - you never know with Ethan.
Says mama and dada most often, but he'll repeat syllables you say to him. The other day, my dad was trying to get him to say ball and he kept saying "ba."
Loves to eat! He will try anything I put on his high chair tray. And so far, has only rejected avocados and cucumbers. He loves any fruit, especially strawberries, and eats them faster than I can put them on the tray.
Has taken 3 steps by himself so far and stands up by himself all the time. He's just practicing getting his balance, I know he's going to take off walking one day. Also he currently has only 1 tooth. Bottom middle, the right tooth. That doesn't stop him though from taking on chicken nuggets, pizza, or any other food I've given him! It's ok though, I love his gummy smile. :)
The Quirky:
If he doesn't like a food or is done eating a particular thing, instead of throwing a fit and crying, he just tightly closes his eyes (like he thinks it will go away if he can't see it).
He dances with 1 body part only - his head. It bobs back and forth or side to side while he keeps a completely serious face.
If he's drinking his bottle, playing with a toy he loves, or protecting a toy from the hands of Jane, he'll sit on his bum and push off with his heels so he spins in a circle. He'll laugh after a few spins and flap his arms really hard, then do it again. We call the arm flapping the "hulk smash."
This boy's only mission in life is to splash as hard as humanly possible in the bath tub. Seriously, you don't understand. There are drops of water all the way to the top of the mirror over by the sink. Dave or I are usually drenched after bath time, I usually use the shower curtain to shield myself for as much of the bath as possible. He even has a straight face most of the time, that's how determined he his. Must. Splash. Harder.
Anytime Jane is crawling behind him, he thinks she's trying to chase him. It can just be that she's trying to get to a toy, but if she is behind his back and he turns around, he TAKES off crawling and laughing, thinking she's going to get him. Half of the time Jane pursues and the other times, she just looks at me confused.
Jane Lee Shumway
Silly, loves to play, affectionate and emotional - This girl will play peek-a-boo with you across the room, giggle like crazy, then crawl over and give you a smooch on the cheek just to let you know that she loves you. She does have quite the emotional side to her, often getting her feelings hurt by either Ethan not giving her his toy, or me not giving her my drink. Luckily the crying is over within a few seconds and she's off to explore something else.
If you catch Jane's eye while she's playing, she'll quickly crawl over to you and climb your leg. She wants to come sit on your lap, even if it's just for 2 seconds (and it usually is). She'll giggle the whole way over to me, crawl up my leg, I'll scoop her up, kiss her cheek, and put her on my lap. She smiles like she's totally content and then immediately whines to get down. That's my Janey.
Favorite color is blue (we have a book of colors and that's always the page she wants to look at and turns back to) and her favorite song is The Itsy Bitsy Spider. She's even started doing the hand motions.
When Dave or I get her dressed for the day, she knows that she's getting dolled up. When I bring her out of her bedroom, sometimes I'll say, "Dave, I have a pretty girl who wants to say hi." She will give Dave a bashful little side smile. She knows that I'm showing her off. It's so cute to see her little reaction.
Jane is a total fruit lover. Any fruit on her tray is gone before she eats anything else. Sometimes I have to save the fruit until the end so she'll try other things. Her favorite by far is blueberries.
She wants to do what you are doing, eat what you eat, and drink what you drink. This girl will sit next to me on the floor in my room while I'm doing my makeup, and pretend like she's putting on make up too (see the above picture, one hand is holding mascara, the other has a makeup brush). She wants to be grown up already. If she has a sippy cup and I have a water bottle, all the sudden the sippy cup is child's play. She tosses it to the ground and reaches for what I have.
Since she began crawling (about 11 months old) she has loved her new found ability to explore. She will go to the bedrooms, the office, the kitchen, but then wants us to come in there with her. It isn't fun to explore alone! She'll be in my room and then come crawling out to the living room and grunt until I come with her.
She has said "mama" and "dada" and "baba" and "yaya" - recently she started answering our questions by saying "ya." And she sometimes says "hey" when I go in and get her in the morning or after naps.
She loves her pink Beanie Baby puppy. She nuzzles it with her nose, rubs it's soft ear on her face when she's tired, hugs it tight and giggles, it is probably her best friend. We try to keep it in her crib during the day and only give it to her at nap and bedtime, but if she could, she'd take that little thing every where with her.
She currently has 9 teeth! 4 on top, 3 on bottom, and both her bottom 1 year old molars.
The Quirky:
If Jane has a toy and wants to relocate without losing the toy (possibly giving Ethan the chance to steal it), she will stuff it in her mouth and crawl with it in there. The funniest one I've seen her do is put the arm of a stuffed Winnie the Pooh (literally the size of her) in her mouth and try to crawl. It was quite the feat, but she did it!
When Jane is drinking her bottle now, she'll actually climb and crawl on things while she's drinking, using the bottle as a sort of grip so she can hoist herself up on to things. The whole time, she never loses suction of the bottle and still manages to down 8 ounces in 5 minutes.
If she is crawling along and sees me or Dave, she'll start doing this really silly crawl where she scrunches up her face, snorts in and out, and crawls toward us with her eyes closed. It's really cute because it's her way of showing us that she's excited.
If Jane doesn't like something you've put on her tray (which unlike Ethan, is 50-75% of the things I try to give them) she'll pick it up with her thumb and index finger, look you right in the eye, and drop it on to the floor.
Just 2 days ago, she started imaginary eating - she'll act like she is picking food off of Dave's arm, leg, or Ethan's head (those are the 3 she has done so far) and she act like she's eating it. She goes back for more "food" numerous times. We haven't quite figured out what she's doing, but it's hilarious. It sort of looks like a monkey grooming its young.
Can't believe these little babies that were so tiny are big 1 year old kids! They are so full of personality and surprises, each days brings something new.
