E is for...

What else... E is for Ethan!

Ethan is at that funny age where he's very much not a baby, occasionally a Boy, and quite often at that in-between stage. I think I've mentioned before that we have hit nearly all of his Not-a-Baby milestones: he's been potty trained during the day for while now, recently decided that he didn't need a diaper at night anymore either, has been in a big boy bed for a while, and recently had me take his railing off. The last vestige of Baby-dom left is the Binky. But, at least we don't use it during the day (mostly), and I'm all about the little steps here.

Occasionally, Ethan reminds me that he is one day soon going to be a Boy. This weekend, on the way home from my parents' house, my Mom gave him some animal crackers. In the car, Ethan is, of course, in the back seat, and I was cracking up as I heard, "No! Don't eat me!! Aaaaahhhh!!!!" and "I'm going to eat your butt!" Which, of course, just made him do it more, so most of the ride home was a long series of poop jokes. (And you wonder why he enjoys the Simpsons so much...)

But...then there's that in-between time. Ethan is very much about testing his limits nowadays. Very much. He tries to see how many times he needs to ask for cookies before you give them to him. He wants to stay awake as long as possible so as not to miss anything, so gets himself overtired and cranky. He also tries to push his bedtime later and later, and is becoming a master of distractions. At the same time, he's also, at times, completely intolerable.

Luckily for him, he is cute. And, as part of his growing up process, I will occasionally look at him and see the true little boy he is turning into. It is both completely amazing and completely sad. I miss my Little Baby Ethan. But I'm looking forward to getting my Big Boy Ethan.