Wow...where has this year gone? I can not believe it is already July 2011. Seems like only yesterday we were ringing in the new year...but here we are in the middle of summer and counting down until our little boy turns three years old. I am constantly amazed at the things that this precious young boy can come up with to do and say. He is a little chatter box and has a wild imagination. He still loves to paint and color, read, and draw but now he is more interested in role play games too. Not a day goes by now that we do not have to play "robot" as he calls it...and it usually revolves around the robot (played by mom or dad) taking a toy away from a boy (played by Ethan) and turns into a tug of war match. I love to watch him play with his cars, trucks, and planes and listen to the sounds that he makes as he goes along. Ethan loves to climb on anything or anyone who will let him. I am currently in search mode for a swing set with a climbing wall because I am certain that my right arm is now 4 inches longer from having to "swing the climbing monkey" as he calls it.

I have read that toddlers at this age can be considered "air-o-tareans" because they can live off of air at times it seems. I have found this to be mostly true...except that along with that air, Ethan needs chocolate milk too. He eats like a bird now and it drives everyone around us a little crazy. I am constantly reminded that he needs to eat to grow. I have spoken to the pediatrician about it and he said it is perfectly normal and to leave him alone. He said a toddler will not starve and will let you know when he is in the mood for something in particular or just wants food. I have found this to be true. Ethan is about 26 pounds...he is a little bean pole and I can not keep up with him half of the time. I honestly do not see where this kid gets so much energy!

His favorite foods have not changed too much since the last few posts. He still loves noodles in any shape, form, or color as long as they have NO sauce...as he calls it. He still likes fresh fruit
and vegetables. I do not think that we can go two days without a hot dog or the world will ultimately come to an end (or at least in his eyes). His favorite ice creams are vanilla and coffee. He only wants to eat orange popsicles and that is it...no other color will do. His favorite candy is anything gummy but especially gummy worms. He is not a big cookie eater but when he does have one or two, it will be an oreo. He loves cheese but only wants the orange kind...he has a thing for orange. It is his favorite.

I have asked Ethan what he wanted to do for his special 3rd birthday. I asked if he wanted a party...NO. Did he want a Cars/Lightning McQueen cake? NO He told me the only thing he wanted for his birthday was "to go to the aquarium and pick out an orange fish...and to have an orange cake, with orange icing, and an orange candle".....so we will see how that goes. I think that I can make that birthday wish come true so long as they still have the stuffed orange Nemo fish for sale... :)

The pictures below are from our first family cruise. It was on the Carnival Dream and we were at sea for 7 days. It was fun for us to watch the amazement in Ethan's face and eyes when he saw the boat. As soon as he got a good glimpse of it he said "mommy that is my boat"...

He loved the room and the fact that he got his own lamp to turn on and off as many times as he pleased. He liked going to dinner each night and getting room service. Mommy loved that part too and has missed it dearly since we got home. LOL We did not book any shore excursions because I wanted us to enjoy the trip on our time and take Ethan into consideration because he still needs a good nap each day. On our 3 stops we would just get off of the boat and walk around or once we took a taxi ride around to see the sights. At one of the ports we found a small butterfly house that we went in and saw many different types and colors of butterflies. Ethan loved it. He wanted so badly for a butterfly to land on him. He walked around calling "here butterfly....come here little buddy"....it was really cute. Overall Kris and I were pretty happy with our little vacation. Our main gripe was the pools on the ship. Think about a king sized bed....filled with salt water....and about 30 people floating in that bath of salt water....now add about 4-5 kids diving in at the same time....let's just say that we got in the pool ONCE...and it was for maybe ten minutes...or until we could "bob" over to one of the sides to get out. Ethan's favorites on the ship were the 24 hour ice cream machines, the super sour lemonade, the child sized chess set, pushing the elevator buttons, and the sweet little towel animals created each night on his bed. It was a good experience and I cherish the 7 days that our little family had at sea. I hope that we can go on another cruise with Ethan again one day. He really enjoyed himself and has since asked "when can we go on that big boat again mom?"...must be something in the blood...I could live at sea.

After the park we went to Henry and Elli's house so Bre and Ethan could play with the dogs. They love tug of war!!!
Ethan fell down...lol...Bama is a lot stronger than he looks!

Ethan fell but got right back up for more.

Bre doing her hand stand...she has come a long way with her tumbling and is really good at it.

More tug of war...Sasha got so excited that she jumped up and licked Bre. She is a very energetic and friendly dog.

Breanna and Ethan walking around the lake at Lineville Park with corn...turns out that ducks and geese do NOT like corn and prefer bread. The corn was Mickey's idea...LOL
Bre is such a pretty girl...so photogenic!

Ethan LOVED the seesaws!!!

As you can see, it was a picture perfect day! We had a great time.

One last attempt at feeding the ducks and geese a bite of corn...he nibbled but was not in the mood for corn that day. Next time we will for sure bring some bread with us.

Wow...I can not believe it is already March 2011~

Where has the time gone? And who replaced my sweet little angel with this terrible two monster? Just kidding...not really...well kinda....sorta....LOL

Ethan is definitely ALL boy and ALL Morris.

He loves trucks, tractors, and Mr Potato Head. He loves to color and paint. He is not much into finger painting....he needs brushes...or so he tells me if I do not get them out first.

His favorite tv shows (yes I said tv shows...I have to get a break some time) are: Sesame Street, Elmo's World, Blue's Clues, The Backyardigans, Little Bill, Mickey Mouse Club House, Special Agent Oso, and Dino Dan.

He loves animals...especially Henry & Elli's dogs Bama, Roxie, and Sasha. He loves to feed the birds and put corn out to feed his deer. Last count he had around 10. He is very independent and not a day goes by that I do not hear "let meeee do it mommy" at least ten times. He wants to do it all for himself and gets really mad if you do not let him.

His favorite foods right now are: popcorn, pretzels, jelly beans, chocolate chip granola bars, cucumbers, carrots, salad with lots of dressing, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, hamburger with no "sauce" as he calls it, ice cream cones, and every kind of fruit I can come up with. Everyone keeps telling me that he is so small and I need to make him eat more. Problem is that he just does not like a lot of junk food. He would choose a salad and a piece of watermelon over anything in the junk food category. I say if he is healthy and gaining weight like he should then I am going to leave him alone and let him discover all of the junk food later on in his life. In the mean time, I plan to feed him as much of the good stuff as he will take.

He is still ready for a baby to come along. He said he will help feed it and pick up the "pappy" when baby drops it. Now if only I could talk him into the 2am and 5am feedings then I might could be swayed into that direction.

Okay....rambling a little bit....or a lot. Better get off of the computer and go to bed because there is no more sleeping in with this little chicken!

Riding the ferris wheel for the first time. He loved it and had to ride it 4 times...Darlene rode twice and I rode twice. Did I forget to mention that I had to close my eyes and cover my face for my two spins??? Horrible motion sickness...that is all I will say. Luckily Ethan did not get that from me.
We went to the beach and he loved feeding the seagulls. And as we found out, seagulls love FRUIT LOOPS!!!

He enjoyed his daily walk on the beach.

My cute little "Kris Jr"....

Blonde hair, blue eyes, little boy in overalls with his "tosey toes" in the sand...heaven on earth!

Too much Christmas candy!!!

Our first white Christmas...Ethan loved it!!!

Ethan telling me about the snowman he was going to build with Daddy. Wish I would have
gotten a picture from the back...my lil bear had a snowy white bottom where he took a nose dive/face plant combination and rolled down the hill.


Henry putting the Lincoln Logs together as the house shown on the box because Mom could NOT figure it out.

Relaxing before Christmas dinner with a little puzzle time. In the end, countless hours were calculated as being spent on this 1000 piece puzzle....which we later found out was actually 994 pieces. 6 of the pieces were lost to some sticky fingers we think....never to be found again. Sorry Nana....

Race cars...all boys (and grown men) like racing right?

Ethan on his new trampoline.

By far his favorite Christmas present....some wooden peg toy (think Cracker Barrel) that he

said was his "Hannukah toy"...so we spent half of Christmas day doing just that. Thank you Special Agent Oso for introducing my two year old to new things.

Ethan checking out his stocking...

Henry and Elli