Happy Halloween!!!!

Mooooooooooooo!

One and a 1/2!

(25lbs, 32 3/4 inches tall)

Don't ask me how, but some how, some way, we have a one and a half year old! And a silly little one at that! The past several months have been busy. Easton is growing and learning like crazy. And we're having a lot of fun doing it!

I may be biased, but I seriously think we have a genius baby on our hands. ;) We are learning our body parts and he has mastered the basics -- nose, eyes, ears, mouth, tongue, head, hands, feet and toes. His newest developments are his knees, shoulders and yes, even his little boy parts. We practice counting everyday and he's nailed the numbers two and five, can repeat the idea of counting to ten, but hasn't quite gotten the sounds of all the numbers, oh, and he knows the letter "O". We're also working on animal sounds. Miss Dawn practices colors, shapes, letters and numbers at daycare, and we follow through at home in the tub and during diaper changes. :) Miss Dawn is also doing a great job with introducing the potty to Easton and he's been making big boy potty at least twice a week for the past six weeks. Props to Miss Dawn! And while I'm not proud of it, Easton has mastered the iphone at the young age of 18 months. I have a folder with all the apps for Easton and he manages to navigate into that folder and find what he wants. It amazes me to watch his little finger flip across the screen and hit play to watch Disney Junior while in the waiting room at the doctors office.

Easton no longer walks, only runs - everywhere. He climbs everything - the couch, the bed, the chairs, the dog, etc. His latest obsession is climbing up and down the stairs, and not on his hands and knees, although I insist he holds my hand. This kid talks a mile a minute, mimicks everything you say and knows exactly what he wants. Thankfully he uses his manners, which is a must in this house. He says the cutest little 'peas' and 'tank ou' and uses them in the proper context. He's also become a fan of the word 'no', but thankfully he's still pretty sweet about using it. He definitely knows when he doesn't want something, but it's the sweetest little 'no' and I can't help but give him what he wants. I'm sure I'll feel different when he's being sassy about it. Until then, I'll enjoy it. His vocabulary multiplies by the day and he surprises me with the things he says, knowing exactly what he wants and using his words to get it.

Easton's biggest accomplishment over the past couple months has been people recognition. Not only does he know who everyone in our family is (including my grandparents!), but he points to them in a picture and says their name. The kid is obsessed with looking at pictures. My favorites are that he's carrying on the tradition of calling Bryan's dad "Papa Choo-Choo", which Landon started because you can hear the train from his house, and calling my sister Clare "Doll", which we have done since she was a baby. Melts.My.Heart.

Easton's current favorites include Mickey Mouse, Elmo, cookies, suckers, reading, dancing, stacking blocks, coloring and his Papa. It's one of those things when someone walks in the room, he immediately says "Papa?" Makes you feel really welcome. haha

We wrapped up the summer at the lake and welcomed fall at the cider mill. And let me tell you, Easton loved the slide. His newest finding is going down them backwards. The kid can't get enough of it.

I have to say, as much as I love summer, the warm weather and late nights, I welcome fall with open arms. Sweatshirts and puffy vests, crockpot dinners, honeycrisp apples and post-season baseball. And one perk to it getting dark at 7:30pm is that Easton is ready for bed! For some reason, he goes to bed earlier and easier, and still sleeps in til 7:30am. That makes this mommy happy!