* Walking! He walks everywhere and he's so proud of himself. Still can't get him to wear shoes though! Here's a video of him doing his favorite things - walking and cleaning.
* Self soothing himself to sleep - For a whole year, Ehren had to nurse himself to sleep, be walked around, or fall asleep next to us. I have gradually gotten him to read books in his room and then nurse a bit and finally we can put him in his crib and he will quickly fall asleep on his own! Sweet success with no crying! I knew it would happen some day and we just had to be patient and not push him to do something he wasn't ready for.
* Sleeping through the night - On 2/2/12 Ehren slept 8 hours from 9:00 - 5:30 am. So proud of my little man! The longest he ever slept previously was a 5 hour stretch.
* Sign language - We started teaching him signs around 9 months or so and he never really seemed interested in learning them. He really started using them all of the sudden and even seems to want to learn more. He knows, food, more, thank you, all done, book, please, dog, ball.he also points and says "dat" (that) constantly.
* Reading - Lily wanted to read even as an infant. With Ehren we were not as diligent about reading to him since things were a bit more chaotic and he didn't seem interested anyway. BUT now, he has a favorite book. It's an Eric Carle book about animals and he loves to turn the pages and giggles when I make a lion and sheep sounds. So glad he wants to read now. I was thinking he was a dud!
*Bible class - Ehren has had a difficult adjustment getting into Bible class. He had more separation anxiety issues than Lily and vomits when he's really upset so we had been hesitant to leave him alone in Bible class. As he's gotten older, he's become less anxious so we tried it again with a lovely grandmotherly lady holding him. Success! He made it through class. Since then he has been spending more and more time in his chair. Things are looking up.
*Independence - Ehren's separation anxiety issues are completely normal, although he was much more anxious than Lily. Pushing him to do something that makes him upset is not a "solution" I was willing to try. From my experience, this exacerbates the problem because the child now doesn't trust the parent and/or suffers from a reassurance deficit and becomes even more anxious and clingy. With Ehren we needed to be patient and teach him in such a way that would help him learn to be away from us but without making him more anxious or distrustful. If he will not do what I want him to do, I am willing to be patient and wait until he is ready. I am proud to say that my approach is working and we are seeing great strides toward becoming more independent.
*Playing with Winry - Before I started keeping a little baby, Ehren seemed so much more like a baby. Now he's helping me entertain the baby and even doing "chores." He will pick up books, throw away diapers, and play peek-a-boo with the baby. He will even play by himself and come back to me occasionally for a cuddle and then resume playing. One day I was holding both of them on the couch and he just took her hand and smiled at her. It was so sweet!
Cute little video of Ehren playing a flute!
*Temper tantrums! Ugh! I dreaded the day he started these. He gets mad now and frustrated when denied and will slap the floor with both hands like a little Muslim. He even threw something when I told him he had to wait. Poor little dear. We don't allow this behavior of course and with the way he is, a 1 min time out is working beautifully. With consistency, I do not think he will be as challenging as Lily was/is. Ask me in a year if I still think this!
All in all, I'm so proud of my little boy. He's perfect in every way. I kissed his head yesterday and he smelled like lavender baby shampoo and chocolate. I just wanted to drink the moment in and make it last forever. I am so grateful that God gave me such a precious soul and pray so hard every day that I will be a good mother to him.
