10 month old little boy

Ethan turned 10 months old this week and he is EVERYWHERE. It doesn't bother me really. I think it is so fun to see him exploring and checking things out. He is starting to pull himself to standing, open drawers, and follow us from room to room. The hardest part about it is getting him to eat! He will drink for about 30 seconds out of his bottle and then he is off and running. Today in church I had to strap him down tight in his car seat to get him to take his bottle! He fought me and kept crying out but eventually he got the idea that he better eat. I am a little worried about his weight gain now that he is more active and eating less. I might have to do a lot more strapping him in the car seat ;).
Ethan has now figured out how to pull open drawers. I followed my mom's example and put the Tupperware in the bottom drawer so that he can't break anything in it. He sits in front of the drawer, pulls it open, and tries to put his little arms over the top (so he really can't reach much). It is fun to watch him explore though.

Ethan was pretty sick this week. He woke up in the middle of the night crying for several nights in a row, refusing to take a bottle (which has never happened in the middle of the night) and I did not know how to comfort him. It was amazing though. I really felt like the Lord prompted me on ways to help Ethan calm down. I did things that I never would have done normally. For example, I never bring Ethan out into the light during his sleeping hours but when he started crying like that I just felt like I should I woke him up completely, playing with him reading books to him until he finally calmed down. Then I would rock him, transitioning slowly back to a dark room so he wouldn't started screaming again. There were other little things too and I know the Lord was helping me know how to handle and help Ethan without letting him cry to much. I am so grateful for all His help. It is so hard to be in school and have a kid and although I know that many people have it a lot harder than I do, I know that He watches out for me and cares about my small concerns. This was just one more testament of that.
Ethan is also starting to be more vocal. It is funny to watch him learn a new sound and have that be the only sound that he makes for days on end. The first sound he made was ga-ga, then da-da, then b-b (no vowel, really just breathy b's), then ba-ba, and this past week he started saying ma-ma. I know that he has no idea that ma-ma means me, but seriously, it still melts my heart when he says it! I just think it is so precious! When he was sick in the middle of the night this week he would say it crying maaaa-maaaa (if you can imagine)...my heart almost broke. I felt like he was calling out to me saying, "Mama, I feel so sick, please make it better." I know he was really just crying but I couldn't help but say, "Mama's here sweetheart." As a side note, I, of course, don't like it when he is sick, but it is kind of nice to have him be all snugly again like when he was little.
Here are some more pictures.

This shot was taken right after Ethan threw up all over me. Cute.

Weird faces.

The big mirror that Ethan LOVES.