The Ladies' Man

I'm beginning to think that Ethan is quite the ladies' man! When I pick him up from daycare, he is surrounded by Vilma, her two daughters, and the 2 year old little girl who goes there. (And her oldest daughter recently offered to trade her little sister for Ethan.)

That's nothing compared to his reaction to my sister this past weekend! Awesome Auntie Andrea came down from Chicago for a visit before heading off to New Mexico for a photography workshop. (My sister is incredibly talented visually - she's drawn, painted, and taken gorgeous photographs for years.) And she hasn't seen Mr. Ethan since April 11 - 2 and a half months makes a very different boy! He is absolutely giddy when he sees her now - lots of smiling and leg-kicking!
(The leg kicking isn't too comfortable for Anda in this picture, of course...)

Happy Father's Day!

Brian's first Father's Day! Ethan let us sleep in until about 5 this morning in honor of the day. :) And then took a fairly early nap in order to be ready for his Gramma and Grampa Jones to come over to celebrate. He was absolutely delightful, though watching us eating french toast made him a little frustrated. (I don't know what he's complaining about, he had delicious cottage cheese, bananas, and peaches for brunch - but I think he would have been happier with some syrup in a bottle.)
You can't see in this picture, but my poor mother has a big boot on her foot. She has a stress fracture, which is really painful - and my mom is a serious non-complainer, so for her to say that it really hurts means that it REALLY hurts. She can't take any meds for it, either - apparently her doctor is worried that she'll do something to reinjure it if she takes anything stronger than Ibuprofen. Poor Gramma! Ethan will meet her at his level anytime, though - he loves playing with her!

(More pictures of Dad Jewett to come soon, I promise - they're all on his camera, and he's off to Boulder this week!)

Yeah! As promised....

The Farmer's Market (aka Alexis's Rant)

Since the Farmer's Market opened again about a month ago, Ethan-boy and I have headed there every Saturday morning. (Yet another example of how things have changed since having a baby - I like fresh fruits and vegetables, but wasn't willing to get up at 6 am on Saturdays to get some!) I really like getting him outside when he gets up - I think the fresh air is good for both of us first thing in the morning! And the folks at the Farmer's Market are generally very nice - many of the vendors will talk to Ethan while I'm picking out strawberries or scones, and he even got his first fresh apricot this morning. (Not sure if he likes those yet...)

This morning I left pretty annoyed, however. I'm in line for some delicious blueberries at about 7:15 and this woman I've never seen before looks at Ethan and says to me, very concerned, "He's yawning." Yes, I know.... I sort of half smiled and finished paying for my fruit, as she walked away saying, "He must be wondering, 'Gosh, Mom [meaning me], what are you doing to me?'"

While I am well aware that "it takes a village to raise a child" (and I agree), I would at least like to invite people into my village before they help me raise him! They should at least be villagers from the Jones-Jewett clan. I had lots of fun on the way home imagining what I could have said if I had the guts - like, "He woke me up an hour ago, so I'm punishing him by bringing him to the land of fresh produce. Call DCFS!"

I'm over my passive-agressive rant now. Thank you for reading. :) Luckily Ethan isn't too concerned. He's busy with other things, like the book that his Auntie Karen and Uncle Ron brought him last weekend.

It was great to see them! I think Aunt Karin was a little worried that Ethan would react the same way he did to my cousin Chris. (http://brianandalexis.blogspot.com/2009/03/visit-from-california-jones.html) But Mr. Ethan is a very different baby now - he takes naps and everything (most days) and is much more cheerful than he was waaaayyyy back in March.

Raised by Wolves

Ethan-boy has four doggie cousins. Two that belong to his Aunt Andrea, and two that belong to Gramma Judy and Grampa Bob. He is getting to know those particular dogs very well, since I am constantly bringing him by my parents' house for visits or calling them to go for walks in the park with us. At first, Ethan was a very serious boy when confronted by the whining, jumping, howling Huskies. Now, however, he's getting into the spirit of things!
I have to admit that having them lick him is not my favorite thing. :) They're cute dogs, but that's still doggie drool all over my little kid. But he'll start giggling and smiling, and gets happier the closer those dogs get to licking him on the face. I do draw the line there...

And he's a sitting up boy now! He will occasionally topple backwards or to the side, but I think sometimes that's for fun, when I'm sitting behind him or there's a big pillow there. I can't believe how much new stuff he's doing these days - sitting up, ready to sprout some more teeth (forecasted by the rivers of drool), giggling, and grabbing everything in sight. I think he's even getting used to the outdoors, which is fantastic.