Two Weeks to Christmas?! &%#$!

Excuse my symbols, but I can't believe that it's even December! In our house, it could pretty much be July. We have no tree, no lights, no presents...a whole lot of nothing going on here. In the last 10 days, I've been to a three-day training in Bloomington, done my civic duty at the Champaign Courthouse (meaning sitting in the freezing cold jury assembly room for hours), stayed home with the Ethan-boy after we discovered he had a double ear infection (for how long, I have no idea - he's not fussy at all!) and a lovely case of pink eye (pic below), and gone to work as much as possible. Brian has been up well past midnight most nights in order to do late-night weather briefings and prepare lectures for class, and last week he flew a plane into that lovely winter storm we all heard about. We're a little frazzled. :)

However, with my whining comes the understanding that people do this kind of stuff all the time! So I'm pulling myself up by my bootstraps (the Jewett clan will appreciate that one) and getting over myself - bring on the Christmas cookies!

I keep reminiscing about last year at this time. With a little guilt, I have to say that I'm so relieved that Ethan is now 13 1/2 months old and not 6 weeks old any more! Those newborn days were wonderful, but hard - I don't think I've ever felt so clueless in my life. He's a totally different kind of challenge right now, and such a fun one.

Did you just tell me NO, Mom?

(Apparently our childproofing needs a little work. I think the goal is to keep the kid's hands out of the cabinet.) He is learning several words, like "No!" and "Stop!" pretty well by now. :) After falling down our two stairs once, he now stops when I tell him to.

New Developments

Well, as you can all see from the giggly post below, Ethan is now walking. ACK! Actually, he's so delighted to be mobile that Brian and I are very happy to see how excited he gets when he's moving around - we are barely anxious about all of our papers and computers, or his inability to stop once he gets near our (two) stairs. (Actually, we are kind of anxious about the latter...)

He is also:

• Carrying things around as he walks, which is pretty funny to watch
• Loving being chased - "Mama's going to get you!" produces many giggles
• Trying to eat with utensils but is only successful when it's something he really really likes, like cheese :)
  

One thing that we've enjoyed recently is heading to the library on the weekends. Our public library has a great children's section - even for kids as little as Ethan!
Ethan thinks his mother is very very strange. Why on earth would a giraffe be crawling up his arm? Really.....
The most popular options were anything that opened and closed. He is a big fan of open/close.

The library has come in handy as we are considering this transition from two naps to one and need something fun to do away from a crib in the morning. And they have such great activities there, too! During the week, they have a Babies Lap Time, and I can't wait to take Ethan during my Christmas Break. When he gets a little older, there will be crafts, computer games, and even chess games with other kids. Oh, there are books there, too. But the librarians frown when you put them in your mouth, which kind of holds Ethan back. :)

Officially a Toddler!

You'll have to forgive the camera work. My videographer was at his day job.

Tofu?!

I am not Earth Mother Extraordinaire. Yes, we used cloth diapers (regrettably only for a year - I won't go into the details of why we stopped! You're welcome. :)) and Brian and I do try to recycle when we can. And I still cook for Ethan most of the time - it feels great to see him really enjoy a muffin that I made, rather than opening a package of something that contains who knows what chemicals and almost no vitamins....(that doesn't stop me from eating that way, but I hate to have the baby eat that crap!)

Anyway, all of my tree-hugger/Birkenstock-wearing/green-Urbana-loving acquaintances would be proud that Ethan had his first tofu today, and he LOVED it. I'm really glad that he enjoys it, because it's probably going to be a frequent source of protein. His blood test results came back, and he is most definitely allergic to peanuts - quite seriously, apparently. He'll even get a little EpiPen. He is also moderately allergic to eggs, which is a surprise, since I've made scrambled eggs for him more than once and didn't notice any reaction. But eggs and peanut butter are two big sources of protein at Chez Jewett-Jones, so we are looking outside the box for alternatives. (To all carnivores: I know, there are dead cows, chickens, and pigs outside that box, too. :) )

Sorry to not have taken pictures of the experience! He ate too fast...and then when he started getting full, he thought it was great fun to mash it and drop it all on the floor. Cleaning up mashed tofu is no fun!

Why Alexis's Job Will Make Others Jealous

While I love the Ethan-boy more than anything, it's probably about time that I post once in awhile about how Brian and I are doing in our professional and personal lives. We are still gainfully employed, and I for one am lucky to have the job that I do - one that allows me to work part time so I'm not getting home right when Ethan is heading for bed!

My job as a grant coordinator in Urbana is fantastic. Not only do I work with some seriously smart people who challenge me every day, but I get to do such a variety of things - teacher trainings on gifted education, work with new teachers and their mentors, and last (but definitely not least!) American History professional development for K-12 teachers all over our area. One recent job requirement (yes, a requirement) was a trip to Atlanta for the National Council for the Social Studies Conference. Believe it or not, conferences are pretty darn exhausting. I want to squeeze in as many sessions as possible, visit the vendors for cheap new books, and go site seeing if time allows. Travel with my colleagues is especially fun, though this time we desperately missed Cynthia, who is now living the Stay At Home Mom life in Milwaukee! She and I shared many a bread pudding in New Orleans a few years ago....

Anyway, this conference trip was no different - GREAT sessions (one on LBGT issues that was just great and makes me want to live in Seattle), a great visit to the vendor area where I picked up books that are now itching to be read, and lots and lots of visiting Atlanta.
The first morning we were there I had the opportunity to hear John Lewis speak. This man spoke to the same huge crowd that heard Martin Luther King give his I Have a Dream speech, and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see him! (His talk was at 7:15 in the morning, 6:15 Central time, so you know how motivated I must have been...) But I couldn't get in! I didn't have a ticket for the special breakfast, and the woman at the door wouldn't let me in, even though I promised not to eat. :( I have to learn to be more assertive, because I really wanted to hear him! It all worked out, because I came back to my hotel room to pout and had breakfast via iChat with Brian and Ethan. LOVE high-speed internet access.
Our morning tour was of the CNN Atlanta Studio, which was so amazing. No Anderson Cooper viewings; apparently he's not even there! But the behind the scenes aspect of CNN is just fantastic, and we got to see all over the place. The director has to coordinate (I can't remember how many but it's a lot) of news feeds at once in order to bring you what you see every day. As with anything, I think the fact that they make it look effortless means they're doing a good job.
Anyone who has been to Atlanta knows that you HAVE to visit the World of Coke. Diet Coke is an addiction around the office (we're considering adding it to a list of job qualifications at upcoming interviews), and we were all very excited to go, though a little creeped out at the huge polar bear. And it's in pictures like this that I remember how freakishly tall I am compared to the normal person! I should be standing next to the bear to appear shorter...
The Atlanta aquarium was also by our hotel, so we had to make an appearance. I forgot how much I loved aquariums - the one in Chicago was a serious favorite when I was a kid, and I even went through a phase when I wanted to be a marine biologist. (Mostly because dolphins were very cool and I wanted to pet the otters all the time...)

So you might be thinking, "What in the world was Ethan doing at this time?!" Even though he was in excellent hands at home with Brian (for only two nights, really), I did have some serious guilt, especially the first night, wondering what he was doing, if his cold was worse, was he expecting me to pick him up at daycare, if he missed me, if he would remember me when I got back...It was really great to be able to see him on the computer early in the morning - a very pixellated baby, but still a moving and shaking and fussing baby all the same! And we had a great day indoors together when I got back - it rained all day, so there was no decent reason to go outside. Not a great way to come back from 70 degree Atlanta, but a great opportunity to spend time with the little boy.

No more PB for YOU!

(A reference to Seinfeld's Soup Nazi for those of you familiar with the show...)

At Ethan's last appointment, I asked his doctor what food we needed to avoid now that he was a big one year old boy. He gave us a green light for all of it (not choking hazards, of course), even honey, which I was a little surprised about, having heard that babies can't have honey until they're two because of potential bacteria. I even asked specifically about peanut butter, because not only is there conflicting information out there for nervous parents like us, but Brian and I practically live on the stuff! So Ethan got a tiny little bit on a cracker about a week ago - no problem, and a little bit more on his toast this morning.

Within two hours he was waking up very early from a nap bright red all over and scratching like mad. Poor little baby...He wasn't as fussy as I probably would be with my body reacting like that, but he was obviously uncomfortable.
(The picture doesn't really do it justice - he was red and bumpy all up and down his arms and all over his face! But as sympathetic as we were, we of course had to take pictures of the whole thing.)

So we took our first visit to Convenient Care with the boy. (I'm very aware that it won't be our last!) We are so lucky to live about 4 blocks away from our clinic, and they have great hours for stuff like this. We got right in and saw a doctor, who confirmed our suspicion that what we were seeing was probably a food allergy and it was probably the peanut butter. Ethan has been doped up on Prednisone and Benadryl ever since. And he's not either hyper or sleepy, as I would have expected with lots of meds in his system - he's just the same tough kid we're used to!

We even met Gramma and Grampa (and their very high maintenance dog) out at the park today for some fun. The swings weren't Ethan's favorite today, but being Up High Boy on Brian's shoulders was a hit.

One-man Wrecking Crew

He's cute, that's for sure. He has the attention span of a gnat, and is alternately giddy and fussy, but he sure is cute. And it's a good thing!

Ethan has turned into Destructo Boy lately. It doesn't help that he can move around so darn quickly, too. He can walk a few steps at a time (!!!) but is a much faster crawler, so he spends maybe 90 seconds on one thing, then another, then another...I'm getting my exercise following him around and picking up after him!

(By the way, Ethan doesn't wear the stormy shirt every day. I just happen to get camera-happy when he wears it for some reason! I especially like the off-the-shoulder look he's sporting in this one.)

The funniest new development that I've noticed recently is that he absolutely understands what "No" means. He heads for the cat food, "No!" He starts digging in the plant, "No!" Today after heading for the cats' water bowl, he heard it again and stopped. (What a good boy! Sort of...) He tried about 2 more times and got the same reaction before he started whimpering. I laughed out loud. (I'm sure I'm not supposed to laugh when my child whimpers, but it's just so hard not to. :) )