Baby Tights

Chubby baby legs in tights may be the cutest thing in the universe. St. Bernard puppies are a close second, but they don't quite measure up. The house is a wreck, the dishes need to be washed (and why am I blogging instead of doing these things, you may ask), but I have a little girl in pink tights, all's right in the world. Sorry, Robert Browning.

Eeyore

I found a box of books in our shed a few months ago. Not sure where they came from, but we kept a few. One of them was about using your children's personalities to relate to them and help them feel secure and fulfilled. I think it's interesting, but it obviously has its limitations and should be used with a grain of salt.

Anyway, after reading that book, I decided that Ethan seems to lean toward the melancholy side. He is a pretty tender-hearted little guy, more thoughtful and serious than other kids his age that I've been able to observe. I don't know how his little personality with develop as he grows up, but that is where I'd put him now.

Ironically, Ethan's favorite little stuffed animal right now is Eeyore.

Does it ever seem like the more adults you have in the house, the less-supervised the kids are? Everyone thinks someone else is keeping an eye on them. That is how when Levi and Joel were home for lunch today, Ethan managed to swipe my scissors and carry them off to his room for sneaky experimenting. I came to find him, and he came out his door, guiltily offering up the scissors.

"Did you cut something?"
"Wes (yes)"
"What did you cut?"
"Eyoh's eoh (Eeyore's ear)"

We are still working on r's and y's. Anyway, I made a big deal about not playing with Mommy's scissors, and how we don't cut our toys.

"Eeyore is so sad that you cut him! We need to be gentle and kind to our toys."

It took the scissors back to their drawer, and I could hear Ethan down the hall saying, "Sorry, Eeyore, sorry Eeyore." My little speech seemed to have sunk in.

Then my little guy's tender heart came out. I got a little teary. He came in to where Levi and I were sitting, eating lunch. He was carrying Eeyore and looking pretty miserable.

"Daddy, Eeyore's crying."

Could I ask for a sweeter kid?

King and Queen

I am trying to branch out a little from this blog being just a record of all the cute things Ethan says. But really, that is one of the highlights of my life right now. So sorry, everyone who is looking for something deep and philosophical to read.

Ethan loves to play with money. I tutored a boy this summer who needed help with his money-counting skills, and Ethan figured out how fun the stuff is. So today I got him busy with a little bowl of change and a truck-shaped piggy bank. He'd been playing for a while, talking away to himself, when I noticed him saying, "This one daddy...no...dis one mommy..." as he put coins into the bank. I went over to investigate. It turns out the Pennies are Daddy, because Abe Lincoln has a beard. The Nickles are Mommy, because Thomas Jefferson has a ponytail. I love that we are the king and queen of his little universe, so much so that it must be our profiles on his coins.

Sickies

Our home has been hit hard this weekend by the dreaded stomach bug. I guess this is just one of the many joys of MOPs - sharing food, fellowship, and viruses. Somehow, poor Emma seemed to get a double dose of the stomach bug, first with no fever, and then 2 days later, the same symptoms with a fever. There is nothing sadder than a sick baby. She was a little trooper though, perfectly content as long as someone was holding her. We enjoyed the extra snuggling time. It is not normal for her to fall asleep being held like this. But oh so sweet.



To make the weekend more exciting, our friends Joel Bannister and Julie Foster came to visit too. Their plan was to go climbing all day Saturday with Levi and Joel Miller, our friend/boarder. The plans changed to playing mini-golf (slightly less strenuous) and hanging out in our living room (i.e. "sick ward") watching us eat Jello. They were very gracious, although after 3 of 5 household members were sick, Joel Bannister did say, "I kind of feel like sleeping in my car tonight."

Sunrises

A certain little girl has been getting up kind of early the last few days. I am not wild about this, because it means I have to go to bed at about 8:30 to get any decent sleep. But it's been kind of nice to have a little extra morning and to watch the sun rise. This was the view out our living room window this morning. It was, of course, much prettier in person, but I'm not much of a photographer.



In other news, Levi recently traded out our old, drafty fireplace for a nice woodstove to help heat the house this winter. Yesterday, everybody at camp with wood-burning capabilities (that is, all but one person), had a big wood-cutting day to stock up for a few months. And then they loaded up a couple of trucks full of wood and distributed it to everyones' houses. Ethan helped at our house. He was very serious about his responsibilities.

Mo' Tissin'

This blog is starting to be less of a blog and more of a cute-things-Ethan-says-compendium.

Today Ethan learned about getting kisses on injuries to magically heal them. For the remainder of the morning, he followed me around the house, presenting body parts and saying "Hurt there" or "Dis one," and waiting for kisses. When I stopped the game for a minute to do the dishes, he asked for "Mo' Tissin'," and then planted a lovely slobber and smoothie-laced smooch on my cheek.

I think when he is a teenager who is way too cool to be hugged in front of his friends, I will have to remind him of today.

Happy Birthday, Shadow!

We are dog-sitting for our friend Jessica's little black lab this week while Jessica is on vacation. This evening, Ethan's been chasing her around the house, giving her big hugs around the neck and saying "Happy Birthday, Shadow!" each time. We are not sure why. We have been saying "I love (insert name)" and giving hugs the last few months, and I think maybe that's what he means. It is cute.