Ethan Davis Reports on What He Did This Summer

My sister Sara travelled to St. Louis, Mo., for some business a few weeks ago and was able to bring her nine-month-old son with because Gramma Pat and Kris had agreed to watch him during Sara's two-day absence. So Ethan is our guest blogger for this entry on how his stay with Great Gramma and Great Aunt went.

Mom and I got to spend a whole week at Gramma and Aunt Kris’ house in Illinois, which is very far away from my house. Gramma and Aunt Kris took great care of me while mom had to go and visit some colleges. They fed me yummy food, which I liked to share with Syndey (Sophie was afraid of me . . . I think because I’m small and crawl along the ground, and oh so unpredictable. Anyway, poor thing wouldn’t come near me! Probably best, you never know what I might do with a furry thing that’s just about my size!)

I crawled and crawled all over the place. Gramma and Aunt Kris bought several toys for me to play with. They bought me a Blues Clues Karaoke machine, which is how I learned the mail song, which Aunt Kris and Mom really like to sing together! Gramma and Aunt Kris also bought me a Sesame Street walker that was perfect for me, I used it on the porch in front of the house and on the patio out back – it is very versatile you know. But I still don’t know where Sesame Street is yet.

Aunt Kris took Mom and me to the YMCA where she works. I got to swim in her swimming pool! Aunt Kris got in and swam with me too! If Mom can figure out how to upload the video, I can show you a video of me swimming, well, almost swimming. I can’t leave out the best part, Gramma and Aunt Kris taught me how to do Patty-cake. I still don’t do it on command yet, but I definitely learned to clap my hands there. Mom is trying to see if we can come back out to visit in December. I’ll be MUCH older then.

Teaching Our Kids Well

Some cute moments from our house: A few weeks ago, I was putting Emily to bed in our bedroom (it just works better to have her and Megan separate!). She was sleeping with a weird-looking doll from some Cartoon Network show. Lauren had won this doll at Great American in one of the carnival games (ironically, Annika also won a prize--bunny ears. Mom got skunked.)and named him Bobo. I asked Emily if she wanted to pray. She said yes and prayed: "Please bless my food. Aaamen." She then turned to her right, put Bobo's hands together and Bobo prayed; "Please bless my food. Aaamen." **



We've had a few dish casualties in the last week. One of them was Emily. Our 32-month-old was busy clearing her cereal bowl from the table. Without being instructed, she took the bowl and began scraping the leftovers into the garbage. Apparently, holding a spoon and a bowl and scraping was too much for her. But she was very cute and helpful. **



Through some instruction and a lot of observing, Annika has really gotten the hang of the Food pyramid—and not Bart Simpson’s version. A couple weeks ago, she made lunch for her and Lauren. It was 12:03 (past lunchtime) and I was laying down with Emily in my room. So Annika made lunch on her own: Poptarts (one for her and one for Lauren), a slice of American cheese, some cuts of salami, champagne grapes and juice. And pudding for dessert—which was set waaay down the table so they could eat it when they were done. I was impressed! All food groups were represented if you count poptart as a grain... **



This morning, Lauren was telling me a story about something that happened yesterday...you know, "the next day backward." **



Annika and Lauren have officially been given chores. Lauren's job is to clear the extra dishes from the table after dinner. Annika's job is to fill and empty the dishwasher. She was much put out by this, declaring instantly that it was boooring. We began her training in three nights ago. The first night went very slowly as I explained the best way to fit each dish in the washer to maximize use of the space. The second night went better, but Annika was still much put out. Tonight, however, she convinced Lauren it would be a great idea if they shared chores. So she needed to now train Lauren in. We got some of it on video. Annika did a great job of explaining things step by step. When she got to the part about how the dishes got washed, she pointed to the water supply in the bottom of the dishwasher and said, "that is so cool" with enthusiasm. Apparently, on-the-job training creates more enthusiasm for those doing the job as well.

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Here is some video of Megan praying. If you watch carefully, you'll notice she folds her hands, too. So fun!







We've been packing up boxes from time to time to put in storage in preparation for our move. Emily is our "little helper."

Annika entered a candy contest where you sing a song about candy to enter (see last blog entry for video). She didn't win, but the candy company sent her a goody basket which should arrive tomorrow. Anyway, the original idea was for Annika, Lauren and cousin Raegan to sing Good Ship Lollipop together. This video shows why that didn't happen..."Mommy, I need to...oh, look! a squirrel!"