The Davis parents arrive

We're very lucky to have more help with little Evan -- Ian's parents arrived Saturday. After recovering from a long day of travel, they were ready to cuddle their new grandson (and take the graveyard diaper-changing shift).

Their only problem is figuring out what they want to be called. "Grandma" and "Grandpa" are already taken, so they've considered Nana, Gram, Granny, Pop, Gramps, Hoo-Hah, and Poo-Paw (don't ask). Whatever you call 'em though, the apple clearly doesn't fall far from the tree, as this picture of three generations shows.

The smartest baby in the world

Evan has decided that it is rough to have a mommy that is a teacher. She's constantly trying to make him play with educational toys and read him books. He thinks that three weeks old is a bit early for Winnie-the-Pooh, but mommy is convinced that he needs to start early. She also has gotten him several other educational toys which she tortures him with on a regular basis. Daddy is not any better either. He has read the Just So Stories to him on several evenings already.

His parents are firmly convinced that he is the smartest baby ever! Mommy has bought Evan little arm bands and feet bands with little stuffed animal rattles on them and subjects Evan to them every couple of days so that he can find his hands and feet. (So far he just whacks his face with his little rattling wristbands.) We also put him on his little tummy everyday so he can have "tummy time". He has already developed the skill of lifting up his head and pushing himself across the blanket we set down for him. Today, he even turned himself over! We think it was because of his talent and rapid intellectual development, but it might have been because he had a little bit of gas and accidentally flipped himself over as it was bothering him.

Here are a few pictures of Evan's parents subjecting him to these educational pursuits...the next Albert Einstein, we're so proud!

Here's Evan and mommy reading Winnie the Pooh...

Here, Evan and his daddy are reading another book. Perhaps holding up his head would be another good skill to learn...

Evan is enjoying his wrist and feet rattles. He'll like them even better once he figures out that he has arms and legs.

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a nice, uneventful fourth of July at home. The weather was beautiful, and we sat out in the evening and watched about five different fireworks shows that we could see from our porch, a pretty nice way to spend the fourth.

We also decided that Evan needed some fourth of July portraits with his family. So, we dressed him in his fourth of July finery and set up some chairs outside on our porch. It's a little big on him, but this was the day to wear it.

He's lucky he's so cute!

Happy July 4th to everyone! Our little family is celebrating the fourth by sitting and home and relaxing. We might go out and watch some fireworks tonight or we might just settle out on the porch and watch what we can see from there. Regardless, be expecting some handsome pictures of Evan in his fourth of July outfit soon.

When Evan came along, I had actually never changed a diaper in my life. Now, almost three weeks into Evan's life, I have definitely learned some lessons about diaper changing, and I am continuing to learn them. In fact this morning I definitely learned a couple of new lessons. Here are some of the most important rules that I've discovered...

1. Evan doesn't like diaper changing.

2. Evan HATES diaper changing.

3. Always keep cover, because when Evan is exposed to air, someone will get sprayed (Evan, mommy, daddy, the wall, etc.).

4. Keep a change of clothes handy when changing. (See rule #3.)

5. Make sure that Evan is done before beginning to change the diaper.

6. Do NOT accidentally fling the dirty diaper onto the carpet, especially when the offending diaper lands on your foot!

7. And the last and most important rule which comes into play when Evan has just sprayed your arm face and shirt or when your foot and carpet is covered in baby poop (this morning)...

Evan is very lucky that he's the cutest baby ever so mommy and daddy are more than willing to put up with each and every diaper change. Here's a picture of his cute little face which makes us forget about all of the hard work.

Our first day at home

Ian finally had to go back to work, my parents have gone home, and Ian's parents don't get here until this weekend. So, Evan, Rip and I are having out first day at home on our own. So far, it has been very entertaining. We had our first solo excursion to Petco to drop off Rip for a grooming appointment, and I'm proud to say that we were only 15 minutes late! By the time I got the dog on his leash, Evan changed, fed, and in his stroller, and myself dressed and presentable, we were running a few minutes late.

Then, when our little procession made it downstairs we realized that this would be Evan's first exposure to Seattle rain. That's okay because our stroller has a rain cover, so it was mommy and Rip that soaked up most of the rain as we were trying to get everyone loaded in the car. However, eventually, we got the wet dog and the baby loaded in the car and made our way down to Petco.

Rip was NOT happy to be left at the groomer. Evan was chirping in his stroller and Rip thought it was unacceptable that he should leave the baby. He has been a great guard dog. Every time Evan cries, Rip gets up, checks the bassinet, and finds one of us to let us know that we really should check on the baby. I think they will get along very well.

In this picture Rip is watching Evan in the bassinet. Whenever Evan startled or moved while he slept, the dog would jump back. Now, he's a little more used to Evan, but he still likes to watch him in the bassinet.

He also wants to be as close to Evan as possible at all times. Here, Evan is snoozing on the couch, so Ripple decided to come up and join us. (Don't worry, we don't let Rip near Evan when we're not right there.) I like this picture because it shows how big Rip is compared to Evan. This will soon change, so Rip better enjoy his status as big brother while it lasts.

Tiny hands and tiny feet

Evan, Ian, Rip, and I are sitting here this morning trying to recover from a long night. Evan decided that he really didn't want to sleep, so neither did any of the rest of us. He has finally figured out that he is tired so right now he is snoozing in his bassinet looking angelic. No one would ever believe that little sweet baby is capable of the crying he did last night. He's lucky he's cute! Ha!

On that note, here are some pictures that we took yesterday of his cute little parts. It's amazing how small he is, and I know it won't last long so we wanted to make sure that we got lots of pictures. We've got pictures of his little hand with mommy's hands and his little foot with daddy's feet. He definitely does have his daddy's feet.

Grandparents are great!

Today Evan officially turns two weeks old, and today is Evan's first full day without his Grandma and Grandpa in town. My mom and dad have been here helping out for the past few weeks, and it has been wonderful. They have been changing diapers, helping with feedings, going to doctor's appointments, doing laundry, and many other dirty jobs that needed to be done. They also did lots of Evan cuddling and cooing and all sorts of other grandparent jobs. Ian and I are so grateful for all of their help, and it was wonderful having them up here for so long. Here's a few pictures of Evan spending quality time with his grandparents. He's looking forward to meeting his other grandparents in a few days.

Grandma holding her grandson in the hospital...

Grandpa meeting his grandson for the first time after arriving in town...

Baby torture, no wait, it's grandma and grandpa singing and dancing and Evan trying his first YMCA dance...