Well its not actually in yet, but the bottom right front incisor has poked through the gums. Not really surprising, as Ashton has been chewing on everything for about a month and drooling like crazy.

Today Ashton and I went walking at Henry Cowell with Tamara/Dylan, and Becca/Hailey. Turns out Hailey and Ashton share a birthday (although Hailey was born at Dominican, not Sutter). The three napped together, and then chatted with eachother on top of a picnic table. Ashton captivated Hailey with his flirtatious and loud bubble blowing.

was itching to get out of the house, so the 3 of us took a drive to Carmel. We walked around town with Ashton in the sling, because I figured the stores were too small to fit our gigantic stroller. Ashton loved the giant replica of a ferris wheel at the toy store and watched the train circle around the room. Afterwords we drove over to the Cannery and wandered around. We had to buy Ashton a new jacket because two major barfs rendered his sweatjacket unusable – hence a trip to a really tacky tourist shop where we managed to find a decent looking coat for cheap.

Two nights earlier, Ashton cried much of the night, which is highly atypical for him and also wouldn’t eat much. He also had a low-grade fever that responded to baby Tylenol. At the time we thought it was teething, but today I noticed a large quantity of goop coming from his left ear. I decided to take him to Urgent Care to have it checked out. The doc said it seemed like an ear infection that had passed. The goop continued draining for almost a week, but Ashton seemed to have no further discomfort and no meds were required.

From this point on, feet have become the play thing of choice.

Ashton is amazed!

Daniel and I have been trying (without much success) to capture Ashton’s smiles on camera. You’d think this would be easy because he smiles and laughs all the time now and is generally a pretty happy baby. The problem is that when the camera comes out he gets fixated on the shiny object and stops smiling and we end up with a “deer in headlights” type photo. But, this is by far the cutest of the deer photos.

Today Ashton and I went on a field trip to the Rose Garden Park in San Jose because the Silicon Valley Fiddlers Association was holding a jam. Eager for some fiddle music and sunshine, I parked a lawn chair under a shady tree and tried to get Ashton interested in the music. He didn’t complain, but was more interested in watching the people at the birthday party in the next picnic site. Still, I’m trying to get him accustomed to this type of music so that he doesn’t squawk too much when I start taking lessons and practicing.

Of course not – he’s way too young. But boy did he want it! Ashton’s been showing interest in other people’s food lately, but this was the most blatant food lust seen to date. And why not – mommy craves Jamba Juices all the time (and they were a lifesaver during the weeks of gallstone pain when I couldn’t eat much beside fruit smoothies).

It seems the aliens disguised as the former owners of our house left behind their space transport vehicle. Okay, actually they had grandkids and had some left over kid stuff. Bless them for the bouncy chair and the portacrib that is parked right next to my bed and serves as a co-sleeper/bassinet.

I’d had Daniel put the flying saucer up in the attic until he was about 4 or 5 months old. But on a whim, I had him pull it down to see what would happen. Asthon’s still a little floppy in the upright position, but with the help of a pillow, was able to explore the on-board gadgets.