Snips and Snails and Puppy-Dog Tails, or, Jones Tries to Figure Out What the Spoiled Labradors are Made of

Jones loves Augie and Layla more and more every day, and they are so patient with him.  He is very grabby right now, and very interested in all people's features - noses, eyes, mouths, etc.  This also goes for the spoiled labradors.  He is constantly pulling their hair, pulling their tails and ears, poking their eyes, trying to grab their tongues (he's having a lot easier time with that than you might think, since it's like 100 degrees everyday and therefore, they are always panting, putting their tongues in easy reach).  Augie is the most patient with him, but Layla does a good job too, although she'll get up and leave and go hide somewhere where as Augie will just endure Jones' explorations (that's why most of the pictures are of Jones and Augie).

This shows another new thing he's started doing - he walks with his hands behind his back, like he's trying to be all non-chalant, "do-de-do-de-do, nothing going on here, just strolling through the house, la-la-la-la-la ..."

Start off with a little ear-pulling ... notice Layla in the background ... she gets up and leaves right after this:

Move to checking out the back fur:

Neck fur:

Soft!  I love the look on Aug's face in all of these pictures - he's such a martyr :o):

Snuggling (and hair pulling):

You can't tell, really, in these pictures, but Jones is really pulling on Aug's hair - he's like, really pulling it as hard as he can, like he wants to find out how strong the hair is, how it's attached, etc:

I love that the dogs are so good with Jones, and so patient, and so laid-back with him.  It warms my heart.

Jones is 15 Months Old, or, What's Going on with Jones in July

Jones is 15 months old ... well, he was 15 months old ... in July ... oh well:  better late than never!

He is learning how to open the door ... that is to say, he knows how it should work, but he's not quite put it all together yet, thank goodness.  All he does at the moment is grab at the handle, but he's not tall enough to have the leverage to actually open the door ... again, thank goodness.

At 15 months, Jones:

• Weighs 25.2 pounds (I know this is accurate because, alas, Jones got hand-foot-and-mouth disease ... again ... and we had to take him to the doctor and of course they weighed him) and wears a size 4 diaper.
• Is getting some molars, two on the top, two on the bottom. This is tough - way worse than any of the front teeth. There's lots of drooling involved.
• Still wears size 12 months clothes in a lot of things, 12 - 18 months fit him the best, and 18 months is a little loose on him, but generally okay length-wise. He is still wearing size 4 shoes, but I think it's time to move up to a size 5, especially his Toms. He doesn't like shoes, though, so he works to take them off as soon as you get them on and since it's summer, we don't wear shoes unless it's absolutely necessary.
• Is still a good eater - favorite food is still spinach, and he likes all green vegetables in general, and carrots. He eats a lot of chicken, and seems to prefer white meat over a drumstick. He had his first happy meal this month (chicken nuggets), and he liked the fries the best but I would say that, overall, he wasn't that impressed with it. He loves ice cream, and doesn't seem to have a preference on flavor. He doesn't really like or eat a lot of fruit, except for bananas, which he loves - I buy the little baby bananas and he looks like a little monkey while he eats them - so cute.
• Is a great sleeper at night time, but a terrible sleeper when it comes to naps. He will fight sleep all the way during they daytime, and he frequently wins.
• Makes it very difficult for you to take a picture of him - he is constantly in motion.  When people ask me how Jones is, my reply is generally:  "Busy!"

Playing with Daddy!  Fun times!  He loves to be swung around and jumped up and down.

Handstand!

This is what almost all of my pictures look like - Joneser does not stay still!

• Still babbling more than talking, but says "mama" and "dada" and occasionally "mommy".  "Dog", "badger", "biscuit", "Augie", "Layla", "ball", and this month we added "please", "yuck" and "duck" (which reminded my mom of a story about me when I was little:  we were at a Razorback football game in Little Rock when I was little (my mom says really little), and we were in the stall and there, written on the door of the bathroom stall, was a four-letter word that rhymes with "yuck" and "duck".  And rhyming is precisely what I proceeded to do, after I said the four-letter word out loud.  In front of everyone in the bathroom.  With great delight and innocence.  Aaaaaah, childhood).
• Waves hello and bye-bye when he feels like it, and claps his hands, and dances to music or when he's really excited or happy about something.  His dancing is pretty hilarious.  He just sort of squats and bounces - we joke that he's "backing that thang up."  Sometimes it seems like he's doing the moonwalk - he moves in reverse!
• Loves the water - he's our little fish!  He kicks his legs and his feet and really seems to be trying to swim.  He will stay in the water without complaint for a long time, even when he's tired. 
• Likes his toys with wheels, because he likes rolling them along the floor.  I even think he is making a "vroom" sound some of the time, but this might be projection on my part.  He loves his talking dogs, the Fisher Price one and Scout, and presses the various buttons to get them to talk or sing.  He is very interested in balls, and is learning to throw - he does pretty good a lot of the time, and then some of the time he lets go before extending his arm and the ball drops behind him and he is always very confused.  He loves to play with the spoiled labradors and a tennis ball, and they are so good with him, they love it, but they are very gentle with him at the same time.  He likes to roll the ball back and forth between you and him.
• Is best friends with the spoiled labradors.  This month, his favorite thing/discovery is the joys of the labrador tail.  He likes to grab a-hold of one of their tails and run behind them, pulling all the way, squealing and giggling the whole time.  It is a testament to the good natures of both Augie and Layla that they bear this treatment as stoically and nobly as possible.  I say it a lot, but it's true:  they are such good dogs, and good fur-siblings to Jones.

Sharing the teddy bear with Augie:



• His most favorite thing in the whole world is peek-a-boo.  He runs and hides behind stuff and then peeks his head out and waits for you to say, "Pee Pie!".  He loves it.  He loves for you to hold him and then tilt him around the corner to "Pee Pie!" whoever is standing around there.  He loves to hide in a corner and for you to peek your head around and say, "Pee Pie!"  He looooooves it.  It's so cute, it's bananas.
• Understands what "no" means and will shake his head vigorously when you tell him "no" or if he is saying "no" to something (usually, "No, Jones, don't play in the dogs' water bowl."), but tests us all the time - the biggest obstacle is the dogs' water bowl.  He knows he is not supposed to play in it, but he can't help himself, it seems.  It's hard to keep a straight face when he gives you this little look that says, "I know I'm not supposed to but I'm gonna do it anyway because I really want to and I just can't help myself."

Checking to see if the coast is clear.  "Is she looking?  Does she notice me over here by the water bowl?"



Yeah, that's right.  My hand's in the water bowl.  (This was taken just after I said, seriously, "Jones, no.  Don't put your hand in that water bowl."  Look at the look on his face - do you think this bodes well for our future?)

I know it's probably bad parenting to take pictures of him directly disobeying me, but it's such a cute face.

 15 months and busy, busy, busy!