Walking Walking Walking

Well, here it is. The day we have been waiting for. Evan can walk without help! He still hasn't figured out how to stand on his own without holding a hand or wall. Today about 50% of the times I let go of his hand while we were walking he stayed standing and took about 10-15 steps or more.

Tonight Evan was having a blast walking from Isaac to his JuJu and Mama. Great to see and scary all at the same time.

Ready for December

The end of this month has been busy and not always in a good way.

Over the weekend our dog Lady went to a new home. We realized about a month ago that Lady needed more than we could give her. She wasn't getting the excersize she needed and was suffering for that. We had gone through the Alternative Humane Society which was the organization we got her through over 2 years ago. There were 3 families that wanted Lady.

It seemed too good to be true when the best family was chosen. They live about an hour south of us on 10 acres of land. They are an older couple with the husband retired and they were looking for a Dobie/Rottie mix. The wife told me she thought it was deja-vu when she saw Lady's picture. They have always had dogs and Lady was just the one they wanted. I called to answer any questions they had and let them know about her aggression issues but their minds were made up. I hung up with them around 10am and by 12:30 Lady was in the car and on her way to her new home.

It was extremely hard to watch her leave. Isaac and I still look for her around the house.  I will look at where her bed used to be to see if she is sleeping or why isn't she waiting for dinner. It is getting easier every day.

So...then Saturday afternoon Evan was still running a temp that started Friday afternoon. I had called our dr since we were getting on a plane Monday morning. They said to call Sunday morning if he had a bad night. Well it took 4 HOURS to get him to sleep and I started seeing bumps on his hands.

Called the doctor Sunday morning (they have a clinic on the weekends) and they saw us right away. Evan was diagnosed with Hand, Foot, Mouth disease. Sounds so much worse than it is. It's a virus that has Evan covered in bumps and also in his mouth and down his throat. He isn't complaining but his food intake is small.

The biggest problem with this virus is that Evan is very contagious for about 5-7 days. We had tickets to go to my brother's in Colorado to celebrate Thanksgiving and our niece Annabelle's first birthday. I was trying to find anyway that we could go but knew we couldn't go and risk getting anyone else sick.

We are now going in 3 weeks and luckily got most of our money back and use towards the new trip.

It seemed to be a sign not to go because the weather was so bad yesterday in Seattle I am not sure we would have made it to the airport.

So Evan and I are indoors until Friday and staying warm since it is 24 degrees out today. We will be having a small family Thanksgiving at home. We have made some wonderful friends here in Bellingham that have invited us to Thanksgiving dinner even though we can't go. It is so nice to have that support.

So here's to hoping that December is a better month with a lot less illness that November.

The Beginning of Fall

I seemed to have blinked and it is a week before Thanksgiving! 

Not writing for October I can't remember everything that happened but I will do my best. 

October was a fun month with Halloween and trying some new activities. Evan and I have started taking a baby gymnastics class once a week. It is a great workout for both of us :) Evan being his ever cautious self had to check everything out and took a few weeks to try something new. He now LOVES when they parachute is taken out to play with. Last week he even went on the little swing which is on a zipline and of course had the biggest smile on his face the entire time and kept asking if he could go again and again. 

We had a blast for part of Halloween. We had a party with our Mommy and Me group. It was so cute to see all the kids in their costumes. Evan even wore his which I never thought would happen. I learned a valuable lesson with this costume thing.....don't make a big deal about putting the clothes on and Evan will never know he is wearing something different. 

Evan helping Mom carve the pumpkin

All of us in our Halloween get-ups

On Halloween Evan was sick and we got to stay home and hand out candy. It was fun to see all the kids. 

My mom (BeBe) came to visit and Evan soaked up all the attention. She taught him a very cute way to "sign" I Love You. He still does it and they do it every time we Skype. Evan even got to try some gelato for the first time. We found out the fruit flavors are dairy free. Evan was very mad when his snack was gone. 

Yummmmm

Evan getting mad that there is none left

We have a little toddler roaming around the house. Evan is so so close to walking himself. He can hold onto one finger and walk but the second we let go he gently sits down. He walks about 3-4 steps every day. Evan just needs to gain confidence and off he will go!

It also seems like Evan is gaining new words on a daily basis. We still do plenty of signing and asking if that is what he wants. But I can also tell that when you say a word, many times he will try to copy the word. His comprehension is amazing. Now granted we are his parents and don't have other kids to compare to, but I can't get away with much these days. Evan knows we watch Elmo on the television and will point to our tv and say "Ehmo" and gets quite pissed when I tell him we aren't watching that yet. 

One of Evan's favorite things to do is sing. He can now help with No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. And now that Evan can say "no" he does it at the point in the song. Mr. Bossy will let us know the song he wants to sing/hear and if you are wrong he will let you know. 

We are about to get on a plane and go to Colorado to visit my brother and his family. Our little niece is turning 1 and there was no way I was going to miss that! It will be nice to get away for awhile and celebrate Thanksgiving with family. 

Here are some other great pictures from the past 2 months. 

They just look a little alike

Chillin with everything he needs while watching TV. Elmo I am sure

Loving the smoothie (with spinach)

Playing with the pumpkins

Found the perfect size pumpkin

Going apple and pumpkin picking

Driving his first John Deere

Until next time

Evan's 1st haircut

Well we finally decided to do it. We got Evan's hair cut! Isaac and I have been going back and forth about it for a few months but kept saying no when looking at his curls.

We went to a barbershop for the experience and that it was. We didn't have an appointment so we waited about 45 minutes. Evan did amazing. He was having fun and laughing. Then it was his turn.

Evan was weary the second they put the smock on Isaac who was holding him. Evan cried and screamed through most of it :) I don't have a great "after" picture yet but will post it once I can take one.

Here is some pictures of the big day:

before

hey lady what do you think you are going to do with those?

this is where it turned ugly

bribing with snacks

noooooooooooooo

this is the "after"

September 2010

Well another busy month for Evan. 14 months, wow!

We have started up our Mommy and Me class again and now in the 1 year old class. This has been such a great resource for me and Evan. We love all the mom's and babies that we have known for over 6 months, but the instructor is great. We look forward to our Tuesday mornings.

Evan now has 7 teeth (that we can see) his top 2 molars and top front teeth have broken through and boy did we all hear about it.

This month he can now:
walk with a push toy
stand up holding onto something
says "nigh, nigh" for going to bed, yea or yes, hi, tries to say big bird sounds like bir, Elmo sounds a little like mo, Daddy, bye bye, baby
signs for shoes and when you ask him where shoes go he will show you his foot.
Evan now also knows touchdown but of course doesn't do it when the touchdown is actually scored.

Evan's new thing this past month has been shaking his head no for EVERYTHING! Anything you ask him he will shake his head no.

He also signs all done a lot more then when he actually means it. This makes some meals a little more challenging. But when Evan is hungry he signs for "eat".

Evan is so much fun, his personality comes out more and more each day. He is a ham and knows it. Loves making faces in the mirror and getting me, Isaac and anyone who looks at him to smile. He waves at anyone and anything. We were actually crossing the street to get into a store and a car stopped to let us cross. I am not sure if I raised my hand to say thank you but Evan waved and said hi. She was nice and waved back.

 Evan is starting to learn how to play pretend which is so much fun. He will pretend a puzzle piece is food and then hand it to whoever he is playing with to to the same. Evan also has a game where he will get his doll or lovey and put his head down like he is going to sleep so we say nigh nigh and he then sits up and smiles as we say good morning. This can go on for a long time.

Evan loves loves loves music and has shown us he can shake his grove thang. Anytime music is on or you start singing to him he will start bouncing and shaking his tush and smiling of course. It always makes us smile.

We are excited that fall is here and looking forward to the month ahead. We have Evan's Grandpa Stan coming to visit from Florida. And then his BeBe will be here for Halloween. Evan will have more attention then he will know what to do with.

Evan and Daddy playing in a big box, Isaac just looks a little cramped

                        

Playing in the fort

                                                            

Evan's new favorite place in the house, shoe bench

Evan coming to get me or probably the camera

We have a walker

Ok so I know I said I would post in a month, but today Evan decided to start walking! Not on his own but none the less walking!!! I was able to get a little on video. He had already done one lap around our downstairs.

Starting up again

I know, I know it has almost 8 months since I have updated this blog but I promise I will be better. I am going to try and update at least once a month with what is going on with Evan and us.

So a quick catch-up. Evan is now 13 months! Can you believe it?

photo by Sandi Heinrich

At his 1 year check up he was 31 1/4 inches and 23 1/4 lbs! 90th percentile for height, going to be a tall kid. Evan is crawling around and pulling up and cruising around a little but no huge interest in walking, yet. I think we have another month or two until walking starts which I am good with since we are still baby proofing the house.

Evan has 3 bottom teeth. He got the first 2 at about 10 months and then the 3rd a month later. We can see the top 2 but not out yet and we think that his 1 year molars and trying to come in as well. We have had sleepless nights again after being spoiled with Evan sleeping 15 hours a night for about 3 weeks. It seems to be every other night he doesn't sleep for the past week. I have read some posts online that women say it lasted weeks like this! At least all the big teeth should come in at once.

We have done a good amount of traveling this summer and Evan has been great through it all. Around July 4th we headed East to New Jersey and New York. The flights were long but Evan was a trooper. While in NJ Evan met his future wife, Ava. They got along great and I see potential in this relationship. Ava's mom is my best friend Alison whom I have known since I was about 3 or 4.

We headed up to Troy, NY and Evan got to meet his great grandma, Lilly and celebrate her 92nd birthday. Even though there was a major heat wave while we were there, we celebrated 4th of July at Lake George with Isaac's family and extended family and had a blast.

A few weeks ago we went camping on Friday Harbor. No running water or electricity and an out house. I think Evan was a better trouper than me :) We went on a whale watching tour and Evan had to be in a carrier the entire 3 plus hours. He flirted with literally EVERY woman on the boat. So funny.

Ok, so here we go on what I am going to try and post every month.

Evan at 12 months.
- love to play and "read" his books
- pulls up on furniture,and glass doors
- can sign: please, drink, eat, milk, help, fish, brush teeth, more, all gone or all done, lights
- words: mama, dada, nana (banana), ees(trees), dat (that)
- all things that start with b are "aboo". Book, blueberry,ball
- all things that start with d he makes a "ddd" sound. Door, dog, doll
- points to what he wants and signs please
- when he is done with eating or a toy he will sign all done
- if you ask Evan where a toy is, most times he will point to it and if we ask he will go get it
- can put the rings back on the stacking pole, not in order
- tries to do the motions for "Itsy Bitsy Spider"
- loves to dance and shake

I am sure I am forgetting plenty but that is it for now.

It's been awhile and he is now 5 months old!

So this post is a month old but wanted to post it anyway!

Sorry that I haven't posted in almost a month. Time really does fly. Evan turned 5 months old this week.

What a busy month it has been. We kicked off the month with Evan's 4 month pictures. Sandi Heinrich is the photographer who has been helping us chronicle Evan's life is AMAZING. We have so much fun taking the pictures which seems to be evident when looking at them.

Evan's first Hanukkah was a success! He got more gifts then he knows what to do with and all he really wanted was the wrapping paper to eat :) He has changed the way Isaac and I look at the holiday for sure. It will just be more and more fun the older he gets.

We saw Evan roll over for the first time (and haven't really seen it since). He is trying to roll a lot but not all the way there. Evan is also grabbing at EVERYTHING! My hair, lips, noses, glasses, you name it he will take it and put it in his mouth or try to.


We heard Evan say "Bah". He says it a lot! Even at 4 am when he wakes up :) Speaking of sleep I can say that we are having more great nights then not. He goes down around 7pm and is waking up around 4am. He may be up anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 minutes but goes back down until about 7am. Now if only Isaac and I can sleep like that.

Other milestones we have hit over the month were: Evan sitting up more and more by himself, loves playing in his exersaucer and jumparoo. Peek-a-boo is a favorite and gets laughs every time. We try reading to him but all Evan wants to do is eat the book.

We will be starting food with Evan once he hits 6 months. Since he has such sensative skin he is more prone ot food allergies so we need to be careful. I am going to try and make some of his food myself and see how that goes. He seems ready now! We are waiting for that first tooth to break through but who knows when that will happen.
We are getting ready to embark on our first family trip and so excited! We are sure the airplane ride will be an experience we will not forget, good or bad. Evan will get to meet so many cousins and friends I don't think we will be holding him much, except for the diaper changes of course.