She Finally Did It (At Home)

Apparently, Evie has been pulling up at school for a couple weeks.  However, she had NEVER done it at home, until this weekend.  That silly girl!  It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that I can't resist picking her up every single time she puts her arms out or points at me (hey YOU, pick me up!).  I know, I know, I'm working on it.  She's just so hard to resist!!  I could literally walk around with that child on my hip all day long.  :) 

We also got in lots of stair climbing practice this weekend.  She can go up five or six before she gives out.  Her favorite is going up the two steps from the foyer to the dining room.  Going back down is not quite as easy.  She hasn't mastered that yet.  

 

Move Over, Baby Huggums

There's TWO new babies in town.  Okay, so it doesn't look like Baby Huggums actually has to worry about being replaced anytime soon, BUT she does have a little more competition now.  I hope we're not being too indulgent, but we got Evie a new "fully submergible" baby to play with in the bathtub.  She was a hit!  

AND, Mimi and Bennett brought Evie a new Baby Huggums!  We call him Baby Blue.  He was actually Bennett's when Bennett was a baby, although I don't think Bennett ever looked at him twice (nice try, Mimi!)  :)  Isn't it funny how innate some differences are between boys and girls?  Mimi gave him to Evie on Friday at Nana's, and Evie spotted him immediately and was pulling him from Mimi's hands before she could even get him dressed!  She's been attached ever since, although she does go back and forth between Baby Blue and Baby Huggums.  She chose Baby Blue last night, and didn't let him go all morning (until I was able to distract her when it was time to go to school). 

Ms. Susan told me this morning that last week, one of Evie's classmates' older sisters brought a doll into Evie's classroom that fit a Baby Huggums description.  Evie grabbed it right away (I verified that the little girl was okay with Evie playing with it!).  Ms. Susan said "Evie took that baby and acted just like that was HER baby."  Well, not surprisingly Evie had a come apart when the baby had to leave with its rightful "mother."  And apparently, the cabbage patch doll (see below) was no consolation.  Ms. Susan said Evie swatted her away when they tried to offer her to Evie to make her feel better.  I'm telling you, that girl knows what she wants!!  And that's usually a Baby Huggums.  :)   

Evie's Top Ten

1.  Baby Huggums

I'm listing Baby Huggums first for a reason.  Evie has developed a serious attachment to this doll.  Serious.  She's had more than one melt down when Baby H isn't allowed into the bathtub.  And that's about the only thing Baby H isn't allowed to do.  She sometimes even has to sit on Evie's highchair tray during meals.  Luckliy, so far I've been able to distract her when it's time to leave the house for school, so that Baby H has not yet gone with us.  As a result, Evie has adopted a Cabbage Patch doll at school that's about the same size as Baby H.  Her teachers say she has started playing with her consistently throughout the day, and Monday I had to pry her out of Evie's little hands when I picked her up.  Evie reached up to me to pick her up with one arm and she had her other arm wrapped tightly around the dolls neck!  She does the same thing with Baby H: she reaches up to be picked up, and then she makes a frantic grab for Baby H before she gets lifted up.  I'm not complaining; I actually think it's pretty cute.  We need to work on the melt downs, of course, but I love that it's dolls and not some other random toy.  We'll see how long this lasts.  I won't mind if she loves dolls for years to come.   

2.  Baths

Just over the last few weeks, I've quit using Evie's infant tub (she had the kind that started out as a reclining newborn tub and then allowed her to sit up in it when she was able).  So, now she's free in the big tub, and she loves it!  She crawls back and forth and splashes all around.  As long as we can avoid the aforementioned Baby H meltdown, bathtime is enjoyable for both of us! 

3.  Fruit

So far, there's no fruit that Evie doesn't like, and prunes remain her favorite.  We're still working on veggies.  She loves sweet potatoes, squash and corn, but she really doesn't care for anything green.  I'm not giving up, though! 

4.  Her Crib

I realize this could change any day, but for now, Evie seems to enjoy spending time in her crib.  I'm not saying she loves nap time, because it's not like she just snuggles in and falls right to sleep. Instead, she likes playing around in there.  She crawls around, plays with her lambie and blankies, pulls on her bumper and eventually falls asleep.  In the mornings, she usually isn't anxious to get out of her crib.  She'll play around and won't even put her arms out to me until she's had enough.  Sometimes I just get her out, even if she won't put her arms out.  It's a good time for me to put away her clothes or pick out her outfit since she's happy and can't go anywhere!

5.  Blankies
No explanation needed, since this is nothing new. 

6.  Waving and Pointing

Ohmygoodness, Evie has gotten SO curious.  She points at everything and wants to go inspect it.  As soon as she get to one thing, she's pointing to something else.  And she's been waving for a while, but now she can actually make the waving motion back and forth.  She often prefers just holding her hand up by her head, though, as both "hello" and "bye-bye."  All of the pictures below were NOT taken in an effort to capture her pointing.  Nope, it inevitably happens EVERY time I try to take her picture!!!

7.  Cheerios
Evie loves her some Cheerios.  She gets excited when I pull them out of the cabinet.  She only gets them after she's finished a full meal, since I'm sure she would stuff herself full before eating anything else, if I gave her the chance. She is generous, though, and she likes to feed them to me and Gavin, too.  :) 

8.  Wilson

Evie still loves Wilson, and Wilson still doesn't return the feeling.  He puts up with her, but he usually gets up when she starts patting on him.  Evie also loves letting Wilson go outside to go "tee-tee," as we say.  She waits at the door and squeals when he comes back. 

9.  Lights

I think Evie's fasciniation with lights started with Christmas trees.  She waved at every Christmas tree she saw and really loved them.  Then the trees went away, and she started pointing and waving at the chandeliers!  She's still doing it, and she loves turning off light switches and then waving bye bye to the room.  :) 

10.  Walks

Thanks to some unseasonably warm weather lately, Evie and I have been able to get outside and go for some walks.  I'm thrilled that she still loves to stroll through the neighborhood and I'm already looking forward to Spring when we can hopefully resume our daily walks.  They're good for both of us!



Ten Months Old

Evie is TEN Months old today!  She is getting so big.  She weighs about 24 pounds now, and she just transitioned into her new "big girl" carseat.  No more heavy and insanely awkward carrier (more exciting for me than for Evie)!  She is crawling all over the place and definitely developing a mind of her own.  If she is being held, she continually points at things, trying to get you to go over to what she is pointing at.  And as soon as you get to it, she's pointing at something else!  I can just see her little brain soaking everything in like a sponge.  "Mama" and "Dada" are still the only words she uses, and I know that once she starts really talking, there will be no stopping her!  It's already obvious that she's a girl who knows what she wants, and what she doesn't want!  I'm planning to post her top ten favorite things soon, but until then, here are her ten month pictures.  And let me just say that this was BY FAR the most difficult photo shoot to date.  She was not in the mood to pose or even to be still for more than a nanosecond.  So, here's the best of what I managed to get! 

Evie's Nursery

I like to think of this blog as a scrapbook- a place where I can organize photos and chronicle family events (i.e. Evie's adorableness).  Honestly, the likelihood of my creating an actual scrapbook is slim to none, not to mention the fact that my scrapbooking skills are well below average, despite my sister's unparalleled talent.  So, hopefully I can print this blog at least annually and have a handy book of memories on the shelf just waiting for Evie's perusal one day. 

With that said, the "creation" of Evie's nursery was a very exciting and fun process for me, and I hope that one day she'll want to remember what it looked like.  It might seem silly to some, but I really wanted her to have a cozy and comfortable place to start her days in this world, as well as a space that was beautiful and inviting.  I was very pleased when it all came together (and by "came together" I mean by countless hours of planning, shopping, obessessing deliberating over fabric and paint swatches, painting, painting and more painting).  But despite all the planning that goes into a room, I still have to hold my breath that the final product will be what I envisioned.  And this time, it really was, plus some.  So here it is, for me to remember just as much as Evie.  When she graduates to her big girl room upstairs, I'll be sad to see this room go.  Luckily I'll have a new room to decorate to lift my spirits.  :) 

And just to keep it real, here is what it looked like this morning, after ten months of playing, sleeping and diaper changes. 

Can you tell that the placement of the picture collage above the changing station was not the best choice?  As soon as she was able, she was kicking and pulling those frames off the wall every chance she got.  And since I have to reluctantly put safety before aestheticism, the frames came down.  Also, her video monitor used to be on the wall above her crib (cleverly photoshopped out of the pictures above by my aforementioned talented sister), and as soon as she could, she was swatting at that, too.  So, now you can spot it on top of her bookshelf. I'm sure it won't be long before we have to move the picture from over her crib, as well, at least until I can impress upon Evie the impact that artwork can have on a space.  :)

And lastly, here is a link to a post on Evie's nursery by one of my favorite design blogs.

 http://havenandhome.blogspot.com/2011/05/reader-nursery.html