Springing back memories

Last year at this time I was secretly pregnant (we told the boys and our parents on mother's day).  Crazy to think about...so much has changed!  Last year, I juggled priorities at work (we were down a man all year) and made it through my first trimester without anybody knowing (hard to do; I was so exhausted that I would almost fall asleep sitting upright) and then I learned in July about the passing of a dear friend and, as power of attorney, I needed to help manage her estate.  I didn't even start setting up the nursery until probably October.  It was all so incredibly surreal.  Now I'm sitting here with Evey beside me, entertaining herself by pulling a blanket over her head, smiling and squealing.  Love it love it love it.  Such a cool journey this has been so far.

Tag is Evey's favorite person -- she never fails to give him the biggest smile her face can accomodate.  They play tickle games and Evey laughs and laughs -- adorable.  I never get tired of watching them together.

Katelyn has been Evey's caregiver when I'm working in the mornings and she's so great with her.  Very gentle, always amused at Evey's goofy singing and playing, and impressed by Evey's progress each week. Such a God-send.  We'll miss her when she goes back to school out east.

My parents, "Oma & Opa", have been covering caregiver duty for me also, and it's so great to have them nearby.  Evey is going to have so much fun playing in Oma's kitchen, building camp fires with Opa.....but for now, she gets nursery rhymes sung to her in dutch and Opa's renditions of  "I've been workin' on the railroad" and "Rub a Dub Dub" (he is soooo cute with her -- she adores her Opa).

Evey and I like to take trips to the grocery and the garden nursery -- she seems to enjoy a daily venture out into the world.  She quietly takes in the views and never fails to give the gift of an apple-cheek smile to a friendly cashier or fellow shopper.

I've been asked if she's a redhead....I don't think so, but it sure seems like it at times.  I think it's because her scalp sometimes glows pinkish...  But maybe she'll end up like her cousin Graham, with a full head of wonderful RED hair!

My friend Karen was telling me how her boys retained the personalities they had as babies -- if that's the case with Evey we're going to have a houseful of singing, chattering, activity and adventure!  She's discovered her toes, and her favorite way to wake up in the morning is to sing and yell, alternately grabbing her toes and arching her back, working her way across the mattress until she can bury her head in a pillow, which brings on gleeful squealing and leg kicking.  Quite the morning workout routine.  No signs of crawling yet, thank goodness, but when she decides to she can worm her way across the floor on her back -- I guess it will be a while before she grows hair on the back of her head...

Hands Full

 

Can't believe it's been a month since the last post -- Time is FLYIN' !!

I've had my hands full, working from home, tackling some last projects on the homefront, and trying to sort out the best daycare situation for Evelyn when I go back to the office full-time.  By some miracle we got into this great little church daycare that will give Evey a nurturing and loving environment when we can't be with her. Huge relief.  I can sleep at night now.

I'm not even sure where to begin on the updates -- You would not recognize this little go-getter.  Evey is a bundle of energy, and she uses it in Full Effect.  The universe has definitely sent a counter-balance to the generally quiet ways of Evey's momma & poppa...We are in for some excitement with this little one.

Talking?  Non-stop chatter, cooing, squealing - you name it, we sing that tune.

Sitting up?  No problem.  Got it mastered.  Except when she decides to suddenly, and for no apparent reason, sling her body backwards - in which case she either bonks her head on the floor, or is saved by the strategically placed boppy (momma's a quick study).

Standing?  Scary, but true, she LOVES to practice standing.  All we have to do is hold onto her hands and she stands firmly, huge gummy grin spread across her face, with some hip wobbling thrown in for drama.  She will stand up from a seated position (5 months old and already doing impressive squats.  holy moly), and gets very frustrated when we don't figure out that it's "standing time" and try to lay her down somewhere.

Everyone who meets her falls immediately under her spell -- she's a total charmer.  Even the photographer was cooing over her (she wanted to grab his camera, but opted to get a grip on his finger instead).  We'll see what happens when she hits the "strangers are scary" phase (around 9 months I guess?).  We're in no hurry of course -- these past 5 months have been too much fun -- trying to soak up every precious bit of it that we can...