Cookin' in the Suburbs

Last summer the temperatures were perfect.  We spent time relaxing on the patio, went to a bunch of outdoor music venues, had gatherings with friends on the lawn for some croquet and corn hole...and now we can hardly bring ourselves to mow the lawn let alone enjoy time outside. 

Poor puppies are stuck with a 20 minute walk at 5am (when it's cool enough for them to avoid getting heat stroke) because I can't find time or energy to walk them after sundown when it's cool enough to be safe.

The last time we had continual triple digit temps was, gosh, many years ago.  Evey isn't running around yet, so I guess it's as good a summer as any for a sizzler but I'm ready for fall and it's only mid-July. 

Good thing we have access to a pool - what a lifesaver!  We finally took some shots of our precious Evey in her swim garb and the baby float that inspires Tag to call her Cleopatra.  No wonder she likes the water :-)

Whoops! Where did the weeks go?

I'm trying to be diligent about this blog because I think it might make a nice story for Evelyn someday -- her first year on the earth.  So much happens so quickly -- this is the fastest she will ever develop.  Gotta stay on my toes.

This gorgeous girl has become a bit independent in that she can sit and crawl (scooch) and even (yes) pull herself up to a standing position to satisfy her need for new perspectives, new textures, and new parts of the house.  First trip to the dining room happened just recently.  I'm discovering all the things in my home that might topple over and/or get tangled on a baby arm/leg and they're all ending up in the attic or piled on the dining room table.  I'm also discovering how filthy my floors are...despite having help to clean once a week [yes, I hired a cleaning person this month and she is my hero]. Poor Evey ends up with a brown shirt, hairy fingers and a speckled face on her excursions round the house.  She doesn't seem to mind I guess.  But it's pretty gross.  Tag thinks we should just strap some mop heads to her knees and belly and make it productive (don't worry, I'm not going to let him).  Incidentally, I read in this baby food book I picked up that you should boil tap water before giving it to your baby to kill any traces of bacteria.  Does the author realize that babies crawl?  On the floor?

She's making all sorts of babbling sounds now.  "oooooooh wah wah wah" and "aah bah bah bah bah."  Tag's got her working on "pa pa" but I think they've got a ways to go.  I think I did hear "ah da" yesterday, which is pretty sophisticated considering the tongue action required.  How wierd it will be to hear her start talking...  She's already 7 months.  Won't actually be that far off.  My friend Sandy reminded me the other day that Evelyn will celebrate her 1st birthday in less than 5 months time.  I admit I got a bit teary at that shocking revelation.  I'm not ready.  Evey, please stay my baby for just a bit longer!

Evey's sense of humor is totally fun.  She deliberately does things (usually it's a sound) to make us laugh, and when we do, she joins right in.  So awesome.

I don't have pictures yet of her in the (CUTE) swimsuit I ordered.  We take her to the club pool and let her float around in this little canopy baby float thing (it's perfect) and she seems to like the water and watching Tag submerge and resurface.  We're avoiding the heat and sun of high noon (it's been sizzling in upper 90's here), so we go in the early evenings which is perfect, but unfortunately there aren't many kids for her to watch so she's stuck with me and Tag for entertainment.

We've taken a break from solid foods.  She just wasn't interested (lots of gagging...not a lot of swallowing), and I read in my trusted baby book that it's totally fine.  She's healthy as can be (no more daycare colds so far!) and gaining weight (18 lbs now) and she might even decide to skip baby food altogether (I read that some babies don't like pureed food and prefer to start out self-feeding finger foods).  We'll see (nursing sure is easy!).

Evey's First Father's Day

What?  A day specially made to appreciate Poppa?  What a wonderful concept!  Evelyn LOVES her Poppa, and she was happy to hang out through brunch to meet up with Tag after his round of golf (in 100 degree weather...ugh!  Now that's dedication to a sport.)

We went to brunch in honor of Opa, who is a cherished father indeed. 

So Evey got to spend some fun time with her doting grandparents (she was determined to steal Opa's spoon off the table....Oma was obviously a helpful accomplice. Who can deny this child anything?)

It was a lovely afternoon.  We are so blessed to have such caring, loving fathers in our lives.

No More Sweet Yellow Poo....

Things you never think you'll say... I will miss that sweet yellow poo that Evelyn had for so long as an exclusively breast-fed baby. She's introduced various solid (smushed, pureed, liquified solid) foods into her diet now and the poo is definitely not yellow anymore, and it ain't so sweet either. Ah well. It was fun while it lasted. Good thing Tag gets most of the morning diaper changes (those are the mighty-mighty diaper filling episodes).

Our precious Evey is almost 7 months old now.  Good Ness.  She seems to enjoy this age as much as we do -- so much energy and happiness.  And she's figured out the scooching thing -- not very elegant, lots of leg flailing and grunting, but she gets herself across the carpet.  Amazing.  I can't believe crawling is already here (didn't I just give birth to this bundle of joy ???).

No teeth yet, but drool drool drool yes.  They make her wear a bib at daycare.  Probably a good idea at home too, but I just hate how they look on her.  Goofy.  Tag encourages me to get over it -- the drool must be managed.  Okay, okay.  Better than a soaked carpet I guess.

Had her first experience in the baby pool this weekend -- seems to enjoy water!  She splish-splashed and scooted all around in the pool - can't wait to try a real pool!  That will be very fun -- ordered her swimsuit on-line (CUTE!!) and it should arrive this week.  We'll test it out next weekend at the club pool.

They call her the "cheerleader" at daycare -- if I keep her home with me for a day they miss her and call the house asking, "Where is our cheerleader?! We miss her!"  Smile smile smile. I swear there isn't a happier baby on the face of the earth.  We took her to brunch after church today and she didn't really get a chance for her morning nap - I was a little concerned for her, and our friends were more than a bit anxious about the six month old joining us for a relaxing brunch, but I tell ya -- she blew everybody away.  Flirting with the waitstaff and passing guests, blowing raspberries and growling happily as she chewed her toys and edge of the table, she was the epitomy of a perfectly charming baby girl.  And proof that she was completely exhausted?  The minute she hit the carseat she was out like a light.

I couldn't be more grateful for this amazing, healthy, happy baby.  If it were possible I'd have 5 more like her.  But, as they say, quit while you're ahead -- the first baby convinces you to have another, and the second convinces you that two's enough (!).

Sleep Deprivation and the Full-Time Workin' Mom Treadmill

Started daycare this week.  Now I get the gist of what being sleep deprived really is...  The new schedule has Tag and I partnering up to limit the hours that Evey spends in the daycare. 

I get out of bed at 5am, walk and feed the dogs, get myself showered and dressed (which is no simple task...the clothes that I set out the night before, in an effort to be efficient, quite often don't work.  With these nursing boobs and pregnancy hips, it's slim pickin's in the closet these days), gather up the stuff to pump and store milk at the office, feed Evey and get out the door by 6:15 so I can make it to work before 7 so I can beat rush hour and leave the office by 4 to pick up my darling little one from daycare before 5pm.  So far so good.  The morning walk is balmy and the sun starts to rise so it's not so bad.  Winter will be a test of my mettle...dark and cold do not a happy early morning Heidi make.  Of course it's all completely worth it to be able to spend that extra hour with my sweetpea in the evening.  I just wish I didn't have to miss the smiley playful baby that she is in the mornings - she always wakes up so happy.  Which leads me to Tag's schedule.

Tag wakes up at 5am and/or 6am to help Evey settle back into sleep once I've left, and then snoozes until about 7 and takes care of changing, dressing, sometimes feeding, and then packing up Evey and her daycare essentials, dropping her by the daycare around the corner and starting his workday by 8:30.

Evelyn seems to have adjusted pretty well -- she likes the caretakers and they adore her.  We just have a teeny tiny problem napping during the day....  It's a small collection of 20 minute cat naps, and it's just not doing the trick.  By the time I pick her up in the late afternoon she's got blue shadows for eyelids and she crashes into full-on sleep when I get her home.  Which breaks my heart because of course all I want to do is interact with her and get my dose of Evey smiles for the day.  Good thing we're still co-sleeping or I'd have to find a way to crawl in next to her in the crib for the night (!).

It will get better, I know that.  For Week One it really was quite successful.  I didn't even cry at work!  And now we're starting a decadent 3 day holiday weekend with lots of time for play and cuddling.  And sleep.  Amen!!

Sharing a Milestone

On May 18th, Evey turned 6 months (24 weeks) and Keagan turned 21 years (1,092 weeks).  Quite a big day for Poppa Tag (!). 

To honor the milestone for Keagan, he received a very fine accoustic guitar that should serve him well for decades to come -- Tag was so proud to give it to him.  Keagan is quite the guitar player already, so he starting strumming and picking the instant he got it into his hands (big happy grin spread across his face). 

To honor the milestone for Evey, she received her 6 month shots.  Poor baby girl.  I assured her that her 21st birthday would be more fun.  She actually endured the event like a real trooper -- screamed in shock and pain during the shots, but quickly recovered when I took her into my arms.  It was only when the nurse tried to give her back her pacifier that she started screaming again.  I made that mean nurse go away and then Evey was fine   =;-)

Little Miss Personality is starting to appreciate her siblings more and more.  Even the furry ones are starting to fall under her spell....

Tag, of course, has his own special ways of bonding with Evelyn. 

Some of them Mamma Heidi approves of (way to go Ergo-Dad!!)

 

and some, she does not....

 

23 weeks

Best Darn 23 weeks ever.  Personality is really coming out now. 

We took her to the Memphis Symphony Orchestra "Picnic in the Park" performance on Saturday evening.  Everybody sets up picnics on the lawn at the Dixon Gardens and enjoys the musical performance of our fabulous symphony.  Everybody, that is, except those circling the Graham picnic -- they were all engaged with our flirty little show-off who would roll across the blanket and arch backwards to charm her "fans" on the right, and then roll back the other way to giggle at the fans on her left.  All eyes were on her and she ate it right up.  Boy, are we in for it.

Katelyn, who's been taking such great care of her, leaves town in early June, and daycare is looming right around the corner.  These two are really going to miss each other.  They have quite a happy bond.  I believe Evey's well adjusted personality is due in part to Katelyn's gentle, humored care.  She will make a tremendous mom someday.

We've started tasting Rice Cereal -- I say tasting because I'm not sure any of it actually made it to her stomach to be considered "eating" rice cereal.  Evey stares at us while we eat, and especially wants to drink out of any cup/mug/glass that she sees us raise to our lips.  So I said, "fine," and decided to let her try cereal before her 6th month (it was my goal to wait until 6 months).  At least she had fun taste testing...

I look back at her early photos and can't believe the dramatic changes in her size.  She's quite a chunkster these days (wow, really, you should see her calves...we're talking herculean).  Cuter than anything I can think of.  I am madly in love with this child.