Sheer Poetry

I usually check up with Tag later in the day to see how the morning went, getting Evelyn ready and off to school.  This morning the text response was, "She is sheer poetry."

That says it all, I think.

The Belly is Off the Ground !!

Last weekend I witnessed for the first time a consistent application of the true "crawling" method: hands and knees.  And she seemed to feel pretty comfortable with it.  Friday afternoon she greeted me using her unique "army crawl" style to cross the daycare room.  And Saturday morning it's all hands and knees.  She must have been practicing all last week without my knowledge.  The daycare folks deliberately withold that kind of stuff from mommies cuz they've learned that it steals the moment and makes mommies cry.  So, Evey will probably take her first steps without me (ouch) but I won't know so it will be ignorant bliss when I praise her for taking her "first steps" in the not too distant future.  (daycare stinks).

Also important to note is the first real appetite for solid food that kicked in.  I fed her oatmeal early in the week and she was so into it I couldn't spoon it in fast enough.  She's eating "lunch" at daycare every day now and I feed her yogurt or sweet potatoes for "dinner."  She was even willing to try some pears this morning.  It's pretty cool.  I wonder if she figured out that food will fill her tummy when she's hungry?  Could also be the influence of the older infants she hangs out with all day (she's moved up to the next level classroom already).  Yesterday when I picked her up, I caught her stealing a biscuit from a poor bugger strapped into a chair.  She still seems to choke on rice cakes though, so I don't want her munching biscuits yet, but she gets that it's "cool" to eat.  She wants in on the action.

What comes before Toddler? Tumbler

With exploration comes the occassional bump or bruise...and Evey is earning her fair share.  I am collecting "accident reports" from the daycare that document when/how Evelyn trys to pull up on something and it comes falling over on top of her (bump) or swings a toy around and bonks herself in the head (thump) or plays near another baby who slings something into her head (kathunk).  They're totally minor incidents, but apparently they have to document everything.

Tag called me the other morning to report an incident that occured while he was getting ready for work. Evey was pulling herself up on the outside of the tub and !whoops! slipped and fell on her face.  Got quite a shiner -- poor Poppa Tag was beside himself.  She's fine of course.

We had an appointment to get Evey her passport this week, and now her passport photo has a lovely purple-green splotch above her left eye - too funny.

An Insider Look at Great Adventure Daycare

Sent a camera to daycare in hopes of getting glimpses of a "day in the life" of Evey.  Got some fun shots of her with her buddies and the wonderful ladies that take such great care of her.  She moves up to the next class on Monday, the "older infant" room.  Can't believe she's already "graduating...."

Documenting Bad Parenting

Little Evey is tough to keep up with these days!

As I'm taking photos of her practicing her balance at the foot of the stairs, she suddenly figures out how to CLIMB them (we've now installed a gate -- she's not happy about it).

Then, right before my eyes, she decides to scramble up the side of the dog bowl stand (which she loves to do on a regular basis) WHILE the dogs are feeding (dogs didn't seem to mind actually...).

And just last night, as we're relaxing in the living room, Evey disappears lightening fast into the kitchen and as I turn to see what she's doing, I see her legs and bum disappear INTO the plastic-ware cabinet.

Her new favorite game is to crawl up onto us while we're sitting with her on the floor, and then let go to practice balancing on her two fantastic legs.  She's also got the transition from crawling to sitting and back to crawling again down pat.  Amazing to watch.  I love it.  She's a girl on the go, and getting more independant by the day.

Still not big on solid food, but she has a favorite now:  Avocado.  I think she must have eaten a whole one by herself over the course of last week.  Tried yogurt this week and that might be a winner...  Pears, applesauce, banana, mango, peaches and sweet potato, you can forget it.  Gross stuff.  She gags and gives me a look like I'm trying to poison her.  I'll keep testing them though... One shouldn't have to live on avocado alone...

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!).