19 months - Michigan Beach Vacation

We decided to escape the sweltering triple-digits of Memphis and head north for our vacation this summer and had a wonderful time -- is there anywhere more beautiful than coastal Michigan in the summertime?

Saying Hello from Pentwater MI ! 

We turned the only rainy day of our trip into a lovely afternoon browsing shops and enjoying lunch in the small coastal town of Pentwater.  (Evey is looking so grown up these days....) 

 Her first experience at the beach started with initial awe and fascination and a little bit of apprehension (there was wind and great waves that evening!), followed quickly (5 minutes maybe?) by full on thrill -- We had to hold her back from running head first into the waves!  A little "splashing our feet in the water" turned into total drenching -- I was glad I thought to bring an extra set of clothes for her -- that icy Lake Michigan water mixed with cool evening wind would have made for a shivering blue baby !

Pere Marquette beach has a fantastic playground right on the sand -- we spent a lot of time climbing, sliding, climbing again -- Ev LOVED it! She's quite daring, so Tag and I had to take turns running back and forth to ensure she didn't jump from a ledge or topple from a hanging bridge (!)

There was a pier that took us all the way out to a light house with huge waves crashing over monstrous boulders that lined the narrow walkway -- it was a bit unnerving....we kept a firm grip on the stroller handles....But it was pretty cool and gave us a great view of the beach and the tugs moving barges into the harbor.

We took a quick overnight trip to the east side of the state to say hello to Tag's family.  I regret not taking more photos -- it was great to see Evey interacting with everyone, especially her cousin Leah who showered her with affection.  Ev ate it up.   Right off the bat she mimicked Leah when calling for Wally their labradoodle and hollered out in her tiny voice "Waaaaaeeeee!"

 More beach time -- digging in the sand with Poppa --

 She didn't understand the sand getting stuck to her skin at first.  She got over the wierd sandy feeling with some inspiration from Poppa and dove into their pit to help him dig it out... :o)



Sharing her ice cube with Mamma at the Parade :o)

We decided to drive north for a day trip to check out Sleeping Bear Dunes and see if we could find the July 4th parade near Glen Lake.  Following our gut, we stayed on toward Glen Arbor and pulled into a side street that dead-ended at Lake Michigan.  We parked, strolled up to entrance of the street where we saw folks gathering, and realized quickly that we had literally parked in grand central of all the activities (!) and early enough (about 20 minutes prior to launch) to get a good parking spot, stroll a bit along the quaint avenue, and find a good spot to enjoy the parade.  Not bad for a 3 hour drive and no real planning except spontaneity!  The parade was the most hilarious, fun parade Tag and I had ever been to -- where else can you go to a parade with a huge Snow Plow, Unicycles, a full Kazoo Brigade, a parody on The Royal Wedding, and a Sewage Transport logoed "Decker's Plumbing -- Another Truckload of Political Promises" ?!!  Everyone was soooo friendly and we got the kids dancing to the music -- It was fantastic.

 I made Tag do the Dune Climb with me -- he really didn't want to.  He asked why everyone was carrying their shoes and I said "cuz it's hard to walk in sand with shoes on -- we don't need ours, just leave 'em by the vehicle."  And about 20 yards up the climb I was nervous about having left our flip flops....the sand was scorching hot (!!!).  Tag was pretty upset -- but we kept on to the very top, because of course we're both stubborn mules, and ended up with blisters under our toes from the hot sand - Yeowch !! Evey was undaunted and had a ball yelling encouragement to go faster, faster up the hill (huff puff !  that's hard work with a 25 lb toddler on your back !).

We drove around the surrounding area through nap time, still exploring the dunes and the views in the State Park.  Stunning views.

Stopped to enjoy a bit of shade so Ev could run around in the sand without burning her tootsies.

It was a great trip -- we took hundreds of photos and made thousands of perfect little memories.

18 months and hitting her stride

Evey is now very much on the move all the time, and it makes traveling with her both fun and challenging (!).

Sitting in a car seat or on a plane for long periods tests her patience and she is easily frustrated and bored, as you might expect of a toddler who is ready to explore the world that she can now more readily access.  This desire to explore is why it's so fun to take her places though.  Fearless is definitely an appropriately strong adjective to describe Evey with.  She will try new things, climb new obstacles, meet new people, all with a happy cheerfulness that we have come to know as Evey's truest personality.

Took her on a road trip with two fabulous girlfriends, Sandy and Karen, to eastern Tennessee (Fall Creek Falls -- beautiful state park).  These two women, amazing mothers and incredible women, gave Ev and I the gift of their fully focused love and energy on this trip.  With awesome kids of their own that they left behind at home, it was beautiful and touching to watch them engage Evey, someone elses child, with so much tenderness and affection.  Truly a unique and unforgettable blessing for both Ev and me.

Sandy and Ev - best buds

Karen and Ev charmed the heck out of each other

Sandy and Evey always willing to share....

"Cheers!!"

Stopped to play in a peaceful creek

Having fun cooling off

Splashing is a very favorite thing

We also took Evelyn to Boston for the wedding of my cousin Jonathon. She had an absolute ball running around at the reception - I wish I had taken photos...missed many wonderful opportunities to take pictures of my Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. While in the Boston area, we turned it into a mini-vacation and toured the area a bit, exploring Plymouth Rock and the downtown area. We'll definitely be back for a longer visit - Boston is a most excellent vacation destination.

On board the Mayflower II

Ev's first Carousel Ride - downtown Boston, Quincy Market

She wasn't too sure about it....

 She worked diligently on a finger painting project for Father's Day -- we turned it into a couple of cards for Poppa and Opa.  Pretty impressive color expression...not to mention the body art...

"Which color should I use now?"

The focused artist

 Evelyn still doesn't have much of a vocabulary, but she knows how to get what she wants.  She even got Oma to play with her in her tent -- (Oma is so fun!)

"Hi!!!"

Went to her very first birthday party.  Maddie turned 4 and because her sister Ella is 2, 1-1/2 year old Evey got invited to participate.  It was a full agenda:  Art Project, Dress-Up, Ballroom Dancing, Tea Party, Birthday Cake and Presents.  Totally adorable. Ev got right into it and did her best to keep up with the older girls.

Painting skillfully with a brush

All the girls diligently decorating their flower pots

She wanted to try out a Snow White outfit...(it lasted 2 seconds and she wanted it OFF!)

17 Months

She called me mamma, directly, for the first time.  I got all choked up. It was awesome.  I was holding her, helping her calm down from a tired crying fit so that she could fall asleep for a nap. She pointed at a photo of Tag and me on the wall and said, "poppa poppa poppa?" and I confirmed, yes, that's poppa!  Then she said, to my amazement, "momma?  mommeee?" and I agreed, "yes" (cue the tightened throat) "that's mamma, that's me." She then smiled broadly and pointed at my chest "mommeee!"  She quickly moved on to the other photos and pointed to one of herself, "bubeeee?  bubeeee?" and then pointed at her chest, giggling and smiling.  She calls herself baby. How cute is that?


hanging out at Jean's art opening



playing knock-knock with our artist friend Jean at her gallery opening

Went to our first Rock 'n Romp -- basically a monthly hippie music fest for toddlers / young children -- She of course loved it.  Anything with kids and music at the same time is nothing short of perfection in her book. Chased beach balls all over the lawn, stealing them from other children when she could and running away squealing with delight at her own savvy.  Played on some sit-n-spins in front of the stage as other kids ran all over the stage wearing fake moustaches and painted on butterflies.  Can't wait till she's older and can fully appreciate.  They serve beer and barbeque so we'll bring Tag with us next time.  He'll dig it.

We rode over to our friends Sandy and Katelyn's house to meet their new baby horse.  I never imagined I'd get to stand next to a foal who wasn't even a full day old yet, let alone get to introduce my baby girl to a freshly birthed baby horse.  Evelyn was totally into it and loved pointing to the "Mamma" and the "Baby."

visiting Risque and her brand new foal

beautiful Katelyn

only hours old, and moving around so nicely.  amazing.

She's become addicted to Sesame Street.  I'm not sure how good it is that I've allowed this to happen.  But everything I read about Sesame Street and Blues Clues validates them as fostering true learning.  Not just veg-out TV.  But she really does fixate on it.  She can't say "sesame street" so she sings the first part of the theme song, swaying her head from side to side, "Daaaaaaah Dah, Daaaaaaaah Dah."  It's adorable.  I try to participate when the show is on, like they encourage parents to do, but she generally prefers that I just sit there quietly, unless it's a song that we can dance to together.  She loves dancing.



enjoying her entertaining perch



Recruited Oma to help with a sewing project -- it turned into a 2-day, 6 hours each day, sewing FEST (careful if you get Sylvia started on a project with you...she has incredible endurance.  I once suggested we bake Christmas cookies and we ended up baking for 8 straight hours -- I surrendered, lying with my feet up on the couch, while she buzzed around the kitchen putting the finishing touches on everything).  Needless to say, she had Evey and I both sewing (!) and we cranked out more than 6 pair of summery pants and a tank top. It was fantastic.  Evey is such a climber and outdoor enthusiast that I wanted some light cotton pants to put under her summer dresses so her kness don't get all scraped up and her legs don't get burned on hot summertime playground equipment.  We picked out some colorful fabrics and now she's got the funkiest wardrobe around.  Love it.

 



Ev loves watching Oma work



Keeping step

I mentioned Evey's friend Hayden in the previous post and how she has moved along to the next classroom.  Hayden arrived at daycare about the same time as Evelyn, but she's a little older.  I think she's 2 or 3 months older.  Evelyn was 6 months old when we first put her into daycare and she transitioned very well.  Hayden was already deep into the attachment phase, so it was much harder for her to deal with being apart from her mom. Evey's familiarity became a comfort to her.  She and Evelyn are now steadfast buddies who greet each other with a hug. "Evey" was one of Hayden's first words.

I had noticed that Hayden's been missing from Ev's classroom for a few days.  When we bumped into Hayden and her mom at the Easter fest, her mom (I should know her name but I don't....we are called "Evey's Mom" and "Hayden's Mom" at school) told us she'd moved up to the older classroom.  It was a bit of a shock to me...so I inquired further.  Hayden is making great strides in her language ability -- she is speaking full sentences, knows her colors, can count to 10, and knows part of the alphabet.  She also, apparently, started announcing when she needs to go poo, so that has prompted the toilet vs diapers process.  Hayden, in other words, has launched into a whole new phase of development and no longer really belongs with the "babies."

It's funny what that information did to me.  I caught myself making comparisons and felt the rise of anxiety about what Evey is and isn't doing...whether I've been spending enough time working with her to learn shapes or colors... Is she behind?  Am I holding her back in some way?  Have I done something wrong???  And thankfully I caught myself before the mental conversation went any further.  Evelyn is an extremely happy, extremely social, extremely healthy child.  She is so engaging, and chatters away in her own little language, finding ways to get the message across to us.  Tag and I are in absolutely no hurry to rush her out of baby-ness.  We have faith that she will continue to evolve, just as she has up to this point, naturally and gracefully.  And I am not compelled to drill  her on colors or numbers....I want her to enjoy learning.  I will simply encourage her curiosity as best I can so that she might keep it longer than many children do, and if we're lucky, even on into adulthood.  Being new at this parenting-a-small-child thing causes me to question myself at every turn.  It's nice to step out of the "competition" ....  We'll be with little Hayden in the next level classroom soon enough  :o)

16 Months

Spring has arrived and the warm weather allows us to leave the back door open -- Evelyn takes full advantage of this most excellent new found freedom and she wanders in and out, exploring the patio, playing with rocks, splish-splashing in the dog bowl when I neglect to put it up quickly enough (oops)... 

Took her to Costco the other week and at the entrance they always have an interesting array of items on display.  This particular visit showcased a water/sand table with a colorful little umbrella shade.  Evey would not be contained in the cart and almost launched herself at the table so I let her down to investigate and she clanged her way all around it, banging the cups and bowls, screeching with delight.  Attracted an audience (Surprise surprise.  I'm getting used to it actually).  Started getting looks and then comments when I tried to wrangle Evey away from the table.  People actually commented that I couldn't possibly walk out of Costco without that water table.  So, naturally, 20 minutes later I was loading it into the back of my truck.  I really wasn't excited about a huge plasticky thing in my yard.  But as it turns out, that thing is worth quadruple it's weight in gold.  Evelyn cannot get enough of it -- water water water -- it's her favorite thing.  Best purchase yet.  Keeps her occupied on the patio while Tag and I do a little yard work or lounge and enjoy a leisurely cocktail.  It'll keep her cool in the summer too, granted she's still as enamoured with it by July...

Easter was more fun-filled than we anticipated.  We thought we'd swing by and casually check out the Easter Hollow at Evey's daycare church.  Had a false start when Evey fell asleep on the way there (missed her normal nap time)...so we ran a few errands for an hour while she dozed in her carseat and then thought we'd catch the end of the Hollow festivities.  Turns out they leave the easter egg hunt for last, so Evey got to participate in the main event!  She was fascinated by the colorful plastic eggs - didn't nab but two of them, but that was all her little hands could hold so it was perfect. Very sweet to see her toddling around with other little bitties, and we ran into one of her school mates (Hayden) whom she doesn't get to see much anymore because Hayden moved on to the next class level.  More on that later. 

So that was Saturday -- On Easter Sunday we went to brunch at the club and had to grab a late slot since they were almost fully booked.  Dressed Evelyn in a pretty little sundress (was a perfect, warm day) and got to visit Dylan who was working the carving stations.  Very relaxed afternoon, no expectations except to enjoy the day.  Well wouldn't you know, they also save the egg hunt for the end of the afternoon!  So Evey got another shot at egg hunting and was even happy to share her spoils with the younger babies who were there.  Tag thankfully thought to grab the camera on our way out the door earlier that day, so we have  precious photos of Ev enjoying the day.

A Puppet Show Story

Took Evey to her first Puppet Show at the library the other day -- we got on "the list" thanks to the efforts of my friend Kathrine who's a mom-pro with 5 lovelies of her own.  It was very sweet -- they do a good job putting on a show for the kids. 

I wasn't sure how Evelyn would react ... she tends to enjoy puppets in general (we play "Rooooaaaar Dinosaaauuur!!" with our dinosaur puppets at home).  The room was full of little bitties, from younger than Ev up to about 6 years old.  They all seemed to be seasoned veterans of puppet show protocol and sat nicely on the rug watching the show.  The crowd (i.e. captive audience) impressed Ev far more than the puppets.  She would not sit still and instead wandered through the mass of kids, tapping on shoulders, tugging on hair, squatting down in front of them to get face-to-face and cackle gleefully at them.  I was wondering when we'd get kicked out.  I collected her back a number of times and tried (yes, I did) to get her to sit on the floor or on my lap...to no avail. Each time I tried to impose on her I risked a full-on screaming melt-down, so I chose to ignore the sideways looks from the other mom's and rode the fine line of allowing her to move around just ever so much...  She enjoyed the dancing and clapping we did near the end.  They should start with that so kids (Evey) can burn off some energy right away (!).

Anyway -- we'll see if we get on the list next time.  Good thing she's so darn charming.

15 Months

Spring is right around the corner and I'm so looking forward to helping Evelyn explore the great outdoors. 

She LOVES going to the park to scramble over playground equipment and has zero fear of the fast slides (uh oh).  Anywhere there's kids to watch and interact with, she's totally psyched to jump in --- claps her hands and squeals with excitement when she realizes we're walking into a kid zone.  

They have these cool jungle-gym structures at the park with all sorts of different slides coming down in various places, connector tunnels (which she loves to hang out in) and steps to various platforms -- Have to stay on my toes because she'll suddenly decide to zip down a tunnel slide and goes so fast that you have to be at the bottom to catch her or she flies off!!  You'd think that would terrify her, but she climbs back up and does it again --- Hilarious!  Wish I'd had that kind of courage at her age!  (but then my mom would not have aged so slowly and gracefully...)

Evey stole another little girl's pink soccer ball on Sunday....she was just beside herself when they had to take it back. She has a thing for sports equipment.  I had to make Tag put up his golf club bag because I was afraid Evey would pull it down onto herself -- she can't keep her hands off that kind of stuff.

She proudly displays 6 teeth now -- a row on top and two crooked ones on bottom.  Makes her look so grown up.  Kills me.  Her smile makes me laugh - very contagious.  Legs are starting to slim down and get long ... cutest toddler I've ever seen.  No words yet, but plenty of pointing and other "commands."  Thankfully much better at sleeping now that her teething is taking a break.