A funny thing happened on the way home from a playdate...

Today, Evelyn decided she didn't need to nap. At all. She probably sensed that I had plans for a playdate in the afternoon and initiated her standard plan-thwarting algorithms.

So I logged off work around 3pm and off we went to Sonia and Greyson's place (who are now just blocks away!), flying in the face of danger. Ironically, Greyson was taking a marathon nap almost the entire time we were there, but Evelyn had a great time exploring and creating chaos everywhere she went while Sonia and I chatted. She was slightly loopy here and there, but not too bad considering she hadn't napped all day long.

We got home around 5:45pm and while I was heating up her dinner on the stove, I sat with her in my lap on the kitchen stool, listening to the iPod (which, as you may remember from a previous posting, seems to be a very soporific setting for her, so I shouldn't have been surprised at what happened next...).

She fell asleep! And I'm talking dead-to-the-world, mark-up-her-face-with-a-Sharpie-and-take-compromising-pictures-of-her asleep.

And take pictures I did! What can I say, I'm opportunistic. Well, what I was really trying to do was wake her up so she could eat some dinner before going to bed. The pictures are an added bonus.

First I tried putting her in her high chair, which didn't quite work as I thought it would.



Then I tried changing her diaper and getting her into her PJs, half hoping that she might wake, and half resigned to the fact that I should just put her in bed.



(Incidentally, check out her eczema-free legs -- woo hoo!)



Needless to say, she's in her crib now, having eaten a good lunch around 1pm, some fruit at Sonia's, and that's it! We'll see what the night brings...

Tunnel vision

Evelyn and I have what you can call a very close relationship right now. To put it simply, she's obsessed with me. And I think it's safe to say that the feeling is mutual. When she's cuddling with me (which is often), it feels like we are the only ones around.


We joke that Evelyn is a Little John, but really, she's my Mini-Me -- she goes everywhere I go.

Evelyn was never really cuddly until she was about maybe 11 months old. Right around the time she started sucking her thumb, she started to have these long marathon cuddling sessions with me. I'd come home from work and she'd just settle in on my lap and lean against me, completely still but for the thumbsucking, for a very long time.

Now she's 15 months old, and the love affair (singular obsession) continues. And it's not just limited to the time after I get home. It's basically limited only to her waking hours and when I'm not in the bathroom or brushing my teeth or eating. But come to think of it, she's usually hovering, if not clambering, nearby during those times too.

When she forgets that I'm around, or somehow has had her fill of me, she's content playing and interacting with other people... that is, until I carelessly come back into view!

While I absolutely love being her favorite person in the world, sometimes I feel like we're in that episode of The Family Guy, and I'm the mom and Evelyn is Stewie:



Of course, I exaggerate just a bit here. It's not quite that bad, and most of the time it doesn't bother me one bit. She's been letting go a lot more during parties and gatherings, and wandering around and playing without me. And yet somehow she's probably the cuddliest and most Mama-crazy that she's ever been. But I'm not complaining -- I'll enjoy it while it lasts!

Water baby

Evelyn had her third swim class this week, and with each class she is having more and more fun in the water.

• Class 1: She stuck close to Mama and kept her thumb in her mouth half the time.
• Class 2: Less thumb sucking, less clinging.
• Class 3: She was clapping and yelling at the end of each song.
• (Class 100: Doing butterfly laps up and down the pool?)
  

Here are some pictures from the first class (can you spot Rhea and Paula?).


The class mostly consists of lots of singing with coordinated lifting, dunking, jumping, twisting, rolling, wiggling, jiggling, and even running. Sadly, this is my biggest cardio workout of the week. Even more sadly, it's exhausting!

Here's a video of us running around doing "motor boat" in the pool (as in "Motor boat, motor boat, go so slow. Motor boat, motor boat, go so fast. Motor boat, motor boat, STEP ON THE GAS!!). You can see Charlotte/Nicolas, Paula/Rhea, me/Evelyn, and Mary/Annie zipping by, then some random other people, then the big guy at the end, one of the instructors.



At one point during each class, Big Guy (sorry, I forget his name!) tries to take each little one on a "zoom zoom" with him around the pool. I think Rhea, Annie, and Evelyn are all a bit scared of him. This week, he approached Annie and the look of terror on her face said it all. Wisely, he moved on... to Evelyn. He asked her if she wanted to zoom zoom, and she just calmly but emphatically shook her head. Smart girl, I think.

Hello, holidays!

But before we officially say hello to the Holiday Season, let's say goodbye to Halloween. Evelyn went to her very first Halloween party in her very first Halloween costume on Wednesday. She went as a little schoolgirl, complete with Sue Mills blouse, jumper, and navy blue tights. I still find it rather disturbing that they even make school uniforms for toddlers!

The party was a success for Evelyn. Though it was in the early evening, encroaching on Evelyn's dinnertime, she did really well! Almost right away she was out of my arms and walking around, trying to hand things to various people and wandering around the house on her own. For once, I don't think she got into any toy power struggles with any other kids, and seemed to be just having a good time.

Case in point -- what exactly is she doing in this photo?


Here's a close-up -- it doesn't shed any light:


I had a chance to catch up with friends from my old mom's group, who I don't get to see much now that I'm back at work full time. We even finally got to see Sonia and Greyson -- we haven't seen him since he was about 6 months old!


Evelyn and Greyson have shared some pretty memorable moments early in their lives. Greyson, who is about a month older, holds the distinction of being the only baby near Evelyn's age who is actually bigger than her. I remember one of our first meetings when Evelyn was about 3 months old, and both babies just seemed so incongruously large compared to the other babies (and to their own moms!).



Maybe they recognized that in each other, because they seemed to have a camaraderie right from the beginning and even shared a mutual kiss during their last meeting! (Evelyn kissed first - so bold - and I was so shocked, I couldn't capture the moment when Greyson turned to her and returned the gesture.)


And now look at them, so grown up already... they grow too quickly!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everybody! This evening, John and I are taking Evelyn to her very first Halloween party with some moms and babies from my mom's group. I wasn't sure about going because of a big work deadline I have today, but it's looking like I'll be able to make it. Unfortunately, this means that we are pulling together a very last minute costume for Evelyn and I can't even hope that I will have a costume for myself in time for the party. John, naturally, doesn't care about having a costume for himself.

As I was trying to get the old creative juices flowing, I racked my brain for inspired costumes past and remembered this classic number from 2005. Our dear Mike (now so far away pursuing an MFA in Germany... boo hoo...) hosted a Halloweeen party in his apartment above the mortuary. And I mean really, how could you NOT have a Halloween party if you live above a mortuary? Anyway, I went as a Swedish meatball (get it?) -- meatball entirely constructed by Mike and me out of chicken wire, lots of masking tape, and a sloppy paint job -- and Mike went as Kim Jong Il, the North Korean dictator with suprisingly good rhythm. Good times.

Ponies and goats and pumpkins, oh my!

This past Sunday, three family trios (me/John/Evelyn, Paula/Bert/Rhea, and Naomi/Ken/Milo) descended upon the Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay for their amazing "Halloween on the farm" pumpkin patch. We hopped in the Pralinsky/Sawicki minivan and met Ken, Naomi, and Milo on the way.

Lemos Farm was awesome. I had no idea such places existed! They had ponies, goats, ducks, more ponies, a "spooky" train ride, and so much more.


Evelyn was all decked out in her Halloween gear (thanks to Grammy!). She liked looking at the ponies from a distance, thought the goats got too close for comfort, enjoyed watching the kids run around, and generally tested my tolerance for all things not-completely-sanitary by grabbing fistfuls of hay, wood chips, rocks, you name it. It took an ever vigilant eye to keep her from grabbing the goat droppings and offering it to strangers in her usual way.

When she got her fill of the "good bacteria" all around, Evelyn tried to sit on a choice selection of pumpkins. Sitting on things is one of her favorite activities of the past month, and she has a couple of different methods. Sometimes she'll approach the object (pumpkin, floor pillow, fireplace hearth, for example), turn around before she gets there, and then slowly lower herself in the hopes that she lands in the right spot. I think 75% of the time she does. Or, she'll climb over the object so that her butt is hovering over her target and she only needs to swing her leg around to complete the action. Once she's in place, she often likes to bounce, which works well with pillows but not so well with fireplace hearths and pumpkins (ouch!).

I mentioned the goats... Evelyn and Rhea definitely took to them in different ways. I watched as Paula and Rhea attracted the goats with their feed, Rhea squealing with delight. I turned at that moment to see John and Evelyn suddenly surrounded by goats themselves... Evelyn might say swarmed, or inundated, and she had a look on her face that said "Beat it, goats. Seriously."


After an eventful day, including a train ride (see the somewhat uneventful video at the end of this entry that only true Evelyn fans will appreciate) and lots of playing and going down slides, we called it a day. It felt like we'd been there all day, but we were back in the car by noon and heading out as the traffic heading in was backed up and slow going. The girls fell asleep within minutes (and so did I!). All in all a perfect way to celebrate Autumn and Halloween.


Here's a video of Evelyn getting acquainted with the pumpkins:



And here's the "spooky" train ride:

Swimming with the fishes

It's Tuesday! That means I get to leave work early to take Evelyn to her Cuttlefish swim class! Every Tuesday until the end of the year, I will work at home (as usual), stop my work day at 2pm to hang out with Evelyn, take her to swim class at 3:45pm, and play with her until bedtime. I am so happy to be able to do this, even if it means I have to work a couple of evenings a week to make up for it.

Last Tuesday was her first class, and of course the camera I took was on its last legs, so I managed to take only a couple of pre-swim shots before it died.


Not only do I get to spend more precious time with my girl, I get to introduce her to the world of swimming. I swam regularly until I was about 8 months pregnant, but now it's time for Evelyn to experience it outside of my uterus.

I learned to swim relatively late in life, and though I've come to love swimming over these last few years (and miss it quite a lot now that I can't go as easily), I am still not completely at ease in the water. Lap swimming in a pool (i.e. controlled) setting is great, and ocean swimming and snorkeling is exhilarating after I get over my initial fears.

So my wish for Evelyn is for her to be as comfortable in water as she is out, and to never have to hesitate before jumping into a lake or diving underneath some waves. She took her first class cautiously, and I'm looking forward to seeing her comfort level rise as we progress with these classes.

Molar bears

The teething monster has returned. Actually, considering that she is working on her molars this time, it's not as bad as I expected. Her first molar (lower left) appeared before we even realized she was teething. It's so weird to see such a big tooth in her mouth. When she's smiling really big (or crying), it looks like she's got a wad of chewing gum in there.

All of her other teeth so far have come in symmetrical pairs, and this time is no exception. These past few days we've been able to see molar #2 (lower right) rearing its big, irregularly shaped ugly head. This morning, she woke up exceptionally early - a sure sign of teething troubles. Instead of the usual 6:45/7am wakeup time (blessedly later than her previous 6am wakeup), she was awake and crying at 5:45am. Desperate to get some more sleep, we brought her to bed with us and just cuddled, albiet awake, for another 45 minutes (amazingly).

While waiting for her usual breakfast of oatmeal with raisins, Evelyn wanted only to be in my arms, forgoing the usual attempt to wreak havoc in the living room first. I sat on the kitchen stool by the ipod with Evelyn wrapped around me on my lap, head against my chest, thumb in its usual position in her mouth. We were listening to music while John prepared the oatmeal, when he noticed that her eyes were closed -- she'd fallen back asleep. She did this exact thing once before; not knowing that she'd fallen asleep, I took her shifting around to mean that she wanted to get down, and without looking at her, I put her on the cold kitchen floor where she remained lying, totally asleep. Both times, I put her back in her crib before she even had a chance to eat breakfast.

It must be a really weird feeling, having these giant things erupting in your mouth, and not being able to fully understand what's going on or communicate effectively about it. It's tough being a kid sometimes.... but at least she got to take a nap before starting her day!

Chairmaster

A couple of weeks ago, John brought up from the garage this cute little wooden chair that he'd picked up from Goodwill years ago. We were inspired by a recent birthday party at Gymboree, where we were surprised to see Evelyn enjoying a little baby sized rocking chair.

So we put out the chair and watched what happened. It took her only a few tries to master getting on and off the chair. The innate ability and capacity for children to learn, without any help from us, still amazes me.

You can see in this video why our nickname for Evelyn is "Monkey," as she paces around and hits the floor in her triumph.



This next video can be titled "Chairmaster outtakes." It was taken literally a minute before the other one. Like I said, she learned fast...

Growth chart

Before I started this blog, John and I used to keep a journal to chronicle milestones, major events, observations, etc. Basically, it was the much less frequently updated predecessor to this blog.

I was reading through it recently and came across notes on Evelyn's weight and height measurements at her various visits to the pediatrician. Unfortunately, I didn't write them all down (naively thinking that I'd never forget). But there's enough to see the general trend, which is that Evelyn basically gained a big chunk (so to speak) of her weight and height during her first 4 months, and then plateaued for the rest of her 9 months (to date). At the rate she was going, I panicked and bought her next car seat when she was only 4 months old, thinking that she'd surpass the 22lb limit of her infant seat within weeks. Up until that point, she'd been gaining about 1 lb a week!

Here are some of her growth stats:

• Birth: 8 lbs, 5 oz, 20 inches
• 2.5 months: 16 lbs, 2 oz
• 4 months: 19 lbs, 12 oz, 26 inches
• 9 months: 23 lbs, 28.5 inches
• 12 months: 24 lbs, 31 inches (90th percentile, down from being off the charts)
  

But who needs boring statistics when all you need is the hang-the-baby-upside-down method to chart her growth? The first picture below was taken in late June in Mendocino (10 months old) and the second was from just the other day (13 months old).

Birthday bonanza

It's been an entire month since Evelyn's birthday party, but you know the saying "Better late than never..."

Since August, it seems like we've been in perpetual birthday mode. Tis the season for all of Evelyn's little friends (i.e. the babies of the couples that we've met in birthing classes, moms' groups, etc) to turn one. It's party season, from here on out.

The party to kick off all parties was Evelyn's. The day started inauspiciously, with Evelyn taking a short 45-minute nap instead of her usual 1.5 to 2 hour nap. She was also working on cutting 3 new teeth at once. This did not bode well, as there would be 20+ people in the house shortly and she can get overwhelmed in such situations even when she is in good form. And sure enough, as the first batch of guests trickled in, Evelyn was clingier than saran wrap on a plate of leftovers.

(Yes, we'd heard the advice from others that a big party would be too overwhelming for the kid and a lot of work for the parents. But knowing this, we went ahead with a big party anyway, well, just because. We felt like we deserved the celebration after this big, monumental first year. We felt like Evelyn deserved to have a big cake and many well wishers. So, there you go.)

Luckily (and somewhat miraculously), Evelyn snapped out of her funk soon enough, with some help from Mike. After that she was the life of the party, teetering around in her pink party dress with her then-newly developed walking skills, playing "in parallel" with her little baby friends (Rhea, Chloe, and Nicolas), hanging out with the adults, and spinning happily.



It's not a kid's birthday party without cake, and while Evelyn didn't get any, she did try to blow out the candle. I think she would have succeeded if she weren't so intent on touching the flame at the same time. All that blowing at random things, starting with the paper fish hanging from the ceiling, is finally paying off. (We had a second, equally big birthday party with just my family the week after, and she got even closer to blowing out her own candle. I think we just need a few more cakes and she'll get it...)

After opening many wonderful presents, including a snazzy pair of shoes, some gorgeous outfits, fun books and toys, and the sweetest dolls from Nana and from Paula, Bert, and Rhea, we called it a day. It was totally exhausting from start to finish, but like all things baby, it was worth it in the end.

Here's a video from the end of the party, after Evelyn changed out of her party clothes, and everything was winding down into general mayhem:

Minutiae

In the mornings, when Evelyn is first "released" from her bedroom into the rest of the house, she goes bellowing down the hall into the living room. We call it her war cry.

Last Sunday afternoon, exhausted from an early start and a long day at yet another 1st birthday party, John and I collapsed into a brief sleep on the rug in Evelyn's room while she played by herself, walking back and forth around and between us. I woke up to find the drawers opened and emptied, the floor covered with blankets, crib sheets, washcloths, and bibs. Evelyn looked very pleased.

On a recent night, I did the bedtime routine solo. John, who usually dresses her after the bath, had to work late. Freshly bathed and dressed, she looked at me with wide eyes and said "Pa" in the soft whispery way that she says his name. (It used to be "Bop!" - yes, with the exclamation point.)

Sometimes when Evelyn's just walking around, I start pretending to chase her, chanting, "I'm gonna get you... I'm gonna get you..." She gets really excited, starts to giggle, picks up speed, and then suddenly flops down onto the floor, belly and face down, like she's totally given up. If she's holding anything in her hands, she'll chuck them like she's getting rid of all excess weight.

When we're out grocery shopping, Evelyn sits in the cart and tries her best to win over the other shoppers. She watches unsuspecting passersby and when they get near enough, she turns on the Evelyn charm. Basically, she opens her mouth as wide as possible in a look of uncontained excitement and reaches out a hand, sometimes waving. It's always disappointing, for both of us, when people walk right by without noticing. Conversely, when people stop to try to get her attention, she just stares at them blankly. I guess she likes the thrill of the chase.

When Evelyn wakes up in the morning, John goes into her room first to change her diaper while I drag myself out of bed and brush my teeth. When I enter her room, I usually find the two of them watching the door expectantly. Evelyn gets very excited and calls me "Ball." Funny, she only calls me this in the mornings.

But I really can't fault her because the way she says it is too cute:

Music appreciation

Almost every weekend, we walk to West Portal and do the following:

• Sit in front of Peet's to have our coffee/tea and sometimes bagels from Noah's.
• Walk to the bookstore where Evelyn heads straight to the baby/kid section, with its carpeted bench, toys, and other babies and kids (and books!).
• Visit Ambassador Toys, where John, carrying Evelyn in the backpack, gets giggles out of her by playing with the various puppets and different variations of jack-in-a-box.

Jennifer (aka Evelyn's biggest fan) is occasionally with us on these excursions and, being the honorary aunt that she is, she got a beautiful snowy owl puppet and a jack-in-a-box for Evelyn for her birthday. Here, Evelyn's showing a more subtle appreciation of the latter.



(She has not moved like this before or since this single time that I happened to catch on video.)

Thanks Jennifer!

Pitter patter

I'm at home today, working in the "office" downstairs, and realized that there's a new sound coming from upstairs. It's the sound of Evelyn walking around the house! Funny how the pitter patter of little feet can make your heart go pitter patter.

Look who's walking

I am really swamped at work (still!) and both Evelyn and I have been suffering from a cold for the last week. But I can't let another day go by without at least posting some videos of our girl walking! Actually, truly walking.

She started on her birthday, on the 23rd. Leading up to this day, she'd been standing on her own for longer periods, taken tiny steps here and there, and taken 2-3 clumsy steps between me and John. That's what she was doing here, until she decided it was time to venture out on her own path:



(You can ignore the high-pitched squealing from me :) I just couldn't contain my excitement.)

In just the span of a week, walking got easier and easier for her. Already, she's lost that look of astonished happiness at her new mode of locomotion. Here she is about 1 week after she started walking:



She was kind of waddling and swaying as she walked, with arms out in front of her, like a drunken Frankenstein. The drunken aspect of her walking is mostly gone now, and she is managing to pivot and side-step in addition to just going forward. In fact, lately she's been pivoting and pacing back and forth, sometimes going in a small tight circle. This past weekend, she was doing that around a prone John -- she was just pacing around him and cracking up every time she caught sight of him lying face down on the rug.

Now, almost 2 weeks after she started, she's already begun to prefer walking to crawling. At first, she walked til she fell, then crawled from there. Now, she tends to get back up after falling and continues on her way on foot. And she is getting plenty of bumps and scrapes along the way (a couple of pretty nasty ones too, including a spectacular face plant on her chin which I thankfully did not personally witness).

Happy Birthday Evelyn!

Happy 1st Birthday, Evelyn! We made it through the first year! I have to admit there were times when John and I both seriously doubted we'd see this day in one piece.


It's funny how her first birthday really does feel special, not just your average run of the mill day, even as we go about our normal routine. It feels like the events of the past year, big and small, daunting and easy, have all been running their course and are culminating in this one point in time, and now we can take a moment to just be still and take stock of all that's happened. As John put it, Evelyn's birth day feels like it was just yesterday, and it also feels like it was 10 years ago. We have been through so much, and yet it's just the tip of the iceberg.
I don't think either of us was fully prepared to become a parent, or even had a single clue about what that really meant. While I absolutely loved being pregnant, and even have only the fondest of memories of labor (thanks to those memory-erasing hormones!), I was (we were) completely unprepared for what came next. And boy did we find out.

But I guess those memory-erasing hormones last quite a while, because the long sleepless nights, the endless diaper explosions, the fear, the doubt, the panic... they are all but a distant memory. What stands out to me are:

• The early morning light in the hospital room right after Evelyn was born (at 8:42am). I had labored through the night and all was dark and peaceful, and when Evelyn was born, it was as if I were opening my eyes for the first time. Blinking in that grey light, nursing Evelyn for the first time, I watched the hustle and bustle around me suddenly come into sharp focus -- John, who hadn't left my side for even a single second all night, finally sitting down and looking happy and shocked. Paula (pregnant and exhausted, having been with us throughout labor) stalling my aunt and uncle who were anxiously waiting outside, to give me a little more time.
• Watching with amazement as my little girl grew, and grew, and grew... she was a chunky little Buddha baby whose chubby cheeks and perpetually surprised expression drew attention everywhere we went.
• The shock and surprising sadness when I held Evelyn one day and realized that her torso was no longer the solidly squishy ball of fat it once was, and I could actually feel her ribs! She lengthened as she slimmed, and suddenly I saw a little girl emerging from the folds.
  

And now of course, we have this beautiful, blossoming one year old girl (a toddler I guess!), who makes us laugh every day and also continues to surprise us every day. For instance, on the very day of her birthday, she took her first extended walk across half the living room! Unbelievable timing. (video pending)

While I once questioned whether I'd be a good mom, now I know that I am, no matter how much time I have to be away from her during the day or how little I know about child development -- I am learning, and I won't let her down. John is learning too, and has a special connection with Evelyn that even I don't have. She has this special level of excitement that she reserves only for him, and sometimes literally screams with joy when he comes home from work.

We're growing into the roles we have laid out for us, and it feels like the most natural thing in the world.

Class of 2006

This past Sunday, we had our 3rd Bradley class reunion, and it is really amazing to see how much all of the babies have grown in the past year. There is nothing like a growing child to really make you feel the passage of time.

The babies are now between 10 and 14 months old, with Evelyn just about in the middle, though she is probably the biggest and tallest of the bunch. It was with a touch of sadness when I realized that we have moved beyond the cute baby lineups on the couches, where they all slumped together and depended on each other's squishy bodies to keep themselves upright. This time, between all 6 cameras going at once (with one family missing), I think probably someone out there got a good picture of all the kids before they quickly scattered. I wonder how the next reunion pictures will look?!

We had these reunions when Evelyn was:

• 3.5 months old -- she is missing from the first picture because we were all at the hospital waiting to meet Rhea!
• 7 months old -- battered by babies on all sides, feverish with a cold, and just reunited with her Mama who just returned from her last-minute trip to New York... yes I am still feeling guilty about that.
  
• 4 days shy of 1 year old!

About halfway through the reunion, as the room got more crowded with arriving parents and babies, Evelyn started to get really fussy and clingy. She's got 5 teeth out now, with 3 more simultaneously on their way, and has definitely been a bit out of sorts lately because of it. She had a great time early on, when there were fewer babies and parents to contend with, but I think she was starting to get a little overwhelmed and overstimulated towards the end. Eventually she found her way to the baby's room and was happily playing with a box of toys in there by herself, away from the crowded living room.

Though I know that this is totally normal, I wonder if she'd be more comfortable in a roomful of strangers if I took her out more on playdates and things like that. Yes, this is mommy guilt rearing its ugly head again, as I tell myself that if I were home more, and took her out more, she'd be better equipped to handle all of life's challenges! When all it is is probably her teething discomfort exacerbated by an understandably overwhelming environment. After all, both John and I found the gathering totally exhausting, as introverts tend to do, even though we had fun.

Evelyn's big birthday party is this Saturday (and it is definitely getting big by the looks of the evite so far), and I wonder if it will be the worst possible way for Evelyn to celebrate her birthday. Hopefully she won't burst into tears when we all sing Happy Birthday to her!

Who's that girl?

What I lack in quality entries, I make up in quantity. Here's another pseudo blog entry. This video was taken just today of Evelyn discovering herself in the mirror. It's jam-packed with lots of Evelynisms - it's like condensing the entire Evelyn experience into a minute or so. Well, almost.

Chaos and order

This month has been an incredibly hectic month at work (so sorry for the serious lack of substantial posts to the blog!). It figures that it's also the month of Evelyn's first birthday (which is exactly a week from today!), and we've done little (zero) planning for her party (date TBD).

True to form, here's another video to pass as a blog entry. Usually, Evelyn creates chaos wherever she goes (which explains the messiness in the background of all these videos... yeah, that's it). She generally likes to take things from where they should be and tosses them haphazardly, content that wherever they land is not where they belong. So it came as a pleasant surprise to see Evelyn trying to put things on a table or shelf rather than pulling them off. For example...

Dancing queen

I couldn't resist posting some more videos of Evelyn dancing to the eerie beat of her rundown walking toy. The "Old McDonald Had a Farm" song is especially good (bad).



This snippet, taken from the same morning (this morning actually), shows a couple of exciting seconds of Evelyn hovering/standing! She's looking and blowing at the paper fish that are blown up and hanging from one corner of the ceiling. That's one of her favorite things to do, and we've inadvertantly taught her to blow at just about everything, hanging from the ceiling or otherwise.

Movin' on up

Evelyn's on the cusp of learning to walk I think! As John says, she's been working on it for a while now, with all of her cruising along furniture and holding onto our hands while she walks... and walks... and walks... We borrowed this walking toy thing from John's coworker, which is totally hilarious because it's so old (or the batteries are so run down) that the music sounds really creepy.



Evelyn sure seems to like the music though. I took this video early one chilly morning (the girl still wakes us up at almost exactly 6am every day!).



Yesterday, as witnessed by myself, John, and Mike, Evelyn crouched into a squat to grab some wooden blocks, got a couple in her hands, and straightened herself into a standing position all without holding on to anything! She stood there for what seemed like forever (OK, maybe 5 seconds, which is forever for her), then she took the tiniest step forward! Unfortunately, no one but me saw that because at that point, I had my arms hovering around her on all sides to protect her from falling into the surrounding furniture or the hard, sharp-cornered box of blocks. Oh boy, we are really in for it now...

Goodnight moon

When Evelyn was about 2 months old, her Nana and her Aunt Taryn came for a visit. Nana gave Evelyn a copy of Goodnight Moon, and I've been reading it to her almost every day ever since. Of course, in the beginning, I may as well have been reading to Puddin. But she's definitely taken a special liking to the book these past few months. Even though she's been "reading" this book the longest, she doesn't seem to get bored of it and will even pause sometimes between page flipping to look at the pictures and let me finish reading the words.

During our Mendocino trip in June, the evening before the bad night of sleep (or lack thereof) that we had, Evelyn didn't feel like going to bed when she was supposed to. So we stayed up a bit longer and I read Goodnight Moon to her. One of the best reasons to read this book to her is her reaction to certain pages, as you can see in this video. (And by the way, even by Evelyn standards, she's flipping through the book really fast in this one.)



What, I ask, is so irresistably lickable about these 2 pages? She still does it, to this day, like clockwork.



The head-shaking to "Goodnight nobody," on the other hand, was short-lived. A few days after we returned home, Evelyn really shocked me when she started shaking her head as I read the 2 lines before the "Goodnight nobody" line. She did it twice that morning, and then one more time when I was reciting the words without the book! (She hasn't done it at all since.) I realized how much she is actually listening and remembering, and John and I have been trying harder ever since to clearly tell her about what we're doing or what things are. I think we've been trying all along, but that incident made it clear that we'd been underestimating her cognitive abilities.

On a related note, I think Evelyn is pretty lucky that it's me reading Goodnight Moon to her, and not Christopher Walken: