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).
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:
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:
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.)
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.
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).
