What part of "No" don't you understand?

Of the many new words that Evelyn has learned and uses, "No" has got to be in her Top 5. Maybe Top 3. And she uses it in a wide range of situations... for example:

"No eat!" (or one time, "No hungy!")

"No bathtime!"

"No pee pee!!" (in response to my telling her that I am going to go pee pee before I read her a book)

"No sit!" (refusing to sit in her highchair)

"No di di!!" (refusing a diaper change)

My personal favorite was when she whispered "Byyyee.... No night night....." while shaking her head and grinning as she slid down the side of our bed one afternoon.

And sometimes, there's nothing like the general, all purpose "NOOOOOO!!!"

She applies this approach to getting dressed sometimes, too. Usually, when she refuses to let me put a shirt on her, all it takes is offering her a choice between that shirt and another one, and she'll happily choose and let me continue dressing her. One time though, she would not budge. I tried appealing to her emerging girly-girl side (where she likes to put on something cute, run to the mirror, and exclaim "Oh! Pretty!!"). So after a rigorous bout of "No"s from Evelyn, I pulled out a shirt with flowers on it and said, "Look, how pretty! Do you want to try it?" and she shook her head vehemently and sobbed "NO PRETTY!!!!"

The worst, though, is when we get ready for work in the mornings. Evelyn has been saying "Papa work. Mama work" in the mornings, and then as evening approaches, before we get home, she says "Papa home. Mama home." You think that's sad enough? Lately, as we bustle around getting ready to go, she'll say "Mama work" and I'll say "Yes, Mama is going to work today" and she'll say "No work!!!"

This morning, I was all dressed and ready to go (and already late for a meeting). Evelyn started looking for ways to delay me, and ran to the couch with book in hand yelling "Mama sit! Mama boot! (book)" So I sat down and said, "OK, let's read this book and then Mama's going to work." So she nestled close to me, thumb in mouth, and we read for a little while (she's into pretty long books these days, like The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham). Halfway through the book, I gave her a big squeeze and kissed her on the head. As if suddenly remembering something, she pulled away from me, turned to face me, and started shaking her head. After a few seconds of continued shaking, I stopped reading and said "What's the matter, honey?" She quietly replied, "No work."

Heartbreak.

All Quiet on the Western Front

So we went to our friends Matthew and Wolfgang's house in Monte Rio this past weekend for a couple of days. We got there on Saturday afternoon. This is only the second time going there since Evelyn's birth nearly 2 years ago. We used to go often.

Evelyn really seems to like it up there.She's got much more freedom than she does in SF since the humongous backyard is all fenced in from the street. It's very satisfying to let Evelyn run around nearly unattended. It reminds me of when I was a kid and most of what I remember about playing NEVER-EVER involved our parents! Unfortunately when kids play outside in SF, it's under their parents ever watchful Sauron-like eye(s). Even in playgrounds! Oh well... I'm sure there'll be benefits to growing up here that I can't imagine which will outweigh the costs.

Bedtime Saturday night was particularly tough for poor ol' Evelyn.Hai-Nhu'd spent more time than usual trying to get her to sleep, and ended up having to pry her out of her arms to get her into the pack-n-play. Evelyn was crying and crying! Hai-Nhu was upset. I with my usual cold exterior trying to pretend everything was OK was trying to stop Hai-Nhu from crying herself. Finally Hai-Nhu couldn't stand it and went back in for a while. I don't think it helped.... much. Many minutes later, Hai-Nhu came out of the room and Evelyn was still quite upset! She quieted down shortly after that thankfully (for Hai-Nhu).

This is where the 10PM fireworks come in. In Monte Rio, they set them off about 500 yards or so away from Matthew's house in the river. They WERE amazing alright. Amazing and really freaking LOUD!

So we're outside digging a trench and getting ready to face the Germans with Ernest Borgnine and John Boy, while the Monte Rio artillery division (a.k.a. the Monte Rio volunteer FIRE DEPARTMENT!) mortar shells are going off above Matthew's house.

Hai-Nhu's very nervous about Evelyn waking up. I have my usual uncaring cold exterior on again... trying to reassure Hai-Nhu with complacency. This time however I feel quite bad for Evelyn... and really don't enjoy the fireworks at all. STUPID PARENTAL EMPATHY! Ah for the days of only caring about myself.

The celebrations didn't stop when the Monte Rio fireworks stopped. There were explosions going until early Sunday morning, 4AM or so is my guess. Through all of this Evelyn slept. At least we think so. Maybe she was in her crib paralized with fear. Only Evelyn will be able to tell us (Evelyn?). She slept through the night. It's not unusual for her to wake up when we're not sleeping at home. Maybe she was an infantry solder in her last life?

The next morning she woke up at 5:30 which isn't uncommon. By 6 it was clear that she was UP and didn't want to stay in bed with us. I got up with her to let Hai-Nhu sleep in. Evelyn and I hung out with Matthew and did some exploring of the back yard and the tennis courts across the street. As we shuffled through the exploded ordinances of freedom debris, there was a post climactic calm in the air.

We headed back to Matthew's around 8 to eat. I started making oatmeal in the kitchen chatting with Matthew and giving rasins to Evelyn (which for some reason she calls "¡EEEYAHHH!"). At one point Evelyn trips clumsily over my foot and is splayed dramatically across the kitchen floor. The look on her face is one of, "hmmm... should I make a big deal out of this or not?". I calmly tell her to get up and get some more ¡EEEYYAHHHH! and she ignores me. So... I ignore her! I continue talking to Matthew and then he heads outside for a while. I'm waiting for the oatmeal and Evelyn is still on the floor, now picking at some debris that's stuck to it. I'm slightly worried she might eat it... but not enough to say anything.

Matthew comes back in eventually and she's STILL on the floor. He thinks that she's starting to fall asleep. I'm inclined to agree with him at this point, as strange as it seems. Within minutes she's breathing heavy, face in hands... and now SNORING!

Evelyn catching some Z's on the kitchen floor, red thigh-high boots and all.

Nellie comes into the kitchen now and looks down at Evelyn. So I say, "Don't worry Nellie, she just tripped over my foot and fell asleep!". Nellie's like, "YOU SURE SHE'S OK!?". I realize that my story sounds a bit... bad... and I explain to her what happened, "she's fine, she's really just asleep!". Eventually everyone was up. Keeeth, Nellie, Matthew, Hai-Nhu, and I all stood in the kitchen laughing at poor ol' Evelyn sleeping on the floor and drinking coffee.

She slept for an hour.